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Magic City Jazz Festival returns this month featuring local, national talent

The Magic City Jazz Festival will bring a number of talented musicians and guest artists to Minot Feb. 9 and 10 for a jazz-filled weekend. The Friday evening concert will be held at 7 p.m. at Minot State University in Ann Nicole Nelson Hall. The concert will feature jazz music performed by the Memorial Middle School jazz band, the Central Campus Jazz band and the Magic City Jazz Band. Guest artists Jasmine Spitzer and Paul Nelson also will be performing that evening with The Swing Band of Minot. Saturday afternoon the concert will be held at 3 p.m. in Ann Nicole Nelson Hall and ...

Brass Band presents ‘Music to Brighten the Winter’

Minot’s brass band will present a concert, “Music to Brighten the Winter,” at 4 p.m. on Sunday at Minot State University’s Ann Nicole Nelson Hall. As North Dakota’s only British-style brass band, Brass Band of Minot has been bringing music to North Dakota since 1994, when it was ...

ZOO News: A week discussing zoo business

Last week I attended this year’s annual AZA Directors’ Policy Conference to meet with CEOs, and directors from AZA accredited zoos and aquariums across the nation and from around the world. I don’t recall exactly when we began holding this meeting of zoo and aquarium leadership but do remember it came about when colleagues determined that a couple of meetings held at the annual AZA Conference was not enough time to discuss everything members needed. Hence, the organization developed this policy conference to allow directors to get together and discuss common concerns, look at ...

Zoo News: Ahead will be a time for patience

Over the next few months, both the zoo and Roosevelt Park are anticipating the start of projects that will transform both for years to come. There have been years of planning, hours of meetings, drawings and revisions, and a lot of sleepless nights that has gotten us to this point. While it will be a relief once work begins, you can be certain that won’t end the meetings or the sleepless nights. There’s a taste of things to come this week as Roosevelt Park is closed while a pre-consolidation pile is installed. This and others to come are critical pieces that must set for 6-9 months ...

Retirement’s Comic Relief: Garden party gets out of hand

I better understand Ozzie and Harriet’s son Ricky Nelson’s Garden Party frustration now. Mine began after hanging a bird feeder on our back patio to tempt yellow finches to pay us a visit. It didn’t take long to discover they are picky eaters who shy away from cheap seed that sparrows might enjoy, preferring pricier varieties instead. With an upgraded cuisine, word traveled fast, leading to regular, yellow visitors to the feeder. Shortly, a half dozen more fliers than a single dangling buffet could accommodate sat on nearby branches, waiting a turn at the feed trough. It ...

ND artist relates friendship with World War II pilot hero

A painting by North Dakota artist Scott Nelson of the scene when World War II pilot Maj. Gale “Buck” Cleven’s plane was shot down during World War II hangs in the Dakota Territory Air Museum’s Legends Hangar in Minot. Cleven, who was born in Lemmon, South Dakota, and in later years ...