Our Crumby Christmas

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A long time ago when my children were small and life was more simple, our tradition was to drive out of town to find a Christmas tree farm. Once there we traipsed through the rows of evergreen trees looking for the perfect tree to chop down and bring home. After much consideration, the tree was chosen, and we dragged it through the woods to pay for it, then mounted it on top of the car for the glorious ride home. Once it was set up in the living room, the tree was adorned with brightly colored lights. Lacking the money to buy expensive decorations, we filled the branches with homemade ornaments made of paper and felt. And one special year we decided to decorate the tree with cookies . Continue Reading

New management plan for Loeb Lake, a neighborhood treasure

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Loeb Lake and the surrounding Marydale Park is a North End neighborhood treasure in the middle of the city. Despite its location near the busy intersection of Dale and Maryland, the quality of the lake water is good because it receives only a small amount of stormwater runoff from streets. Resolving to keep it that way, the Capitol Region Watershed District (CRWD) conducted a review and analysis of existing water quality and gathered information to determine the current condition of Loeb Lake as well as to develop goals to protect it and improve it. The CRWD presented the plan at a public meeting on December 10 at Crossroads School. The new management plan includes the nearby Willow Reserve, which was designated as a bird and wildlife sanctuary in the 1960s. Continue Reading

Como Park Alliance welcomes new participants

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I first became aware of the Como Park Alliance when I noticed the signs posted in the glassed in bulletin board alongside the walking path next to the Come Park Pavilion. Curious, I went home to check out the website. The Como Park Alliance was formed in July 2007 by a small group of citizens who were concerned about the Como Park swimming pool and the rumors that were going around about its future, according to Rhonda DeBough, one of the organizers of the alliance. As talk of updating the pool progressed, park neighbors thought about the potential effects of increased traffic to the neighborhood, and the possible loss of green space being converted to parking lots. Recently, the city Parks and Rec Department announced the pool is closed for good because it is beyond repair. Continue Reading

Santa Claus is coming to breakfast

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Santa Claus is coming to breakfast on Sunday December 7, 2008, at Saint Bernard’s Parish Center located at Rice and Geranium in the North End of Saint Paul. Children can visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus and they will have a chance to enter the contest to win his special chair. There will also be a coloring contest and drawings every half hour for toys. Pancakes, scrambled egg ,and sausage will be served from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.. Ticket prices are $ 6, and $4 for children four years of age and under. Continue Reading

Recession-proofing the holidays: Plentiful pumpkins provide holiday cheer

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With cash in short supply this year, and plastic not so trendy anymore, we may have to turn a little more creative in our gift-giving traditions this holiday season. I remember long ago when my children were small, and we faced a tough economy in the 1970s. With many children in school and many teachers to remember at Christmas, we thought hard about gifts to give them that we could afford. Our pumpkin crop was plentiful that year and we stumbled on the idea of cooking up the pumpkins and making pumpkin bread for each of the teachers. We harvested and scrubbed the pumpkins, baked them in the oven, then pureed them in the blender. Continue Reading

Amateur radio operators “ share all they know”

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“Be very, very careful. If you touch it you’ll get burned,” said Keith Miller , retired from the Saint Paul Police force, and now a volunteer in the Washington Technology Magnet Middle School. It’s after school on a Monday afternoon and Miller was showing students how to solder. “When the solder cools off, what happens?” Miller asked. Students answered, “It sticks together.”
The students belong to the Washington Radio Club where they are learning about wireless communication and using the ham radio system to broadcast. Continue Reading

New energy in historic Dayton’s Bluff

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“No other neighborhood in Saint Paul has connections to the region’s ancient past that Dayton’s Bluff has,” according to Ed Lambert, Executive Director of District 4. From that ancient past to a sometimes-troubled present, Dayton’s Bluff has been home to a changing cast of immigrant communities. Lambert, who grew up in Dayton’s Bluff, said he sees similarities between Dayton’s Bluff now and the problems that the Ramsey Hill and Summit Hill neighborhoods experienced in the 1970s. Today, Lambert said that he sees the potential for a “renaissance ” focused on Dayton’s Bluff that would play out over the next 20-30 years, though he is quick to add that he is not suggesting that the neighborhood become gentrified. Homes at 338 Maple (restored) and 336 Maple (boarded) illustrate the dramatic contrasts of Dayton’s Bluff, where carefully tended gardens and homes claim space in a community that still battles poverty, foreclosure, and gang activity. Continue Reading

Public transit in St. Paul’s North End: It’s all about the funding

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With construction scheduled to begin in just 18 months, the North End community is looking ahead to the impact light rail transit (LRT) on University Avenue will have on the neighborhood. I attended the November 13 Town Hall Meeting, sponsored by the District 6 Planning Council and the Ward 5 City Council office. Many North End residents use public transportation and the meeting was called to discuss the importance of planning for future potential and opportunities for growth for the community as transit changes play out. Attendees told of the problems they encounter now, ranging from unaffordable bus fares to no service in their area to having to transfer many times to arrive at their destination. Lynn Belgea, lifelong resident of the North End, and a board member of the district council board does not use public transit and she explained why. Continue Reading

Happy Birthday Bags

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In today’s troubled economy, as more families turn to local foodshelves, children’s birthdays may be overlooked in the struggle to put basics on the table. Now, thanks to Health Occupations students at the Hubert H. Humphrey Job Corps Center, 100 children’s birthdays will be a little brighter. The students started by decorating brown bags with colorful characters. Then they put into each bag a cake mix, candles, a can of frosting, a little tube of frosting for writing on the cake, forks, plates, napkins and a toy. Students covered the cost of the bags by collecting donations from HHH staff members. Continue Reading

ACORN organizes new chapter in Saint Paul’s North End

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Fed up with theft and vandalism, gangs and graffiti, and foreclosed homes in their neighborhood, a group of North End residents came together on Tuesday, November 11, to organize North End Neighbors United as a chapter of Minnesota ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now). One by one, residents asked for a plan of action as they told of conditions on their block including the broken windows and the theft of copper pipe from the vacant homes. Cammie Clark, community organizer for ACORN, asked Ward 5 City Councilmember Lee Helgen, “Would you be willing to investigate the status of a list of vacant homes?” Helgen said, “My goal is to work with the process.”
Clark said the newest chapter is part of ACORN’s efforts to have a presence in neighborhoods. She began knocking on doors in August. ACORN will work with the District 6 Planning Council. Continue Reading