News & Articles

We are an immigrant nation

Immigrants have become a big political issue based mostly on ignorance and miss information. I am an immigrant and want to share my history and experience.My ancestors were from Selisia, Southwestern Poland and Galicia Southeastern Poland - former Austro-Hungarian Empire.  They immigrated to Bosnia1895.  In 1906 our grandfather came to Grand Rapids, Minnesota and worked as a blacksmith. Mother’s father immigrated to Duluth and worked for Duluth Missabe and Iron Range Railroad.  Our  parents immigrated 1959.  I immigrated when I was seventeen and knew only five words of English.

We have been an immigrant nation and still are. I served on Migrant Labor Subcommittee when I was in Minnesota Legislature and found out how our farmers and businesses need migrant workers.  They could not survive without them. Other states depend on them as well.   
Mike Jaros
Duluth, Minnesota

Sad words from a member of the Blue Canvas Orchestra

After a beautiful night hike on the candlelit Ashwabay trail, I paused to look at our beloved music venue, Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua. My heart broke as I saw it there in the snow, closed and lonely in the dark.

My first Big Top performance was in 2010 with “Big Top Idol.” Since then, I’ve performed in Blue Canvas Orchestra productions celebrating the music of Bob Dylan, Woodstock, The Grand Ole Opry and original shows honoring the natural beauty and culture of our region. In that time, I’ve performed for thousands. Without a doubt, Big Top has made me a better singer, songwriter and performer.

This year I will not be on that stage. No local musicians will be. Did you know that?
Alarming and troubling decisions by the Ashwabay Alliance are harming the musicians who have built and maintained the tent, some of whom have been involved since Big Top’s creation in the 1980s. None of us were consulted about these recent changes. To the best of our collective knowledge, these events have recently transpired:

1. A talented sound engineer was fired without recourse or reason ever given to him. Employee handbook protocols were not followed.

2. Tent Show Radio was discontinued after 30 years without warning.

3. The Blue Canvas Orchestra musicians were banned from the tent. We are now relegated to Washburn’s StageNorth.

Did you know about these changes? 

We feel that the public has been left in the dark about these changes and much else.

Are you supportive of these changes? If not, reach out and let someone know. But be warned– some will certainly promise that these changes are only temporary; but at this point, we have zero reason to trust that claim.

After months and months of inaction and runaround, musicians felt their only recourse was to unionize. Since June, we’ve had eight different rounds of unfruitful negotiations in which management makes insincere proposals and then takes them back. 

The Ashwabay Alliance recently posted an “open letter” to the public in which they falsely claimed BCO musicians are already being paid above union scale. The information in their open letter is misleading and further weakens our confidence and trust in leadership. The board may have hoped the community would accept their “open letter” as a sign of transparency, but we musicians are left with even greater feelings of frustration and betrayal. We are not the enemy. We are the local musicians who built the tent.

Did you know that some musicians have already left the group? Management did not care. They still do not care.

We feel that the true goal here is to change Big Top permanently. 

Change is inevitable, this we all know. All the musicians wanted was to be a positive part of that change. That offer was never extended. It’s still not extended. Instead, we’ve been cast aside, thrown out along with all musical celebrations of our region’s history and culture.

So, these days, when I see that tent at the bottom of the hill, it breaks my heart. It breaks because that tent used to stand for something. It was something for us, our community. Now, looks like it’ll just be a corporate stage featuring national acts for tourists.

And yet there is power in a broken heart. Change can start with a broken heart. If your heart breaks a little, if you have fond memories of Big Top, if you think it’s an asset to our community, if you hope for future shows under the tent and under the stars, reach out and let someone know!

All Big Top’s musicians ever wanted was to entertain our friends and family and represent our community. This new direction rejects everything Big Top has stood for throughout the past 40 years. Change may be inevitable, but change does not need to be heartless. Positive change includes transparency and community input.

Hopefully, such change is still possible.

Danielle Diamond
Member of the Blue Canvas Orchestra