Passion Projects. Days 20, 22, 23. Marquette, MI. Duluth, MN. Vining, MN.

My favorite part of traveling is running into someone's passion project. Sometimes I just ask myself "why?" But I also have to admire the determination, time and skill an individual pours into a passion. Here are three examples from our last few days.

Junkyard www.lakenland.com --is a sculpture garden by laid off ironworker, former marine Ted Lakenland near Marquette MI. Back around 2003 his found object iron sculptures were whimsical. Then around  2015 they become more angry and political. He also did a cool MT Rushmore treatment of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and her team on honor of covid.

The World of Accordions Museum www.worldofaccordions.org -- is where accordions get all kinds of respect.  In old church in Superior, WI Helmi Harrington displays her collection of 2300 concertinas, accordions, harmonicas from 1820 to ¹today.  She has spent her life performing, studying and cataloguing these instruments and at 75 years of age it's been her life's work.  Here are a couple of the factoids Keith picked up  (my head was spinning.  Had the same feeling when we went to the violin Museum in Mittenwald, Germany.) 

• The first accordions were from 1820/30 in France and they were played vertically, not horizontally.
• Later they added base notes.
• Almost every culture (including the Chinese) has some kind of accordion associated with their music.
• They don't have Lawrence Welk's accordion.  But they had a Wurlizer section.  To be honest they weren't impressive.  Welk was more a showman than musician but he knew how to hire great players.
• (For Jim Rustling) They had a selection of the earliest Wheatstone concertinas and some giant, ornate square concertinas.
• They even had an accordion that looked like an organ. And another that played bells instead of notes.
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Nyberg Sculpture Park www.nybergsculptures.com -- is a passion project next to a gas station in Vining, MI (pop. 78). Ken Nyborg really an excellent sculptor.  He does something like paper mache using scrap metal and his sculptures are both beautiful and clever.  I didn't photograph many (it was really hot.)  He is a lifelong Vining resident and before he retired and became a full time sculptor he ran a grain elevator.  His wife was Vining postmaster.  And one of his children became an astronaut who traveled twice to the international space station.