Sports & Outdoors

Cross country season began this year on September 1 with a blisteringly hot meet, unusually so for its location at Pincushion Ski Hill near Grand Marais, Minn. With a hot westerly wind and temperatures in the mid-80s, the North Shore Storm team (combining Cook County, Silver Bay, and Two Harbors schools) hosted the meet which included major competitors Duluth East and Proctor. The runners competed admirably despite the heat, particularly the Junior High Girls and Boys Teams, both taking home team firsts.

The North Shore Adventure Park in Silver Bay has added another adventurous activity to their offerings with the ribbon-cutting of their axe-throwing expansion. In the opening event last week co-owner Alice Tibbetts thanked the city for working with them to accomplish their expansion goals, explaining that a low-interest loan program through the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) related to Covid-19 recovery funding helped them continue to move forward during the pandemic.

The annual Finn-Master dog show held at the Trestle Inn in Finland was a rousing success again this year. Humans and their pets attended on August 20th, all for a good time and a good cause, with proceeds going to the Lake County Humane Society.

Grit and gratitude are two things that Heather Buchholz, of Duluth, says are needed to get through hearing that your child has cancer. In her family's case that happened with her daughter Lily when at 18 months old she was diagnosed with an advanced cancer of the liver.

Amaris Scheirer from Silver Bay, MN had the unique experience of attending the 4H/FFA Crop Scouting Competition at the University of Minnesota St Paul campus. Scheirer, a 5th grader, is the first representative of Lake County to participate in the event, and this year’s youngest competitor. Crop Scouting is the process of assessing overall health and dangers (insects, disease) to crops, and is typically a commercial service employed by farmers to determine economic risk and potential interventions when issues arise. 4H/FFA members learned methods of Crop Scouting through online classes, and personal research. Amaris enjoyed learning the ins and outs of Crop Scouting and getting the opportunity to collaborate with young people from all over the State.

Two Harbors’ girls swimming and diving team will also participate in a preseason jamboree meet at Mesabi East at 1 p.m. Thursday.

The North Shore Miners hockey team, comprised primarily of students from Silver Bay and Two Harbors, played in the Summer Round Up Tournament in Elk River last weekend rounding out their season with another championship win.

Courtney Anderson, and her daughter Elaina, 13, say they were lucky to have the privilege of volunteering for Two Harbors Festival of Sail debut on the deck of the Sundew Coast Guard Cutter. The Sundew was first launched out of the Duluth shipyards in 1944, and ended her career with the Coast Guard in 2004. Now owned by Jeff and Toni Foster, Courtney Anderson described their experience over the weekend as nearly magical. The Andersons traveled up from Duluth to Two Harbors last Thursday on the Sundew, with Anderson saying, “I was over the moon! I could not have asked for a better experience with the Lake like glass, it was sunny and warm with a slight breeze.”

Gordon Hommes Deliberate Living I was thinking recently about how we spend our time and how it has changed over the generations. It wasn’t that long ago when life was far less convenient, and when much of what had to be done you had to do yourself, often because of financial necessity, but also because of societal norms.