A light that will never fail–by Jim Heffernan...

Deep in December it’s nice to remember, although you know the snow will follow. Deep in December it’s nice to remember, without a hurt, the heart is hollow.
— A stanza from the song “Try to Remember”

Bethany Lutheran Church at 2308 West Third Street. (Image: Google)

It’s not too deep in December yet, but it is far enough into the holiday season to, well, to remember yuletide seasons of the past, as most adults tend to do when thinking of the joy of childhood Christmases.

Before I do that, though, I want to note that this is my final monthly column for Zenith City Online, as it shifts to a more relaxed publishing schedule. I’ve been Zenith City’s western Duluth correspondent since the beginning, designated that because it is the neighborhood of my childhood and youth, my upbringing and education. I’m a Denfeld Boy.

It’s been an interesting ride, writing monthly about some aspect of western Duluth over the years, the columns weighted heavily to the West End, the actual neighborhood of my past. Duluthians of today know the West End is now officially called Lincoln Park, and, to some, West Duluth is known as Spirit Valley.

I’ve learned some things I didn’t know about the history of the neighborhood where I spent the formative years of my life…many things, come to think of it. But today I will revert to a bit of personal history with a reminiscence of the Christmas season in the West End church in which I grew up.

The West End and West Duluth are replete with churches of most Christian denominations. Each one, I know, had Christmas traditions fondly recalled by those who experienced them as children.

What follows here is my own reminiscence of Christmas in the West End’s Bethany Lutheran, 23rd Avenue West and Third Street, where my family worshiped. This column first ran in the Duluth News Tribune in 2001, and was included in the book of 52 of my newspaper columns, Cooler Near the Lake, published in 2008. (You can find the book here.)

Before attaching that column, let me say I’ve enjoyed writing for Zenith City Online these past several years, and appreciate having been included. I continue to operate a blog—jimheffernan.org—on which I write on a variety of subjects from time to time.

Now, here is that column, titled  “A Light That Will Never Fail.”

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(The previous writing was my introduction to my final monthly post on Zenith City Online. 

Read "The Light that will Never Fail" HERE and in my book.)

Historic Duluth Armory tied to Buddy Holly Winter Dance Party Lore

Historic Duluth Armory (2010) - source Wikipedia

Saturday's open house at the Historic Duluth Armory Arts & Music Center is part of a thrust to restore and revive this historic building. The Armory not only was the home of the Army National Guard but also one of the main performance venues in Duluth of the past. Today the 1959 performance of Buddy Holly and his Winter Dance Party, just before he and the other performers died in a tragic plane crash, serves as its more notable claim to fame. Today's Duluth News Tribune story (read HERE) recounts that Holly moment and the bright future ahead for preserving this history building.

Susan Beasy Latto, originally from Hibbing and a classmate and friend of Bob Zimmerman (now Bob Dylan), was there the night Holly played at the Armory. I was there also and have written about it in previous posts. My childhood friend, Lew Latto, a precocious teen who later became a prominent local radio entrepreneur, was the promoter and MC of this event. Latto later met Beasy Latto at UMD and they married, not knowing each other at the Winter Dance Party concert. Dylan was there that night too and he spoke of it–now quite famously–as he received a Grammy award in 1998. It was a coming together of music of the past present and the future and sparks lore that now centers on preserving those magic moments.

Of course many other famous people performed at the Armory... going as far back as Sergei Rachmaninoff, the great Russian pianist and composer. Johnny Cash, Liberace, Bob Hope, the Mamas and the Papas... and so many more followed.

For more about the Armory and the Winter Dance Party...
You can read more about the history of the Armory HERE on Wikipedia, at the News Tribune Attic HERE, on Zenith City Online and at the Historic Duluth Armory web site HERE.

One of my weekly columns for the Duluth News Tribune (originally appeared on August 5, 1987) is reprinted on my blog HERE: Three Days Before the Rock Stars Died. And... you can check out some of my previous writings about the Winter Dance party HERE.