In partnership with the Minnesota Alliance of Local History Museums, our public catalog is available on MN Collections. To explore our collection and find your favorite treasures, link : James J. Fiorentino Foundation and Museum Collection
Three of five dolls on a large Dutch band organ named “Aimee of Amsterdam.”
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History
Beginning operation in 1948, the building was originally intended to store aluminum from the nearby foundry. Instead, it became storage for large coils of army surplus wire. Enter the Fiorentino brothers: James, Antonio, Orlando, and Frank.
In the 1950s, the brothers founded Custom Door Sales, Inc., building and installing garage doors. It went through a number of partnerships and name changes until James retired and sold the business to his nephew in 1990. It moved to another location, and James made the warehouse his own.
He filled the walls and cases with a wide variety of objects, such as Black Forest cuckoo clocks; wood carvings; unique musical instruments; and rock spheres, which were polished and shaped by him. It was his vision to open the collection to the public as a museum, and was incorporated as a nonprofit museum in 2007.
Exterior of the James J. Fiorentino Foundation and Museum.
Update
The James J. Fiorentino Foundation and Museum is currently closed to the public for renovations and other preparations. We are planning to open in 2021, though the date is subject to change based on project timelines. Updates regarding our opening date will be posted here as they become available.
About
Located in the heart of the North Loop neighborhood in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the James J. Fiorentino Foundation and Museum is home to a large collection of Black Forest cuckoo clocks, geologic specimens, vintage musical objects, and other intriguing items, embracing the beauty of human ingenuity and craftsmanship.
Mission
The James J. Fiorentino Foundation and Museum seeks to inspire an appreciation of human craftsmanship through the display and preservation of its collection’s cuckoo clocks, vintage musical novelties, and numerous curiosities, in so doing honoring the memory of its founder.
Starting Tuesday, April 27, the siren song of the morel mushroom is about to commence, as these delectable beauties start popping up all over the forest floor…for those lucky enough to find them. Whether a first-time forager or a old hand, this webinar will expand your knowledge. From the early black morels to the yellows following soon after, we’ll cover some keys to finding these popular fungi. We’ll explore myths that surround the “false-morels,” and discover why you can eat almost all of them. Safe preparation and preservation will be covered as well. Join Michael Karns for an immersive dive into the spring’s unparalleled edible mushroom. Note, there is a lot to cover and we know there will be questions, so we’ve broken this into three evening sessions.
…on the fifth anniversary of Prince’s passing, Paisley Park is opening our doors for fans to pay tribute and celebrate his life. The Paisley Park Atrium will be open for free visitation on Wednesday, April 21, from 9 AM– 9 PM. Advance reservations are required.
Guests are also welcome to leave flowers, mementos, and other memorial items in front of the Love Symbol statue outside the Paisley Park main entrance. For those unable to visit in person, an online memorial will be available.
Reservations must be made in advance. Limited on-site parking will be available and guests are encouraged to use ride share applications. Visits will be timed, and masks required, keeping in accordance with Covid-19 restrictions currently in place. Limited reservations are available.
Reservations do not include tickets for a tour; the museum will not host tours on April 21.
The 30th Annual Black Master Storytelling Festival Signifyin’ & Testifyin’ is coming soon to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Come and join us for a free festival of storytelling, song and dance from a traditional African / African American perspective. This is a family friendly event that will be both educational and entertaining. This years festival will have a large variety of storytellers from across the United States spanning three days.
30 years in the making, the newest UMN Apple, Triumph™ will be an environmental improvement and a useful apple for organic growers and for home growers. Plus consumers will benefit from apples with fewer if any chemical sprays.
Find out more about the brand new UMN apple from the Arb’s Horticultural Research Center (their 28th apple introduction), how long it took to make, what its name means, what it tastes like, why it was developed and when you can get a tree for your yard.
A Triumph over apple scab!
The latest apple cultivar from the University of Minnesota renowned apple breeding team is a triumph! Triumph™, MN80 cultivar, has been released to nurseries for propagation and growers can now start placing orders for trees to plant starting in 2021.
Triumph™, which was created by crossing ‘Honeycrisp’ and ‘Liberty’, produces attractive fruit with occasional stem bowl russeting. It has shown excellent scab tolerance and contains two forms of genetic scab resistance.
Taste-wise, Triumph™ is a pleasantly tart and well-balanced red apple with good storage life. It will be ready to harvest in late September, similar to or slightly later than its parent ‘Honeycrisp’ and is hardy to USDA zone 4.
Triumph™ has been released as an “open variety” (tree royalty only) which means growers can purchase trees directly from nurseries that are licensed by the University of Minnesota to propagate and sell Triumph™ apple trees. Nurseries that are interested in obtaining a license to propagate and sell Triumph™ should contact Technology Commercialization.
The following nurseries are currently licensed to propagate and sell Triumph™ trees:
• Cameron Nursery (WA)
• Gold Crown Nursery (WA)
• Moser Fruit Tree Sales (MI)
• Bailey Nurseries (MN)
• Adams County Nursery (PA)
• Schlabach’s Nursery and Orchard (NY)
• Wafler Family Orchard (NY)
Consumers will need to wait to get their first bite of Triumph™ as it takes several years for new trees to bear fruit. But those interested in growing their own apple trees can purchase this new variety as it becomes available at local nurseries over the next several years. Visit UMN Extension to learn more about growing apple trees in your home garden.
Characteristics
Flavor:
Pleasantly tart, well balanced
Texture:
Firm; usually 17-22 lbs pressure at harvest
Features:
Attractive fruit with excellent scab resistance, good fresh eating qualities and long storage life. Maybe particularly suitable for direct market and organic producers.
BringMeTheNews: A Duluth woman has become only the second person — and the first woman — on record to finish a winter thru-hike of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail in Wisconsin.
Emily Ford, 28, and her borrowed canine companion Diggins spent 69 days hiking the roughly 1,200-mile trail from the Eastern Terminus in Sturgeon Bay in Michigan to the Western Terminus in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, completing the journey on Saturday, March 6.
Emily Ford and her canine hiking pal, Diggins, arrived at the Western Terminus of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail on Saturday, March 6 around noon. Her completion marks the second-ever recorded winter thru-hike of the Ice Age Trail and the first winter thru-hike by a woman!
She and Diggins braved cold temperatures and snow-laden trails for 69 days, hiking approximately 1,200 miles from the Eastern Terminus in Sturgeon Bay to the Western Terminus in St. Croix Falls. They were greeted at the Western Terminus by a crowd of supporters who’ve avidly followed her journey.
“Nobody should feel that the outdoors isn’t for them,” shared Emily Ford upon finishing her hike. “There is a place for you outside; there is a place for you on the trail.”
Thank you for bringing us along on your Ice Age Trail adventure, @emilyontrail!
Ford, carrying a 60-pound pack, and Diggins spent the majority of their time outdoors — sometimes in temperatures colder than 30 below zero — hiking and camping along the trail. The Duluth News Tribune said they averaged 16.5 miles walking per day (including a few rest days).
The Duluth-based gardener (she’s the gardener at Duluth’s Glensheen Mansion) is an avid hiker whose goal was to show others, especially Black women, that the outdoors is for everyone. And when she got to the Western Terminus, Ford told a crowd gathered to congratulate her that “anyone can play outdoors.”
Ford told the publication that after George Floyd was killed, she decided to use her upcoming trek along the Ice Age Trail as a way to contribute to the equality movement, dedicating it to “all of us who don’t quite feel safe on the trails,” from people of color to those who feel like outsiders in outdoor sports.
Ford amassed thousands of fans online during her journey and met dozens of people who sought her out on the trail to chat. Others referred to as “trail angels” left “trail magic” for her and Diggins, such as snacks, notes of encouragement and offers of places to warm up and sleep.
When she finished her trek, she posted on Instagram saying she’s happy to be home and thankful for everyone.
She did have to give Diggins back to her owner, saying “It was one of the toughest things I had to do the whole trip. But I know that she is destined to pull sleds, not be a house dog (maybe she will be after she retires).”
But Ford’s story isn’t over yet. She’s the subject of a film by Credo Nonfiction called Breaking Trail — filmmakers filmed her on much of her adventure.
Final update for the night! (Gotta nap before I hike ya know!)
Super stoked to have the remainder of this trip be captured by @credononfiction !
There is so much to capture with this trail and I am excited to have it be brought to you via short film 🎥
Stay tuned for more info!
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“She set a handful of significant firsts, was reunited with the people most important to her, and met countless strangers she had become important to — as they were drawn to her uncommon perseverance, which took on symbolic significance through the dark winter of COVID-19,” Credo Nonfiction said in a Facebook post. “The story of what happened out there, the people she touched, the challenges she overcame — will be the building blocks of our new film now in post-production … We cannot wait for everyone to experience this story.”
The Ice Age National Scenic Trail traces the edge of the glacier that covered Wisconsin during the Ice Age 15,000 years ago, when mammoths, sabertooth cats and cave lions roamed the earth, the National Park Service says.
The nearly 1,200-mile trail stretches from Potawatomi State Park in Sturgeon Bay, Door County, Wisconsin to the west, ending at Interstate State Park in St. Croix Falls, Polk County, Wisconsin, on the Minnesota border, according to the Ice Age Trail Alliance. The trail was established in 1980, and highlights what that giant glacier left behind (lakes, river valleys, rolling hills and ridges). It’s one of 11 national scenic trails and its entirety is in the state of Wisconsin.
While dozens of people have thru-hiked the Ice Age Trail (hiked the whole thing in one go), only one person — until Ford — is on record as having completed a thru-hike of the trail in the winter.
Mike Summers of Oregon was the first person to complete a winter thru-hike of the Ice Age Trail. He did it back in 2017, when it took him 58 hiking days and five zero days (rest days), the Journal Sentinel said.
