Rondo Days

Summer is closer and nothing highlights summer like the official Rondo Days parade, day-long festival and drill competition in St. Paul. This year marks the 25th Anniversary of Rondo Days, one of the largest African American festivals in Minnesota.

This year’s festival, entitled “Remember Rondo: Come On Home It’s A Family Reunion,” kicks-off on Sat., July 12, and runs through Sun., July 20. This year’s festival will include a bowling tournament, a golf tournament, a founder’s reception, a senior dinner, the Rondo 5K Walk/Run through the neighborhood and the annual Rondo Days Parade and drill team competition.

As part of the 25th year celebration, Rondo Avenue Inc. will host the 25th Anniversary Businesses Networking Luncheon, Fri., June 27, 11:30 am – 1:30 pm. The luncheon will be held at St. Paul College, 235 Marshall Avenue. Guest speakers for the luncheon are St. Paul City Councilmember Melvin Carter III and Barbara Davis, president, Ken Davis Products. To attend the luncheon, RSVP to Lisa Tabor at (651) 489-5215.

According to Rondo Avenue Inc. co-founder Marvin “Roger” Anderson the best part of Rondo is people coming home.

The Rondo neighborhood had thrived for decades as one of the largest African American neighborhoods in St. Paul until the mid 1960s when construction of Interstate 94 destroyed the neighborhood. Anderson and Floyd Smaller created Rondo Days and formed Rondo Avenue Inc. in 1982 to commemorate the neighborhood. The first Rondo Days celebration occurred the third week of July in the summer of 1983.

Anderson said he likes to think about how much fun it was and what it meant growing up in the tight-knit and supportive Rondo neighborhood.

“People returning will never forget the atmosphere of community and the resources we all shared,” he said. “This year we made an effort to bring people back and I have gotten a great response from those coming home. What you find in Rondo is a desire of a people to have their own and to celebrate in their own way.”

Jewel Jones, senior Rondo Avenue Inc. board member, is also excited about those coming back home. Jones is serving her second year as festival chair. She was born, raised and worked in St. Paul all of her 62 years. Jones takes calls and messages from the Rondo hotline.

“I can feel the camaraderie coming from people who call and say they are coming from Kansas City, MO and Seattle, WA,” Jones said. “It will be good to see old friends again and catch up.”

According to Anderson a special event will occur at this years 25th Anniversary called Reunion Corridor, which will allow people from the old Rondo Neighborhood to see everyone, by gathering at a blocked-off St Albans Street at the Inglehart and Carroll intersection on Saturday July 19th.

“It should give everyone an opportunity to see those they might miss otherwise,” Anderson said. “It will be the place where everyone will be able to gather and see those they have not seen in years in one location.”

“The 25th anniversary of Rondo is important because I lived through the whole thing and I have not moved away so it gives me the opportunity to see people and share the unity that was once there,” Jones said. “I am looking forward to seeing people I have not seen since last year.”

Jones, who lived on Central Avenue in St. Paul, remembers the highway took away more than people’s homes.

“It divided extended families and you don’t see a lot of extended families today,” Jones said. “People who lost homes would have stayed if there were homes they could have bought instead of moving out. The city should have considered how this would have effected the people before they put the freeway through.”

Although Anderson remembers the Rondo neighborhood through warm memories, he admits the memories of Rondo will make for a bittersweet reunion.

“Rondo is something that tastes really good going down, but there is an aftertaste,” Anderson explained. “The memory of a community’s inability, no matter how hard they fought, could not stop this from happening. The bitter part is that it is no longer here and has been [taken] away.”

According to Rondo Avenue Inc. Board Chairperson Donna Miller, Rondo Days is an opportunity for African Americans to come back, come together, and celebrate everything that has happened since; it’s about never forgetting what happened.

“Rondo is not just a festival but a way of life with values represented by people taking care of each other, their kids and supporting African American businesses and churches,” Miller said.

Miller agrees with Anderson about the bittersweet feel of this year’s Rondo celebration but her concerns are mainly because of the discussion the community has about the light rail line going down University Avenue.

“Some feel it is Rondo all over again. The Light rail discussion in St. Paul is a split conversation in the community,” Miller said. “Some feel this is progress and others feel it is another Rondo-type event ready to happen to the African American community.”

Miller said the view of the light-rail among the 12 board members of Rondo Avenue Inc is split evenly along the same lines as public opinion. Many are asking who will benefit from the light rail she said.

Miller believes other ethnic groups should pay attention to what happened to Rondo because what happens to one ethnic group, historically demonstrated, can happen to other communities of color or ethnicity.

“What we have to remember is in order for Rondo not to happen again and in order for a community to continue to flourish, African Americans must support African American businesses and churches in the community,” Miller said. “African Americans must also become politically engaged.”

Miller said the board discussion this year will specifically include how the board will operate in the future and how it will engage young people in planning the festival.

“We must continue to pass Rondo on to our children, “ Miller said. “This community was a lifestyle. The question we are left with is how do we go back to having our own and engage in the legacy that was left to us?”

“Seeing people come back and show the unity that once was, is our legacy,” Jones said. “It is a legacy for our children that we can show them.”

Jones’ legacy includes having three generations active in Rondo Days activities. Jones has her daughter Taffy and granddaughter Sydney Colquitt working as board volunteers. Colquitt is a senior of St. Paul’s Central High school and in charge of the recycle program for a board’s “green” effort. Colquitt often enlists her friends at the high school to help with the recycle efforts.

“We want people to get involved and engage in the community. We don’t’ want people to look at Rondo as just another great big party,” Miller explained. “It was a historical event that happened to the African American community. We want people to come and support a community’s remembrance of what happened.”

Although Rondo Days usually has 75 – 100 vendors and close to 35,000 people who attend the event, Anderson admits it has been difficult to predict if Rondo will continue every year.

“Floyd and I worked so hard on the first Rondo. It took a year to plan the first Rondo. So many people came and gave us strength to make that first Rondo,” Anderson said. “For a while it was able to move on the initial action but a couple of years ago it lost momentum and there was a lull. In the last few years the event sprung back.”

Anderson said the key is to enlist the community to help Rondo survive. “The community has gotten away from supporting the festival,” Anderson said. “The challenge is to get middle class African American people to support Rondo more.”

Miller agrees that community participation is a major factor but another factor is that major corporate sponsorship of the event has been dwindling for the past years.

“The biggest challenge to this years’ 25th anniversary event is how do we engage corporate America in seeing the African American community and events as important,” Miller said. The question becomes how do we get corporate America to see that the Twin Cities Juneteenth Festival and Rondo Days are as important as Cinco de Mayo and Grand Ole Days. Sponsorship is just not there at the same levels.”

“The longevity of Rondo Days does not exist in the festival itself but it exists in the people and the opportunity we create,” Miller said. “Rondo provides the opportunities for organizations, families and businesses to come together and celebrate the old community but also to take a good look at what is going on in the community and engage the community.”

“History has the power to guide and make people organize for the greater good,” Anderson said. “Hopefully there are enough young people to keep the spirit of Rondo going. Rondo may not be as wide-ranging as the past, but it will always be around as long as there are African Americans in Minnesota.”

To find out more about Rondo Days and The Rondo community check out the website: www.rondoaveinc.org