(gentle upbeat music) (gentle upbeat music continues) (gentle upbeat music continues) - Welcome to "Almanac North."

I'm Maarja Hewitt.

Tonight on "Almanac North," we take a deep dive into the vibrant fine arts scene in our region.

Whether it's through public exhibitions, education programs, or grassroots movements, the fine arts are thriving across Northern Minnesota.

Join us as we showcase the talent, creativity, and stories that bring the Northland's artistic heritage to life.

That's coming up on "Almanac North."

But first, Essentia Health announced Tuesday that it will no longer serve as an in-network provider for Medicare Advantage Plans administered by UnitedHealthcare, UHC, and Humana, effective January 1st due to excessive prior authorization requirements and denial of care.

"UHC and Humana delay and deny approval of care for Essentia patients at more than twice the rate of other Medicare Advantage plans," the nonprofit healthcare system said in a morning news release.

"This can cause unnecessary hardships for many Essentia patients," Essentia said.

"Like many other health systems, we have been reevaluating our participation in Medicare Advantage plans that place added strain on our patients by too often denying or delaying their care," said Dr. Cathy Cantor, Essentia's chief medical officer for Population Health.

Those with a UHC or Humana Medicare Advantage plan can choose an alternative option during Medicare open enrollment, which goes from October 15th through December 7th.

Patients are encouraged to verify that any new plan is in network with Essentia to prevent gaps in care.

"This was not a decision we made lightly," Dr. Canter said, "The frequent denials and associated delays negatively impact our ability to provide the timely and appropriate care our patients deserve.

This is the right thing to do for the people we are honored to serve."

Essentia is notifying all patients affected by this change, and we'll work with them to ensure continuity of care.

Now, as we get into our show about fine arts in the area, a special report from Dennis Anderson.

Denny?

- You very much, Maarja.

When people think of fine arts, they often imagine grand galleries in major cities.

But here in Northern Minnesota, fine arts are thriving in ways that reflect the heart of our communities.

From the historic works at the Tweed Museum to the vibrant murals at Brighton downtowns like Duluth and Grand Marais, we have access to creativity at every single turn.

What makes the arts special here is the variety of ways people can experience them, whether it's enjoying the symphonic sounds of the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra, or finding inspiration at a local craft fair, the region offers something for everyone.

We've got the Great Lakes Academy of Fine Art, nurturing new talent, and countless small galleries, showcasing the work of local artists who capture the essence of life up north.

But fine arts in Northern Minnesota aren't just about what's on display, they're about participation.

You don't need a gallery pass to be a part of it.

Community theaters, choirs, and festivals invite all of us to create, perform, and experience the arts together.

It's a living, breathing part of our culture, open and accessible to everyone.

Whether you're attending a gallery opening, listening to a local symphony, or participating in a community theater production, the fine arts in Northern Minnesota offer a wealth of opportunities and expression and enjoyment.

With a ever-growing number of access points from museums to public art, the art scene continues to be a vital and inclusive part of our region's identity.

It's a reminder that creativity is not just for the few, but for all who choose to embrace it.

And now, back to you Maarja.

- Thank you, Denny.

Our first guest joining us tonight, our executive director, David Arnott, and concertmaster, Erin Aldridge, from the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra.

David, Erin, thank you so much for joining us.

- Thanks for having us.

- Thanks for having us.

- So, David, the new season is set to start September 21st.

Can you give us a little preview of what audiences can expect from the start to the finish of the season?

- It's gonna be a really interesting concert.

Two of the pieces on the program are interwoven together.

There's a piece that everybody will know, "Rhapsody in Blue" by George Gershwin.

But accompany at is a piece called "Rhapsody in Red, White, and Blue" by Peter Boyer, which was written specifically for Jeffrey Biegel, who is our piano soloist.

And it's in honor of the 100th anniversary of "Rhapsody in Blue."

And by the end of 2026, it will have been performed in all 50 states.

Also on the concert is an opening work by Dvorak "American Suite."

But the other really cool piece on the program is Samuel Barber's first symphony, which I don't know that the Duluth Symphony's ever played it.

It'll be a first for me.

I've never played it before.

Have you?

Have you played it?

- Nope.

I have not.

- Wow.

- That's what to expect.

- And is there a theme for the upcoming season or- - There is.

Our theme for the season is American Voices.

And so over the course of the season, we'll have pieces like the Boyer that we're playing.

We have a brand new concerto for English horn on the second Masterworks piece concert.

And there'll be a couple more pieces by American and living women composers.

We're doing a piece by Gabriela Lena Frank, which I'm looking forward to hearing.

So, it's a very exciting season.

- Yeah, sounds like it.

Erin, as concertmaster, you have a unique role in the orchestra.

How do you approach leading the string section and working closely with the conductor to shape the music?

- Well, honestly, my job is to help everybody see and understand Dirk's vision.

And Dirk Meyer, our music director, is quite, quite adept at communicating that.

But sometimes in performances, you wanna be able to have freedom and flexibility.

And I know him well enough.

He's starting his 11th year.

It's my 21st year, but- - [Maarja] Wow.

- It's our 11th together.

So, I know him and I can anticipate things.

And then just help aid the rest of the orchestra with that.

- Wow.

So, 21 years.

Congratulations!

- [Erin] Yeah, thanks.

- You know, David, are there some challenges that the DSSO has faced recently, and how have you navigated them?

- Well, we've faced the same challenges that every arts organization in the United States faces, and that's challenges with funding.

And we all know that the arts are expensive and we are on constantly on the move, looking for new sources of funding, pressuring current sources of funding to up their, to up their donations.

That's our biggest challenge.

And then, also attracting audiences, making sure that there are enough people coming to hear the concerts that we put on.

- Yeah, what do you do to bring the audiences in?

- Well, we have a marketing person who takes care of our social media.

We advertise, we do some print media, we do constant contact.

This year, we're back to putting up posters in popular venues.

So, hopefully, that will find ways of attracting more people.

- So, Erin, you mentioned 21 years with the DSSO.

How have you seen like the fine arts in Duluth and orchestra evolve over those two decades?

- I think it always, in terms of the symphony, it depends on who's at the helm of the symphony, who's the music director.

And different music directors have different visions.

What I do see us doing so well is we are really presenting programs that are unique and offering glimpses of underrepresented composers.

We have seasons that are dedicated to this.

Last year was women composers, and the year before that was African American composers and Black composers.

And so I love that we're doing works that are not just new to the audience, but new to us.

And, look, we as a player, I love playing the classics.

You know, I love playing Beethoven's ninth.

I love doing that.

Audiences love that.

But it's always really exciting to hear works that we just don't know and should know because they're fantastic.

And I think that's what makes it really exciting.

- What do you hope the audience gets out of a DSSO performance?

- I think, for me, first of all, is we love what we do, and we love being on stage, and we love being able to present and to play for people.

So, I hope that that is felt when you're in the audience position.

- Anything from you, David?

- I can say from experience that one of the greatest moments in my history with the Duluth Symphony was at the very end of "Jurassic Park" in May a year ago.

The minute the credits were over, the roar from the audience, I had never heard that in a live performance ever before.

Do you remember that?

- It was epic.

- And I'm guessing that after "Star Wars" in May, we'll have hopefully that same reaction, that was- - Yeah.

So, tell us a little bit more about, you know, the season starts September 21st, but then it is a full season.

What can folks expect throughout the year all the way till May?

- Well, we have six Masterworks concerts, September, October, November, the beginning of February, the beginning of March, and the middle of April.

And then we have two pops concerts.

Our traditional Holiday Pops concert, the same weekend as Bentleyville and the Winter Wonderland.

And it's a very busy time of year, but it will be a very festive concert.

And then our final performance of the season is "Star Wars," on May 10th, which we're so excited about it.

- Oh yeah, I'm sure a lot of folks will be excited.

You might get that same roar that you had for "Jurassic Park."

- I'm hoping it's bigger.

- Yeah.

- But that's so- - I think it might be.

- Yeah.

- At least you'll probably be roaring since that's your favorite movie.

- It, well, one of.

(Erin and Maarja laughing) - Hope you'll gonna be there.

- But I hope that people, oh, definitely.

I hope that people realize that we're actually showing the movie and we're playing the score live.

- [David] Yeah.

- So, it's not just a presentation of the music from the film, it's the actual film.

- [Maarja] Oh.

- So, it's "Episode IV," it's the original.

And so, what they do is they take out all of the music but leave in the dialogue, and then we play the music live as the movie's being shown.

- Oh wow.

What a cool experience for you and the audience.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- Well, Erin, David, thank you so much for joining us and- - Thank you.

- Good luck with the upcoming season.

- Thank you for having us.

- Thanks for having us.

- Stay tuned.

Later in the program, David and Erin will be performing a selection of music for us.

Now, our next guest, Vera Bianchini, runs the Minnesota Film Festival and is the Minnesota Media Arts Director at Zeitgeist.

Vera, thank you for joining us.

- Thank you for having me.

- It's a pleasure to have you here.

Now, can you share a little bit about what inspired you to get into film and media arts?

- Sure.

I was raised by a couple of artists, my dad a videographer, and my mother a fine artist.

And so they were very supportive when I chose to dive into the film world.

Eventually, stumbled into film exhibition.

And realizing that a lot of these film festivals and film organizations have a lot of great missions of uplifting local regional artists, and I really liked that.

And so that's how I got started.

- Awesome.

So, how does Zeitgeist support emerging media artists?

- So, Zeitgeist does a number of things, a ton of things.

The two things that I help manage is the film festival and then the media arts school.

So, the media arts school, we provide resources to folks to learn how to tell their story with filmmaking resources.

For example, we have Canons, cameras that they can use.

We have all the programs, we have the lighting equipment, we have some audio equipment.

And then we have fabulous instructors, industry professionals who teach the courses anywhere from like eight-week long classes to three-day workshops, super great stuff.

And then we have our film festival, where we take the time, it's like a five-day event, where we just celebrate and we show all their work and just really appreciate all the filmmakers and the film enthusiasts.

- So, last week, we, on "Almanac North," we talked about filmmaking in the region, and, you know, we talked with UMFO.

You know, there's a lot of organizations in the region that are working to uplift regional artists.

How do you guys collaborate together?

- I love working with UMFO.

They're the best group to work with.

We collaborate either with creating fun workshops, or, most importantly, they support us during the film festival.

One of the great things about film festivals is not only do we get to invite local, regional filmmakers, either from Duluth, the Range, Minneapolis, we also have filmmakers come from all over the country.

So, New York, L.A. And when that happens, we sort of let UMFO know, like, "Hey, these guys are coming because we're programming their film.

This is your opportunity to connect with them and hopefully get them to shoot here."

And then UMFO also uses the film festival as a way to spread their message of the production incentives that are happening.

And they're just some of the best in the nation right now, I think.

Last I checked.

And so it's just such a great opportunity to kind of join forces and be like, "Look at the work that we can do here."

- And lift it up.

- [Vera] Yes.

- So, as the director of the school, how do you decide like what the curriculum or what workshops you're focusing on and what that looks like?

- Yeah, that's a really good question.

So, I came into this when the program had already started.

We're fairly new still.

We're in our fourth year.

But we have had sort of folks who have worked in higher education, worked together with filmmakers to create curriculums, a base curriculum.

And then whenever we have like a new idea in mind, like we wanna teach audio for film and TV, a curriculum we don't have, we work with the filmmaker to build something so that we can have in our archives and just go from there.

It's a pretty fun process.

And I think the coolest thing about our curriculums is that we're very adaptable.

So, we can have our standard, like I said, eight-week long courses, or we can adapt for community members who may not be able to come into our labs.

I can give an example.

- [Maarja] Sure.

- So, we had some interest from the Bois Forte Reservation about filmmaking.

And so because of the distance, we were like, "Well, we'll bring the lab to you."

So, we had, we actually brought an instructor all the way up there, and they had a fun, four-day long workshop and they made a film, and it's the best thing I've seen.

One of the best things I've seen this year.

- [Maarja] You'll have some students watching.

Yeah.

- Yeah.

Right.

- Oh, that's very cool.

- [Vera] Yeah.

- So, you can take it on the road.

- Yes.

Yeah.

- So, do you see some unique challenges that artists, film and media artists here in Northern Minnesota face?

- Yes, resources.

There's a lot of people who feel like they're stuck working with their iPhone if they can't afford a camera.

Camera equipment is expensive.

Audio equipment is even more expensive.

And the list goes on, lighting, all the things.

And we provide those resources for free.

Like all of our classes have scholarships.

We offer scholarships.

And we do a really good job of making sure that, like I said, if there's a community group or member that's may not feel comfortable coming into our space or just don't really know who we are, don't really understand, we would love to collaborate and be like, "Hey, we'll make a workshop for you with you in a place that you feel comfortable doing the work."

And I think just the biggest thing is resources.

- It seems like from the outside of the industry, it seems like the past four years, there's been a ton of forward momentum for filmmaking and fine arts and media in the region.

How do you see the role of fine arts and media and filmmaking evolving in the future?

- Only up from here, I mean, there's so much happening.

There's so much happening from, with the productions that Mandy Turpin has brought and is working on to the other productions in the Iron Range, to just local folks feeling empowered.

They're learning on set, they're working on set, and they're learning, "Oh, this is how it's done.

I can do this too."

We have a great documentary program, and we've seen a lot really touching documentaries come out of that.

I mean, it's just a great, it's just an additional tool to just kind of tell your story.

And I think the more people do it, the more people are seeing that they can do it as well.

- Vera, thank you so much for joining us.

- Thank you so much.

- Well, before we take a look at what's happening around town this weekend, a longstanding Duluth employer in business is celebrating 100 years of operation this year.

Earlier, I sat down with Bob Mars of Mars Supply.

Let's take a look.

Joining us now is the president of Mars Supply, Bob Mars.

We're going to talk a bit about Mars Supply and how they're celebrating their 100th anniversary this year.

Bob, thank you for joining us.

- Well, thank you for having me on the program.

- Well, 100 years, that's very impressive.

Can you share a little bit about like- - Well, and know I wasn't there when it opened.

- But, you know, we were just talking and almost half of those years.

- Yeah.

- Yeah?

- So, for all my high school buddies who want to gimme a hard time about being old, they're the same age as I am.

- That's right.

That's a good reminder.

So, share a little bit about Mars Supply and how it was founded and the history.

- My great-grandfather, Bill, who was WP, and his son, Bob, who was RS, started it in 1924 as WP and RS Mars Company.

And it was to supply the burgeoning paper mill and mining industry.

And then as the Duluth Port grew, to supply that part of the business too.

So, we offer, we're like a family-owned Grainger, if you know what Grainger is.

And quite a bit smaller, obviously, but gloves, hard hats, safety glasses, cutting tools, outdoor gear for people working outdoors, construction supplies.

I think we carry, in our distribution center, we carry 25,000 SKUs.

- [Maarja] Oh wow.

- And we have 950,000 SKUs on our website.

So, it's a wide variety of items, from snake bite kits to drills that are so small for pacemakers that if you drop it, you can't even find it.

- How much has that catalog expanded since the beginning?

- A lot.

Our first catalog, which is right here, I think it's about 150 pages.

And our most recent catalog was 1,000 pages.

- [Maarja] Oh wow.

- So, now, instead of doing a catalog, it's all on a website.

- Changing of times.

- That's right.

- And so you've been with the company, your family company now for, you just hit an anniversary, 48 years.

- Yeah.

- Tell us about your time in seeing the growth of the company.

- Well, I have six siblings, and actually, my first job.

Mars has a iconic Year-At-A-Glance wall calendar.

And my dad, seven kids in our family, my dad would bring us to the office on Saturdays and we'd roll that calendar up into the shipping tube, mailing tubes.

And if we were lucky enough, he'd take us out to lunch, or maybe the boys he'd take to a Bulldog hockey game, and it was all worth it.

So, that was really my first job.

But I started after college in 1976 in the warehouse, and everybody's done that in the family.

And spent a year there, learning from the bottom up and had just about every job on my way to becoming president, which was 1989.

- And so, how many generations?

- [Bob] Four.

- [Maarja] Four.

- So, my great-grandfather, he was born in 1867.

- [Maarja] Oh wow.

- I mean, maybe everybody my age, that's when their grandparent, great-grandparents were born, but it seems like so long ago.

- [Maarja] It's hard to fathom.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- So, he was on horseback for most of his career.

And then 1924, he and his son opened up a business and there were cars by then.

And so it was WP RS.

And then the third generation is where you're supposed to be the most vulnerable 'cause maybe it's a spoiled kid or whatever, my dad, Bob Mars Jr., who a lot of viewers would know, and my uncle, Bill Mars, they were the best of the bunch.

So, all of us my age, we were so fortunate to have those two guys as mentors.

Taught us everything about the business, from the financial end of it to the product end of it.

And we're very thankful that they were in that rotation, so.

- Well, and you've seen it go from, you know, a paper catalog to being entirely online, how have you kind of evolved the times and, you know, kind of grown with technology?

- Well, so you don't have much choice, right?

But if you were gonna ask me what the biggest change I've seen is we used to do everything by snail mail.

I remember when I was 10 years old, I had a ride along with one of our salesmen to the grain elevators.

And he would go in with a tablet and say, "What do you need today?"

And now, and then it kind of went to the phones.

And when I was first in the business, everybody'd say, "Are the phones busy?"

Well, now the phones don't ring.

Everything is online or email or text, so it's changed a lot for the better.

- Well, and, obviously, your product really plays well with what Duluth does in terms of industry.

Like what impact do you think Mars Supplies had on the growth of Duluth and the further development of Duluth?

- That's a great question.

I would think that probably, if anything, my dad's civic leadership really helped.

He was president of the school board for a long time and he coached a young men's hockey team úfor a long time and taught at Scholastica.

And now, my younger brother, Bruce, who's my partner, is heavily involved in the Union Gospel Mission and Chum and the United Way.

So, in that way, they've felt a real obligation to give back.

Duluth is a great community.

We have, this is, you know, 100 years later, our tax accountant, our property and casualty insurance guy, our 401k administrator, all of our business support, it's still right here in Duluth.

- [Maarja] Oh wow.

- How awesome is that?

And so, in some cases, we're their oldest customer, but we've known 'em for 70 years.

If they care about us, and we care a lot about them too.

So, that's nice.

- Well, Bob, happy 100 years for Mars Supply.

- Thank you.

- And thank you so much for joining us today.

- Oh, you're welcome.

Thanks.

I enjoyed the conversation.

- Before we go, let's take a look at what you might be up to this weekend.

Saturday, from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, PBS North is hosting our 60th anniversary celebration at Chester Park in Duluth.

The event is free and open to everyone.

There will be family-friendly, fun PBS characters, bounce houses, live music, including the Okee Dokee Brothers, food trucks, and so much more.

Due to parking constraints, PBS North will be shuttling people from UMD Lot B throughout the day.

Parking at the lot is also free.

There are a limited number of handicap spaces at the event.

Saturday, from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM, is the community fun craft and car show in Hibbing.

The event is free at the Hibbing National Guard Armory and Lincoln Elementary parking lot.

Over 60 indoor and outdoor vendors, food trucks, games, Smokey Bear, and more.

Family fun will be had.

The event is hosted by the Precious Paws Humane Society of Chisholm and Mike Nance Medical Flights, and will happen rain or shine.

Saturday, from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM, is chair painting in Ashland from Flourish Flowers.

Get creative and paint your choice of provided vintage chairs with your own design and color scheme.

The event is expected to last up to three hours.

The cost to participate is $40, which covers the cost of materials.

Well, that's it for this week's show.

Make sure you go out and enjoy your weekend.

And make sure to visit us at the "Almanac North" booth on Saturday.

Stay tuned to hear David and Erin perform a selection from the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra's upcoming season.

For everyone here at "Almanac North," I'm Maarja Hewitt.

Thank you for joining us.

Goodnight.

(orchestral violin music) (orchestral violin music continues) (orchestral violin music continues) (gentle music) (transition whooshing)