Along the Shore

Located in Knife River, Russ Kendall’s Smokehouse has been going strong for 115 years. | MICHELLE MILLER

Russ Kendall’s Smokehouse: A century of tradition

By Michelle Miller

Family traditions are a large part of what makes a home a home, and this idea holds true for one particular family living in the small community of Knife River, just 20 minutes up the North Shore from Duluth. Russ Kendall’s Smokehouse has been carrying on the family’s business for over 115 years, continuing to produce the original smoked fish recipe that has been an icon of the area since the beginning.

The founding patriarch of the fish business, William Kendall, was a lead mechanic with the railroad in the early 1900s; a time when the logging industry was a vibrant fixture throughout the North Shore. However, William could foresee the eventual end of logging as it was already slowly beginning to dry up. So, he decided to branch out to other opportunities the area had at its natural disposal. He would gather fish from local fisherman and sell them wholesale up and down the shore.

According to Russ Kendall’s Smokehouse co-owner Gordy Olson and his wife and business partner Christy Kendall, the granddaughter of William, having a permanent building as a retail shop began by accident. William was on his way to Duluth with a load of fresh fish to sell at market when his Wheel Speed Wagon, the vehicle of the era, broke down and he was stranded. He set up shop along the road and that was the beginning of Kendall’s Fish Stand. The current Smokehouse is still located near the original site on old scenic drive, welcoming visitors to Knife River as they head north.

William’s son, Russ, eventually took over operations, keeping his father’s philosophy intact—“always remember your basics.” He built the business and grew a strong customer base by peddling his goods throughout the state and remained an active contributor to the business right up until he passed in 2007. Now, along with Olson and Christy, their son Cody has joined the team, becoming the fourth generation at the Smokehouse.

Although the family has expanded their retail to offering locally produced cheeses, sausage, syrup and wild rice, the focus remains on making the best smoked fish they can. Olson explains the process has not changed over the years, something he feels creates a high-quality product that “new cutting-edge technology just can’t do.” The smoking process stays true to its roots, using natural wood that lends to the taste, texture and color that is tough to duplicate with a machine. All the fish are purchased locally from licensed commercial fisherman and the inventory varies from season to season, as well as availability. Some of the standards are lake trout, sugar-cured salmon and whitefish; ask any of the staff or customers which kind is the “best one” and the answer will vary, as everyone has their favorite. The production facility is located on site with a modest retail shop in the front of the building. A framed photo of Russ Kendall hangs proudly behind the counter.

The Smokehouse is not only a tradition for the Kendall family, but also for customers. It has become a destination for those who have passed the tradition of stopping at the Smokehouse down generation to generation. For fans of the one-ofa-kind smoked fish unable to make the trip, shipping to other states is available from November through March.

Russ Kendall’s Smokehouse is open all year from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (closed on Wednesdays). The Smokehouse does have a Facebook page, but managing social media takes time away from production, so Olson recommends calling with any questions: 218-834-5995.

WPI journalism fellowship program comes to Grand Marais

GRAND MARAIS—The World Press Institute (WPI) will hold its 58th annual journalism fellowship program this month and has invited 10 journalists from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Finland, France, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Turkey to participate in the program. The program will begin on March 3 and conclude on May 6, spending March 12-15 in Grand Marais.

The fellows will spend nine weeks examining the free press and media innovations and learning about America’s social and cultural diversity and its political system. They will spend the first three weeks in Minnesota, based at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, visit Grand Marais March 12-15, and then visit farming communities in the southern part of the state. The fellows will then travel around the U.S. for five weeks, meeting with journalists, policy experts, and political, business and community leaders. They will visit New York City, Washington D.C., Miami, Austin (Texas), Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles before returning to Minnesota for the final week of the program.

The public is invited to a Q&A forum with WPI participants at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts in Grand Marais on Monday, March 13.

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When in Grand Marais, participants will stay with host families. Their itinerary, organized with the help of Marja Erickson, president of the Cook County Historical Society (CCHS), includes visiting with various businesses and individuals, including the CCHS, North House Folk School, Steve Robertsen with the U.S. Forest Service, Kent Anderson of Hedstrom Lumber Mill, Anna Deschampe with the Grand Portage National Monument, Golden Eagle Lodge and more. The public is invited to a Q&A forum with WPI participants at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts on Monday, March 13 from 7-8:30 p.m.

The themes that the fellows of the program will investigate include issues of U.S. democracy (elections/institutions/political divide), climate change (including energy and food security), cutting edge journalistic technology, and new business models for journalism in the digital age.

For more information on WPI, visit: worldpressinstitute.org.

Duluth Parks and Recreation: Breaking barriers

By Chris Pascone

DULUTH—Open the Duluth Parks and Recreation program catalog online, and get ready for a shock: Ice Fishing 101? Ninja Skills? Painting in the Parks? The city’s range of program offerings is extensive, and they’re all yours to explore.

There are over 150 public programs offered by Duluth Parks and Recreation over the course of the year, many of them free. The city’s programming had 22,500 participants in 2022, and events varied from Women Hike Duluth to tabletop role playing programs for kids and adults.

Alicia Watts, assistant manager of Duluth Parks and Recreation, says all of these diverse programs have one thing in common: “Our goal is to break down barriers and give people access to different programs.” To that end, the Parks and Recreation department offers a fee assistance policy. The fee assistance is up to $300 per participant for qualifying programs, such as city summer camps outdoors. For Watts, “The policy is really generous. It’s meant for people to be able to try new things and enjoy our programs.”

Watts credits Duluth Mayor Emily Larson with having the vision to make parks programming low cost and low barrier. According to Watts, “Back in 2018, the mayor wanted to increase programming within the community.” Watts was hired in 2018, and was able to add two additional recreation specialists in 2019 to increase programming. Today, Watts has a staff of five full-time rec specialists.

“Everyone recognizes that parks are good for quality of life,” says Watts. To get people more involved in their public green spaces, the city uses a cost recovery model for its programming.

“It’s a city council approved cost recovery model, but the ‘community benefit programs’ are no cost recovery. The idea is we have these programs for people to be able to learn and build relationships with others,” says Watts.

Learning is one of the key tenets of all Duluth Parks and Recreation programming. Watts explains it by saying, “We’re here to help people break down that barrier, learn that new skill, and ask ‘where can I go and do this?’ Then we introduce people to those places.”

Learning is one of the key tenets of all Duluth Parks and Recreation programming.

| CHRIS PASCONE

One example is the Parks and Rec’s partnership with the Duluth-Superior Sailing Association to teach beginning sailing. The Parks and Rec department offers the intro to sailing classes, but the Sailing Association provides the instructors. The classes have been well attended.

“Yes, you can go to the Sailing Association and just go sailing with them, but sometimes people are a little uneasy about just showing up from scratch,” explains Watts. “We had their instructors, whom we contracted, and we had them do the program. People got that intro of what the Duluth Sailing Association does, and then they can go back and be more involved.”

Duluth’s huge parks system is intimidating. According to the city’s Parks Master Plan, there are 169 parks in Duluth. There are a number of sports groups in the city, such as DXC (Duluth Cross-Country Ski Club), or COGGS (Cyclists of Gitchee Gumee Shores), with their own programming, but these groups can be intimidating to access for newcomers, thus enter the Parks and Rec department.

“We work with the city’s established groups who are very successful. We’re here to help people get started. If you’re new to the community and don’t know anyone, then joining a club like that may feel intimidating,” says Watts. “We’re here for the people who feel ‘I’m not there yet.’”

One of the department’s signature events is the Cold Front celebration of winter cold and outdoor fun. That’s right—the Parks and Rec department takes on Duluth’s wicked winter weather, and wins. The large-scale event, which takes place in Bayfront Park every February, offers a variety of introductory outdoor snow and ice activities for city residents and visitors.

Duluth Parks and Recreation and Parks Maintenance staff put in a tremendous amount of prep work developing a luge run, backyard curling, a groomed cross-country ski track, a fat biking course, and quinzhee building at Bayfront. The event has a DJ, outdoor fires, tractor rides, a skating rink, a snowshoe kickball field, and dog sledding. Everything is free to all. This is the Duluth approach to parks programming—make it accessible and give people the chance to try new things.

Duluth resident Lizzy Luoma came to Cold Front last month with her husband and two sons. While her older son did incredible tricks at the snowboard demo sponsored by Damage Boardshop, Luoma got to check out the fat bike demos offered by Continental Ski and Bike.

“It was beautifully put together,” says Luoma. “They had a huge variety of activities for everybody. They had kick sleds and I got to take a fat bike ride. They really included the community, and it was a great place to meet up with friends.”

The partnerships between Duluth Parks and Recreation and city businesses offering free gear demos help make Cold Front a huge winter success. The Parks and Rec’s above-mentioned cooperation with community sports organizations promotes growth in skills and awareness. But the city’s cooperation with local institutions doesn’t end there. The Parks also cooperate with local colleges, like the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Watts sees these partnerships as yet another way to get people going in new activities.

“UMD and the city partner for an outdoor education day. Students who are in the outdoor ed program come and teach at one of our parks, and the city helps transport youth-serving agency kids to the park to rotate through and do different outdoor ed topics,” says Watts. “We find ways that we can work together and share equipment. We want to be able to utilize expertise and resources from others in ways that we can serve everyone.”

This all-inclusive approach is something Watts takes pride in, and other parks associations around the state of Minnesota—and the country—are noticing.

Duluth Parks and Rec started offering “Sled Sheds” in five different locations across the city a couple years ago—people can just show up and borrow a sled for some quick fun runs while they’re taking a walk in the park. No questions asked, no sign ups, no forms. Just return the sled on the honors system. The sheds have been so successful, Watts has been inundated by copy-cats.

“I’ve had so many calls from other agencies in the Metro, or even out of state, asking us ‘How did you do that? Tell me all about that. We want to do that in our community,’” says Watts. There are plenty of programming options to choose from in Duluth city parks, never mind the 48km of groomed city cross-country ski trails, the lift-served alpine skiing at Chester Park, the city golf course, or the mountain bike and hiking trails that can last a person a lifetime.

Looking ahead, May 13 is Parks Day in Duluth, so go take advantage of life-changing programming. To see a full list of offerings, go online (duluthmn.gov/parks) and check the Programs and Events page, where a constantly updated catalog is available.