Save the date! September 24 & 25, 2016 is Remer's 1st Annual Bluegrass Festival. Check out the flyer for details!
WHAT: Animal Planet’s “Finding Bigfoot” to film in Northern Minnesota.
WHEN: Thursday, July 7th 2016 in Remer, Minnesota WHERE: The greater Grand Rapids / Bemidji Area Animal Planet’s hit series “Finding Bigfoot” will be filming an episode this July in the greater Grand Rapids / Bemidji area. The team; Matt Moneymaker, Cliff Barackman, James “Bobo” Fay and Ranae Holland; are hard at work looking for the latest Bigfoot sightings, evidence and stories and they need YOUR help! Have you seen what you believe is a Sasquatch? Have you experienced mysterious sounds, unusual tracks or other phenomena that point to Bigfoot? WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Email your experiences and encounters to: mailto:findingbigfoot.minnesota@gmail.com. You could be invited to share your story with the team at our town hall event on Thursday, July 7th! You may even be selected to have your experience investigated and recreated on the show! Please note: The Finding Bigfoot Town Hall Meeting is a FREE event but you MUST RSVP to mailto:findingbigfoot.minnesota@gmail.comto be guaranteed admission. Tickets are given out on a first come, first served basis until the capacity is reached. Remer Chamber of Commerce announces: Remer - The true home of bigfoot Pine Cone Press-Citizen article 3/22/16 Around here, the stories about Bigfoot began to surface in the late 1800s. People made mention of "something in the woods" here or there and finally it became more than coincidence. A flash of dark in the pines. A large set of footprints along a swamp. Sightings in the same areas became more frequent. Sightings from people other than loggers made people take notice. Rumor has it that William P. Remer found tracks in the early 1900s. Mr. Remer was the founder of Remer, MN and that gave some credibility to the story. Some people began to worry although there were never reports of any dogs or livestock disappearing. Just your occasional "something moving through the brush and it wasn't a bear or a deer" Most of the tracks were in the woods east of Remer, but they were also in other areas. The tracks were huge. They were much bigger than a man's foot and they sunk deep in the earth. Visual sightings happened in basically every direction around Remer and they were usually brief, almost like Bigfoot vanished into thin air. There was never any damage done. There were no thefts, no injuries, nothing disappeared or died. Just sightings, tracks, and occasionally more. Every once in a while someone would find a small tuft of dark hair on the side of a balsam fir tree. There were stories of depressions on the ground that were lined with grass and pine boughs that were assumed to be beds. Most of these were found in the area south and west of Shingle Mill Lake. Occasionally, people would leave small piles of berries or vegetables that they had picked out of their garden near the beds. Always within a day or two the piles were gone without a trace, but assumedly appreciated. By 1910, sightings were more common and people seemed to peacefully coexist with Bigfoot. In fact, that was the year that he gained his name. People around Remer talked fondly of "Bigfoot" and when someone had seen them last. "Have you seen Bigfoot today" could be heard all around town. There was more than one. Different sizes. There were even Bigfoot children. "Saw Bigfoot at lunch today" husbands would tell their wives. "He disappeared behind the branches of a black spruce tree." It seemed like the Bigfoot had certain patterns. Certain feeding, bedding, and bathing areas. They often bathed near the lowland in the southeast corner of the main portion of Big Sand Lake. Townspeople avoided that area so as not to disturb the Bigfoot family. Everyone like having them around. They were interesting and mysterious. Bigfoot fed on plants, berries, tree leaves & buds in all areas, but primarily bedded in the dense forests to the east of Remer. The stories continued through the 1920s and 1930s. However, as the forests were cut it seemed that the families of Bigfoot moved to other areas of the state and attempted to stay in the more densely forested areas. There were still sightings, but not in the usual areas, and not as often. Sometimes, because it was so commonplace, people would see them and just not say anything. It was like they were neighbors. The most recent evidence of bigfoot was a trail camera picture that was taken in October of 2009. Near Shingle Mill Lake off the east boundary road, east of Remer, a trail camera picture of Bigfoot was taken and made the national news. Saturday, February 13th: It was a chilly start to the morning at -24 degrees but by race time it turned into a beautiful brisk sunny day; probably perfect for the dogs! This was the 28th year for the Mid-Minnesota 150 Sled Dog races. The eight-dog pro class and six-dog recreational class began in Outing at noon and 12:30 pm and finished in Remer. Here's an excerpt from the Brainerd Dispatch:
Dan Levno, co-organizer, said when the race started it was first geared toward larger dog teams but through the years, it changed from 10-dog teams to the six- and eight-dog teams, which were more in line with what mushers were handling. The event, and the race course, has changed over the years. It now has two different classes, a 30-mile race for the six-dog teams and a 60-mile race for the eight-dog teams. The race has a history of attracting mushers from the region and from outside Minnesota. Organizers moved the race from a winner's purse to charging an entry fee and giving back an equal portion to each musher. "It has really changed the complexion of the race," Levno said. "It's a love of the sport, which is what it is. ... Everybody leaves with a smile on their face and they have a good time." Levno said it's about being together with people who really love the same thing, being out in nature running with their dogs. That camaraderie, Levno said, brings people back year after year. The race has attracted as many as 96 sled dog teams. The average number of teams each year is more often 20 to 22. Levno said a lot of sled dog races have fallen by the wayside, but the Mid-Minnesota 150 has endured. Once again in conjunction with the Mid-Minnesota 150 Sled Dog races, the Remer Chamber of Commerce sponsored a very successful Chili cook-off event at the Remer Fire Hall. There were 16 chili entries in all, and with 100 ballots cast by the chili eaters they voted for their favorite belonging to Gerald (Jerry) Varner of Remer (his chili was #14 in the lineup). He wins the $50 1st prize and bragging rights for the best chili! The Remer Chamber wishes to thank all the volunteers who helped make the event possible and all those who participated in the festivities! Below are photos from the day: Race winner for the eight-dog pro class was Erin Becker pictured by the sled dog trophy and with her winning plaque. We saved a spot for a photo of our chili cook-off winner Jerry Varner. |