Twin Cities Daily Planet (https://www.tcdailyplanet.net/author/saint-paul-almanac/page/3/)
I was feeling drab one Saturday afternoon in my Midway neighborhood. After a week of nine-to-six computer work in a cubicle and a morning of ticking off the weekly chores, laundry, groceries, scrubbing a few floors, and carting my teen around, what I needed was a pick-me-up. A look at my grubby nails confirmed where I knew I had to go to escape the routine of the dark days of November that were seeping into December and dragging me along. Continue Reading
2014 Saint Paul Almanac photo contributor George Roedler (pages 331 and 394) came to our launch party on September 12 with his camera, and shared the following images with the Almanac. Continue Reading
AZ Gallery‘s annual Winter Carnival Children’s Art show is back! The show features artwork by elementary and middle school students from public and private schools throughout Saint Paul, in celebration of the Saint Paul Winter Carnival. Continue Reading
Above: Web poster for the January 23rd “Nuevo Mestizos” Lowertown Reading Jam with Louis Alemayehu. “We will explore through song, story and spoken word some of the ideas of Gloria Anzuldua as to what it means to live in the border lands of culture, race, sex, class and nationality. There is a visionary identity that connects us to the world, ecologically, spiritually, politically, culturally in a new way… Nuevo Mestizos.” Continue Reading
Newly ordained, I stand in front of a brightly decorated Christmas tree. Next to me is Nhia (Jonah) Xou Yang, former CIA collaborator turned minister. We are in the shared sanctuary of our respective Hmong and American congregations in a church on Saint Paul’s North End. It is Advent 1982. Soon the peacefulness is shattered. A rock band composed of Hmong teenagers arrives, rehearsing as they do each weekday afternoon. The noise drives us from our contemplation. I am glad that the kids are off the streets, however, and out of gang life. But for a moment, time stops as Nhia and I stand lost in thought staring at the tree, this well-known symbol of Western Christendom. Continue Reading
My dad James Melvin Young Sr. became a second generation “Red Cap Porter” when his uncle William A. Young retired circa 1949. Melvin was 23 years old when the Saint Paul Union Depot at 214 Fourth Street in Lowertown was the gateway to the world. Working there was the spark that ignited a love for world travel for my dad. Continue Reading
This is the final piece in the Irrigate project “University Avenue Voices.” Our team met all summer to curate the written pieces (originally published in the Saint Paul Almanac), design, and find the locations along the light rail corridor for the posters and this one big banner. Continue Reading
City of Saint Paul videographer Nick Nelson talked with Saint Paul Almanac publisher Kimberly Nightingale about the release of the 2013 Saint Paul Almanac, a travel guide to Minnesota’s capital city and a collection of community stories. Continue Reading
During the Civil Rights movement, most youth felt that the leadership of their community was inadequate and didn’t speak to their concerns, and therefore they would “take matters into their own hands.” Little did they realize that their methods and tactics were causing more problems than they were solving, that they had the effect of polarizing the community; as a result, there were constant di Continue Reading
My dad, William LaMont Kaufman, was superintendent of Saint Paul Parks for thirty-four years. He dearly loved his job, and because he did, approximately one-third of our childhood was spent in his beloved parks. Como, our favorite, offered so much to children as well as to adults. Continue Reading