spv april 2011

16
West St. Paul State of the City Mary Diedrick Hansen Staff Writer “So far so good,” is the essence of West St. Paul Mayor John Zanmiller’s message about the State of West St. Paul. “Our biggest accomplishment is maintaining levels of service while weathering cuts from state aid and minimizing tax increases,” he said. Zanmiller is frustrated with the large amount of City sales tax dollars ($15 million) that go to the State and the ever-dwindling amount that is returned from the State in the form of Local Government Aid (LGA). In spite of this, Zanmiller explained that by partnering with neighboring cities on a variety of gov- ernment functions and by careful analysis of the city budget, the City is holding its own in these difficult economic times. In fact, it is anticipating even more commercial growth and revitalization along the entire Robert Street Corridor as well as the Smith Avenue corridor. The 900 block of South Robert Street is one exam- ple of redevelopment. Working in conjunction with the Dakota County Community Development Agen- cy (CDA), the city is buying buildings and formulat- WSP, MH mayors issue annual report card on their cities The city of West St. Paul is working with the Dakota County Community Development Agency to redevelop the 900 Block of South Robert Street, one of the gateways to the city. West St. Paul Report / Page 2 Mendota Heights State of the City Mary Diedrick Hansen Staff Writer When newly elected Mendota Heights Mayor San- dra Krebsbach says the City is doing fine you can be assured that she knows what she’s talking about. She has 18 years experience on the Mendota Heights City Council, sitting through 18 budgets, and has been instrumental in the development and design of the City’s industrial park and commercial intersection at Dodd Road and Highway 110. “We live within our means,” said Krebsbach of the City’s lean budget. Since the majority of city revenue comes from homeowners, she wants to ensure they are well taken care of. With careful planning and attention to design detail, the City is watching its commercial development increase to more than 200 businesses to complement and enhance the quality of living for its 4,500 households. Commercial Development The redevelopment of Mendota Plaza, on the south side of Dodd and Highway 110, began with rede- signed storefronts and parking spaces, and will con- tinue with the construction of a right-in and right-out Mendota Heights Report / Page 3 A BRAND new Smith Avenue Page 4 Sample St. Paul Event Guide Page 10 Community gardens usher in Spring Page 6 April 2011 Volume 45 Number 4 The St. Paul

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The city of West St. Paul is working with the Dakota County Community Development Agency to redevelop the 900 Block of South Robert Street, one of the gateways to the city. Commercial Development April 2011 Mendota Heights Report / Page 3 Mary Diedrick Hansen Staff Writer Mary Diedrick Hansen Staff Writer West St. Paul Report / Page 2 Number 4 Volume 45 Page 10 Page 6 Page 4

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: SPV April 2011

West St. Paul State of the CityMary Diedrick Hansen

Staff Writer

“So far so good,” is the essence of West St. Paul Mayor John Zanmiller’s message about the State of West St. Paul.

“Our biggest accomplishment is maintaining levels of service while weathering cuts from state aid and minimizing tax increases,” he said.

Zanmiller is frustrated with the large amount of City sales tax dollars ($15 million) that go to the State and the ever-dwindling amount that is returned from the State in the form of Local Government Aid (LGA). In spite of this, Zanmiller explained that by partnering with neighboring cities on a variety of gov-ernment functions and by careful analysis of the city budget, the City is holding its own in these difficult economic times. In fact, it is anticipating even more commercial growth and revitalization along the entire Robert Street Corridor as well as the Smith Avenue corridor.

The 900 block of South Robert Street is one exam-ple of redevelopment. Working in conjunction with the Dakota County Community Development Agen-cy (CDA), the city is buying buildings and formulat-

WSP, MH mayors issue annual report card on their cities

The city of West St. Paul is working with the Dakota County Community Development Agency to redevelop the 900 Block of South Robert Street, one of the gateways to the city.

West St. Paul Report / Page 2

Mendota Heights State of the CityMary Diedrick Hansen

Staff Writer

When newly elected Mendota Heights Mayor San-dra Krebsbach says the City is doing fine you can be assured that she knows what she’s talking about. She has 18 years experience on the Mendota Heights City Council, sitting through 18 budgets, and has been instrumental in the development and design of the City’s industrial park and commercial intersection at Dodd Road and Highway 110.

“We live within our means,” said Krebsbach of the City’s lean budget. Since the majority of city revenue comes from homeowners, she wants to ensure they are well taken care of. With careful planning and attention to design detail, the City is watching its commercial development increase to more than 200 businesses to complement and enhance the quality of living for its 4,500 households.

Commercial DevelopmentThe redevelopment of Mendota Plaza, on the south

side of Dodd and Highway 110, began with rede-signed storefronts and parking spaces, and will con-tinue with the construction of a right-in and right-out

Mendota Heights Report / Page 3

A BRAND new Smith AvenuePage 4

Sample St. Paul Event GuidePage 10

Community gardens usher in SpringPage 6

April 2011

Volume 45

Number 4

The St. Paul

Page 2: SPV April 2011

Page 2 - St. Paul Voice - April 2011

Your community news and information sourceS tate of the City

The St. Paul Voice is published monthly and delivered to 16,500 homes and businesses in West St. Paul, the West Side, Mendota Heights, Lilydale & Sunfish Lake.

Publisher & Editor: Tim Spitzack Copy Editor: Leslie MartinReporter: Mary Diedrick Hansen Layout & Design: Mona ToftContributors: Bill KnightMasthead design by Nick GermanoAdvertising: Mario Polanco, Henry TorresHome Delivery: Independent Delivery Service Bulk Delivery: SC Distribution 651-285-1119

The St. Paul Voice assumes no responsibility for the opinions expressed by contributors and for the validity of claims or items reported. Copyright 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 [email protected]

ing a zoning plan to shep-herd in businesses that will upgrade the north end of Robert Street. The City recently received a $7 million grant from the State to upgrade all of Robert Street. Monies will be used for repair, realignment and redesign for pedestrian friendli-ness.

A Smith Avenue Cor-ridor small area plan has been updated and a marketing and commu-nity brand campaign has been developed thanks to an 18-month effort by the 17-member Smith Avenue Area Task Force, working alongside Plan-ning and Economic Development agencies from West St. Paul and St. Paul. West St. Paul City Council member Darlene Lewis and sev-eral residents from West St. Paul were part of the dual city task force that looked closely at the area of Smith Avenue from West St. Paul’s section at the Dodd/Smith intersec-tion up to St. Paul’s High Bridge. These plans will provide a foundation for

revitalization of the cor-ridor.

BudgetZanmiller said the City

is trying to design an op-erational budget that is less dependent on unre-liable LGA funds. LGA dollars come from sales taxes from across the state that are pooled and then distributed to communi-ties without a high tax base. This is usually due to limited commercial business and lower hous-ing values. First ring sub-urbs tend to fall into this category because they have little room for re-development. LGA is de-signed to help hold prop-erty taxes down. During the past few years LGA funds have been greatly reduced. That’s because the State is dipping into the fund to help balance its budget.

“LGA is tax relief for the residents, and we are entitled to it,” said Zan-miller.

“West St. Paul sends $15 million in sales tax to the state and is getting $750,000 back.

“We should get some money back and it should be stable and not this up and down,” he said. “It takes away the incentive for commercial develop-ment on Robert Street.”

Adding more revenue through additional prop-erty development is diffi-cult, he added, since the City lacks space for fur-ther development.

The City’s goal over the next few years is to grad-

ually reduce the amount of LGA in the operating budget and finally wean itself off the funding pro-gram. Any State monies received will be placed in a Capital Expenditure Fund and used for road repair, one-time expendi-tures and debt reduction. Once LGA is out of the operational budget, the guesswork on how city services are funded will be eliminated.

TeamworkPartnering with neigh-

boring cities is a practice West St. Paul has em-braced as a way to oper-ate more effectively on a slimmer budget. From public safety to public works, collaborations are keeping costs down and efficiency up.

“The collaboration between inner-ring sub-urbs is common, but the cities surrounding West St. Paul, like Mendota Heights, South St. Paul and Inver Grove Heights have really accelerated it, and it is a model that other cities will soon be following,” said Zanmill-er. “Most cities are nearly fully developed and have a set of responsibilities and obligations that must be met in operating the city. In this growing tech-nological era specialists and specialized equip-ment are needed to stay current. But one city may not need these specialists for 40 hours each week.

“The best example is Information Technol-ogy,” he added. “Each city has an IT person but it’s very difficult for them to specialize in all areas.

So, one city specializes in licensing, another in police records, and an-other in financial report-ing. Those specialists are shared among the cities. If the computer breaks down and the IT person is out of town, there is always a back-up to help from one of the other cit-ies.”

Public WorksWest St. Paul Public

Works has a joint powers agreement with 10 metro cities to mutually bid on material needed for a va-riety of public works road maintenance projects, including seal-coating, crack-filling, pavement-striping and purchase of road salt. Zanmiller is pleased with the con-struction of the new City Public Works Building, at 403 Marie Ave. E., and is looking forward to the grand opening on Mar. 30. It was constructed as a cooperative venture with Dakota County.

Public safetyNearly half of the City

budget goes toward pub-lic safety. Zanmiller re-jects the idea of making cuts to the department even if city revenues drop.

“I do not want to make cuts to public safety or to other departments in order to maintain public safety,” said Zanmiller. “We are very frugal and can justify all our expen-ditures. We are running leaner than we ever have. The big issue is labor costs, and the city is in negotiations with various labor groups right now.”

The Police Department is working with other cit-ies on investigations and in backing up patrol offi-cers in Mendota Heights, South St. Paul and In-ver Grove Heights. The number of adults charged with felonies rose from 167 in 2009 to 190 in 2010. Drug related crimes top the felony list, followed by theft, forg-ery and stolen property. Juveniles charged with gross misdemeanors and misdemeanors dropped from 142 in 2009 to 123 in 2010. Burglary was at the top of the list for juveniles, followed by disorderly conduct. Za-nmiller highlighted the cooperative work of in-formation sharing and analysis that takes place between neighboring cit-ies.

The South Metro Fire Department is in its third year of a joint powers agreement with West St. Paul. Of the 38 full-time employees, 21 are fire-fighters. In addition to fighting fires, the depart-ment does building in-spections and emergency medical transportation, handles hazardous mate-rial and performs water rescues. Last year the de-partment responded to 1,300 fire emergencies, 3,250 emergency medi-cal calls and conducted 1,000 preventive visits to properties in the city.

HousingThe rising number of

vacant houses in the City is a challenge, Zanmiller said. In 2008 the city had 300 vacant homes. That number dropped to

around 200 in 2009. In 2010 numbers were up again to 234, including 95 foreclosed homes.

“We are working with all levels of government on housing replacement and home improve-ments,” said Zanmiller. “I firmly believe that we will emerge out of this housing slump faster than the outer-ring cit-ies with the big jumbo mortgage defaults on the big mansions. We con-tinue to buy substandard homes, tear them down and sell the lots for new development.”

Zanmiller also said the City’s rental licensure program is successful at keeping bad landlords out.

“We don’t want to be too overly burdensome to the good landlords, so we are always looking at ways of tweaking the pro-gram to make it better,” he said.

The City is also trying to prevent an over-satu-ration of rental property in any one area because that can affect homestead property owners in a neg-ative way.

What can residents do? “Get involved, whether

it’s through a church, civ-ic or charity organization. Be part of the solution,” advised Zanmiller. “Talk to your council member. There are six of them, so there shouldn’t be a line, and sell West St. Paul as a quality place to live. It’s the shining city on the hill and the example for all to see!”

West St. Paul Reportfrom page 1

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Johnson-PetersonCasa Funeria y Cremación

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Page 3: SPV April 2011

St. Paul Voice - April 2011 - Page 3

Your community news and information sourceS tate of the City

access at Highway 110. Walgreens is a recent ad-dition.

Building permits num-bered 1,194 in 2010 and brought $211,773 in rev-enue to the City. A large chunk of that money came from significant investment in the Men-dota Plaza and in the In-dustrial Park with Bitu-minous Roadways. New retailers in the Village of Mendota Heights, on the north side of Dodd and Highway 110, include the Medicine Shoppe and Mendoberri Café and Wine Bar.

“Mendota Heights has never had to market it-self,” said Krebsbach. Yet she intends to use the city’s close proximity to the Metropolitan Air-port to its full advantage by promoting the city to corporate and regional businesses as a great place to locate. The main thor-oughfares of Highway 55, and interstates 35E and 494 run through the city and provide easy ac-cess to the airport.

Public SafetyThe all volunteer Fire

Department is well- trained and has an aver-age response time of 6.9 minutes, according to Krebsbach. She also men-tioned that Police Re-serves are a helpful addi-tion to the police force in maintaining security and crowd control at commu-nity events.

Airport noiseThe City will continue

to monitor the Eagan/Mendota Heights flight path, which follows the city’s Industrial Park cor-ridor. Krebsbach noted that in the 1970s Men-dota Heights  removed over 30 homes to create the industrial park as the corridor for air traffic. 

The long-term 2030 plan for the Metropolitan Airport Commission in-cludes adding 114 gates that would be located at the Humphrey Terminal and the east side of the Lindbergh (main) Ter-minal. Lindbergh will eventually be dedicated exclusively to Delta air traffic and the Humphrey Terminal will handle the rest.

“What we do not want is a third parallel run-way, but the plan  main-tains  they can have this expansion without ad-ditional runways,” said Krebsbach.

  Par 3 Golf course

The Par 3 on Dodd Road between Marie Av-enue and Wentworth Av-enue has a cash reserve of $42,000 but had an operating deficit of ap-proximately $5,000 in 2010.  There were 11,200 rounds played in 2010.

BudgetTaxable real estate

in the City is valued at $1.7 billion. Property tax from homeowners brings

in about 80 percent of the revenue.  Commer-cial property adds about 15 percent and industri-al accounts for the rest. Property taxes remain one of the lowest in Da-kota County. The last few years have resulted in a reduction in property values of six percent.  In 2010, Mendota Heights lost $114,000 in Lo-cal Government Aid

“We managed through that,” said Krebsbach. One cost-saving measure will likely be to redistrib-ute the duties of retiring staff rather than hiring replacements, she added.

Looking aheadKrebsbach will push for

increasing regulation of rental housing and new maintenance standards for commercial and in-dustrial park businesses.

Dakota County High Performance Partnership (HiPP) is reconvening to investigate what cities can do to work together to share services, said Krebsbach. The partner-ship is responsible for the joint Dakota County Communications Center.

Krebsbach wants to take a team approach with two new City Coun-cil members, and seven new advisory commission members, and return to an earlier day in Mendota Heights when the council met with commissioners.

“We need to make sure the new generation of leadership understands that we got here by de-sign,” said Krebsbach.

That is why she is care-ful when it comes to com-mercial development and the impact, good or bad, that it can have on the the City. For example, Krebsbach does not look favorably on 24-hour businesses because it af-fects how many police of-ficers must be on duty. In addition, she said the city must be careful about al-lowing restaurants adja-cent to residential neigh-borhoods to stay open until 1 a.m. because the extra traffic and noise brought into a neighbor-hood at late hours can af-fect housing values.

  “Commercial is very challenging,” she said. “We need to evaluate what effect it will have on the nearby neighbor-hood. Decisions need to be made that are for the greater good of the nearby residents. It can take years to build a de-sirable community and it can come undone in two years.”

A citywide survey de-signed to learn what resi-dents think about their City is on the docket for next year. The last survey was conducted in 1992.

With a new website and updated newslet-ter, the city will continue to improve communica-tion with residents and businesses in the months ahead.

Mendota Heights Reportfrom page 1

The city of Mendota Heights spent $1.4 mil-lion to refurbish and repaint its water tower.

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Page 4: SPV April 2011

Page 4 - St. Paul Voice - April 2011

Your community news and information sourceE conomic Development

A BRAND new Smith AvenueTask force continues efforts to rebrand the avenue

What causes radiating pain in the lower back?

Sciatica is defined as pain that radi-ates from the lower back into the buttocks and down the back of one or both legs, caused by the irritation of the sciatic nerves, the largest nerves of the body. It usually begins as an acute pain in the lower back and then radiates down the back of either or both legs. There are five pairs of nerves that exit the spine in the lower back. These nerves make up what we know as the sciatic nerves. If the vertebrae or bones in the lower back are misaligned or out of place, or the discs between the vertebrae are swol-len, bulged or herniated, the result is pressure on those nearby nerves. This can cause tremendous pain, and normal daily activities become almost impossible.

Common symptoms include sensation changes on the back of the calf or the sole of the foot; numbness, tingling, burning, pain in the back calf or sole of the foot; weakness of the knee or foot; difficulty walking; and in severe cases, inability to move the foot or bend the knee.

Chiropractic care works on correcting misaligned or out of place vertebrae and can remove the pressure placed on the sciatic nerve, reducing pain and improv-ing flexibility and function. To see if chiropractic may be able to help you, call 651-455-5264 today for a complimentary consultation.

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Back in BalanceCHIROPRACTIC & REHAB CLINIC

Bilingual Marketing Specialist

Reliable Insurance, a 17-year-old independent insurance agency in

West St. Paul, is seeking a bilingual marketing specialist.

The position involves marketing our agency toindividuals and businesses in our community, setting appointments, and assisting with translation services. The ideal candidate will have excellent Spanish and English verbal skills and be extremely customer service oriented.

The position offers a base pay of $8 per hour plus a $50 bonus for each new client referred to our agency. Part-time but will grow into full-time for the right candidate.

For more information, view the detailed job description at www.reliableinsurance.com, click on the "Career" tab, or contact Steve at [email protected], or visit Reliable Insurance at 161 Marie Ave. E., West St. Paul.

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This is one of several new slogans and brand-ing designs under consideration.

Mary Diedrick HansenStaff Writer

Smith Avenue is an as-set to both St. Paul

and West St. Paul. On that, the two cities agree. How to embrace, en-hance and market the neighborhood, and sus-tain its long-term vitality, however, has long been a puzzle.

The pieces began to fall into place when St. Paul’s Planning and Econom-ic Development (PED) advised the West Side Citizens Organization (WSCO) to decertify its 1984 Smith Avenue Task Force Report.

What happened next is a first-of-its-kind collab-oration between the cities to devise an updated revi-talization plan. The work began 18 months ago.

Now the cities have re-vealed a strategic outline

to move Smith Avenue forward.

The area included in the plan begins at Dodd Road on the south end, which is part of West St. Paul, then crosses into St. Paul at Annapolis and continues to the High Bridge. Several blocks on both sides of Smith Av-enue are included in the plan.

The process got rolling when former Riverview Economic Development Association (REDA) Ex-ecutive Director, Chris Romano, and West St. Paul Councilmember, Darlene Lewis met with concerned stakeholders along the Avenue. This group was organized into the Smith Avenue Task Force. Funding for the undertaking came from St. Paul’s Capital Im-provement Budget, West St. Paul’s Economic De-

velopment Authority, and Dakota County.

The Task Force called for a neighborhood anal-ysis to determine Smith Avenue’s values, assets and priorities. The find-ings from this analy-sis will be used as the foundation for strategies that the planners say are needed for econom-ic, environmental and physical growth along Smith Avenue. Partners in the endeavor include REDA, the Neighbor-hood Development Al-liance (NeDA), WSCO and PED. A task force of 17 business owners and residents from both cities actively participated.

The study showed that residents want to pre-serve the neighborhood’s small-town feel. They are satisfied with zon-ing along Smith Avenue, which is a residential

and commercial corridor. Zoning between St. Paul and West St. Paul is in-consistent however, and residents would like to see that resolved.

The majority of buildings along the Avenue were construct-ed between 1900 and 1920. According to the study, stakeholders agree that it is important to maintain and improve the historic structures to retain the character of the neighborhood, while providing more housing for residents. New con-struction that meshes with the existing historic fabric should be encour-aged, respondents said.

Everyone agrees that Smith Avenue’s majestic view of the State Capi-tol must be preserved. Height restrictions on buildings in the blocks approaching the High

Bridge will ensure this is done. Construction of a Gateway Park at the top of the High Bridge, with plants in the me-dian, was suggested as a way to alert commuters and bicyclists that they are entering a special dis-trict. Raised crosswalks

and sidewalk bump-outs were suggested as a way to slow traffic and make the Avenue more pedes-trian-friendly. Other sug-gestions included install-ing globe-style lampposts to accentuate the neigh-borhood’s historic assets, and adding brickwork at

Every Friday Mar. 11-April 15

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All You Care To Eat Fish (baked or fried) with baked potato, vegetable, salad bar, bread,

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Page 5: SPV April 2011

St. Paul Voice - April 2011 - Page 5

Your community news and information sourceE conomic Developmentintersections to set the corridor apart and create a unique community en-vironment.

Residents and business-es have found parking difficult along Smith Av-enue because of inconsis-tent parking restrictions. Business attraction and retention has also been difficult, with a current vacancy of about 20 per-cent between the High Bridge and Dodd Road, a rate consistent over the past 30 years. The neigh-borhood analysis sug-gested that the vacancy rate could be improved by establishing a new as-sociation or using exist-ing business associations, such as REDA, to coor-dinate marketing efforts and recruit prospective businesses.

Establishing a com-munity brand is another piece of the revitaliza-tion plan. A community brand is a way to distin-guish one neighborhood from another.

The following position statement is the basis for

the proposed Smith Av-enue brand:

It is a historic neigh-borhood avenue that pro-vides unique and diverse restaurant and retail goods and services for patrons seeking a genuine experience and personal connections to indepen-dent local business own-ers and the community.

Furthermore, Smith Avenue is local yet in-viting, historic yet filled with a progressive spirit of opportunity. It’s ur-ban but “green,” close to everything, and known for the High Bridge and its spectacular views of the State Capitol and the Mississippi River. It’s

a hardworking avenue, alive with potential while remaining connected to the past.

Smith Avenue must be perceived as consistently offering a unique, eclec-tic and interesting mix of quality goods and ser-vices that create a memo-rable, locally connected experience.

The architectural and planning firm Hay Dobbs created a Smith Avenue graphic reflecting these concepts. The design (see page 4) is not a logo. Rather, it is a graphic that can be used in different

ways, with different slo-gans, reflecting the diver-sity of the neighborhood. The graphic is composed of two circles with the High Bridge in the mid-dle since it is the visually identifiable landmark of Smith Avenue. “Smith Avenue” is printed along the top of the circles.

The circles are a bit ir-regular, not slick or over-ly polished, and represent the two cities. One circle is inside the other, repre-senting two adjacent cit-ies that share the Avenue. One is larger, one small-er; they are connected yet

independent. A variety of slogans can be printed along the lower part of the circle, such as: “Stub-bornly Local,” “Positively Local,” “Passionately Lo-cal,” “A Capitol View,” and so forth. The font highlights the Avenue’s historic nature by show-ing slight imperfections that create character and uniqueness.

Using the brand well to make it identifiable takes creativity. The Smith Avenue graphic identity is intended to be used alongside individual mar-keting efforts as well as

communitywide market-ing efforts. For example, the graphic with slogans can be displayed on T-shirts, stationery and ad-vertisements.

A list of 84 strategies has been assigned to vari-ous parties to move the entire plan forward. In the next few months, the Smith Avenue Revitaliza-tion Initiative will be re-viewed and is expected to be adopted as an amend-ment to the comprehen-sive plans of both West St. Paul and St. Paul.

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Art EventsOpening Reception

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Page 6: SPV April 2011

Page 6 - St. Paul Voice - April 2011

Your community news and information sourceC ommunity Gardens

Mary Diedrick HansenStaff Writer

Community gardens are sprouting up all

over St. Paul, with seven new locations taking root in 2011. When the warm breezes of spring finally arrive, gardening aficio-nados are expected to de-scend on newly tilled soil like a swarm of bumble bees to fresh pollen.

The St. Paul Parks and Recreation Depart-ment has a goal of steer-ing some of the growing enthusiasm for garden-ing toward its volunteer gardening programs. The City has 220,000-square-feet of gardens, more than 150 planters, and 500 hanging plants to maintain.

In 2010, 48 percent of all park gardens were maintained with the help of garden stewards — volunteer groups or individuals who worked

alongside Parks and Rec gardening staff, planting, weeding, mulching and maintaining ornamen-tal gardens throughout the city. Volunteer help is also needed at the de-partment’s Harriet Is-land Greenhouse to help gardening staff grow and care for plants.

A zeal for gardening on the West Side was evidenced last year when two community gardens opened; one behind the Dunedin Terrace Apart-ments at 469 Ada St., and the other by the Torre De San Miguel homes at 58 Wood St. Gardening lov-ers from the apartments and neighbors living nearby constructed these gardens quickly. West Side resident Don Ober-dorfer, who works at the Dodge Nature Center, brought the nature cen-ter’s tractor to till the soil.

On April 23 a third

garden will be unveiled near Stryker Avenue and Elizabeth Street. The Stryker Avenue Com-munity Garden will be laid out that day using a design created by West Side artist Craig David. Students from Macalaster College will be on hand to help construct raised garden beds. The garden is expected to revitalize a large weedy lot that has been vacant and a magnet for trouble for 12 years. A portion of the produce from the gardens is ex-pected to go to a nearby food shelf.

The annual West Side Plant Exchange will be held at the Stryker Av-enue Community Garden 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., May 14. Master garden-ers will be available to answer questions.

“It’s the seventh annu-al event,” said Maureen Hark, one of the event’s founders. “We always

have perennials, but last year there were lots of vegetables. That’s because Don Oberdorfer brought flats from the Dodge Na-ture Center.

“People always grow too much,” she added, “so if you want to get started in gardening but don’t have any plants to exchange, you are still

welcome to come and pick up things. We just ask gardeners to stay with their plants and find homes for them. Garden-ing tools like extra shov-els, pots or edging mate-rials are also encouraged for exchange.”

Why the budding in-terest in gardening?

“Everybody eats,” said

Hark. “As Minnesotans we generally like to be outdoors, and garden-ing is a hobby everyone can have. It’s inexpensive and it builds connections through sharing. You don’t need a lot of land, just interest. You can gar-den in a high rise with herbs in the house in the winter and tomato plants

The West Side is GrowingGreen thumbs dig up the neighborhood

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Sustaining You! Earth Day classes include: Build Your Own Rain Barrel April 2, 10-11 am, West 7th store $35/$30 members (Includes price of rain

barrel, thanks to a grant from the Capitol

Region Watershed District)

Compost & Soil Preparation for Organic Gardening April 23, 10-11:30 am, West 7th store $15/$12 members

The Sustainable Kitchen April 5, 6:30-8:30 pm, West 7th store $15/$13 members

What Does Certified Organic Really Mean? April 28, 6:30-8 pm, West 7th store $15/$12 members

On-line registration now available! www.msmarket.coop

The annual West Side Plant Exchange will be held at the Stryker Av-enue Community Garden 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., May 14.

Page 7: SPV April 2011

St. Paul Voice - April 2011 - Page 7

Your community news and information sourceC ommunity Gardenson a balcony in the sum-mer.”

In just the past year, Hark, a member of the West Side Citizens Orga-nization (WSCO) Envi-ronmental Justice Com-mittee, has begun doing something she has want-ed to do for a long time: organizing speakers to discuss a variety of food and gardening issues.

Last April she orga-nized a workshop on ed-ible landscaping, held at Jerabek’s New Bohemian Coffee House on the West Side. A couple of master gardeners spoke and an-

swered questions. Hark was delighted when 20 people showed up, some from Minneapolis. Last fall she organized a work-shop on saving seeds. Experts sat down with gardeners and talked over seed-saving methods, and exchanged seeds.

In January Hark joined forces with Oberdorfer to talk about raising chick-ens in the city.

“All these people we had never seen before were at WSCO; the room was full,” said Hark, who discussed a number of aspects of this endeavor,

including permits, work-ing with neighbors and the more social aspects of farming chickens. Oberdorfer brought live chickens for some hands-on experience.

Laura McGuire from McGuire’s Urban Farm on the West Side’s Con-gress Street was part of a “starting seeds for a veg-etable garden indoors” presentation in Febru-ary. McGuire grows to-matoes, peppers, herbs and flowers on her urban farm. She sells seedlings in the spring and her har-

vest in the fall.There was a full house

for the “Ins and Outs of Worm Composting” presentation. Don Ober-dorfer was the speaker, along with West Side resident Lee Olson, who brought the worms and bins. Worm composting involves feeding house-hold waste to redworms and other organisms. The organisms digest the waste and their castings produce a soil amend-ment rich in nutrients that are directly available to plants.

“Worm composting can be done outside, or you can have a little com-post bin in the basement or one under the kitchen sink if you are in an apart-ment,” said Hark. “The fertilizer produced can be used on house plants. It’s great for people who live in a city and don’t have access to yards.”

Hark is planning an-other project, “Beans on the Boulevard,” to help raise awareness of hun-ger. Ten-foot-high bean poles will be provided by WSCO for growing rat-

tlesnake beans.“Rattlesnake beans

are very flavorful raw or cooked,” said Hark. “We want enough beans to feed a family and neigh-bors. The point is shar-ing. The plan is to give a portion to a food shelf. Gardening and its harvest serves different popula-tions and can draw the whole community to-gether.”

Hark is looking for 20 to 30 first-timers or sea-soned gardeners to help bring her plans to frui-tion.

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Page 8: SPV April 2011

Page 8 - St. Paul Voice - April 2011

Your community news and information sourceN ews BriefsOptometrist of the Year award

Dr. Mark Hennen with Dakota Eye Care Associ-ates in West St. Paul re-cently received the Dr. Louis A. Allgeyer Dis-tinguished Optometrist of the Year Award by the Minnesota Optometric Association (MOA). The award is presented to an optometrist who has been active in the opto-metric community and in his or her local com-munity. Hennen is a pre-vious MOA Optometrist of the Year award winner, past MOA president, and recently completed 22 years on the American Optometric Association

Healthcare Access com-mittee. He has served on the St. Joseph’s School Board, coached girls and boys basketball, par-ticipated in two mission trips to Vietnam as a Project Health volunteer, and stays active in opto-metric organizations.

Larocque receives Athena award

Humboldt High School senior Teresa Larocque has received an Athena award for excellence in

athletics and academics. She has participated in soccer for two years and softball and basketball for four years, was captain of all three teams and was named All Conference this year in basketball. Larocque participates in Student Council, Indi-an Education, National Honor Society, and Gear Up. She was a Homecom-ing Queen candidate, is an active volunteer and is on the “A” honor roll.

WSP curbside appliance pick-up and shred events

The city of West St. Paul is hosting its an-nual curbside appliance pick-up day 8 a.m.-noon, Mon., April 25. The fol-lowing appliances will be accepted: air condi-tioners, dehumidifiers, disposals, dishwashers, dryers, furnaces, freezers, humidifiers, microwaves, refrigerators, stoves, trash compactors, washers and water heaters. The cost is $20 for the first appliance

and $10 for each addi-tional appliance. Reser-vations are required and must be made by noon, April 22 by calling Cer-tified Recycling at 952-894-1448. Appliances must be in a square, non-compacted condition and not contain food, debris or other foreign material. Certified Recycling has the right to refuse any appliance under this pro-gram.

The city of West St. Paul is also hosting its second annual Shred event 9 a.m.-noon, Sat., April 16, at the Municipal Center parking lot, 1616 Humboldt Ave. West St. Paul residents may bring confidential material to be shredded and recycled, including credit card of-fers, receipts, check stubs, old bills, bank and loan information, medi-cal records, tax records, investment records, and anything with your social security number on it. All metal tabs, binders and clips must be removed. For more information,

call the city of West St. Paul at 651-552-4144.

Holy Family Maronite hostsLenten dinners

Holy Family Maronite Catholic Church, 1960 Lexington Ave., Mendota Heights, will have fish-less Lenten dinners this year, served 5-7 p.m., each Friday during Lent. The meals will feature all-you-can-eat Leba-nese cuisine, including Loobya (green beans in tomato sauce with season-ings) served over a bed of Lebanese rice, deep-fried eggplant slices, Lebanese salad, flat bread, garlic sauce, homemade cakes and refreshments. New items added weekly. Cost is $10 per person. For more information, call 651-291-1116.

Ham BingoSt. Michael Church of

West St. Paul is hosting Ham Bingo 7-10 p.m., Fri., April 8 in the school gym at 337 E. Hurley.

Participants will have the chance to win 12 hams and cash prizes. For more details, visit www.stmi-chaelweststpaul.org.

Humboldt H-ClubThe 6th annual Hum-

boldt H-Club Hall of Fame banquet will be held Tues., April 12, at the Prom Center, 484 In-wood Ave., Oakdale. The event begins with a social hour at 5:30 p.m., fol-lowed by a steak dinner and program at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased in advance from Dave Mergens, Humboldt High School athletic director, 30 E. Baker St., St. Paul, or by calling 651-290-7042.

H-Club Inductees are Louis Greegard, class of 1929, Bill Amadick, class of 1950, Jack Colvard, class of 1952, Leonard Levine, class of 1956, John Genz, class of 1963, Martin Mendez, class of 1963, Robin Deuth, class of 1979, and Ron Clev-enger, class of 1982.

Help with your heating bills ?

Nearly all Minnesota households spend a large share oftheir income on energy costs. For households with limitedincome, this can be especially stressful.

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Page 9: SPV April 2011

St. Paul Voice - April 2011 - Page 9

Your community news and information sourceN ews Briefs

Lenten Enchilada dinner at OLG

Our Lady of Guadal-upe Church, 401 Con-cord St., St. Paul, is host-ing Mexican enchilada dinners 11:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. each Friday through April 22. Cost is $9 for a large plate and $7 for a small plate to dine-in, and $15 for a dozen for take-out. For more in-formation, call 651-228-0506.

Easter Ham BingoSt. Matthews Men’s

Club is hosting Easter Ham Bingo 5-8 p.m., Sat., April 9 in the so-cial hall, 490 Hall Ave., St Paul. The event will feature pizza, beverages and a $50 coverall, which begins at 7:30 p.m. Pro-ceeds will support youth athletics at St. Matthews.

Community Calendar

• The Optimist Club - The Optimist Club of West St. Paul meets 5-6 p.m., the first and third Wednesday of each month at West Side Lanes, 1625 South Rob-ert St., West St. Paul. Visitors and new mem-bers are welcome. For more information, con-tact Cheryl Bergstrom at [email protected] or 651-450-7391.

• Veterans’ meet-ings - The Riverview-West St. Paul VFW Post 4462 hosts monthly meetings at 7 p.m., the first Wednesday of each

month, at the West St. Paul Armory. For more information, call 651-437-4481. American Le-gion Post 521 also hosts monthly meetings at the Armory. Meeting times are 7 p.m., the fourth Tuesday of each month.

• Rotary Club - The West St. Paul/Mendota Heights Rotary Club hosts a weekly meeting at 7:30 a.m., Wednesdays, at Southview Country Club, 239 E. Mendota Road, West St. Paul. Each meeting features break-fast and a guest speaker. For more information, visit www.rotarywspmh.org.

• Kiwanis Club - The Kiwanis Club of West St. Paul hosts a weekly meet-ing at noon, Tuesdays, at Southview Country Club, 239 E. Mendota Road, West St. Paul. Each meeting features lunch and a guest speaker.

• Chamber of Com-merce - The Dakota County Regional Cham-ber of Commerce, which serves West St. Paul, Mendota Heights, Eagan, Rosemount and Farm-ington, hosts a monthly meeting called “The Buzz,” at 7:30 a.m., the first Thursday of each month at the Northern Dakota County Ser-vice Center in West St. Paul. Each meeting fea-tures networking, a guest speaker and refreshments. For more information, call 651-452-9872 or vis-it www.dcrchamber.com.

Curves hosts food drive

During the month of April, Curves gyms in the West St. Paul area will participate in the 13th Annual Curves Food Drive to collect non-perishable food and cash donations to benefit area food banks. Cur-rent members who make a $30 donation or an equivalent donation of food are eligible to re-ceive a Curves reusable Food Drive grocery bag.

From April 4-17, Curves will waive the member-ship fee for new members who donate a bag of non-perishable food or make a minimum donation of $30.

In addition to the food and monetary donations that each gym collects, Curves International is offering gyms the oppor-tunity to win cash prizes for their local food banks. Prizes will be awarded to clubs with the most food collected, clubs who beat their 2010 donation level by the largest amount, and to two randomly selected clubs that par-ticipate in the contest. Curves clubs have donat-ed more than 61 million pounds of food in the U.S. and Canada since 2004.

Optimist of the Year nominations

The Optimist Club of West St. Paul, which sponsors youth pro-grams in West St. Paul, is accepting applications for its annual Optimist of the Year award. The award recognizes a per-son who best exempli-fies the spirit of giving of oneself to make the com-munity a better place for

kids to live, work and at-tend school.

Nominees may be of any age and must live, work or attend school in West St. Paul. To nomi-nate someone, write a short description of their qualifications and why they should be consid-ered for the award. In-clude projects, accom-plishments or other ways the nominee has made a difference in the lives of area children. Include their address and phone number as well. Send nominations to Optimist Club of West St. Paul, 1019 Felix St., West St. Paul, MN 55118, or [email protected]. En-tries must be postmarked by April 25 to qualify. For more information, contact Kelly at 651-437-6542 or Don at 651-457-0917.

Optimist Club awards scholarship

The Optimist Club of West St. Paul awarded a $2,500 scholarship to Jamie Korpela, a sopho-more at Rosemount High School, for winning the Optimist International District Communica-tion Contest for the deaf and hard of hearing, held Mar. 19 in Fargo, North Dakota. The theme of this year’s contest was “If I were leader of the free world, the first issue I would address would be ...” The contest was open to students who have a hearing loss of 40 deci-bels or more. Students could sign or speak their presentation. To learn more about Optimist International, call 314-371-6000 or visit www.optimist.org.

Photo by Marina Castillo

Members of the South Family YMCA in West St. Paul collected about $10,000 during the Cycle for Y Partners event in mid-February. Nearly 100 cyclists pedaled stationary bikes, noon-2 p.m., to raise funds for Y programs, including Youth in Government, Leaders Club, swim les-sons, summer camp and other youth programs. Currently, one in four members at the South Family YMCA receives financial assistance to attend the Y or take part in its programs. For more information, call 651-457-0048.

St. Matthew's Catholic Church510 Hall Avenue, St. Paul • 651-224-9793

www.st-matts.org

Welcome to the Church of St. Matthew. Lent can be a time of renewal, a time to begin again, a time to grow in faith. If you have been away for awhile, welcome back. No questions asked.

Palm Sunday - April 17Mass and Blessing of Palms

Saturday: 4:00 pm, Sunday: 8:00 am, 10:30 am, Forgiveness Service

(non-sacramental), Sunday, 2:00 pm

Monday, April 18Mass: 6:45 am, Confessions: 4:00 pm

Stations: 7:00 pm

Tuesday, April 19Mass: 6:45 am and 12:10 pm

Confessions: 7:15 am and 7:00 pm

Wednesday, April 20Mass: 6:45 am and 12:10 pm

Confessions: 4:00 pm

Holy Thursday - April 211 Supper of the Lord: 5:00 pm

Good Friday - April 22 Stations of the Cross: noon

Solemn Liturgy: 5:00 pm

Holy Saturday - April 23 Easter Vigil: 8:00 pm

Easter Sunday - April 24 Easter Mass: 8:00 & 10:30 am

Holy Week & Easter

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Page 10: SPV April 2011

Page 10 - St. Paul Voice - April 2011

Science Museum“Tutankhamun: The

Golden King and the Great Pharaohs” is fea-tured through Sept. 5. The exhibit, which fea-tures more than 100 ar-tifacts of the treasures of King Tut, explores the time of the pharaohs and what scientists have re-cently discovered regard-ing the unexpected death of King Tut.

To complement the exhibit, the Omninthe-atre is featuring “Mum-mies: Secrets of the Pharaohs.” In the late 19th century, 40 royal mummies, including 12 Kings of Egypt, were dis-covered together in the same tomb. Today, scien-tists continue to explore the process of ancient Egyptian mummification using modern technol-ogy. See the first mod-ern mummification in the Egyptian style since the time of the pharaohs, and find out what mys-teries scientists hope to unravel by studying an-

cient DNA. Weekday tickets are $25 for adults and $16 for children ages 4-12 and $23 for seniors age 60 and older, or $30, $18 and $29 respectively on the weekend. Price includes all Science Mu-seum exhibits.

Museum tickets are $11 for adults and $8.50 for children ages 4-12 and seniors age 60 and older, or $17 and $14.50 re-spectively with admission to the Omnitheater. Om-nitheater tickets alone are $8/$7. The Science Mu-seum is located at 120 W. Kellogg Blvd. For more information, visit www.smm.org or call 651-221-9444.

Ordway Center for Performing Arts

“STOMP” is presented through April 3 at the Or-dway Center, 345 Wash-ington St., St. Paul. The eight-member troupe uses everything but con-ventional percussion in-struments – matchboxes, wooden poles, brooms,

garbage cans, Zippo lighters, hubcaps – to fill the stage with magnifi-cent rhythms. Updates include two new pieces, “Paint Cans” and “Do-nuts,” plus revisions to the favorite piece “Bins.” Tickets are $27-$65.

BeijingDance/LDTX is presented at 7:30 p.m., Tues., April 5. Beijing-Dance/LDTX was born out of a controversial time of cultural change in China, becoming the country’s first non-gov-ernmental and indepen-dent professional dance company. Founded by veteran choreographers and a new generation of dancers in China, Bei-jingDance/LDTX mixes Chinese traditions and Western contemporary movement styles to cre-ate captivating and tech-nically breathtaking performances. Tickets are $15-$30. For more information, call 651-224-4222 or visit www.ordway.org.

History TheatreKevin Kling’s “A Tale of

Twin Cities” is presented through April 3. Min-nesota storyteller Kevin Kling teams up with local singer-songwriter Simone Perrin to spin some yarns and sing some tunes that explore the sometimes loving, sometimes tumul-tuous, shared histories of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Tickets are $28-$32 for adults, $25-$30 for seniors and $10 for chil-dren.

“American as Curry Pie” is presented through April 10. First-genera-tion immigrant and local artist Aamera Siddiqui guides audiences through her 30-year journey to become an American citi-zen. Told with honesty and humor, it is about living with multiple identities and discover-ing what it means to be an American. Tickets are $25-$30 for adults, $22-$28 for seniors and $10 for children.

Sample Night Live, a sampling of local pro-ductions, is featured at the History Theatre at 7 p.m. the first Wednesday of each month, except February. The format fea-tures 12 acts per night,

including theater, film, dance, improv, visual arts, folk and opera. The next performance is April 6. Tickets are $20. The History Theater is locat-ed at 30 E. Tenth St., St. Paul. For more informa-tion, call the box office at 651-292-4323.

Children’s Museum“LEGO Castle Adven-

ture” is featured through Sept. 11. Visitors help design a new castle for the king and queen us-ing one of the greatest building materials of all time — LEGO bricks. Visitors can construct castles, learn about real-

Your community news and information sourceS ample St. Paul

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Washington at age 19: Young surveyor – This life-sized wax image shows how George Washington looked at age 19. It was created by a team of forensic anthropologists, spatial modelers, curators and artists, and is one of three such models in the exhibit “Discover the Real George Washington: New Views from Mount Vernon,” now showing at the Minne-sota History Center.

Page 11: SPV April 2011

St. Paul Voice - April 2011 - Page 11

Your community news and information sourceS ample St. Paulworld castles and their building secrets, and plan their ideal castle’s defens-es. Families may explore the inside of the royal castle, test their fortress designs with a catapult, spot a dragon and climb a battlement wall.

“Framed: Step into Art” is presented through May 15. Enter the frame-work of famous paintings and experience art like never before. View origi-nal and famous parodies of Mona Lisa, and cre-ate your own version of Mona Lisa’s enigmatic expression by putting your face in a cutout version of the painting. Participants may also cre-ate their own wall mural with chalk and create their own art gallery by arranging works of art in frames.

Tickets are $8.95. The museum is located at 10 W. Seventh St., St. Paul. For more information, call 651-225-6000.

History Center“The Value of One

Life” is presented through April 10 at

the Minnesota History Center, 345 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul. This ex-hibit highlights portraits of eight people who sur-vived life-altering events and went on to lead in-spiring lives.

“Discover the Real George Washington: New Views from Mount Vernon” is presented through May 29. Learn about George Washing-ton as a young surveyor, dauntless warrior, entre-preneur and presidential first. This new travel-ing exhibit from Mount Vernon  features forensic

models of Washington at ages 19, 45 and 57, short films by the History Channel, computer in-teractive segments, por-traits and decorative arts, period weapons and per-sonal artifacts, including the only surviving full set of Washington’s dentures. 

Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and college students, and $5 for children ages 6-17. The center offers free ad-mission on Tuesdays, 5-8 p.m. For more informa-tion, call 651-259-3000 or visit www.mnhs.org.

Park Square Theatre

A stage adaptation of Harper Lee’s classic novel “To Kill a Mock-ingbird” is presented through April 17. The summer of 1935 is a hot one in Maycomb, Ala. Eight-year-old Scout watches her father stand against the town’s anger when he defends a young black man accused of rap-ing a white woman. Tick-ets are $20-$60. Tickets for ages 30 and under are $15. A $5 discount is of-

fered for people age 62 and older. The theater is located in the Historic Hamm Building, 20 W. 7th Place, St. Paul. For more information, call 651-291-7005.

Black Dog CaféThe Gathering of

the Gypsies is a unique monthly event featuring flamenco guitar and per-cussion, flamenco dance, belly dance and open stage for performers. April’s event takes place 8-11 p.m., Sat., April 23

at the Black Dog Cafe, 308 Prince St., St. Paul. There is no cover, but a $5 donation is suggested. For more information, visit www.sendero-fla-menco.com or contact Tara Weatherly at [email protected] or 612-203-6188.

1400 S. Robert Street, West St. Paulwww.augustana.com

651-457-3373

Holy Thursday11:30 am & 7:30 pm Service of Holy Communion

6:00 pm Service of First Communion

Good Friday 10:30 am Family Worship

8:00 pm Tenebrae Service of Darkness

Easter Sunday 7:00 am Worship with Holy Communion8:30, 9:45 & 11:00 am Festival Worshipwith Minnehaha Brass and Augustana choirs

11:00 am Contemporary Worship, Fellowship Hall

HOLY WEEK SCHEDULE

Tavern

293-0210Corner of Dodd & Stryker

674 Dodd

Join the Fun at Winners...NEW HOURS: Now Open 10 a.m.-2 a.m.

NEW HAPPY HOUR - 7 Days a Week, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.$2 domestic beer and rail drinks

$1.25 12 oz domestic tap beer$5 domestic pitchers of beer

Saturday: $4 Bloody Mary BarMake your own 16 oz Bloody MaryMonday: 7:30 p.m. BingoMust be present before start of third game to win coverall

Thursday: All day until gone, dine-in only$1 tacos and 25 ¢ chicken wings

Backstreet GrillDine in Monday-Friday only. Second meal must be equal or lesser value. Valid only with coupon.

Not valid with other offers. Exp. 4/30/2011.

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BREAKFAST EntreeBuy One, Get Second

Mon. 8-2:30, Tues.-Fri. 6-2:30 & 4-8, Sat. 7-1:30, Sun. 8-12:30

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner.

Backstreet GrillNow Offering Dinner Delivery

Tuesday-Friday. Call 651-228-1526

195 S. Robert St.

St. Paul

Expanded delivery menu!Call 651-228-1526

Half Off

LUNCH EntreeBuy One, Get Second

Backstreet GrillDine in Monday-Friday only. Second meal must be equal or lesser value. Valid only with coupon.

Not valid with other offers. Exp. 4/30/2011.

Church of St. Michael

337 E. HurleyWest St. Paul

651-457-2334

Holy Thursday Mass 7 pmGood Friday Stations NoonGood Friday Liturgy 3 pm & 7 pmHoly Saturday Easter Vigil Mass 8 pmEaster Sunday Mass 8 am & 10:30 am

Holy Week Schedule

Sunday Mass Schedule

Saturday 5 pmSunday 8 am, 10:30 am

CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT

AND ESTIMATINGPCL Construction

Services, Inc. is seek-ing a Field Engineer,

Project Manager, Superintendent, and

Project Estimator.

Additional information for each position and employment requirements can be found online at www.pcl.com.

Job ID #2158, #2159, #2160, #2161

Applications accepted online only.

www.pcl.com No phone calls or walk-ins please.

EOE, AAE, M/F/D/V

Music InstructionGuitar, Bass, Drums,

Keys & VocalCall Rob at 651-454-5796

Lebanese LENTEN DINNERS

First three weeks in April

Holy Family Catholic Church1960 Lexington Ave. S., Mendota Heights

www.HolyFamilyMaronite.org • 651-291-1116

Meatless, Fishless, DeliciousBuilding on and sharing the Maronite

spiritual tradition of our ancestors

Page 12: SPV April 2011

Page 12 - St. Paul Voice - April 2011

Your community news and information sourceN ews BriefsVolunteer opportunities

• Ramsey County Community Human Services has volunteer opportunities for peo-ple age 18 and older. For more information, contact 651-266-4090 or [email protected].

• Minnesota Literacy Council - Volunteers are needed to tutor adult learners, assist in an adult classroom and teach basic English and GED classes. For more information, contact Allison at 651-645-2277, ext 219, or [email protected].

• St. Paul Public Schools - Volunteers are needed to tutor elemen-tary students in the St. Paul Public schools in reading and math. Under the guidance of a class-room teacher, volunteers assist students one-on-one or in small groups. For more information, contact Connie at 612-617-7807 or e-mail [email protected]. Vol-unteers age 55 and older

are eligible to receive free supplemental insur-ance, mileage reimburse-ment and other benefits through the Retired and Senior Volunteer Pro-gram (RSVP), sponsored by Volunteers of America of Minnesota.

• The Minnesota Reading Corps is seek-ing  reading tutors. The program provides free, one-on-one tutoring to children age three through third grade.  Minnesota Reading Corps members receive a living stipend, reimbursement for col-lege (up to $5,350) and health insurance (for full-time members). For more information or to apply online, visit www.Minne-sotaReadingCorps.org or call 1-866-859-2825.

• Neighbors, Inc., a social service agency serving Northern Dakota County, has a number of volunteer opportunities to assist local residents, including a transporta-tion volunteer to take people to medical and dental appointments.

Shifts vary throughout the week and mileage reimbursement is avail-able. For more informa-tion, contact [email protected] or call 651-306-2145.

• Volunteers of Amer-ica is looking for volun-teers age 55 and older to assist children who are struggling with home-work and reading. Time commitment ranges from 3-12 hours a week. To volunteer or receive more information, contact Gil Zamora at 651-470-7416.

• DARTS, a nonprofit organization in West St. Paul, has several volun-teer opportunities to as-sist families and individ-uals with transportation and in-home services. For more information, contact 651-455-1560 or www.dart1.org.

• St. Paul Senior Chore Service is looking for senior clients age 60 and over, as well as vol-unteers to help these cli-ents with basic home and lawn projects. For more

information, call 651-649-5984.

HHW collection Ramsey County’s

household hazardous waste collection site at Bay West, located near the State Capitol at 5 Empire Dr., St. Paul, is open year-round. Drop-off is free for residents of Ramsey, Washington, Dakota, Hennepin, Ano-ka and Carver counties with a photo I.D. For hours of operation and more information, call the Ramsey County Re-cycling & Disposal Ho-tline at 651-633-EASY (3279) or visit www.co.ramsey.mn.us/ph.

Flag disposalAmerican Legion Chal-

lenger Post 521 has a collection box in the vestibule at the West St. Paul Municipal Center, 1616 Humboldt Ave., for American flags that are torn, frayed or discol-ored. For more informa-tion on flag disposal or on the Challenger Post,

call John Ertel at 651-457-5597.

Participants needed for National Children’s Study

Women and children in Ramsey County are needed to take part in the largest and longest study of children’s health ever conducted in the Unit-ed States. The National Children’s Study will look at the factors that contribute to asthma, autism, pregnancy prob-lems, attention deficit disorder, and other child health problems. Ramsey County is among only 105 counties across the U.S. chosen to take part in this study because of the diversity of its resi-dents. Researchers from the University of Minne-sota Study Center, which will lead the study for Ramsey County, will fol-low hundreds of children from before birth until age 21. They will col-lect information, includ-ing blood samples and

hair, during pregnancy, at birth, and throughout the child’s life, and con-duct in-depth cognitive, developmental, and phys-ical health assessments. For more information, visit http://RamseyKids.nationalchildrensstudy.gov. To participate, call 1-866-315-7126 or e-mail [email protected].

Free tax helpAccountAbility Minne-

sota is hosting free tax re-turn clinics through April 16 at two locations on the West Side. The clinics have IRS-certified volun-teers to help participants file their taxes for free. Locations are:

• Neighborhood De-velopment Alliance, 481 Wabasha St., St. Paul – Saturdays at 8:30 a.m.

• Neighborhood House, 179 E. Robie, St. Paul – Tuesdays and Thursdays at 5:30 p.m.

AccountAbility serves individuals making $30,000 or less per year, families making $50,000 or less per year and self-

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Page 13: SPV April 2011

St. Paul Voice - April 2011 - Page 13

Your community news and information sourceN ews Briefs

employed people with a household income of $50,000 or less per year. Appointments take ap-proximately two hours. Spanish language inter-preters are available at both sites. To reserve a time, call 651-287-0187, ext. 1000.

Signal Garage expands to new location

Signal Garage Auto Care, a fixture in West St. Paul since the 1960s, has expanded and opened a second location in St. Paul, located at Grand and Cleveland. Accord-ing to Rami Derhy, who owns Signal Garage with his wife Heidi Wessel Derhy, they purchased the building on Jan. 1 and gave it a complete make-over, including cleaning the shop area, adding new garage doors and windows, redoing the customer waiting area and replacing the hoists. Later this spring they will repair some brick on the exterior of the building and repaint it. The busi-ness opened on Feb. 1 and offers complete auto repair services. Rami is overseeing operations at the new location while Dave Ydstie, a partner,

is managing the West St. Paul location.

The Derhys are third generation owners of the family owned and operat-ed business. They are in-volved in many commu-nity projects, including its annual Free Brakes for Food drive, youth team sponsorships and free ve-hicle repair for the Hu-mane Society. Their son, Avi, a certified mechanic, also recently joined them to keep the family tradi-tion alive. For more in-formation, call 651-457-7390.

Heritage student wins local speech contest

For the second year in a row, Joe Quehl, a seventh-grader at Heri-tage Middle School, won West St. Paul Optimist Club’s Oratorical Con-test, which is part of the Optimist International Contest for 2011. Con-testants had to write and deliver a four- to five-minute speech on the topic, “If I were leader of the free world, the first issue I would address would be…” The contest was open to students age 19 and under in the West St. Paul and Mendota Heights area.

Somerset Elemen-tary students raise over $5K for the American Heart Association

Students at Somer-set Elementary School in Mendota Heights re-cently participated in “Jump Rope for Heart” and raised $5,233 for the American Heart Associa-tion. Physical education teacher Tracy Westman coordinated the event in which 380 students completed a variety of stations, including short jump ropes, hurdles, jump bags, mini trampo-lines, long rope, and hop scotch. This is the sixth year that Somerset has hosted the program.

Easter musical at Riverview Baptist

Riverview Baptist Church in West St. Paul is presenting the Easter musical, “For Such A One as This” at 7 p.m., Fri., April 15 and Sat., April 16. This musical presentation was cre-ated by Mark Hayes, Jim Custer and Bob Hoose and shows the events of the Passion of Christ as seen through the eyes of some of the disciples, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of Jesus, Pon-

tius Pilate and Simon of Cyrene. Interspersed are original choral pieces by Hayes and traditional hymns. The event is free. Riverview Baptist Church is located at 14 Moreland Ave. E., West St Paul. For more information, call 651-457-3831.

PCU offers free rabies vaccination vouchers for West St. Paul clinic

Postal Credit Union’s (PCU) West St. Paul branch is offering free ra-bies vaccination vouchers for West St. Paul’s An-nual Vaccination Clinic, held 12:30-1:30 p.m., Sat., May 14 at the South Metro Fire Department, 1616 Humbolt Ave. The vouchers are available at Postal Credit Union, 1725  S. Robert St., West St. Paul, while sup-plies last. Pets must be on a leash or in a pet carrier. Pet owners can also ob-tain a dog or cat license for their pet at the clinic. For license fees or fur-ther information on the West St. Paul clinic, call 651-552-4100. For more information about PCU, call 651-770-7000 or vis-it www.postalcu.org.

Rummage and Bake Sale at St. Paul’s United

St. Paul’s United Meth-odist Women are hosting a Spring Rummage Sale and Bake Sale 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Sat., April 9 at St. Paul’s United Method-ist Church, 700 Wesley

Lane, Mendota Heights. Proceeds will be used for mission projects locally, nationally and interna-tionally. For more infor-mation, call 651-452-5683.

Henry Sibley raises $20K for charities

Henry Sibley High School students raised $20,000 during the school’s annual GOFA (Give Once for All) Week campaign. The funds will be given to Neighbor-hood House, the District 197 Education Founda-tion and ImpactLives, an organization that pro-vides humanitarian ser-vices, leadership training and support to people in need around the world.

Highlights of GOFA week included a taco night, a student talent show and a school carni-val. New this year was a school-wide service day, when students helped package 50,000 meals for ImpactLives.

Student notesSarah Elsham of West

St. Paul was named to the dean’s list at Northern Michigan University.

Daniel Schwarze of West St. Paul was named to the dean’s list at Cor-nell College.

Alexandra Millett of the West Side and Molly Nunez of West St. Paul were named to the dean’s list at Washington Uni-versity in St. Louis, Mis-souri.

Luke Van Horn and

Heather Shepherd of Mendota Heights gradu-ated from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

Cecelia Isaac of the West Side was named to the dean’s list at the Uni-versity at Albany in New York.

OLG Annual Spring Treasure Sale

Our Lady of Guadal-upe (OLG) Church will host its annual Spring Treasure sale 9 a.m.-5 p.m., May 12-15, in the Social Hall, located at 401 Concord St., St. Paul. OLG’s famous tacos will also be for sale. For more information, call 651-228-0506.

Cinco de Mayo Fiesta to hostnew scholarship pageant

The Riverview Economic De-velopment Association (REDA) is working with Carolina Reyes, Miss Minnesota International 2010 and owner of ATTITUDE, to produce the first Miss Cinco de Mayo Fi-esta pageant, to be held Fri., May 6 during the St. Paul Cinco de Mayo celebration. The plan is to make it a yearly event.

“I am so honored that REDA has asked me to produce this pageant,” said Reyes. “I am excited for the opportunity that this is bringing to the local young Latina women who deserve it.”

A select number of women ages 17 to 25 will have the chance to compete. Contestants will meet one-on-one with the judges so they get to know them better and each will have an on-stage question dur-ing the pageant. A portion of the pageant will highlight the contes-tants’ confidence, style and grace.

“I am hoping this experience is

one that grows these young wom-en’s confidence and helps them realize they should set a standard and be role models in their com-munity,” said Reyes. The winner will walk away with the 2011 Miss Cinco de Mayo Fiesta title and a $1,000 scholarship for the post-secondary institution of her choice. In addition, two $250 scholarships will be awarded to the second and third place finishers, and each will hold a princess title.

Reyes owns a personal develop-ment business called ATTITUDE and is launching her True Beauty Program this summer for young women. She, along with her men-tor and pageant coach, Cheri Ken-nedy, will help prepare contestants for the pageant.

For more information about the pageant or to inquire about spon-sorship opportunites, email Reyes at [email protected].

Family Hairstyling

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998 S. Robert St., West St. Paul

St. Joseph’s Junior High performs ‘Jack and the Giant’Junior high students at St. Joseph’s Catholic School in West St. Paul recently showed off their talent during a performance of “Jack and the Giant,” a musical version of Benjamin Tabart’s classic English folk tale. The cast and crew gave four performances that included a variety of songs, such as “Good Things Are Bound To Happen,” the Giant’s “Fee Fi Fo Fum” and “Run, Jack, Run.” St. Joseph’s puts on a school play an-nually, and all of the school’s seventh and eighth grade students are welcome to try out. For more information, call 651-457-8550.

Page 14: SPV April 2011

Page 14 - St. Paul Voice - April 2011

Bridging the Digital DivideAward-winning digital inclusion classes at Neighborhood House

I admit I have my own challenges keeping up with rapidly changing advances in technology. After all, it seems that the minute you get used to today’s technol-ogy there is already something entirely new to learn. In addition to the fact that technology changes hap-pen fast, it seems everything is online or electronic. I often wonder how people keep up. At Neighborhood

House we are in the business of educating individu-als in an effort to help them secure a brighter future, which means, like technology, we need to constantly be changing to provide the tools that will affect how people do their jobs, live their lives, and take care of their finances and their families. I am constantly amazed at the ability of our Adult Education staff to continue learning and applying new and relevant teaching strategies in order to provide a comprehen-sive toolkit for our students. Technology education is no exception for the students of Neighborhood House and their teachers, who have created an award-win-ning digital inclusion program.

Neighborhood House was awarded the 2011 Dot.Org Award for “Bridging the Digital Divide” by The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and MAP for Non-profits, recognizing nonprofits who are using technol-ogy and communications in inspiring, effective and creative ways. Our English Language Learning (ELL) and GED courses created and implemented a blog (www.ellneighborhood.blogspot.com), which helps participants learn basic computer and internet skills.

Neighborhood House teachers Brenda Anfinson and Cait Thomas lead the blog efforts to teach more than just English in class. The blog is used to simultane-ously teach computer skills and create a way to help students actively participate with technology.

The Adult Education Program at Neighborhood House consistently strives to create new opportuni-ties and options for the immigrant, refugee and na-tive English speaking populations. Courses are taught through the lens of employment and teaching useful skills to succeed in today’s workplace. On the day the award was presented, the lesson plan at Neighborhood House was about Minnesota State Symbols (bird, flower, etc.) and students were asked to blog about their own cultural symbols. Students shared their cul-tural symbols and their significance from around the globe, which was simultaneously shown in real time at the conference to attendees. We are fortunate to have teachers at Neighborhood House who help par-ticipants excel in the modern world through creativity and innovation in the classroom.

Your community news and information sourceC ommunity Columns

By Elena GaarderExecutive Director

As the season turns to spring, it’s time to at-tend to Mother Earth by cleaning up the garbage

that has been buried in the snow, and by wak-ing up your garden beds or initiating projects that promote environmental awareness.

Several opportunities for getting involved in this important work are planned in April. The first event, the West Side Clean-Up Day (not to be confused with the annual clean-up event hosted by WSCO in June), is held 10 a.m.-noon, Sat., April 9 at Castillo Park, 149 Cesar Chavez St. Join your neighbors to clean up litter on your block or

help support the River-view Economic Develop-ment Association’s ongo-ing efforts to improve this neighborhood asset.

On April 23, garden enthusiasts are invited to support the Stryker Ave-nue Community Garden by helping build raised garden beds, create walk-ing paths and prepare the soil for planting.

Finally, WSCO is pro-

viding $200 each to five resident-driven commu-nity projects that focus on some aspect of the environment. The awards are intended to increase environmental awareness and honor the legacy of the late Cliff Timm, a West St. Paul resident who was active in envi-ronmental issues. Eligible projects include but are not limited to commu-

nity gardens, toxic waste reduction efforts or en-ergy and water conversa-tion. Get together with your friends, neighbors, school or church groups and design a creative project that improves the West Side. Project sub-missions are due May 16. For an application or more information, con-tact Elena at 651-293-1708 or [email protected].

Garlough receives national Magnet School of Excellence AwardFor the third year in a

row, Garlough Environ-mental Magnet School (GEMS) in District 197 has been named a Magnet School of Excellence by Magnet Schools of Amer-ica, a professional edu-cation association that

represents over 2,000 magnet schools nation-wide.

“Receiving this recog-nition for the third year in a row is incredibly exciting and affirms the dedication and passion devoted to making Gar-

lough a unique learning environment and a great magnet school,” said Su-san Powell, principal. “It is an honor for all of the Garlough staff to be recognized at a national level for our commit-ment to student learning through the natural envi-ronment.”

As a Magnet School of Excellence, GEMS is one of nearly 60 mag-

net schools nationwide and one of only five in Minnesota to receive the recognition this year. Se-lection criteria include desegregation, innova-tive instructional strat-egies, student achieve-ment and parent and community involvement. GEMS serves over 400 students from kindergar-ten through fourth grade. The school became an

environmental magnet school in 2007 and was formed in partnership with Dodge Nature Cen-ter. Though it offers the same core curriculum as the other elementary schools in the district, GEMS integrates a na-ture-based theme into ev-ery class.

“We are so proud of the success of Garlough and the recognition they

have received for their outstanding magnet pro-gram,” said ISD 197 Su-perintendent Jay Hau-gen. “It is great to know that we can build off of this success and the ex-pertise of the Garlough staff as we move forward with our three new mag-net programs at Heri-tage, Moreland and Pilot Knob.”

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Page 15: SPV April 2011

St. Paul Voice - April 2011 - Page 15

Your community news and information sourceC ommunity Columns

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month

When we help children do better today we all do better tomorrow. Children need strong, healthy fami-lies that can provide for their physical, emotional and developmental needs. By recognizing and building on the existing strengths of families in our community, we can support all our families by providing safe en-vironments for children.

The most recent report on child maltreatment from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System said an estimated 753,000 children were victims of child abuse or neglect in 2007. This data is difficult to understand and can seem overwhelming. It relies on an unframed way tell the story. It doesn’t reframe responsibility by highlighting community supports and influences but keeps the conversation lodged in the parents’ responsibility by placing the only focus on who is abusing, neglecting or maltreating children.

Children need emotionally healthy interactions throughout their entire childhood, not just from their parents or caregivers, but from everyone in the com-munity. Communities that invest in creating environ-ments for children that support healthy development provide a foundation for a prosperous and sustainable society. When children experience neglect, abuse or maltreatment, they can also experience problems with their learning and behavior. It can also affect their physical and mental health over time.

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. It chal-lenges us all — community groups, religious organi-zations, medical facilities, businesses and neighbors alike — to increase our efforts to prevent child abuse and neglect and strengthen the community in which we live. Prevent Child Abuse Minnesota helps com-munities create healthy environments for children. Their mission is to prevent child abuse and neglect by promoting positive parenting, healthy families, and supportive communities where children are re-spected and valued. They do this through a variety of programs and services, including the 1-800-CHIL-DREN information, support and referral resource line offered through Prevent Child Abuse Minnesota. Staff offer referrals to resources in the community and connections to agencies that specialize in a variety of areas, along with basic information on child abuse and prevention. Staff can offer a listening ear and non-judgmental support to callers who would like to talk to someone about issues they are dealing with. Staff members are available 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday. If a caller suspects child abuse is hap-pening to a child, they can call 1-800-CHILDREN for help in learning what steps to take. Staff members are also available to assist in making these calls.

During April, as well as throughout the year, you can encourage groups of concerned neighbors to par-ticipate in child abuse prevention activities. Because one-third of the children reported as abused or ne-glected are children under four years of age, we are encouraging communities to participate in preven-tion programs that intervene early on. These pro-grams help lay strong foundations for children. Al-though 753,000 children are reported as abused or neglected each year, by using this approach with child abuse prevention activities, we are confident we can

reduce that number significantly.Here are a few suggested Child Abuse Prevention

Month ideas:

Parents and Families• Start a playgroup in your neighborhood. Schedule

a meeting with other parents and organize the group to do age-appropriate projects that benefit and con-nect kids in the community.

• Create “safe houses” in your neighborhood where children can go in case of emergency. Contact the West Side Safe Neighborhood Council for a “My House is Safe” sign.

• Know where your children are and who they are with at all times. Know their friends and friends’ par-ents and don’t hesitate to call them.

• Watch television with your children and discuss violence and fantasy versus reality issues.

• Receive support from other parents while learning more about the five protective factors families need to nurture, strengthen and support one another. Call the West Side Safe Neighborhood Council at 651-298-9727 for more information about joining a Circle of Parents parenting support group.

• Do something every week that tells your children they are special. Put a note in their lunchbox, sched-ule activities together, talk to them about their inter-ests and attend their school events.

• Encourage child abuse prevention activities in lo-cal youth groups and programs.

Faith-based/Religious Communities• Organize volunteers to visit with and/or provide

transportation for pregnant women, parents and chil-dren needing rides to clinics for prenatal and pediat-ric care appointments.

• Support parenting classes like Circle of Parents or other parent support groups. Donate space for such classes or support groups.

• Create a pool of volunteers from your congrega-tion to provide respite care to parents.

• Hold a community baby shower for a local crisis nursery, shelter or family who may be in need of help.

• Form and strengthen partnerships with child ad-vocates, schools, childcare facilities and other com-munity leaders.

• Connect with a child protection or family services worker to assist families with needs.

Local Businesses• Coordinate or partici-

pate in fundraising events for local social service or-ganizations that support children and their fami-lies.

• Promote child abuse prevention awareness by printing ads on your

shopping bags. Post child abuse prevention materials on bulletin boards.

• Support employees with family issues.• Schedule a speaker to discuss balancing work and

family.• Allow employees time to volunteer in child abuse

prevention efforts.• Start or support a childcare center for employees.• Create safe and welcoming places for families.

Childcare and Early Childhood Education• Encourage employers to support families. Studies

show that new mothers tend to use fewer sick-leave days and are more productive when employers are supportive and flexible.

• Encourage parents to spend quality time with their children at home.

• Share parenting information with parents.• Seek training for staff on child abuse and neglect

issues, especially Shaken Baby and Fetal Alcohol Syn-drome.

Educators• Support after-school programs that support work-

ing parents by providing children with a safe place for activities and abuse-free relationships.

• Hold special trainings for parents and teachers sponsored by the school district or parent association.

• Use writing and journalism classes to promote child abuse prevention in school newspapers and newsletters.

Thank you to the Prevent Child Abuse Minnesota program for their resource information. For more in-formation, contact the West Side Safe Neighborhood Council at 651-298-9727 or [email protected].

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NILLESBuilders Inc.

Entry Level Electronic

Assemblers Mendota Heights

$9 per hourTo apply, call 320-864-5871

Page 16: SPV April 2011

Page 16 - St. Paul Voice - April 2011

For more than two decades, making quality health care accessible to everyone has been our goal. Bridging the language gap, developing culturally respectful approaches to care, and fostering innovative services and partnerships across communities are just a few of the ways we’re working to achieve that goal. When it comes to your health, we always start with you.

Twenty-fi ve years ago we startedwith one thing in mind:

H2456 H2407 PMAP MnCare 071206_2 (071206) IAucare.org

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433 E. Mendota RoadWest St. Paul651-455-6995

Ready for College? Attend College Preview

Learn how to get started and succeed at Inver HillsTo reserve your spot, visit: www.inverhills.edu/preview

Tuesday, April 12, 5pm

Inver Hills is a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, and is an affirmative action/equal opportunity educator and employer.

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