CHICAGO — The flavors of the Iron Range and the sounds of Cook musicians echoed through a high-end Chicago salon this week, as a group of arts patrons traded canapes and champagne for pasties and dark cherry spritzes to help restore a cornerstone of the Cook community.
Mike Aden and JD Miller hosted a “Northern Minnesota Social” at their Chicago home, trading the usual Chicago gala staples for Iron Range hospitality. The mission was a serious one – it raised $12,000 for the Cook Public Library, a vital community hub that remains in a rebuilding phase after the catastrophic 2024 floods.
The evening’s headliners were familiar faces to many in St. Louis County: retired teacher Bailey Conger and retired librarian Marjorie Miller. The duo performed their celebrated “Ink and Ivory” concert, a series of four-hand piano duets they’ve been presenting in private homes and churches across St. Louis County.
Their 559-mile journey south brought the spirit of Cook to a crowd of 43 Chicagoans, who were treated to a program ranging from the poetry of Bob Dylan to the scores of Hamilton.
They also hauled traditional Minnesota “door prizes” down from the North Woods, including Dorothy Molter’s Root Beer and hand-carved gnomes. A children’s gift basket featured a stuffed moose—a nod to the iconic taxidermy head that traditionally watches over the Cook Library’s children’s section.
The Chicago event featured a Minnesota-inspired menu. In a city defined by its skyline and its pizza, guests enjoyed Iron Range-style pasties, Swedish meatballs, smoked trout mousse, and tater-tot hotdish—with recipes sourced directly from a local church cookbook that was also given as a prize.
“I recently co-chaired a fundraiser for Chicago’s 4,000 seat Auditorium Theatre,” noted co-host Mike Aden. “Our home held just 43. But that group’s intense focus on a library 500 miles away felt just as impactful.”
“The concert tells stories that need to be told. When a vital institution like the library, which houses so many of those important stories, is underwater, neighbors show up—even if those neighbors happen to live states away,” added JD Miller.
While the Chicago salon provided a boost, the Cook Public Library still faces a funding gap to fully restore its facilities and collection. Members of the public who wish to join the rebuilding effort can make tax-deductible donations at https://jdmja.betterworld.org/donate.
