Dan’s News & Views Blog: July-August 2018

Riverboat Season Begins

The riverboat season will get started in early August with the arrival of the Queen of the Mississippi.  The 2018 season schedule shows four vessels making nearly 20 stops in Red Wing between August and October.

• America.  Five decks; 185 passengers; 198 rooms; built in 2015 by Chesapeake Shipbuilding in Salisbury Maryland; owned by the American Cruise Lines.
• American Duchess.  341 feet long; 166 passengers; 3,560-ton weight; built in 2017 as a restoration of a 1995 hull with all large suites; owned by the American Queen Steamboat Company.
• American Queen.  Six decks; 418 feet long, 436 passengers; 222 rooms; 3,707-ton weight; built in 1995 by the McDermott Shipyard in Louisiana; owned by the Delta Queen Steamboat Company.
• Queen of the Mississippi.  Five decks; 295 feet long; 150 passengers; 84 rooms; 3,800-ton weight; built in 2015 by Chesapeake Shipbuilding; owned by the American Cruise Lines.

St. James Hotel Project

The St. James Hotel received approval by the city’s Heritage Preservation Commission (HPC) to reconstruct and expand its roof-top outdoor eating area.  The remodeling will include the addition of a large pergola above a new outdoor bar and seating. New patio tiles, tables, umbrellas, lighting, iron railings, and other cosmetic features will also be included in the project.  The property is located within the locally designated St. James Hotel Historic District, and it is also listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Two Local Business Stories

Hobgoblin Music was born in 1976 in England, when Mannie and Pete McClelland envisioned a type of folk music supermarket, where you could walk among shelves of folk instruments, accessories and tune books, acquiring everything you needed to play folk under one roof.   There followed several more shops, including a franchised branch in Red Wing run by harp maker Gary Stone.  Gary began Stoney End as a cabinet maker, but he had a passion for making musical instruments.  He applied his woodworking skills to dulcimers and harps that are now made in a restored agricultural barn on Highway 19 that includes a workshop, retail store and concert hall.  When the Stone family entered the music business, they lived on a dead-end rural road in Red Wing; therefore, “Stoney End” became the name of his business.

Oliver's Wine Bar is owned by Brian Schneider and Tom Quanrud, who moved from their home in Minneapolis to Red Wing in 1998.  They started a shop called Lily's Coffee House & Flowers, which was later sold.   Over the past 19 years, Brian and Tom purchased and renovated six buildings in the historic downtown district, the last at 227 Bush Street, the home of Oliver's Wine Bar.  The Red Wing Port Authority provided them two loans for the wine bar.  Brian started his own interior design business in Minneapolis during 1995, further expanding it to include fresh flower work for social events and weddings.  Tom taught Spanish at the high school level for seven years in Minneapolis followed by three years at a private school for adults in Dinkytown.  Oliver is their adorable puppy, a German short-hair Jack Russell mix; a painting was commissioned by local Red Wing artist Art Kenyon, which is on display in their wine bar.

Jerry Borgen and the American Ski Jumping Hall of Fame

Known as “Mr. Red Wing”, Jerry Borgen died at the age of 89 on July 11, 2018.  Jerry was an inductee in the American Ski Jumping Hall of Fame and the Red Wing High School Wall of Honor.  He was known never to really retire, and he truly loved his hometown community.  In August, nine more people will be inducted into the Class of 2018 American Ski Jumping Hall of Fame in Red Wing, including four from the 2018 Olympic ski team. 

Dan Rogness
Red Wing Community Development Director