Duluth Mayor Don Ness has joined the effort to get Ole Haugsrud, the owner and manager of the famed Duluth Eskimos football team, inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
"The Citizens of Duluth call upon the Selection Committee of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to right a decades-old wrong and to do
justice to the history and integrity of the game and of the National Football League by selecting Ole Haugsrud as a senior member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame," Ness wrote in a mayoral proclamation issued Friday.
Haugsrud has been credited with saving the NFL in the 1920s. In 1926 he lured away superstar fullback Ernie Nevers from a rival league that was threatening to put the NFL out of business. Haugsrud had to sell his Eskimo team in 1929. But that didn't end his involvement in football. In 1960 he was involved in efforts that led to the creation of the Minnesota Vikings.
Haugsrud was a finalist for induction in 1973.
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The Duluth News Tribune is conducting a campaign to get Haugsrud into the Hall of Fame. The deadline for senior nominees like Haugsrud is Monday.
"It's an important part of our city's history and heritage," Ness said. "Hopefully the proclamation will help gain attention to the contributions Haugsrud made to the NFL and he'll take his rightful place in Canton."
Pastor running Grandma's for CHUM
David Carlson, pastor of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Duluth, is one of 20 people running Grandma's Marathon next Sunday on behalf of the Churches United in Ministry Gabriel Fund.
The CHUM Gabriel Fund is a small discretionary fund available to help low-income people in times of crisis.
"For me, helping those in poverty is an important way to live out my faith, and if my running can drum up interest in a
worthy cause like the Gabriel Fund, it's worth it, even if it means getting up early and putting in the miles,'' Carlson said.
More than 60 volunteers from the CHUM community will be cheering on runners and offering support at the 24-mile water stop in front of Fitger's.
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Care for a day
You can show you care if only for a day by signing up as a volunteer for United Way's annual Day of Caring, which is set for June 24.
The Day of Caring matches volunteers with nonprofit agencies in need of extra hands. Volunteers can tackle projects such as painting, planning activities for kids, collecting supplies, landscaping and light maintenance duties.
Volunteers receive a Day of Caring T-shirt and a distinct feeling of satisfaction.
Visit www.northlandunitedways.org to pick a volunteer opportunity or contact Sarah Butler, Day of Caring coordinator, at (218) 726-4794 or
duluth.org.
We welcome your submissions and suggestions. Drop us a line at Eh?, Duluth News Tribune newsroom, 424 W. First St., Duluth, MN 55802, or newsroom@duluthnews.com .
