The Look at Lakeside newsletter turned three years old with its 18th issue, published a few weeks ago (six issues per year). The newsletter is online at lookatlakeside.com. It was interesting to get a tour of the masonic lodge in Lakeside. How many buildings do we drive by often but haven’t been in? Maybe I’m a curious person but it’s interesting to me to think about all the people who have been in a place over the years.
wendyupnorth
The sidewalks beside six storm sewer drains in Superior are looking good. Six local artists have painted their artwork and are helping spread the message about stormwater pollution. The locations and more information is at superiorstormwater.blogspot.com. Click on the Storm Drain Art tab. Map brochures are available at the Wisconsin visitor bureau in the Bong Heritage Center, Fairlawn Mansion, Superior Public Library, North End Arts Gallery, and the Superior Wastewater Treatment Plant. Take time to visit the sites for some outdoor public art.
I am wondering what happened to the banana plant that was collected by Chester Congdon and used to be at Lester Park Greenhouse. It’s not at the UMD greenhouse or at Glensheen. It might be in a senior apartment with a greenhouse but I don’t know which one. I saw the plant when the greenhouse was still open in early 2000. I wrote briefly about it in the current Look at Lakeside newsletter.
Bananas Grown in Lakeside?
Employees at the Lester Park Florist would enjoy a banana split made with bananas grown from a banana plant in the greenhouse. The plant had been a gift from Elizabeth Congdon to the shop in the 1950s and was brought from South America by Chester Congdon in the 1920s.
The beginnings of that greenhouse at 6030 E. Superior St. date back to 1897. The final owners were the LaFaves who owned it for 25 years. The business closed ten years ago in the Spring of 2004.
We will be having a Water Film Fest – films about water, life in water, importance of water, etc. Any season (winter through summer topics) would be fine. There will be local films, national, and international. We’d like the films to be under 10 minutes. The event will run from 6-8:30 p.m. on Feb. 13 at Swenson Hall Room 1012 (next to Yellowjacket Union). It’s free. If you’d like to submit an entry email grethenw @ ci.superior.wi.us. The film fest is sponsored by the City of Superior Environmental Services and the Lake Superior Research Institute. We love clean and healthy water.