December 2010

Volume 16

Number 12

Your Community News & Information Source

Tim SpitzackEditor

With the last of the Thanksgiving left-

overs now gone and the madness of Black Friday behind us, the Christ-mas season is now in full swing, and St. Paul offers a vast number of events and activities that are sure to get you in the holiday spirit. Some are free, some are going to set you back a few bucks, but all of these activities have become holiday tra-ditions for scores of area residents. So if you’re wondering what to do with the relatives this month, or if you’re sim-ply looking for a way to escape the frenetic gift-buying hunt, check out

these events which will help you slow down and enjoy the season.

Visit Rice ParkA stroll through Rice

Park, located at West 5th and Market streets in Downtown St. Paul, is sure to get you in the hol-iday mood. The signature attraction is a towering Christmas tree that spar-kles with 30,000 lights around the clock dur-ing the holiday season. Nutcracker figures, angel statues and other holiday décor are also featured throughout the park.

Across the street is the Wells Fargo WinterSkate, an outdoor skating rink. Bring your own skates and skate for free, or rent skates for $2. A warm-

ing house, hot chocolate, snacks and a bonfire help make this winter experi-ence toasty warm. The rink is open through Feb. 6, 2011. Open skat-ing is offered 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Mon.-Thurs.; 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri.; 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Sat.; and 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Sun. For more information, visit www.wellsfargowinter-skate.com or call 651-291-5608.

Holiday lights display

St. Paul’s Phalen Park, 1615 Phalen Dr. E., is transformed into a won-derland of lights 5:30-10 p.m. nightly through Jan. 1, 2011. The park features more than 50  holiday sculptures and animated

displays, including a 60-foot pirate ship, which is new this year. This event is sponsored by the In-ternational Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and helps raise funds for local charities. Cost is $8 per vehicle Sun.-Thurs., and $10 per vehicle Fri. and Sat. and on the holidays. Proceeds support Sec-ond Harvest Heartland, a hunger-relief organiza-tion, the Union Gospel Mission, St. Paul Parks Conservancy and Under-Construction, a program that helps youth explore career opportunities in the construction field.

Enhance your expe-rience by purchasing

Holiday Events /Page4

This pirate ship is the newest addition to the holiday lights display at Phalen Park in St. Paul. The event features over 50 animated displays.

Bill KnightContributing Writer

You likely won’t notice the changes right away, but parks and rec centers throughout St. Paul

will be taking on a new look if a proposed St. Paul Parks and Recreation plan is approved to consolidate facilities and staff in an effort to meet budget constraints and anticipated budget short-falls. The changes are a far reaching, system-wide series of proposals that focus on popular activi-ties that attract park users, such as better athletic fields, park trails and access to nature areas.

“It’s a way for us to take inventory, to evalu-ate and then prioritize our assets, which mainly are our facilities,” said Robert Smith, the project leader who has been with St. Paul Parks and Rec-reation for 26 years. Now he and others from his office are taking a draft version of the plan to park users, asking for feedback. In January, the St. Paul City Council is expected to vote on the plan.

The starting point for all of this came from a series of five meetings the Parks and Recre-ation Department held this spring at rec centers throughout St. Paul.

“From May to early June the meetings were held to notify people what the plan is and how they can provide input, to prioritize what they like,” said Smith, adding that the meetings gave the department some ideas on where to “invest and divest for the future.”

In describing the plan Smith said recent pat-terns of budget reductions and cuts in aid from various sources are all factors in an effort to make the park system better able to balance expendi-tures and revenues. Instead of trying to quickly react to a budget cut or a reallocation of funding, the department will have a plan in place and be able to make decisions that have come, in large part, from citizen input.

“(That means) we are looking at our resources and how they can be sustained,” he said. “Right now we have a larger system in place than we can sustain. Basically, we need to live within our means.”

City plan could change the face of St. Paul parks

Park and Rec Plan /Page 3

Holiday Event GuideCatch the spirit of

the season

Page 2 - Downtown St. Paul Voice - December 2010

Your community news and information sourceF uller Files by Roger Fuller

The Downtown St. Paul Voice is published monthly and delivered to every apartment, condominium and skyway drop in St. Paul’s historic urban village, as well as other locations throughout downtown St. Paul.

Publisher & Editor: Tim Spitzack Copy Editor: Leslie MartinReporter: Mary Diedrick Hansen Contributors: Roger Fuller, Don MorganLayout & Design: Mona ToftMasthead design by Nick GermanoAdvertising: Mario Polanco, Henry Torres Home Delivery: Independent Delivery Service Bulk Delivery: SC Distribution 651-285-1119

The Downtown St. Paul Voice assumes no responsibility for the opinions expressed by contributors and for the validity of claims or items reported. Copyright Downtown St. Paul Voice 2010. All rights reserved in compliance of Federal Copyright Act of 1978.

St. Paul Publishing Co.1643 So. Robert St., West St. Paul, MN 55118

Phone: (651) 457-1177 sppc@stpaulpublishing.comwww.stpaulpublishing.com

Rumours closesThe Rumours/Innuen-

do night club near Fourth and Sibley has closed, becoming a casualty of the Light Rail Transit construction project on Fourth Street. The street has been torn up for near-ly a year as crews work to relocate utility lines. The construction has caused major disruptions for several other businesses as well, including Prada Café, Station Four, Mas-ter Framers and Black Dog Café.

Sinfonia concertJason Shu is the fea-

tured soloist at the Min-nesota Sinfonia Holiday Concert, held at 7 p.m., Fri., Dec. 3 at Metro State University. He will perform Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso by Camille Saint-Saens on the violin. A collec-tion of holiday favorites will also be performed by the Sinfonia. Admission is free.

Downtown churches spared

The three downtown Catholic churches all survived a major reorga-nization of the St. Paul Archdiocese, which re-cently reduced its num-ber of parishes from 213 to 192. Parishioners at the closed churches are being urged to transfer to a neighboring parish. Dennis McGrath of the archdiocese said many of the closed parishes served areas where the church population had declined. The three downtown par-ishes are St. Louis on Ce-dar, St. Mary’s in Lower-town and Assumption on Seventh Street.

Wirt named to Penfield task force

CapitolRiver Council/District 17 has appoint-ed Anabel Wirt to the Penfield Public Art task force. The task force will review plans for public art in the new develop-ment, to be located at 10th and Minnesota at the site of the former

Public Safety building. Lund’s grocery store will be on the ground level and residential units on the upper floors.

Santacon pub crawl

Lowertown bars will host the third annual Santacon pub crawl on Dec. 18. Patrons are urged to dress up as San-ta, elves, reindeer or oth-er Holiday figures. For more information, visit www.tilsner.net/santa-con.

Street closingsDowntowners will see

more traffic snarls in ear-ly 2011 as several Lower-town streets will be closed during the restoration of the Union Depot build-ing. Sibley Street will be closed between Kellogg and Warner Road for five months beginning in January, and Second Street from Jackson to Sibley will also be closed. In March, one lane off Shepard Road/Warner Road will be closed.

City seeks new Fourth of July event promoterThe city of St. Paul is seeking applications from promoters for a Fourth of July celebration at Harriet Island to replace the Taste of Minnesota. The city terminated its agreement with International Event Management (IEM), which operated the Taste of Minne-sota this summer, because IEM failed to pay $23,000 to the Parks Department and $87,000 to the Police Department for overtime staffing. IEM purchased Taste of Minnesota from Capitol City Partnership in 2009 and changed it from a free event to one that charged $20 to $30 admission. Crowds declined under the new format.

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Downtown St. Paul Voice - December 2010 - Page 3

Your community news and information sourceF uller Files by Roger Fuller

Library happeningsA program of Flamen-

co dancers will be held at 7 p.m., Wed., Dec. 1 at the J.J. Hill Library, located next to the Cen-tral Library. The Central Library Book Club will discuss “So Brave, Young and Handsome” by Leif Enger at 10:30 a.m., Dec. 9 at the Central Library, and the History Book Club will discuss books about chefs at 2 p.m., Thurs., Dec. 16.

Arts Extravaganza St. Paul Preparatory

School will hold an Arts Extravaganza 3:30-5 p.m., Tues., Dec. 14 on the main floor of Cray Plaza, located on Jack-son Street between Fifth and Sixth Street. The event will feature dis-plays of student artwork and a performance by the school choir.

The school will present a talent show at 1 p.m., Tues., Dec. 21. Many students will perform songs from their native lands. About 140 of the 160 students in grades

9-12 are from foreign countries.

The school is located in Cray Plaza, Suite 108, 380 Jackson St., St. Paul.

Skyway complaintsBuilding owners are re-

quired to heat the skyway bridges that connect the downtown buildings. If a skyway is not heated, a complaint can be filed by calling the Department of Safety and Inspections at 651-266-8989.

CRC recommends Lofts at Farmers Market project

The CapitolRiver Council/District 17 De-velopment Review Com-mittee has given its rec-ommendation of approval to the proposed Lofts at Farmers’ Market project at Fifth and Wall, located across the street from the Farmers’ Market. A task force of the committee met three times to re-view the project, which is a five-story mixed-use building with three liv-ing units and retail space of about 2,000 square

feet on the first floor and residential units on the top four floors. Plans also call for a “green” roof and historic pavers added to a portion of the alley.

Plug into St. PaulPlug Into St. Paul, a

social networking event, will meet 5:30-7:30, Thurs., Dec. 16 at Ho-tel 340 in the University Club building at 340 Cedar St. CapitolRiv-er Council/District 17 sponsors the event every other third Thursday to introduce newcomers to downtown. More than 50 people attended the last event.

First FridayDecember’s First Fri-

day social gathering will include an auction, featuring items from arts organizations, the-aters, restaurants and other downtown busi-nesses. The event is held 4-6 p.m., Fri., Dec. 3 at the Faces restaurant in Cray Plaza. Capitol-River Council/District 17 sponsors the monthly

gatherings to help down-town residents become better acquainted.

City Passport events

City Passport senior citizens center will host its annual Christmas Eve celebration luncheon at 11 a.m., Fri., Dec. 24 on the mezzanine level of the Alliance Bank Build-ing. Reservations are re-quired and can be made by calling 651-232-1301. Other December events include: Tree trimming party, 11 a.m., Wed., Dec. 1; Root beer float social, 1:30 p.m., Fri., Dec. 10; Happy Birth-day party, 2 p.m., Mon., Dec. 13; Gift wrap-ping project, 9:30 a.m., Tues., Dec. 14; Humana seminar, 10 a.m., Wed., Dec. 15; Blood pressure checks, 10 a.m. each Monday; Community acupuncture, 9:30 a.m. each Tuesday. Movies at 1 p.m. on Thursdays are: “The Karate Kid” (new version) on Dec. 2, “Simon and Garfunkel in Concert” on Dec. 9,

“The Muppet Christmas Carol” on Dec. 16, “Po-lar Express” on Dec. 23 and “Elton John in Con-cert” on Dec. 30.

New video shows LRT operations in downtown St. Paul

An animation showing what the Central Cor-ridor Light Rail Transit line (CCLRT) will look like in downtown St. Paul is posted at www.metro-council.org/transporta-tion/ccorridor/video/RouteSimulations.htm

The animations were developed by Frank Duan and his team at Duan Corp., a Twin Cities-based architecture firm and subconsultant to CCLRT engineer-ing services consultant AECOM. The video combines photographic renderings and LRT de-sign plans to show how the LRT line will oper-ate with auto and pedes-trian traffic. The anima-tions will also be used at neighborhood meetings to inform residents about the look and operation of

LRT along the Central Corridor.

St. Joseph hosts Holiday Craft show

St. Joseph’s Hospital will host its annual Holi-day Crafts Show 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Dec. 15-16 at the 3M Education Center in the de Paul Tower of the hospital. About 50 vendors will sell jewelry, quilts, toys, scarves and other items. The sale can be reached by the en-trance to the de Paul tow-er near the parking ramp at 10th and St. Peter or by tunnel from the main building.

Black Dog Holiday Sale

Black Dog Café will hold its annual Holiday Sale 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Dec. 4. The sale will feature jewelry, ornaments and other items with a holi-day theme.

Café Accordion will perform at the café at 7 p.m., Sun., Dec. 12.

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The plan says that some rec. centers will be re-ti-tled as community centers.

“The reason is that a group, seniors for example, may look at the term ‘rec. center’ and say that’s a place where only kids hang out,” Smith said. “It’s not really welcoming to some people. (A center) is a pub-lic facility and should be a gathering spot for people of all ages.”

Smith said the plan is activity-based, not facility based.

“We don’t have to have buildings to run our pro-grams,” he said. “We can go to a school, before the kids leave, or a library, and partner with them. We don’t always have to bring the kids to our facilities. We can go to where they are.”

The draft plan calls for some buildings to be taken over by other organizations.

Park and Rec Plan from page 1

Page 4 - Downtown St. Paul Voice - December 2010

“Home for the Holidays-A Minnesota Christmas CD Vol. 2.” This CD features holiday music performed by some of the finest musicians in the Twin Cities and is avail-able at all metro Target stores and at Phalen Park during the tour. Cost is $9.99, but a complimen-tary $10 vehicle pass is enclosed with the CD. For more information on the tour, visit www.light-sinthepark.org.

Step back in timeIf the hectic pace of the

21st Century holiday sea-son has you longing for simpler times, visit the Alexander Ramsey House

or the James J. Hill mansion in St. Paul. At the Alexander Ramsey House, 265 S. Exchange St., you can experience a Victorian Christmas by viewing the grand Christ-mas tree decorated with original 1870s family or-naments and the dining room table set for a lavish meal. Costumed guides provide hour-long tours that incorporate tidbits from family letters and diaries. Listen to holiday music played on the 1875 Steinway piano and enjoy fresh-baked Christmas cookies and hot cider.

Tours are held 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Wed.-Sat., and noon-3 p.m., Sun. Cost is $9 for adults, $7 for

seniors and college stu-dents, and $5 for ages 6-17. Reservations are re-quired. Tickets are avail-able at http://tickets.mnhs.org or by calling 651-296-8760.

Horse-drawn carriage tours around the historic Irvine Park district are of-fered noon-4 p.m., Sat., Dec. 18; rides leave every 15 minutes. Tickets are available at the Carriage House gift shop and at http://tickets.mnhs.org. Reservations are recom-mended. Cost is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors and college students, and $8 for ages 3-17.

The James J. Hill House, 240 Summit Ave., bustles with excite-ment in December as costumed actors portray servants making holiday preparations at the man-sion. Using a script based on letters and oral his-tories of Hill family ser-vants, the one-hour tour moves through the ele-gant first floor spaces and then to the basement ser-

vant work areas. Tours are offered every 30 minutes, from 1-3:30 p.m. Cost is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and students, and $6 for ages 6-17. Reserva-tions are recommended. For more information, call 651-297-2555.

On Dec. 19 and 26, at 6 p.m., costumed actors will present a reader’s theater performance

of holiday stories, in-cluding works by Mark Twain and Willa Cather, and O. Henry’s “Gift of the Magi,” and selections from Dickens’ “A Christ-mas Carol.” Cost is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and students, and $6 for ages 6-17. Reservations are recommended. For more information, call 651-297-2555.

The Saint Paul Hotel, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, offers lunch and dinner performances of “It’s A Wonderful Life - A Live Radio Play.” Ac-tors present a 1946 radio broadcast in the famous Promenade Ballroom of the Saint Paul Hotel, lo-cated at 350 Market St. Matinee performances

continued from page 1

Horse-drawn carriage tours around the historic Irvine Park district are offered Sat., Dec. 18, noon-4 p.m. For details, call 651-296-8760.

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feature a three-course lunch, and the evening shows feature a three-course dinner. Cost is $55 per person for mati-nee performances and $75 per person for eve-ning performances. For more information, call 651-228-3860 or visit www.saintpaulhotel.com, search special events.

“Fezziwig’s Feast - A delightful telling of a Christmas Carol” is presented Thurs.-Sun. through Dec. 19 at the Harriet Island Pavillion. Travel back in time to 1843 to be the guest at one of London’s most

famous Christmas par-ties, hosted by Mister Fezziwig, a dear “friend” of Charles Dickens. The event features a perfor-mance of “A Christmas Carol” and a 5-course Victorian holiday feast. Tickets are $74.50 for adults and $34.50 for children age 12 and un-der. To order, visit www.ticketmaster.com or call 1-800-982-2787.

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Your community news and information sourceH oliday Event Guide

The Old Fashioned Holiday Bazaar at the Landmark Center.

Holiday Events /Page 6

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Page 6 - Downtown St. Paul Voice - December 2010

heart. The show is pre-sented 10 a.m.-4 p.m. daily Dec. 4-Jan. 23, 2011. Cost is free, but a donation is suggested.

• The Camel’s Back Radio Play – “Camel’s Back,” a romantic com-edy written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, will be pre-sented radio-drama style Dec. 11-12 at the James J. Hill House. The story re-counts the hilarious mis-adventures of a young so-cialite during the holiday season revelry of 1919 St. Paul. Performances are held at 6 and 8 p.m., Sat., Dec. 11, and 6 p.m., Sun., Dec. 12. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for seniors and students, and include a tour of the mansion following the show. For reservations, call 651-297-2555.

• Old-Fashioned Hol-iday Bazaar - Landmark Center will host the 32nd Annual Landmark Cen-ter Old-Fashioned Holi-day Bazaar Dec. 2-4. The event features 78 booths of unique handcrafted gift items by the area’s fin-est artists, festive music and food. Items for sale include jewelry, wreaths, paintings, woven and wearable art, handmade lotions, soaps and more. Hours are 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Dec. 2-3 and 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Dec. 4. Cost is $3; children under age 12 are free. Landmark Center is located at 75 W. 5th St., St. Paul. For more infor-mation, call 651-292-3225 or visit www.land-markcenter.org.

• St. Nicholas exhibit – A new traveling exhibit, “Who is St. Nicholas? Ad-vent and Christmas Saint, Discovering the Truth about Santa Claus,” is on display through Dec. 26 in the north lobby of the Landmark Center, 75 W. 5th St., St. Paul. Hours are noon-5 p.m., Mon.-Sun., and noon-8 p.m., Thurs. The exhibit was curated by Carol Myers, founder of the St. Nicho-las Center in Holland, Mich. It explores the life of Nicholas, born about AD 260 in Patara, Asia Minor, in what is now Turkey. He was Bishop of Myra until his death, Dec. 6, AD 342, which is celebrated as St. Nicholas Day in many parts of the

world. Nicholas is the pa-tron saint of children and sailors and is closely asso-ciated with Greece, Italy, Russia and the Nether-lands. The exhibit looks at the stories and legends of St. Nicholas and his place within faith tradi-tions and international customs. It includes hands-on children’s activ-ities and a vast collection of art, icons, symbols, toys, statues and other treasures from around the world. For information, visit www.landmarkcen-ter.org or view the online exhibit at www.stnicho-lascenter.org.

• Santa’s Train Shop - The Jackson Street Roundhouse, 193 Penn-sylvania Ave. E., St. Paul, will be transformed into Santa’s Train Shop 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Dec. 4, 5, 11, 12, 18, 19. Partici-pants may visit Santa, do some holiday shopping, take a train ride, and view the decorated 100-year-old roundhouse. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for ages 5-15 and seniors, and $5 for ages 2-4. For more information call 651-228-0263.

• Holiday events at Central Presbyterian:

Employee choirs from

Wells Fargo, Travelers In-surance and Securian will present a free Christmas concert at 4 p.m., Sun., Dec. 5 at Central Presby-terian, 500 Cedar Ave., St. Paul.

The Minnesota Tuba Christmas concert is pre-sented at 4 p.m., Sun., Dec. 12. A gourmet soup supper follows the event. A free-will offering is taken for the concert. The supper has a mini-mal charge.

Alternative Gift Mar-ket - A special gift mar-ket is available at 10:30 a.m. each Sunday in De-cember in the church fel-lowship room, featuring free-market products and information on how to support charities.

Original Christmas play - The original play, “Angels,” by Jeff Jones is presented at 10:30 a.m., Sun., Dec. 12.

Christmas Eve service with carols - A service featuring Christmas car-ols led by organist Jen-nifer Anderson is offered at 4 and 10:30 p.m., Fri., Dec. 24. The 10:30 p.m. service is a candlelight service.

Your community news and information sourceH oliday Event Guidecontinued from page 5

The Landmark Center is featuring a special St. Nicholas exhibit through Dec. 26.

on the airwaves has you longing for something more, you’ll be happy to know that the Fitzgerald Theatre, 10 E. Exchange St., St. Paul, is hosting a number of holiday con-certs.

The New Standards, a jazz trio, will pres-ent a holiday concert at 8 p.m., Fri., Dec. 3 and Sat., Dec. 4, and 2 p.m., Sun., Dec. 5. Tickets are $20-$32.

A Heartland Holiday Concert with Peter Os-troushko is presented at 8 p.m., Sat., Dec. 11. Composer and instru-mentalist Peter Ostroush-ko is accompanied by his full Heartland Holiday

Ensemble. The concert will include ancient a cappella carols of Os-troushko’s Ukranian heri-tage to Brazilian choros. Tickets are $28-$32.

Holiday Cocktails with Maria Jette is pre-sented at 8 p.m., Sat., Dec. 18. This holiday party will be filled with seasonal tunes, humorous songs and witty banter. Soprano Maria Jette has performed with the Los Angeles Chamber Or-chestra, Houston Sym-phony Orchestra, New York Chamber Sympho-ny, St. Paul Chamber Or-chestra, Minnesota Or-chestra and many others. Tickets are $28-$32.

Augustana College will present Holiday Jam with the Hegg Brothers at 7:30 p.m., Tues., Dec. 21. This musical show-case features the talents of a 9-piece band playing Christmas classics and contemporary new ar-rangements in the signa-ture lush, rhythmic and funky sounds of Jeremy Hegg, Jon Hegg, Noah

Hoehn and friends. This two-hour show will fea-ture stories of the season, messages for the heart and music to lift the spir-its. Tickets are $25-$35.

The Minnesota Or-chestra will perform Handel’s Messiah at 7:30 p.m., Thurs., Dec. 9, at the Cathedral of St. Paul, 239 Selby Ave. The first words heard in Han-del’s beloved oratorio, “Comfort Ye!,” help set the stage for an evening of magnificent music that can renew the soul. Tickets are $22-$55. For information or to order tickets, call the box office at 612-371-5642.

Other events• Holiday Flower

Show - The Marjorie McNeely Como Park Conservatory, located in Como Park, St. Paul, will feature hundreds of poin-settias during its popular holiday flower show. A toasty stroll through the Conservatory is sure to help you shake the chill of winter and warm your

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Downtown St. Paul Voice - December 2010 - Page 7

If the approaching holiday season fills you with dread over how it will affect your financ-es, you’ll want to review these money-saving strat-egies from Lou Scatigna, a financial planner, radio host and author of “The Financial Physician” (www.thefinancialphysi-cian.com).

“The holidays can ei-ther be the happiest time of the year or the most stressful time of the year,” said Scatigna. “The truth is, it can be easier. We all have high expectations for ourselves when the holidays come around, but by simply taking a step back to look at our situations realistically, we can actually plan a joyous holiday without taking ourselves to the poor-house to do it.”

His tips on holiday budget planning are:

• Honestly evaluate your current financial situation and determine how much you can spend without going into sig-nificant debt.

• Decide the maximum amount of spending that will be done on credit cards.

• Discuss with your children that during tough times, holiday spending will be lower than when times are good.

• Start shopping now. This will give you the time to search for sales and bargains. Also, great bargains can be found online so don’t overlook shopping on the Internet.

• Instead of buying 3 or 4 expensive gifts, buy a larger number of inex-pensive ones. 

• Start a holiday club bank account so next year

you will have the cash saved.

• Restrict gift buying to your immediate family.

Canine Cuties

Capitol River Coun-cil hosted a canine costume contest on Halloween at the Low-ertown Dog Park at 6th and Broadway. Winning the “Bark and Boo” contest were Meghan and Nate So-berg, dressed as a cat and chicken, with their dogs Oscar and Willow dressed as cows. Other costumed pets included Mrs. Howell, a prison-er, a painter, a latin ballroom dancer, a pumpkin and Frankenstein. The event included treats and prizes for

everyone and was sponsored by Bin Wine Bar, The Bulldog Lowertown and The Black Dog Café.

Your community news and information sourceH oliday Event Guide

Budgeting for the Holidays

FOR SALE232 East Baker St.St. Paul• 4 Bedrooms• 1 1/2 baths• New Energy Star appliances• Newer furnace and hot water heater• 2nd floor laundry, washer and dryer included• Large eat-in kitchen• Off street parking

Neighborhood Development Alliance (NeDA) is currently taking applications for the Minnesota Urban & Rural Homesteading Program (MURL) program. Home must be owner-occupied and will be sold under a contract for deed, no down payment required, zero percent interest rate on the mortgage. 30% of homeowner's gross monthly income will cover taxes, insurance and monthly mortgage payments.

MURL Program Guidelines:1. Eligible homebuyer must be a “First Time Homebuyer” HUD defined, not have owned a home in the past three years.2. Eligible homebuyers must provide proof of income and that they are not able to qualify for a conventional loan.3. The eligible homebuyer must complete Home Stretch, a 9-hour Homebuyer Education workshop offered by NeDA.4. The eligible homebuyer's household gross annual income cannot exceed the following household size: 1 Person 2 Persons 3 Persons 4 Persons 5 Persons 6 Persons $45,100 $51,550 $58,000 $64,400 $69,600 $74,750

5. The long-term goal of the program is to work with families so they are able to secure a mortgage on their own.

Call NeDA today 651-292-0131 for more information or an application

New Senior Housing in South St. Paul

Opening Fall 2011

Apply now for Thompson Heights, an independent living senior (age 55+) housing development that will be located on Thompson Avenue between 13th and 15th Avenue North in South St. Paul. The building will be completely smoke-free and will feature: • Mix of one- and two-bedroom units • Underground Heated Parking Garage • Secured Entrances • Exercise Room • Laundry Facilities • Community Room with Kitchen • Exercise & Club Rooms • Elevator • Secured Entrances • Screened PorchThere will be 60 units, of which 54 will have affordable fixed rents, and six two-bedroom units will have market rate rents.Affordable Fixed-Rent Units: • Income Limits: One person: $45,100; Two people: $51,550 • Rent: 1 bedroom = $550; 2 bedroom = $673Market Rate Units: • No income limits • Rent: $895 (includes one underground parking space)Note: These are 2010 income limits and rents and they are subject to change.

To request an application, call 651-675-4440. For more information visit www.dakotacda.org

or call 651-675-4400

Page 8 - Downtown St. Paul Voice - December 2010

Your community news and information sourceB ack in Time

Don MorganContributor

As folks in St. Paul wel-comed the Christ-

mas season in 1909, some spirits were dampened by a labor dispute and what seemed to be a rash of transportation accidents, while others were height-ened by some new down-town building projects.

The first decade of the twentieth century was the heyday of rail trans-portation. Railroads had completely transformed how quickly and cheaply goods could be moved around the country, but a system that generates a lot of money will always have conflicts about how to divide the windfall. Such was the case in De-cember 1909 when the railway switchmen went on strike over the entire western United States. The issues were simple: a demand for a six cent per

hour raise, which meant a lot more in 1909, and extra pay for overtime. The headquarters of the unions were in St. Paul and Duluth, and the ac-tion put nearly 10,000 workers off the job just before Christmas and stopped most movements of grain, livestock coal, etc. It was not a scene that made for happy Christmas thoughts.

Architectural achievements

On the upside, two construction projects were finished and ready for their grand openings. The Junior Pioneer Asso-ciation’s new building at Ninth and Exchange had several hundred people in for a house-warming and a chance to show off the building’s colonial pa-tio with its four pillars. Richly furnished, the building cost $40,000. A week later, the St. Louis

French Catholic Church, located a couple of blocks away at Tenth and Cedar, opened with not one but two archbishops attend-ing the ceremony, coming from St. Paul and Mani-toba. St. Paul’s John Ire-land took time out from trying to get the cathe-dral started to conduct the first mass. The new building cost $75,000 and took ten months to complete.

Holiday shopping, parades and snow

The Associated Mer-chants of the city knew that a lot of their profits for the year would de-pend on Christmas shop-ping. The group usually organized the downtown holiday lights and win-dow displays but that year decided to go for some-thing a little extra. Called the Halo Gala Festival, a “great civic, military and novelty demonstration”

December 1909:

Too Cold For Christmas?parade, was planned to welcome in Santa and the shopping season. It says a lot about how much times have changed that the shopping season was determined to start on Dec. 5, rather than right after Halloween. Cold and snow were predicted that night, but that was considered a proper set-ting for the season. What nobody counted on was the first winter storm of the season, which dumped over a foot of snow and brought in ex-tremely cold temps. The parade had to be can-celled, although Santa’s float made a run through the downtown loop any-way, drawn by four draft horses. Even with the bad weather, stores were busy. The popular gift item for the season seemed to be the phonograph. Record-ed music for home use was fairly new in 1909 and improved models from Edison, Victor and Columbia sold briskly.

The parade went on a week late. It drew a big crowd and helped down-town shopping along. The highlight of the week before Christmas was the YWCA’s children’s Christmas party at the Auditorium. About 3,000 young people attended. Looking for something a little more modern for the youngsters, Santa es-chewed the usual sleigh and arrived in a long black automobile. Since

the Wright brothers had made their first flight only a few years prior, Santa also mentioned that the airship might soon replace the flying reindeer. The North Pole scene included models of both Frederick Cook and Robert Peary, posed as if they were about to fight. At the time, the two were engaged in a public ar-gument over who first reached the North Pole.

Despite the delay in the big shopping opener and the fear of strike-induced layoffs, the 1909 Christ-mas season in St. Paul came and went without any major disruptions. The weather was great for the rest of the month; chilly enough so the snow remained, but not so cold as to keep folks from en-joying the season.

Train wrecksThere was a disturbing

rash of local train wrecks in December 1909. Even with the strike, some lines were still running, and they all seemed to be having bad luck. First was a minor collision in Monticello in Sherburne County, with no injuries. Two days before Christ-mas, though, 40 peo-ple were injured when their train jumped the tracks near Mankato and plunged down an em-bankment. Fortunately, the train did not go into the Minnesota River. A day later, on Christmas

Eve, a Great Northern freight train coming from Chicago had its brakes fail heading into the old Union Depot, located across from the current depot where the main post office is today. The engineer and fire-man both jumped off the engine before it plowed into the station at ram-ming speed. Amazingly, no lives were lost, but the baggage room was com-pletely destroyed.

The switchmen’s strike of 1909 was finally set-tled in March of the fol-lowing year. The union won a small raise but spent time afterward in the usual argument over whether or not it had been worth it.

St. Louis Catholic church, officially called Church of St. Louis King of France, still serves pa-rishioners and has coex-isted nicely for the past century with the slightly older Central Presbyteri-an, located next door. The Junior Pioneer building is also still there, located just behind the Dorothy Day center. There doesn’t seem to be much going on there now, but who knows what opportuni-ties may come along?

Downtown Christmas shopping isn’t what it once was, but one thing remains the same: it’s a make-or-break time for retailers.

Dec. 1 - Cashew DelightDec. 2 - Butter PecanDec. 3 - Mint OreoDec. 4 - Butter BrickleDec. 5 - Toffee PecanDec. 6 - Strawberry CheesecakeDec. 7 - TurtleDec. 8 - Egg Nog BrickleDec. 9 - Butter PecanDec. 10 - Cherry Pecan

Dec. 11 - Crazy for Cookie DoughDec. 12 - Raspberry CheesecakeDec. 13 - Mint OreoDec. 14 - Caramel PecanDec. 15 - Rocky RoadDec. 16 - Mint ChipDec. 17 - Turtle DoveDec. 18 - Snicker SwirlDec. 19 - Chocolate CheesecakeDec. 20 - Egg Nog Brickle

MON. ..................................................Taco SaladTUES. ....................Chicken Cordon Bleu SandwichWED. ................................................... BBQ PorkTHURS. ...................................BLT on Sourdough

Flavor of the Day...

CULVER’S WEST ST. PAUL

125 MARIE AVE. E. 651-457-1870

Get Culverized - www.culvers.com

Dec. 21 - Oreo Candy CaneDec. 22 - TurtleDec. 23 - Strawberry CheesecakeDec. 24 - Caramel CashewDec. 25 - CLOSEDDec. 26 - Butter PecanDec. 27 - Egg Nog BrickleDec. 28 - Red RaspberryDec. 29 - Cherry PecanDec. 30 - Oreo Candy CaneDec. 31 - Egg Nog Brickle

Daily Specials...FRI. ...........................................Tuna Salad WrapSAT. ............................................ 3 Chesse BurgerSUN. ........................................Bacon Bleu Burger

MERRY CHRISTMAS!