Bigger than life in Bemidji, and yes, you can locum here
You may have read in the January edition of our Hemispheres
newsletter that the Global Medical staff has embarked on a 2010 adventure that will take us around the world. Oh-so-cleverly dubbed "Relay Around the World," if you missed the announcement in the newsletter, well, then perhaps it's time for you to subscribe!
The folks of fortitude here are determined to lead healthier lives and this year that means exercise. A lot of exercise. In that vein, we've embarked on a journey with no particular destination other than to trek the 24,901.55 miles/40,075 kilometers it takes to circumnavigate the globe. From Alaska to Abu Dhabi, Bundaberg to Birmingham, Kansas to Karumba, West Virginia to the Wop-Wops - we will run, walk, bike, hike, swim, skip, hop (and perhaps hobble) through lands of the ancient and the fantastic, the isolated and the rugged, the monumental and the sublime.
We've vowed to update our readers with legends, lore, wit and wisdom - and to account for number of miles/kilometers we've racked up. So, buckle-up, or in this case, unbuckle-up, because we've just reached our first destination some 1,300 miles northeast of Salt Lake City. Yes, we've sprinted into a charming, yet peculiar little town in Minnesota called Bemidji (pronounced
"be-mid-gee").
Bemidji is home to Northwest Technical College, Oak Hills Christian College and Bemidji State University, and has a population of roughly 13,000. But don't let the modest population fool you - this town is anything but. Statues of Paul Bunyan and his Blue Ox, Babe, grace the downtown lakefront and stands as an homage to what this town really is - larger than life and an embodiment of frontier vitality. (By the way, the statue is a roadside attraction has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1988.)
Bemidji is the most 'major' city in North Central Minnesota and the largest commercial center between Grand Forks, North Dakota and Duluth, MN. It sits on the southwest shore of Lake Bemidji, the northernmost lake feeding the Mississippi River and, as such, is deemed The First City on the Mississippi. And for anyone who likes to throw stones, or in this case slide them, it is also dubbed the Curling Capital of the U.S.
Both men's and women's rinks from the Bemidji Curling Club won the right to represent the United States in the 2005 World Curling Championship and the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. Pete Fenson, the ‘skipper' of the U.S. curling team who took the bronze medal at the 2006 Olympics, is a Bemidji native - something our own Accounting Wiz and Curling Enthusiast, Tim Smart, was thrilled to share with us.
More than curling, Bemidji is a city with a strong foothold in the arts. The city's streets are lined adorned with sculptures and other forms of public art, as well as eclectic shops. The Concordia Language Villages (just outside Bemidji) have also been influential in the creation of several language conversational groups (including French, Norwegian, Spanish, Italian, and German) that meet weekly in local coffee houses. During the summer the Paul Bunyan Playhouse operates a non-equity, Summer Stock Theater. The town is also home to the 4th generation family-owned Bemidji Woolen Mills. Yes, you can get your Paul Bunyan lumber jack shirts right here and experience the versatility of "Wool, the Original Miracle Fiber."
Beyond that, the temperate hamlet (yes, temperate) boasts 78 degree temperatures in the summer with a mild 47% humidity. Don't ask about the winters; it's still Minnesota. (Though our own Ad Director and Head Idea Monger, Saralynn White, hails from Minnesota and she says the winters are not nearly as bad as they're reputed.)
For now, Bemidji is a great place to rest up while we map out our next adventure. Where we're going is anyone's guess - but we know Bemidji is a great place to locum. The people are great; the air is clean; and any town with a bigger-than-life-size statue of Paul Bunyan and Babe is A-number-1 in our book. Oh, and speaking of things that are bigger than life, Jane Russell (one of the most Iconic Movie Goddesses of all time) was born in Bemidji! Ms. Russell became famous for wearing the first underwire push-up bra invented by Howard Hughes. She's also a testament to the beauty found in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.