Culturology Calendar 3-29-12

by Travis Ryder

Thursday, Mar. 29

In honor of both Vietnam Veterans Day today and Women’s History Month, UMD’s Alworth Institute offers the Lecture, “Sisterhood of War  - Minnesota Women in Vietnam,” presented by Dr. Kim Heikkila, Kay Bauer & Mary Breed.  Dr. Heikkila‘s book, Sisterhood of War, documents the service of 15 Minnesota nurses who served in Vietnam.  Dr. Heikkila will then facilitate a discussion with Kay Bauer and Mary Breed, military nurses who served in Vietnam.  Sisterhood of War has been named a finalist for a 2012 Minnesota Book Award and the Hognander Minnesota History Award.  This lecture will be held at UMD Montague Hall 70 tonight at 7:00 p.m.  The lecture is free and open to the public.  A book signing and reception will follow the lecture.  

The twelve-piece Bemidji Trombones ensemble will host their spring concert on March 29 at Bemidji State University. The concert will be held in Thompson Recital Hall on the Bemidji State campus at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free. The group will welcome guest artist Russ Zokaites,  a doctoral student at the University of Missouri - Kansas City. He will play a solo aria from Gounod’s opera “Faust”.  He arranged the piece himself for trombone choir and solo trombone.

The 24th Annual Spotlight on Books Conference starts tonight at Ruttger's Sugar Lake Lodge; author sessions and signings, Friday and Saturday. The conference is for adults focused on youth & young adult literature;  info:  www.nlln.org/spotlight.html

Friday, Mar. 30

Grand Rapids Players present the first weekend of their production of “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum” at the Reif Center in Grand Rapids starting at 7:30 Friday and Saturday, 2 on Sunday.

Community theatre presentation Friday through Sunday in Pequot Lakes: it’s “Arsenic and Old Lace” at the high school auditorium.

Saturday, Mar. 31

The 2012 Leech Lake Tribal College Nimi'idim (Powwow) happens Saturday, March 31, 2012, at the Cass Lake-Bena High School.  Grand entries at 1:00 and 6:30 p.m.

Mesabi Range College presents a children’s musical called “The Elves and the Shoemaker” Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.  The shows are at the Virginia campus theater.

Tuesday, Apr. 3

Boundary Waters Choral Festival features over 100 choir students from seven schools, performing in their own choirs, and together en masse.  This happens at the Northeast Range School in Babbitt starting at 7 p.m.

Minnesota History Datebook

Mar. 27, 1905 The Aerial Bridge, spanning the Duluth Ship Canal, carries its first passengers across the harbor inside a carriage suspended from the bridge's framework. The system would be replaced with a lift bridge in 1930.

Mar. 25, 1963 Karl F. Rolvaag is sworn in as governor, having beaten Elmer L. Andersen by ninety-one votes in the state's closest gubernatorial election. The recount of the election had taken four months.

Culturology Calendar 3-15-12

by Travis Ryder

Thu., Mar. 15

Bemidji State professor emerita Annie Henry grew up in the segregated South.  She retired in 2007 and created endowed scholarships for African-Americans in education.  Henry will be signing copies of her new memoir today from 4 to 6 at the American Indian Resource Center on the BSU campus.

Fri. and Sat., Mar. 16 & 17

“Winter Dance Party” is an authentic recreation of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper's final tour, and the only show endorsed by the stars’ estates.  Performances are Friday and Saturday night at 7:30 at the Reif Performing Arts Center in Grand Rapids.

Sat., Mar 17

Acclaimed Minnesota bluegrass band, Monroe Crossing, and Celtic group, Caleigh, play a St. Patrick’s show Saturday night at the Chief Theater in downtown Bemidji.  On the other end of the downtown district, singer/songwriters Sonny Johnson, Jim Miller, and Gwenfrewi Burger play at the Blue Ox.

Crosslake has their 38th Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade and Celebration on Saturday.
There’s a Pancake Breakfast, Hot Air Balloon Rides, Costume Contest, the parade at 2, then live original music and DJs through the evening at several venues.

Sun., Mar. 18

Sunday at the Reif Center in Grand Rapids, it’s a stage adaptation of a native tale from the Pacific Northwest.  “Raven Stole The Sun” starts at 7.

Tues., Mar. 20

Brainerd Public Library welcomes Minnesota history character, Virginia Mae Hope, portrayed by Melissa Friedmann of the Minnesota History Players.  Virginia was a pilot and was a member of the Women Air Force Service Pilots.  The presentation is at 3:30 on Tuesday.

Minnesota History Datebook

Mar. 17, 1851 St. Paul hosts the state's first St. Patrick's Day parade. Irish immigration to St. Paul would peaked in 1890, but many Irish had already settled in town, taking jobs as domestics and dockhands.

Mar. 11, 1863 The present-day Leech Lake Indian Reservation takes shape.  Three bands of Ojibwe sign a treaty with the U.S. government that consolidates and expands the reservations already in place in the area.  Ojibwe from other parts of the state would have to move to Leech Lake as part of the terms.

Mar. 16, 1912 Clyde Elmer Anderson is born in Brainerd. A champion of social and humanitarian causes, he would serve a record eleven years as the state's lieutenant governor beginning in 1939 and then as the state's twenty-eighth governor from 1951 to 1955. He died in 1998.

Mar. 15, 1927 The Arrowhead Bridge across the St. Louis River opens, linking West Duluth to Superior, Wisconsin.  The low-slung wooden trestle with a drawbridge stays in service until the Bong Bridge replaced it in 1985.

Culturology Calendar 3-8-12

by Travis Ryder

Thursday, Mar. 8
Pam Brunfelt presents a history talk at noon today.  It’s on the Iron Range and its role in U.S. industrialization.  Bring a lunch to the Virginia Public Library for the talk.

Internationally renowned Celtic band Gaelic Storm comes to Brainerd tonight.  They perform at Tornstrom Auditorium as part of the CLC Cultural Arts Series, starting at 7:30.

Saturday, Mar. 10

The annual Doll, Bear, and Toy sale and show is at the Sawmill Inn in Grand Rapids.

Jess Lourey’s Writing and Publishing a Novel Workshop comes to the Brainerd Public Library Saturday at 10 a.m.  The saying goes, “If you wish to be a writer, write." But how? You’ve got the great idea, the one that won’t let you go, that embellishes itself as you walk around your day. How do you turn that good idea into a great novel? Join author and college professor Jess Lourey to fine the answers. Pre-register by calling 829-5574.
Members of the North Central Beekeepers Association present an Introduction to Beekeeping Class on Saturday from 1 to 4 at the Northland Arboretum Visitor’s Center.  It’s billed as being relevant to beginners and hobbyists and should teach everything needed to start up as a beekeeper.

The Reif Dance program has its performance, including local celebrities in the Dancing With Our Stars feature.  The show at Grand Rapids’ Reif Center begins at 7:30.

Monday, Mar. 12

Lakes Area Concert Series presents the a cappella group Street Corner Symphony at Tornstrom Auditorium in Brainerd for a 7:30 show.

Minnesota History Datebook

Mar. 9, 1874: Cook County is formed, commemorating Civil War hero Major Michael Cook from Faribault.

Mar. 4, 1892: In Tower, Father Joseph F. Buh publishes issue eleven of Amerikanski Slovenec (American Slovene), the first national newspaper for Slovenes in the United States. The paper had started in Chicago but had ceased publication after ten issues. Buh, who served St. Martin's Catholic Church in Tower and St. Anthony parish at Ely, would supervise the paper's publication until 1899.

Culturology 3-1: First Friday

by Travis Ryder

Both Grand Rapids and Bemidji are hosting First Friday art events this week.  Katie Marshall of MacRostie Art Center ran through the offerings in the Rapids with us, and brought printmaking/installation artist Dana Sikkila (and her U-Haul full of art) to the station for a chat.  Sikkila's work "depicts the overly obsessive relationship between and woman and her best friends. Animals and objects begin to take on human characteristics and interact in an unconventional domestic situation. Through printmaking and installation the viewer is confronted with the obsessive nature of the woman in question, turning her abnormal tendencies into a humorous, almost adorable mental mess."  Sikkila is completing her MA at Minnesota State University-Mankato.

The First Friday events in Bemidji include the ACLU-MN-sponsored "Art from Within" exhibition at Bemidji Community Arts Center.  This show features work depicting the Bill of Rights from the perspective of artists who have been on the business end of the criminal justice system. Wesley May has work in the show.  He said his artistic practice took a leap forward while he was enrolled in an alternative-sentencing boot camp program.  Hear Scott Hall's chat with artist Wesley May here.  The exhibition runs through the month of March at the BCAC.

Culture Calendar

Thursday, Mar. 1

Joe Wivoda plays at the Acoustic Café event inside Minnesota Discovery Center.  The event starts at 6.  Free admission to the whole place in Chisholm starts at 5, including the current quilting exhibition.

Friday, Mar. 2

The Grassroots Concerts series in Nisswa continues with guitarist Dean Magraw.  The show starts at 7:30 at the Journey Church next to the school.

Bemidji’s First Friday includes the ACLU-sponsored Art from Within show at the Community Art Center in the Carnegie building. Ten other visual and performing art venues are also participating.  The Bemidji Community Art Center site has details.

Grand Rapids’ First Friday includes openings at MacRostie Art Center and attractions at nine other venues.  Call us to learn more.

Nautilus Music Theater’s show, I am Anne Frank, Friday at 7 and Sunday at 2, at Edge Center for the Arts in Bigfork.

Saturday, Mar. 3

Opening reception for paintings and sketches by Alvin Zaberl and Bob Maki, longtime Range residents and commercial artists.  Noon to 2:30.

Aitkin Friends of the Arts fundraiser dinner and dance happens at the 40 Club.

The house band from Lake Superior Big Top Chatauqua, the Blue Canvas Orchestra, and the Duluth-Superior Symphony Orchestra play together at the Kelly High School auditorium in Silver Bay.  The show is at 7 p.m.

Japanese taiko drumming will reverberate through the Reif Center in Grand Rapids Saturday.  The ensemble Mu Daiko with Hanayui performs at 7:30.

Sunday, Mar. 4

The Bemidji Symphony Orchestra presents a concert entitled "American Kids" at the high school auditorium starting at 3. Guest artist Dr. Nicholas Hardie is on cello, and area strings students will join the BSO for a selection. A post-concert Q & A session will be offered right after the performance.

Monday, Mar. 5

Words and Lyrics is a monthly literary event at the Lyric Center for the Arts in downtown Virginia.

Tuesday, Mar. 6

The Region 2 Arts Council has six opportunities for artists coming up in March.  Classes on Rigid Heddle Weaving, Painting, oak bench building, creative writing, and puppet building have registration deadlines coming right up.  All the classes meet in the Bemidji area.  Contact us to learn more.

The deadline for the photography exhibit at Brainerd’s Q Gallery is coming up Tuesday.  Call us to learn how to get in.

Minnesota History Datebook

March 3, 1849 Minnesota Territory is signed into existence by President James K. Polk. The territory has a population of about 10,000 Indians and 5,000 white settlers and includes present-day North and South Dakota east of the Missouri River. The U.S. Postal Service would release a three-cent centennial stamp on this date in 1949.

March 3, 1855 St. Louis County, the state's largest (6,611 square miles), is established, named for the St. Louis River.

February 28, 1866 Beltrami County is formed.  Permanent white settlement would not occur in the area until the 1880s. It honors Italian adventurer Giacomo Beltrami, who had explored the region in 1823.

March 3, 1990 A team led by Will Steger of Ely completes the 3,800-mile International Trans-Antarctica Expedition, the first dog-sled traverse of the continent by its widest distance.