TRAVEL

Travel author to feature all 856 incorporated Minnesota towns in travel guide

Daltyn Lofstrom — Sat, 07 Jun 2025 00:36:26 GMT

BEMIDJI — Visiting every incorporated city and town in the state of Minnesota is a lofty goal, but it’s one that Nebraska native Seth Varner hopes to achieve by the end of 2025.

What could be considered the greatest Minnesota town documentation in history, the 25-year-old travel author shares his visits on his “Wandermore in Minnesota” Facebook page where he details each town’s history, development and highlights – both in photographs and the written word.

“In 2020, I had the idea to visit every incorporated town in my home state of Nebraska,” Varner wrote in a post. “I have since traveled to every incorporated town in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and both of the Dakotas (3,000+ communities) over the last half-decade. My project aims to showcase as much as I can about Minnesota’s 856 communities (big or small), from their history and architecture, to businesses, museums, food, parks, etc.”

Varner first conjured up the idea in his home state of Nebraska following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Attending the University of Nebraska in Omaha at the time, the pandemic forced Varner back to his hometown of Wahoo alongside his friend, Austin, who was sent home from Concordia University.

“We were fine for a while – playing games and cruising Main Street Wahoo – but quarantine began to take its toll on us,” Varner’s website states. “Boredom started creeping in as we realized there wasn’t much to do in a world where businesses were closed, and public gatherings of any degree weren’t allowed.

“In a time where travel was limited, everything was closed, and making connections was next to impossible, I had the urge to make a something-out-of-nothing summer and do something that (to my knowledge then) nobody had done before. ‘Hey Austin, want to visit every town in Nebraska this summer?’”

Expanding this idea to other states since then, Varner will compile his Minnesota findings into a travel guide aptly titled, “Wandermore in Minnesota,” which derives its name from his one-man operation, “Wandermore Publishing.”

Varner recently visited the Northwoods with Facebook posts dated throughout late May and early June. Among the featured communities were Bemidji, Wilton, Solway and Turtle River, all fostering community discussion and nostalgia.

Those interested in purchasing a copy of the travel guide can set up an email reminder at wandermorepublishing.com/minnesota once available for purchase. Each copy will feature a unique QR code photo album enabling the reader to see every photo taken of each town. Varner projects over 75,000 photos will be accessible from the book.

Readers can also make donations to have their name printed in the book and may contribute to Varner’s travel fund to offset costs related to hotels, gas, car repairs and other expenses.

More information can be found at wandermorepublishing.com.

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Ever hike up a fire tower? This one in Pequot Lakes is worth the climb

Nancy Vogt — Wed, 21 May 2025 10:00:00 GMT

PEQUOT LAKES, Minn. — Wow, what a spectacular view!

There's no doubt that phrase, or something similar, has been uttered countless times by those who make it to the top — or even near the top — of the fire tower at the Paul M. Thiede Fire Tower Park in Pequot Lakes to take in the panoramic view from high above the treetops.

It's a decent uphill hike along a steep path to get to the tower, and then a 135-stair climb 100 feet up to the tower's cab. Even on a day with just a slight breeze, the tower seems to sway the closer you get to the top.

You'll find the fire tower park off County Road 11, just east of the Highway 371-CR 11 roundabouts and toward Breezy Point. Crow Wing County developed the park that officially opened in June 2020 and now maintains it.

But the fire tower has a long history.

Pequot Lakes fire tower

The fire tower was built in 1935 by the Civilian Conservation Corps, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Art Savage is one ranger who staffed the fire tower. He lived in the three-bedroom cabin under it with his wife and three children from 1939-47.

Savage worked in forest protection and management in Pequot Lakes for 40 years, from 1939-79, battling fires and educating people about forest management and wildfire prevention.

Read all about Savage’s service as a forest ranger on a kiosk at the base of the fire tower.

Keith Simar, of Pequot Lakes, took over and manned the fire tower when Savage retired. He said Savage would climb the fire tower, spot a fire and then climb down to put out many fires himself.

According to information on the kiosk, Savage used his own vehicle to chase fires. As needed, he enlisted the help of the Pequot Lakes High �� Forest Fighting Crew.

Simar spent 40 years with the Department of Natural Resources in a variety of positions before retiring in 2010.

The tower closed for a while for safety reasons before being restored and reopened to the public in 2012. Simar worked with the Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway Association to reopen the tower to visitors.

In spring 2015, Simar again took on fire detection duties as a volunteer. He manned the fire tower on high wildfire danger days, carefully scanning the horizon from above the treetops for smoke. He could see about 20 miles in any direction.

Only about a half dozen fire towers in Minnesota remained in use at the time, including the tower in Nimrod.

The DNR closed the tower to the public again in spring 2017 because of vandalism and maintenance costs.

Soon after, former Pequot Lakes resident and former Crow Wing County commissioner Paul Thiede had the idea to turn the historic Pequot Lakes fire tower and surrounding land into a county park.

An integrity study found the tower was stable and simply needed maintenance work.

Other county commissioners agreed with Thiede, and Crow Wing County acquired the tower and surrounding 40-acre property from the DNR in November 2018 to preserve and protect the tower while also opening it back up for public use.

“This is a great honor. I am flabbergasted that, at my young age, I’d have a park named after me,” Thiede said with a touch of humor at the June 2020 grand opening for the property christened the Paul M. Thiede Fire Tower Park in honor of Thiede's vision and leadership to protect the fire tower located in the commissioner district he served.

What the park offers

The fire tower park offers much more than a historic fire tower.

Find three miles of walking trails — with interpretive signs — on 10 acres that meander through canopies of majestic trees. Two trails lead to the fire tower — a 0.3-mile Fire Tower Trail and a 0.4-mile Wildlife Loop.

Dogs are welcome, with two Mutt Mitt stations for people to clean up after their dogs.

Interpretive signs along the crushed granite walking path to the fire tower share information about the history of the park and of fire towers, Minnesota landscapes, and fires and firefighting.

There are kiosks and map signs outlining the trail loops; kiosks listing species of trees in the park, which include paper birch, red oak, jack pine, etc.; kiosks with information about foresters; and benches to rest and admire nature's beauty.

At the park entrance is a pavilion with picnic tables and grills, and kiosks with information about fighting forest fires and the state’s biggest forest fires.

The picnic shelter at the park entrance is dedicated to the late Don Nelson, called “the road man of Sibley Township.” An interpretive sign acknowledging Nelson says he served Crow Wing County, Sibley Township and Pequot Lakes as an employee and volunteer.

There's a vaulted toilet that is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act in the parking lot.

Despite some nearby highway noise, you'll feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere walking the paths. No motorized activity is allowed in the park.

The park is open year-round from dawn to dusk, with minimal maintenance (snowplowing) during the winter months. The fire tower is closed in the winter for safety.

The park has become a destination not only for the thrill of climbing the fire tower and the view, but for outdoor enthusiasts who like nature and hiking.

What people say

A callout on Facebook elicited the following responses about the fire tower park.

Kim Churack, of Pequot Lakes, said: "I've climbed the tower many times for the view, but walking the trails is my go-to for a respite from 'life' and 'Into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul' (John Muir)."

Churack shared a photo she took walking up to the tower in October 2020.

"A 'pandemic' walk. I call it my 'Stairway to Heaven,'" she said, noting she has a huge canvas print of that photo in her entryway.

Sarah Bowman, of Breezy Point, regularly walks the park's trails.

"I love how wooded it is. Last week when I was out there, I saw a rabbit and a couple of deer," Bowman said. "Plus the variation in elevation makes for a great workout. When friends and family come to visit, it's always a fun adventure to bring them to the top of the fire tower!"

Frank Haggerty, a former area resident, said: "I went up there. Great view!"

Tammy Meyer Larsen, of Pequot Lakes, said: "My annual goal is to climb it spring, summer and fall and see how much it changes!" Pat and Deanne Trottier, of Breezy Point, said: "As regular hikers in the lakes area, greater Minnesota and beyond, we enjoy having the Pequot Lakes fire tower nearby and have been thrilled with the expansion of the trail system. It is rare to find one location that combines a fire tower, multiple hiking trail loops, forestry educational signage and even history of the fire tower and wildfires in Minnesota. Walking the hilly terrain is a good workout! We are lucky to have this historic fire tower park in our community."

Lynn Sharenbroich, of Pequot Lakes, said: "The fire tower is a treasured site along the Paul Bunyan Scenic Byway. Now that it's part of the Paul M. Thiede Fire Tower Park, its popularity continues to grow. There's a fun information panel near the trailhead about the fire tower with a little Bunyan 'truth and lore' sprinkled in too." Nancy Waller, of Breezy Point, said: "My husband and I walk it often. It is a great workout as well as pretty. Won’t climb the tower. High places scare me!!" Cindy Couture Noyes, Pequot Lakes, said: My husband and son run there all the time. It helped my son prepare for a 25K trail run at Lutsen. For me — pretty sure it was one of the final nails in the coffin leading to total knee replacement! Absolutely a beautiful asset to our community. Lauren Nickisch, Pequot Lakes, said: My father, Jim Nickisch, as a Pequot Lakes High �� student in 1949-50, was hired by District Forester Art Savage to keep a lookout for fires from the 100-foot Pequot tower. Art lived in the cabin below the tower where he often played his violin when he wasn’t on duty. Jim enjoyed hearing the music during his work shifts in the tower, especially when Jim’s sweetheart, Marilyn, would climb the tower to visit him. Jim and Marilyn married in 1952. Over the years, their three children and extended family members have climbed the tower and continue to enjoy keeping a lookout for its shining silhouette above the tree line of Pequot Lakes. The historic fire tower is now part of the Crow Wing County Paul M. Thiede Fire Tower Park. Monetary gifts in memory of Jim have been dedicated to improving the park.
By the numbers 100 feet: That’s how tall the Pequot Lakes fire tower is. 135: That's how many stairs to the top of the tower. 2017: The year the tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places. 1993: The year the tower went on the National Historic Lookout Register. 1935: The year the Civilian Conservation Corps built the tower. 1927: The year the tower site was established by the Minnesota Department of Conservation Forest Service.
Park information Address: 5230 County Road 11, Pequot Lakes, approximately one mile east of downtown Pequot Lakes.

Click the gems on the map below for more "Lakes Country Treasures" stories:

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Unlocking Life Basics: How to apply for a passport

Adria Peters — Mon, 19 May 2025 15:01:00 GMT

In order to acquire a passport, you must first apply for a passport. The U.S. Department of State has a page that will walk you through the application process.

First, fill out your form and print it. The website provides a form filler to fill out your form. Double check all the information to make sure it is correct. There is a form for if you are applying for the first time or for your child under 16. And there is a form for a passport renewal.

There are also forms for other special situations available on the U.S. Department of State website.

Next, check the processing time to see how long it will take to receive your passport.

Always

check the processing times far ahead of a trip to ensure that you will get your passport in time. If you have international travel plans within 14 calendar days, you must make an appointment for urgency in passport processing.

You can get application status updates sent to the email address that you provided on your application. You can also check the status of your application online.

Be prepared for passport fees. The passport fees you pay depend on your age; if you want a book, card or both; how quickly you need your passport and where you apply. An adult applying for the first time will pay $160 for a passport book and card, and a $35 acceptance fee. Check the U.S. Department of State website for other fees.

Then, you will need to follow the steps to upload a digital photo to your application, and there are several things to remember when taking this photo.

The U.S. Department of State provides these seven steps for passport photos:

Submit one color photo Submit a recent photo taken in the last 6 months Use a clear image of your face Do not change your photo using computer software, phone apps or filters, or artificial intelligence Directly face the camera without tilting your head Take off your eyeglasses for your photo Use a white or off-white background without shadows, texture, or lines

For more passport photo tips, visit the photo page on the U.S. Department of State website.

When applying for a passport, you will need to provide primary evidence of U.S. citizenship. You can find examples of citizenship evidence on the website, as well as tips for submitting your citizenship evidence.

Lastly, you must provide a photo identification document if you are over the age of 18 or if you are a parent or guardian applying with your child. The ID must be a physical document, must include your photo and must be issued by the government.

By following these steps, you are ensuring a successful passport application.

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Pioneer Perspectives: What a weekend trip taught me about leaps of faith

Daltyn Lofstrom — Sat, 03 May 2025 11:50:00 GMT

One short week ago, I made a semi-impromptu weekend trip to Sioux Falls, S.D., and came across a massive stainless-steel sculpture spanning the length of a football field.

Aptly labeled the Arc of Dreams, the sculpture is considered a signature art piece for the city, but I would argue that its relevance extends beyond city limits.

To anybody simply passing through Sioux Falls’ downtown, they might just pass it off as a frivolous structure that looks cool. But the idea behind its construction and a 15-foot gap at its center is what makes it even cooler.

Eighty-five feet above the Big Sioux River, the gap represents “the leap of faith dreamers take to see their dreams come true.”

Upon learning of its origin, I began applying such an idea to my own life experiences. I’ve been thinking critically about the moments where I’ve taken such leaps, as well as situations where I couldn’t muster up any courage to jump.

We’re presented with such decisions every day — whether it’s taking up a job offer, choosing which college to attend, moving to a different city or planning a vacation — and the idea of leaps of faith can be applied to each situation, no matter how big or small the decision.

My path was well laid out after high school. I attended Bemidji State University, graduated and landed a job in town. My leaps of faith included attending college in the first place — a dream I long had — as well as the choice to switch majors in my freshman year and become a double-major in my junior year.

My job search presented another leap of faith as I mainly perused positions in Fargo, N.D., where I wanted to relocate. Frankly, Bemidji was not at the top of my list when seeking work.

Nonetheless, I returned to Bemidji as a full-time employee in 2021 after spending four years here as a college student. Though I didn’t expect to return to the area post-graduation, the process led me back.

Earlier this year, I had a conversation with someone regarding future plans and where we would want to live after Bemidji. This person told me — something along the lines — that it was obvious I’d live in Bemidji the rest of my life.

If that ends up being the case, so be it.

Though I hadn’t initially dreamed of staying in Bemidji after college, the process has a way of leading you where you need to go and transforming your dreams in ways you hadn’t considered. Dreams can change, and that’s OK.

That being said, earlier dreams can still be intact and linger. But if they have yet to come to fruition, one must learn to be content where they're at and make the best of their current situation.

Whether I stay in Bemidji, move to a bigger city or immigrate to Canada, I’ve learned that a leap of faith can be the decision to have faith in the process.

And I learned that thanks to a hunk of metal in Sioux Falls.

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Generations: To the opposite side of the world and back

Sue Bruns — Sat, 26 Apr 2025 12:50:00 GMT

It’s difficult to come down from a trip to the opposite side of the world. I count my blessings for the opportunity and ability to have recently spent 16 days in New Zealand. But I’m also thankful to be home, as my travels have given me a new appreciation of things familiar.

If New Zealand has an Indian summer (It would be a Maori summer on the islands), we found it there in April: Sunny skies and warm rains from Auckland to Queensland in the southern hemisphere’s autumn.

In Auckland, we met up with our daughter Jessy and son-in-law Matt for a catamaran eco tour to find whales and dolphins. We saw one furry seal, several common dolphins, numerous diving gannets and a Bryde’s whale.

After our stay in Auckland, Gary and I headed to Waitomo’s glowworm caves and the movie set village of Hobbiton. We spent three nights in Rotorua — the No. 1 North Island tourist destination for its geothermal pools. We hiked along Lake Rotorua, through a bird preserve with black billed and black-backed seagulls, cormorants, scaup, dabchicks, black swans and … Canada geese?

Our itinerary sampled the variety of the two islands, their native birds and introduced mammals — from the flat grassy plains where countless sheep grazed to long, clear glacial lakes Tekapo and Wakatipu, to Mt. Cook, the highest peak in the Southern Alps. We didn’t drive but took tour buses whenever we traveled.

I have no regrets that we chose not to drive, as transitioning to left-lane, right-side-steering-wheel driving would’ve done us in or at least limited our ability to take in the scenes rather than concentrate on driving.

Our drivers shared interesting information about the history, people, geography, flora and fauna of the two main islands, and geology from volcanic to earthquake effects and geothermal fields.

Instead of driving or navigating, we could look and listen, and I frequently typed notes into my phone’s journal app for later reference. We weren’t rushed and our drivers helped us to understand the rules of the road, like whenever sheep cross, all traffic stops for them. That, too, let us breathe, watch, appreciate and enjoy our laid-back schedule.

Our trip was split into three parts: North Island (before wedding), Aoraki/Mt. Cook (wedding), and Queenstown (after wedding). We’d scheduled a total of four excursions, but the rest of our time was flexible.

The wedding of our son Eric to his bride Jessica had brought us to New Zealand. Nineteen guests made the trip. Together at Mt. Cook, with its peak covered with fresh snow, we hiked, dined, visited and shared the beauty of the wedding. We took an excursion to Milford Sound to view New Zealand’s waterfalls and tree avalanches down the rocky face of the mountains. Bottlenose dolphins raced alongside our tour boat.

In Queenstown, our hotel window framed Lake Wakatipu with the Richardson Mountains beyond. We biked from Arrowtown to Queenstown beneath clear skies — our trail defined by brush, mountains and the Kawarau River. Only one word came to mind to describe this view, my being there, and the trail ride: Euphoria. It was dreamlike, heady. Maybe it was the mountain air, but the beauty of the peaks sloping into the river brought me to the verge of tears. If there is a heaven, I was there on this ride.

I realized that soon I would leave this paradise, likely never to return. Maybe that, too, was part of its precious appeal: As far on the other side of the world as I could get, I absorbed the majestic sights that surrounded me, their images permanently fixed in my memory.

Although no age gives guarantees, I am on that side of life where each day is a gift; age is irrelevant, not an impending death sentence, but an awakening of appreciation I hadn’t fully felt or previously understood: Impermanence of life equals increased value.

Two days after the bike ride, we boarded a plane in Queenstown for the long journey home. On the return flight, I found it easier to sleep — without the anxiousness of what was to come or worries about what I might have forgotten. The journey home held two weeks’ worth of unforgettable images.

Is it an overstatement to say that visiting New Zealand has transformed me? I don’t know, but something is different. Can I hold onto it?

To leave Minnesota in early spring and to land on the opposite side of the globe in early fall, where the Southern Cross replaces the Big Dipper, has been like time travel. To return in mid-April to a snowless yard and lake ice ready to dissipate is to carry the beauty of one time and place to another.

The second night we were home, I heard a loon call from the open waters of the lake. I caught only a hint of chimes from the receding ice, my favorite sound of spring. Walking Shadow along the lake, we saw our first robin of the season; it had probably arrived shortly after we left. We walked the dogs on the Fern Lake trail. The icy path we’d negotiated before we left, now clear. Buds on the maple trees had doubled in size.

After having consulted my Cornell bird app for New Zealand fantail, kea, ruru, takahe, stitchbird and saddleback, at home ,I appreciate old friends that visit the feeder: the hairy woodpecker, nuthatch, chickadee, blue jay and pileated woodpecker. But now I listen for unfamiliar songs and use my app to identify them. The app says what I just heard is a song sparrow, a common bird whose song I had never appreciated before.

Wood ducks and mallards have returned to the lake. Instead of the diving gannets we’d watched in New Zealand, I pause and watch a bald eagle lifted by the wind above Lake Plantagenet.

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British YouTuber Dave Huxtable to feature Concordia Language Villages

Daltyn Lofstrom — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 12:00:00 GMT

TURTLE RIVER TOWNSHIP — Tucked inside the Northwoods of Minnesota, the Concordia Language Villages prove to be an appropriate place for a British polyglot to visit.

A speaker of at least eight languages — including French, Chinese, Spanish, Italian, German, Dutch, Portuguese and Indonesian — this polyglot’s name is Dave Huxtable, a YouTuber with a lifelong passion for language.

With nearly 40,000 subscribers, Huxtable has long crafted videos focusing on the rich variety of languages, pronunciations and accents from around the world. His most recent visit brought him to the Bemidji area, a prime opportunity to share Concordia Language Villages with his audience.

“I was on Google Flights and happened to see that there were some cheap flights to Fargo,” Huxtable said. “From the Orange County Airport to Fargo, there was a return for $150, so I thought ‘Let’s go.’ ”

Currently residing in Southern California, Huxtable was familiar with the depiction of Bemidji in the TV series “Fargo,” as well as the iconic Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox statues.

“I decided I would fly to Fargo, rent a car and drive to Bemidji,” he said. “Then I started thinking, ‘Well, what am I going to do in Bemidji?’ That’s when I discovered that (Concordia Language Villages) are here.”

Huxtable got in touch with Candace Harmon, communications director for Concordia Language Villages and Concordia College in Moorhead, to plan a visit once he arrived on Monday. With his camera phone in tow, Huxtable embarked on his tour alongside Associate Director of Programs Marty Fankhanel and Senior Program Director Martin Graefe.

The trio visited several sites, detailing the history and development of each specifically as well as the property generally.

“There was a professor of education at Concordia in the late 1950s, Gerhard Haukebo, who had just come back from being a principal at an army-dependent school in Germany,” Graefe said. “He was living there with his family, and his kids were picking up the language by playing with German kids, very naturally through play and in a natural setting.

“He came back to (Concordia) and approached the president of the college at the time, asking if they could start a camp for kids to learn languages. Because through play, it was much easier for the kids to learn German than he and his wife trying to learn German as adults. That’s how this concept started.”

‘Path for future learning’

Currently boasting 875 acres, the villages’ first permanent site, the Norwegian Language Village, “Skogfjorden,” — also the first site of Monday’s visit — began construction in 1969, and soon afterward, sites would crop up for the German Language Village, “Waldsee,” and the French Language Village, “Lac du Bois.”

The most recent addition to the site is the Korean Language Village, “Sup sogui Hosu,” which opened for campers in summer 2024.

With each site simulating their respective country’s culture, Graefe doubled down on the importance of language immersion as a means to truly retain what they learn.

“What we try to do is bring the culture and the language to life,” he added. “In the program here, there’s no ‘homework.’ It’s all through meaningful contact and the daily activities that the kids like to do.”

“We create a simulation here at the villages, but it’s a simulation that we try to make as real as possible,” Fankhanel said. “We’re bringing in staff from overseas, connecting young people to them. … We’re just one way in which the world is becoming more interconnected in a meaningful way.”

In a three-way agreement, Huxtable commended the villages for their language immersion techniques — a key takeaway from his visit.

“I’ve loved finding out about the teaching philosophy, and it very much gels with my idea of how people successfully learn language,” he said. “The fact that it’s successful creates a path for future learning.”

Fankhanel expressed appreciation for Huxtable’s visit and the opportunity to raise collective awareness of Concordia Language Villages even more than before.

“It’s brilliant to be able to tell more people about the ways in which one can access languages and culture,” he added. “We want people to connect more in this world that we live in and build those bridges.”

Alongside an upcoming visit with Bemidji State Ojibwe professor Anton Treuer, Huxtable would return to Southern California with a bit more knowledge to share with his subscriber base about the diversity of language in northern Minnesota.

“Before I came here, (Bemidji) was just that place with the statue. I then find out that there’s this rich history, rich relationship with language — both Ojibwe language and those at the villages,” Huxtable said. “It’s just fascinating.”

Huxtable’s video will become available at “Dave Huxtable Languages” on YouTube.

More information on Concordia Language Villages can be found at concordialanguagevillages.org.

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Bemidji Regional Airport announces changes to checked baggage policy

Pioneer Staff Report — Tue, 08 Apr 2025 20:35:21 GMT

BEMIDJI — Per Delta Airline's new policy, passengers must check their bags at least 45 minutes prior to departure at the Bemidji Regional Airport.

If passengers are not checking baggage, they must check in for their flight at least 30 minutes before departure time.

According to Delta's website, travelers should be at their gate and ready to board no later than 15 minutes before scheduled departure.

Passengers can check in for their flight and pay baggage fees up to 24 hours in advance at delta.com or by using the Fly Delta app, but must still check luggage at the airport counter 45 minutes prior to departure.

For more information, visit bemidjiairport.org or the Bemidji Regional Airport Facebook page.

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Famous Darwin Twine Ball had its start 75 years ago this month

Jennifer Kotila — Tue, 25 Mar 2025 17:00:00 GMT

DARWIN, Minn. — It has been 75 years since Francis A. Johnson wound the first piece of baler twine around two fingers to form a ball and for 29 years he kept winding, creating the largest ball of twine in the world made by one man.

Johnson, a bachelor farmer and carpenter, started winding the twine in March of 1950 and by all accounts spent one to four hours each day methodically wrapping the twine as perfectly symmetrical as possible.

When the ball of twine became too large for Johnson to wind and move manually, he began using railroad jacks — the kind used to lift boxcars — to move the ball around and keep it symmetrical as he continued adding twine.

The history of Johnson and the Darwin Twine Ball is widely known, and the Darwin Twine Ball Museum also maintains a pamphlet about the history. Various local and regional newspaper articles are on display at the museum, and many more can be found on the online newspaper archive at Newspapers.com.

Johnson completed his ball of twine in 1979 and it was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as being the World’s Largest Ball of Twine, holding that title until 1994 when a twine ball formed by J.C. and Elsie Payne of Mountain Springs, Texas, overtook it.

But Johnson’s ball of twine is special — it is the largest ball of twine created by one man and is made completely of brown sisal twine. It weighs 8.7 tons, is 11 feet tall and measures about 40 feet around.

Another man, Frank Stoeber of Cawker City, Kansas, started winding a twine ball in 1953 to compete with Johnson, but he died in 1974, according to an Aug. 12, 2001, Star Tribune article. However, starting in the 1980s, residents of Cawker City held annual “Twine-a-thons” eventually surpassing Johnson’s record.

The Payne ball of twine in Texas that currently holds the record is a little more than 13 feet tall and a little more than 41 feet around. It was formed with the help of 70 people and is constructed of nylon twine, weighing in at 6.5 tons, according to an article in the Dec. 1, 1993, Star Tribune.

The article attributes Thea Underhill, then manager of the Darwin Country Store, as saying, “And therein lies the problem. It still stands that this was an original and this was made by one man. It was an accomplishment. The rest were all copies.’”

The article reported that the Paynes set out in 1989 to break the record and that Johnson knew his record would be broken someday. The article quotes Johnson from a previous interview regarding the Cawker City twine ball: “I told them they’re welcome to it. I can’t stop them.”

Johnson, born on April 17, 1904, in Kingston Township to Magnus and Harriet Johnson, lived his entire life in Meeker County and was known as an eccentric character who collected a wide range of various things, which Johnson himself attributed to his mother telling him to never waste anything.

His father was a Swedish immigrant farmer who served in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1930s and as a U.S. senator in the 1920s. He was active in the Farmer-Labor Party and Johnson often drove his father during campaign events, according to an article in the Sept. 18, 1992, Star Tribune. “The twine ball made Francis far more famous than his father,” the article states.

Johnson was also a talented wood carver and carved giant wooden pliers that contained sets of smaller and smaller wooden pliers.

One set of pliers was seven feet in length and contained 25 additional pliers ranging in size from 7 feet to 1 inch.

Each individual pliers opens and the basswood carving contains no pins, pegs or glue holding any of the pliers together. It is approximately 20 feet in length when fully open.

When Johnson died on Oct. 24, 1989, the twine ball and other collections, which included 7,000 wood pencils, 1,700 carpenters aprons, 20,000 old irons, toy sewing machines, ancient tools and other items, helped to revitalize the small town of Darwin, Minnesota.

“It’s genuinely touching, albeit a little bit surreal, to hear Darwin residents talk about how the product of Johnson’s whimsy gave the town something to rally around economically, and to see old TV-news footage of the twine ball being trucked to the town square for display after Johnson’s death,” read an article in the Nov. 18, 1993, Star Tribune reviewing the TV show “Only in Minnesota with Louie Anderson.”

During Johnson’s lifetime, the twine ball was located in his front yard just east of Darwin, north of U.S. Highway 12 and protected by the top of an old silo.

When the city of Darwin acquired the twine ball in 1991, its new home was a wooden gazebo with clear Plexiglas panels in the center of town. Johnson’s collections were displayed at various businesses.

For 20 years, Ripley’s Believe It or Not had attempted to buy the Darwin Twine Ball and also tried to convince the Darwin Community Club to give it up after Johnson died.

“Their ploy was, ‘Who’s going to see it in Darwin?’” Underhill is quoted as saying in an Aug. 12, 2001, Star Tribune article. “Our little club explained, ‘We’ll take care of that.’”

And indeed, it did — with a little help from Weird Al Yankovic, who recorded “The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota” on his 1989 album "UHF." Yankovic visited the ball of twine in 1996 and his fans also often visit the twine ball. The alley next to the Twine Ball Museum is Weird Alley.

People from all over the world travel to Darwin to see the largest ball of twine made by one man and it is estimated by the Twine Ball Museum that about 150 people visit it daily in the summer months.

The same year that the twine ball moved into town, Darwin began celebrating Twine Ball Days on the second Saturday of August. It is a daylong celebration with a race, volleyball tournament, parade and more. This year will be the 34th annual celebration.

This year will also be the 13th annual Darwin Night at the Ballpark at Saints Field in Dassel, honoring Darwin’s former town baseball team. The event takes place on the night that the Dassel-Cokato Saints play the Litchfield Blues, which this year is July 9, and folks wear Darwin baseball jerseys and there are twine ball races and other festivities.

In 2014, people in Darwin’s sister city Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, listened on the radio as Darwin, Minnesota, Mayor Josh Johnson told them the story of Francis Johnson and the Darwin Twine Ball. In July of 2015, Lord Mayor Katrina Fong Lim of Darwin, Australia, came to visit the twine ball, according to a July 27, 2015 article in the Dassel-Cokato Enterprise Dispatch.

Not only have people traveled from around the world to see the Darwin Twine Ball, the twine ball itself, along with Johnson, traveled to New York City in 1958 to appear on the TV show “I’ve Got A Secret,” according to an article in the March 4, 1994, St. Cloud Times. At that time, it weighed about 6,000 pounds, was only 8 feet across and it was estimated the twine would be about 930 miles long if unraveled.

The Darwin Twine Ball was also featured on the Pioneer PBS "Postcards" series. KARE 11 News also featured Darwin Twine Ball Day in a past news report.

In the 1993 Star Tribune article, Edward Meyer, then vice president of exhibits and archives at Ripley’s world headquarters in Orlando, Florida, lamented, “I really thought we would get that ball when Francis died.”

Although it was unable to acquire Johnson’s world-famous ball of twine, Ripley’s Believe It or Not did acquire the Payne nylon ball of twine and it is displayed in Branson, Missouri. It also acquired Johnson’s collection of carpenters aprons.

The old Darwin railroad depot was moved and sits behind the gazebo that houses the twine ball. The depot houses the Twine Ball Museum to display the history of Johnson and the town of Darwin. It also serves as a souvenir shop, which sells miniature twine balls, twine ball starter kits, T-shirts, hats, mugs and other twine ball souvenirs.

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'Do not believe there were any survivors': Over 60 dead in jet and helicopter collision

David Shepardson and Steve Holland / Reuters — Thu, 30 Jan 2025 16:50:16 GMT

WASHINGTON — More than 60 people are dead after an American Airlines regional passenger jet collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday and crashed into the frigid Potomac River near Reagan Washington National Airport.

"At this point we do not believe there were any survivors," District of Columbia fire chief John Donnelly said at a Thursday press conference.

Donnelly said 28 bodies had been recovered from the river so far, in what was shaping up to be the deadliest U.S. air disaster in more than 20 years. "We will work to find all the bodies and reunite them with their loved ones," he said.

American Airlines said 60 passengers and four crew members were aboard the jet, while U.S. officials said the helicopter was carrying three soldiers on a training flight. Officials told Reuters that helicopter flights had been paused for the Army unit involved in the incident.

Passengers on the flight included ice skaters, family and coaches returning from events in Wichita, Kansas, including Russian-born former world champions Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov.

"We have been told that there are no survivors. We mourn with all those who have been impacted," Wichita mayor Lily Wu said at a news conference.

The mid-air collision occurred as the passenger jet was approaching to land at Reagan. Radio communications showed the helicopter crew knew the plane was in the vicinity.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said both the helicopter and the airplane had been flying standard flight patterns, and there had been no breakdown in communication.

"Everything was standard in the lead-up to the crash," he said. "Do I think this was preventable? Absolutely."

Airspace is frequently crowded in the U.S. capital region, home to three commercial airports and several major military facilities, and officials have raised concerns about busy runways at Reagan National Airport, just across the river from Washington. There have been several near-miss incidents that have sparked alarm, including a near-collision in May 2024.

Daniel Driscoll, President Donald Trump's nominee for Army Secretary, said the military might rethink training operations in the region. "This seems to be preventable," he said at a Senate confirmation hearing.

The helicopter was flown by a "fairly experienced crew" that was wearing night-vision goggles on an annual proficiency training flight, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a video statement.

""We do not know what led to this crash, but we have some very strong opinions and ideas," President Donald Trump said at the White House.

He blamed his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, for lowering standards for air traffic controllers and complained about government diversity efforts.

"We have to have our smartest people," he said. "They have to be naturally talented geniuses."

Trump had earlier questioned the actions of the helicopter crew and air traffic controllers.

Over the last two years, a series of near-miss incidents have raised concerns about U.S. aviation safety and the strain on understaffed air traffic control operations.

American Eagle Flight 5342, a Bombardier CRJ-700, was operated by PSA Airlines, a regional subsidiary of American Airlines AAL.O CEO Robert Isom said the pilot had about six years of flying experience.

Air traffic control recordings appear to capture the final attempted communications with the helicopter, call sign PAT25, before it collided with the jet.

"PAT25, do you have a CRJ in sight? PAT25, pass behind the CRJ," an air traffic controller says at 8:47 p.m. (0147 GMT) on Wednesday, according to a recording on liveatc.net.

Seconds later, another aircraft calls in to air traffic control, saying, "Tower, did you see that?" - apparently referring to the crash. An air traffic controller then redirects planes heading to runway 33 to go around.

"I just saw a fireball and then it was just gone. I haven't seen anything since they hit the river," an air traffic controller says.

Webcam video of the crash showed the collision and an explosion lighting up the night sky.

John Potter, head of the regional airport authority, said flights would resume at Reagan National at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time.

Skaters on board

The skaters on board were returning from a training camp in Wichita, governing body U.S. Figure Skating said.

"Skating is a very close-knit and tight community," said a tearful Doug Zeghibe of the Skating Club of Boston, where Shishkova and Naumov coached. Two teenaged skaters affiliated with the club and their mothers were also aboard the plane, he told reporters. "We have lost family," he said.

Russia's Mash news outlet published a list of 13 skaters, many of them the children of Russian emigres to the U.S., who it said were believed to have been on the plane.

The Kremlin offered condolences to the families of Russians killed.

The crash is not the first time U.S. skaters have been struck by an air tragedy. All 18 members of the U.S. national team, along with family members and coaches, were killed in February 1961 when a flight operated by Belgian airline Sabena crashed outside Brussels, killing all 72 people aboard.

Rough conditions

Washington DC fire chief Donnelly said conditions were cold and windy, making the operation "extremely rough" for the 300 responders on the scene.

CBS News reported that a dive team had recovered one of the two data recorders, the so-called black boxes, from the plane.

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin told Reuters that the bodies of most of those involved in the collision had been recovered. "Everything was routine up to the point of the accident," he said. "Something went wrong."

It was shaping up to be the deadliest U.S. air disaster since November 2001, when an American Airlines jet crashed after departing from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, killing all 260 people on board and five people on the ground.

Reagan National's main runway is the busiest in the United States, with over 800 daily takeoffs and landings. The National Transportation Safety Board has investigated nine accidents or incidents at the airport this century, including two that were fatal, records show.

The airport is only two miles from the White House and half a mile from the Pentagon, where 189 people died when Al Qaeda hijackers crashed American Airlines flight 77 on Sept. 11, 2001.

In 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River, killing 70 passengers and four crew members. Only four passengers and one crew member survived.

U.S. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia said he had long been concerned about the busy airspace, where civilian and military aircraft must navigate the unique security concerns of the U.S. capital.

"I’ve been praying that there wouldn’t be something like last night but kind of dreading in my heart that there would be," he told reporters.

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Lakeland PBS launches Travel Club

Pioneer Staff Report — Wed, 22 Jan 2025 17:27:16 GMT

BEMIDJI — Lakeland PBS will host the first meeting of its new Travel Club at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 28, at its Bemidji studio, 108 Grant Ave. NE.

"For years we have helped viewers explore the world, experience new flavors and discover cultural history through their television screens," a release said. "Now we are ready to take those same experiences off the screen and into real life with the Lakeland PBS Travel Club."

Aiming to continue Lakeland's mission to educate, inform and enrich its viewers, this new partnership with Collette Travel will allow participants to take advantage of curated trips to explore new places and learn about the history and culture of different parts of the world.

The club's first trip will be to Italy and southern Sicily. Travelers can expect to explore the deep blue water of the Amalfi Coast, taste the freshest mozzarella at a buffalo dairy farm, visit the Valley of Temples and wander through the twisting vines of a local winery, said the release.

"Travel broadens a person’s perspective by exposing them to different ways of living, languages and experiences that they may have never been exposed to in their hometowns," Lakeland Marketing and Communications Manager Jordan Stearns said in the release.

"While we aim to bridge that gap with our travel shows, there is a deeper level of understanding and learning from the hands-on experience and we hope this new partnership will offer our community members an easy and stress-free way to travel and gain those experiences."

Meetings will also be held at the Brainerd Lakeland PBS Studio. For more information, visit lptv.org/travel.

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