St. Urho and St. Patrick, The Quilters and More

by Joan Farnam on March 14, 2019

Frozen Waves. Artist's Point, Travis Novitsky.

Frozen Wave, Artist’s Point, Photo by Travis Novitsky.

It’s mid-March, and this weekend on the North Shore we celebrate two saints: Saint Urho and Saint Patrick. One is fictional, one is not, but each year at this time, both are celebrated with special colors, lots of beer, music, dancing, and, in the case of St. Urho, plenty of tongue-in-cheek humor and a big parade.

Saint Patrick is the Patron Saint of Ireland, and Irish communities around the U.S. have been celebrating St. Patrick’s Day since the late 1700s.

St. Patrick’s Day will be celebrated in a number of different venues this weekend.

Admittedly, there isn’t a big Irish community on the North Shore, but, it is big enough so that you will find lots of Irish music in the pubs, plenty of beer consumption, and, on Friday night, an Irish Ceili dance with Over the Waterfall at the Wunderbar. Terrance Smith will teach the dances.

An Irish Ceili Dance will be held at the Wunderbar on Friday night, starting at 7 p.m.

There’s lots of Irish food and music at Cascade Restaurant and Pub this weekend, too. (See Music Schedule below) Saint Patrick’s color is green, and the official St. Patrick’s Day is Sunday, March 17, but celebrations begin early.

Saint Urho is the fictional Patron Saint of Finland, created by Richard Mattson in Virginia, Minn, in the 1950s. According to Wikipedia, he made up the story in response to taunts from Irish friends about not having a patron saint like they did. The legend and foolishness and fun has exploded from there, with Finnish communities in the U.S and Canada embracing St. Urho Days.

There are plenty of Finns on the North Shore, especially in Finland, Minn., and that’s where you want to go this weekend if you’re at all curious about this patron saint, whose colors are purple and green. His claim to fame is chasing out all the grasshoppers from Finland who were threatening the grape crop.

St. Urho Days is Friday through Sunday and includes lots of music and Finnish food, a beauty contest, a tug of war across the Baptism River on Saturday, and an absolutely astounding parade at noon. Click here to see schedule of events.

Hwy. 1 through Finland is crowded with people as they watched the St. Urho's Parade. This year, it starts at noon on Saturday.

Hwy. 1 through Finland is crowded with people as they wait for the St. Urho’s Parade. This year, it starts at noon on Saturday. It will definitely be snowier this year. The parade is always an experience of fun and craziness, or as one local headline asked: Will Finland out-weird itself on St. Urho’s Day?

St. Urho buttons will be available at St. Urho Days this weekend.

Meanwhile, back in Cook County, there’s lots of other things happening this weekend.

First off on Thursday, a chance to feast on goodies crafted by local restaurants and the ISD 166 culinary class while helping support the ISD 166 Educational Foundation at the same time. The event will be held in the school.

E.A.T.S. 2019 will be held at ISD 166 from 6-7:30 p.m. Only 125 tickets will be sold. They can be purchased at the school, Java Moose, the Blue Water Cafe.

E.A.T.S.. or Enriching Academics Through Sustenance, is one of the area’s favorite, and tastiest fundraisers. To date, more than $175,000 has been raised for projects and activities that have enriched the curriculum of Cook County ISD 166. This year. E.A.T.S. will feature elegant salads; soups, chili and chowders, homemade bread and sliced meat; meatballs, saucy chicken wings, reuben and sloppy joe sliders, savory shepherds’ pie, and pizza, as well as desserts. The Grace Notes will play. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the school, Java Moose and the Blue Water Cafe. There is also a silent auction.

Also on Thursday, a Skill Share at North House Folk School on Thursday night at 7 p.m. Entitled “Carving a Coat Hook,” the mini-workshop will teach participants how to make a simple, carved coat hook out of a branch harvested locally.

Carve a Coat Hook at North House on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Mike Schelmeske will teach the workshop, which will be held in the Blue Building. Open to adults and youth 12 and older accompanied by an adult. There is a $5 fee. No preregistration is required.

On Friday, besides all the Patron Saint celebrations, a new exhibit opens in the Great Hall at Tettegouche State Park featuring paintings and drawings of students at the Silver Bay Elementary School. Entitled “Masterpiece Art,” the exhibit features a variety of work by students who were exposed to work by the Masters and responded with their concepts from seeing the work.

Winter Birches, Grade 4. One of the paintings in the upcoming Masterworks exhibit at Tettegouche State Park.

This is always a fascinating show. The opening reception is at 7 p.m. Friday. The exhibit continues through March.

This is the last weekend to see the youth musical, “The Quilters” at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts. This lively musical has charmed audiences with great performances and live music. The all-girl cast includes: Aurora Schelmeske, Izy Sparks, Bryn Fitzgerald-Wells, Greta Roth, Kylie Viren, Abbey Stoddard and Elsa Garry.

The cast from “The Quilters,” a musical at the Arrowhead Center the Arts with performances at 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.

Musicians for “The Quilters” include: Kay Costello, Barb LaVigne, Myra Theimer and Yvonne Mills. The play is directed by Sue Hennessy. The vocal director is Karina Roth. Tickets are available at the door.

On Saturday, Beadpainter Jo Wood will give a demonstration and talk about her bead art at the Cook County Public Library from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The demonstration is free. All invited.

“Grateful for Bees” is an example of Jo Wood’s bead art.

Wood, a long-time Cook County resident, is well-known for her exquisite bead art inspired by the North Woods. She is the instructor-in-residence at North House Folk School from March 12 – 22.

Also on Saturday, there are two back-to-back events: The Grand Marais Art Colony will feature presentations by two Artists-in-Residence, and the Johnson Heritage Post will hold an opening reception for a new exhibition, “Thin Places.”

At the Art Colony, join two of its Artists-In-Residence; Christine Forni and Corrie Steckelberg, for back-to-back events starting at 3:30 pm on Saturday, March 16.

Printmaker and sculptor Christine Forni and multi-media artist Corrie Steckelberg will give back-to-back presentations at the Grand Marais Art Colony on Saturday, starting at 3:30 p.m.

Forni will start with an artist talk about her experimental printmaking process in the Art Colony’s print studio at 3:30 p.m., and at 5 p.m., Steckelberg will be talking about and showing the massive wolf sculpture (complete with fabric internal organs) she crafted during her residency, before leading participants in dissecting it. Both events are free and all are welcome to join.

“Thin Places: The Form of Things Unknown,” opens at the Johnson Heritage Post on Saturday with a reception from 5-7 p.m. The community art exhibit was organized and sponsored by the Spirit of the Wilderness Church, and will feature works from professional artists to high school art students to younger yet. Everyone in the community was welcome to submit work.

Greg Meuller’s sculpture, Winter Solstice, is one of two sculptures that will be in the “Thin Places” at the Johnson Heritage Post.

The exhibit will feature a wide variety of artwork, from paintings and pottery, weaving to sculptures, drawings, jewelry and more. The opening reception is from 5-7 p.m Saturday. Wayne L. Roosa, a professor of Art History at Bethel University, will give a presentation at 6 p.m.

All invited. The Heritage Post is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and from 1-4 p.m. Sunday.

In Duluth, the Duluth Art Institute is featuring the photographs of Vern Northrup entitled “Akinomaage,” or Teachings from the Earth.

Stockton Island I, photo by Vern Northrup is at the Duluth Art Institute.

Shooting only with the camera on his smart phone, Northrup captures the rhythm of nature, the preservation of tradition and the relationship between resilience and sustainability in the setting of where he grew up. The exhibit continues through May 5.

In Thunder Bay, the Thunder Bay Art Gallery has opened a new exhibit. Entitled “Lakehead University Annual Juried Student Exhibit,” the show features a wide variety of work by Lakehead art students.

The Lakehead University Annual Juried Student Exhibit has opened at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery.

The exhibit continues through April 7.

Of Interest:

The Cook County Chamber has put a call out for businesses and/or organizations to apply for a $250 to $1,000 grant for a high impact, low-cost idea to make a place great.

The Great Place Project began in 2014 as a partnership between the Cook County Chamber and Sawtooth Mountain Clinic’s Moving Matters program. It continues as a program of the Chamber Foundation. The deadline is April 1.

A call has gone out for proposals for a Great Place Project in Cook County.

GPP provides small grants to individuals, businesses and organizations to develop small outdoor projects that enhance the beauty and attraction of the outdoor built environment of Cook County. The intention is to encourage healthy outdoor play and exercise, and to create a more pleasing environment for residents and visitors to enjoy. For more info, visit www.cookcountychamber.org or email ccchamber@boreal.org .

And this quirky bit of news: Red Green of the Red Green Show, sold out his performance at the Mitchel Auditorium at St. Scholastica which is set for April 7. He is calling it “This Could Be It!” show.