Superior Happenings 2021

SUPERIOR HAPPENINGS

What to expect in the ‘next normal’

Our Chamber of Commerce has been serving the business community of Superior, Douglas County and the greater Twin Ports area since we were established in 1883. As we’ve written before, Chamber organizations are often likened to the air traffic controllers of a community.

TAYLOR PEDERSEN Business outlook

We wear many hats, adjusting to the everchanging needs of the communities we serve. We do the work that many people think “just happens” in a community and have the honor of representing the business community and, specifically our membership every day.

Likewise, the Chamber, our Chamber, has also changed over the years. The SuperiorDouglas County Area Chamber of Commerce today represents three individual organizations: The Chamber, Travel Superior and The Chamber Foundation. They focus on business, tourism and education. How we function tomorrow will continue to evolve with the everchanging needs of our community and those who invest in it.

Over a year ago, communities all over the world were shaken with the sudden onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the U.S., we saw unrest, a lack in trust and rising tensions. Some communities were affected more than others, while the impact on commerce varied greatly depending on industry. The hardesthit industries were the tourism, travel and hospitality sectors.

Our business communities, health systems and schools all especially felt the

OUTLOOK: Page H2

By Shelley Nelson snelson@superiortelegram.com

The city of Superior welcomed a variety of new businesses in the past year.

Here’s a brief rundown:

Central Flats

Construction was completed on the new mixed-use building that stands on the site of the former Central Middle School, offering 136 market-rate apartments and 12,000 square feet of commercial space.

The 175,000-square-foot, five-story structure started welcoming new residential tenants late last year, and its first commercial customer, Imperium Chiropractic, is planning to open this summer.

Purr-fectly Superior

A mobile grooming business launched last June. Owner Amy Laessig provides one-on-one grooming services at her clients’ homes, where older or more nervous pets are likely to remain more calm.

Laessig carries supplies like a folding table, industrial dryer, shampoo, clippers, scissors and nail clippers in a few bags to groom dogs, cats and rabbits. Visit the Purr-fectly Superior Grooming Facebook page, call 218-576-2796 or email amy@ purr-fectlysuperiorgrooming. com for more information.

Toppers Pizza

A Superior branch of Toppers Pizza, 1231 N. Ninth St., Duluth, opened at 1214 Tower Ave., in October.

While the pandemic interrupted plans to open the new location

Framing history for the public

Society creates displays of buildings’ histories for owner

By Maria Lockwood mlockwood @superiortelegram.com

The historic beginnings of two Superior businesses were put under scrutiny this winter. The end result: two panels featuring the background of the Badger Building and its neighbor, 1228 Banks, which houses Studio One Photography, will soon be on display.

Matt Cich, who owns the buildings under the business name JB Build-

ing LLC, said JoAnn Jardine of Studio One gave him the idea for the panels. She shared with him a story she’d seen about the 1228 Banks property online, a “slice of history” post from the Douglas County Historical Society.

“I thought, ‘That’s cool; maybe they have something about the Badger Building.’ So I went over to the historical society,” Cich said.

“I thought maybe if I had a couple of boards made up of the building

and hung them up inside there, it would be kind of nice for the people coming in the building.”

It was a new request for the historical soci-

ety, but one business manager Jon Winter embraced. The research staff dug into the buildings’ histories and their different incarnations.

Black Fox Hair Studio owner Lena Cooper peeks out from a waxing station

than a dozen new businesses got their start this year

Smart minds pivot to open new doors

Entrepreneurship is an exciting but risky business, even in the best of times.

The past 14 months could reasonably be called one of the most uncertain periods of time that our region has endured, where most of us were stopped for unknown periods of time.

But entrepreneurs are resilient — individuals for whom challenges are exhilarating rather than fearinducing, who respond to change by pivoting, and who see opportunities where others see roadblocks. We saw many entrepreneurs try new things, pivot to new ways in which they reached their customers, and overall found a way to stay in business.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed priorities, disrupted day-to-day activities, forced many to work from home and made us all aware of the fact that we cannot predict the future. Despite that chaos and uncertainty, businesses in Superior and Douglas County have shown resilience and opened new doors that were unknown to them before.

At the Small Business Development Center at the University of WisconsinSuperior, we have been proud to assist our local businesses through this time of uncertainty, assisting them in building a plan, cultivating resources and setting them up for success once this pandemic subsides.

Over the past 14 months, the SBDC assisted more than 800 businesses throughout an eight-county region in Northwestern Wisconsin. Countless hours went in to walk clients through the Paycheck Protection Program, economic impact disaster loans, numerous federal and state programs and, most recently, the Restaurant Revitalization Fund.

We have seen success, changes and ways in which entrepreneurs pivoted

their business to continue reaching their customers and clients. Just like all of us, entrepreneurs in our region were thrown into periods of uncertainty in which they had to navigate uncharted waters. We should be proud of how our communities have supported each other during these times.

Even though this last year has been a period of unknown, many new businesses have started and have shown success. These businesses have shown resilience as they have launched during the pandemic. They launched with a plan in place to meet the demand that they were seeing, but also to support our local communities.

As we approach halfway through 2021, Superior and Douglas County are seeing more growth due in part to these aspiring entrepreneurs. Collaboration between the SBDC and its regional partners — The Development Association, SuperiorDouglas County Chamber of Commerce, Superior Business Improvement District and UWS, among others — allows our region to thrive with resources that benefit our local entrepreneurs.

Moving forward, there is a lot of activity that supports entrepreneurs, and it keeps growing. Biannually, the SBDC holds an eight-week entrepreneurial training program that gives local entrepreneurs the first steps and blueprint to starting their

entrepreneurship journey. Many local and established businesses, such as Empire Coffee in Superior and The Atrium in Solon Springs are graduates of this program, along with new businesses, such as Superior Waffles, that will be launching in the next couple months.

The UWS Center for Continuing Education continues to develop innovative programs that meet the needs of lifelong learners and organizations alike. Partnerships with The Development Association have allowed us to launch a “First Steps to Starting a Business,” along with a “First Steps to Starting a Food Products Business,” allowing entrepreneurs from many walks of life to learn about the foundational building blocks that are available to them.

As we start to get back to “normal” and enjoy the summer months, let’s not forget to support our regional entrepreneurs. They are one of the backbones that help our local economy thrive and always need our continued support. We are in an era of growth within Superior and the greater community and look forward to seeing what will happen in the months and years to come.

immediate impacts and challenges. While some businesses were struggling to keep doors open, another organization in the same industry may have seen overly positive results.

As we were immersed into what living during a pandemic looked like, many were scared to do anything.

Life, comfort and security were all put on hold.

On a local level, our business community and citizens faced unique impacts as they navigated public health guidance and regulations from federal agencies as well as two different state and local authorities. Our Chamber realized the need for clear and concise information. We opened our communications up to nonmember organizations, and we offered a needed resource by streamlining guidance, financial assistance and information. We never faltered in our advocacy for the tourism and business communities. We had regular and open communication with hundreds of organizations throughout the past year as well as our local, state and federal leadership.

Now for the fun part!

We are very aware that we aren’t through the pandemic yet, but we are starting to see the sun rise on the horizon! The Superior, Douglas County and Twin Ports region is doing much better than many areas. Tourism is a major economic driver throughout the region and is causing a bounceback faster than much of the country.

In addition, we are wellpositioned to welcome and safely host eager visitors planning to travel before the end of the year. Superior seems to be going through a renaissance of reimagining and redevelopment.

Our corner of the Midwest

is breaking out of the stereotypes we have been placed in for decades, and you can almost feel the change and positive energy. We need to stay friendly and welcoming to the new business opportunities knocking on our door. We are seeing new businesses of all types open. Entrepreneurship and expansion opportunities are outpacing the spaces we have to meet demand. We have seen vibrant and creative businesses and developments during a time that was dark for many. There are more new projects on the horizon; in addition, many of our major projects didn’t slow down. This growth and development is laying the foundation and infrastructure to a better future.

We have all heard the terms “back to normal” or “new normal.” No matter what we call life after the pandemic, we can be sure that it will not be the same as life pre-pandemic. The workforce will continue to be the No. 1 challenge for many of our employers, our employment attraction strategies will need to be creative and flexible. Teleworking and virtual meetings are here to stay.

Online commerce is a needed component for many industries going forward. There is no doubt that consumer, employee, employer and social behavior has changed indefinitely. But one thing is certain: supporting our local economy, businesses and nonprofits has never been more important. Our citizens stepped up to the plate and took care of each other throughout the pandemic thus far. The impact on quality of life and health from the community organizations around us has been clarified during the pandemic.

We are moving forward, but we must continue to be here for our neighbors.

Andy Donahue is the director of the Small Business Development Center at the University of Wisconsin-Superior. He can be reached at 715-394-8352 or adonahue@uwsuper.edu.

Jed Carlson / File / Superior Telegram

Seamstress and owner of The Stitchery, Megan Alanen, works on altering a dress at her new shop at 1830 Tower Ave. in Superior on March 10, 2020.

earlier in the year, owner Ryan Tepsa wasn’t deterred because of daily calls to bring the signature pizza to Superior.

The restaurant offers delivery and curbside pickup, with limited seating in the large lobby. Tepsa said he’s in the midst of hiring more than 30 employees for the Superior Toppers Pizza location. He has 21 employees at the Duluth restaurant. The positions are listed on Indeed, Tepsa said, and will soon be on the corporate website. People can also call the Duluth store, 218-525-4500, for an application.

Toppers Pizza, headquartered in Whitewater, Wisconsin, has more than 75 locations in 16 states, according to the company. Tepsa said the chain’s house pizzas and signature breadsticks set Toppers apart from other pizza parlors, as well as its later hours. The Superior Toppers Pizza will be open until 2 a.m.

And on Oct. 15, Tepsa said, Toppers Pizza will roll out a vegan menu.

Port City Collective

Moving in next to Toppers in the former Community Bank and Trust building was Port City Collective.

The shop offers a variety of hemp products, including a handful of local brands, a house brand and a handful of West Coast brands. In addition to CBD products, Port City Collective will carry tobacco and vape products and a small selection of hand-blown glass.

The business is owned and operated by Colton Allen of Duluth, the owner of the former skate and snowboarding-based clothing business, Common Apparel.

Black Fox Hair Studio

A revelation prompted five-time salon owner Lena Cooper to open her first salon in Superior.

The Black Fox Hair Studio opened after the closure the Boss salon in Duluth. Cooper said things just started to fall into place to open her sixth salon, from renewing her cosmetology license, getting a salon license and fitting in the schedules of Belknap Electric and Belknap Plumbing to make necessary modifications to her new space at 1408 Tower Ave.

Lady Outlaw

Vintage

When Becky Scherf opened Lady Outlaw Vintage last November in the space formerly occupied by Red Mug, there was a chance the popup would close again by April.

“It just ended up working out,” Scherf said recently. The stop continues to offer clothes, shoes, home décor, housewares and kitsch from the 1920s through the 1990s in the lower level of 916 Hammond Ave.

Jamrock Cultural Restaurant

Owner Tony O’Neil has been around for a while as a vendor, and until recently has served his Caribbeaninspired meals out of Average Joe’s in Superior’s North End. That was until January when he opened Jamrock Cultural Restaurant at 1901 Tower Ave.

In the building formerly occupied by Pak’s Green Corner and Kenny Wong’s Oriental Express, O’Neil is able to serve in house or carryout customers meals inspired by his grandmother, Dorothy Reece.

Stop N Go Pizza

For owners Keith White and Jamar Kirk, the secret is in the signature sauces created by White, who does most of the cooking at Stop N Go Pizza, 1908 Tower Ave.

The business partners seized on the opportunity to run a family business to serve appetizers, pizza, calzones and sandwiches for people to enjoy at home. The distinct sauces, including sweet chili pineapple, hot buffalo, barbecue, lemon pepper, parmesan garlic and sweet onion jerk, provide the flare and are whipped up by White.

Lift Bridge Bagels Entrepreneur Lexy Land launched Lift Bridge Bagels in midDecember under the umbrella of her mug cake business, On Grace and 93rd. She’s been selling and shipping mug cake mixes since July. The idea to start a bagel bakery began a few years ago during a trip to New Zealand with her husband. They found a shop, Beam Me Up Bagels, with amazing bagels, and have been trying to find a comparable bagel spot stateside.

Finding nothing she liked locally, Land decided to make her own.

Every week, Land bakes up to 25 dozen bagels, depending on the number of orders. Her staple flavors are plain, cinnamon sugar, Asiago cheese and everything (topped with a blend of sesame seeds, poppy seeds, minced onion, minced garlic and a flakey sea salt).

Visit the On Grace and 93rd website to order bagels or mug cake mixes or learn more about the business.

Northern Oral Surgery and Implant Center

A patient backlog, making room for a new doctor and an expiring lease all played a role in Northern Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons opening its newest office in Superior.

Northern Oral Surgery and Implant Center at 503 Belknap St., opened Monday through Thursday in March. By July, the surgeons plan to provide care in Superior five days a week.

The clinic specials in dental implants, bone grafting, facial trauma, jaw surgery and tooth extractions among other procedures.

The practice got its start in the late 1980s or early 1990s in Duluth when now retired surgeon, Dr. Chuck Babst struck out on his own.

Dr. Duncan Puffer, now the senior partner, joined Northern Oral in 1994. Dr. Marty Espe joined in 1998, followed by Dr. Peter Mayer in 2005 and Dr. Tim Morse in 2013. Dr. Benjamin Heggestad is the latest addition.

Dolce Vita

A bit of good luck and a long family history in the food service with origins in Macedonia came together to launch Dolce Vita in South Superior.

The new eatery at 5802 Tower Ave., opened in April.

Owner Zudi Maksutoski, a native of Macedonia, offers steaks, pastas and special European dishes on special nights, all made from scratch and locally sourced.

Lady Meg’s Cakes

When the pandemic hit, Meghan Gobel, a behavioral analyst with the state of Minnesota, decided to launch Lady Meg’s Cakes from the commercial kitchen at the Superior Business Development Center.

“I kind of do a lot of cheesecakes and pies lately,” Gobel said. Desserts have long

been a tradition in her family and a focal point of family meals and celebrations, and those are the kinds of deserts she makes. She doesn’t

make wedding cakes.

“I want to keep it fun,” Gobel said. “I don’t want it to become overwhelming.”

While she doesn’t

have a menu per se, she said she’s always loved baking and is willing to give anything a try. So, around her full-time work schedule, she’s offering sweet treats at LadyMegsCakes on Facebook.

Happy Daze Infusionz

Happy Daze Infusionz is a hemp bakery operating in the commercial kitchen at the Superior Business Development Center that makes edible treats for the cannabis connoisseur.

Owner Emily Morrow said with the pandemic, it seemed like a good time to launch the business in March. Her products are available to the age 21 and older crowd through CDB retailers like Ignite and the Super Smoke Shop in Superior as week as other shops in the region. She also sells her products online at happydazeinfusionz. com, at popups and farmers market, and is searching for more vendors.

Morrow said her goal is to normalize hemp, which is an important natural plant that, unlike alcohol, has never killed anyone.

Courtesy of Colton Allen

Jed Carlson / jcarlson@superiortelegram.com

Becky Scherf, owner of Lady Outlaw’s Vintage pop-up shop, looks through clothes at her new shop in the former Red Mug space Nov. 20, 2020.

Jed Carlson / File / Telegram

Lexy Land, owner of Lift Bridge Bagels, flips a batch of bagels over as steam rises while she boils them at the Superior Business Center on April 15, 2021.

Courtesy of Meghan Gobel

This key lime pie made by Meghan Gobel, owner of Lady Meg’s Cakes, earned rave reviews on Facebook from the customer who bought it for her husband’s birthday.

Shelley Nelson / snelson@superiortelegram.com

Zudi Maksutowski stands near the sign of the remodeled Dolce Vita restaurant at 5802 Tower Ave. in April.

Jed Carlson / jcarlson@superiortelegram.com

Sara Haushalter, left, and Bobbi Reijo clean a room at Northern Oral Surgery and Implant Center in their new space on Belknap Street in Superior on March 24, 2021.

Jed Carlson / File / Superior Telegram

Keith White, left, and Jamar Kirk stand outside Stop N Go Pizza, which opened Nov. 20, 2020, in Superior.

Artisans get online boost

Superior crafters forge creative paths during pandemic

By Maria Lockwood mlockwood@ superiortelegram.com

Not every business in Superior has a storefront.

For local makers and artisan venues like farmers’ markets, craft fairs, boutique shops, pop-up booths and Facebook sites offer a way to share their talents with the public.

One area where many rub elbows is Etsy. The virtual marketplace was a go-to site for makers during the pandemic, when traditional venues were shuttered. It’s low cost — 20 cents an item — and flexibility made it a viable option.

The paths makers take to get there vary — whether it’s a love of art, a desire to create a small business, a hobby grown large or just the need to create — but the online platform offers them an opportunity to share their work with the world. A look on the site, filtered to reflect strictly Superior artisans, reveals a myriad of talents. There are woodworkers, jewelry designers, knitters, candle makers, potters and more. Their mediums range from glass and metal to birch bark and pebbles.

A handful of artists invited the Telegram camera into their workspace to share a joint joy in making.

ARTISANS: Page H5

Pebbles on the beach

Michael Burnham fell into candle making. It started years ago when his daughters wanted to make a special Mother’s Day gift, and has been growing ever since. For the Superior man, it’s all about family. Burnham’s three children, Courtney, Tiffany and Andrew, and even his mother pitch in to help with marketing, collecting supplies and other duties. His daughter Courtney created the business logo.

“You know, everybody enjoys it. It’s just, you know, something fun,” said Burnham, who works for the railroad.

Under the name Bear Creek Candles and Soaps, the Superior man traditionally brings his scented goods to vendor shows at the Miller Hill Mall. His last pop-up show, however, was in March of 2020, three days before COVID-19 shut the mall’s doors.

Since then, he’s joined Etsy and unlocked a new passion for pebbles. His candles have been doing well on the site, but it’s his Lake Superior rock soap dishes that have really heated up. As with every aspect of his business, it was inspired by his family.

“My son and his girlfriend came back from walking on the beach, and they had, you know, picked up rocks along the way,” Burnham said.

He had been experimenting with wooden soap dishes, and his brain put the two together.

“For some reason it was like a lightning strike and I’m like, ‘Wait a second. We should make soap dishes out of Lake Superior rocks,’” the Superior man said.

The kids thought he’d finally lost his mind, but he sat down to order molds. He started mak-

ing the clear dishes, studded with unfinished rocks, in the fall.

“And the response to it was overwhelming,” Burnham said.

“I found all I was doing was making soap dishes. We’ve shipped them out to over 30 states, to Canada, to Germany, to France.”

Etsy had brought his Superior craftsmanship to a global audience, but he’s looking forward to sharing the soap dishes locally when vendor shows return to the Northland. It’s a project he enjoys, from rock walks along Wisconsin Point to sorting through the haul, finding ones that fit together.

“It’s like creating a puzzle all on your own,” Burnham said. “And I mean, there’s no portion of it whatsoever that I consider work. It’s just so relaxing.”

More recently, he’s been thinking up creative ways to offer candles when the jars he uses are out of stock. Burnham’s created cupcake candles, mug candles, even cereal bowl candles, complete with floating pieces of cereal, to adapt to the nationwide jar shortage. On tap in the future are molded popcorn and ice cream scoop candles. In addition to Etsy, Burnham has a Facebook site.

Scented duo

Through each incarnation of her business, Reba Granczynski has tapped into Etsy. It began eight years ago with knitted and crocheted goods, then morphed into bath products — sugar scrubs, soap and bath bombs.

Fun fact: Fizzy bath powder is the name given to bath bombs that crumble coming out of the mold if the humidity or temperature isn’t just right.

“Oh, my gosh, they’re so hard to make,” Granczynski said.

The Superior woman was set to open her own massage therapy business when COVID-19 hit.

“So I decided to make candles instead because that’s COVID proof,” Granczynski said.

Today she runs a home candle making business, Lake Superior Treasures, out of her attic. She’s recently paired it with a second sweet-smelling enterprise, baked goods.

Granczynski rents a table at the downtown Superior Farmers Market and will be featuring both candles and Lake Superior Treasures Bakery goods every Wednesday beginning May 26.

Art runs in the family. Granczynski’s father is a woodworker; her mother paints the windows of the Children’s Room at the Superior Public Library. Determined to make it as an entrepreneur, the Superior woman has her own “doing business as,”

or sole proprietorship, company.

In addition to the farmers market and Etsy, her candles are featured at Art on the Planet in Superior. She creates private label candles for eight different businesses in the region, including a number of coffee shops and restaurants that branched out into retail to cope with the pandemic. She also supplies custom candles to a home staging company.

As many of her candles use tins, she’s been able to work around the current glass jar shortage.

Granczynski has put her nose to the test, teasing out scents for individual therapy horses at North Country RIDE and creating a candle tour of parks on the North Shore of Lake Superior. Each of the eight parks from Two Harbors to the Canadian border has a signature smell, from the white pine scent of Tettegouche Park and the berry smells of Gooseberry Falls to the leather, tobacco and campfire aroma of Grand Portage. Split Rock’s candle was inspired by a pic-

ture of the lighthouse on the cliff with a spray of Lake Superior water.

“I tried to figure out what that image would smell like,” Granczynski said.

The result, a sweet floral with a watery scent, is one of her most popular candles.

Creating a candle involves keeping an eye on temperature — the soy wax must be at 180 degrees Fahrenheit — and humidity. It includes pouring and mixing, a little math and finding a pleasing balance of scent. Good air flow helps, as well, which explains the attic workshop.

Etsy is just one piece of her marketing strategy, and no longer a key one. It’s easy to get an Etsy shop started, she said, but it requires promotion and additional work to gain traction on the site. Granczynski has a website as well as Facebook pages for both her candle and bakery businesses. She plans to continue making wholesale connections and expanding her footprint.

Michael Burnham holds one of his soap dishes made with rocks found along the shore of Lake Superior.

Michael Burnham picks rocks along the shore of Lake Superior on Monday morning, May 17, 2021, on Wisconsin Point. The rocks will be used as a soap dish.

Photos by Jed Carlson / jcarlson@ superiortelegram.com

Photos by Jed Carlson / jcarlson@superiortelegram.com

Reba Granczynski pours wax into a cup while she makes a scented candle in the attic of her Superior home on Thursday, May 13, 2021.

Reba Granczynski makes Lake Superior Treasures candles in the attic of her Superior home.

Setting sights on the stars

The Scates family’s Etsy journey started in August with the purchase of a laser cutter. About the size of a desktop printer, the machine can engrave on 75 different types of material, from wood, paper and acrylic to leather.

“We didn’t know really how much we could do until we actually started,” said Teresa Scates.

Already an Etsy customer, she decided to give the online platform a try under the moniker Whitetail by Teresa. Her “Star Wars” themed merchandise, including Rebel Alliance earrings and models of the Millennium Falcon, have been well-received.

“Up until this point, she’s done about $1,500 (in business),” said her husband, Joseph.

The engraver requires a computer, and files can be purchased or created using certain illustrator programs. It can create a single image, or cut different layers of a complex design, that are then cut and assembled by hand.

The couple and their three children — Zoe, 9; Owen, 7; and Zachariah, 1 — also bring items to the Solon Springs Farmers Market to sell. Etsy offers them a way to offer merchandise for as little as 20 cents a listing, and opens the door to custom orders. Scates has sent Whitetail pieces to more than 20 states as well as countries in Europe.

“It works pretty well,” Scates said. “It’s better than making a whole website and doing it that way,”

The Superior woman, who is home-schooling their children, said she enjoys the ability to create and bring a little extra money in.

“I always wanted to do something at home, and I just could never find something that really works,” Scates said. “So this really fits our niche.”

Inspired by nature

When Lisa Sorvik moved to Parkland in July, she found artistic inspiration around every corner of the family’s six-and-a-half-acre property.

“Just a lot of exploring and realizing that there’s beauty. It’s like a gold mine. There’s just beauty everywhere,” the Duluth native said.

She got a wood burner and began to create. Her work includes mobiles, wall hangings and garlands featuring slices of wood, pine cones, driftwood and birch bark.

When she launched an Etsy shop, Sorvik North, people from around the country started ordering the pieces. Some shared pictures of her work hanging over their fireplace, or in their living room.

“It definitely is a confidence booster because it just makes you want to keep going,” Sorvik said.

She brings a huge backpack along on hikes with her husband Caleb and their children — Eden, 5, and Gabe, 4. The little ones help scavenge and load it up with a wealth of natural materials.

One of Sorvik’s most popular creations is her birchbark earrings. The surprisingly light pieces are crafted out of bark recovered from fallen trees. Sorvik cuts basic shapes using her children’s pattern block set, and lets the natural beauty of the bark shine. The material can be flaky, a bit finicky, sometimes surprising. A piece can peel revealing pink, gray or white underneath before it is sealed with polyacrylic.

“You just don’t know until you’re officially done what it’s going to turn out like,” Sorvik said.

On a recent Friday, she worked on earrings at a table in the yard as the children played. At one point, Eden called out for help dealing with two spiders they’d found.

Sorvik has brought her work to pop-up shops, and her earrings can be found at Duluth Studio Market. Word-of-mouth has also fueled sales in the area, and Sorvik North is also on Instagram. Etsy allows Sorvik, who is home-schooling her two children, to set her own pace. She can list eight items or 25. With that kind of flexibility, she has time to teach — and deal with spiders.

Sorvik has a minor in art from the University of Wisconsin-Superior and has painted pieces for Va Bene in Duluth. It’s important to focus on both art and family, she said.

“I want to home-school, and I’m excited about that,” Sorvik said.

“But I also want them to see their mom pursue her dreams, right? And then hopefully that inspires them to think outside the box a little bit.”

Sorvik said her business has sparked family dreams. Her sister has begun listing watercolor prints on the platform. Her mother, a book collector, plans to turn pages from old books into art.

“I told her ‘You need to create an Etsy shop,’” Sorvik said.

The Twin Ports arts community is very supportive, she said, and Etsy is a good spot for people to share the work they do.

“You can really let your creativity go and chances are someone’s gonna like it,” Sorvik said. “You get excited by what everybody else is doing and the diversity of it all.”

Visit etsy.com for more information.

Photos by Jed Carlson /

Teresa Scates, right, puts together a pair of earrings as her son Owen, 7, plays with some of her products at the kitchen table of their house in Superior on Thursday morning, May 13, 2021.

Owen Scates, 7, holds up a pair of Star Wars earrings his mom, Teresa, made at their home in Superior on Thursday morning, May 13, 2021.

Lisa Sorvik sands the edges of a birchbark earring while her son Gabe, 4, plays behind her in the family’s yard in Parkland on May 14, 2021.

Photos by Maria Lockwood / mlockwood@ superiortelegram.com

Lisa Sorvik sets out a display of birch bark earrings she has made at her home in Parkland Friday, May 14, 2021.

Teresa Scates holds some of the garden stakes she printed at her home in Superior.

Celebrate Superior goods

By Maria Lockwood mlockwood @superiortelegram.com

A new display at the Douglas County Historical Society shines a spotlight on Superior’s manufacturing past. The list of items made in Superior spans the years 1890 to 1998, and includes everything from coal briquettes and wooden chairs to candy, butter and books. There’s even a mystery the nonprofit hopes to unravel. When creating the display, board member Valerie Burke included only businesses that the historical society had artifacts from, so visitors could see tangible slices of history. The display includes the following.

Northern Brewing Co., 1890-1967

Kinkert Brewing was founded by John Klinkert and Louis Rueping in 1890. Located at 702 N. Eighth St., the business had five buildings and went through 35 tons of ice a day, producing four kinds of beer.

In 1898, Klinkert Brewing became Northern Brewing Co. At one time, it outsold all other brands of beer in Superior. Besides northern Wisconsin, Northern beer was sold in the Milwaukee area.

At some point, there was a bad batch of beer produced, and it was returned to the company in truckloads. Northern lost many major accounts due to this, and the business was bought by Cold Spring Brewing Company of Minnesota in 1967. Cold Spring shut down by 1995.

From fridge to museum piece: The can of beer on display once belonged to Leonard Lundry, the great uncle of DCHS Business Manager Jon Winter.

It was still in a refrigerator until about 1970, where Lundry’s widow Adeline had kept it. Winter, who had started collecting beer cans as a hobby, noticed the can one day while visiting and asked if he could have it for his collection. She agreed on one condition, that he promised never to open it.

Webster Manufacturing Co., 1892-1937

The Webster Manufacturing Co. started in 1892 and was located in south Superior around North 57th Street and

two blocks west of Tower Avenue. The plant covered 15 acres and had four buildings, including a drying plant. The company moved to the area from Menasha, Wisconsin, because of the available lumber in the Superior area.

In 1899, Webster produced 3,000 chairs a day and employed 300 people. By 1915, the company offered 900 different styles of chairs.

Within 10 years, Web-

ster started producing other kinds of furniture. In 1932, Webster made 7,000 chairs for the Republican National Convention held in Minneapolis.

During the Depression, Webster closed in 1932. The business reopened briefly in 1935 and closed for good in 1937.

Fun fact: Some of the Webster buildings were used for a few years in the 1950s by Cornwell-

Superior Corporation to produce furniture cabinets for televisions and radios.

Russell Creamery, 1898-1982

Started around 1898, Russell Creamery was originally located at 612 Tower Ave. The business, started by Charles Russell and Newell Russell with L.G. Nevin, produced pasteurized milk, cream, butter, cheese and eggs. The business had relocated to 1021 Tower Ave. by 1904.

Russell Creamery built a two-story building at 1623 Broadway St. for

Guenard’s Candy Store, 1904-1984

It started with popcorn.

Harry Guenard opened a popcorn store, the Corn Crib, on Tower Avenue in 1904. About 10 years later, the building was razed and a new one built at 1421 Tower Ave. It became Guenard’s Old Fashioned Corn Crib, which served lunch and had an ice cream parlor. It also sold cigars and tobacco.

In the early 1930s, the business was downsized to just a candy store and moved to 1113½ Tower Ave. for a year before settling two blocks away at 1328 Tower Ave.

The store sold 45 varieties of candy, caramel apples, mints and popcorn. At its peak, Guenard’s used 10,000 pounds of raw chocolate per year and 200 pounds of sugar a week.

Harry’s son Ed worked at his father’s store starting at the age of 10, and eventually bought the business from his father. Ed’s sister Bernice also helped run the store. In 1984, they retired, and the business closed.

The popcorn, however, lives on. The Guenard’s popcorn machine is now housed at the Elk’s Lodge in Superior. The Douglas County Historical Society creates a close approximation of the candy shop’s secret recipe — dry popped white popcorn with plenty of real butter — for special events.

Fun fact: Harry Guenard was a chair maker at The Webster Manufacturing Co. before he started his popcorn store.

Tyomies Society, 1914-1998

the business in 1910. Initially, the creamery was in the basement and half of the first floor; the rest of the building was a hotel.

By 1924, Russell was selling 5,000 bottles of milk a day. In addition to recycling most of the bottles, the company was purchasing 8,000 new bottles a week.

In December 1954, the company merged with Beatrice Foods, which shut down in 1982.

Fun fact: Russell Creamery supplied the butter used by Guenard’s Candy Store for popcorn.

The Tyomies Society moved to Superior in 1914. For 95 years, the society produced a newspaper in Finnish. The paper was critical of American capitalism and encouraged socialism and labor unions.

The society, located in the Agen building at 601-603 Tower Ave., also served as a cultural and social center for the Finnish community. Tyomies published children’s periodicals, books and pamphlets. It also had an active drama group.

Fun fact: The Agen building is now home to the Sweeden Sweets candy store.

ITEMS: Page H7

Photos by Jed Carlson /

Northern Beer

Guenard’s Webster Chair

Russell Creamery

Co-operative Central Exchange, 1917-1963

Founded in 1917, the purpose of Co-operative Central Exchange was to unite with other co-op stores to buy in bulk at lower costs.

They bought a threestory brick building at 1701 Winter St. as their headquarters. Initially, 15 co-ops joined. They had their own branded products under labels such as “Red Star” and “Cooperator’s Best.”

Coffee was a big seller.

In 1927, the cooperative sold 325,000 pounds in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan.

The company was associated with the Finnish-American workers’ movement and the Socialist Party of America. In 1931, the company split in two with the hardline

BUILDINGS

From Page H1

Communists forming their own group, which only lasted until 1939. The other half became Central Co-operative Wholesale and moved into the Eiman building on 1901 Winter St. It merged with Midland Co-operatives in 1963 and became part of Land O’ Lakes in 1982. Still there: The 1701 Winter St. building still stands and is part of Charter NEX Films, Inc.

Mac-Dell’s Toothpicks, 1931-?

Exactly where in Superior the can was made is a mystery, one the Douglas County Historical Society hopes to solve with the public’s help.

The U.S. Patent Office granted “Mac-Dell’s Dainty Flavored Picks” of Superior, Wisconsin, the trade number 41,500 in November 1931. The research staff at the historical society has been unable to find an address for the company, however, or any

was built in 1892, it was known as the Maryland Block. Early tenants included the Billings Hardware Company, New Era Business College and the Turnbull-CameronDegler Company, which specialized in furnishings and decor for homes.

The building was purchased by the Evening Telegram in 1919, and the paper moved to the site following a threeyear, $75,000 remodeling project. It soon became known as the Telegram Building.

The remodeled building continued to offer retail space — the upper floors included doctors, dentists, attorneys and even a barber shop — but the showpiece was the newspaper. The pressroom rose from the basement to the mezzanine on the North 13th Street side of the building. People on the sidewalk were able to watch the presses running, and often did.

The Telegram Building was the site of the first commercial radio station at the Head of the Lakes, WEBC. The station was founded by Morgan Murphy, son of Telegram founder John T. Murphy, and

clue to how long it was in operation. “There must be an interesting story out there somewhere,” according to the display.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the histori-

cal society at 715-3928449, email dchs@ douglashistory.org, visit the Douglas County Historical Society website or stop by 1101 John Ave. from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.

radio pioneer Walter Bridges. The transmitter was located in the penthouse on the roof, and two antenna towers were added to the roof.

When the Telegram relocated to 1226 Ogden Ave. in 1972, the building was renamed the Badger Building.

From shirts to liquor

The Superior Shirt Company was the first tenant of the building at 1228 Banks Ave., which was also completed in 1892. About 35 employees were hired with hopes of up to 100 in the future, but financial problems caused

the business to close in 1894. At its zenith, the company manufactured about 30 dozen shirts per day.

As with the Badger Building, an established business was next to occupy the site. Superior Cycle Co., which began manufacturing bicycles in 1896 at the junction of the Northern Pacific and Great Northern Railroads near North 64th Street, relocated to the 1228 Banks Ave. Building in 1897 and remained there until 1901.

A wholesale liquor company, the I.L. Lamm Company, moved into the building

Voted Best Greenhouse 2020

in 1902. The business would continue operations at the site until 1916, a casualty of the temperance movement. The move to liquor-free life wavered back and forth in Superior prior to Prohibition, propelled by voters.

“Superior went dry in 1916; then they went wet again in 1917; then they went dry again in 1918; and then Prohibition took for the duration, so it’s pretty safe to assume that in 1916, that business went out of business because you could no longer sell liquor,” Winter said.

A fan of the History Channel, the project gave Cich a look at two stories closer to home. There were no big surprises or reveals, but he was happy with the result.

“It’s always interesting if you own something to find the history,” he said.

Cich said he sent the panels out to be framed and plans to display both on the first floor of the Badger Building. Winter said similar panels could be created for other local buildings, if owners are interested.

Nick Casper Mark Casper

Jed Carlson / jcarlson@superiortelegram.com

Studio One on May 17, 2021.

Courtesy of the Douglas County Historical Society

A drawing of the Superior Shirt Co. building at 1228 Banks Ave. show how it would have looked from 1892-94.

Photos by Jed Carlson / jcarlson@superiortelegram.com

Tyomies

Mac Dells Toothpicks

Berwind Briquets

Red Star Coffee

Co-op Coffee