D

Volume 32, No. 5

June 2019

daytonsbluffdistrictforum.org

“The Voice of the Community”

Dayton’s BluffCommunity Council804 Margaret StreetSt. Paul, MN 55106

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PAIDTWIN CITIES MNPERMIT NO. 3996

Jennifer Gascoigne

Two Minneapolis & Saint Paul Home Tour visitors stopping by 735 Margaret Street, a Queen Anne style Victorian structure historically known as the Charles Grew House, to see the property in the early stages of renovation. This grand home features original 1890swoodwork, an ornately tiled fireplace (in excellent condition!) and lots of space. This Dayton's Bluff home was spared the wrecking ball and became a renovation collaborationbetween Dayton's Bluff, Ramsey County, and the City of Saint Paul. Work began in August 2018, and is expected to be completed in September 2019.

Don't miss the10th Annual Artin the Hollow!

Karin DuPaulForum Staff

The 10th annual Art in the Hollow iscoming to Swede Hollow Park on Satur-day, June 1, 2019! Join your neighborsfor a day of visual arts, sculpture, andmusical performance. Art in the Hollowwill begin at 10:00 a.m. with a Mariachiband at the Drewry entrance. Arrive ear-ly to be a part of the procession throughthe tunnel that leads into the festival.There will be food trucks at the intersec-tion of Drewry Lane and BeaumontStreet. Parking is available on the streetsand at Hope Community Academy at 720Payne Avenue in the parking lot.

There will be dozens of artists set upalong the walking path that wraps aroundthe park. There will be music and enter-tainment all day on the Swede Hollow

Stage, and the chance to talk with histori-ans about the origins and history ofSwede Hollow immigrant communitiesthrough out the years.

The TAP, a local social organization,and its literary club, Urban Journal, willbe on hand, hosting an all-day spoken-word performance with open stage timein the south tunnel (the East 7th StreetImprovement Arches) entrance at 7th

Street and Payne Avenue. The event isfamily, children, and pet-friendly.

Visit artinthehollow.org or Facebookfor more information about the four parkentrances and parking areas locatedaround the Hollow. Hope to see youdown in the Hollow June 1!

Also on June 1, Indigenous Roots Cul-tural Center hosts the grand reopeningevent of Hamm Park at Greenbrier andEast 7th Street starting at 9:30 a.m. whichwill include taking visitors on a walkdown the stairway into Swede HollowPark to the Art in the Hollow arts festi-val. Hamm Park has been under recon-struction for a number of months.

Karin DuPaul can be reached at day-tonsbluffdistrictforum@gmail.com.

Steve Trimble

Saturday, April 20, was an egg-stra special day on the Bluff. Mounds Park United Methodist Church invited the community to take part in their annual Easter Egg Hunt, held each year at Indian Mounds Park. The big bunny himself was on-hand (on paw?) to give hugs and spread springtime cheer to Dayton's Bluff.

Friends of SwedeHollow Photo Contest:Photographers wanted!

Karin DuPaulForum Staff

Friends of Swede Hollow is hostinga Spring Swede Hollow Photo Con-test. Photos must be taken in SwedeHollow Park between March 21 andJune 20, 2019. Email your photos

in .jpg format to karindupaul@com-cast.net by or before June 23, 2019.

Please put “FOSH Spring PhotoContest” in the subject line, yourcontact information within the bodyof the email, and if you’d like, the ti-tle of your image. Prizes are firstplace - $75, second place - $50, andthird place - $25. Judging will bedone by the East Side Arts Council.

Karin DuPaul can be reached atdaytonsbluffdistrictforum@gmail.-com.

Karin DuPaul

Visitors taking in a previous year's Art in the Hollow, processing through the Drewry Tunnel into picturesque Swede Hollow Park.

Page 2 Dayton’s Bluff District Forum June 2019

Dayton’s Bluff Take-a-Hike

On the second Saturday of mostmonths, the Dayton’s Bluff Take-a-Hikewill begin at Indian Mounds Park, atEarl Street and Mounds Boulevard, at10:30 a.m. The next hike will be onSaturday, June 8. The hike is approxi-mately one and a half to two hours longand will end at Swede Hollow Park orEast Side Heritage Park, depending onthe desire of the hikers. Share and learna little history along the way! Emailkarindupaul@comcast.net or call 651-776-0550 for more information.

Friends of Swede Hollow

Watch over, restore, and celebrate thehistory of Swede Hollow Park. Join theSwede Hollow community at theirmonthly meeting on Thursday, June 6,at 6:30 p.m. Email karindupaul@com-cast.net or call 651-776-0550 for moreinformation and the meeting’s location.

Dayton's Bluff DistrictForum Board Meeting

The Forum is seeking writers andhelp with online content, idea genera-tion, and ad sales – join us at our nextmeeting on Friday, June 7, at 1:00p.m., at Swede Hollow Cafe at 725 E.7th Street. Call 651-776-0550 or emaildaytonsbluffdistrictforum@gmail.comfor more information.

Police Community Meetings

The Eastern District Saint Paul Policewill host their monthly meetings forcommunity members at the Eastern Dis-trict Police Office at 722 Payne Avenue,on the corner of Payne and Minnehaha.

The next meetings are on Wednes-day, June 19, at 9:30 a.m. and 6:30p.m. Meetings are intended to be a timeto listen to and address concerns aboutcrime and other issues on the East Side.

SNAP Food Program atCLUES (Comunidades

Latinas Unidas En Servicio)

¿Necesita más comida saludable parala familia? El programa SNAP le puedeayudar. SNAP proporciona fondos paraalimentos que benefician a familias deescasos recursos.

Aún si no es ciudadano, si tiene hijosnacidos en este país ellos podrían cali-ficar. Participar en el programa SNAPno afectará su estatus migratorio.

¡Llame a CLUES para saber si califi-ca! 612-746-3500. Nuestro personal bil-ingüe puede facilitar el proceso parausted y su familia.

Need healthy food for your family?The SNAP program provides funds forlow-income families to buy food. Evenif you are not a citizen, your childrenborn in this country could qualify. Par-ticipation in the SNAP program won'taffect their immigration status.

Call CLUES to find out if you qualifyat 612-746-3500. Our bilingual staff canfacilitate the process for your family.

Twin Cities Mobile Market

The Twin Cities Mobile Market is agrocery store on wheels that brings af-fordable, healthy food directly intoneighborhoods. The Mobile Marketstops at Parkway Gardens Apartments,located at 1145 Hudson Road, onWednesdays, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00p.m.

May 31 - June 2: 2 Defy Gravitypresents Circus Splendor. Circus Splen-dor is a performance combining the artof contemporary circus with other artforms to push the boundaries of circustoday. This all ages cabaret-style showwill feature innovative and excitingpieces choreographed and performed bylocal circus artists. Join us and be in-spired by the strength and power ofthese amazing performers! Show times:Friday, May 31 and Saturday, June 1 at7:30 p.m.; Sunday, June 2 at 2:00 p.m.Tickets: Presale - $25 adults/$15 kids 12and under; At the door - $30 adults/$20kids 12 and under.

Saturday, June 8: Midwest All-StarWrestling returns to the Mounds Theaterfor MAW Live Season Finale: You Can'tTake It With You. Rylie Jackson and TheReal McCoy JDX will be in action atthe Season 2 Finale! The Prospect Cupwill be decided as all six competitorscompete for points and the InauguralMAW Prospect Cup featuring The Sys-tem, BJ Seestrom. The Maverick., PaulVirk, Damon Spriggle, Levy Cruise, andJerry Uhlricher. Eliminations may be bypinfall, submission, or point elimina-tion! The MAW Title Match will be onthe line in a Ladder Match! (Card andtalent subject to change.) And as always,Heel Turn Radio will be calling all theaction LIVE from the Haunted Balcony.Doors open at 6:00 p.m. and the showkicks off at 7:00 p.m. Tickets: Generaladmission (in advance): $9 adults, $7kids; General admission (at the door):$12 adults, $8 kids; VIP ringside seating(in advance): $15 adults, $10 kids. VIPpreferred seating (at the door): $15adults, $10 kids.

June 14 - 22: Desperate For Approvalpresents: Facility Six, a comedy byMarino and Elizabeth Eccher. The lab ison lockdown. The military has takenover. The exes won't stop bickering.And somewhere in the facility, some-thing is waiting. Join Desperate for Ap-proval for a new sci-fi mystery comedywhere otherworldly forces collide withthe human condition. All shows start at7:30 p.m. Tickets: $15.

Visit moundstheatre.org for more in-formation on upcoming events. TheHistoric Mounds Theatre is located at1029 Hudson Road, St. Paul, MN55106; 651-772-2253; historicmound-stheatre@gmail.com.

June at the Dayton'sBluff Library

The following events take place at theDayton’s Bluff library, 645 East SeventhStreet, Saint Paul.

Tuesday, June 11, from 6:30 p.m. to8:30 p.m., Teens Know Best! Teenshave exclusive access to books beforethey are published.

This group meets on the second Tues-day of every month to share opinionsand pizza. Teens Know Best memberswrite reviews of the books they read.The reviews are submitted to the pub-lishers to help guide their decisions.

Summer Spark kicks off on Wednes-days in June. Beginning June 12,Wednesdays throughout the summerwill feature performances and other funactivities for kids from 3:00-4:00 p.m.

Don't miss Mrs. Marvel's SandboxCircus of family fun presented by OpenEye Theatre on Wednesday, June 25,from 5:30-8:00 p.m.

Did you know that you can check outboard games at the library? Library visi-tors can play the games in the library orcheck them out for two weeks. The fulllist of games can be viewed athttp://bit.ly/MetroGames and all areavailable to the public.

For information about these and otherevents check sppl.org or call 651-793-1699. The Dayton's Bluff Library sharesits home with Metropolitan State Uni-versity at 645 East 7th Street.

Wish List Care Packages

Help East Side Elders distribute food,hygiene items, and more to seniors on theEast Side by shopping their Amazon WishList!

Visit www.amazon.com/registry/wish-list/3KK0O1OGFO5NJ. You can havethese much-needed items sent right totheir office. From there, a team of vol-unteers will distribute them to seniors inneed.

With the help of supporters like you,East Side Elders is able to supply gro-ceries and personal care items to seniorsin the community, at no charge to them.These items help stretch their monthlybudgets and give them access to healthyfood and much-needed personal careproducts. Donations can also be droppedoff at our office: East Side Elders, 463Maria Avenue Suite 201, St. Paul, MN55106. A printable wish list can also befound on our website.

Grocery Shopping

Did you know that East Side Elderscan help you and your loved one withgrocery shopping?

Let East Side Elders take a chore offyour long to-do list! To get help withgrocery shopping, call 651-683-2326 oremail Info@EastSideElders.org with adetailed list. From there, East Side El-ders staff put a call out to their groceryshopping team and schedule a day andtime that works for you and the volun-teer for delivery.

Grocery shopping is a donation-basedservice. Donate what you can for theconvenience of not having to head outto the store. Reimbursement for the gro-ceries can be done directly with the vol-unteer - they will bring you a receiptwhen they make their delivery.

Business Classes

The Dayton’s Bluff NeighborhoodMicroentrepreneur class helps start-upand young businesses on the East Side.All East Side entrepreneurs are wel-come. Class training lasts 12 weeks andincludes topics such as operations man-agement, marketing, financial manage-ment, one-on-one assistance withcreating a successful business, and de-veloping a business plan, plus eight

hours of one-on-one assistance with cre-ating and preparing a business plan.

Those who successfully complete thecourse are eligible for ongoing businesssupport services (they don’t have to lo-cate their business in target neighbor-hoods to be eligible).

The course is sponsored by the Day-ton’s Bluff Community Council and theNeighborhood Development Center.There is a small registration fee basedon a sliding scale. Class size is limited,so sign up now. Please call the trainingdepartment at 651-379-8113.

Free Help for East Side Pets

The Animal Humane Society’s Com-munity Outreach program offers specialclinics for pets on the East Side. Theevents provide free wellness exams,vaccines, nail trims, spay/neuter ap-pointment scheduling, guidance fromthe AHS behavior team and St. Paul An-imal Control, free pet food, and more.

For information on upcoming eventsand locations call 651-788-4685 or visithttp://animalhumanesociety.org/out-reach-services-frogtown-and-east-st-paul.

Vacation Bible School atMounds Park United

Methodist Church

Join Mounds Park UMC for a weekof Vacation Bible School from June 30through July 3. Hours: Sunday, June30, from 3:00-6:00 p.m., Monday-Tues-day, July 1-2, from 9:00 a.m. to noon,and Wednesday, July 3, from 9:00 a.m.to 3:00 p.m.

Lunch will be provided to all familieson July 3, to celebrate the last day ofVacation Bible School!

This year, VBS features the theme ofRoar: Life is Wild, God is Good, taughtby a large group of teachers and highschool volunteer teachers.

Contact the church office at 651-774-8736 to pick up a registration packet orvisit moundsparkumc.org. All childrenmust have the approval of a parent orguardian and a completed health form toparticiapte.

Monthly Grocery Giveaway

Join Mounds Park United MethodistChurch, located at 1049 Euclid Street,from 10:00 a.m. - noon on Saturday,June 22, to receive free groceries.Monthly grocery giveaways are hostedby Dayton's Bluff Community Servicesin partnership with Mounds Park UnitedMethodist Church. Come at 9:30 a.m.for coffee.

Annual Community Picnic

Join Mounds Park United MethodistChurch on Wednesday, June 12, from6:00-8:00 p.m., at Indian Mounds Re-gional Park's large shelter (by the play-ground at Earl Street and MoundsBoulevard). There will be plenty offood, live music, and a treasure hunt.Family friendly and free to the public.Bring lawn chairs and blankets to enjoythe music while you relax.

Brought to you by Urban CROSS, inpartnership with Dayton's Bluff Com-munity Services and Mounds Park Unit-ed Methodist Church.

June 2019 Dayton’s Bluff District Forum Page 3

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50+ YEARS AS A PRO PHOTOGRAPHER

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Mañana Restaurant y Pupuseria

Most authentic Salvadorian and Mexican FoodCatering and lunch meeting space available

798 East 7th Street

(651) 793-8482On facebook: mananarestaurant

Page 4 Dayton’s Bluff District Forum June 2019

Dayton’s Bluff District Forum

804 Margaret Street, St. Paul, MN 55106Phone: 651-776-0550 E-mail: daytonsbluffdistrictforum@gmail.com

Monthly circulation: 7,000; also available online at daytonsbluffdistrictforum.org.This publication of Hopewell Communications, Inc., a nonprofit organization, isintended to provide a forum for the ideas and opinions of its readers and to be aninstrument for developing community awareness and pride. Signed articles do notnecessarily represent the views of the Forum. Material from this paper may be re-published if it is attributed to the Dayton's Bluff District Forum and to the author,if any. Articles and letters to the editor are welcome and may be emailed to day-tonsbluffdistrictforum@gmail.com, or mailed to the address above. The Dayton'sBluff District Forum is delivered to every home and business in the Dayton's Bluffneighborhood. Outside this area, subscriptions cost $15 per year and may be ar-ranged by calling 651-776-0550.

Board of Directors: Greg Cosimini, Nick Duncan, Karin DuPaul, Sage Holben, Steve Trimble

Editor/layout: Jennifer Gascoigne; Associate Editor: Mark Gallagher

Photographer: Lou “The Photo Guy” Michaels

Next issue: July 2019. Deadline for material: June 10, 2019.

Contest: Where in Dayton's Bluff?

Send your guess to daytonsbluffdistrictforum@gmail.com withthe location of the neighborhood curiosity pictured below. Thereader who submits the first correct entry will be notified and thewinner will be announced in the July edition of the Forum.

Urban CROSS 2019

Eric BuckMounds Park United Methodist Church

Urban CROSS is a week of servingthe Dayton's Bluff community and sur-rounding area, and is hosted by Day-ton's Bluff Community Services andMounds Park United MethodistChurch. Each year we serve householdsand non-profit organizations. Projectsinclude the likes of simple construction,yard work and landscaping, indoor andoutdoor painting, cleaning, and orga-nizing.

There are many ways you can help ushelp our community. We are lookingfor homeowners and non-profits toserve. We are looking for individualsand groups who would like to workalong side us with these projects. Weare looking for individuals and groupswho would like to help with the hospi-tality of our “campers.” We are alsolooking for donations of tools and sup-plies, as well as food for our staff.

This year's Urban CROSS is the weekof June 9-15. We'd love to have you bea part of it. Please contact Eric Buck,Director of Urban CROSS, at(651)774-8736.

Critic's Corner: A dash of culture comes

to Dayton's Bluff

Mozart's opera “Cosi Fan Tutte” at theMounds Theatre

Amerigo VespucciForum opera critic

Full disclosure: Yes, I am Italian andtherefore expected to be an aficionado ofopera, but truth be told, I am not. Iwould normally rather eat lasagna madewith Velveeta and cottage cheese(which, for you philistines out there, is abad thing) than attend an opera. I takegreat pride in the fact that in my 68years I have never gone to a live operaor watched more than a few minutes ofone on PBS. I am familiar with someopera due to my father's inexplicablefondness for it and my own fondness forold Warner Bros. cartoons.

Be that as it may, I took it upon myselfto make the arduous three-block trek tothe Historic Mounds Theatre to see CosiFan Tutte, an opera written in 1790 withmusic by none other than WolfgangAmadeus Mozart himself, and librettoby Lorenzo da Ponte.

While music is universal, Italian isnot. Fortunately, this production wastranslated into English and the settingwas modernized to the present time.Cosi, as its fans call it, is considered acomedy and, unlike a Shakespeareancomedy, is actually funny, often border-ing on slapstick. Parts of the story

seemed familiar because other writershave been “borrowing” from it for over200 years.

Cosi was presented by Skylark OperaTheater whose raison d'etre is to bringopera to nontraditional venues in an inti-mate setting at fairly reasonable ticketprices. The Mounds Theatre provided aperfect venue. It has excellent acousticsrequiring no electronic amplification foreither the outstanding singers or the sin-gle grand piano that provided the music.

A thrust stage was built out from themain stage with diagonal rows of seatson either side, giving everyone in the au-dience an excellent view. The set wassimplicity itself, consisting of chairs andtables and the grand piano. Many over-turned chairs of various styles werestrewn about the stages, obviously repre-senting the unconventional and tradition-breaking presentation of this version ofCosi.

Cosi played to full houses at each per-formance with extra seats added as need-ed. The audiences definitely weren'tyour typical stuffed-shirt opera types.There were no tuxedos or eveninggowns in evidence but more than oneflannel shirt was spotted. Everyone en-joyed the show, the likes of which hasn'tbeen seen at the Mound Theatre sinceNelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonaldoperettas were shown there on the silverscreen in the 1930s and 1940s.

Even this hardened critic has to admitthat he was thoroughly entertained byCosi. He can only say “Bravissimo” andhope Skylark will bring another opera toDayton's Bluff in the future.

Photo courtesy of Skylark Opera

The ladies of Mozart's opera “Cosi Fan Tutte” at the Mounds Theatre.

June 2019 Dayton’s Bluff District Forum Page 5

See Jane Run — Again!Mark GallagherAssociate Editor

Jane Prince is campaigning as an incumbent for a seaton the St. Paul city council, representing Ward 7. Janefirst ran for city council to represent that ward in 2015and was elected November 3 of that year, partly becauseof her strong work ethic and her passionate voice for thepart of the city she was hoping to represent.

When Prince graduated from high school, she didn’texactly know what she wanted to do with her life. “Mydad was a lawyer,” she said. “His father was also alawyer and they had a small firm in Brockton, Massachu-setts. I had this expectation, I think, that when you growup you get involved in your community.

My parents were on all kinds of boards. My motherwas a girl-scout leader and a volunteer at the hospital.My dad was a trustee at the hospital and was involved asan executive with the Boy Scouts. Then my dad becamethe court administrator, which was an elected positioncalled clerk of courts in our county, Plymouth County,which my mother always said was the first county In theUnited States.

“And so, being around public service and communityservice really shaped who I am. I just always have en-joyed it and I figured I would go into some kind of publicservice, but I wasn’t sure what. Also, I used to do a lot ofart, and that was a big part of my life. I did a little draw-ing, and it was just a hobby and a pastime, plus I brieflywas an illustrator.”

In 1975, Prince received a B.A. in English, Russian,and art from the University of New Hampshire. She hasexperience in communication and community relationsand was the Association director of development at St.Paul Academy from 1989 to 1996. From 1997 to 2007,Prince worked as a Legislative aide for the St. Paul CityCouncil and from 1998 to 2007, was a Legislative aidefor the City of St. Paul. She also earned a J.D. fromHamline University in 2007.

One of Jane Prince’s goals when she ran for St. PaulCity Council in 2015 was to focus on the kids in Ward 7.In 2008 during the recession, the city had to cut back itsprograms and facilities. The city closed three recreationcenters in Ward 7, and Ward 7 is one of the most multi-cultural wards in the city. “We have lots of new immi-grants such as: Karen, Latino, and East African,” Princesaid, “and we have large concentrations of poverty. Also,it goes with poverty that there are a large number of fam-ilies without a car, and so a lot of those families are rely-ing on neighborhood recreation centers for their childrento have a place to go and connect with caring adults.”

Prince feels like she succeeded because two of the threerecreation centers reopened, but she is now, in her reelec-tion bid, concerned with getting some vacant sites inWard 7 developed into affordable housing, “We havesome really good, promising development sites in ourward,” Prince said, “and I want to work with our commu-nity to get developers to come here.

“Then the big opportunity, although it’s not in my wardbut is super important to the East Side, is the redevelop-ment of the Hillcrest Golf Course, which is a site the sizeof the Ford site in Highland Park. It’s actually, I wouldargue, an even better site because it’s a lot cleaner and ithas grass. I think there are some pollution issues at thesite but not like there would be from heavy industry.

“Although the Ford site has been cleaned up now, theHillcrest site would take a lot less clean up; it’s a beauti-ful site with some of the highest elevations in the city.You can see both Minneapolis and St. Paul skylines fromup there. I think we have a great opportunity to build awhole new com-munity there, andit has 120 acres.”

The thingPrince lovesabout local poli-tics is if you getthe right people ina room, goodideas bubble upfrom the commu-nity: You cancome together,work on ideas,and make thingshappen. Over theyears that she hasworked in citygovernment andthen as a lawyer,she has found thatif the ordinances,or the city law iskeeping a personfrom being able tomove forward on something, it takes a majority of thecouncil to change a law. Anything that you want to getdone at the city level, you can have an impact.

“It’s easier to have an impact at the local levels than itis at higher levels of government,” Prince said. “I alsolike working to come to an agreement if there is conflictover an issue, and I just love it that at the local level, youcan put people in a room and you can work it out. Youcan make compromises to see if there are opportunitiesfor some give and take. I love that politics brings peopleinto the equation and you can work stuff out as a commu-nity — to be the community that you want to be.”

There is one issue that Prince would like to see priori-tized in Ward 7, and that is to redevelop the vacant sitesin the area. “We need to get these sites developed to re-flect what the community would like to see,” she said. “Ithink the other thing I feel strongly about is we are themost multicultural part of town. If you look at the historyof Swede Hollow, this was the place where the immi-grants established themselves and became successful —then moved on from here.

“I still see the East Side as being the place where immi-grants come and is more affordable to live, and I like tosay that you can get more house for the money here. So

we are a place where people can come and start theirlives. We have an opportunity to lift up our whole com-munity together, and to serve the people who are here tocreate good jobs in our community.”

Vomela Cos. is an established business consolidating itsfour Twin Cities locations in the Beacon Bluff BusinessCenter at Minnehaha Avenue East and Arcade Street. It isa national company with 22 locations in the UnitedStates. The 300,000 square foot headquarters will have252,000 square feet of production space and 47,500square feet of office space.

They will be bring the 300 current Minnesota employ-ees to work under one roof, and Vomela will be hir-ing 50 to 100 people over the next several years. It’sa Port Authority project, and that’s the goal, so 70percent of their new hires must come from this area.Construction of the building was started on Septem-ber 17, 2018, and is expected to be completed byJuly 2019.

“Baldinger Bakery just did an expansion,” Princesaid, “and hired many people from the community. Ithink we have an opportunity to serve the incrediblediversity of people who live here and help them besuccessful right in our neighborhood. The last thingI want to have happen is a displacement of this greatneighborhood. I think the Port Authority said the de-velopment in our area is the largest industrial devel-opment they have done since the 1960s.

Another issue Prince is focusing on in greater St.Paul is growing the tax base. “I think we have togrow our tax base,” Prince said, “because I feel likeSt. Paul is becoming an expensive place for peopleto live who are on fixed incomes. I voted for the taxincreases, but I think we need to grow our tax baseso that much of the tax burden doesn’t fall on resi-dential properties. We really need to grow our com-mercial and industrial tax base.

“So that’s one thing, and I really appreciate that theMayor is putting time and attention into fighting poverty.I think St. Paul is one of the last areas, and I can’t re-member what study it was, where we are still seeing anincrease in poverty tax in our city. I think we need to bereally intentional about addressing that, and obviouslywe need to stabilize people’s housing, so getting thathousing developed and creating affordable housing forlow-wage workers is really a priorty.”

“I have enjoyed being on the city council,” Prince said,“because I love that I have a job where I can quite oftenmeet with people in coffee shops. What a great job. Imean, I get to start my work week having office hours atthe Swede Hollow Café.”

Jane Prince lives in Dayton’s Bluff in the Mounds Parkneighborhood. “I enjoy my incredibly diverse neighbors,and I love our great restaurants like Manana, the newAfro Deli and Grill, and Yarusso’s” she said. “I mean, it’ssuch a special place; I wouldn’t want to live anywhereelse.”

Mark Gallagher is associate editor of the Dayton’sBluff Forum and a graduate of Metropolitan State Uni-versity. Mark can be reached at refineEditorial@gmail.-com.

St. Paul Art Crawl on the East Side

Elizabeth WakefieldForum Staff

If you thought that the 2019 Spring St. Paul Art Crawlbrought new visitors to the East Side, you may be right.This year there were multiple new locations as well as afew old favorites that popped up in the neighborhood.Previous locations like Indigenous Roots, the St. PaulBrewery (formerly known as the Flat Earth Brewery), andGeiger Studios renewed their spaces as locations forartists to display and sell their work east of downtown.There were also several new locations along Payne Av-enue to continue the experience.

What looks like sudden growth of interest in the area,has actually been a long time coming. Brenda Brousseauof the St. Paul Arts Collective, the non-profit organizationresponsible for sponsoring and running the Art Crawl,says that the East Side has had a presence in the ArtCrawl since Josephine Geiger started participating 12years ago.

Geiger is not only an artist; she volunteers for the crawland has played an integral part in making sure that thearea stayed on the map and wasn’t underrepresented thisyear. Geiger came to a meeting with the East Side ArtistSalon to seek artists and ideas for locations in the areathat might want to serve as spaces for exhibition. There,Geiger met Benjamin Mason who would end up assistingthe St. Paul Brewery with running their location this year.

Mason says that the “St. Paul Brewery was very eagerto participate and create a good environment for art and

community members to answer questions and address con-cerns.” He also states that it was important that not only didthey increase the crowds on the East Side, but that they ac-tually gave people locations to crawl to. “The Payne Av-enue locations gave visitors destinations” he added.

Along Payne Avenue there were three newly identifiedspots on the crawl map as well as 33 installations within theold East Side Financial Services Building. Crawlingthrough those installations was like being fully immersed inideas, art, and concepts. The location was a secondaryspace for Second Shift Studios, who also had showings intheir location down the street. Second Shift Studio Space isdescribed as “An artist-led effort to provide better resourcesto working artists and build communities of arts apprecia-tors.” Second Shift is the brainchild of and is operated byChris Larson, a faculty member of the University of Minne-sota Art Department. Larson’s ties to the East Side go backfour generations. He remembers growing up here with af-fection and returned after having moved away for 27 years.He says that he has always loved the people and how it’s anaffordable place to start a business.

What may be considered unique about Larson’s spacesand John Oulman’s Gallery is that these places didn’t haveprice tags. This actually played a part in attracting certainartists who were interested in having people come to a des-tination to have an experience. Brousseau commented thatthis created an overall “rounded art experience on the EastSide.”

John Oulman’s space was particularly known for his peepshow, where one could peer with a limited view into a roomand get a glimpse of what was happening on the other sideof the wall.

Art @ 967 Payne Avenue was right next door to the oldbank and was held in a former furniture store. The spacewas grand and had a very open floor plan. It exhibited aneclectic but very well curated group of artists. The focuswas that most of the artists were from the area. This spacewas organized by Stephan Kistler, a photographer whofell smitten with the area after an unexpected visit. He isin now one of the coordinators for a project called thePayne Avenue Reboot dedicated to revitalizing the area.When asked why there should be art on the East Side,Kistler stated that it is “one of the most diverse areas inSt. Paul” and while other areas may be well established,there are a variety of people looking to create and discusstheir work here.” He continues, “if we can create moreopportunities for artists to come here and add studioshere, it can add to the vibrancy of the area.”

Currently, the Second Shift Studio Space and the JohnOulman Gallery maintain permanent residence in thearea. Dimitri Hatzigeorgio, a local commercial propertyowner who is also an active member of the East Side De-velopment Corporation, and Kistler, are now activelyworking towards converting the Art @ 967 Payne venueinto a mixed-use studio, co-working, teaching, and spe-cial events space for artists, creators, entrepreneurs, andnon-profit organizations.

One of the common sentiments heard at all East Sidevenues was, “I’ve never been to this side of town before.”This kind of attention and attraction will hopefully con-tinue to grow curiosity for people outside of our neigh-borhood and perhaps bring more people here to explore.

Elizabeth Wakefield can be reached daytonsbluffdis-trictforum@gmail.com.

Photo courtesy of Facebook/Jane Prince forWard 7

Page 6 Dayton’s Bluff District Forum June 2019

View from my porch:Shut my mind

Sage HolbenForum Staff

“I’m not sure what is going on. Sean isfailing in my class...I am not going tohelp him at all unless his behavior turnsaround, his grades improve...I’m not go-ing to hold his hand. It’s time for him tostart acting like a young man.” “Haveyou told him that face to face, one onone?” “Nope.”

This was a typical email conversation Ihad with the Battle Creek Middle Schoolteacher of a young friend of mine. It isjust part of the frustrations of severalmonths of watching the child beingyanked back and forth by Mr. ‘H’ whoheld the power to allow Sean to go onthe annual 8th grade Washington D.C.trip... or not. Apparently the school holdslittle or no oversight on this teacher’smanagement of the big outing. I won’tgo into mismanagement of registrationfee; nor the lack of response from JoeGothard, SPPS Superintendent, nor thetepid and ambiguous response of theBCMS principal.

SPPS web site states: “St. Paul PublicSchools is committed to providing a suc-cessful middle school model that sup-ports students during a key transitiontime in their lives. We believe that ouryoung adolescents deserve a middleschool experience that is developmental-ly responsive, challenging, empoweringand equitable.”

There are people who say I am expect-ing too much of the schools; that theyare overwhelmed/overworked/under-funded. I get it. My son’s girlfriendteaches middle school and struggles withthe tensions of budget, cooperation,time, etc. What I am going to say herewill sound so simple, some will considerme quite naive. I am going to speak ofone child, a 14-year old black male.Some may say, after reading that he is ananomaly. I can guarantee he is not. As asingle parent of two sons, a former fostermom of many teens in crisis, and a pastcrisis worker with victims of childabuse, domestic violence, and with run-away teens, I can guarantee that behindmany doors in Dayton’s Bluff andthroughout St. Paul, the number of chil-dren like Sean live and struggle silentlyamong us.

Over time, Sean has expressed his con-cern about safety – feeling safe at Con-way rec center but not at Dayton’s Bluffrec center (his exact words were, “Sage,I’m 14 and I don’t want to die.” He wasconcerned about the fighting and ‘thugs’who hang out at or near the DB rec cen-ter. He likes Conway because staff treatkids with respect [as opposed to DB];free snacks/food are made available atConway. Yet Conway is not within walk-ing distance of my neighborhood.

A week ago, he and I sat in my car ashe delayed going into school, and hebrought up death and dying. Anotherschool shooting had occurred and he saidhe didn’t want to die a violent death, un-less he died saving someone else. Hetalked of what he believed heaven wouldbe; we talked about bullies and personal,emotional strength. He had been facingheavy family situations – not gettingsleep because of family chaos; he hasbeen shouldering self-imposed responsi-bility in meeting rent expenses. He hasbeen missing school because he knew hewould just fall asleep in class.

The stress he was carrying was rein-forced to me in our ‘car conversations’when he talked of other students taunting

him about his clothes; he expressed pow-erlessness and being overwhelmed by at-titudes of his teachers and school staff.He sounded so alienated from his schoolcommunity. It had long been evident thatschool was a stressor and weighed onhim. Twice on our drives to school he re-quested that I drive slower... “to make it[the drive] last.” I took a longer route,but reaching the school was inevitableno matter how slowly I drove.

I had come to realize that my car, withthe heater turned on high to warm him,and the radio off (he understood that Inever had the radio on with a passenger)had become a safe place, a quiet place, arefuge. He sheds the hypervigilance hedisplays in the neighborhood; his bodyvisibly relaxes as he leans back in thepassenger seat. In the car, his conversa-tion extends beyond immediate needs offood, sleep, or clean laundry.

The morning he brought up death anddying, I suggested that living often takescourage; I reminded him of his innerstrength; that he has shown in his livingskills how wise he is - in ways his teach-ers don’t understand. He responded,“I’ve been through this before [unstableliving situation]. He continued, as ifpicking up a story running thought hishead...my father stayed two years. Withall the kids, my mom could have walkedaway; she didn’t... she stayed; she didn’thave to, but she did. His mom is strug-gling to make ends meet... and theydon’t. His mom is a good person, a lov-ing mom. Do his teachers make any con-nection between falling asleep in class,understand that stress and school foodaren’t compatible? That taking care ofbabies is sometimes too much for elevenand 14 year olds? That wondering if‘home’ will be there after 3:00 wears ona child’s emotions throughout the day?

Do his teachers know the life of thischild? Would Mr. ‘H’ understand that myfriend is already facing more of whatmakes a man than Mr. ‘H’ could everbe? My thought about the school, SPPS,but specifically Battle Creek, is howdoes the school system effectively silothe ‘experience that is developmentallyresponsive,

challenging, empowering and equi-table’? Are there no effective, on-staffsocial workers? How does no adult inthe school notice that a child attendsschool day after day in below 0 weather,wearing only shirt sleeves? How does ateacher not ask why a child falls asleepin class? Not ask what is going on athome? Not ask, ‘what can I do to help?’Is it fear of being involved? Unfortunate-ly, too many would remind me they can-not touch a child, have to be careful howthey word their questions, etc. I under-stand that. But in so doing, you are let-ting...no...you are encouraging a child todie an emotional, psychological, if notphysical death. Overwhelmed, over-worked, underpaid...the school systemneeds to reconfigure funding, time,goals, effectiveness and capabilities.Where is the outreach between schooland family? Where is the outreach to thestudent?

‘St. Paul Public Schools is committedto providing a successful middle schoolmodel that supports students during akey transition time in their lives.’ It is mybelief that ‘students’ means ALL stu-dents. Am I mistaken? Who is answer-able as this child enters high schoolwhere, in all probability, he will findhimself even more isolated?

I asked the teacher, principal and su-perintendent if they had anything to sayabout the situation of this child and hisschool. They did not respond.

Sage Holben can be reached by email atdaytonsbluffdistrictforum@gmail.com.

Open letter to ourcongressional reps

Andy KurianSpecial to the Forum

I took a micro entrepreneur programin the Dayton's Bluff area. I've movedfrom the area since, but a friend I ad-vocate with at the Capitol writes forthe Dayton's Bluff District Forum. LastNovember, he interviewed me after apolicy making program - that gave mea better understanding of the trajectoryof disability funding. The Trump Ad-

ministration is a threat to everythingthough, from our democratic institu-tions, global stability, and human hab-itability.

Congressional Democrats, as you getready to negotiate the budget and aninfrastructure plan... it’s time wechange the Capitol enterprise. Every-thing from how we organize, to howwe foster innovation in the private sec-tor. “45” said he’s open to a new pub-lic/private arrangement.

@ideaActivist #GreenNewDeal#intelligentLivesMN

You got somethin' to say? Say it here! The Dayton's Bluff District Forum welcomes all opinions and neighborhood

anecdotes – send yours to: daytonsbluffdistrictforum@gmail.com.

Opinions expressed in signed articles appearing on page 6 may not representthe views of the Forum.

Deadline for the July issue of the Forum is June 10, 2019.

World WideHolidays in June

Temperance BrennanForum Contributor

We finally made it through the winterin Minnesota and that is probably rea-son enough to celebrate. Then ofcourse this month in the United Statesfeatures Flag Day and Father’s Day. Asan anthropologist, however, perhaps Ican get you to consider thinking aboutsome of the celebrations in Asia,Africa, Canada, and other parts of theglobe. Here are a few world wide holi-days in June.

June 6: Memorial Day is set asideto honor the Korean soldiers and civil-ians who have given their lives fortheir country. The largest ceremony isheld at the National Cemetery in SeoulSouth Korea.

June 11: Kamehameha Day is apublic holiday in the state of Hawaii inthe United States. It honors Kame-hameha the Great, the monarch whofirst established the Unified Kingdomof Hawaiiʻ comprising the manyHawaiian Islands.

June 18: Constitution Day, alsosometimes referred to as “NationalDay” In Seychelles. The date was cho-sen because it was on this day in 1993

that a referendum passed which madeSeychelles a truly democratic, multi-party democracy.

June 19: José Artigas' BirthdayMemorial in Uruguay. Jose GervasioArtigas Arnal is the national hero ofUruguay and hence is sometimes alsoknown as the father of Uruguayan in-dependence.

June 24: National Holiday of Que-bec (La Fête nationale du Québec) isa holiday in the Canadian province ofQuebec celebrated on St. John theBaptist Day, the patron saint of FrenchCanadians.

June 26: Independence Day is cele-brated in Mozambique. This is theAfrican country's national day and cel-ebrates its independence from Portugalin 1975. It is also known as Dia da In-dependência Nacional.

Temperance Brennan can be reachedat daytonsbluffdistrictforum@gmail.-com.

The flag of Mozambique

June 2019 Dayton’s Bluff District Forum Page 7

Some East Side Historyfrom June Days

Steve TrimbleForum Staff

June 20, 2005: The first Mexicanconsulate in Minnesota opened at 797East Seventh Street in St. Paul on thisday. The establishment of this officewas a sign of increased Latino pres-ence in the state and theEast Side of the city. The Mexicanflag now flies over the 46th consulatein the United States. At the time, 11%of the residents were Hispanic,tripled from 1990. The consulate re-sides inside a remodeled section ofthe CLUES Comunidades LatinasUnidas en Servicio building, a Lati-no social services organization.

Previously, the closest consulatewas in Chicago. It would now be eas-ier to obtain passports, identificationcards, find a notary public, discoverbirth, death, and marriage certifi-cates, get advice on migration, labor,and legal issues, and partake in cul-tural programs.

People can also get a Mexican iden-tification card called a matricula con-sularalta segurida. Rev. EugeneMichel of nearby Sacred HeartCatholic Church which hosts a largeLatino congregation said that theparishioners were “very pleased thatthe consulate is going to be in ourneighborhood. It brings a sense ofpride.” The Pioneer Press agreed thatthe “Mexican consulate enhances thecommunity.” The organization servesMexicans living in Minnesota, NorthDakota, South , and northern Wiscon-sin.

June 21, 1990: Just before dawn onthis day, a small group of teenagersburned a crudely-made cross in thefenced-in front yard of an AfricanAmerican family living on Earl Streetin Dayton’s Bluff. A youth identifiedas RAV in court records was prose-cuted under the Bias-MotivatedCrime Ordinance, which prohibitedthe display of a symbol which oneknows or has reason to know "arous-es anger, alarm, or resentment in oth-ers on the basis of race, color, creed,religion, or gender.”

The juvenile’s defense attorneymoved to dismiss the count on thegrounds that it was too over-broadand violated his client’s First Amend-ment rights. The trial court grantedthe motion, but the MinnesotaSupreme Court later reversed the de-cision, rejecting petitioner's over-breadth claim. The defense appealed,and the United States Supreme Courtheard the case.

On June 22, 1992, the U. S.Supreme Court invalidated the city’sbias-motivated crime ordinance inthe RAV v. City of St. Paul decision.The Court concluded, in part, “Let

there be no mistake about our belief thatburning a cross in someone's front yardis reprehensible. But St. Paul has suffi-cient means at its disposal to preventsuch behavior without adding the FirstAmendment to the fire.” This decision isnow one of the most cited in court cases.

June 23, 1969: Warren Burger tookoffice in the U. S. Supreme Court onthis day. He was born in St. Paul andlived with family in a small house at695 Conway in Dayton’s Bluff. Hegraduated from Van Buren School andJohnson High School. He earned a lawdegree in 1931 from the St. Paul Col-lege of Law, attending night classeswhile working for an insurance compa-ny. He was appointed to the faculty ofhis law school upon graduation.

Burger practiced law until 1953, whenhe was appointed Assistant AttorneyGeneral of the United States. In 1955,he started serving on the U. S. Court ofAppeals for the District of Columbia.President Nixon nominated him forChief Justice of the U. S. SupremeCourt in 1969. On issues involvingcriminal law and procedure, Burger usu-ally took a conservative view, althoughat times he sided with the liberal mem-bers. In his role of Chief Justice, he wasmost concerned with administering andimproving the mechanics of the nation'slegal system.

Burger retired from the Court on Sep-tember 26, 1986, after 17 years of ser-vice, and President Reagan appointedhim Chairman of the Commission onthe Bicentennial of the United StatesConstitution which he directed from1986 to 1992.

June 24, 1929: People were fascinatedwith the development of flight, andcrowds of onlookers often stood on thebluffs overlooking the airport watchingtake-offs. One such group was in IndianMounds Park on this day. Unfortunatelywhat they saw was a Northwest Airlinespassenger/airmail plane from the St.Paul airport on its way to Chicago losepower and crash near the intersection ofMounds Boulevard and today’s WilshireStreet.

The first one out of the aircraft was thesteward who kicked open one of thewindows and crawled out. After assist-ing the seven passengers, he went tohelp pilot Edwin Middagh, but it wastoo late. He was dead or knocked un-conscious upon impact, and as the stew-ard tried to extract him from the wreck-age, the cockpit burst into flames. Allpassengers had injuries and were takento local hospitals. Four local residentswere burned while trying to assist res-cue efforts. Another was slightly injuredwhen the plane’s wing took out the frontporch where he was sitting at the time.

Once the fire was put out, some on-lookers entered the wreckage lookingfor souvenirs. Neighborhood kids soldpieces of the plane to the crowds of peo-ple coming to see the crash.

Steve Trimble can be reached at day-tonsbluffdistrictforum@gmail.com.

East Side Eating –Trimble's Taste Trek

Forum contributor Steve Trimble hasset out to eat at every locally-owned, sit-down restaurant on the East Side. Hehopes to get the word out to Dayton'sBluff about the eating options here onour side of town.

There are more restaurants than thereis room for in the monthly paper, but atleast 59 may now be found online at day-tonsbluffdistrictforum.org: click on“East Side Eating” at the top of thehome page. Steve Trimble can bereached at daytonsbluffdistrictforum@g-mail.com.

Asian Street Food(651) 771-51421400 Arcade StreetSt. Paul, MN 55106Tuesday-Sunday: 11:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.https://www.asfstp.com

A lot of people have been wonderingwhat is happening to the empty buildingthat housed Romolo’s for many years. Fi-nally, after more than a year, a newrestaurant recently opened. So, I had tocheck it out for our readers. I went thereon a Sunday and had lunch. Inside, Ifound a newly renovated site with adozen tables for four and one for six ormore. The decor consists mostly of redand black colors on the walls. The newcarpeting is black as are the new tabletops. Not a lot of decorations on thewalls, but there is a large flat screen tele-vision that was playing when I arrived.

Asian Street Food is a self-proclaimedfusion restaurant and it seems to be true.I saw Chinese, Thai, Korean, Hmong,and Japanese dishes and I may havemissed others. Here is a selection ofsome of the offerings. Soups: Kao Poon,Kimchi Jigae - a classic Korean treat,Pho, including pork belly, beef brisket,tendon, tripe, and meatballs. Some of thesalads are cucumber, laab (minced chick-en or beef), papaya salad, and an interest-ing dish of spicy octopus salad with let-tuce, cucumber, carrots, and herbs.

There are 15 appetizers including beefor chicken skewers, ream cheese puffs,edamame, egg rolls, Kimchi (Koreanpickled vegetables), seaweed salad, takoyaki–deep fried octopus dumplings, andshort ribs grilled with Korean barbecuesauce.

There is a hearty selection of fried riceand noodle dishes including regualr friedrice, pad Thai, udon noodles, and driedpho, which is pho-flavored dried noodlesserved with meatballs topped with beansprouts and peanuts. There are nine en-trees and all are served with steamed rice.Some of them are beef bulgogi grilledwith Korean barbecue sauce, chickenteriyaki, Chinese broccoli stir fry, greencurry, and sour pork ribs - deep fried fer-mented meat with pepper kaffir, limeleaves, and garlic.

Beverages include coconut juice, Cokeproducts, and Thai iced coffee or icedtea. The dessert menu features threekinds of ice cream, tempura cheesecake,and tempura ice cream.

I decided to order Pad Thai with porkalong with a can of Foco coconut juicefrom Thailand. It has tiny chunks of co-conut in the juice. I passed on dessert,but might come back and try one or moreof them.

I had a nice talk with NkaujntxawmXiong, my friendly and able server. Shetold me that the owner, Teng Thao, alsohas two other restaurants. One is inWoodbury and the other in the Uptownarea of Minneapolis. My server lives onthe East Side and is a recent graduate ofJohnson High School. She felt that thefusion food was a good idea because theHmong people have moved throughmany countries and have often adoptedsome of their differing cuisine intoHmong cooking.

There is parking behind the building.When you see it it’s clear that years agothis was a drive-in restaurant. The carsneed to navigate into slots that once hada call-in mechanism and there is acanopy over all the spaces. Any readersremember what it was named even beforeit became Romolo’s?

Steve Trimble can be reached at day-tonsbluffdistrictforum@gmail.com.

Steve Trimble

Asian Street Food, located at 1400 Arcade Street.

Pictured at right is theMay 3 grand opening of Karibu Grocery and Deli, at 719 PayneAvenue.

Mayor Melvin Carter, Senator Foung Hawj, Councilmember Jane Prince, Frank Altman,African Development Center, Dr. Bruce, andDon Lor were on handto assist with the honors.

Photo courtesy of Facebook/KaribuGroceryDeli

Pictured at left is a crowd gathered around the aftermath of a Northwest Airlines plane crash on June 24, 1929. The crash happened at the intersection of Mounds Boulevard and today's Wilshire Street, near Indian Mounds Park.

Photo courtesy of theMinnesota Historical Society.

Page 8 Dayton’s Bluff District Forum June 2019

Many thanks to our 2019 donors:David Baker

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Several readers send us pictures of themselves reading our newspaper on their travels, and around our neighborhood. If you'd like to do the same, please email photos to: daytonsbluffdistrictforum@gmail.com.

Pictured above is Aaron Levine, reading the Forum at Tianzifang in Shanghai. Tianzifang is three blocks of winding alleys of old Shikumen architecture. It has been preserved and is now a collection of touristy shops, studios, restaurants, and even still homes of some local residents. It remains charming.

Stephen Hurley reads the Forum in China, where he teaches for a few weeks at a university each year.