D

Volume 32, No. 2

March 2019

daytonsbluffdistrictforum.org

“The Voice of the Community”

2019 Minneapolisand Saint Paul

Home Tour

Karin DuPaulForum Staff

The annual Minneapolis and SaintPaul Home Tour will take place onSaturday, April 27, from 10:00a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sunday,April 28, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00p.m.

Dayton’s Bluff homes on the tourthis year demonstrate a variety of ar-chitecture, age, and style. Includedon this year's tour is 216 Bates Av-enue, which was a popular destina-tion on last year's tour and is in theprocess of being converted into agorgeous private residence.

There will be three houses in a row

on East 4th Street that the ownershave lived in for years and havedone amazing work on them. Day-ton’s Bluff has so many wonderfulhomes that each year we have anumber of them on the tour. Manypeople from all over the Metro areacome to see the Dayton’s Bluffhomes featured each year. Some ofthe visitors like it so well that theyhave moved to the neighborhood.

Volunteers are needed to serve as“neighborhood ambassadors” to helpwith the tour. On Sunday evening af-ter the tour is over, the traditional“After the Home Tour Supper Party”will be held for the families whosehomes are on the tour and all neigh-borhood ambassador volunteers.

For more information on the Min-neapolis and Saint Paul Home Tour,visit www.msphometour.com.

To volunteer, email karindupaul@-comast.net or call 651-776-0550.

Jennifer Gascoigne

A brush with greatness! It can be said that we at the Forum think Dayton's Bluff resident and neighborhood force for good, Sage Holben (pictured at left) is pretty great, but throwin former Minnesota Senator and 42nd Vice President of the United States, Walter Mondale (pictured at right) celebrating his 91st birthday at Swede Hollow Cafe on Friday,January 4, and it's almost too much greatness for one photo. We hope you enjoyed your special day, Mr. Mondale. Thanks for celebrating with our neighborhood.

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

ECRWSSPostal Customer

Don't miss the 7th

Annual CABARET!

Karin DuPaulForum Staff

The 7th Annual CABARET! will beheld on Friday, March 8, at the His-toric Mounds Theatre, located at 1029Hudson Road, from 7:30 p.m. to10:00 p.m. The evening will offer awonderful mix of dancing, singing,music, comedy, and poetry. It is a year-ly celebration of talent with East Sideroots.

The evening will also include a silentauction of original art and other items.CABARET! tickets are just $25 in ad-vance and $30 at the door. Get your

tickets now and get the CABARET! onyour calendar! The theater will comealive with an amazing variety of acts.To buy your tickets online, goto www.moundstheatre.org or contactKarin DuPaul at 651-776-0550. Don’tmiss the fun!

The CABARET! is a fundraiser forthis year’s 10th annual Art in the Hol-low, the art festival in Swede HollowPark (Saturday, June 1, 2019). TheCABARET! and Art in the Hollow areprograms of Friends of Swede Hol-low, a nonprofit organization thatworks on restoring and protecting thepark, celebrating Swede Hollow histo-ry, and hosting events honoring SwedeHollow Park and the neighborhood.

Karin DuPaul can be reached atkarindupaul@comcast.net.

Photo courtesy of Placeography.org

216-218 Bates Avenue, historically known as the Schorenstein Garage, was built in 1884 by prominent East Side architect, Augustus Gauger. Fast-forward to 2018, when Cory and Tia Vandenberghe bought the condemned industrial building and began the impressive undertaking of rehabilitating the historic structure into their new dream home.

Their efforts-in-progress were appreciated by Minneapolis and Saint Paul Home Tour participants who marveled at the work the Vandenberghes had put in to-date.

Every home on the tour has a story, don't miss a single one! Learn more about the couple's progress as they make 216-218 Bates Avenue their home by visiting their website at http://therailingshop.co/

Sorry we missed you...The February edition of the Forum was available online only.

Visit www.daytonsbluffdistrictforum.org to view this and other past issues (allthe way back to the year 2000!)

The Forum depends on readers like you. If you'd like to continue to receivethis newspaper in print, please make a donation! See page 8 for details.

Page 2 Dayton’s Bluff District Forum March 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, March 9. The hike is ap-proximately one and a half to two hourslong and will end at Swede Hollow Parkor East Side Heritage Park, dependingon the desire of the hikers. Share andlearn a little history along the way!Email karindupaul@comcast.net or call651-776-0550 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, March7, at 6:30 p.m. Email karin@swedehol-low.org 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, March 8, 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, March 20, 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 into un-der-resourced neighborhoods. TheMobile Market stops at Parkway Gar-dens Apartments, located at 1145 Hud-son Road, on Wednesdays, from 2:00p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Friday, March 8: The Friends ofSwede Hollow presents the 7th annualCabaret! Celebrity judges, dancers,singers, musicians, comedians, magi-cians and other zany acts. Plus a SilentAuction, VIP Bingo, and free food. Thisis a fundraiser for Art in the Hollow, anart festival in Swede Hollow Park. 7:30-10:00 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at thedoor. To buy tickets online go tomoundstheatre.org.

Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays,March 22-31: Skylark Opera Theatrepresents Cosi Fan Tutte. SkylarkOpera Theatre throws a modern newlight on the story of two guys whothink they can dupe their girlfriendsby switching places. But the womenhave their own power and they aren’tafraid to use it! Mozart’s gorgeousscore is sung in English in this immer-sive production, set in the present day.

This unique performance is present-ed THROUGHOUT the HistoricMounds Theatre. Friday and Satur-day performances at 7:30 p.m., Sun-days at 2:00 p.m. Tickets: $45general, $43 seniors, $40 students andMPR members (phone orders onlywith member ID). Tickets availablefrom ticketworks.com or call (612)343-3390.

Visit moundstheatre.org for informa-tion on upcoming events. The HistoricMounds Theatre is located at 1029Hudson Road, St. Paul, MN 55106;651-772-2253; historicmoundsthe-atre@gmail.com.

March at the Dayton'sBluff Library

The following events will be held atthe Dayton’s Bluff library, 645 EastSeventh Street, Saint Paul:

Saturdays, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00p.m., Maker Space in the FunZONE!Play computer games like Minecraft,and enjoy other hands-on fun in theZone.

Wednesday, March 6, 6:00 p.m. to8:00 p.m., Dayton's Bluff Book Club;join the club in reading a mix of fictionand non-fiction from a diverse collec-tion of authors, many with local set-tings. Discussions focus on socialjustice, anti-racism, and equity. A lightdinner is provided as well as a free copyof the book.

Contact Emily at the Dayton's BluffLibrary or stop in to sign up and receivenext month's book selection.

Tuesday, March 5, from 6:30 p.m.to 8:30 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 opinions

and pizza. Teens Know Best membersare expected to write reviews of thebooks they read. The reviews are sub-mitted directly to the publishers to helpguide their decisions. New members canregister at the meeting.

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. See the full cal-endar of events happening in Februaryat the Dayton's Bluff Library on page 4.

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 toour office. From there, our team of vol-unteers will distribute them to seniors inneed. Help us make a bigger impact andshop our wish list today!

With the help of supporters like you,we are able to supply groceries and per-sonal care items to nine seniors in thecommunity, at no charge to them. Theseitems help stretch their monthly budgetsand give them access to healthy foodand much-needed personal care prod-ucts. For ideas, visit our Amazon WishList. When you purchase from our WishList, the items are sent directly to ouroffice. 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? We want to be part ofyour support team!

Let East Side Elders take a chore offyour long to-do list! To get help withgrocery shopping, simply give us a callat 651-683-2326 or email us at In-fo@EastSideElders.org with a detailedlist. From there, we put a call out to ourgrocery shopping team and schedule aday and time that works for you and thevolunteer for delivery.

As with our other services, groceryshopping is donation-based. You candonate what you can for the conve-nience of not having to head out to thestore. Reimbursement for the groceriescan be done directly with the volunteer -they will bring you a receipt when theymake their delivery.

2019 Swede HollowWinter Photo Contest!

Don't miss the fun! Photos must betaken in Swede Hollow Park betweenDecember 21, 2018, and March 23,2019. We ask that contest participantsallow their photographs be printed andsold as a fundraiser for the Friends ofSwede Hollow during Art in the Hol-low on June 1, 2019.

Submit photographs to karindu-paul@comcast.net in .jpg format. Use“FOSH Winter Photo Contest” in thesubject line and your contact informa-tion along with the name of yourimage(s) within the body of the email.

Submitted photos will be judged bythe East Side Arts Council. First prize is$75, second is $50, and third is $25. Formore information contact karindu-paul@comcast.net or call (651) 776-0550. Visit the Friends of Swede Hol-low at www.friendsofswedehollow.org.

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 eighthours 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 EastSide Pets

The Animal Humane Society’s Com-munity Outreach program has specialclinics for pets on the East Side. Theevents offer free wellness exams, vac-cines, nail trims, spay/neuter appoint-ment scheduling, guidance from theAHS behavior team and St. Paul AnimalControl, 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.

Accepting applicationsfor summer employment

Ramsey County Parks and Recreationis currently hiring lifeguards for the2019 beach and water park season. Posi-tions are available at Battle Creek Wa-terworks water park and the county’sfive guarded swimming beaches. All po-sitions are full-time throughout theaquatics season, which begins Saturday,June 8.

Learn more and apply online athttps://www.ramseycounty.us/content/lifeguard-applications-2019-now-open?

Swimming not your thing? The Pondsat Battle Creek and Goodrich golf cour-ses are currently hiring for the 2019 golfseason. Positions include: Golf shopstaff, bartenders, grill staff, beveragecart attendants, and junior golf volunteerinstructors.

Learn more and apply online atwww.golfbattlecreek.com/apply.

March 2019 Dayton’s Bluff District Forum Page 3

Attention all Dayton’s Bluff residents:

Please plan to attend precinct caucuses!Help choose our city council candidate and school board members.

Sunday, March 10, @ Harding High School 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.

This is a wonderful opportunity to come out and meet yourneighbors to talk about the future of our community.

Paid for by our State Senator Foung Hawj

LOU "THE PHOTO GUY" MICHAELS

“I COVER ALL THE ANGLES”

50+ YEARS AS A PRO PHOTOGRAPHERGREAT RATES CONTACT: (612) 638-8159 CELL

www.louthephotoguy.comlouthephotoguy@gmail.com

Page 4 Dayton’s Bluff District Forum March 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: April 2019. Deadline for material: March 10, 2019.

Contest: Where in Dayton's Bluff?Send your guess to daytonsbluffdistrictforum@gmail.com withthe location of the neighborhood curiosity pictured below for achance to win great prizes from local businesses. The reader whosubmits the first correct entry will be notified and the winner willbe announced in the April edition of the Forum.

Urban CROSS 2019

Eric BuckMounds Park United Methodist Church

Urban CROSS is a week of serving theDayton's Bluff community and surround-ing area, and is hosted by Dayton's BluffCommunity Services and Mounds ParkUnited Methodist Church. Each year weserve households and non-profit organi-zations. Projects include the likes of sim-ple construction, yard work and land-scaping, indoor and outdoor painting,cleaning, and organizing.

There are many ways you can help ushelp our community. We are looking forhomeowners and non-profits to serve. Weare looking for individuals and groupswho would like to work along side uswith these projects. We are looking forindividuals and groups who would like tohelp with the hospitality of our“campers.” We are also looking for dona-tions of tools and supplies, as well asfood for our staff.

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

Did you know?

Nick DuncanForum Staff

Did you know St Paul's largest park– bigger than Como, bigger thanPhalen, bigger than Crosby – is locat-ed right in the shadow of Dayton'sBluff? You're not alone, almost noone is aware that Pig's Eye RegionalPark is really a thing.

The park encompasses over 400acres of land and the 500 acre LittlePig's Eye Lake. It is located south ofWarner Road and west of Highway61. Many people are familiar with thenorthern most section of the parkwhich is near the DNR regional head-quarters and accessible from FishHatchery Road. This part of the parkincludes an archery range and apaved trail connecting Battle CreekPark to the river, but that isonly a small part of the entirepark.

The majority of the park ismuch more secluded and diffi-cult to access. The expansiveCanadian Pacific/Union Pacif-ic rail-yards bisect the park,and the only access point tothe southern part of the park isliterally on the other side ofthe tracks.

To get to the park you willneed to exit Warner Road atChilds Road and turn ontoPig's Eye Road where it inter-sects with Childs Road under-neath the Warner Road rail-

road over pass. Be careful, if you missyour turn you will end up at the watertreatment plant at the end of ChildsRoad. Also be aware that this whole areais heavily industrial with trains andtrucks traveling every which way.

If you are able to find Pig's Eye Road,it will take you across a couple sets ofrailroad tracks and down a barren stretchof blacktop that runs about a mile beforedead ending. The only real destinationpoint is the St Paul wood recycling cen-ter. Even on a snowy February day thetruck traffic from the recycling centerwas steady. Pig's Eye Park is off to theleft (east) just past the recycling center.The city is in the process of building aparking lot to improve access, but fornow there is not much in the way ofparking or even a sign announcing thepark. Now you know.

Nick Duncan can be reached at day-tonsbluffdistrictforum@gmail.com

Homes needed for2019 Home Tour

The 2019 Minneapolis/St. PaulHome Tour will be here before weknow it. We are hot on the trail forhomes to be featured on the HomeTour now. The tour will take place onSaturday, April 27, and Sunday, Sat-urday April 28. The home tour is foroccupied homes to show visitors ourwonderful Dayton’s Bluff people,homes, and community. Visitors fromall over the metro come each year tosee the lovely homes in Dayton’sBluff. Six to eight Dayton’s Bluff homesare needed to be on the tour. Homescan be large or small, Victorians orramblers, or anything in between.Homes may be works-in-progress or

finished products. It’s a fantastic oppor-tunity for us to show off our neighbor-hood and all the good things about Day-ton’s Bluff. Each year some visitors likeDayton’s Bluff so much that they buy ahome here. The tour is also a great wayto get new ideas on remodeling and up-dating your home. You can nominateyour own home, or talk to your neigh-bors about getting their homes on thetour. Neighborhood people are also neededto volunteer to help out during the tour.On Sunday evening after the tour is over,an “After the Tour Supper Party” will beheld for the home owners' families andall home tour volunteers. To learn moreabout having your home on the tour, tovolunteer, or for more information,please email karindupaul@comcast.netor call 651-776-0550.

Nick Duncan

The Canadian Pacific/Union Pacific rail-yards bi-secting Pig's Eye Park.

March 2019 Dayton’s Bluff District Forum Page 5

Page 6 Dayton’s Bluff District Forum March 2019

Fine Free statement

Jane PrinceWard 7 City Councilmember

Chair, Library Board

As the chair of the Saint Paul Li-brary Board, I want to address some ofthe issues that have been raised aboutthe library getting rid of fines.

When I took office in 2016, one ofmy East Side constituents was movedto create a spreadsheet of recreationcenter hours and programs across thecity, with an overlay of area medianincome. Alas, in our city's wealthierneighborhoods, there were lots of pro-grams and hours; in our areas ofconcentrated poverty, there were veryfew.

It immediately became evident thatin those neighborhoods where peoplecan afford to sign their kids up forteams and classes, they do. And in lowincome areas where families cannotafford to pay, it was hard to field ateam or fill a class. Even though Parksand Recreation provided scholarships,families with barriers of poverty andlanguage were unaware of these op-tions.

In the name of equity, we haveworked since that day to increase freeand low-cost programming in areas ofconcentrated poverty. This includedabout $100K in the last budget underMayor Coleman, and has been tripledin the 2019 budget to over $300K.

I start with this example, because thetotal revenue from library fines in anaverage year is about $250K. A simi-lar analysis to the one my constituentdid on rec center hours revealed thatlibraries in wealthier neighborhoods,where families could afford to pay thefines, they do. But in libraries in lowincome neighborhoods, families whocouldn't afford the fines had theircards blocked. Of the 51K+ cardsblocked, the highest percentage werein areas of concentrated poverty.

Library staff spearheaded the moveto consider the elimination of finesand fees and conducted the research.For the last several years, there havebeen no fines on children's materials.Yet, even without fines, materials havebeen returned at the same rate thatthey had been with the "incentive" offines. I understand that the research oflibraries in Minnesota and across the

country, which have eliminated fines,have had the same experience.

When library staff were invited toshare their experiences at the Mayor'sLibrary Budget Address, they said thatit was clear that when a family isstruggling to keep food on the table,paying library fines is a necessarilylow priority. Getting to the library toreturn books on a timely basis is addi-tionally challenging for a family withtransportation challenges, difficultwork schedules, etc.

Saint Paul happens to be one of theonly cities in the metro area withpoverty on the rise. Our libraries arevitally important to families in povertyto find needed resources and assis-tance: books, videos, music, comput-ers, computer hot spots, homeworkhelp, computer training and certifica-tion, job seeking assistance, earlychildhood education and play re-sources, healthy snack times, storytimes in about 11 languages, and li-brarians who will help you with ANY-THING, just to name a few of thethings people find there. Our librariesare constantly reinventing themselvesto meet the needs of the people whowalk through their doors. Faced withnew immigrants who had no publishedbooks in their languages, the librarieswent out and published their own.

I put the costs of eliminating fines inthe same category as creating free andlow-cost parks and recreation pro-grams. When I took office in 2016,two Ward 7 recreation centers hadbeen shuttered and one more had beendemolished. For families in povertyand new immigrant families, it is vi-tally important for their children tohave access to safe places to connectwith caring adults. There are countlessstories of young people who share sto-ries of going to college, or finding acareer, because someone at a library orrecreation center connected them toresources or opportunities to changetheir lives.

I can also assure you that our librarystaff and board will be evaluating theongoing impact of the new policy, par-ticularly any impact that it has on thecollection. With that information, ourlibraries will determine whether thepolicy should be tweaked or changedover time.

Jane Prince can be reached atJane.Prince@ci.stpaul.mn.us.

Benefit for Judy Lee,“The Barber Queen”

Friends of Judy LeeSpecial to the Forum

As the owner of Mounds Park Bar-bers for over 30 years, Judy Lee has re-lied financially on her ability to standfor hours and work magic with herhands, clippers, and scissors. A recenthealth issue has temporarily closed hersmall business. For now she is unableto work.

This is why Judy's friends haveplanned a benefit for her, to help allevi-ate the financial stress while she focus-es on her recovery.

On Saturday, March 23, from 1:00p.m. to 5:00 p.m., please join us at theSaint Paul Saloon (1045 Hudson Road)for an afternoon of celebrating the“Barber Queen!” Festivities include:bake sale, gift baskets, silent auction,

wine pull, 50/50's, plus $10 spaghettidinner with one complimentary raildrink or domestic beer.

Advance tickets for the spaghetti din-ner can be purchased for $10 at theSaint Paul Saloon from Geo or Shellie.For donations contact Marie at mariet-peak@yahoo.com or 651-367-4419.Check out our Facebook event: “BarberQueen: A Benefit for Judy Lee.”

Photo submitted

Judy Lee "The Barber Queen."

The Green Book and St. Paul

Seeley BoothForum Contributor

There has been a lot of interest in a 2018 movieabout an African American pianist and his bodyguardwho took a concert road trip through the deep south in1962. The cinema was named Green Book, after a realvolume that helped African Americans know whatplaces were safe and welcoming. At time of print, it isexpected to win some Oscars at the February 24, 2019,Academy Awards and you might want to discover howthe Green Book was connected with St. Paul.

Its official name was The Negro Motorist GreenBook and it was created by Victor Hugo Green, apostal carrier who lived in Harlem. He was aware thatAfrican American car owners on road trips often metwith many difficulties including refusals of service atrestaurants, hotels, and service stations.

In 1936, Green decided to produce a Green Book forthe New York metropolitan area and that was so suc-cessful, it went national the following year. Greenused his connections with the National Association ofLetter Carriers to find families who would rent aroom, businesses that were friendly, and those who

hired African Americans.I thought it might be interesting to see if St. Paul was

included. I dropped by the East Side Freedom Libraryon the chance they might have one in their collection.Actually, they had two - one original and one recentreprint. You can see themfor yourself, but you haveto read them at the EastSide Freedom Library, lo-cated at 1105 GreenbrierStreet. I also found outthat the downtown libraryand the Rondo libraryhave copies that can bechecked out.

Here’s what I discoveredin the 1940 edition of theGreen Book: Under the St.Paul heading of “touristhomes” (people whowould take others intotheir homes) there wasReuben Floyd who livedat 379 Carroll Street. Onerestaurant was noted, theG&G Bar-B-Q at 313

Rondo Street.There were quite a few more spots in the 1954

guide: Tourist homes listed Villa Wilson at 697 St. An-thony, a four-bedroom house that is still there. TheG&G Restaurant was still in the guide book but hadmoved to 291 North St. Albans, and also Jim’s at St.Anthony and Kent. Gardner’s Service Station locatedat Western and Central was noted, as was Milligan’sGarage at 1008 Rondo, and a tailor at 1597 UniversityAvenue. There were now several liquor stores: Bond,at 471 Wabasha, First, at Robert and Fifth, Commerce,at 2163 Ford Parkway, Seven Corners, at 158 West 7th,and Jack’s, at 517 Wabasha.

The Green Book ceased publication in 1966, possi-bly because of the somewhat friendly Civil Rights Actof 1964. In the1954 Green Book, its creator had writ-ten “There will be a day sometime in the near futurewhen this guide will not have to be published. That iswhen we as a race will have equal rights and privi-leges in the United States.” Maybe he saw that thiswas starting to happen, but what do you think? Go tonysarchivestrust.org/application/files/5115/4723/8527/archivesmag_winter2019.pdf for a good online articleon the Green Book if you'd like to know more.

Seeley Booth can be reached at daytonsbluffdistrict-forum@gmail.com.

Photo courtesy of Amazon

Front cover of the 1940 Negro Motorist Green Book.

March 2019 Dayton’s Bluff District Forum Page 7

“Cosi Fan Tutte”coming to the Historic

Mounds Theatre

Vera MarinerMarketing and Communications Manager

Skylark Opera

Vera Mariner, Marketing and Com-munications Manager for SkylarkOpera Theatre, recently sat down for afun Q & A session with Skylark OperaTheatre’s Artistic Director, Bob Neu, ashe prepares for the upcoming produc-tion of “Cosi Fan Tutte” presented atthe Historic Mounds Theatre.

Q: What makes Skylark Opera The-atre unique in this current day and age?

A: Instead of focusing on special ef-fects and visual stimulation, we focuson intimate story-telling and explorethe intimacies of the human condition.

Q: What makes Skylark unique in thelocal arts community?

A: We're the only company perform-ing opera on an intimate scale andplacing the audience INSIDE the pro-duction.

Q: Can you give us a brief history ofSkylark then and now?

A: For 45 years, Skylark focused ontraditional operettas and music theaterpieces performed in a traditionalproscenium theater and with a tradi-tional sense of staging and storytelling.There are now many companies that dothis and Skylark wanted to break freeof those traditions and find a new wayto offer the operatic and music theaterrepertoire.

Q: Tell us about your upcoming pro-duction.

A: Skylark Opera Theatre throws amodern new light on the story of twoguys who think they can dupe theirgirlfriends by switching places. But,the women have their own power andthey aren’t afraid to use it! Mozart’sgorgeous score is sung in English.

Q: Why this piece? A:“Cosi Fan Tutte” is often written-

off as an opera that is too misogynisticto be effective in our current time. So,despite its fantastic score, it's not oftenproduced. We at Skylark Opera thinkthis masterpiece can withstand beingviewed through a contemporarylens. And when this happens, the tradi-tional roles of the sexes are upended,and this proves to be a very timelywork with an empowering message forboth men and women.

Q: What prompted you to choose ourneighborhood’s Historic Mounds The-atre?

A: It's an underutilized theater thatoffers the possibility of many differentconfigurations and lay-outs. Also, weadmire the building's history.

“Cosi Fan Tutte” is directed by BobNeu and sung in English. Performancesrun Friday, March 22, Saturday,March 23, Friday, March 29, andSaturday, March 30, at 7:30 p.m., aswell as Sunday, March 24, and Sun-day, March 31, at 2:00 p.m.

Tickets are $45 general, $43 senior,$40 MPR members (phone order withmember ID only), and $40 students.

Call Ticketworks at (612) 343-3390or order online at https://ticketworks.-com/event-list/cosi-fan-tutte/

ASL date and post-show discussionsto be announced. Performance is pre-sented THROUGHOUT the HistoricMounds Theater, located at 1029 Hud-son Road, St. Paul.

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.

The opinions expressed in signed articles may not represent theviews of the Forum.

Deadline for the April 2019 issue of the Forum is March 10, 2019.

Celebrating Women’sHistory Month: Some noted

Dayton’s Bluff women

Steve TrimbleForum Historian

I wanted to do something special forthis month’s history article. So, I decidedto go to the Minnesota Historical Societyand check out the Who’s Who of Minne-sota Women that was published in 1924. Ifound that there were several people withDayton’s Bluff connections and a fewfrom other parts of the East Side andwanted to share my finds in the Forum.

First, some context on the developmentof women’s history research. Accordingto a few articles I read, there were at leastthree stages. When the women’s libera-tion movement of the 1960s and 1970sdeveloped they looked to the past. Thefirst approach was searching out “Wom-en Worthies,” those whose importantcontributions were accomplished in amale dominated society. They may havebeen overlooked and needed to be redis-covered and were put on posters inschools.

After a time came what is known as the“oppression-oriented” stage, when histo-ry pointed out that women were keptfrom being “important” but this did notchange the way of determining what wasmeant by “important.” A third approach,sometimes called “woman-centered his-tory,” decided to rethink importance.This stage looked at what women did toimprove the lives of themselves, chil-dren, and society as a whole workingwith other women. During this time,women’s clubs were established, societyworked to create institutions to helpyoung mothers, impoverished veterans,and tried to deal with social maladies.The following are some of the Dayton’sBluff women whose biographies werepublished in the Who’s Who of Minne-sota Women.

Clara Linz Bergmeier grew up in St.Paul and was educated in the cityschools. She married William F.Bergmeier, a successful businessman, in1890. She traveled in Europe and en-gaged in philanthropy. She was a mem-ber of the Dayton’s Bluff Mother’s Clubfor many years, as well as AssociatedCharities, and the Civic League. Claraworked as the secretary and treasurer ofthe Volkszeitung Printing and PublishingCompany, a St. Paul daily German-lan-guage newspaper that was headed by herhusband. When he died in1905, she tookcharge for the next 18 years, acquired anoffice for the paper at Third and Jackson,and printed several issues of what wasknown as the St. Paul City Guide. This

makes her one of the “Women Worthies.”Nellie E. McCall was born in Wiscon-

sin, one of six girls and all but one ofthem became teachers. She worked at theSt. Paul Pioneer Press for 10 years andwas an ardent club woman. McCall waspresident of the Garfield Women’s ReliefCorps, was elected president of StateFederation of Fraternal Women, theLadies Auxiliary of the Order of RailwayConductors, belonged to the Order of theEastern Star, the Women’s City Club, andthe Chautauqua of Dayton’s Bluff. Sheorganized the Wimaudosis Club, com-prised of women in the Fourth DistrictFederation, which raised money for vet-erans of all wars through the sale ofcookbooks that were edited by McCall.As a Suffragist and member of theLeague of Women Voters, she fits in withthe history of fighting oppression.

Hannah Ryan McGee was born inMilwaukee, one of 15 children, and cameto St. Paul where she became a teacher atVan Buren Elementary, a predecessor oftoday’s Dayton’s Bluff Elementary. In1893, she married Charles McGee, whowas the school’s principal, and quitteaching for a time. After he died, she re-turned to the classroom and was later ap-pointed principal of Hill-Ramsey School.She was eventually appointed a principalof J. J. Hill in 1906, where she served un-til 1922 when she died of pneumonia.The Who’s Who book said that Hannahwas “A woman with a keen sense of civicresponsibly, a broad social vision, andgenerous sympathies.” She and CarrieJohnston Keller below are good finds forthose seeking out “woman-centered” his-tory.

Carrie Johnston Keller was raised inWabasha, Minnesota, and when she cameto St. Paul, worked many years as arecord keeper for Ladies of Maccabees.She married Herbert Keller, a politicianfrom Dayton’s Bluff who became a St.Paul Mayor. The Who’s Who said she was“Active in club work, social welfare,civic activity and education.” She was apresident of the Woman’s Auxiliary tothe Dayton’s Bluff Commercial Club andworked with the Eichenwald Branch ofthe Sunshine Society. Carrie was alsoTreasurer of the Fourth District Minne-sota Federation of Women’s Clubs, thelocal chair of the National Council of De-fense and the Victory Liberty Loan dur-ing World War I, Tag Day chairman formany years, headed The Auxiliary to theLion’s Club Republican Woman’s Club,and worked to create a state reformatoryfor incarcerated women. She was alsoChairman of the National Convention ofSaengerbund, a German choral society.

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

World Wide Holidays:March edition

Temperance BrennanForum Contributor

The response to my first holidays ar-

ticle in the February Forum was sogood that this anthropologist decidedto do another article that might betimely. I know that St. Patrick’s Day isa favorite time for March, but for achange, why not check out the coun-tries below and maybe have a partythat includes some of their culture?Why not try to make a Liberian palavasauce, listen to some Greek music, tryto find some Red Rooster Beer madein Palau, read Persian poetry, or planta tree?

March 2: Tree Planting Day. On

this national holiday, people acrossNorth Korea plant trees.

March 5: Custom Chief’s Day ofVanuatu. This country observes theholiday to recognize the power ofChieftains (locally known as “Jifs”) onmatters concerning politics, economy,and judiciary, among other things. ThisSouth Pacific Ocean nation is made upof roughly 80 islands that stretch over1,300 kilometers - about 808 miles.

March 13: Decoration Day. On thisday, Liberians refurbish the graves offamily members. It was introduced tothe public of Liberia in 1916, to have atime for communing with family spir-its.

March 16: Youth Day. One of themost important holidays of the smallMicronesian island country of Palaufocuses on celebrating the role ofyouth in shaping Palau society. Theholiday raises awareness about the im-

portance of early integration of youngpeople in public service.

March 20: Oil Nationalization Day.This day marks the anniversary of thenationalization of the oil industry inIran in 1951, when members of thecountry’s parliament voted for the newarrangement. This put an end toBritain’s 40-year monopoly over theoil in Iran.

March 25: Independence Day inGreece. This is a holiday that hasblended with an older festival - theFeast of the Annunciation, and the timein 1821 when the Greeks rose upagainst the Ottoman Empire that hadoccupied their land for almost 400years, leading to the war of indepen-dence.

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

Photo courtesy of Linz familyarchives

Clara Linz Bergmeier, circa 1891.

Page 8 Dayton’s Bluff District Forum March 2019

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Steve Trimble

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Edna Stevens/Universal Dance Destiny

Pictured above and below: Ward 7 City Council Member Jane Prince took to the dance floor at the Historic Mounds Theatre with choreographer Edna Stevens of Universal Dance Destiny to prove that politics can be fun!

Universal Dance Destiny is a dance performance and entertainment company offering a variety of dance educational presentations, master classes, workshops, residencies in primarily traditional West African dance with live drumming accompaniment and modern African dance to upbeat African music. Selected company members and special guest instructors on our roster teach classes and special workshops in African drumming,Latin dances, Hip hop, Breaking (using kid-friendly music for youth groups) and wedding dance choreography. Facebook/Universal Dance Destiny for more information.

Justice Voss

The Forum has gone to the dogs! And we're okay with that. Laney never misses an issue, according to her owners. Have a pet who loves the Forum as much as Laney does? Send a photo to daytonsbluffdistrictforum@gmail.com for a chance to be featured in an upcoming issue!

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 at left are Mary Petrie and hertravel companion, John, visiting the National Gallery in London with their copy of the Forum in tow. Photo submitted by Mary Petrie.