ELY, MINN. NAMED “COOLEST SMALL TOWN IN AMERICA”

BY BUDGET TRAVEL MAGAZINE

ELY, Minn. — May 25, 2010 — National travel magazine Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel has named Ely, Minn. as its 2010 “Coolest Small Town in America.” The magazine received 147 nominations, then selected 21 American towns that stood out from the crowd to open up to public online voting. In online voting, 439, 411 votes were received, and Ely captured 118,899 of those—27 percent of all votes.

A feature on the city of Ely will be included in the magazine’s September 2010 issue.

Ely is located in the Boundary Waters region, on the US-Canada border between Ontario and Minnesota, and is a popular destination for campers, as well as canoe and fishing enthusiasts, and those looking for natural scenery and relaxation.

The magazine defined what they sought for 'Coolest Small Town' as a town with a population under 10,000. According to the original solicitation for nominations, the magazine wrote, “we're talking small towns, not big cities. It's also got to be on the upswing, a place that's beginning to draw attention—and new residents—because of the quality of life, arts and restaurant scene, or proximity to nature. And cool doesn't mean quaint. We want towns with an edge, so think avant-garde galleries, not country stores.” The runner-up cities were Cloverdale, Calif. and Brevard, N.C.

See the original competition details here: http://www.budgettravel.com/bt-srv/coolestsmalltowns/CST2010.html.

Northern Lights Lodge and Resort
http://www.Northern-Lights-Lodge.com
On Bear Island Lake
PO Box 328--Ely MN 55731
218-827-2501 

Northern Lights Lodge and Resort
Bear Island Lake
PO Box 328--Ely MN 55731
800-777-4406

Hot of the Pres:  Ely named “Best Hometown” by Minnesota Moments

COLD SPRING, Minn. – Minnesota Moments magazine has selected Ely as the 2010 “Best Hometown” award winner.

Ely will be featured in the July/August edition of Minnesota Moments, which will be on newsstands across the state by July. This is the third year that the magazine has named a Best Hometown award winner. Previous winners were Cold Spring (2008) and Hutchinson (2009). The award is presented to a town that typifies what Minnesota is all about: solid citizens, great businesses, wonderful recreation opportunities, etc. Cities are chosen by the Minnesota Moments staff from among readers’ nominations.

Minnesota Moments is a 10,000-circulation, bi-monthly magazine that is in its seventh year of publication. To learn more about the magazine, visit www.minnesotamoments.com. The magazine has readers across Minnesota and 20 other states.

Northern Lights Lodge and Resort on Bear Island Lake
Escape to it all, any time of the year!
800-777-4406.

The past 48 hours we have been battered by very strong winds but all is calm now. The near perfect silence of the early morning hours today brought the announcement of our resident loons return home to Bear Island lake! I was thrilled to hear them out on the water. For me, the first call of the loons marks the official arrival of spring.  This nesting loon snapshot was captured last year and shared with me, courtesy of Bear Island Lake summer resident G. Cooper.

The last two mornings at 2am I was jolted awake by the sound of an alarm, or at least I thought it was an alarm until all remnants of sleep fell away.  I couldn't identify the sound, but quickly realized that it wasn't a mechanical noise, but rather the vocals of our resident wildlife.  I couldn't identify the sound, so on Sunday I did a little research and learned that this nocturnal visitors was a Northern Saw-whet Owl.

This owl may be small in size, but its call is loud and strong sounding like a series of whistled toots.  The Northern Saw-whet Owl can be found roosting during the winter in small, dense conifer trees. Its defense upon discovery is to sit still and not fly, giving the perception that they are "tame."

Around 9:30pm Sunday tonight, I walked outside with Pepper and was delighted to hear that the owl had returned!  It didn't sound very far away so I grabbed a flashlight and set out to see if I could find our visitor--now that I knew what I was looking for!  Owls are fascinating creatures, partially because they are so elusive and the fact that they are out at night gives them almost a mythical quality.  Well, it didn't take too long because the Saw-whet sounded like it was just steps away from the Lodge, near the playground.  I knew I was on the right path as the calling was just overhead so I on the light and as I passed through the second pine tree, there it was, about 25' feet up the tree and literally no bigger than my hand.  I kept the direct light off of the owl, and it stayed perched and and continued its calling.  After observing the owl for a little while longer, I turned off my light and headed back to the Lodge.  As I departed, so did the Saw-whet as I could hear its wings just over head.

The Northern Saw-whet owl calls out during the breeding season only (usually between March and May) and they are mostly silent the rest of the time. The primary courtship call is a monotonous, whistled "hoop" about 1.5 notes per second.  Tonight, the calls continued on through the 3am hour.  As fascinating as the owl is, a part of me does hope that it finds a mate soon or I'll have to sleep with the windows closed!

It seems that I'm always discovering something new and that's the beauty of being here at the Lodge.

Today, I learned that the main prey of the Northern Saw-whet Owl are mice, especially deer mice.   Adult mice usually are eaten in pieces in two different meals because these owls are so small.  The female Northern Saw-whet Owl does the incubation and brooding. The male brings all her food while she is incubating. She leaves the eggs for only one or two short trips each night, to defecate and cough up a pellet. While the female Saw-whet broods her nestlings, she keeps the nest cavity very clean.  When the young are about 18 days old, she starts spending the night in another hole, and then the dirt starts to accumulate. When the young owls leave the nest after another ten to fourteen days, the nest cavity has a thick layer of feces, pellets, and rotting prey parts.

Here on Bear Island Lake our "typical" spring ice out occurs around April 17th.  If the current weather patterns hold and we see a bit of wind and rain I would expect to see ice out right around April 1st this year.  Earlier today I was out and about with Daisy and Pepper and the back bay is pretty much open, and as you can see below, Daisy made here way all the way around to the sand bar at the beach.  Looking out onto the rest of the lake you can see that there are broken sheets of black ice floating.  The lack of snow this past winter is evident as you look along the shoreline because the lake is currently at about mid-August levels.  Granted, there will still be some melting snow run off, but a bit of rain once the frost is out of the ground would be a good thing.
  
           

The back bay is filling with Mergansers and other fowl.  Typically, these arrive about two weeks in front of the Loons.  Spring is never officially here for me until I hear the Loons again.  I'm wondering if the water levels will have much of an impact on the wood frogs in pond.  There certainly isn't any water to speak of there right now.  Another sure sign of spring is the burst of the Pussy Willows and they seem to be every where this year. 

Sitings of the Pileated Woodpecker are fairly common here at Northern Lights Lodge throughout most of the year. With the warm weather and the approaching spring season they are more active than ever. Startled by a crash against the Lodge, I went to investigate and discovered two Pileated Woodpeckers that appeared to be roughhousing. They both seemed fine and none worse for the collision so the girls and I ...

Sometimes we experience temperatures that make even me wonder why winter is my favorite season. Then it snows!  Something wonderful happens as the snow arrives. As the snowflakes swirl and drift softly to the ground it brings with it a pure feeling of calmness and newness.

A week ago the Ely area received 12+ inches of snow (some are saying 15") and because the storm started with a bit ...