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Mary Beth Peter plays Christmas carols and other holiday tunes Saturday on a 1910 upright grand Hamilton piano recently donated to the Carlton County Historical Society. One of the piano’s original owners was in the crowd Saturday. She gave it to former Cloquet resident Mark Hanratty, who brought it back to Cloquet from Oklahoma on a trailer earlier this year after taking it with him on moves around the country. “It’s extremely heavy so we’re grateful to two men in a truck who showed up with fo... Full story
Gerald "Buck" Bloomquist recently turned 100 years old. Born Oct. 10, 1924, he was part of The Greatest Generation, graduating from Cloquet High School in 1942. He currently lives at a Veterans Home in Rifle, Colorado. He is a proud veteran of World War II. The Nov. 8 Pine Knot Veterans Day tribute spurred the Bloomquist relatives and me to revive - and retrieve - Buck's military and life stories. Buck's son, Bill, was a Cloquet school and athletic chum of mine. Buck Bloomquist was an... Full story
With wax in hand, Greg White is ready to take his swirling moustache to the next level, aiming to win the title of "saltiest 'stache" in a national competition. The Cloquet Area Fire District firefighter/EMT competed in his first moustache competition last year, and became a brand ambassador for 'Stache Salt - which sells moustache and beard products and sponsors the competition he is aiming to win. White shared a secret revealed only after he decided to grow a moustache during the pandemic.... Full story
Loriene Roy loved books and reading from a young age while growing up in Carlton County. Whenever she had enough allowance, she bought a book and started her own home library for a shelf her mother had set up. Her younger sister Della can attest that Loriene was already practicing to be a librarian when she was in grade school. If Della wanted to read one of Loriene's books, she had to sign a card to check it out. Della lost her borrowing privileges when she tore a page corner instead of using...
I don't remember meeting him. His name was Marvin Gleason. He was my first cousin who died in 1958, at age 31, when I was only 3 years old. Marvin was a decorated Korean War pilot who served in the U.S. Air Force. He's buried at the Maple Grove Cemetery in Cloquet and I visit his gravesite often. I always wish I could have heard his stories in person, especially when I'm reminded of his service each Veterans Day. Gleason grew up on Fourth Street and Selmser Avenue in Cloquet. He'd be 98 years...
Four days after graduating from high school in 1970, Gerald "Jerry" Manthey went on active duty in the Air Force. A crew chief/flight engineer, Manthey trained with B-52 bombers. His first assignment was at the K.I. Sawyer Air Force Base, a strategic air command. Once there, Manthey started working on KC-135 planes, which were in-flight refueling tankers. He learned quickly how lucky he was to be working on the KCs. "Four engines instead of eight on a KC, eight on a B-52. Half the problems," he...
Some people have simple goals. It seems obvious to many that Ron Delbow performed that goal with a known luster. Though his recent passing on Oct. 18 was met with sadness, along with that is also a feeling of lasting affinity and appreciation for this fellow. His obituary provided through McNearney-Schmidt Funeral in Shakopee, Minnesota said this: "Ronald retired from Model Stone, a cement block plant, and lived Up North where he built a home. After some time, he decided to go back to work and... Full story
Local author Katharine Johnson has published a new young-adult fiction book, "Belzi's Blizzard," a story about 12-year-old Belzi, who is unhappy about staying with a grandmother she barely knew in northern Minnesota. Belzi plans to run away until she is stopped by a blizzard and a long-ago mystery about her mom. Johnson is the featured author next week at the Cloquet Public Library starting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17.... Full story
Aim high. Shoot for the stars. Dream big. For Lynn Tredeau, a 1979 Cloquet Senior High School graduate, her reality is living out a dream bigger than she could have ever imagined. Tredeau is a professional solo piano artist and composer who now resides in Idaho. She grew up in Cloquet and was known then as Lynn DeRocher before marrying Al Tredeau. Her music falls into the contemporary instrumental category or solo piano instrumental category, a style of music also known as mindful music. "I...
Carlton County teacher, naturalist and poet Patrick Stevens has released a second book of poetry, titled "Natural Wonders." The new poetry book follows the author through his wanderings in each distinct season of the Minnesota year. He begins his journey in winter, the longest season, dealing with dying plants, frost, frozen lakes, major snowfalls, animal tracks and habitat, before moving on to spring and the welcome rebirth of plants and animals. Summer is his joyous time, bringing long days...
It's homecoming week at Cloquet High School with a royal court announced at Friday's football game. Candidates include: boys (back row, left to right) Gage Allen, Blair Chartier, Dane Mason, Hudson Snesrud, Jack Battaglia, Benjamin Saletel, Kaleb Yrjanson, Hunter Eugenis, Max Sundquist, Quinten Larsen; and girls (front row) Makena Smith, Morgan Olesiak, Addison Sandman, Erin Keating, Clare French, Tenley Kiminski, Lilyana Rosen, Aspen Winbigler, Kaia Boyd, Ellise Boyd....
One of the most influential and famous persons over the last 100 years wasn't an athlete, celebrity, or political figure. She was a simple, short, 4-foot nothing, religious nun from Albania who would come to be affectionately known as Mother Teresa. At the age of 18, she left home and joined the convent of Loreto Sisters in Ireland. She was sent to Calcutta, India to teach at a school for upper middle-class girls. While she loved teaching these girls, she was increasingly disturbed by the... Full story
Jim and Carlie Nynas of Esko received a $25 gift certificate to Outdoor Advantage in Cloquet for being spotted for having an "I Think Knot" bumper sticker on their vehicle. The supporters of our independent, locally owned Pine Knot News were attending the grand opening of the Carlton County Justice Center last week....
Hoping to start a friendly game of cards with friendly seniors two Thursdays a month starting in September. Time and place to be determined. Interested? Call Joan at 218-348-8480....
What are two small beings who love being outdoors and delight in having two breakfasts? If you guessed Hobbits, the lovely little Shire folk from "The Lord of the Rings," you'd be wrong, but not far off the mark. Today we are talking about our twin daughters, Quinn and Avery. Each year as summer events wind down, we give them a "Yes Day" when they get to pick out the day's itinerary and menu. The fun of Yes Day is that each year is different, and we give the girls a rare childhood opportunity...
Led by servers and children throwing rose petals, members of the Queen of Peace Catholic Church walked down Cloquet Avenue during a processional Sunday to celebrate the feast day of the church's namesake, Jesus's mother, Mary, aka Queen of Peace. Mary intercedes for us and prays for peace, said Father Nick Nelson. The Queen of Peace priest explained that a processional is a couple things. "It's kind of like a mini pilgrimage. Our life is a pilgrimage, with the end goal of heaven," Nelson said. "...
Cecelia Anderson and Ron Johnson were humbled and surprised to be honored as the latest recipients of the Calton County Outstanding Senior award. They celebrated the honor at the county fair in Barnum last Friday. "It's amazing," Anderson said. "It's a great honor," Johnson said. That the two received notice for their work volunteering was no surprise to those on the receiving end of their work. Anderson calls bingo games at Inter-Faith Care Center in Carlton. She said she takes pride in... Full story
Cloquet's Brandi Fisher and her passengers are the latest winners of an advertiser gift certificate for proudly displaying a Pine Knot News bumper sticker on their car. Fisher selected a gift certificate from CreativEdge in Carlton, which offers a range of gift items and apparel, as well as issues of the Pine Knot News each week....
Carlton social studies teacher Ryan Schmidt always dreamed of opening a hometown bookstore after retiring. Instead, he opened last week, just in time for Carlton Daze. The new N.P. Junction Books is located at 110 Third St., at the four-way stop, kittycorner from Third Base Bar. “It’s been an idea for six or seven years, then I started talking a little more seriously in about 2022,” Schmidt said. “Then I had the opportunity to do it a little sooner.” Schmidt did more than just open a bookstore... Full story
Have you ever come back from vacation feeling like you need a vacation? Have you ever felt empty at the end of what should have been a great day? Have you ever found yourself snapping at loved ones for no real reason? If you answered “no” to all of these questions, then I’d like to congratulate you on the ungodly amount of money you are going to make writing your bestseller. For the rest of us mere mortals, though, I’m guessing you’ve lived through some of these experiences. If you’re an... Full story
Sheila Regan MinnPost The town of Tamarack, just across the Carlton County border with Aitkin County, is named after a kind of pine tree that turns yellow in the fall and loses its needles in the winter. It often grows in wet areas such as bogs or swamps, and there are a lot of them in the area, which used to be a giant proglacial lake. Tamarack sits on Ojibwe land and is 1855- and 1854 treaty territory. The past two weekends, artist and activist Shanai Matteson helped organize a tour of the area as part of a new project called Talon Mine... Website
Esko's Elizabeth Naglak and her son, Edwin, make a great sales team at the Cloquet Farmers Market for their Bread in the Meadow business. Elizabeth said it's her eighth season at the farmers market, which sets up from 9 a.m. to noon every Saturday in front of Premiere Theatres in Cloquet. Photo by Jana Peterson / Pine Knot News... Full story
Ellie Evenson is not your typical beauty queen. Crowned Miss Minnesota for America Strong on June 2, the Cloquet grad wrestled her senior year at Cloquet High School and portrayed a delightfully wicked witch in the "Wizard of Oz," the school fall musical in 2022. Evenson would also say the Miss Minnesota for America Strong is also not a stereotypical pageant. Part of the Mrs. America organization - which also includes Mrs. America World and Mrs. World - participants are encouraged to be... Full story
The Barnum Area Community Club announced this week that Bill and Irene McKay from Mahtowa are the grant marshals for the Spring Fever Days parade on June 8. Bill and Irene moved to Mahtowa when a hobby farm with acreage became available. The couple raised five daughters - Jenny, Amy, Heidi, Colleen, and Maurita - and now 10 grandchildren come to visit often. Bill has held jobs at Diamond Tool, USG, Inter-Faith Care Center, and ended his career when he retired from Mercy Hospital in Moose Lake. I...
"Time has a way of healing our heartaches but memories last forever." Tucked into a folder on Cloquet native William Dupont at the Carlton County Historical Society is a letter from Fred Asbell. He had been asked by a historian what he could recall about Dupont from World War II, when they were airplane navigators on the same base. It was 1990, nearly 50 years since the two had plied their skills guiding B-17s, the planes tasked with bombing deep into Germany and all around the European Theater... Full story