If you’ve been to a grocery store in the last week, from the Twin Cities metropolis to small town Grand Marais, you’ve felt the frantic energy and high levels of stress as a shopper. But for the folks running cash registers or restocking shelves well after midnight, the job of going to work every day has changed dramatically. Absorbing communal... READ MORE >
Relocating to small town America from a Caribbean island—known for sun-saturated shores, t-shirt and shorts weather, and endless tourism—isn’t a common Cook County experience. For Jason Franklyn of Saint Catherine, Jamaica, passing up an H2-B visa for work in the U.S. was foolish. He couldn’t let go of the moment. Combining summers at Bluefin Bay and winters at Lutsen Mountain,... READ MORE >
On a bluebird Saturday morning with temperatures orbiting around zero, the parking lot of Trail Center and surrounding roads were packed with dog trucks, volunteers, and onlookers for the annual Gunflint Mail Run. Founded in 1976, the dog sled race is broken up into two pieces: a 65-mile, 8-dog race and 100-mile, 12-dog race. In this year’s competition, Ryan Redington... READ MORE >
Sometimes, when it’s 10 degrees below zero and the stars crackle and burn in the dark, do you peer up into the endless night sky and pause in fascination? Thankfully for Cook County, which sits relatively low on the Bortle scale of light pollution, experiencing pristine dark sky without driving eight hours is still possible. In celebration of this vulnerable... READ MORE >
Full of woodsmoke, high spirits, and scalding cauldrons of chili, North House Folk School celebrated the return of winter over the weekend at Winterer’s Gathering. In contrast to the bustle of summer tourism, the three-day festival beckons an eclectic and devoted bunch, not afraid to relish the life ways of the North through winter camping, polar expedition accounts, and diehard... READ MORE >
Whether they are up at the crack of dawn checking bear bait stations or dealing with two legs who pretend they do not know the law, conservation officers (CO) protect the North woods and pile up miles. Most recently, Cook County welcomed a new CO, Kylan Hill of SE Minnesota, to the Tofte station. In proper small-town fashion, here are... READ MORE >
Instead of heading south like the geese, flocks of authors, publishers, and book lovers traveled north over the weekend for the North Shore Readers and Writers Festival put on by the Grand Marais Art Colony. The event, which started in 2015 and takes place every other year, hosts a variety of creative workshops, panel discussions, and author-led classes across town.... READ MORE >
Few things are as refreshing as the smell of a freshly cut spruce tree, especially if you’ve gone out and cut it down yourself. Last weekend, Sarah Lakosky and her two boys, Ethan (10) and Ari (6), decided to drive up the Gunflint Trail in search of a suitable Christmas tree. Their packing list for the excursion was affordable and... READ MORE >
