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Wander & Wonder

New tools, old ways help Duluth violin builder create an ancient sound

New tools, old ways help Duluth violin builder create an ancient sound

From a modest workshop, Dan Larson turned his love of music, history and woodworking into a life building violins, lutes and and other stringed instruments. He’s known internationally for creating sounds that reach back to the 16th century.
by Dan Gunderson

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Red River Valley woman helps immigrants chase the American dream

Red River Valley woman helps immigrants chase the American dream

Fowzia Adde knows inspiration can come from the darkest times. Seven years spent in a refugee camp in Kenya as a teenager fuels her drive to help immigrants succeed in Fargo-Moorhead. 
by Dan Gunderson

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Minnesota fiddle builder brings new life to an old Norwegian folk instrument

Minnesota fiddle builder brings new life to an old Norwegian folk instrument

Master fiddle builder Bud Larsen is passing on his knowledge of the Hardanger fiddle to apprentices in the Fargo-Moorhead area. His work is creating a new generation of fiddle makers and players.
by Dan Gunderson

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‘I wanted to do something cool’: Meet the man who made the Minnesota-shaped forest

‘I wanted to do something cool’: Meet the man who made the Minnesota-shaped forest

Years before Google Earth, DNR forester Bill Lockner used hand tools and calculated all the angles and distances to etch Minnesota’s shape into a stretch of forest in Lake of the Woods County. He doesn’t talk about it much, but he spoke recently with MPR News.
by Dan Gunderson

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‘High off the sound’: Fergus Falls engineer is a guitar amp hero

‘High off the sound’: Fergus Falls engineer is a guitar amp hero

From his “one-man shop out in the woods” in Otter Tail County, throwback musician Maurice Skogen builds old-school vacuum tube amplifiers that generate a “spiritual sound.“
by Dan Gunderson

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In western Minnesota, a writer rooted in two worlds seeks common ground

In western Minnesota, a writer rooted in two worlds seeks common ground

Columnist, county commissioner and former farmer Brent Olson is a “bleeding-heart liberal” in the middle of rural Minnesota Trump country. He tries to bridge that political and social gap in his national writing and through his local community work.
by Dan Gunderson

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For this Minnesota living history teacher, the past is never dead

For this Minnesota living history teacher, the past is never dead

Arn Kind turned his passion for the past into a second career making history entertaining and educational in school classrooms and small town libraries across Minnesota. From Vikings to the voyageurs to Vietnam, he delivers lessons like few others.
by Dan Gunderson

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In Wabasha, a collector puts his passion for all things eagles on full display

In Wabasha, a collector puts his passion for all things eagles on full display

Preston Cook spent decades collecting tens of thousands of items bearing bald eagle imagery. The longtime California real estate developer donated the collection to the National Eagle Center in Wabasha and then moved to town.
by Dan Gunderson

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In Warren, a different kind of veterans memorial draws people near

In Warren, a different kind of veterans memorial draws people near

Veterans memorials are a common sight on Minnesota courthouse lawns. They often focus on military might. But in the small northwestern town of Warren, a sculpture is connecting veterans and the town in a quiet way.
by Dan Gunderson

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