Craig Wilson has been profiling interesting people in the Hill and Lake neighborhoods since September 2008. In the June 2018 “Meet Your Neighbor” column, Craig and I interviewed Shawn Smith, Kenwood Neighborhood Organization board chair and resolute moderator of the Minneapolis 2040 information session on June 6. This is the story.
The Linden Hills History Study Group generously sponsored local historian Tom Balcom’s and my program on the Quigley aerials on Wednesday, May 23. Aaron Isaacs, author of “Twin Cities by Trolley,” pointed out the streetcar lines in Quigley’s aerials. Ted Hathaway, HCL Special Collections senior librarian, updated us on the effort to acquire the aerials from the Minneapolis school district. Gini Tyson, current owner of the house Joe built in 1916, was there, as were several Quigley family members. A great time — and all of us eager to see the aerials secured for the public domain. Here is the story.
Minnesota’s municipalities are required to update their comprehensive plans every ten years. Minneapolis officials decided this time to pursue an ambitious overhaul that would affect every resident and every corner of the city. What came to the fore as people dug further into the details was the intention to upzone the entire city, unprecedented anywhere in the U.S., and to massively increase density. Hill and Lake residents found themselves pilloried as reactionary defenders of privilege, and the battle was on. Here is the story.
It seems so obvious: mass transit should run where masses of people live and work, not in the wooded, park-like Kenilworth Corridor where wildlife outnumbers people. What’s more, the costliest infrastructure project in Minnesota history spurns the city’s development and density goals for the two Kenilworth Corridor stations. Here is the story.
Minneapolis has 87 neighborhoods, all of them unique in their own way. It’s quite possible — likely, in fact — that Cedar-Isles-Dean is the most unique of them all. Here is the story.
Now in their 14th season, the musicians of the Isles Ensemble performed to enthusiastic audiences on four Sunday afternoons at Lake of the Isles Lutheran Church.
The first concert, on
The second concert, on November 19, included music of Martinů, Rachmaninoff, and Beethoven.
The third concert, on February 18, included music of Haydn, Mozart, and Brahms. Here is the story.
The fourth concert, on April 8, included music of Schnittke, Mendelssohn, and Dvořák. Here is the story.
“Sacred music in a sacred space” has been the watchword for the St. Mark’s Cathedral Music Series for 46 years, and the Compass Brass Ensemble and choral groups Lumina and Mirandola ensemble carried on that tradition during the 2017-18 season.
Here is the story about Lumina and the Mirandola Ensemble, who sang on February 24 and March 10 (respectively.
Here is the story about the Compass Brass Ensemble, who performed on April 7.
As part of their ongoing commitment to literacy and the students at Jefferson School, the good folks of Uptown Rotary took 125 third- and eighth-graders to Magers & Quinn Booksellers (in homeroom groups of 25 students at a time) on February 7 and 8, 2018. Every student selected a book of of his or her own choosing to take home, courtesy of Uptown Rotary. Here is the story.
When it comes to the history of the Minneapolis park system, Dave Smith has (quite literally) written the book. He knows the highs, the lows, and everything in between, and on February 25, 2018, he came to Cedar-Isles-Dean to talk about “Linking Shrinking Lakes, a Deadly Railroad Crossing, and the Northwest Passage: CIDNA’s Rich Park History.” Here is the story.
Anita Tabb and her family moved to Minneapolis in January 2004, settling in Lowry Hill. She got involved with her neighborhood association, then with the activist group Park Watch. In January 2010 she took her seat as a Minneapolis Park Board commissioner, her first foray into electoral politics. Six years later, in April 2016, she and four colleagues accomplished an historic “first: a joint City Council-Park Board ordinance providing a new 20-year stream of revenue for park improvements. And in January 2018 she bade us goodbye and moved to Florida.
During her 14 years with us Anita developed close friendships, gave generously of her time and energy, and set an example of selfless and principled public service. The December 17 Hill & Lake Press profiled the friend, neighbor, and Park Board commissioner we all came to cherish. Here is the story.
Several friends, neighbors, colleagues, and fellow elected officials wrote words of appreciation for Anita and her service to the people of Minneapolis. Here is the story.
michael • wilson • writes 