Culturology Calendar 9-22

Thurs., Sep. 22

It’s another in the series of monthly Pecha Kucha nights in Bemidji.  It’s a presentation format: 20 slides up for 20 seconds each, and narration to fit.  It reminds me of the TED format that made a splash at the start of the week in Grand Rapids.  It’s at the New City Ballroom, starting at 6:30.

Minnesota Folklore Theater in Akeley has an original musical about the life and songs of Judy Garland.  “Judy Why Can’t I” covers three stages in Garland’s life beginning with her youth in Grand Rapids, through her Hollywood days, and into drug and alcohol abuse and premature death at age 47. This show is not appropriate for small children. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. this Thursday Friday and Saturday, and a 3 p.m. matinee Saturday.  More performances follow next week. (7:30 Sept. 28 and 29, October 1 and 2. 3 p.m. Sept. 24, 28 and Oct. 2.  Call 218-652-2666.)

Fri., Sep. 23

The National Chainsaw Sculpting Invitational is Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in Hackensack.

Crosslake Days this weekend includes a Chili Cook-off, Car Show, Outdoor Artisans & Crafters, Tour of Lakes and Leaves Bicycle Tour, and Disc Golf Tournament.  It runs all weekend in Crosslake.

Contemporary dance performance from the Stuart Pimsler dance troupe, 7:30 Friday night at the Reif Center in Grand Rapids.

Bemidji Jazz Quartet play at 8 Friday at Brigid’s Cross, Bemidji.

The Park Rapids Lakes Area Arts Council will host the 2011 Art Leap this Friday and Saturday.

It includes studio visits, live performances, theater arts tour and museum displays, a visit to Forestedge Winery and Gallery, Itasca State Park and Native Harvest and Minwanjige Café.  For complete information on all the activities and maps, please see the website www.prlaac.org or Blank Canvas Gallery and Education Center, The Chamber of Commerce and the Community Education Office.

Sat., Sep. 24

A workshop this weekend at the Mille Lacs Indian Museum in Onamia will walk participants through ancient clay pottery technique, from digging the clay from the ground through construction and firing in a buried pit.  Reservations are required; call us for the information.   (320-532-3632)

Two showtimes for Deer Camp: The Musical at Bemidji High School Auditorium on Saturday night, 3 and 7:30 p.m.

Singer-songwriter Lance Benson is at Brigid’s Cross in Bemidji Saturday night at 8.

The Black Lantern Fall Festival will feature two Bemidji groups. Timberline will perform from 1 to 5 and Pelican Railroad is on from 6 to 10 Saturday. Pelican Railroad will return Sunday from 1 to 3.  The fall festival is being held at the Black Lantern Resort and is family friendly with games for children and entertainment for adults. Black Lantern is located outside Shevlin.

Sun., Sep. 25

Longstanding smooth Country act The Gatlin Brothers take the Reif Center stage Sunday at 7:30, in Grand Rapids.

Tues., Sep. 27

The Merling Trio performs on violin, cello and piano.  They’re based at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo and their latest recording includes pieces from Shostakovich and Dvorak.  They’re at the Reif Center, 7:30 Tuesday night.

Headwaters Center for Lifelong Learning presents Marsh Muirhead and John Thornberg for a presentation called “Real Men Do Write Poetry.”  That starts at 1 Tuesday, at Northwoods Bank in Park Rapids.

Minnesota History Datebook

Sept. 21, 1805 Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike, reaches the mouth of the Minnesota River.  He stops at what is now known as Pike Island and raises the Stars and Stripes inside present-day Minnesota for the first time.  Two days later, Pike buys a hundred thousand acres from the Dakota for $2,000 and a barrel of whiskey.

Sept. 19, 1865 Governor Stephen Miller announces that gold has been found near Vermilion Lake.  This was based on a rock collected there by state geologist Henry H. Eames. A gold rush begins but no sizeable amount of gold is ever found in the area.   The rush does draw attention to the rich iron ore of the region.  Extensive mining would begin about twenty years later.

Sept. 24, 1963 President John F. Kennedy speaks at the University of Minnesota-Duluth on the subject of high unemployment in the northern Great Lakes area.  Joblessness was about twice the national average at the time.