The Woman Today May/June 2020

WOMAN today the

Executive program director of Minnesota Steelheader’s Women on the Fly Program

• 100th anniversary of our 19th Amendment

• Local challenge inspires healthy change

• 2 amazing nurses share their stories

• Find this peaceful escape right in the Northland

Lisa Murphy

They won't remember ft the day they were born. But youwill.

WOMAN the today

PROFILES

6 Women’s Suffrage

100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment

12 Superior Siren Honors music and sisterhood

16 Veronica Ciurleo A Ministry of Support

18 Melanie Kucera and Robin McCauley

Two special nursestwo unique specialties

FEATURES

22 Park Point Art Fair turns 50

28 Jay Cooke State Park

A perfect summer staycation

32 Duluze Weight Loss Challenge Inspires health change

34 Women on the Fly Program teaches, supports women to learn, enjoy steelheading

42 Stedman’s niche: Caring for the trees

HEALTH/MEDICINE

26 St. Luke’s Life after two strokes

38 Essentia

Lifestyle Medicine: Big changes, big rewards

FASHION

40 Fashions by Sam

FOOD/NUTRITION

56 Chicken Caesar Pasta (One Pot!)

57 Homemade Pretzel Bread

HOME TOUCHES

48 The Northland inspires home design

BOOKS

24 Book Reviews by Barb

KIDS/FAMILY

44 4-H: Connecting youth with their passions

WOMAN the today

GROUP PUBLISHER

Neal Ronquist

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Rick Lubbers

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR

Megan Keller

ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER

Kathleen Pennington

Ali Carlson

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Renae Ronquist

PRODUCTION COORDINATOR

Julie Schulz

CONTRIBUTORS

TO OUR READERS

May is finally here! Hopefully most of the snow has melted away, and we can start seeing flecks of beautiful green starting to peek through the remains of last season’s work. Like many of you, we have made adjustments to our “new normal” as they call it -- working from home, social distancing, and watching many challenging changes happen to our local businesses. The Woman Today team and I want to sincerely thank our readers and advertising supporters. Your loyalty and commitment is greatly appreciated.

In this issue, we have a great variety of features and profiles. Did you know this year marks the 100th anniversary of the women’s suffrage movement? Additionally, you will also read about great opportunities for fishing, hiking and a group of women who took charge of their health with the Duluze weight loss challenge. And let’s not forget about Fashions by Sam with some great tips on taking advantage of your current wardrobe to freshen up your looks.

Abigail Blonigen

Alison Stucke

Andrea Busche

Ann Klefstad

Barb Plumb

David Brandt

Derek Olson

John and Jodi Kloss

Kasha Stoll

Molly Milroy

Nick Kapsner

Rebecca Meyer

Richard Schmidtke

Samantha Roffers

Shannon Benolken

We hope you enjoy this issue as much as we did putting it together. Have a wonderful May and June, be sure to take time to enjoy the outdoors, go buy some flowers from your local greenhouses and get ready for planting your vegetable gardens as gardening is good for the soul! Thank you for picking up The Woman Today, see you in July!

Megan Keller Advertising Director

Anniversary of the 19th Amendment:

Women’s Suffrage

By Ann Klefstad

Afterdecades of struggle for suffrage for women, Carrie Chapman Catt spoke to Congress regarding the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: “Woman suffrage is inevitable — you know it. There is one thing mightier than . . . political parties — the power of an idea when its time has come to move. The idea will not perish; the party which opposes it may.” (In 1919, Minnesota women gained the right to vote by state constitutional amendment. The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution wasn’t ratified until August 1920.)

The struggle had been a long one. The Women’s Rights Convention held in 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York, is a kind of official beginning of the campaign for women’s

suffrage: the right to vote. It was convened by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who wrote the “Declaration of Sentiments” outlining the agenda of women’s activism for decades to come. This was followed in 1850 by the first National Women’s Rights Convention, attended by Frederick Douglass, Paulina Wright Davis, Abby Kelley Foster, William Lloyd Garrison, Lucy Stone, and Sojourner Truth, among others. The group also advocated for civil rights for black people.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony founded the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA), a more radical institution, to achieve the vote through a constitutional amendment as well as pushing for other women's rights issues, such as the right of women to own property. Meanwhile, Lucy Stone, Henry Blackwell, Julia Ward Howe and other more conservative activists

1872: Susan B. Anthony registers and votes in Rochester, New York, arguing that the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives her that right. However, she is arrested a few days later. Victoria Woodhull was the first female to run for President of the United States, nominated by the Equal Rights Party, with a platform supporting women’s suffrage and equal rights.

1890: The National Woman Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association merge to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Its first president is Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Wyoming renewed general women’s suffrage, becoming the first state to allow women to vote.

form the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) to work for woman suffrage through amending individual state constitutions. AWSA was based in Boston.

In 1870 the 15th Amendment enfranchised black men, but not women: This seemed to some woman suffrage advocates a betrayal. NWSA refused to work for its ratification and instead advocated for a 16th Amendment that would dictate universal suffrage. Frederick Douglass broke with Stanton and Anthony over the position of NWSA.

Until the 1890s, the battle for the vote, and for women’s rights, was left to what was regarded as a radical few. But in the 1890s, women began to enter business and public life in much greater numbers. The campaign for full rights, the right to vote among them, went mainstream. The new Western states — Utah, Idaho, and others — gave women the right to vote. Women out West lived freer lives. The first successful campaign for suffrage was a state victory: When Wyoming territory was organized in 1869, women were given full voting rights.

In 1912, Teddy Roosevelt came out in support of women’s voting: His Bull Moose Party adopted this as a platform plank. Woodrow Wilson, in 1916, added the support of the Democratic Party.

WWI proved to be a force that intensified the suffrage struggle, both because many potential women voters were anti-war, and because women’s

1902: Women from 10 nations meet in Washington, D.C. to plan an international effort for suffrage. Clara

work outside the home in men’s jobs awakened activism. Activists began picketing, protesting and staging dramatic parades. In 1917, Alice Paul, leader of the National Woman’s Party, was put in solitary confinement in the mental ward of the prison, to break her will and to undermine her credibility with the public.

In June of that year, arrests of the National Woman’s party picketers began on charges of obstructing sidewalk traffic. Subsequent picketers are sentenced to up to six months in jail. In November, the government released the picketers in response to public outcry and an inability to stop National Woman’s Party picketers’ hunger strike: People had been outraged by accounts published in newspapers about the use of force-feeding by tube as a torture technique. The term “Iron-Jawed Angels” arose to describe the resistance of women’s rights advocates to these tactics. Things were drawing to a climax.

Individual Western states continued to grant suffrage, including California. Minnesota followed in 1919. Finally the 19th Amendment was ratified on August 26, 1920. It had been a long 72 years of work: a lifetime.

1918: The Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which eventually granted women suffrage, passes the U.S. House with exactly a two-thirds vote but loses by two votes in the Senate.

Continued on page 8

1920: The Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified, stating:

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Barton is among the speakers.

1910: Emma Smith DeVoe organizes a grassroots campaign in Washington State, where women win suffrage.

Key Women

Victoria Woodhull

1838-1927

“Why is a woman to be treated differently? Woman suffrage will succeed, despite this miserable guerilla opposition,” wrote Victoria Woodhull, an immensely able, energetic, and free-thinking advocate for women’s right to both self-determination and the vote. She ran for president in 1870, sending this letter to the New York Herald: “I am quite well aware that in assuming this position I shall evoke more ridicule than enthusiasm at the outset. But this is an epoch of sudden changes and startling surprises. What may appear absurd today will assume a serious aspect to-morrow.”

Two years later, Woodhull ran as the presidential candidate for the Equal Rights Party, and Frederick Douglass, the famed civil rights activist who had been an attendee at the

first convention for women’s rights in 1850, was nominated to be her vice president. She was reviled in the national press for her “radical beliefs,” such as believing that women should have the right to divorce their husbands. She was ridiculed in newspapers across the country; newspaper cartoonist Thomas Nast, however, who drew her as Satan in Harper’s Weekly, delivered a more ambiguous picture. In “Get thee behind me, Mrs. Satan,” she was “Mrs. Satan,” but the other woman in the cartoon is literally carrying a drunken husband and her children on her back. Obviously Nast could see some reason for her protest.

Woodhull was evicted from her home and she and her family slept in her brokerage office (she was a successful stockbroker); New York landlords were unwilling to rent to her.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MATTHEW BRADY

She was a convener of the first Women’s Rights Convention in 1848, and wrote the “Declaration of Sentiments,” the position paper on women’s rights signed by attendees. From its conclusion: “Now, in view of this entire disfranchisement of one-half the people of this country, their social and religious degradation — in view of the unjust laws above mentioned, and because women do feel themselves aggrieved, oppressed and fraudulently deprived of their most sacred rights, we insist that they have immediate admission to all the rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens of these United States. In entering upon the great work before us, we anticipate no small amount of misconception, misrepresentation, and ridicule; but we shall use every instrumentality within our power to effect our object.”

Stanton was president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association from 1890 until 1892, and earlier was an active abolitionist. Unlike many of those involved in the women’s rights movement, Stanton addressed various issues pertaining to women: women’s parental and custody rights, property rights, employment and income rights, divorce, the economic health of the family, and birth control.

Her book “The Woman’s Bible” (1898) challenged the traditional religious position of women’s subservience to men. Stanton advocated a radical liberating theology, which stirred a great deal of controversy.

Sojourner Truth

1797-1883

Sojourner Truth (the name she created for herself) was born into slavery, and sold at auction at age 9. Her father had been born in Ghana; her mother’s parents were from Guinea.

She escaped with her infant daughter to freedom in 1826, and devoted her life to the abolitionist cause, helping to recruit black troops for the Union Army. Although Truth began her career as an abolitionist, the reform causes she sponsored were broad and varied, including prison reform, property rights, and universal suffrage. In 1851 Sojourner Truth gave her famous impromptu speech to a women’s rights convention in Akron, Ohio, concerning her rights as a woman (a later “dialect” version is unlikely to be accurate, as Truth’s first language was Dutch). A quote: “Then that little man in black there, he says women can’t have as much rights as men, ‘cause Christ wasn’t a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him. If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again! And now they are asking to do it, the men better let them.”

Susan B. Anthony 1820-1906

Susan B. Anthony had been raised in a Quaker household, and worked as a teacher. She later partnered with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and would eventually lead the National American Woman Suffrage Association. She cast her ballot for Ulysses S. Grant in the 1872 presidential election and was arrested and brought to trial in Rochester, New York. She and Stanton established the American Equal Rights Association in 1866, calling for the same rights to be granted to all regardless of race or sex. In 1868, Anthony and Stanton also created and began producing The Revolution, a weekly publication that lobbied for women’s rights. The newspaper’s motto was “Men their rights, and nothing more; women their rights, and nothing less.” It is Anthony’s tombstone that women decorate with their “I Voted” stickers — this tradition began with Hillary Clinton’s campaign for president, and continues still.

The Scandinavian Woman Suffrage Association

SWSA was founded in 1907 (when women won the vote in newly independent Norway) with help from prominent suffragist Ethel Edgerton Hurd. Led by Norwegian immigrant Jenova Martin, the group was first affiliated with the Minnesota Woman Suffrage Association, but it soon took its own course. Though open to men, the SWSA was mostly made up of — and exclusively led by — women. It charged no dues and thus welcomed many of all classes. Membership was limited to first- and second-generation Scandinavians, mostly Norwegian and Swedish. D

Ann Kelfstad is a Duluth freelance writer.

Superior Siren honors music and sisterhood

By Abigail Blonigen

Most are familiar with the mythological Siren: a beautiful but dangerous creature that lures sailors to their death with its enchanting voice. Born and raised in Duluth, singer-songwriter Laura Sellner was also drawn to that “alluring but creepy” sound in her music.

Coupled with her deep connection to Lake Superior, Sellner began using the stage name “Superior Siren” in 2014. What began as a solo project has now evolved into an all women band with a unique eerie folk sound.

“I enjoy working with women,” said Sellner, who grew up

with three older sisters. “I find it to be productive, and the communication to be very clear and concise.”

After some time as a solo act, Sellner collaborated with a group of male musicians to play at Duluth’s Homegrown Music Festival. After those musicians went their separate ways, Sellner began intentionally seeking out women to work with to fit her Siren theme.

In 2016, Sellner joined forces with cellist Rachel Gobin, bassist Nyssa Krause, and drummer Emma Deaner. At the time, Sellner didn’t know where the group would go, but it became a very solid fit.

“We all have different skills and different mindsets that bring a really nice balance to the group,” said Sellner.

Laura Sellner of Duluth began her solo musical career with the stage name Superior Siren, but connected with other female musicians in 2016 and opted to keep the name for the band.

Sellner remains the lead and manager of the band, writing the lyrics and melody to their songs. Once she has a peice ready, she brings it to the band to add their ideas. She is often “amazed with how songs progress with additional instrumentation,” turning a simple tune into a masterful serenade.

“To first find this void to express these emotions and these feelings and then to have it be taken in graciously by these musicians and have them enhance it is very beautiful, very remarkable,” said Sellner.

Sellner has been a vocalist all her life, singing in various choirs and taking vocal lessons in college. After receiving a degree in geology from the University of MinnesotaDuluth, she considered many different paths but realized she would not be happy if she didn’t pursue music.

Gobin, from Superior, WI met Sellner while working at Zeitgeist in Duluth. While she began her musical journey

around the age of 10, she had lost her outlet after graduating from college, where she studied music and was involved in orchestra.

“Once I heard her sing, I knew that our sounds together would be amazing, and I guess the rest is history,” said Gobin.

Krause, too, was taking a break from music to pursue her career in healthcare. From Eau Claire, WI, she studied music and business administration at UMD and played in jazz band, jazz combo, and symphony orchestra.

Deaner, a Duluthian who had also explored music since childhood, discovered Sellner at a show one winter’s night, where she was enchanted by her sound and artistry.

“For the first time, I could hear ways in which I could

Continued on page 14

provide support to expand the sound or pair it down in order to truly bring the songwriting to life,” said Deaner, who approached Sellner after the set..

“It’s now been five years since I joined the project, and it’s been the most profound experience of my life,” she said.

The band has been creating together for over four years and instantly became close friends.

“These women help me strive to be a better person, push and guide me, make me laugh, hug me when I cry,” said Gobin. “ I didn’t just gain a band; I gained another family.”

Superior Siren hopes to release another full length album in the near future, but the COVID-19 outbreak has put many of their plans on hold. While several of their upcoming shows have been cancelled, they still hope to play a number of shows over

Superior Siren, an all-female band, consists of (from left) drummer Emma Deaner, bassist Nyssa Krause, vocalist Laura Sellner and cellist Rachel Gobin.

the summer, as well as release a music video for their song “Trying Too Hard.”

Sellner’s goal is to release a five song solo EP in 2021 accompanied by a U.S. tour.

In the music industry, all women bands are still relatively rare, a characteristic Superior Siren holds dear.

“People are always in such awe when they see an all women band, and that is something that should already be the norm but sadly isn’t, so we are here to break that mold in the music industry,” said Gobin. “We strive to inspire and empower young girls to go after their passions.”

Human connection is the driving force behind Sellner’s creativity and songwriting, so when the music makes people think, feel, or connect more deeply, the Sirens feel as if they have done their job.

Sellner believes this ability to love and open one’s heart is stronger in women, making it easier to be vulnerable with one another to create songs that convey that depth and emotion.

“Sharing the joys and sorrows of life together has been a gift I will forever cherish,” said Deaner. “We speak the universal language of music and that transcends into all aspects of life. It’s a unique connection only musical notes can truly explain.”

To stay up to date with Superior Siren’s upcoming shows, visit their website at superiorsiren.com. With many shows being cancelled or postponed due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, there is also a donation link on their site to support the band during these financially uncertain times. Merchandise is also available for purchase online. D

Abigail Blonigen is a Duluth freelance writer and photographer.

Camps areopentostudents entering grades 2-5 that love to sing! These four-day camps arebased on afun theme and curriculum that includes singing,music fundamentals,movement, and other activities.A

A Ministry of Support A Ministry of Support

By Kasha Stoll

Veronica Ciurleo remembers what it is like to be homeless and broken, which is why she does everything she can to help improve the lives of homeless people in West Duluth.

Ciurleo is the founder and CEO of Duluth Harbor Mission, an organization that provides food, shelter and support to more than 500 people every month.

From humble beginnings

“I had nothing,” said Ciurleo, referring to when she was in her 40s and had to move back in with her parents after a divorce. She prayed to God and tried to figure out what to do with her life.

“I was really burdened by what I saw in Duluth,” Ciurleo said. “I could see the downtrodden and the addiction issues. It was all out there in plain sight. I got a red rider wagon and started doing a street ministry.”

That ministry included providing basic needs like food and toiletries to homeless and addicted people. A woman from Ciurleo’s church was moved by Ciurleo’s street ministry and gifted her almost $12,000 so she could continue.

No matter how much Ciurleo did, though, she couldn’t help everyone with her one-woman ministry.

“The need out west was huge,” she said. “We have great centers in downtown Duluth, but there was nothing in [the West End]. I thought perhaps we could start a mission where I was doing my street ministry.”

Ciurleo and a group of like-minded people built a board of directors for the Duluth Harbor Mission in 2016. Ciurleo was hired as the executive director, and the mission served its first hot meal out of a local church basement in September of the same year.

Once again, someone stepped up to help expand

Ciurleo’s ministry.

“A lady saw our vision,” Ciurleo said. “She took me to dinner and showed me photos of buildings for sale in Lincoln Park. Then she asked: ‘What sticks in your heart? I want to buy it for you.’”

The woman bought the property at 2910 West 3rd Street and charged the Duluth Harbor Mission $100 a month in rent. The woman later sold the building to a local pastor and his wife, who agreed to let Ciurleo and the mission stay.

Big goals

One of Ciurleo’s goals for the mission was achieved in February when Millie’s House of Hope opened as a transitional program for homeless women who have completed addiction treatment or incarceration. Women can stay at the house for up to one year and receive help with personal, financial and work development. The women can also receive help in their efforts to reconnect with their

children.

Ciurleo’s next big goal is to develop a long-term program that provides immediate and functional assistance to addicts who want to get clean. Current programs require people to make an appointment, take an assessment test, get their insurance in order and wait for a bed.

“They don’t have time like that,” Ciurleo said. “When a heroin addict is ready to get help, by the time all that gets taken care of, they are back on the street.”

Getting immediate help is only part of the problem, though.

“If a person has been living on the streets for 15 years in the trap of addiction, they are lost,” Ciurleo said. “My own son has been using since he was 14. He is 33 now. That is a huge gap of no life skills.

“You can’t go to a 30-day facility and then be sent out and expect to live. You can’t do that in 90 days. You don’t know how to balance a check book or grocery shop. We need to do more for these people.”

While Ciurleo has big goals, she also faces big challenges when it comes to raising money. The Duluth Harbor Mission is faith based and tries to help people through the gospel of Jesus Christ. For that reason, the mission doesn’t receive any government funding.

“We want to keep God as our authority,” Ciurleo said. “We are funded through private donations and local churches.”

Huge rewards

Ciurleo struggled to explain the rewards of her ministry and the work done at the mission. Instead, she told a story.

“I came to work one day, and there was a woman at the door,” Ciurleo said. “She was in a bad way, and she was crying. She said: ‘I wasn’t always like this. I used to be president of the PTA at school.’”

The two women went inside the mission and talked about the homeless woman’s immediate needs. When Ciurleo reached out to touch the woman’s hand, the woman pulled away. She looked at Ciurleo and said, “You’re going to touch me?”

Ciurleo said yes and reached out again. The women touched and then prayed together.

“She left with joy and hope because she was found to be touchable. Someone actually cared,” Ciurleo said. “The shame and guilt and humiliation that comes with this lifestyle is huge. My reward is when they see that they have value.” D

Wi th in ou rw alls, we ma ke ap ositiv ei mpa ct on pa tien ts ’l iv es. Fr om to ta lc om fo rt to sta te -o f- th e-art su rg ery to sa ving out-o fpo ck et co sts. Ou tp at ien ts ur ge ry ex ce llenc e –i t’ sa ll in ad ay ’s wo rk.

Two special nurses –two unique specialties

Robin McCauley

By Andrea Busche

It takes a very special person to be a nurse. Not only do nurses care for our physical needs, but our emotional needs as well. Nurses communicate with our families, comfort us when we are sick and frightened, and can make a tremendous impact on our lives. And, as shown many times over during the current COVID-19 pandemic, nurses (and other medical personnel) often risk their own wellbeing in order to help keep us healthy and safe.

For these reasons and more, it’s important to express our gratitude to nurses for everything they do. We at The

Woman Today are pleased to recognize and honor two caring nurses who have two very unique specialties.

Robin McCauley works as the assistant head nurse in the neurotrauma intensive care unit (ICU) at Essentia. Melanie Kucera is the clinical manager at Marywood Assisted Living, where she supports geriatric patients, including a two-floor memory care unit.

Both women care deeply about their patients and are passionate about what they do. We are fortunate these caring professionals have chosen to share their gifts with the world, through their careers in nursing.

Robin McCauley

Robin McCauley grew up in Duluth and seemed almost destined for work in the medical field. Interestingly, her parents met at the former St. Mary’s Hospital. And McCauley showed inclinations at an early age that she was headed toward a career in nursing.

“I started as a candy striper at age 14,” she said. “I have known since I was a little girl that I wanted to be a nurse.”

McCauley earned her CNA credentials during high school and spent about four years working at Park Point Manor. She earned an associate’s degree in nursing from Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College (WITC), and began working at Essentia in 1997. She is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree from Bemidji State University.

In addition to her work as a nurse, McCauley spent 15 years serving on the St. Louis County Rescue Squad, where she helped with land and water searches and worked as a first responder. She and her parents operate the food shelf at Waters Edge Community Church, which is open one day per month.

“My parents and I have always felt a great need to serve our fellow man,” she explained.

McCauley shared what she enjoys most about her patient demographic.

“I’ve grown to really love the patient population in the neurotrauma ICU, which includes people with brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and people who have had accidents, falls and strokes. My patients are not always able to communicate, but having a connection to them, and with their families, and helping make their day better is so rewarding for me.”

McCauley was recently honored by her employer when she was featured

on an Essentia billboard located at the corner of 6th Avenue East and 4th Street, which was displayed for the entire summer of 2019.

When she isn’t working, McCauley enjoys socializing with friends and doing outdoor activities like hiking and walking. She shares her home with two cats, Dottie and Itty Bitty.

Melanie Kucera

Melanie Kucera, also a Duluth resident, can relate to the people she serves, and their families, too. She cared for her elderly father at the end of his life, and also lost a brother and a sister when they were in the prime of life.

“I know what my patients are going through. I’ve been there. These events have made me a more compassionate, better nurse,” she said.

Just two days after graduating from Denfeld High School, Kucera went to boot camp. While she never was enlisted in full-time active duty in the military, she served as both a Navy reservist and a corpsman.

Kucera earned CNA credentials during high school and attended Duluth Technical College (now Lake Superior College) for her LPN certification. She later earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from

Continued on page 20

• Environmental Education integrated throughout the curriculum.

• Art, Music, PE, and Environmental Ed Specialists

• Small Class Sizes

• Busing from Duluth and Two Harbors

on 40 acres with a 20-acre school forest, a greenhouse, an orchard, and outdoor classrooms.

University of Phoenix.

She spent 10 years at Bayshore, where she worked as a CNA, LPN and RN. Then, she spent the next 19 years at Lake Superior College, where she taught the nursing assistant program to students. About a year ago, Kucera became the clinical manager at Marywood Assisted Living. In this role, Kucera not only oversees the facility, but continues doing nursing duties, too.

Kucera explained what she loves most about serving the geriatric population.

“I knew early on that geriatrics was going to be my thing,” she said. “I just love how they are such an honest

group of people – they say it like it is. They have so much knowledge and wisdom. And I get to see them at the point in their lives where they are really evaluating what matters.”

Kucera enjoys participating in the Joyous Hearts Choir, where she and others sing to the residents in Marywood’s memory care unit.

“We sing the songs that our residents grew up with,” she said. “And, they often know the entire song.”

Kucera is the mother of two adult children, Sam (21) and Victoria (23), and also has a dog, Delbert. When she’s not at work, she enjoys sewing and quilting.

“Anything crafting-wise is my therapy,” she said.

Thank you

Through their careers, along with their “extracurricular activities,” Robin McCauley and Melanie Kucera continually strive to improve the lives of others. These selfless women seek to heal, comfort, and soothe.

As such, we are abundantly grateful to them, and the many other nurses making a difference, each and every day. D

Andrea Busche is a Duluth freelance writer.

HE RE ’S TO WH AT MA TT ER SM OS T

Every birth story is different. When you look back on yours, what will you remember? The peace of mind that comes from knowing bothofyou are in good hands with our high-risk OB services and NICU. The special bond that acertified Baby-Friendly® Designated Hospital can help foster. The support of certified nurse midwives. That’s our role in the story. Delivering the kind of compassionate care you won’t forget.

Maternity care like nowhere else.

By Ann Klefstad

Park Point Art Fair turns 50

In1971, Pat Joyelle wanted to stay home for a change. The prolific Duluth artist had been selling her pottery, tiles and fabric works at art fairs around the country. But the nomad’s life was wearing on her. She thought, “Why not here?” and with that created the first Park Point Art Fair on the grounds of the Lafayette Community Center at 3026 Minnesota Ave.

Joyelle remembers, “In the beginning, there were 12 artists sitting along the curb at Lafayette Park in May, during smelting season. … In the 1970s, smelting was a big attraction and Park Point was overrun with smelters and partygoers during the run. I thought it was a built-in market, but we discovered that smelters didn’t care about art — just smelt and beer.”

In those early years the “art fair” as a phenomenon hadn’t fully evolved into the orderly arrangements of tents and elaborate displays that are common now. Artists spread a blanket on the ground or set their works out on tables in the sun. People came, not sure what to expect, but liking the local wares.

The second year, the event was held at the “Tot Lot,” at 12th Street at the S-curve along Minnesota Avenue. Again, the setting was informal, but the interest was there.

Eventually the Park Point Art Fair migrated down the Point to the expansive Recreation Area at the end of Minnesota Avenue, and began to grow as an event organized and operated by the Park Point Community Club.

Through the 1970s, people living along the Point took note of the Art Fair traffic and began to schedule their garage sales for that weekend. By 1980, this was actually becoming disruptive to the Fair: Artists complained that by the time patrons made their way to the end of Lake, their pockets had been emptied by the discarded treasures found at the rummage sales. What could be done?

Community Club President Dick Braun stepped in as peacemaker in 1982: He proposed holding a communitywide rummage sale along the entire length of the Point, to be held a week before the Art Fair: the “Longest Rummage Sale in the World.” And that is how it has evolved.

Now the Park Point Rummage Sale and the Park Point Art Fair are the tentpoles of the Duluth summer, both occurring in June, and both going strong. The current Park Point Art Fair, the 50th edition set for June 27-28, 2020, has been cancelled due to COVOID-19 restrictions.

As is so typical of the Point and its tribe of Park Pointers, this sort of cooperation is a keynote: the Duluth Rowing Club helped with setup and takedown, and the PPAF donated some of the arts profit to them. The Fair continues to donate to youth arts and to

These photos circa 1976 indicate there were no tents or canopies used at the Park Point Art Fair at that time. Vendors simply displayed their products under the trees.

environmental causes as well. Volunteers are a huge part of the Fair’s success.

And one of the most beloved of PPAF volunteers, Muggs McGillis, had an unofficial standing but was essential to the Fair. Her shoeboxes of notes were passed along to Ellen Dunlap, one of the official coordinators of the Fair, and proved invaluable. Muggs had grown up on the Point, her family inhabiting a last remaining building from the amusement park that had been part of the Point’s heyday in the 1920s, the White City. Her vivid and salty memories were part of Park Point’s atmosphere and helped keep the Art Fair real and grounded.

By 1990, the food concessions had become official, coordinators had been hired, and artists were juried into the show. Duluth had decided it liked its own art fair, and profits for artists and organizers, and donations to Park Point community causes, had become

Continued on page 25

Your Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons and their team are ready to assist you in making the best decisions for a healthy mouth and lasting smile. We have a wide scope practice to offer, including:

•Dental Implants

•Wisdom Teeth Extraction

•Corrective Jaw Surgery

•Financing Available/CareCredit

Serving the area since 1969

Book Reviews by Barb

Sold on a Monday Fiction

Kristina McMorris 2018

Set in Philadelphia during the depression, “Sold on a Monday” is a poignant novel about a cub reporter's seemingly small mistake that leads to catastrophe for several children.

Driving in the countryside, Ellis Reed randomly snaps a picture of two boys sitting on a farmhouse step beneath a sign that reads "2 children for sale." Ellis unwittingly shows the picture to his editor. Secretary Lilly Palmer sees the picture and is intrigued.

The picture is lost so Ellis goes back to recapture the scene, but the children are gone. He feels compelled to restage the scene with two different children under the sign. When those two children go missing, Ellis and Lilly (with a romantic interest brewing), set out to find these children and their mother, in hopes of mending a broken family.

McMorris's tale is fiction, but is inspired by a real life photo.

* * * * *

The Turner House Fiction

Angela Fournay

2015

Angela Fournay's award winning novel “The Turner House” is set in Detroit over a number of decades, weaving in the history of the city and housing crisis.

The Turner family lived on Yarrow Street, a part of Detroit's East Side for over 50 years, where Francis and Viola raised 13 children. Fournay colorfully depicts the myriad of connections and conflicts between the family members as they uniquely grow up and move away.

Francis has died and aging Viola finds herself needing to leave the family home and move in with her eldest son.

Unbeknownst to her children, Viola had mortgaged the house and it is worth far less than the mortgage itself. The now grown children must come together and decide what to do with the house in a crumbling neighborhood. Fournay follows the lives of the Turners that culminates in a coming together with love and sacrifice.

* * * * *

A Better Man Fiction/Mystery

Louise Penny 2019

“A Better Man” is Louise Penny's 15th French Canadian Chief Inspector Armond Gamache novel. The setting is the little village of Three Pines in Quebec.

Armand is returning from a ninemonth suspension and demotion as a subordinate to his son-in-law, JeanGuy Beauvoir, and to the vigorous disapproval of the local townspeople.

After unprecedented spring thaw across the province leads to massive flooding, chaos envelops the area. Gamache is approached by a desperate father who is looking for his young and pregnant daughter. Gamache is reluctantly given the case. Having a daughter himself he feels great empathy for the father. Mistakes are made and the distrust of the inspector hinders his work.

The usual cast of characters from Penny's Gamache Series mysteries make their appearances, this time with emphasis on artist Clare Morrow, who is dealing with negative reviews of her work.

Louise Penny is an award-winning novelist who again sets the tone of the story with her moody descriptions of the people and the village of Three Pines. D

Barb Plumb is proprietor of Amazing Alonzo Paperback Exchange, Duluth.

a regular thing.

In 1996, over 250 applications from artists wishing to take part were received, for just over 100 slots. The Park Point Art Fair was drawing artists from the region — but also from all over the nation. The gorgeous setting was certainly a draw. The fact that the people running the show were artists, and really understood what artists needed, also helped.

Karen Monson-Thompson, a fine weaver, assumed curatorial duties (“helping out with artists” in the minutes) in 1998. She welcomed Ellen Dunlap, a former volunteer, as the administrator in 2002. By this time the formerly scrappy PPAF had become a treasured institution, and had acquired an eight-member committee to help make it go.

Carla Tamburro is now the coordinator of the Fair and has done this job since 2005. Artists come back again and again to show at this Fair, in large part because of Carla’s care and tending of her artists.

By 2006, a music committee hired regional musicians to perform for the weekend of the Fair. Over the years these have included Michael Monroe, Erik Berry, Lee (“Colorblind”) Johnson, Ryan Lane, Woodblind, the

Minorbirds, Kitchen Shoes, Aimee Tischer, Kristoffer Robin, Jim Hall, The Hankies, The Boomchucks, Gaelyn Lee, Stolen Horses and The Groove Merchants, Keith Secola & Tracy Bone, and Four Mile Portage.

Hearing the music as you walk down the tree-lined way toward the Fair is lovely — it’s been a grand addition. Noshing on barbecue and mini-doughnuts with the family, listening to the music while lounging on the grass … well, the Art Fair is about all the arts. And the beautiful white-sand beach of Park Point is right over the ridge, the blue water beckoning.

Arts and Common Ground host an artmaking station for all of us wannabes (and our kids), and a survey in recent years discovered that most patrons loved the experience, and that many were returnees to the Fair over many years.

Despite the occasional mishaps that occur with the freedom of the outdoors (the Great Art Heist of 2001; the freak windstorm of 2019) the Park Point Art Fair has been remarkable for its consistent spirit of artistic quality, open-armed welcome, and fun. Its 50 years have been extremely successful; and Duluthians hope to see many more. D

The Minnesota Center for Book

Ann Kelfstad is a Duluth freelance writer.

Life after two strokes

St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Services helps stroke survivor through physical, occupational and speech therapy

By Claire Kiger

“Compared to my second stroke, my first stroke was nothing,” said Duluth native Jackie Hendrickson. Her first stroke left her weak on her left side, but she could still do quite a bit on her own.

“I was walking without a cane, doing dishes and tying my shoes,” she said. Then she had another one.

On Feb. 10, 2019, she woke up and knew something was wrong.

“I started yelling out every few minutes, uncontrollably, and I wasn’t really able to stand up,” she explained. Her fiancé, Steven, rushed her to the hospital in Missouri where they were living at the time. They found out she was having a second stroke.

After being in the ICU for two weeks, the hospital for two months and then at an inpatient rehabilitation facility for three weeks, she finally went home April 10. Her left arm and

leg were almost completely paralyzed, but her fiancé diligently took care of her.

“He helped me do everything,” Jackie explained.

Then only five months later, Steven had a sudden massive heart attack and passed away. Unable to care for herself or live independently, Jackie moved back to Duluth to be near her family.

She was determined that it wouldn’t be the end of her story.

“I couldn’t let grief take over,” she said. “I knew I had to do something.”

She established with a primary care provider at St. Luke’s who referred her to St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Services, and she started her journey of recovery.

Committed to getting stronger

Jackie met every week with a physical therapist, an occupational therapist and a speech therapist. She couldn’t carry things in her left hand or walk without a cane. She was unable to shower, dress herself or brush her teeth. She could barely swallow or have a conversation. Her physical therapist helped her with walking, her occupational therapist helped her learn how to do daily activities again, and her speech pathologist helped her with speaking and swallowing.

While she worked hard at all three, speech therapy presented some of the biggest challenges.

“It’s a lot of work to swallow and talk,” she said. “It’s something you take for granted.”

Haley Day, MA, CCC-SLP, Jackie’s speech pathologist, gave her exercises to help strengthen her speaking and

St. Luke’s Speech Therapist Haley Day, MA, CCC-SLP, works with Jackie Hendrickson on her swallowing.

Jackie Hendrickson continues to work hard, even after three months of physical, occupational and speech therapy.

swallowing muscles.

“I always tell people: I’m not magic,” said Haley. “I can give patients exercises to do outside of therapy and those who do them get better.”

Jackie set aside time each day to do her exercises.

“I take an hour in the morning,” she said. “I sit down and do my PT and OT exercises. Then I do my lip and swallowing exercises when I watch TV. For one, you have to stick your tongue out and swallow. That is hard to do, trust me.”

After three months of hard work her efforts have started to pay off.

Hard work, great results

Now, Jackie lives independently. She can walk without her cane, use her left hand and take care of herself. She can talk with others and swallow better.

“I’ve come a long way,” said Jackie, “from lying in a hospital bed and not being able to talk or eat a year ago, to living on my own. Two months ago, I couldn’t have a conversation. Now, people can understand me again.”

Haley is happy with the progress Jackie has made.

“It’s really rewarding for me because it’s rewarding for her,” she said. “It just goes to show how dedicated Jackie is to getting better.”

Most of all, Jackie knows Steven would be happy with her progress.

“He wouldn’t want me to just sit around,” she said. “I know he’d be very proud of me.”

Even with all the progress she’s made, Jackie still sees a long road ahead of her. She hopes to move from her apartment into a house so that she can own dogs again. She also plans on being able to drive eventually. To reach her goals, she continues to meet with her therapists.

“They have given me so many tools,” she said. “They’re very helpful and interested in seeing me get better. They’ve all become really good friends of mine.”

Rehabilitation Services at St. Luke’s

When Jackie was initially looking to start the recovery process, there was no question about where she would be going.

“I was born at St. Luke’s,” she said. “It has always just been our hospital. I’m very glad I went there for my therapy.”

Director of Rehabilitation Services Brett Osborne said helping patients like Jackie on a daily basis is what drives his entire team.

“St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Services offers an amazing opportunity for our patients to be a key part of their own

rehab team,” he said. “Our experts partner with them, helping them recover maximum function after an illness or injury through education, training and empowerment.”

If you think you could benefit from physical, occupational or speech therapy, talk to your primary care provider about a referral. To establish care at St. Luke’s, call 218-249-4000 or visit ChooseStLukes.com. D

Jay Cooke State Park: A perfect summer staycation

By Molly Milroy

Jay Cooke State Park is a peaceful escape just 20 minutes outside of Duluth. It’s the perfect spot for a family or solo adventurer to get fresh air and explore the great outdoors.

“The park has an over-105-year history,” said Park Manager Lisa Angelos. “What makes it special are the historical and cultural aspects, combined with over 9,000 acres of protected land and waters providing habitat for a wide variety of plant and animal species in all seasons.”

You can choose to come for a few hours and take in the scenery or spend a night or two at the local campground. Whichever you decide, be sure to check out this local favorite destination.

Park Headquarters

Driving to the park on Minnesota State Highway 210 is a delight that gives you a taste of what is to come. The winding roads give way to a beautiful landscape that may include sightings of eagles, deer and other animals. Arriving at the park, be sure to check in at the park headquarters, where you can pick up your Minnesota State Park permit for $7 for the day or $35 for the entire year. The shop has a nice selection

PHOTO COURTESY OF MOLLY MILROY

of locally produced products, educational books, activities and books for kids, sweatshirts, ice cream, and camping supplies, including firewood. A variety of activity kits can be checked out for free and will give you a taste of geocaching, birding or fishing.

At the headquarters you can also get a map and learn about any educational sessions that may be going on that day.

“We take pride in offering a friendly public service and are happy to help point you in the right direction to get the most out of your experience, depending upon the time you have and the kind of activities you enjoy,” Angelos said.

Hitting the Trails

The best part about Jay Cook State Park? The hiking! With 50 miles of hiking trails, eight miles of biking trails, and six miles of horse trails, one can spend days exploring the grounds.

Hiking enthusiast Shannon Benolken says, “There’s a lot to do at this park in addition to the trails. I have pictures of my husband and daughter climbing on the rocks in the river. They spent hours on those rocks exploring.”

Park Naturalist Kristine Hiller explains that she has seen animal tracks of coyotes, wolves and black

“There’s a lot to do at this park in addition to the trails. I have pictures of my husband and daughter climbing on the rocks in the river. They spent hours on those rocks exploring.”

~Shannon Benolken

bear. She is also well informed on the park’s history and variety of rock found at the park, be sure to seek her out during your visit. She can often be found in the interpretive center where you will also find exhibits about the park, an indoor picnic shelter, and additional restrooms.

Take a walk across the iconic swinging bridge, one of only two suspension bridges in a Minnesota State Park. From there you can take in majestic views of the St. Louis River and you may even spot an artist or two on the banks of the river filling their canvases with color. Once over the bridge, a multitude of trails await.

Follow the trail signs and pick one that suits your liking. While hiking you may run across a redbelly snake or in early fall you may encounter a multitude of mushrooms.

Campground

Camping at Jay Cooke State Park is serene and cozy. Each site offers the perfect spot for your tent and includes a fire ring and picnic table. The surrounding trees give the right amount of shade during the daytime while also a break in the sky for stargazing at night.

“The sites are spacious and flat,”

Continued on page 30-31

PHOTO COURTESY OF SHANNON BENOLKEN

PHOTO COURTESY OF MOLLY MILROY

Benolken said. “There’s nothing worse than being piled up at the bottom of your tent in the morning. I felt completely safe camping by myself.”

If you like camping with amenities, this is the place to go. Their newly renovated restroom facilities are spectacular and include multiple stalls, good lighting, hooks for your bags, shelves to put things on, and a baby changing table. All showers are single stalls, private with a lock, and include an area for changing separate from the shower along with hooks for your bag/clothing. There are multiple private showers, all offering hot water, a camper’s delight!

Quiet hours begin at 10 p.m. when all you may hear is the soothing sounds of a slight breeze whistling with the trees. Along with the over 80 campsites (including RV sites), there are five cabins to choose from. Make sure to book your reservation ahead of time as the campground does fill up.

Quick Vacay

If you’re in or near the Duluth area and looking for a day or overnight getaway that is not too far away, check out Jay Cooke State Park, it does not disappoint! With miles of trails, educational opportunities, clean facilities, and excellent campsites, this state park makes for a stellar, quick vacay. It’s the perfect spot for families, friends, or even solo adventuring.

“I’ve explored all of the state parks on the North Shore, and along the I-35 corridor between the Metro area and Duluth,” Benolken said, “and Jay Cooke is a must see!”

Find out more about the park and make camping reservations at www. dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/park. html?id=spk00187#homepage. D

Molly Milroy is a Duluth freelance writer.

health ser vicesfor every woman

Dr.Thornton received hermedical degree from Morehouse School of Medicine,completed herresidency at Emor yUniversit yHospital,and ran herown practice in Atlanta beforejoining CMH.

Sp ec ia lT ie S in :

•Minimally-invasivesurgery

•Menopausa lmanagement.

•Managementoffibroidsand pelv ic masses.

•Premenstrual disorders.

•Infertility,abnormal bleeding, andother fema le health issues. No

Duluze inspires healthy change WEIGHT LOSS CHALLENGE

By Abigail Blonigen

With the weather gradually getting nicer, people are itching to get outside, get active, and shed some winter weight.

This year, hundreds of Northlanders were ahead of the game, participating in the second annual Duluze Weight Loss Challenge put on by the Duluth News Tribune.

Over 100 teams signed up to commit to a healthier lifestyle for three months, with the weigh-in event in January and weigh-out in April.

Thirteen weeks is an ideal length for this kind of challenge, as it allows time to make lifestyle changes, but isn’t so long that it feels intimidating, said Cara Swanstrom, a challenge participant.

Teams were divided into men’s, women’s, and co-ed teams of either two or four people.

Swanstrom was on a co-ed four-person team, along with Amanda Mickelson. One of their regular game night friends encouraged them to join the challenge, so their team name commemorated their game night drink of choice, “Weight Claws.”

Miranda Christensen and Jennifer Anderson made up a two-person women’s team called the “Swiftlets” for their love of country-turned-pop star Taylor Swift.

In addition to signing up for the Duluze Challenge, all four participants planned to run Grandma’s Gary Bjorklund Half Marathon in June.

“I’m more on track than I was in previous years,” said Mickelson in regard to her half marathon training coinciding with the challenge.

This will be Mickelson’s third half marathon and Swanstrom’s second; they ran their first one together five years ago. Despite the physical race being cancelled due to COVID-19, the duo still plans to run the virtual half, socially distanced from each other on the Munger Trail.

Christensen and Anderson also have a few half marathons under their belts. This will be Christensen’s fifth and Anderson’s sixth, as they, too, plan to participate in the half marathon virtually.

When putting in the time and effort to train, “the race means a bit more to you,” said Christensen, who was also glad the challenge helped her stay on top of her training.

The teams had a weigh-in at Clyde Iron Works on Jan. 16. Each week, they submitted their current weight to their team leader who was responsible for submitting weights to Duluze. The team that lost the highest collective percentage of body weight by the weigh-out on April 16 would win the challenge.

“It holds you accountable because you have to submit something, and your team knows,” said Mickelson.

The team aspect of the challenge not only aids in accountability, but also makes losing weight more fun.

When Swanstrom or her husband, who is also on the team, felt like skipping a workout or binging on some snacks, they would say to each other, “Think of the team! The team needs you!”

Their hard work paid off, as the Weight Claws ended up placing first in their category, losing 15.14 percent of their collective body weight. Swanstrom and Mickelson both placed in the top 10 for women, losing 17.99 and 13.46 percent, respectively.

Christensen and Anderson held each other accountable by consistently checking in with one another, being honest with their struggles, encouraging each other, and making time to work out together.

Christensen said having a support system is imperative; she

Cara Swanstrom (left) and Amanda Mickelson are participating in the second annual Duluze Weight Loss Challenge and will run in the Gary Bjorklund Half Marathon this summer.

has friends, family and coworkers who all helped her hold herself accountable to her goals.

All participants emphasized losing weight in a healthy way, leading to lifestyle changes that could be practiced even after the challenge was over.

For Mickelson, this means running at home on the treadmill and getting outside as the weather gets nicer. She tries to consume fewer calories, snack less, and drink regular coffee rather than sugary specialty drinks.

Swanstrom follows Bob Harper’s “The Skinny Rules,” which includes helpful healthy reminders like remembering to eat breakfast, drink enough water, and consume enough protein. She won a three-day personal trainer session for the New Year, so she incorporated those workouts and running into her routine.

Christensen is more mindful of tracking her food and following serving sizes. Her workout routine consists of lifting and running on the treadmill at the gym.

Anderson is intentional about drinking more water instead of coffee or soda. She runs several times a week with her hyperactive new puppy, and keeps active with Movo Studio.

A big challenge for all of the participants was the social aspect of making healthier decisions, as many times hanging out with friends includes going to restaurants and bars.

“I’m definitely swayed by other people’s choices,” said Christensen.

Anderson agreed, adding, “It’s more about discipline than motivation.”

Despite the struggles, both teams found the challenge to be worthwhile and appreciated the healthy change in mindset.

“At first [my goal] was to lose weight, but I feel better now that I’m eating healthier and choosing better options,” said Mickelson.

Swanstrom noted that her resting heart rate is lower, her acid reflux has improved, and she no longer wakes up with a “puffy” feeling.

“The Duluze Challenge has definitely inspired a change in our lifestyle. Even though I have room for improvement, I finally look and feel like me again,” she said.

In terms of advice for other folks who

want to start making healthier choices, “Weight Claws” suggests finding other people to do it with for accountability.

Christensen recommends celebrating small accomplishments by breaking long-term goals down into small, attainable ones. She encourages folks to get out of their comfort zones and try something new.

Anderson’s favorite motivational quote is, “There’s no change if there’s no change,” from the Weight Watchers Connect app. “Progress is better than perfection,” she added. “You just gotta keep doing something and moving forward.” D

Abigail Blonigen is a Duluth freelance writer and photographer.

Jennifer Anderson (left) and Miranda Christensen are training for the Gary Bjorklund Half Marathon in conjunction with the Duluze Weight Loss Challenge under the team name “Swiftlets.”

Women on the Fly

Program teaches, supports women to learn, enjoy steelheading

“There are many challenges to face migration patterns, learning where

experience is incredible and empowering as well!”

Minnesota Steelheader (MNST) was formed in 2005 as an organization of passionate, experienced North Shore anglers sharing resources and passing on this fishery to other generations. According to the group’s website, “The MNST team are passionate, un-paid volunteers who donate time and talent working together with a common goal: to conserve the natural steelhead fishery while informing, inspiring, and entertaining veterans and new-comers alike to North Shore trout and salmon fishery.”

MNST Women on the Fly: A Sisterhood of Minnesota Anglers

Murphy is also executive program director of Minnesota Steelheader’s Women on the Fly Program, developed to provide women with the resources necessary to become confident, competent and successful female steelhead anglers.

“Until its debut in April 2016, there were no women’s programs specific to this region or fishery,” Murphy said. “Understanding that women learn best when surrounded by other likeminded women, I decided we needed to launch a women’s program and offer women’s clinics such as our Annual Women on the Fly Spring Steelheading Clinic.”

Spring Steelheading Clinic: A day of learning and fun

This year’s Women on the Fly Spring Steelheading Clinic is scheduled for Saturday, May 16, on the Middle Shore River. During this on-the-water clinic, 12 women will learn about the steelhead spawning run, reading water and safe river crossing, plus suitable equipment and techniques. Then hands-on instruction begins.

“The annual Women on the Fly Spring Steelheading Clinic is an amazing opportunity for women to gain on-the-water experience under the guidance of some great, patient, knowledgeable and skilled volunteer instructors (both guy and gal instructors),” Murphy said. “We start the morning reviewing gear and equipment used, talk about the history and migration patterns of our migratory fish, go over how

to rig setups, teach about common techniques, presentations and flies, and discuss water and personal safety while fishing alone. After that discussion we wader-up and start hiking down to the river, stopping briefly along the way to show participants different water types and how to identify holding areas for trout. When we make it streamside, we help participants tie up and get them in the water and actively fishing! We work with each participant one-on-one to help with any casting technique and answer any questions they may have.”

Resources are also sent home with participants.

“All participants are also given a USB drive containing all of the information we went over throughout the day so they have

Lisa Murphy (background) and Kiera Manderfeld of Minnesota Steelheader fish for rainbow trout near Duluth.

Laura Schara, co-host of the television show “MN Bound,” (second from right) takes a break from steelhead fishing with Lisa Murphy, Courtney Darst and Kiera Manderfeld of the Minnesota Steelheader.

it to reference anytime later on should they need to,” Murphy said. “They’re also given the instructors’ contact information and are encouraged to reach out to us with any questions they might have after the clinic. We also have women-specific resources available on our Women on the Fly page on the MNST website. It’s important to have a variety of resources both online and on the water.”

Murphy said the group’s spring clinics are very popular each year.

“The clinic is in very high demand year after year and fills up in just a couple of hours,” she said. “Its success is because we have a fantastic team of volunteer instructors who take the time to teach all of the necessary information and techniques, and they spend one-on-one time with participants on the water to ensure they leave with the confidence, knowledge, and skill needed to start their journeys as steelheaders.” The clinic is a fabulous learning opportunity, but it’s also a lot of fun.

“Our participants always have a great time,” said Murphy. “We strive to provide a fun, patient and supportive environment so everyone is relaxed and there to not only learn but to enjoy the experience! It’s always big smiles and laughter throughout the day!”

Increasing women’s involvement

Murphy said that, with the continued growth and interest in the Women on the Fly Program, women’s involvement has very much carried over to MNST’s other co-ed events.

“Since launching our women’s program, all of our other MNST events’ participants are made up of at least 50% women or more, whereas before Women on the Fly, we’d be lucky to get one or two ladies in attendance,” she explained. “It’s been an incredible shift and reassurance that we are making a positive impact in increasing women’s involvement.”

For more information about the MNST Women on the Fly Program and about steelheading, see www.minnesotasteelheader. com/wotfclinic.html. D

Lisa Murphy fishes for steelhead along the North Shore, along with other participants in the Women on the Fly program’s annual spring steelheading clinic.

Alison Stucke is a Duluth freelance writer.

Lifestyle medicine: Big changes, big rewards

By Louie St. George III

Desperate to lose weight, drop her blood pressure and regain the active lifestyle she’d once been so accustomed to, Dayle Nelson browsed Essentia Health’s website last fall.

That’s where she first encountered the term “lifestyle medicine.”

Aha! That was it. That’s what she was looking for. An emphasis on nutrition and exercise instead of medication.

Nelson met with Dr. Jason Buffington, a lifestyle medicine physician at Essentia Health who sees patients at both the West Duluth Clinic and the Essentia HealthWellness Center in Hermantown, in October 2019. They talked extensively, and Dr. Buffington recommended a whole-food, plant-based diet. He requested to see Nelson again in three weeks.

Duluth resident Dayle Nelson has dropped more than 60 pounds and brought her blood pressure way down since she first met with Essentia Health’s Dr. Jason Buffington about lifestyle medicine in October 2019. As a result, Nelson has enjoyed being active once again.

“He said, ‘Let’s see if we can solve this with lifestyle changes,’ ” Nelson, a 53-year-old Duluth resident, recalled.

At the follow-up appointment less than a month later, on Nov. 20, the progress was stunning. Nelson was down 17 pounds and her blood pressure had plunged from 183 over 108 to 130 over 78.

“It was like, ‘Holy cow!’ ” said Nelson, who’d lost 62 pounds overall as of mid-March.

Lifestyle medicine isn’t new. Dr. Buffington started practicing it locally about five years ago. Instead of relying on medication, it focuses on changing lifestyle factors, which Dr. Buffington estimates are responsible for 80-90% of the diseases afflicting Americans.

Those changes are rooted in six pillars: nutrition; exercise; sleep; tobacco cessation, alcohol moderation and the minimization of exposure to other toxins; healthy relationships; and stress management.

The biggie is nutrition.

Nelson can vouch for that. She’s battled weight issues much of her life. More than a decade ago, she lost half her body weight, going from 322 pounds to 160, by counting calories, limiting portion sizes and exercising. She was running up to 50 miles a week before knee trouble scuttled her workouts. But Nelson, who completed two Grandma’s Marathons — among many other races — wanted to keep eating the way she had been while

pounding the pavement.

It was a recipe for disaster. Bad habits resurfaced. One cookie turned into a dozen cookies. After-work detours through the McDonald’s drive-through became commonplace. The weight crept back up. Nelson became “stressed and depressed.” She missed being active. Upon reaching 238 pounds, she made the initial appointment with Dr. Buffington.

His first directive was daunting — adopt a whole-food, plant-based diet. No dairy. No meat.

“No fun,” Nelson thought.

“I’m from Wisconsin,” she deadpanned. “We put cheese on everything, right?”

Pretty soon, a treat consisted of a wild rice burger, with a little cheese on top, from Whole Foods Co-op during her lunch break at Menards. Nelson switched to almond milk. She mentioned that a recent dinner was a veggie calzone.

Planning her meals can be time-consuming because Nelson likes to make everything from scratch — and because the rest of her family isn’t quite on board with her new approach to eating. But it’s worth it. She feels great, has more energy than she used to and is back to hiking, biking, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. Additionally, she’s no longer experiencing as much inflammation throughout her body.

Nelson did, however, come across one problem as she prepared to get back on the bike this spring — she needs new workout clothes.

“I had to order new shorts and everything because nothing fit,” she said.

Good problem to have.

Nelson knows that such a massive change might sound intimidating to some people.

“Most people say, ‘Oh, I could never do that, I could never give up meat,’ ” she said. “I don’t think everyone’s going to jump right in. Some people might be interested, but they’re not willing to make the commitment. But if you are, there’s great reward.”

Speaking of rewards, Nelson won’t deny the occasional slip-up. The whole-food, plant-based way of life has been good to her, but you can’t take the Wisconsin completely out of her.

“I did have a piece of bacon on Christmas,” Nelson quipped. “I splurged.” D

Louie St. George III is a media relations specialist at Essentia Health.

Samantha Roffers, a Moose Lake writer, believes it’s important to shop for things you love and feel comfortable in. Everyone’s style is unique and that’s what makes it so special.

By Samantha Roffers

Hellobeautiful readers! I hope this column reaches you in a place of peace and happiness. With the world feeling a bit upside down these days, it can be nice to settle in with your favorite beverage and a familiar read. If you follow The Woman Today on Facebook, you may have seen my post about the challenges we faced doing this month's issue. With social distancing and store closures so prevalent in Duluth, we all felt it was best to stay home and think outside the box for this issue. We came up with a closet challenge, which turned out to be a lot of fun!

I put together four outfits for this challenge, two outfits for an interview, one for a date night and one for a day running errands with the kids. I really feel like this closet challenge couldn't have come at a better time. While we are all doing our best to stay at home, it's nice to accomplish some projects when we can too. I was able to get a few bags of clothes put together for donation and found some of my favorite forgotten pieces buried in the back of my closet. My sweet husband took all of the photos for me and we had a lot of fun playing with the lighting and turning our bedroom into a homemade studio.

I hope you enjoy these looks and I can't wait to connect with you again soon! Stay healthy, dear readers!

This first look is one of my favorites, I actually wore it to my first day at my current job. I paired these burnt orange linen pants with a floral sleeveless top, grey booties and a black cardigan. I got the floral top and booties from Maurice’s and the cardigan and pants are from Kohl’s. These pants are so light and comfortable, absolutely perfect for spring and summer. They are casual enough that they can easily be worn outside of work as well.

by Sam

This second look is another great interview or workday option. I love these high waisted stripe pants from Kohl’sthey are light and comfortable, much like the orange ones. I paired them with a black ¾ sleeve top from Maurice’s. This top is extremely comfortable with a little extra “pop” from the detailed neckline. These pants could easily be worn outside of work and this look could be dressed down with a black tank, sandals and denim jacket. You could also easily add jewelry or a scarf to this look for a touch of color.

This look is one of my favorites for a date night. The silky floral top, boots and jacket are all from Maurice’s and the jeans are from Kohl’s. These jeans are very stretchy in all the right ways and high waisted. They will move with you throughout the night and keep their shape, perfect for eating a big delicious meal, dancing or sitting at your favorite theatre. This jacket has that classic “leather” look that never goes out of style and the blush color gives it that perfectly girly feel.

This last look is the one you are most likely to see me in. If I’m not at work or wearing cowboy boots and jeans, I'm in something like this. Whenever I run errands I am in a mix of yoga pants, a soft tank top and a jacket. I love to give my hair a break from heat whenever possible and throw on a ball cap or beanie. These sneakers from Target are so comfortable and the black goes with anything. I love yoga pants that have a side pocket, perfect for my phone or debit card. I usually have both my kids with me so being efficient and having a free hand is important. A denim jacket never goes out of style in my opinion, and the camo tank keeps the look current.

Stedman’s niche:

Caring for the trees

By Kasha Stoll

Karin

Stedman is a certified forest pest first detector, tree inspector and pool operator. She is also the only full-time female employee in the City of Cloquet Public Works department.

“I am not one to go out there and operate a big chainsaw. It is not meant to be for me,” said Stedman, a parks maintenance employee who has a petite build and stands 5 feet 2 inches tall. “I use hand tools on everything possible just because that is what I am comfortable with.

“I would encourage women to get outdoors and look at the opportunities you have. There are a lot of opportunities out there that use your brain, not just your strength and size or your ability to run equipment.”

Reaching for Opportunities

Stedman joined the Cloquet Public Works department five years ago and was assigned to maintaining the sporting fields. When an invasive insect from Asia called the emerald ash borer began appearing in St. Louis County, Stedman’s boss sent her to seminars and training sessions to learn how to manage the threat. She returned to work and inventoried all the ash trees in the city.

Stedman later attended a continuing education course offered through the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. That’s where she learned how to identify infestations

from a variety of invasive species and earned her certification as a Minnesota forests pest first detector. It is also where she learned about the tree inspector certification.

Stedman said she reached out to her supervisor to see if he wanted her to pursue the opportunity and use the knowledge to benefit the city. He said yes and sent her to the course.

“I have always had an interest in learning new things,” Stedman said. “When this opportunity came up through the city to kind of be their go-to person when it comes to trees and invasive species and things like that, I just jumped at the chance.”

According to the Minnesota

Karin Stedman, the only full-time female employee in the City of Cloquet Public Works Department, is responsible for the care of the city’s trees, such as this maple in Veterans Park. Karin discusses pruning trees, like this crabapple tree in Cloquet’s Veterans Park.

Department of Natural Resources, the certified tree inspector program was implemented in 1974 in response to Dutch elm disease and oak wilt. The more than 800 certified tree inspectors in the state are required to attend annual recertification workshops where they learn about tree care, exotic species management, shade tree management, tree selection, and insect and disease identification.

As an inspector, Stedman learned how to identify native tree species with or without leaves. This knowledge helps her identify which firewood can be used in various campsites and counties.

“There are a lot of quarantines in

COURTESY OF KASHA STOLL

Seasonal Schedule

Winter:

• Trim and prune trees

• Maintain pleasure ice skating areas, hockey rinks and ski trails

Spring:

• Inspect playgrounds

• Prep baseball and soccer fields for play

• Prepare sand-bottomed, chlorinated swimming pond

• Get winterized community buildings ready for summer

• Get irrigation system up and running

Summer:

• Mow grass

• Monitor swimming pond

• Care for 60 perennial flower beds

• Trim trees and bushes, as necessary, to preserve safety and line of sight

• Maintain community buildings

Fall:

• Winterize swimming pond, seasonal buildings and irrigation system.

the state for moving firewood,” she said. “In the city campground, we don’t allow people to bring their own firewood in or out. Other quarantines won’t let people bring certain types of

firewood from one county to another.”

The quarantines help prevent the transfer of invasive species from one area to another.

Stedman can also recognize insect infestations. For example, she said trees that are infested with emerald ash borer may have woodpecker damage, peeling bark and a thinning canopy of leaves. To confirm a problem, she can peel a section of the bark away from a tree and look for patterns caused by larvae channeling through the wood.

Trimming and Pruning

Stedman says one of her favorite parts of the job is pruning the 200 or so trees that have been planted in city parks in the past three to five years.

“You have these brand new trees, and you can start fresh exactly where you want with them instead of basically having to correct years of growth,” she said. “With structural pruning, we will take certain branches off in order to help that tree grow into the shape we want it to.”

For example, she said, a tree that was planted to provide shade should grow tall first and then branch out. To do that, the tree needs to have a single, central leader branch. If the largest branch in the center of the tree starts

to divide, then the energy and nutrients within that tree are divided to support both branches.

Stedman uses structural pruning techniques to determine which branch should remain and be allowed to grow. She also must decide when and where to cut the second branch to avoid damaging the tree.

“You don’t want to take off a branch that is more than one-third the size of the branch it is connected to,” Stedman said.

Sometimes it can take a few years of careful pruning before a central branch is firmly established.

Pruning is almost always done in February through mid-March when the trees are dormant and less like to be traumatized. During the summer months, Stedman typically limits herself to necessary trimming. She described that as “keeping branches high enough that lawnmowers don’t hit them when we are underneath them and keeping trees and brush back from sideways and roadways.”

For Stedman, no two workdays are the same as her schedule changes dramatically with the seasons. D

Kasha Stoll is a Duluth freelance writer.

4-H: Connecting youth with their passions

By Andrea Busche

Whenwe hear the name “4-H,” many of us automatically think of children displaying livestock in a barn at the local fair. While it’s true that the organization has deep roots in agriculture, today’s 4-H offers so much more.

So, what is 4-H? In a nutshell, 4-H is an out-ofschool, hands-on learning program for people ages 5-19. Youth participants choose a project that’s interesting to them and explore it, along with their peers and caring adults.

Details

“4-H is a youth development organization supported by volunteers,” said Rebecca Meyer, who is an extension educator with the Center for Youth Development at the University of Minnesota Extension; 4-H falls under the University of Minnesota Extension’s umbrella.

In addition to her professional role with the group, Meyer is also a 4-H leader, volunteer and parent. Her own three sons are deeply involved in the organization, and Meyer herself leads a 4-H club called Riptide Spies.

“4-H is really about connecting youth with their passions,” she said. “There are many different topics of interest, such as computer science, creative arts, biology, STEM topics, animals, and more. 4-H tries to pair youth with their interests, along with providing caring adults to help them.”

4-H clubs meet regularly across the country, including in every part of Minnesota. South Saint Louis County alone offers five clubs, plus after-school programs. Currently, 170

youth are 4-H members in our area.

In addition to clubs, 4-H offers many other modalities, including training sessions, camps, special projects and leadership events. The youth learn public speaking and presentation skills through exhibiting their projects at a variety of venues, such as art galleries and fairs. And yes, animals and livestock are still a big part of the organization; some of the youth choose to raise animals and display them at local and county fairs.

History

4-H goes back to the early 1900s, when A.B. Graham started a youth program in Clark County, Ohio, in 1902. This is considered the birthplace of 4-H in the United States. The first club was called “The Tomato Club,” or the “Corn Growing Club.”

Minnesota was one of the first states to get in on the fun. T.A. Erickson of Douglas County, Minn., started local agricultural after-school clubs and fairs that same year. Jessie Field Shambaugh developed the clover pin with an H on each leaf in 1910, and by 1912 the groups were officially referred to as 4-H clubs.

The name 4-H refers to the occurrence of the letter H four times in the organization's original motto, featuring the words “head, heart, hands and health.” These four words are still used in the group’s pledge to this day.

Ella Schultz and McKay Schultz, both of Winona, Minn., and Owen Smith of Woodbury, Minn., enjoy a 4-H photography retreat.

Topics

When it comes to topics youth can explore in 4-H, the sky is really the limit. 4-H offers learning experiences in science, photography, agriculture, healthy living, civic engagement and much more. 4-H offers one-day events, year-long projects and everything in-between. There are many ways to try 4-H.

Meyer’s three sons each pursue their own individual interests through 4-H. Evan, 14, enjoys theater, comedy, and outdoor activities such as paddling and hiking. Evan is also a 4-H STEM Ambassador and a participant in a program called The Incredible Exchange. Through both efforts, he is engaged in sharing his interests in science and engineering through teaching younger youth.

Isaac, 10, plays guitar and enjoys projects that include engineering and “tinkering.” And, Isaac’s twin brother,

Continued on page 46

4-H member Evan Meyer learns photography techniques with the help of his father and 4-H volunteer, Nate Meyer.

Nolan, enjoys drawings, watercolor painting, and playing piano, as well as composing music. He also likes to learn about chemistry and chemical reactions.

Meyer shared that 4-H is a great way for family members to each pursue their own interests, while keeping the number of activities per child to a manageable level.

“We’re a busy family, so finding time to pursue all the things we’re interested in can be challenging,” she said.

Values and pledge

Meyer explained that 4-H is a great place for youth to build character and learn quality values as they grow. 4-H focuses on four overarching elements, including: belonging, independence, mastery and generosity.

“We also teach skills that are especially important in the 21st century, such as collaboration, communication, creative thinking, creativity, and building relationships,” she added.

4-H has its own unique pledge, which states: I pledge my head to clearer thinking, my heart to greater loyalty, my hands to larger service, and my health to better living, for my family, my club, my community, my country and my world.

Open to everyone

4-H is open to any youth, aged 5-19, who want to join. While there are some costs involved, there are scholarships available. 4-H also holds fundraisers to help offset some of the expenses for families in need.

The group is always looking for volunteers.

“We’re always looking for caring adults who want to share their skills and passions with youth,” Meyer said. “Once, a parent came to a club meeting and talked to the kids all about fishing – how to tie knots, what

Micha Trost of Hastings, Minn., participates in a 4-H Engineering Design Challenge.

Evan, Nolan and Isaac Meyer explore “squishy circuits” during a 4-H Riptide Spies Club meeting recently.

lure to use, etc. So, the topics covered can really be about anything.”

Rewarding for youth and adults alike

Meyer is passionate about the benefits of 4-H, and believes the skills and lessons learned contribute mightily to the positive development of young people.

“I really enjoy seeing them learning,” she said. “The kids are smiling, and they’re really engaging with the topics. There’s a lot of laughter and positive camaraderie, all while they are learning something of interest to them.”

For more information, please visit extension.umn. edu/4-h/about-4-h. D

Andrea Busche is a Duluth freelance writer.

Ten-year-old Nolan Meyer works on his art piece inspired by Yayoi Kusama.

By Alison Stucke

northland inspires home design

ohn and Jodi Kloss always hoped that one day they’d live in the Northland. They thought it would most likely happen after they both retired from their jobs in Eau Claire, Wis. They didn’t imagine it would happen this soon. Thanks to a job that John landed in the area, they were able to start building their log cabin-style home in Two Harbors in May 2019, and move into the home on Dec. 19, 2019. They’re loving their new home with a view of Lake Superior.

Coming home to Two Harbors

“It’s just how we’ve felt about the area for as long as we’ve known each other,” John said. “I got a job opportunity

The kitchen in John and Jodi Kloss’ new home evokes warmth and comfort thanks to hickory cabinets, tongueand-groove knotty pine ceilings and dark flooring that mimics distressed barnwood. Industrial touches are found in the bar stools and island lighting fixtures.

up here, so I took it.”

“My mom was born and raised in Duluth, so I spent a lot of summers up here,” Jodi explained. “We talked about living here for 20 years. I always knew we’d live here at some point. We’ve owned the property since 2013. So when the opportunity came for us to move up here, we took it and here we are.”

They decided on building a ranch-style house all on one level and built on a slab, with a bonus room above the garage.

Building their log home

“We’ve always been casual people and log home people,” Jodi said. “Our original intention was to build a log home here.”

John and Jodi went to architectural designer Heather Hiner with their ideas.

“The homeowners came to me with a log home floor plan that they liked, especially the prow window wall with vaulted ceiling and open concept living/kitchen/dining,” Hiner explained. “What didn't work about the plan was the small size, only bedroom on the main level, and the other bedrooms in the basement.”

Hiner worked with John and Jodi to adapt their ideas and come up with a plan that would suit the couple for years to come.

“To better suit their retirement years, the log home plan they were attracted to would need to be redesigned for one level living,” Hiner said. “What developed from our meetings and sketches was a design that incorporated a similar prow window wall, enlarged living area with a stair leading to a bonus room above the garage, a screen porch, all

The giant 7-foot kitchen island (above) features a granite countertop. Knotty pine wall paneling spills out to the great room and dining room in the open-concept space. The stately, unique dining table and bench seating (left) is made from repurposed elder wood.

bedrooms on the main level, and a roomy mud room/laundry from the attached garage.

“Although the house was built with traditional stick frame construction,” she continued, “the interior and exterior log accents and use of wood throughout gives the home a cozy, rustic, Northwoods feel that rivals true log home construction.”

Continued on page 50

A stunning feature in the Kloss home is the wall of windows in the great room, which provides a tree-studded view of Lake Superior and an abundance of natural light. The mantle over the fireplace was made by John himself from a fallen tree on their property.

The home’s exterior

John and Jodi decided to go with LP smart siding, a man-made product that retains the look of natural wood but requires much less maintenance and lower cost.

“We wanted to keep that log home feel, but we did it with less maintenance and cost,” Jodi said.

Huge 20-foot logs overhang off the front porch. A stamped and stained concrete patio in the back and porch in the front add to the craftsmanship of the exterior of the home.

“A lot of craftmanship went into it,” John said of this focal point of the front entryway.

“There were some challenges in building this home,” said general contractor Brendan Payton, owner of Payton Customs LLC. “There are always challenges when you’re building a house. The logs were interesting. I had never worked with logs before.”

Although Payton had never before worked with logs, he was pleased with the finished product of his company’s work.

“It turned out beautifully,” he said. “It was a fun, challenging project. There were lots of detail. They have a beautiful home. I’m pretty proud of that one. Everything fell into place perfectly. I can’t say enough about the homeowners. John and Jodi were great to work with.”

The rustic theme continues indoors

Inside, the rustic wood theme continues with distressed barnwood-look tile flooring in dark brown with sawmill marks. Tonguein-groove knotty pine paneling on the walls and vaulted ceilings,

along with big log beams overhead and in the middle of the open-concept great room repeat the log home feel indoors. The prow wall in the great room is all windows trimmed out with half log. A stone fireplace in the great room features a mantle made by John from a fallen tree from their property. The stone was purchased from Great Lakes Stone Supply of Duluth.

“Our builder, Brendan Payton, and his crew did a great job finishing and installing the mantle,” John said. The kitchen features rustic hickory cabinets, granite countertops, stainless-steel appliances, and a 3-1/2 by 7-foot

stand-alone island with a 16-inch overhang and three industrial wood-top stools for sitting.

In the dining room area is a huge repurposed elder wood dining table, and a light fixture with an exposed Edison bulb on vintage-look cables. This is where the Klosses eat each day.

A great room with a view

The wall of windows provides a panoramic view of Lake Superior from all areas of the open-concept great room.

“When the leaves are down, we really have a nice

To accomplish the look of a log home without the maintenance, John and Jodi Kloss used LP smart siding, a man-made product. The front entry (left) features 20-foot logs overhanging to create a porch area.

view,” John said. “When the leaves come up it’s not quite as spectacular. You hate to see winter come, but when the leaves come off, the lake shows up.”

Screen porch, Mudroom, and Bonus Room

Off the dining room, French doors lead out to a threeseason screen porch that’s 11 feet by 16 feet.

“It’s nice for sitting and bug-free in the summer, and it faces the lake,” Jodi said.

Near the kitchen, off the three-car attached garage, is a mudroom with a walk-in pantry, walk-in coat closet, and washer and drier combo.

Also off the kitchen and accessible from inside the house is the stairway to the bonus room that’s above the garage. The bonus room is sheet rocked, carpeted, and painted in shades of grey. It includes a plush sectional, bigscreen TV, and table space for card playing and puzzles.

Bedrooms and baths

Back downstairs, a hallway includes an office/craft room and a spare bedroom on the left side. Both rooms are painted in shades of grey and beige and include knotty pine closets and trim.

On the right side of the hallway is the master bedroom with walk-in closet. A huge picture window faces the lake, giving John and Jodi a picturesque view. The en suite full bathroom includes a walk-in shower and the same rustic

Continued on page 54

The en suite bath includes dual white sinks set in a black counter, the same rustic hickory cabinets as found in the kitchen, and a walk-in shower.

hickory cabinets as in the kitchen. Double sinks are white with nickel faucets. Tile in the shower looks like weathered wood.

At the end of the hall is another full bathroom, also with beautiful wood-look tile and an amazing sink that’s made out of cement but looks like it’s made of wood. A built-in linen closet provides handy storage.

Love of the lake got them here

It seems right that John and Jodi get to look at Lake Superior from the great room and bedroom windows of their beautiful new log home. They’ve visited this area for years and they always knew they’d end up here. Jodi vacationed here as a child, and she and John brought their children here as they were growing up. Now their kids are raised, and John and Jodi are living here by Lake Superior for good.

“We’ve always come up here,” Jodi said. “The love of the lake brought us here. It’s been pretty exciting.” D

Alison

A second bathroom features a stunning sink (above) that appears to be made from wood, but is actually cement. The wood-look wall tile and penny floor tile coordinate to make a relaxing shower environment.

Chicken Caesar Pasta (One Pot!)

Ididn’t know what to think of this recipe until I dove right in - so simple, delicious and hardly any clean up. Perfect dish to make during the work week! ~Megan Keller

Ingredients

½ cup Parmesan cheese

1 cup Caesar salad dressing

¾ cup milk

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

3 teaspoons lemon pepper seasoning

2 Tablespoons olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1-½ cups chicken broth

¾ pound angel hair pasta, 12 oz.

1 Tablespoon capers

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

Freshly cracked pepper

Fresh Parsley, roughly chopped

3. Meanwhile, shred the Parmesan cheese and set it aside. It should be at room temp when added to the sauce.

4. Take ¼ cup of the Caesar Salad Dressing and whisk it with ¾ cup milk. Set it aside, it should also come down to nearly room temp. Don’t worry if it’s not completely uniform in consistency.

5. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large highwalled skillet or dutch oven.

6. Add the marinated chicken and let the meat sear, undisrupted, for 4-5 minutes. Decrease heat to medium if oil begins to splatter.

7. Use kitchen tongs to flip the chicken once it’s golden brown and nearly blackened. Cook for 4-5 additional minutes or until golden brown.

8. Set the chicken on a plate. Let it rest for 5 minutes, then cut it into strips. Ensure the middle is sufficiently cooked.

9. Reduce the heat to medium and add the minced garlic. Heat for one minute.

10. Add the chicken broth, milk/Caesar dressing, and capers.

11. Add the angel hair pasta, it will eventually bend as it heats. Use kitchen tongs to gently bend the softened noodles into the pan. Cook for 4-5 minutes.

Directions

1. Slice each chicken breast in half to create thinner pieces of equal size. Season each side with lemon pepper seasoning.

2. Place the chicken in a freezer Ziploc bag and add ¾ cup of Caesar dressing (save ¼ cup for the pasta sauce). Coat the chicken with the dressing and seal. Refrigerate for 20 minutes (or longer if time allows.)

12. Decrease heat to low. Gradually sprinkle in the Parmesan cheese, use the tongs to toss and allow the cheese to melt. Add the chicken back to the pan along with the lemon juice. Stir to combine.

13. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley. Add freshly ground pepper and serve. D

Ingredients

Pretzel Bread Dough

2 ¼ tsp yeast

1 cup warm water

105-110 degrees F

2 Tablespoons whole milk

3 Tablespoons brown sugar

4 Tablespoons butter melted

1 teaspoon sea salt

3 cups all-purpose flour

Baking Soda Bath

4 quarts water

½ cup baking soda

Homemade Pretzel Bread

Topping

1-2 Tablespoons coarse sea salt

2 Tablespoons butter melted

Directions

1. Combine yeast, water, and brown sugar in the bowl of your standing mixer fitted with the dough hook. Let stand for 5 minutes (until foamy).

2. While yeast is proofing…melt butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Mix in milk and set aside. Once yeast is proofed, add milk/butter to yeast mixture and mix on low speed with dough hook until just combined.

3. Add salt and flour and mix with dough hook until flour is fully incorporated.

4. Knead in a mixer until the dough forms a slightly tacky, but firm ball, you may need to add a little more flour 1 tablespoon at a time, but be careful, you want your dough a little tacky but not too sticky to handle.

5. Oil a large bowl, place the dough ball in the bowl, and cover with a damp towel in a warm place to let rise for one hour or until doubled in size.

6. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. When the water is boiling, slowly add the baking soda a little bit at a time (Be careful not to add too much at once or you will have a baking soda/water explosion!).

7. Remove the dough from the bowl and gently press out the air bubbles.

8. Make two balls of dough the same size (NOTE: The total weight of the dough comes out to be about 800 g, so each loaf should weigh about 400 g), forming them into the shape you want (Do not let it rise at all here! Straight from forming the ball into the water).

9. Drop one of the balls into the boiling baking soda water. Boil for 60-90 seconds on each side, turning it once to guarantee both sides covered. Drain the excess water from the dough and place it on an oiled baking sheet.

10. Immediately sprinkle coarse sea salt over the bread to your specific tastes, and use a knife to cut a small “X” on the top of the bread.

11. Repeat with the second ball of dough. (Do not let it rise at all here! Straight from boiling into the oven).

12. Bake the bread for 22-25 minutes, rotating the baking sheet once.

13. Once removed from the oven, immediately brush the melted butter over the loaves to guarantee a soft crust. Transfer to a wire rack to cool just enough to enjoy!

*You can reheat it on a low temp covered in foil if you decide to make it a bit ahead of time. Cover it with a tea towel or something if you’re not going to serve it right away. D

Recipe courtesy of joyfoodsunshine.com

You have got to try this pretzel bread! It will challenge you, but so worth it! It’s delicious, chewy and the taste is just like a restaurant pretzel!

~Megan Keller