D

Forum staff

WEQY-FM East Side Radio has begun DJ training at its temporary studio, soon to be moving a few doors down to the newly renovated storefront space next to Rogers Printing where the station will begin broadcasting. The radio team also welcomes the addition of Titan Administration Records CEO Nick Muhammad who will be helping to recruit the station's advisory committee and create programming. Volunteer announcers, DJs and technicians are still needed. Contact brenda@daytonsbluff.org or 651-772-2075 for more information.

Swede Hollow Café addition Karin DuPaul, Forum staff

Swede Hollow Café located at 725East 7th Street will be expanding intothe area above their current space.The addition will nearly double theirseating area. Construction will in-clude a stairway to the second floorso customers may dine on either lev-el. Construction is planned to be com-pleted in May. Swede Hollow Caféwill be doing business as usual duringthe construction.

The Swede Hollow Café got startedwhen neighbors talked about needinga coffee shop in Dayton’s Bluff. Aftera lot of planning and work the SwedeHollow Café opened 1996. Some peo-ple said a coffee shop would nevermake it in our neighborhood, but theneighbors were right: the Swede Hol-low Café has been a great success.The gardens and the patio are verypopular in the warmer weather.

Stop by and check out the progressover the next few months!

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

ECRWSSPostal Customer

NONPROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDTWIN CITIES MNPERMIT NO. 3996

Dancing Goat Doing Good helps local nonprofitsTim Herman, President,

Small Business Connections

August 2014 saw the Grand Openingof The Dancing Goat Coffee House inDayton’s Bluff. They opened at thelong-vacant former police station andcigar factory at 699 East 7th Street. TheDancing Goat recently brought in a“Coffee Guy” in new General ManagerChris. After 4 months getting to knowresidents, organizations and other busi-nesses in the community, the ownersand Chris decided to launch a programgiving back to the community called“Dancing Goat Doing Good.” For thefirst part of January, Dancing Goat co-owner Ben Hosfield committed 5% oftotal sales to The East Side Family Cen-ter at Dayton’s Bluff Elementary, which

is operated by the Neighborhood House.They wrote a check for over $900 to theorganization. The end of January and thefirst week of February went to St. PaulYouth Hockey, and for the final 3 weeksof February the Dancing Goat is sup-porting East Side Thrive which mentors,tutors, and produces two musicals peryear with students from East Side K-12schools. The Dancing Goat has beentalking with other local non-profits topartner with through the rest of the year.On deck: Family Values For Life, FirstCovenant Church sending high schoolstudents to “CHIC Youth Conference” inTennessee, Dayton’s Bluff Block NurseProgram, and many more to come. In to-tal, they hope to help raise over $10,000for East Side organizations in 2015.

WEQYmaking progress

Forum staff

Dave Murphy and Cliff Carey getting ready to start work on the new addition to the Swede Hollow Café at 725 East 7th Street.

Brad Griffith

Above: Minnesota State Senator Foung Hawj at the third annual Cabaret! at the Historic Mounds Theatre. The February 20 event was a fund raiser for Friends of Swede Hollow’s Art in the Hollow, the annual art festival in Swede Hollow Park, and included 17 wonderful entertainers and groups, a silent auction, food and drinks. Art in the Hollow is seeking artists for the June 6 festival. To apply, see article on page 8.

Below: Jaymas Taylor and his group were featured at the Cabaret! at the Historic Mounds Theatre. A very talented singer, Taylor is also a successful barber who had his shop on Payne Avenue for many years. For more information on the Cabaret, see article on page 5.

Cabaret!The stars came out on the Bluff

Brad Griffith

Volume 28, No. 2

March 2015

daytonsbluffdistrictforum.org

“The Voice of the Community”

Page 2 Dayton’s Bluff District Forum March 2015

New Friends of SwedeHollow are welcome

Do you enjoy Swede Hollow Parkand care about its history and future?The next Friends of Swede Hollowmonthly meeting is Wednesday, March11, at 6:30 pm. Email karin@swedehol-low.org or call 651-776-0550 for moreinformation and the meeting's location.

Get rid of your junk car;help Dayton's BluffCommunity Council

Budget Towing of Minnesota, Minne-sota’s largest towing company, is ownedby Roy Carlson, a former Dayton’sBluff Community Council board mem-ber. Budget Towing will remove anyjunk car or truck – located anywhere inSt. Paul – and dispose of it at no charge.The vehicle owner will receive paper-work for a tax donation, and Roy willmake a small donation to the Communi-ty Council. Call 651-772-2075 to have ajunk car removed – and help clean upDayton’s Bluff.

Take-a-Hike March 7Take-a-Hike occurs on the

first Saturday of most months.The next hike will be Saturday,March 7. Hikers meet at 10:30am in Indian Mounds Park atEarl Street and Mounds Boule-vard, and hike down to BruceVento Nature Sanctuary, thenthrough Swede Hollow Parkand winding up at the East SideHeritage Park. The hike isabout two hours (four miles)with some moderately roughterrain. Share stories about lifein Dayton's Bluff. Return trans-portation is available if needed.For more information, call 651-776-0550.

Police communitymeeting

The Eastern District Policehosts their monthly meetingsfor community members at 722Payne Avenue, at the corner ofPayne and Minnehaha Avenues.

The next meetings areWednesday, March 18, at 9:30am and 6:30 pm. This is achange; both meetings are nowon the third Wednesday of eachmonth.

The meetings are open to all.The intent is to learn about, lis-ten to, and address concernsabout crime and other issues onthe East Side. The St. PaulEastern District is committed tomaintaining and growing thequality of life for all of our resi-dents. Bring your neighbors fora great opportunity to discussneighborhood nuisance issues.

Forum monthlymeeting

This Forum newspaper isseeking help with writing, edit-ing, online content, idea genera-tion, and ad sales. Join us at ournext meeting: 1:30 pm onTuesday, March 3 at 804 Mar-garet Street (call 651-776-0550to confirm).

Business classesThe next Dayton’s Bluff Neighbor-

hood Microentrepreneur Class starts thisspring. This program helps startup andyoung businesses on the East Side. AllEast Side entrepreneurs are welcome.Class training lasts eight weeks and in-cludes topics such as operations man-agement, marketing, financial manage-ment, one-on-one assistance with creat-ing a successful business, and preparinga business plan, plus eight hours of one-on-one time with the instructor.

Those who successfully complete thecourse and locate their businesses in tar-get neighborhoods are eligible for ongo-ing business support services. Someexamples of businesses started by peo-ple who have previously taken thiscourse include graphics, landscaping,photography, food service, restoration ofwood furniture, art, custom floral de-sign, and exterior and interior painting.The course is a partnership between theDayton’s Bluff Community Council andthe Neighborhood Development Center.There is a small registration fee basedon a sliding fee scale. The next sessionwill be starting in the spring and class

size is limited, so get enrolled now.Please call Emma Spillman at 651-379-8432 for an application.

Ramsey County offersdiscount on compost binsRamsey County residents looking to

compost this year can get a discountedbin while supplies last. The RecyclingAssociation of Minnesota is sellingcompost bins for $55. The first 300Ramsey County residents to order a binby late April can buy one for $40.

To receive the discounted price, pre-order online before April 24 at recy-cleminnesota.org and enter the promocode: ramsey. Or call 651-641-4589 andmention that you are a Ramsey Countyresident. The bins will be available forpickup April 17 in Roseville, April 18 inMaplewood, or April 25 in St. Paul.

Daughters of the AmericanRevolution (DAR)

The St. Paul chapter of the DAR isopen to any woman 18 years or older

who can prove lineal descent from a Pa-triot of the American Revolution. Wemeet at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church,674 Johnson Parkway on the fourthTuesday of each month at 12:00 noon.

Our next program, on March 24, willbe about Women in the Marine Corps.Speaker is WWII veteran JaneFreemont.

FOR LEASE651-230-4070 $1200/mo

777 East 7th StreetLuxury Office Space: 700 square

feet, 3 private offices, hardwood floors,full kitchen/break area, downtown sky-line views, one block from Metro StateUniversity, high-speed Comcast internet,Electrowatchman alarm system, all utili-ty, taxes and insurance, snow serviceand window cleaning.

March 2015 Dayton’s Bluff District Forum Page 3

2015 St. PaulNeighborhood Honor Roll

St. Paul’s 17 district councils held their annual volunteerawards event on January 30 at St. Thomas University.

The awards recognize people and organizations from allover the city who have given outstanding service to

the community over a long period of time.Each of St. Paul's 17 district councils has beenable to add three new people/groups each yearsince the 1980s. Congratulations and thank you

to all the people who work hard to makeDayton’s Bluff the best it can be.

2015 Dayton’s BluffHonor Roll Honorees:

– 180 Degrees –

– Dayton’s Bluff Seniors Living at HomeBlock Nurse Program –

– Urban Roots –

Dayton’s Bluff members of theNeighborhood Honor Roll

180 DegreesAll ArtoliJohn BarbieAnita BendicksonJulie BenickJune .BennettGlen BlomgrenPaul BrodersonEric & Amy BuckAlice BurdickCarol CareyCliff CareyMaryann ChowenAl CläusenMary Ann CogelowJean ComstockGreg CosiminiDonovan CummingsDayton's Bluff Seniors Living at Home Block Nurse ProgramCarrie DimmickMargaret DorenSteve DuerreJacob Dorer

Angela DuPaulKarin DuPaulDenise ErlerChris GeurtsCharlie GoldenAmy HandfordStephanie HarrSage HolbenRob HubertyBeth HyserBette JohnsonTeri KellerCleo KellyEd KrahmerDeanna LayerDiane MayMatt MazanecSharon McCreaWayde MoenColin MooreMary MooreDave MurphyRuth MurphyChristine NelsonSusan Omoto

Catherine PiccoloEugene PiccoloJane PrinceSteve RandellJoan RodriquezRaeann RuthRoger SchaeferJody SeidelMargaret SielandMargie SmithMaxine SmithCarlos StewartEd SzalapskiDick TaylorSusan TietjenSteve TrimbleUrban RootsLorraine VenaasMike VossWilfred WeberJuanita WestmanWayne WittmannLisa YoungSandi Younkin

This space prepared and paid for by the Lantry tor Council Volunteer Committee,25 East Sandra Lane, St Paul MN 55119

Plots available at Skidmore ParkCommunity Gardens

Jennifer Herman, Forum staff

Skidmore Park Community Gar-dens announces that garden plots arenow available for the 2015 growingseason! There are 24 raised-bed plotsin this neighborhood park near theEarl Street Dairy Queen at 1085 East4th Street. Plots come in two sizes: 40square feet and 64 square feet; theannual fee for all plots is $25. TheEarly Bird registration deadline forreturning 2014 gardeners is February28. Registration for new gardenersopens March 1, and the final dead-line for all registrations is March 31.

A mandatory orientation session willtake place on Monday April 13, from6:00-7:00 pm at the garden (weatherpermitting). An indoor location fororientation will be announced shouldthe weather refuse to cooperate. Ap-plications are available for downloadon the Skidmore Park CommunityGardens Facebook page or you canpick one up at the Dayton's BluffCommunity Council office at 804Margaret Street. Plots are assignedon a first come, first served basis soget your application in today! Ques-tions? Call the Dayton's Bluff Com-munity Council at 651-772-2075.

Forum staff

Children help tend to a plot at Skidmore Park Community Garden, located at 1085 East 4th Street. Garden plots are available for 2015, and spring will be here before we know it; apply soon!

Page 4 Dayton’s Bluff District Forum March 2015

Hazel Park United Church of Christ 1831 East Minnehaha Avenue; 651-735-2555

hazelparkcongregationalucc.org – Hazel Park UCC on Facebookhazelparkchurch@q.com

“Our faith is 2,000 years old, but our thinking is not,” says Rev. Sara Morseof Hazel Park UCC, a neighborhood church on the East Side of St. Paul. “Weare a forward-looking congregation, and we seek to embrace and carry out themission of the church in our community and in the wider world. No matter whoyou are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here!”

Save grocery money with Fare For All ExpressHazel Park United Church of Christ is a distribution partner for Fare For All

Express, which offers fresh produce and quality meats at up to 40% off retailprices. The cooperative buying program is open to everyone, with no qualifyingrequirements or pre-registration. The next drop-in purchase opportunity isWednesday, March 4, 4:00-6:00 pm at the church. Items available includeproduce, meat, and combination packs ranging in price from $10-30. Cash,credit cards, EBT cards or debit cards accepted; checks not accepted. Visit fare-forall.org for other Twin Cities locations, or contact the church.

Events and schedules are subject to change.

Dayton’s Bluff District Forum804 Margaret Street, St. Paul, MN 55106

Phone: 651-776-0550 E-mail: editor@daytonsbluff.org

Monthly circulation: 7,000; also available online at daytonsbluffdistrictforum.org. This pub-lication of Hopewell Communications, Inc. is intended to provide a forum for the ideas andopinions of its readers and to be an instrument for developing community awareness andpride. No material contained in this paper may be reprinted without consent of the editor.Articles and letters to the editor are welcome and may be emailed to editor@daytons-bluff.org. The Dayton's Bluff District Forum is delivered to every home and business in theDayton's Bluff neighborhood. Outside this area, subscriptions cost $15 per year and may bearranged by calling 651-776-0550.

Board of Directors:Greg Cosimini, Karin DuPaul, Jennifer Herman, Carla Riehle, Steve Trimble

Editor/Layout: Meg Gronau Editorial Assistant: Mark Gallagher

Next issue: April 2015. Deadline for material: March 15, 2015.

Mounds Park United Methodist Church1049 Euclid Street (corner of Earl and Euclid); 651-774-8736

Mounds Park United Methodist on Facebook

Mounds Park United Methodist Church is a community-based cross-cul-tural congregation. We strive to build on the positive assets of Dayton's Bluff;working together as neighbors improving our community. All are welcome tothe following community events:

Sunday morning service starts at 10:30 am with fellowship time following.Come join your neighbors in worship.

Urban CROSS can help! Will you be in need of some help with a projectaround your home or property this summer? Whether you are a homeowner or anon-profit in the Dayton's Bluff area, we will have teams of volunteers avail-able during the week of June 15-19 to assist you. Projects range from yardwork, landscaping, indoor and outdoor painting and simple construction. Tohave our staff come and assess the project(s) you have in mind, please call thechurch office, or send in the work request form that is available at the churchand on our web site: moundsparkumc.org/urbancross.html.

Community Friendship Gathering – Wednesday, March 25, 12:00 noonHot lunch, followed by live entertainment. All are welcome to come; the fo-

cus of this event is on persons age 55 and over. Community Easter Egg Hunt – Saturday, April 4, 2:00 pmMounds Park Church will host a community-wide Easter Egg Hunt at Indian

Mounds Park South Pavilion (Earl Street & Mounds Boulevard). There will betreats, games and activities for all ages.

RUMMAGE SALE – Saturday, March 28, 9:00 am-1:00 pmClothes $7 per bag; household items as marked. No early sales.

It’s not Sunday School as usual – it’s better!

At Mounds Park Church children are deeply valued as full participants andleaders. We are blessed with kids from multiple cultures and traditions that re-flect the community diversity of Dayton’s Bluff.

Every Sunday morning at Mounds Park Church children are provided timeand space to practice spiritual disciplines that nurture their relationship withGod for a lifetime. We all start out in morning worship together at 10:30 am.Pastor Dennis Alexander calls all the children forward to share with them a sto-ry or an activity that invites them into the Biblical theme of the day. The kidsask questions or share moments in their lives. After a prayer, the children headto their special place in the church building.

For the next 45 minutes, the children are invited to a “time apart” from thenoise and bustle of life to learn and experience practices that can nurture theirspirituality and help them form community together. These practices includeBible stories, prayer, and song, but also conversations and the choice to learnvia music, art, reading, and writing.

This form of Sunday School comes from “The Way of the Child” formed byWynn McGregor and is based on six core beliefs: that kids have an innate con-nection with God, a natural openness to mystery, an amazing capacity for aweand wonder; that kids are receptive, open, and love what is real.

Utilizing the values of quiet, imagination, peace, respect, and cultural diver-sity; we seek to nurture the child’s openness to God, help them know the powerof God’s love for them, encourage them to develop their own relationship withGod and explore their own role as instruments of life-giving love to others.

This Sunday morning experience is open to all kids ages 6-11. There is also apreschool class for ages 3-5. Feel free to invite your friends or neighbors tocheck it out!

Dayton's Bluff Rec Center in MarchCongratulations to our basketball

teams! The Dayton's Bluff 10U girlshave won two tournaments. Our 10Uand 12U boys have also each won atournament.

Open gym: Monday-Thursday,6:00-7:45pm.

The rec center is located at 800 Conway Street: 651-793-3885.

March 2015 Dayton’s Bluff District Forum Page 5

Community Engagement: How can we achieve racial justice?

Carla Riehle, Forum staff

“Hands Up, Don't Shoot our Youth Move-ment.” It's a provocative title for a movie, butone that resonates deeply with many youngAfrican Americans on the East Side and beyond.The film wasscreened onFebruary 11by the newlyformed Day-ton's BluffCommunityEngagementCommitteeas part of itsgoal to createa free andopen space todiscuss mat-ters that im-pact ourneighbor-hoods and toprovide agatheringplace for ac-tivists organizing to change the status quo.

Local producer and director Ralph L. Crow-der III introduced his film to the overflow audi-ence by describing his visit to Ferguson,Missouri on the day of the funeral of MikeBrown, the unarmed teenager shot dead by po-lice last August. Crowder built the movie aroundinterviews he filmed with Black youth at thecenter of the uprising that followed. His thesiswas that people like him need to pick up a cam-era and make the films that mainstream corpo-rate media isn't making. Without any financialbacking, Crowder, along with his productioncompany Freedom Radio and TV, has produceda film that is gaining attention both locally andnationally for its frank look at racial relations inthe US today.

A panel joined by community activistsChristopher Melendez, Vanessa Taylor, andNick Muhammad shared its thoughts on thecauses and possible solutions to the widening

equity gap affecting people of color, and what todo about the tragic deaths of so many youth.Members of the audience related some of theirown experiences: a young Latina of about 10years of age wondered why most of her teachers

didn't looklike her, twomothers ofBlack sonsworried abouttheir abilitiesto protectthem, and ayoung manmade thecase that it'scrucial to hirepolice whocome fromthe communi-ties they pa-trol.

The Com-munity En-gagementCommitteebelieves this

is just the beginning of the conversations aboutracial justice that need to happen on the EastSide. To that end, committee co-chair TongThao invites everyone with a passion for justiceto attend the committee's inaugural meeting onWednesday, March 11, 6:30-8:00 pm at Com-munity HQ in the East Side Enterprise Center at804 Margaret Street. The tentative road map in-cludes the “Black Lives Matter” and “Drivers'Licenses for All” campaigns, immigrant out-reach and WEQY-FM, Voice of the East Side ra-dio, any or all of which could form the basis forissue-oriented subcommittees as well as jointaction.

According to Thao, though, it will be themeeting participants from our traditionally un-der-represented communities of color, now morethan 60 percent of the East Side, who will setthe committee's priorities and decide how bestto implement the agenda they decide upon.

Home Tour volunteers needed

Karin DuPaul, Forum staff

The annual Minneapolis and St. Paul Home Tour will beheld on Saturday, April 25, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pmand Sunday, April 26, from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

We are looking for 30-plus Dayton’s Bluff volunteers tobe Neighborhood Ambassadors. The Ambassadors will helpthe home owners and welcome visitors, telling the visitorsabout Dayton’s Bluff.

On Sunday evening when the tour is over, a supper partywill be held for the families whose homes are on the tourand all volunteers. To volunteer, email karin@swedehol-low.org or call 651-776-0550.

During the home tour, residents in both Minneapolis andSt. Paul open their homes to the public to showcase city liv-ing. Dayton’s Bluff has so many wonderful homes that eachyear we have a number them on the tour. The tour shows offmany of Dayton’s Bluff great features: Metropolitan StateUniversity, the parks, our growing business community, ourviews of the city and the Mississippi River, our outstandinghousing options and of course the wonderful people in Day-ton’s Bluff.

Many people from all over come to see the Dayton’sBluff homes year after year. Some of the visitors like it sowell that they have made Dayton's Bluff their new home.

Watch for more information in the April issue of the Fo-rum.

Nicole Pressley

From left: Sandrel Bunting, Ralph L. Crowder III, and Cindy Lewis at the February 11 screening and discussion of Crowder's film “Hands Up, Don't Shoot our Youth Movement,” hosted by the DBCC Community Engagement Committee.

Forum staff

334 Mounds Boulevard, pictured above, is one of the homes on the Dayton’s Bluff/Minneapolis-St. Paul Home Tour, April 25 and 26.

Self and social awareness through belly dance: Kamala Chaand

Meg Gronau, Forum editor

The music begins, slow and rhyth-mic, and the dancers curl theirwrists, stretching their arms and gen-tly rolling their torsos. They arewatching each other carefully whenthe music suddenly changes and, asone, they spin and stomp, tossingtheir hips, all the while clanging zils(hand cymbals) in perfect rhythm.

But they haven't done this exactdance before. American Tribal Style(ATS) belly dance is almost entirelyimprovised. ATS is the main practiceof Kamala Chaand Dance Company,which has just taken up residence in

a brand-new studio at1051 Hudson Road.

Tasha-Rose, directorof KCDC, gestures to aflowchart of slow andfast dance moves on thewall. “The leader foreach dance cues thechanges in movementwith the drop of an arm,a curve of the body, or aturn of the head,” sheexplains.

ATS originated inSan Francisco in the1970s and is a trulyAmerican “melting pot”style of dance. “Its in-fluences are from North

Africa, Flamenco, Roma, and India,with a unique American flair,”Tasha-Rose says.

Though belly dance has a reputa-tion for being performed by flirta-tious, scantily-clad young women,members of KCDC emphasize thenatural, family-friendliness of ATS.

Donna Bartol, KCDC AssistantDirector, said, “These are familydances, with folkloric roots.”

“We wear so much clothing!”Tasha-Rose added, unfolding a skirtmade from 25 yards of fabric.

KCDC member Breana Larsonwent on: “ATS is a celebration of the

natural movement of the humanbody.”

The way the women naturallycomplete each other's thoughts isemblematic of the positive energyand teamwork of ATS. And the ben-efits are physical as well as psycho-logical. ATS dancers can expect toimprove posture, and hip and shoul-der mobility. “Learn to stand taller,”Tasha-Rose says. “You own yourspace, so take it!”

To further embody that aim,KCDC is also the home of OurDancing Daughters (ODD), a non-profit mentorship program for at-riskgirls and teens. ODD plans to offergirls a comprehensive program in-cluding homework help, dance train-ing, financial literacy, and crisismediation. ODD is currently accept-ing donations through GoFundMe.

The KCDC class schedule andmore information can be found atkamalachaanddancecompany.com.ATS classes are offered for women,men, and baby-wearing, and a stu-dent troupe is being formed. KCDCalso offers classes in yoga, hoopdance, and poi.

A “haflawarming” celebration andopen house will be held March 28,3:00-10:00pm at the studio, and allare welcome to enjoy food, prizes,and open-stage dance performances.

2015 Cabaret!Karin DuPaul, Forum staff

The 2015 Cabaret! began with Irish mu-sic by the house band Barra while the audi-ence checked out the silent auction. At 8:00pm the evening's emcee, the spectacularVictoria Deville, introduced VIP Bingo, agame that got the audience moving aboutthe room and meeting each other.

The first act of the evening was ChilliLor with a spoken-word presentation aboutpeople working together on East Side. Shewas followed by 16 more acts, most withEast Side roots. There were singers,dancers, and a skit that brought backCatholic-school memories to many in theaudience. The very last performance wasbelly dancing by Kamala Chaand DanceCompany that recently moved into 1051Hudson Road, just a few doors down fromthe Mounds Theatre. (See full article onKamala Chaand, at right.)

The audience marveled at the many dif-ferent and excellent acts at the cabaret. Thefood for the night was donated by East Sidebusinesses including Cub Foods, MagnoliasRestaurant, Marquez Grill, MississippiMarket, Señor Sol, and Yarusso BrothersItalian Restaurant.

At the end of the evening, the “Spirit ofSwede Hollow” spoke about Swede HollowPark and Art in the Hollow, the annual artfestival to be held this year on June 6, forwhich the cabaret is a fund raiser. For moreinformation, see the article on page 8 oremail karin@swedehollow.org.

Forum staff

Members of Kamala Chaand Dance Company demonstrate the American Tribal Style of belly dance in their new studio, now open for business at 1051 Hudson Road.

Page 6 Dayton’s Bluff District Forum March 2015

Pro wrestling comesto the Mounds

TheatreGreg Cosimini, Forum staff

The IWI (Independent Wrestling In-ternational) has found a home at theHistoric Mounds Theatre. The next IWIevents will be March 14 and April 11.

The Mounds provides an ideal venuefor pro wrestling. The ring is set up infront of the stage. VIP guests sit at ta-bles on the stage overlooking the ring.The other three sides of the ring are sur-rounded by comfortable seats. The light-ing and sound systems are excellent anda variety of beverages and food itemsare available.

Five matches were held at the firstevent, on February 14. Kody Rice beatVenom in the opening match. PatrickMcDaniels took out Tre Blackman inthe second with a “neck-breaker.” Thethird match was a handicap match pit-ting the Mad Russian against the tagteam of Lore and Miles Mathers. TheMad Russian lost. This was followed bythe Tag Team Title Match with Glam-Slam 2.0, Ian Xavier and Tommy “Spi-derbaby” Saturday versus Tall & Small,“Hollywood” Brian Sager and “TNT”Tommy Mason. The IWI Heavyweight

Championship Match had Rob Jamesversus The Black Stallion after the for-mer champ, Da Minnesotan, wasstripped of his belt for not showing up.After a vicious match the Black Stallionbecame the new IWI HeavyweightChampion.

Visit moundstheatre.org or call 651-772-2253 for information about wrest-ling and other upcoming events.

The Historic Mounds Theatre is locat-ed at 1029 Hudson Road.

Reform 2020 makes a difference for our seniors

Rhonda Battisto, Executive DirectorDayton's Bluff Seniors

This year, Dayton’s Bluff Seniorsreceived $30,000 through the CoreHome and Community Based Ser-vices fund as part of the Reform 2020initiative. This was much-welcomednew funding to our program. Day-ton’s Bluff Seniors is a Living atHome Block Nurse Program, helpingmore than 100 seniors who live in theDayton’s Bluff neighborhood of St.Paul with basic health, wellness andsocial support.

So who benefits from those dollars?• Stan is a regular attendee at thewellness clinic Dayton’s Bluff Seniorsoperates at the Wilson Hi-Rise Apart-ments. Stan is blind and has multiplehealth issues including diabetes. At aregular clinic visit to check his bloodpressure, Stan opened up to the clinicnurse about his confusion using hisnew glucometer—a voice activatemodel to accommodate his blindness;he was not shown how to use it by hisdoctor. Our nurse helped Stan learnhow to use the machine so he couldsafely and independently manage hisblood sugars at home.

• Francine lives at Parkway GardenSenior Apartments in St. Paul. Shehas high blood pressure and comes forphysical and emotional support to theweekly Dayton’s Bluff Seniors well-ness clinics held in her building.Francine says the volunteers lift herspirits when she’s feeling down.• Maggie is weak from dealing withcancer and the impacts of rigorouschemotherapy. During her initial in-terview, Maggie reported her showerchair was broken. Our staff broughtMaggie a donated chair so she couldsafely bathe again, with help from ourvolunteer nurse. Maggie feels sup-ported and cared for.

These stories nicely illustrate themission of Dayton’s Bluff Seniors:helping seniors live, safe and indepen-dent, at home. We do this with manyteams of volunteers and a shoe-stringbudget. The new state funding is ab-solutely vital to helping small organi-zations like ours to enrich the lives ofseniors as they live well at home.

We are grateful to everyone whosupported this legislation. Pleaseknow these dollars make a differencein our community.

Clearing the airAn article in our February issue

(“Teachable moments at FreedomSchool,” page 6) should have beenlabeled an opinion piece, reflectingthe thoughts and experiences of theauthor. It was not meant to repre-sent the opinion of the Forumnewspaper. The Forum is a placefor the community to express opin-ions, and your thoughts are wel-come. Email editor@daytons-bluff.org with your contribution.

Locals explore Cuban agriculture – and bring the lessons back homeForum staff

This January, a Twin Cities delega-tion of urban farmers, food educators,writers, healthy food advocates, and lo-cal government representatives spentnine days on a food sovereignty touraround Cuba. Included on this delega-tion were members of Urban Oasis, thewinning idea in the St. Paul Founda-tion's $1 million Forever St. Paul Chal-lenge. Urban Oasis, led by founder andExecutive Director Tracy Sides, is cre-ating all sorts of ways you can feedyour family and support our local foodsystem.

Follow Sides' blog, including reflec-tions on her Cuba trip, at urbanoasism-n.org/blog.

Hear, touch, and taste more ofTracy’s trip to Cuba on March 20from 7:00-9:00 pm at the East SideEnterprise Center community room,804 Margaret Street.

The following are some reflectionson farming in Cuba from Robin Ma-jors, manager of Shared Ground Farm-ers Cooperative, who also partook inthe January trip. Shared Ground isbased in the East Side Enterprise Cen-ter at 804 Margaret Street.

I first learned I had to visit Cuba afew years ago while working for Com-mon Harvest Farm in Osceola, WI. Inthe 1990s, farmer Dan Guenthner hadtraveled to the island nation of 11 mil-lion. While he and I bunched Swisschard together in the early mornings,he would tell stories of the acres ofraised beds, the public farmers' marketson every corner, and the many univer-sities and government organizationsthat provided markets and worked withand connected urban and rural farmers.It sounded like an organic farmer’sdream.

Three years later – January 2015 –

Stone’s Throw Urban Farm and I hadthe opportunity to organize a group offarmers, city officials and food profes-sionals interested in food and urbanagriculture totravel to Cuba.We traveledaround Havana,Pinar del Rio andMatanzas to farmsand agricultureprojects includingthe Ministry ofAgriculture andfarm coopera-tives. While theagriculture systemin Cuba containsmany componentsconsidered idealin the U.S. organ-ic farming world(organic systems,small farms, fewpetroleum-basedtools), it is diffi-cult to compareour agriculturalsystems withouttaking the eco-nomic and politi-cal conditions intoaccount. Cubawas faced with aneconomic crisisand a lack ofpetroleum-basedresources that re-quired the govern-ment to invest insustainable agri-culture. Cuba prioritizes agriculture toprevent widespread hunger.

Cuba’s current agriculture systemwas born out of necessity. Before 1989Cuba exported much of its sugar to theSoviet Union in exchange for many re-sources, most importantly petroleumand petroleum-derived products. Withthe collapse of the Soviet Union in

1989 and compounded by the U.S. em-bargo, Cuba fell into an extended peri-od of economic crisis defined primarilyby the shortages of petroleum. During

the “Special Period” in the early 1990s,Cuba re-structured its agricultural sys-tem. Rather than putting resources andresearch into large state farms andpetroleum-based agricultural systems,Cuba switched its focus to organizingfarm cooperatives and researching sus-tainable farming methods. Today Cubais known as one of the world’s leadersof agroecology and sustainable farm-

ing.Therefore, while our group came to

learn from the Cuban agricultural sys-tem, we left impressed with their dedi-cation to agroecology but knowing thatwe have neither the political structurenor the economic climate to demandthe systemic change that Cuba wentthrough. There were a few main differ-ences and topics that stuck out to us:

1. The embargo created many strug-gles for farmers. It is difficult for Cubato import tools. Therefore, few farmsare mechanized and many people pri-marily use physical labor or drive oxento seed, till, cultivate, and harvest.When we asked farmers how theyhoped the loosening of the embargowould benefit them, “mechanizationand access to tools and tractors” wasthe most popular answer.

2. Here in the United States, farmers’biggest challenges are access to fair-paying markets and affordable farm-land. In Cuba neither of these are an is-sue – the government gives away landto anyone looking to start a farm, andany and all available produce or ani-mals raised have a market in schools,hospitals, and farmers markets.

3. Farm cooperatives are everywhereand the government has put much ef-fort into connecting farmers with eachother and researchers to the farmers.Every town has a farmers’ cooperativethat collaborates to educate each other,distribute product, and share infrastruc-ture.

While there are many impressive as-pects of Cuban agriculture, it is impor-tant to acknowledge that it is not aperfect system. It is obvious that morefertility, tools and mechanization areneeded in order to feed the island andexport products like sugar and tobacco.

I look forward to discussing moreabout Cuba, agriculture, and the embar-go with Tracy Sides on March 20. Seeyou there!

– Robin Majors

Urban Oasis

A Cuban farmer pauses during the harvest. Cuba is known as one ofthe world's leaders of sustainable farming an agroecology, and a group from Dayton's Bluff visited the island nation in January.

March 2015 Dayton’s Bluff District Forum Page 7

Opinion: View from my porch

Dominium building plansdon't jibe with community

Sage Holben, special to the Forum

On January 5, the Dayton’s BluffLand Use Committee voted unani-mously to oppose the height variancerequested for Dominium’s proposedbuilding on East 7th Street. Neighborsmet and pooled their money to appealthe proposed height. The Dayton'sBluff Community Council voted tojoin the appeal. On February 18, St.Paul City Council blew us off.

One crucial element of oppositionto the variance lay in the scale of theproposed building. Its height is out ofkeeping with the surrounding struc-tures – “unsympathetic,” as publicrecords would state. As proposed, itwould be the tallest building on East7th Street outside of downtown. Met-ropolitan State University recentlychanged their plans for an almostequally-high parking structure onEast 7th Street because of fierceneighborhood opposition to its size.They moved the parking lot awayfrom 7th Street and decreased itsheight. To the east, Mississippi Mar-ket (which has been wonderfully re-spondent to neighborhood expecta-tions) was carefully built withinheight and size restrictions.

Dominium’s residential neighborsto the south are still hoping Domini-um will respect their privacy andquality of life by placing foliage andattractive privacy barriers. Its neigh-bor to the north, the Stutzman build-ing, is a model of urban architecture.It is almost completely negated by theproposed height of the Dominiumbuilding. If built as proposed, thebuilding would block almost all sun-shine from the community gardenacross the street west of the Stutzmanbuilding for at least five hours of eachday. A Stutzman building second-floor business tenant talks with dreadof the way the Dominium building(“a monstrosity”) will erect an urbanbarrier that will “literally darken” allaround it.

Dominium has consistently refusedto follow neighborhood recommenda-tions that it abide by the spirit of theEast 7th Street development plan, theNear East Side Road Map and theEast 7th Street Design Guidelines. Re-cent developments in the immediatevicinity of the proposed Dominiumbuilding have given new life to theplan’s vision of an urban, walkablestreetscape. The new MetropolitanState Student Center, with its cafeopen to 7th Street; the newly opened

Dancing Goat coffee shop across 7th

Street; the soon-to-be-enlargedSwede Hollow Café ; and the newMississippi Market will all promote avibrant street culture. Strong and per-sistent requests that Dominium addstreet-level retail have fallen on deafears.

The Dayton’s Bluff Land UseCommittee understands and is sym-pathetic to the need for “affordable”senior housing (Although only oneperson in each unit needs to meet theage criteria. Potentially, extendedfamilies will also dwell here, andwhere is the greenspace to accommo-date children?) If Dominium is cor-rect that they need 113 units to beeconomically feasible, it behoovesthem to find a new site that will allowthem and their tenants sufficientspace. If Dominium does not build inthe proposed site (perhaps the 3M sitemight be appropriate?), the merepresence of Mississippi Market willentice revival of the Bluff betweenBates Avenue and Maple Street. If,instead, the Dominium Building is al-lowed to exceed the size limitationslaid out by the city for the site, weface the daunting prospect of a hugeedifice that could easily, in 20 yearsor so, segue from a senior housingstructure to an urban slum.

As to the City Council meeting onFebruary 18, where only three peoplewere able to speak in favor of appeal-ing the Planning Committee’s earlierdecision, I was saddened to hear fromthe Mississippi Market rep that MMhas been partnering with Dominiumfor the last two years, but not a wordof partnering to the community’sgood with Gateway or DB Communi-ty Council.

Does money always hold powerover what the community wants?

Oh, wait, we are Dayton’s Bluff!! Iam proud of our residents and howthey invest their sweat, ideas, tight in-comes and passion into creating ahealthier and more cohesive commu-nity. I am tired of our mayor and citycouncil bullying our district and usingit to benefit their coffers. I resent aDominium representative smirking ashe told the council that “of course,people find change difficult when alot has stood empty for so long.” I re-sent having a piece of facade passedoff as a roof, and a business stompingits (now unwanted by me) horrendousfootprint into the most public area ofDayton’s Bluff.

History corner

Bits and pieces of history

Steve Trimble, Forum historian

Sometimes you know what you arelooking for when you start doing historyresearch. Other times while you are ontarget, you accidentally run into some-thing that is so interesting that you tuckit away and decide to get back to it later.This month, I’m going to give few ex-amples of what is often called serendip-ity. I think I’ll also comment on somelocal history that crops up on Facebookfrom time to time.

I was looking for information about aSt. Paul mobster named Gleckmanwhen I accidentally ran across informa-tion related to our neighborhood. It fea-tured Hyman Chargo, who was abootlegger during Prohibition (1920-1933). On January 21, 1930, federalProhibition agents set him up by havingAlex Tabalich order alcohol for deliveryto his house at 408 Maple Street, in theheart of our own community. Hymanwas nabbed after unloading five 5-gal-lon cans of moonshine into the Tabalichgarage. He was arrested in the drivewaywhile drinking a sample of his hooch,and charged with illegally transportingand selling liquor. The city directoriesconfirm there was an Alex Tabalich onMaple Street at the time. There was alater notation that he had moved toSiren, Wisconsin in 1931. Perhaps heleft town for fear of retribution?

Sometimes there are surprising bitsof historical lore show up on Facebook.One time someone put up a stereoviewof the James E. Thompson mansion inDayton’s Bluff and wondered if anyonehad any information on it. Fairly quick-ly there was a post from my friend JimSazevich, well-known as “The HouseDetective,” who said it was one of hisfavorite photos. He then quoted His-toric Buildings of Minnesota: “One ofthe finest housesbuilt on Dayton’sBluff in St. Pauloverlooking the cityand river valley wasthe James E. Thomp-son Mansion, alsoknown as the'Fairview Estate.'”Jim stated that “thehouse consisted of14 rooms that wereheated with steam,

and some even had hot and cold runningwater, which was rare at the time. AfterThompson died, the home was sold toPatrick H. Kelly, a successful longtimeSt. Paul wholesale grocer.” After serv-ing as a church home and then a men’sclub (it was called the Tuxedo Club), itwas demolished in 1910 to make wayfor a city playground. It was oftencalled Tuxedo Playground and then theBluff Playground. The site is gone,swallowed up by I-94.

Interesting history bits often comefrom web Facebook sub-groups. A goodexample is “Old St. Paul Minn” that anyone with interest in the past can join.Recently one person asked for helpfinding information about his great-grandfather Carl Brink, who lived at 59South Phalen Creek. He wasn’t sure ifthere was such a house, because hecould find the creek but no houses onmaps.

Jim Sazevich to the rescue. He saidthat the address was along the creek andlocated south of the 7th Street Bridge.“The area is where the first Irish lived inthe hollow, and later it was predomi-nantly occupied by our city's earliestPolish immigrants, who later went on tolive in the Arcade Street area, andfounded St. Casimir's Church.” Jimshared a MHS map that showed exactlywhere he lived. He also added a photoof South Phalen Creek from MHS.

One of the most interesting bits ofunexpected history occurred last month.I was at the Minnesota Historical Soci-ety scanning a reel of microfilm of theMHS Scrapbooks for an item of inter-est. Suddenly a picture of a young girlcaught my eye; the headline above itread “Minnesota’s Helen Keller.” Checkthis space next month for the incrediblestory of Vera Gammon.

Minnesota Historical Society

Pictured: the James Thompson mansion, later known as the Tuxedo Club, was demolished in 1910 to make room for a playground. The site, at 230 Mounds Boulevard, now lies underI-94.

Page 8 Dayton’s Bluff District Forum March 2015

Seeking artists forArt in the Hollow

Forum staff

Our area's biggest explosion of artand talent – Art in the Hollow – is onSaturday, June 6, from 10:00 am to5:00 pm. Artists, artisans, and perform-ers are needed for the one-day festivalin the heart of Swede Hollow Park. Forartists to display, there is a $15 fee andtents are required. There is no fee forperformers, who will be selected basedon talent, variety and local roots. As acommunity festival set in the heart ofthe neighborhood, this is an “un-plugged” event.

Once again Art in the Hollow will in-clude a temporary environmental sculp-ture contest. Entry is $10, and, conceptsmeeting safety criteria will all be erect-ed the day of the festival. The threesculpture prizes are $300, $200 and$100. Make a statement with public art!No previous experience or credentialsrequired. Deadline is June 1; apply atartinthehollow.org. For more informa-tion on volunteering to be a part of thiswonderful celebration of talent, contactKarin DuPaul at 651-776-0550 or kar-in@swedehollow.org. To exhibit, per-form, or enter the sculpture contest, signup at artinthehollow.org or on Facebook.

Mark your calendar. Everyone is wel-come at Art in the Hollow and it is free!There will be all kinds of art for saleand entertainers all day.

Ramsey County VeteransCourt seeks veterans to

serve as mentorsThe Ramsey County Veterans Court

is seeking veterans to serve as volunteermentors to Veterans Court participants.

The Veterans Court provides veteransof the United States military brancheswho are charged with committing acrime in Ramsey County an alternativeto traditional court processes.

Each participant in the Ramsey Coun-ty Veterans Court is assigned a veteranmentor. Mentors serve as volunteer staffand are assigned to work one-on-onewith participants in Veterans Court, act-ing as a coach, guide, role model andadvocate. There are currently 20 volun-teer mentors serving Ramsey CountyVeterans Court participants.

Those interested in serving as a vol-unteer mentor should contact DonnLindstrom at 651-266-2545 or don-n.lindstrom@co.ramsey.mn.us.

Fresh new Forum feature

I am going to be writing a new series, East Side Eating, during 2015. A short version will appear in the monthly Forum, but theentire version will be available at daytonsbluffdistrictforum.org. Just click on “East Side Eating” on the top of the home page. Be -low is a brief introduction, and two of the restaurant visits. – Steve Trimble

I have decided to embark on an ad-venture during 2015. There are over 60restaurants on St. Paul’s East Side and Ithought it would be interesting to try toeat at all of them in one year. Occasion-ally breakfast, and more likely lunch ordinner and I am only going to includeowner-run establishments—no chainsunless they are small local ones. Theyhave to have a place to sit down, so nostrictly take-out spots or food trucks. Iam not going to pretend to be a foodcritic, so no judgments on quality. Youwon’t find any statements like “the pâtéwas too dry” or “the fava bean dishwould have been vastly improved witharugula and sun-dried heirloom tomatil-los.” Instead there will be descriptions ofwhat is available, and other useful infor-mation. Do they have a liquor or beerand wine license, what type of food isavailable and are there any surprisingdishes to be tried? Is there a patio, livemusic television or arcade games or anymerchandise to buy? One thing I will tryto include is each establishment's ownWeb site, so you won’t have to scrollthrough dozens of Yelp or Urban Spoonpages to find a menu. So here goes.“Bon appétit,” as Lynne RossettoKasper says on her Splendid Table radioshow.

Taqueria Los Paisanos825 East 7th Street651-778-8062lospaisanostaqueria.comMonday-Thursday & Sunday:

8:00 am-10:00 pmFriday & Saturday: 8:00 am-11:00 pm

January 7, 2015: I had just finishedmy first tutorial from Carla Riehle onhow to build this blog site, so I felt shedeserved to be the first of my East SideEating guests. The Taqueria is located atthe northeast corner of East 7th and Ar-cade Streets. Some will remember it asthe former home of Clark’s submarinesandwiches. It is smallish – maybe adozen tables and booths – and nicelydecorated. Diners order at a counterfrom a menu of mostly traditional Mexi-can food. I had a burrito served with riceand refried beans (pictured above) and itwas so big I took half of it home withme. You may order ahead of time online.There is a small amount of off-streetparking. On our way out, two womencalled to us and asked if we could helpthem push their car – it seems they hadno reverse gear. Fortunately two otherpeople came to their aid and they wereable to get out of the little lot. Never adull moment!

Eastside Thai Restaurant879 Payne Avenue651-776-6599eastsidethai.comMonday-Wednesday 11:00 am-7:30 pm Thursday-Sunday 11:00 am-8:00 pm

January 14, 2015: Next, I checked inwith my neighbor Alan who is some-thing of an expert on Asian dishes, espe-cially Thai cuisine. Off we went forlunch, to a spot on Payne Avenue thatneither of us had been before. No expec-tations, just an adventure. We entered afairly small business that was attractive-ly decorated and clean. There weremaybe 12 tables and no buffet. Themenu had a lot of options. I chose a PadThai with a combination of chicken, beefand shrimp, and the huge pile on theplate allowed for leftovers. My friendwas taken with the large number of currydishes. Service was nice. The food tooka while to arrive, but it was tasty. Alansaid it was some of the best curry he hadever had and happily noted that thecondiments included jalapeno peppers invinegar and fish sauce. Eastside Thaiuses mostly old family recipes, and alsooffers catering.

Forum contributor Steve Trimble is attempting to eat at every sit-down restaurant on the East Side in 2015. He hopes to get the word out to the Dayton's Bluff community about all the eating options here on our side of town. Pictured above is a burrito and taco – with beans and rice, of course – from Taqueria Los Paisanos.

Friends of the ForumDear Reader,

The Dayton's Bluff District Forum has been a volun-teer-run newspaper since the 1970s, and has always oper-ated on a minimal budget.

For the past two years we have been soliciting donationsthrough our Friends of the Forum program. Thanks to thedonations of readers like you, we have been able to keepthe paper up and running.

If you value this community source of information, pleaseconsider filling out the form at right. Any amount is appreci-ated; you may also make memorial donations, or include theForum in your legacy planning.

If you have been our Friend in the past, please renewyour membership with a donation in 2015.

Sincerely,The Dayton's Bluff District Forum

Board: Greg Cosimini, Karin DuPaul, Jennifer Herman, Carla Riehle, Steve TrimbleEditor: Meg Gronau; Editorial Assistant: Mark Gallagher

Many thanks to our 2015 donors:

Dennis & Gail Alexander

Mary Ann Cogelow

Sarah Geving

Patricia Gangl

Kathleen M Hale

Brent Katzenmaier

Charissa & David Osborn

Kirstin Scanlan

Yes, I will become a Friend of the Forum.

My tax-deductible check is enclosed, for:

$100 $50 $25 Other______

Or give online: razoo.com/Hopewell-Communi-cations-Incorporated.

Name_________________________________________

Email_________________________________________

Address_______________________________________

City, State, ZIP_________________________________

Phone________________________________________

Make checks out to Dayton's Bluff District Forum and mail to 804 Margaret Street, St. Paul, MN 55106.

For more information, contact 651-776-0550 oreditor@daytonsbluff.org.

East Side EatingTrimble’s Taste Trek