Howie: A salute to the heroes who built our local tourism industry

There is something electric in the air as Duluth readies for what promises to be one of the most extraordinary summer tourism seasons our city has ever seen.

It’s more than the anticipation of concerts echoing across the harbor from Bayfront Festival Park, or the thousands of runners who pounded the streets during Grandma’s Marathon weekend. It’s bigger than the thunder of the upcoming air show at the Duluth International Airport or the billowing sails of tall ships set to parade under the Lift Bridge.

It’s a collective spirit — decades in the making — that unites neighbors, businesses, volunteers and visitors around a shared belief: that Duluth is not only a city of industry and grit, but also a premier stage for celebration, joy and human connection.

And it all begins at Bayfront.

A park born from a gift — and a family legacy

You cannot stand in Bayfront Festival Park without feeling the deep gratitude owed to the late Lois Paulucci, whose remarkable personal donation helped turn a forlorn stretch of waterfront into the green, sunlit amphitheater it is today. Her generosity quite literally shaped the landscape, gifting Duluth an open-air community living room that hosts everything from rock concerts to cultural festivals to family picnics.

Lois’ vision was inseparable from that of her legendary husband, Jeno Paulucci. Born in Aurora to Italian immigrants, Jeno’s story is the kind of American dream that feels almost mythic today. Starting in West Duluth, he built Chun King into a household name, revolutionizing the frozen Chinese food industry. But more than his fortune, it was his heart for the underdog that left a mark.

Jeno’s factories gave second chances to men and women nobody else would hire — people down on their luck, struggling with past mistakes, or simply overlooked by other employers. He proved that capitalism could have a conscience, that a business could lift up a whole community.

Together with their children, particularly son Mickey, the Pauluccis poured their success back into Duluth. Mickey, along with his friend Andy Borg, opened the original Grandma’s Restaurant — a quirky, welcoming pub that would help spark the rebirth of Canal Park. They also took a gamble on Scott Keenan’s dream of a marathon along the North Shore.

What started as a small-town race is now Grandma’s Marathon, a world-class event drawing thousands from across the globe. It pumps millions into the local economy each June and serves as an unofficial kickoff to our high summer season.

Bayfront: more than a stage — a soul of the city

Every summer, Bayfront fulfills Lois Paulucci’s quiet dream. The Blues Festival alone brings tens of thousands, dancing shoulder to shoulder on sunburned grass. The Tribute Fest, Reggae and World Music fests, local food truck rallies and Fourth of July fireworks — they all pulse from this special spot.

Vendors and food trucks thrive. International and local bands get a platform. Visitors book hotel rooms. Retailers in Canal Park see their tills fill up. For many families, a day at Bayfront is the highlight of summer — a place to slow down, sprawl out on a blanket and remember why we choose to live here.

Beyond Bayfront: a city that knows how to put on a show

But Bayfront is only the start.

• The Duluth Entertainment Convention Center (DECC) has become a powerhouse of year-round events, thanks to smart, entrepreneurial leadership. Conventions, high school and college sports tournaments, trade shows and expos all pour money into local businesses.
• This year, the DECC will again host major national gatherings that keep restaurants, breweries and coffee shops bustling. Meanwhile, the newly reconstructed break wall means cruise ships are docking right behind the DECC — giving visitors stunning first glimpses of Duluth’s skyline and feeding a growing maritime tourism economy.
• The tall ships festival transforms our harbor into a living postcard, with schooners and brigs drawing wide-eyed crowds who line the piers to watch cannon salutes and sparkling sunset sails.
• The Duluth Airshow — long one of the Midwest’s signature aviation events — will roar back this summer. Fighter jets and precision teams tear across the sky, thrilling families who fill the tarmac with coolers and lawn chairs. Hotels from Duluth to Cloquet to Two Harbors book solid. Gas stations, grocery stores, diners and retail shops all ride the rising tide.

The ripple effect is huge

All this matters on more than just an emotional level. According to Visit Duluth and other economic trackers, the tourism industry supports thousands of jobs in this region. It is cash flowing directly to local waitstaff, bartenders, hotel housekeepers, shuttle drivers and store clerks — people who count on these tips and paychecks to keep roofs overhead and kids in new school shoes come fall.

And there’s a psychological lift too. In a city that has weathered plant closures and population stagnation, seeing Duluth packed with license plates from Iowa, Illinois and beyond feels like validation — proof that we have something here worth traveling hundreds of miles to experience.

A call to locals: let’s be ambassadors, together

So as this banner summer unfolds, here’s my heartfelt suggestion: don’t sit it out. Invite your siblings from Minneapolis, your cousins from Superior, your old college roommates from Rochester. Fill your social calendars with Bayfront shows, DECC expos, day trips to Canal Park for ice cream on the pier.

Wave at visitors in line at our local coffee shops. Recommend your favorite hidden-gem restaurants. Buy a ticket to a festival you’ve never attended before. Volunteer if you can — our city’s biggest days still run on neighbors hauling barricades and answering lost tourists’ questions.

Because soon enough, September will creep in. The days will shorten, leaves will change, and we’ll settle into Friday night football under bright lights, packed volleyball gyms, and Saturday tailgates at Malosky Stadium.

Winter will return with hockey at Amsoil Arena, curling leagues and long nights that make us grateful for local theater, concerts and gatherings indoors.

But the glow of this summer — these shared moments in the sun — will sustain us.

Thanks to visionaries like Lois and Jeno Paulucci, Mickey Paulucci, Andy Borg and Scott Keenan, Duluth has a summer stage that many cities our size can only envy. It’s up to us to fill it, to support it, to keep inviting the world in.

So let’s embrace it. Make memories with your kids at Bayfront. Clap along at a DECC show. Gawk at the tall ships. Feel your heart race under the roar of an F-16.

And then, when it’s all over, carry those moments forward — proof that in Duluth, even the briefest summers can leave a legacy as lasting as the families and dreamers who built it all.

— Howie is the publisher of HowieHanson.com – the region’s first and only full-time blogger – and a lifelong Duluthian who cares deeply about the stories that shape his community.