SHORT TAKES : Lightfoot’s a Superior Friend

SUPERIOR, Wis. —  Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot sent a check for $2,500 after a group raising funds for a new ice-skating and hockey arena asked for an autographed item for a celebrity auction.

Superior made Lightfoot an honorary citizen when he performed last year at nearby Duluth, Minn.

Mayor Herb Bergson said it would have taken quite a few items to produce as much money for the Superior Amateur Hockey Assn.’s arena as Lightfoot’s check did.

Bergson said the city was honoring Lightfoot for his song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” Residents of Superior died in 1975 on the ore-carrying ship.

The hockey association needs about $60,000 to put the finishing touches on the arena, Bergson said.