Southwest Journal Oct. 31–Nov. 13

Rose Street leaving Linden Hills PAGE A3 • A Tokyo-style, late-night crepe shop PAGE A4 • Big development at Franklin & Lyndale PAGE A7 • Tasting the flautas at Prieto PAGE B6

October 31–November 13, 2019 Vol. 30, No. 22 southwestjournal.com

Nonprofit takes on troubled apartments

By Michelle Bruch

PEDESTRIAN DEATH ON LYNDALE IGNITES PROTESTS

By Andrew Hazzard

Wedge Live blogger John Edwards and other protesters stand face-to-face with the driver of a pickup truck during an Oct. 25 rally in which activists demanded immediate safety improvements for Lyndale Avenue.

Earlier in October, a Minneapolis man was fatally struck by a driver several hundred feet from the protest site.

Submitted photo

The death of a pedestrian crossing Lyndale Avenue has created a rallying point for activists protesting unsafe conditions on a county road long labeled as one of the most dangerous streets in Southwest Minneapolis.

Shortly after 1 a.m. on Oct. 13, 54-year-old Theodore J. Ferrara was struck by a driver while attempting to cross Lyndale midblock between 25th and 26th streets.

Ferrara, an artist and musician remembered for being a generous friend with many talents, died three days later from his injuries, according to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office.

In the wake of Ferrara’s death, a crowd of dozens gathered on Oct. 25 to demand safety improvements to Lyndale. They marched back and forth through the intersection at 25th & Lyndale, near where Ferrara was struck, stopping traffic and chanting slogans such as “This is a crosswalk!” and “Safe streets save lives!”

Drivers honked at the protesters, who yelled back. One motorist bumped a protester with his car, driving into the man at more than 5 mph. The man backpedaled to safety and afterward appeared unharmed. The driver sped away.

SEE PEDESTRIAN DEATH / PAGE A15

Over the course of 14 years at 3121 Pleasant Ave., Mrs. Dominguez paid rent to two owners later stripped of their rental licenses, fought a rent hike from a third owner and worked with Legal Aid to take a fourth landlord to court.

In 2018, she joined other tenants renting from Villa Nova Real Estate Holdings to tell Hennepin Housing Court about daily cockroach sightings, leaky windows, a unit with two layers of wet carpet, an intruder entering an unlockable window and a mold investigator whose hair became damp inside a humid apartment. Dominguez said she still gets a court-ordered $200 monthly reduction in rent, because although the windows were replaced, she’s still waiting for other repairs a year later.

Now the affordable housing nonprofit Aeon has purchased her building, along with 15 other apartment complexes, with a commitment to keep rents affordable for the long term. Given her experience, Dominguez is cautious.

“I want to wait and see,” said Dominguez, who works with Inquilinxs Unidxs Por Justicia (United Renters for Justice) and, speaking through a translator, requested her first name not be printed. “We would like it that they don’t raise the rent, especially not year after year. And we also want to make sure that when we call, repairs are made.”

Aeon purchased the 220-unit portfolio in July for $26.9 million, according to property records. Mayor Jacob Frey highlighted the transaction in his budget address the following month, saying it would help preserve affordable housing and prevent displacement.

SEE AEON / PAGE A14

Witness others’ ‘songs and stories’ at Theater 45° New Plymouth Congregational Church program gives a voice to marginalized groups

Founding board members of the Alliance of Latinx Minnesota Artists kick off their performance Oct. 21 at Plymouth Congregational Church. The alliance is one of six groups that is participating in the church’s new Theater 45° program.

Photo by Chris Bohnhoff

By Nate Gotlieb

Nora Montañez stood in the center of Plymouth Congregational Church’s chapel, replaying a conversation she once had with her young daughter.

“Who is illegal?” Montañez asked, intoning a child’s voice. “Are you illegal?”

Returning to her adult persona, Montañez stared out at the audience in front of her.

“The word illegal and immigrant should not be in the same sentence,” she said.

Montañez, founder of the Alliance

of Latinx Minnesota Artists, is among the actors participating in a new theater program at the Stevens Square church.

Called Theater 45°, the program gives members of marginalized groups a space to tell their own stories in ways they see fit.

Founders Seth Patterson and Ashawnti Ford said they hope the performances build understanding and drive people to action.

“Once we hear somebody’s story, it’s now SEE THEATER 45° / PAGE A11

Drag story hour at the Walker

Everett & Charlie and Suzie Marty

Historic conservation in Whittier

Coding the WWI armistice

PAGE A9

PAGE B1

PAGE B7

PAGE B12

A2 October 31–November 13, 2019 / southwestjournal.com

Event held in Conjunction with

southwestjournal.com / October 31–November 13, 2019 A3

By Andrew Hazzard / ahazzard@swjournal.com

LAKE & BRYANT

Salon Navarro styling, educating in Uptown More than 20 years after starting his cosmetology career in Uptown, stylist Mark Navarro is back in the neighborhood with a salon of his own.

Salon Navarro opened in June in a suite at 2929 Bryant Ave. S. It’s the veteran stylist’s first salon under his own name.

After starting at the old Horst Salon at Lake & Hennepin in 1996, Navarro moved on to doing hair and makeup for television and runway shows. He’s learned a lot over the years and said he wanted to open his own space to pass that knowledge down to younger stylists.

“I’d really like to share the haircut and makeup techniques that I’m doing,” he said.

Navarro is planning to start a series of educational sessions and said he’s been reaching out to other salons in the area to let their stylists know about the classes. The first will

focus on holiday party updos, he said.

Navarro lived in Uptown in the 1990s and said he wanted to return to the neighborhood because it is the heart of fashion and trends in the city.

The salon is located in a building shared with other wellness-related businesses. When Navarro was in business school he wrote up a plan for a wellness center with a salon, spa and gym space similar to the building he’s in now.

He’s hoping to collaborate with the neighboring stores in the future.

Salon Navarro is open Tuesday to Saturday and mainly does appointments via online booking.

Salon Navarro Where: 2920 Bryant Ave. S., Suite 115 Info: salonnavarro.com

LINDEN HILLS

Rose Street Patisserie leaving Linden Hills

Chef John Kraus, whose Rose Street Patisserie in Linden Hills will close Nov. 3. File photo

Linden Hills’ Rose Street Patisserie will close in November to make room for a new venture from the owner of the neighboring Martina restaurant.

Rose Street’s last day of business will be Nov. 3, according to a press release. Daniel Del Prado, who runs Martina and Colita at 50th & Penn, is taking over the space with the intention of launching a third concept in Southwest.

Chef John Kraus, who owns Rose Street and Patisserie 46 in Kingfield, is closing the Linden Hills location to focus on his Bread Lab training program in St. Paul and continue growing his catering business.

The move follows months of conversations between Kraus and Del Prado about their hopes for the future, Kraus said. As Del Prado would be ending the night at Martina, Kraus would be coming in to start the day at Rose Street and the two would share coffee.

“In a way, we became each other’s therapists,” Kraus said.

They discussed his new Bread Lab training and catering program on the Schmidt Brewery grounds in St. Paul, and Del Prado’s desire for a space near one of his current restaurants to try a new concept.

A longtime instructor at the French Pastry School in Chicago, Kraus wants to build a robust apprenticeship program to train aspiring bakers in the Twin Cities. He sees a void in the kitchen in the near future as more young people opt for college instead of pursuing skilled trades like baking.

“There’s something we’re losing and that’s the trades,” he said.

Kraus said he’s enjoyed being in Linden Hills but felt he was spending too much time going location to location. Conversations with Del Prado made him realize that with Patisserie 46 nearby, he could move on from Linden Hills while Del Prado could use the space to expand his offerings in the neighborhood.

“I am so proud of what Rose Street is doing for the trade of baking and pastry, and after our discussions about the future of both of our businesses, things just made sense,” Del Prado said in a statement.

Kraus and CEO Elizabeth Rose opened the Linden Hills Rose Street Patisserie in 2016.

Since then, they’ve added two more Rose Street locations in St. Paul.

“While we are sad to leave our Linden Hills customers, we hope they’ll remember that Patisserie 46 is not far away, and of course we are just a phone call away for catering,” Rose said in a statement. “We love a good holiday party. Plus, we’re so confident that Danny [Del Prado] will do something really special and the neighborhood has already shown they love whatever he does.”

Del Prado has yet to announce his plans for the space.

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A4 October 31–November 13, 2019 / southwestjournal.com

Reverse Gum Recession

Mia Oi is opening a brick-andmortar location of Ichigo Tokyo Crepes at 34th & Nicollet on Nov. 1.

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Ichigo Tokyo Crepes comes to Minneapolis

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When Mia Oi came to the Twin Cities as an international student a decade ago, she found herself craving a crepe.

But when she went looking, she could only find French-style breakfast crepes, not the common late-night snack she grew up eating in Tokyo.

On Nov. 1, she’s opening her first brick-andmortar location for Ichigo Tokyo Crepes at 34th & Nicollet.

The Japanese-style crepe is spreading from the Land of the Rising Sun. It’s now served all over big cities in the United States, Europe and Latin America, Oi said. Japanese crepes come in sweet and savory varieties and are wrapped like ice cream cones and eaten by hand.

“It’s a street food,” Oi said. “Especially when you go to Tokyo, it’s everywhere.”

Oi had worked in a Tokyo crepe shop in high school and always loved to cook. When she came to the U.S. as a student, she would work part-time teaching Japanese cooking classes.

In 2018, she started Ichigo Tokyo Crepes as a pop-up at the Corner Coffee in Camden and began getting customers from all over the metro and across the state.

“I realized it could be good for here,” she said.

Early this year, Oi began serving her crepes on the weekends inside Five Watt Coffee’s stand at Keg and Case Market in St. Paul. One day, two workers from Ramen Kamaza stopped by, tried her crepes and liked them. They put Oi in touch with their boss, who encouraged her to rent the space previously occupied by Fish Bowl Poke, which recently migrated to Graze Food Hall in the North Loop.

Oi is hopeful Minneapolis audiences will adjust to eating crepes as a dinner or latenight snack, which is common in Japan. She plans to be open from 5–10 p.m. Tuesday to Thursday and 10 a.m.–10 p.m. on weekends to accommodate the brunch crowd. She’ll also be serving coffee, bubble tea and hot Japanese tea. Gluten-free crepes will be available in 2020, Oi said.

“I’m sure Tokyo-style crepes will be popular here soon,” she said.

Ichigo Tokyo Crepes Where: 5 W. 34th St. Info: ichigotokyostylecrepes.com

LYNLAKE

Urban Bean closes after harassment allegations against owner

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The Urban Bean Coffee at Lake & Bryant appears to have closed in the wake of a media report on accusations of harassment and abusive behavior by the cafe’s owner.

The coffeeshop at 822 W. Lake St. has been closed during typical business hours for at least a week. The closure comes after a City Pages story by Emily Cassel, which included accusations that owner Greg Martin had been abusive to employees and customers.

A window at the shop has been smashed.

Calls to Urban Bean have been unreturned.

The store’s social media accounts have been deactivated.

Urban Bean opened its Lake & Bryant location in 2015. The coffeeshop used to also have a shop at 24th & Lyndale and previously had a location at 33rd & Bryant.

Greg Martin (right) at Urban Bean in 2016.

Photo by Michelle Bruch

southwestjournal.com / October 31–November 13, 2019 A5

FULTON

Street changes at 50th & Xerxes anger local businesses City plans to alter the intersection of 50th & Xerxes have been met with staunch opposition from local businesspeople, who are fearful removed parking could harm their stores.

Minneapolis Public Works plans to add a left-turn lane on Xerxes Avenue South for southbound cars heading east onto West 50th Street. To create space near the intersection, new no-parking signs were added along Xerxes Avenue near 50th Street the week of Oct. 25.

The new no-parking areas amount to a loss of six on-street spots, three on the east side, near Loft Antiques and Don RaÚl, and three on the west side, in front of Hunt and Gather.

Several of the merchants, who organized a meeting about the change with Ward 13 Council Member Linea Palmisano on Oct. 28, said losing those spots will be a hardship.

“There’s not going to be small businesses anymore,” Hunt and Gather owner Kristi Stratton said.

The changes, Palmisano said, have been discussed over the years. Her office has received comments saying the intersection is unsafe because there is often a line of vehicles waiting to turn left to 50th Street and other drivers attempt to move around those cars, leading to crashes and near misses with other vehicles and pedestrians.

“I do think we need to try new things at this intersection,” Palmisano said.

Gayle McMartin, office manager at Perspectives Vision Clinic, said one of their employees was hit crossing the intersection about six years ago and that she feels it’s unsafe. Perspectives owner Marcie Nichols said she thinks getting rid of the spots on the east side of Xerxes makes sense but the spaces in front of Hunt and Gather should be kept.

Most of the business representatives in the room were upset by the move and angry that

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No-parking signs were added at 50th & Xerxes to make room for a new left-turn lane. Several local businesses fear the loss of parking will hurt their bottom lines.

Photo by Andrew Hazzard

10/21/19 5:55 PM

they were not notified prior to the no-parking signs being implemented. Others said the timing of the changes was an issue.

Sarah Piepenburg, who owns Vinaigrette, said she wasn’t opposed to a change being made at the intersection, but losing nearby parking on the verge of the holiday shopping season is a blow for merchants like her. She said about a third of her annual sales come at holiday time.

Judy Rathje, who runs Loft Antiques, said she already hears about lack of parking from customers. She feels the city should be working to slow traffic on the street, not adding more turn lanes to accommodate commuters.

Palmisano said the changes were discussed with the Fulton Neighborhood Association over the summer and that a turn lane is recommended by city engineers. She told the group she tried to get a public works representative to meet with them but couldn’t schedule one on short notice. She said she would not attempt to slow the project.

LAGOON & EMERSON

Uptown Fitness focusing on small groups When Jason Linse worked out at the Snap Fitness in Uptown years ago, he had a vision for what the space could become.

“I used to look around and think this would be a great group training gym,” Linse said.

His new gym in the former Snap Fitness space is trying to do just that.

Uptown Fitness, which Linse co-owns with head trainer Andy Gunsaullus, recently opened at Lagoon & Emerson.

The gym plans to specialize in small-group training, where groups of up to four will train in 50-minute sessions with a single physical trainer.

That way, Linse and Gunsaullus believe, people can get the results of individualized personal training at a better price point. Working with small groups should help people get better results.

“We can do better exercises, more effective exercises, because you’re getting coached,” Gunsaullus said.

Uptown Fitness will also offer one-on-one training. It will be tracking all members to give them real-time progress reports and to offer nutrition guidance.

The training will be resistance based. The gym is full of kettlebells, bands and weight racks and has a small turf section to push resistance sleds.

Gunsaullus is an experienced personalized trainer and Linse has been on the business side of the fitness industry for about 20 years.

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“We’re going to do the best job we can to make it fun,” Linse said.

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A6 October 31–November 13, 2019 / southwestjournal.com

Your West Calhoun Neighbor Client Focused Results Driven

Parking reduction upheld for Kingfield arts center Expanded Center for Performing Arts will have parking for two cars

By Nate Gotlieb / ngotlieb@swjournal.com

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A $5 million addition to the Center for Performing Arts in Kingfield has cleared an appeal from two neighboring churches, who said the project doesn’t include enough parking.

On Oct. 17 The City Council Zoning & Planning Committee unanimously upheld the Planning Commission’s Sept. 23 decision to almost completely waive all parking requirements for the addition, slated for completion in summer 2020.

The churches, Sagrado Corazon de Jesus and Church of the Incarnation, said the addition would bring more cars to the area and that those cars would compete with their visitors for on-street parking spots.

“We would embrace this expansion if they provided for their own off-street parking,” said Tim Keane, an attorney and Church of the Incarnation parishioner who filed the appeal.

City Planner Aaron Hanauer has said the center is taking reasonable steps to ease the area’s parking burden, such as using the adjacent Lake Country School’s parking lot during off hours.

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The Center for Performing Arts, located in the former Church of the Incarnation convent at the northwest corner of 38th & Pleasant, provides office, studio and classroom space to artists and other professionals.

Its five-story, 23,129-square-foot addition, unveiled in spring 2019, will occupy the seven-space parking lot directly west of the existing building and will nearly double the center’s rentable square footage. The structure will include two ground-floor, 100-seat performance spaces, a new lobby and walkways connecting the addition with the existing building, which will remain intact.

During the hearing on the appeal, City Council Member Lisa Goodman (Ward 7) said she’s sensitive to “small business issues” but that there are alternative solutions to residents’ parking concerns and she doesn’t think the center should redesign its addition.

The Center for Performing Arts plans to complete its expansion in summer 2020.

The Center for Performing Arts’ $5 million addition, which has cleared an appeal by two neighboring churches, will nearly double the Kingfield organization’s rentable space.

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East Isles homeless shelter increasing services The Bridge for Youth to house additional teenage parents

By Nate Gotlieb / ngotlieb@swjournal.com

An East Isles youth homeless shelter is adding more bedrooms for pregnant and parenting teenagers.

The Bridge for Youth will house up to six 16- to 18-year-olds and their children in the new rooms, which will open in May. The organization will allow families to stay up to 30 days and will try to help them find stable housing.

It is repurposing office space within the building to accommodate the additional bedrooms.

Founded in 1970, The Bridge for Youth provides 10- to 21-year-olds with shelter, affordable housing and services like counseling.

Its main building has 14 shelter beds for 10- to 17-year-olds and a five-bedroom wing for pregnant and parenting young people. An adjacent building, called Rita’s House, has affordable apartments for people ages 18–21.

Executive director Michelle Basham said about 500 of Hennepin County’s 1,000 homeless youth are pregnant or parenting. Many of

those young people live in perilous conditions in order to avoid the streets, she said.

She said goals for the organization’s teenparent program include preventing subsequent pregnancies and making sure the teenagers are enrolled in school.

Basham said the organization has sought funding from foundations and corporations and has received $300,000 from individual donors. She said The Bridge will also apply for state funding.

The organization has named the area with the new bedrooms Gloria’s Place. That’s in honor of former state representative Gloria Segal, who advocated on behalf of homeless and runaway youth and was a big supporter of The Bridge, associate director Christina Woodlee said.

Segal, who died in 1993, is the mother of Minneapolis City Attorney Susan Segal.

More information about The Bridge for Youth and how to help is at bridgeforyouth.org.

southwestjournal.com / October 31–November 13, 2019 A7

Team Larry Trusted for Twenty Years

A proposal would add about 240 apartments and 10,000 square feet of retail space to the northern tip of The Wedge. Submitted renderings

Apartment, retail project proposed at Franklin & Lyndale

By Andrew Hazzard / ahazzard@swjournal.com

The current home of the Vision Loss Resources Center at Franklin & Lyndale is likely to become a mixed-use development with apartments and retail space.

A proposal from developer LMC designed

by ESG Architecture would add about 240 apartments and 10,000 square feet of retail space to the northern tip of The Wedge. The eight-level building plan calls for two linked structures: An L-shaped portion would wrap around the corner of Franklin & Lyndale, with its street level dedicated to retail, and a C-shaped portion would face Aldrich Avenue.

Vision Loss Resources, which has been at the site since the 1940s, sold the building to LMC and is searching for a new home to better serve its clients. The site also includes a surface parking lot.

The apartments would be mostly oneand two-bedroom units, with a few studios on each floor. Rents would range between about $1,300 for studios and around $3,000 for two-bedroom, two-bathroom units, according to LMC. Parking would be “buried in the hillside” near Interstate 94, project architect Bob Loken told the Lowry Hill East Neighborhood Association on Oct. 16. LMC plans to include about one parking space per unit and additional spots for retail customers, with 287 spaces total.

The building would have several amenities, including a fitness center and rooftop community space with a view of downtown.

A courtyard in the middle of the C-shaped portion of the building would have a pool and common area facing Aldrich Avenue.

The design includes some landscaped green space on the roof and on balconies.

Some aspects of the design are still being worked out, Loken said. The elevation in the area presents some challenges as to where to locate loading areas for service vehicles, he said. Currently, the plan calls for vehicle access directly to Lyndale Avenue, but they are reconsidering that design element. Primary access for vehicles and pedestrians will be on Aldrich Avenue.

Some residents at the LHENA meeting expressed concerns over parking and distaste for the design. Several asked if the developer was open to adding solar panels to the roof and more green space.

There are no dedicated affordable units planned in the building, which some residents criticized. LMC representatives said adding more market-rate units helps maintain more affordable rents at existing buildings in the area.

LMC is a Lennar subsidiary that recently began building in the Twin Cities. Their projects include the Odin and Nordhaus buildings in Northeast and the Onyx apartment building in Edina.

The developer presented the project to the Planning Commission Committee of the Whole on Oct. 24. LMC will be seeking a conditional use permit to allow for eight stories on the site, which is currently zoned for four stories but will be raised to 10 stories under the 2040 plan. The project would also require a variance to increase the floor-area ratio.

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WHAT ARE THE TOP 3 THINGS I CAN DO TO GET MY HOME READY FOR WINTER?

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If these freeze and break, you could be canoeing in your basement.

Second, test your home for Radon. You and your family will be spending longer hours indoors and knowing that you have a low level of Radon will keep you safe and healthy.

Third, clean your gutters (or better yet, have someone clean them)! Leaves and debris can plug the downspouts, the water in the gutter will freeze, it may start to back up under the shingles, work its way into your house.......You get the picture.

A courtyard in the middle of the C-shaped portion of the building would have a pool and common area facing Aldrich Avenue.

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A8 October 31–November 13, 2019 / southwestjournal.com

By Jim Walsh

PUBLISHER Janis Hall jhall@swjournal.com CO-PUBLISHER & SALES MANAGER Terry Gahan tgahan@swjournal.com GENERAL MANAGER Zoe Gahan zgahan@swjournal.com EDITOR Zac Farber 612-436-4391 zfarber@swjournal.com STAFF WRITERS Nate Gotlieb ngotlieb@swjournal.com Andrew Hazzard ahazzard@swjournal.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Michelle Bruch Ed Dykhuizen Adam Jonas Mira Klein Sheila Regan Olivia Volkman-Johnson Carla Waldemar CREATIVE DIRECTOR Valerie Moe vmoe@swjournal.com OFFICE MANAGER AND AD COORDINATOR Amy Rash 612-436-5081 arash@swjournal.com DISTRIBUTION Marlo Johnson 612-436-4388 distribution@swjournal.com ADVERTISING sales@swjournal.com 612-436-4360 PRINTING APG

NEXT ISSUE DATE: NOVEMBER 14 News and ad deadline: November 6 32,000 copies of the Southwest Journal are distributed free of charge to homes and businesses in Southwest Minneapolis.

Poltergeist party at the Peace and Rose gardens

I

was in eighth grade at Annunciation Catholic Grade School when I delivered my science project “Communication with the Dead” to my somewhat horrified classmates and teachers, all of whom had been brought up on the spiritual notion of a man-god rising up from the dead but who weren’t too sure about my dad’s Fate Magazineripped paranormal graphics or my tape recording of a seance-summoned dead boy from the beyond — so I know a little bit of which I’m about to speak.

Depending on the time of day or night you land there, the Peace Garden leading to the Bird Sanctuary at Lake Harriet is anything but peaceful, given all the wedding parties, photo shoots, strollers and all those real live noisy human beings living their best peaceful lives. But the other day at sunset, a racket ensued that brought to mind The Suburbs’ should-be-Halloween-monster-hit “Rattle My Bones” and made this body feel like we were at the Other Side Bar. “So … how do you like our new bench?” chirped Viva Beck of “Viva & Jerry’s Country Music Videos,” who died a year ago this month, just as I was about to sit down on the Viva and Jerry bench to strum my guitar and sing my songs to the birds.

All that melding of silence and sound must’ve called up the spirits, though, because here they all were, all my old buddies and acquaintances who live on in the form of memorial benches installed by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.

“Dude!” said David Hussman, my old friend who died last year and whose family dedicated his bench across from Viva and Jerry’s in August in a poignant ceremony befitting the man we all called The Dude. “Say hey to everyone for me. Tell ’em we’re all always with ’em, always looking after them.

And it’s good to ‘see’ you at this special time of the year, when, as you know, the veil between the living and the dead is the thinnest…”

David knows his afterworld stuff: According to the website Forever Conscious, “It definitely seems that there is some significance to this time of year when it comes to honoring the cycles of death and deceased loved ones, and being able to access the spirit world with greater ease. Many of these ancient celebrations include the belief that on Oct. 31 the veil between the living and the dead is at its thinnest. This belief is observed during the Gaelic festival of Samhain and also on the Day of the Dead, which [has roots going] all the way back to the Aztecs.”

Samhain translates to “end of summer,” and its death and rebirth rituals have morphed into the celebration we now do up as Halloween. It’s also why autumn, in all its crisp, colorful, spooky glory, is known as “Season of the Witch.” It’s happening now, and from my experience the ghosts come around mostly at dusk, when the wind whips up, the leaves and trees bustle with whispers from beyond and the spirits in the night tap humans on the shoulder to say, “Seize the day.”

I’m sure it’s partially due to my age and profession, but at this juncture I seem to know a lot of

At the Lake Harriet Peace Garden and beyond, late October is when the veil between the living and the dead is the thinnest. Photo by Jim Walsh

people who I used to hang out with whose benches I now hang out on, all of which sit yards from one another and not too far from some of their actual graves next door in Lakewood Cemetery.

“Why does the veil shrink at Samhain? Because the days are getting shorter and the natural world is preparing to temporarily withdraw from the realm of life and growth,” writes spiritualist Tess Whitehurst, about Halloween’s pagan roots telling us that the supernatural is real and our loved ones are forever gone-not-gone. “The harvest cycle is waning, but it’s not gone. This means Samhain is a transition: a doorway between the season of life and the season of death.”

“We’re a bunch of pagans!” cackled my old friend Karl Mueller, the former Soul Asylum bassist whose bench sits a guitar pick’s throw away from Viva and Jerry and David’s benches, and a Frisbee’s throw away from the Purple Prince crab apple tree that was planted in the spring next to my old friend Alan Uetz’s 19-year-old memorial crab apple tree.

“Very funky place you’ve got here, Jim,” said Prince. “Remember what I said about the afterworld? It’s true! I’m working on a new tune called ‘How You Like Them Crab Apples?’

Funkier than any memoir!”

“Sorry about your Twins this year,” said Alan, “but there’s always next year!”

You know what it sounds like when a bunch of ghosts laugh at an optimistic take on Minnesota sports and the future? LOUD. And bone chilling.

“If you think this is loud, you should hear those cats from Lakewood when they get up and get going,” said Ross Quaintance, whom I feel like I

knew and whose bench looks out over the Rose Garden. “Those poltergeists know how to party.”

More laughter. It was the damnedest thing. Close your eyes and you’d swear we were all alive, all at the bar together, all talking at each other. Try it some time: The veil was no longer thin; it was obliterated.

“Hey Jim, do me a favor and tell all those Washburn cross-country runners to stop using my bench as a locker room. That stuff stinks,” said Karl, to more ghost laughs all around.

“Yeah, and tell those hippie bocce ballers and millennial ’mockers to keep it down with all their loudmouthery,” said Ross. “It’s enough to wake the dead!”

“Housequake! Seriously, tell everybody not to fear death,” said Prince. “It’s actually a pretty groovy gig. And the music is out of this world.”

After about an hour of this, I grabbed my stuff and got up to leave. Ghosting on the ghosts.

“Where are you going? Come baaack,” they all whined in unison.

“I’m outta here, you damn ghosts. This is creepy.

Life is for living.”

“Life is for living!” they all mocked. “Get a load of this guy!”

“I’ve got places to go, people to see, things to do.

I’m not dead yet!!”

“He’s not dead yet!” they all laughed, and I kept going, looking forward to our next poltergeist party, and feeling a whole lot better about death and the next stage of this thing we call life.

Jim Walsh lives and grew up in South Minneapolis.

He can be reached at jimwalsh086@gmail.com.

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10/17/19 3:57 PM

southwestjournal.com / October 31–November 13, 2019 A9

Drag story hour features inclusivity, mermaids Events at Hennepin County libraries aim to promote self-acceptance

By Nate Gotlieb / ngotlieb@swjournal.com

On an October morning, Minneapolis resident Don Waalen-Radzevicius became a mermaid.

He donned a sequined costume that sparkled under the lights of Uptown’s Walker library and wore large blue earrings and a curly ginger wig with peacock feathers protruding from it.

Limited in mobility because of the costume, Waalen-Radzevicius was wheeled by office chair into a library meeting room, where over 30 infants, toddlers and parents awaited his arrival.

“I swam all the way here this morning from Northeast Minneapolis,” he told them, drawing blank stares from the kids but laughs from their parents.

Waalen-Radzevicius, who read three books and led several songs, is among the local actors who have participated in drag story hours. A handful of Twin Cities library systems and organizations have hosted them in recent years, including the Hennepin County library system and the Wild Rumpus bookstore in Linden Hills.

Though some events across the U.S. have drawn protests by people who don’t feel children should be exposed to drag, many appreciate the messages of inclusivity and selfacceptance the events provide.

“It gives kids and family an easy opportunity to make [inclusivity] normal in their lives,” parent Jennifer Kertsen said after the Walker event.

Drag story hour was first held in late 2015 in San Francisco. Libraries and organizations across the U.S. have held similar events in the years since.

The Hennepin County library system has hosted a “Stories Together with Drag

Warners' Stellian SWJ 103119 H2.indd 1

Don WaalenRadzevicius reads to children during a drag story hour held Oct. 18 at Uptown’s Walker Library.

Photo

by Nate Gotlieb

Performers” series the past two years as part of its October LGBTQIA+ History Month celebration. This year, drag performers have read books and led songs at 11 library branches in Minneapolis and its suburbs. A 12th and final event is scheduled Nov. 2 at Hosmer Library.

“I think it’s important to show that there’s more than one way of living or being,” said Waalen-Radzevicius, who has performed at two “Stories Together” events this year.

Ashley Bieber, a youth services librarian, said goals for the series include offering an “enriching early-literacy experience” with an added emphasis on “celebrating dress-up and who you are as a person.”

Bieber, a member of the library system’s Pride

Workgroup, said the events have typically drawn 40–50 people and that the system received a lot of positive feedback to its 2018 series.

“We thought that it could be a really special thing to offer queer families and to make them feel welcome in our libraries,” she said.

At the Walker library event, some kids crawled around and ate snacks as WaalenRadzevicius read. Others sat contentedly in their parents’ laps.

Waalen-Radzevicius’ books included messages of acceptance and persistence — and mermaids, of course. In one, a boy who longs to be a mermaid makes his own costume and eventually marches in a parade alongside his grandma. In another, a young mermaid

cares for a small grain of sand that eventually becomes a beautiful pearl.

Early in that book, the mermaid swims through a kelp forest, a picture of which Waalen-Radzevicius panned around the room.

“Tomorrow morning, you ask your mommies and your daddies for a kelp smoothie,” he quipped.

Kersten, a Richfield High School teacher, attended the event with her husband, Jon Olson, and their 81/2-month-old daughter, Zoey. She said she came because she wants to support the LGBTQIA+ community and raise her daughter to be accepting of all people.

Jenniser Nelson, who brought her 11/2-yearold daughter, Yolanda, to the event, said she comes to story hour every Friday, which is “always wonderful.” She said it’s neat for kids to see someone in costume. “It’s important for kids to meet lots of other people,” she said.

At Wild Rumpus, store manager Drew Sieplinda said they hope to set up a monthly drag story hour.

She said about 75 people came to a drag story hour the library held this past April, which also included music and a glitter and face-painting station. “The kids just love it,” she said. “What kid doesn’t love dress up and dancing?”

The Hennepin County library system has also hosted a queer book club and a history film series as part of its celebration of LGBTQIA+ History Month. More information about the final Stories Together event and the system’s LGBTQIA+ celebration can be found at tinyurl.com/Hennepin-LGBTQIA.

10/29/19 9:38 AM

A10 October 31–November 13, 2019 / southwestjournal.com

State tournament is a kick for Washburn Hundreds cheered on Millers in the state semifinals Oct. 29 at U.S. Bank Stadium

By Nate Gotlieb / ngotlieb@swjournal.com

F E AT U R E D L I S T I N G S

As Washburn High School’s boys soccer team ran onto the field for pregame warmups, senior Ethan Buss sat in the front row of U.S. Bank Stadium, cheering alongside his classmates.

“We always have to support our team,” he said, explaining why he came to the Millers’ state tournament semifinals game against Edina.

“We do what we can.”

Buss, a longtime Millers soccer fan, was among the hundreds of students who skipped afternoon classes Oct. 29 for the game. The Millers were competitive but lost 2–0 on a pair of second-half goals.

School leaders said a majority of Washburn students and staff planned on attending.

Hundreds more parents, community members, alumni and family members were also present.

Many donned the school colors: blue and orange.

“People are really excited,” junior Hayden Brown said.

Washburn students began filling up a section in the stadium’s northwest corner in the hour before kickoff. Many wore white T-shirts that said, “Cash it in at the Bank.”

Junior Nora Grant was attending her first soccer game of the year and said she likes the “community aspect.” A few rows away, girls soccer team manager Marjie Johnson attended the latest in a season of games.

“Soccer has gotten so much more popular at Washburn over the past 4–6 years,” she said.

Washburn was once a relative soccer powerhouse, making six state tournaments between 1980 and 1989.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey posed for pictures with Washburn High School students during the boys soccer team’s state semifinals game Oct. 29 at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Hundreds of students, parents, alumni and community members were in attendance.

The Millers lost 2-0 to Edina.

Submitted photo

The Millers then went 26 years without an appearance, before making another in 2015. They have won more than two-thirds of their games over the past four years.

Coach Aaron Percy has attributed the resurgence in part to increased numbers of students trying out for the sport.

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She and other parents chalked up the state tournament run to hard work and team chemistry.

“They’re playing for each other,” parent Marianne Cassels said. “It’s a positive vibe.”

Longtime junior varsity coach Eric Adams sat near the student section during the game, wearing a Washburn-branded scarf and chef’s hat. He said he thought the school would be a “ghost town” and said a sizeable Washburn contingency had driven to Lindstrom, Minnesota, to watch the quarterfinals.

Longtime English teacher Jim Schmit sat with other school staff at U.S. Bank Stadium, sporting a green-brimmed hat that had half a soccer ball on top. He wore a T-shirt with a picture of senior co-captain Darley Florvil on it. The Star Tribune recently named Florvil the top player in the metro area.

Washburn fans remained optimistic throughout the first half, which included a Millers kick that ricocheted off a shot of a crossbar in the 31st minute. At one point, Minneapolis Public Schools Superintendent Ed Graff and Mayor Jacob Frey led the student section in cheers.

After a second half in which Edina scored twice, Percy credited the Hornets’ defense for their effort. The result wasn’t ideal, but Adams said there’s still hope for next year.

“The JV and sophomore teams each only lost one game this year,” he said. “The expectation is we will be good the next couple years.”

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southwestjournal.com / October 31–November 13, 2019 A11

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Actor Nora Montañez performs her one-woman show, “Sabor a mi,” which is loosely based on her family’s story of immigrating in the 1980s to the United States from Peru.

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part of us. We can’t pretend we didn’t hear it,” Patterson said. “That idea of witnessing is deeply important.”

Patterson, who has master’s degrees in theater performance and divinity, has worked for Plymouth Congregational Church since August 2016. He connected with Ford, an actress and a teaching artist, when he hired her for the church’s summer theater series.

Patterson and Ford created the framework for the program this past year and invited groups such as the Alliance of Latinx Minnesota Artists and Blackout Improv to participate.

Four theater groups have participated in the series so far, and two more are slated to perform in November. That includes Washburn High School’s Blackbox Theater program and zAmya Theater, a program for homeless individuals.

Patterson and Ford said their program is unique because it gives audiences a chance to interact with the performers through post-show discussions. Each performance also features some sort of opening and closing ritual.

At the most recent performance, the Alliance of Latinx Minnesota Artists had

“Tonight you are going to witness a story you cannot unhear,” said Theater 45° artistic director Seth Patterson (left) before Montañez’s performance.

Photo by Nate Gotlieb

audience members write “I am from” poems as an opening ritual. Montañez, a Peruvianborn actress who is married to Patterson, then performed her one-woman show, “Sabor a mi,” which is based on her family’s immigration story.

Speaking both Spanish and English, Montañez explained how her musician parents moved in the 1980s to New York from Peru, where they lived in a basement apartment with condensation dripping from the pipes.

She recalled her family’s struggles, such as the grueling hours her dad worked and her parents’ separation. “Why did we come here?” she asked.

The show featured Peruvian music, laughter and a rhetorical conversation between Montañez and the Statue of Liberty. The audience gave her a standing ovation after she finished.

In the post-show discussion, Norma Garcés, executive director of El Colegio High School in Southeast Minneapolis, said Montañez “represented us so dignified and so pure. That makes me proud.”

Attendee Yolanda Cotterall, who has been to three Theater 45° performances, said she was “touched” by the show and that she relates to Montañez’s immigrant story.

She said the program is a “beautiful intersection of faith and community.”

Jeanne Calvit is executive director and founder of Interact Center for the Visual and Performing Arts, which provides people with disabilities a chance to perform and create visual art. Actors from her organization performed a cabaret during an Oct. 7 Theater 45° performance.

Calvit said the audience gave the actors a standing ovation and asked when they were performing again.

“People are always interested to hear these songs and stories of things they’ve never heard before,” she said.

Patterson said he hopes to continue the series and to continue to give marginalized groups chances to tell their stories.

Theater 45° will host its final two performances Nov. 4 and Nov. 18 at Plymouth Congregational Church. Visit theater45.com to learn more.

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A12 October 31–November 13, 2019 / southwestjournal.com

Green Digest

By Mira Klein

Xcel’s energy plan follows monopoly logic Advocates push for energy democratization during hearing on Xcel’s Integrated Resource Plan

“I

ntegrated Resource Plan” is just a fancy term to describe something that impacts all Minnesotans: how we get our energy. This technical language didn’t get in the way of dozens of metro area residents who showed up to a recent public hearing at Sabathani Community Center, where attendees logged two hours worth of public comment on Xcel Energy’s Upper Midwest Integrated Resource Plan (IRP).

The IRP, which lays out a framework for Xcel’s energy generation over the next 15 years, is currently under state-mandated review by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC). While the PUC conducts its own internal analysis on the merits and limitations of Xcel’s proposed plan, a simultaneous public comment process is also underway. The recent hearing at Sabathani was just one of many in-person hearings that happened around the state during the month of October.

Emily Christopher and her mother, Theresa Palmer, arrived at Sabathani on a tight timeline. With public comment starting just after 7 p.m., they were keen to make it home by 8 p.m. for Christopher’s bedtime. Christopher, 10 years old and already a committed member of the global youth climate movement, recently moved to the Twin Cities with her family from

Albuquerque, New Mexico. “In New Mexico there’s a lot of fracking going on,” Christopher said. “It made me really angry.”

Christopher was mobilized into climate action through the harm she saw from fracking in her home state, testifying twice in front of the New Mexico Legislature on behalf of a proposed fracking moratorium. She and her mother were hopeful that Minnesota would be different. “We thought we were leaving that issue behind us,” Palmer said.

But while Xcel’s IRP proposes to retire all coal generation by 2030, it also includes a proposal to build a new natural gas facility in Becker, Minnesota, using fracked gas. Making the capital investments into natural gas infrastructure would lock Minnesotan Xcel customers into fracked electricity for decades to come. The natural gas facility was a major component of Xcel’s IRP that came under fire during public testimony, receiving an “F” from a coalition of Minnesotan clean energy organizations.

Hearings like the one at Sabathani provide a rare opportunity for the public to weigh in on PUC decision-making. The six-person commission is composed of legislative appointees, three from each major political party. It is a regulatory body with significant power but little oversight. (Readers may be familiar with the PUC because of its recent role in approving

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Testifiers gathered outside the Sabathani Community Center for a rally before a public hearing on Xcel’s Integrated Resource Plan.

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In compliance with PUC regulations, Xcel’s IRP was first released over the summer. This release came just months after its industry-jolting declaration that the company would be totally carbon free by the year 2050, hitting 80% renewable energy sourcing by 2030. The announcement was widely lauded and positioned Xcel as a national leader in renewable energy among major utilities. It also sets Xcel ahead of state energy goals, as analyzed in a recent study from GridLab. As Xcel wrote in a press release, “The new goals are the most ambitious announced to date within the electric power industry.”

A document like Xcel’s IRP has implications for all Xcel customers. In Minnesota, where Xcel has a de facto monopoly on the electricity utility market, decisions that impact Xcel customers in practice impact everyone. As one public commenter stated, “Unfortunately, when it comes to where I get my energy, I don’t have a choice.”

“Xcel is a massive, investor-owned monopoly,” said Timothy Schaefer, executive director of Environment Minnesota. Schaefer commended the PUC for holding a public hearing while emphasizing the need for more public comment opportunities. “Xcel has very few checks on its political power,” he said. “And this is one of them.”

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Investor-owned utility companies like Xcel serve the majority of electricity customers in the United States. And in Minnesota, like two thirds of states nationally, these utilities are essentially state-sanctioned monopolies.

As Joe Daniel, a Boston-based senior energy analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists, explained, Minnesota is a “vertically integrated state.” Under this system, customers have no choice over energy providers in a given coverage area. The utilities are regulated by public utility commissions which determine energy rates and thus lock in how much money utility companies make for themselves and their shareholders. Rates are calculated by not only considering operational costs, but also the capital investments made in utility infrastructure. Thus, utilities stand to profit from infrastructure investments because the cost is passed through to energy customers. As Kevin Ridder explained for The Appalachian Voice, “This incentivizes utilities to spend as much money as possible on new projects, whether or not those projects are of value to the public.”

“Monopoly structure can create certain inefficiencies, particularly with how utilities recover costs and how risks are shared,” Daniel explained.

But he pointed towards the PUC’s recent and unanimous rejection of Xcel’s proposal to buy SEE GREEN DIGEST / PAGE A14

southwestjournal.com / October 31–November 13, 2019 A13

By Andrew Hazzard / ahazzard@swjournal.com

Park Board considers cuts, fees to expand youth services To help pay for additional youth programming and environmental initiatives, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is considering raising fees and cutting services in other areas.

MPRB Superintendent Al Bangoura presented his proposed $126 million 2020 budget to commissioners on Sept. 16 when he laid out how the agency will shift money around to pay for additional youth services funding he unsuccessfully lobbied for from the Board of Estimate and Taxation.

Bangoura and Park Board commissioners had sought a $71 million maximum property tax levy, an 8% increase, from Mayor Jacob Frey and the Board of Estimate and Taxation to help pay for more youth employment opportunities and recreation activities. The BET voted to set the Park Board’s maximum levy at the mayor’s recommended 5.7% increase of $69.5 million.

“We’re committed to working hard to address that gap,” Bangoura said.

To boost youth funding, Bangoura is proposing the MPRB add 60 jobs for young people in 2020, develop two “ideation centers” to teach children digital literacy and expose them to technology they may not have at home and create four sites throughout the park system where kids can come for free afterschool programming.

“We have the staff, we have the buildings, we have the skill to do that work,” he said of youth programming.

One of those ideation spaces would be at Whittier Park, according to budget documents.

Along with youth programming, Bangoura’s proposed budget focuses on environmental protection, financial sustainability and community engagement.

The new budget includes an energy management analyst who will help track the carbon footprint of the MPRB and recommend actions to reduce pollution. Money for installing electric vehicle infrastructure, managing shoreline and developing an urban forest plan is also included in the recommended budget.

“Really what this is about is reducing fuel consumption,” Bangoura said. “It’s about minimizing pollution and emissions and improving operations in our system.”

Minneapolis swapped out street signs on West Bde Maka Ska Parkway on Oct. 28, following the Park Board’s August decision to change the street names from Calhoun. To raise revenue in 2020, the Park Board is considering adding meter parking on the street. Submitted photo

The largest year-to-year increase in the proposed budget would be environmental stewardship, which would see a $2.5 million boost, followed by a $1.5 million increase for recreation and $1.36 million more for youth services.

To pay for these initiatives, the MPRB would cut roles for design and engineering project managers and part-time staffing in the communications and community outreach departments. Savings would also come from service reductions, including cutting the Lyndale School wading pool.

They will plan to expand revenue by charging for parking in more surface lots and popular street destinations, including adding meters to West Bde Maka Ska Parkway and at the

Calhoun Executive Center parking lot in West Calhoun; the goal is to raise an additional $1.7 million in parking revenue in 2020. Additional revenues will be sought by increasing rental rates at Wirth Pavilion and charging more for canoe storage around the Chain of Lakes.

The MPRB is also looking at amenities where it is losing revenue, particularly golf. The five golf courses in the system have operated at an average net loss of $383,000 for the past decade.

The courses are projected to lose $400,000 in 2020, even with the proposed elimination of the golf director role, according to Bangoura.

“This is something we need to really look at and pay attention to,” Bangoura said.

Another losing asset has been the Minne-

apolis Sculpture Garden, run by the MPRB and the Walker Art Center, which is projected to operate at a net loss of $66,000 next year.

The budget lays out the next five years of the MPRB capital improvement plan. Southwest parks scheduled for 2020 improvements include Kenny, Lyndale Farmstead, Lynnhurst, Painter and Whittier. Theodore Wirth Regional Park is due for $970,000 worth of capital improvements, including $300,000 dedicated to the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary.

The commissioners will be debating and determining the final 2020 budget at their Nov. 6, Nov. 20 and Dec. 4 board meetings. The MPRB and city will hold their truth and taxation public hearing on Dec. 11.

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Most of the buildings purchased were in Whittier or Lyndale: 2741 Grand Ave. S.; 3018, 3020, 3024, 3032 and 3114 Pillsbury Ave.; and 2611, 2815, 3019, 3023, 3027, 3030, 3105 and 3121 Pleasant Ave. The purchase also included two other buildings in the St. Anthony East neighborhood and in Edina.

Before the properties went on the market, Aeon President Alan Arthur said they got the tip from city officials, community advocates and brokers. (A law now in effect requires landlords to give the city a heads-up when affordable properties go up for sale.)

“Every week we get those kinds of calls,” Arthur said. “We’ll continue to purchase them as long as we have equity partners and as long as communities help us do it.”

He said Aeon typically competes with 7–20 other bidders to buy a new apartment building.

“Prices are skyrocketing and maintaining affordable housing isn’t easy,” said NorthMarq Vice President Michael Padilla, who worked on the sale.

He said the demand for apartment buildings is still very strong, especially for buildings like these where there is room to rehab and raise rents.

“So you end up paying a pretty high number on a per unit basis for a transaction like this,” he said. “Trying to maintain the affordability requires the equity coming in to be very patient and affordable. That’s where the City of Minneapolis comes in, and Greater Minnesota Housing Fund. Otherwise these transactions wouldn’t be possible.”

To make the deal work, Aeon relied on a $4.5 million zero percent interest contribution from the City of Minneapolis’ NOAH (Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing) Preservation Fund. Aeon is also using the city’s “4D” program that gives a 40% property tax reduction to landlords that keep units affordable. Other contributions came from the City of Edina and the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund. Freddie Mac provided a loan with more flexibility designed for NOAH properties. Aeon relies on equity partners whose expectations for return are lower than the marketplace, Arthur said.

The city’s $4.5 million contribution, which will be repaid, represents all of the money budgeted for the NOAH Preservation Fund since 2017. Given the competitive apartment market, other groups tried and failed to use the money to buy affordable housing, said Dean Porter-Nelson, the city’s housing stability specialist.

“We’re really optimistic that this will enable this housing to be a real asset to the current residents as well as to the neighborhood in general,” he said.

Aeon has purchased roughly 1,750 units in the past four years, but it’s not enough, Arthur said. The metro lost an estimated 10,500 units from 2010–17, according to Minnesota Housing.

“That is a recipe for disaster. We are facing the worst housing problem for lowincome people since the Great Depression in the 1930s,” he said.

FROM GREEN DIGEST / PAGE A12

a gas plant in Mankato as an indication of good regulatory practice. “When the utility regulator does their job well and acts in the consumer interest, you can have a lot of efficiency,” he said.

Still, there are a lot of additional infrastructure investments on the table in Xcel’s IRP, including closing the last two coal plants in the Upper Midwest, opening a new natural gas plant in Becker and extending the life of Xcel’s nuclear power plant in Monticello.

About 70% of all power that Xcel provides comes from power plants that are scheduled to retire in the next 15 years, said Timothy DenHerder Thomas, general manager of Cooperative Energy Futures. This is why this IRP is particularly impactful. “Xcel profits from every investment it makes,” Den-Herder Thomas said. And so, when it comes to replacing energy

The nonprofit Aeon purchased 16 buildings in July with the goal of keeping apartments affordable for the long term. The purchase included this building at 3114 Pillsbury Ave. Photo by Michelle Bruch

The new portfolio would be available to renters who make less than 60% of the area median income, equating to a maximum income of $42,00 for an individual, or $60,000 for four people. That means Aeon could charge up to $1,125 for a one-bedroom unit.

In a statement, Aeon said it hasn’t raised rent levels, which currently stand between $725 and $1,450. Two residents said Aeon started charging $40 per month for parking.

“A lot of people in these properties we are buying are already paying 50% of their median income for housing. So it wasn’t super affordable for them when we bought it, but it’s better than being on the street,” Arthur said.

In about 10 years, Arthur said, the buildings will require refinancing and a significant investment in upkeep. While most landlords would raise the rent to cover that, Aeon will need to find other funding sources, he said.

“The truth is, no affordable housing in the country is automatically affordable, no matter what the ownership is,” he said.

Villa Nova Real Estate Holdings LLC previously bought the building portfolio in April 2017. Villa Nova was searching on a tight deadline for property to buy as part of a 1031 tax-deferred exchange related to the sale of a Beverly Hills home valued at more than $7.5 million, according to court documents. After buying the Minneapolis properties, Villa Nova spent nearly two years in litigation over alleged fraud, “secret” commissions and a dispute over owner-

ship. The suit was settled in June. Attorney William Skolnick, who represented Villa Nova, said they landed on a settlement that was acceptable to all parties.

Araseli Corral, an employee at Aeon and resident of 2741 Grand Ave. S. since May, is optimistic. She said prior management didn’t call her back when she complained about doors propped open, but Aeon is responsive and the doors are secure.

“It makes me feel really safe,” she said.

“I’m just excited to see what’s to come. For me as a resident here, it feels good to know that if I have an issue, it’s going to get taken care of and it’s not just going to be thrown on the backburner.”

Another resident in the same building said she’s ready to move out. Sheila, who requested her last name not be printed, said she’s had a leak in her apartment since July, and she placed trash bags and cans on the wall to deal with the water, which dripped on her TV. Workers patched the wall, she said, but the problem persists. Plus the door code doesn’t work, and the heat only works in one room, she said.

“There are places that are more expensive. But if they kept it up better, I’d be fine paying a little bit more,” she said.

Arthur said water infiltration has been a major issue, and they’re investing at least $1 million in repairs to the buildings.

Villa Nova planned to gradually renovate and increase rents to market-rate, according to court documents. Workers repaired the roof at 3121 Pleasant Ave. during the 2018

trial, and issued a contract to replace the windows in every apartment. The former property manager did not respond to a request for comment.

“Maintaining a building is a process and it could take a couple of years to truly understand the needs of the property and address all [deferred] maintenance needs,” said Santiago De Angulo, Aeon’s executive vice president of property operations, in a statement. “There are constantly new issues that we are learning about that require us to redirect our efforts. We are prioritizing every health and safety issue that we identify or is brought to our attention. In addition, there are several capital improvement projects that are weather-dependent and may take a year or two to complete.”

Dominguez said she’s meeting with Aeon this week, as the company asks for rent higher than the court order under the previous landlord. She hopes they find an agreement that works for everyone. Aeon staff told her they would order new blinds that work, and she’s hoping for a new fridge that doesn’t leak or spoil food. She likes the neighborhood. Her children can take the bus to school. The proposed $850 rent seems too expensive for the one-bedroom apartment, she said, but her family can’t afford to move.

“Because we’ve been struggling, working together, we’re in a little better situation than others,” she said. “The hard part is that we have to put up with this, because our salaries are such that we can’t go to a better place.”

capacity from aging infrastructure, Xcel has a lot of money on the line.

Addressing a crowd in a pre-hearing rally, Den-Herder Thomas called the state’s ratesetting system itself into question. “When there’s infrastructure being built in our system that’s no longer needed, who picks up the cost?” Den-Herder Thomas asked. “What is the distribution of that risk, and, to what extent should it be shareholders?”

This is an anti-monopoly question, Den-Herder Thomas explained. “Under a monopoly, one company is not only controlling all the wealth but also all the information,” he said. “It makes the utility the sole source of truth.” By decentralizing and localizing control over energy production, he continued, “we can show that communities can do it different and better.”

The conflict between centralization and

distribution is particularly stark when it comes to Xcel’s solar power plans. The IRP proposes a massive decease in distributed community solar while adding 3,000 megawatts of utility-scale solar.

For community solar advocates, this sudden turn was appalling, particularly because solar gardens have had so much success over the last few years. “In the last three years, we’ve installed 20 times more solar than the last 40 years combined,” Den-Herder Thomas said.

This solar explosion is largely credited to Minnesota’s community solar program.

While utility-scale solar is more profitable for Xcel, it leaves the grid more vulnerable to localized solar fluctuations and means that electricity must travel longer distances from generation to customers. Solar centralization, Den-Herder Thomas argued, simply “continues to develop renewable energy in

the way we develop dirty energy,” prioritizing shareholder returns over energy efficiency.

As the future of Minnesotan solar brings to the fore, the question of how best to provide energy is one of ownership and access to what is ultimately a basic human need. As Den-Herder Thomas said, “The fight that is just getting started here is: Who gets to share in the benefits?” This tension is playing out in states around the country, including in Xcel’s recent IRP in Colorado.

There are still opportunities to make your voice heard about Xcel’s Upper Midwest IRP. In mid-October, the PUC requested additional analysis and modeling from Xcel after the commission’s Mankato gas plant ruling.

While Xcel complies with this request, the public comment period has been extended several months. Visit the PUC website (tinyurl. com/mn-puc-comment) to find an upcoming hearing or to log your comments online.

southwestjournal.com / October 31–November 13, 2019 A15 FROM PEDESTRIAN DEATH / PAGE A1

During a speech outside Common Roots Cafe before the protest, City Council President Lisa Bender said she, too, wants to see improvements on Lyndale Avenue, which is a county road. Hennepin County Board Chair Marion Greene said the county needs to listen to community members about possible shortterm improvements. “[I] share frustration with a lot of my constituents at the pace of change, and I know we need to move faster,” Bender said.

State law says all intersections, marked or unmarked, are crosswalks and drivers are required to yield to pedestrians as long as pedestrians enter the crosswalk with enough time for a motorist to stop.

Days after the protest, traffic cones used by protesters to create makeshift bump-outs at 25th & Lyndale were still in place.

A known issue A Minneapolis Police Department spokesperson said early investigations do not link the death to speeding or distracted driving. The investigation is ongoing, and the full police report was not public at press time.

Jasha Johnston, who co-owns Nightingale at 26th & Lyndale, where Ferrara would DJ once a month, said he’s been aware of safety issues at the intersection for years. One big problem, he said, especially near where Ferrara was struck, is a lack of adequate lighting at night.

For many protesters, Ferrara’s death is seen as a preventable and predictable incident that occurred because of the well-documented hazardous conditions along Lyndale Avenue.

Between Franklin Avenue and Lake Street, Lyndale is considered a crash concentration corridor for pedestrians, drivers and cyclists, according to the Vision Zero and Pedestrian Crash studies released by the city in recent years. There were 59 pedestrians struck in the stretch from 2007-16. The intersection of 26th & Lyndale, near where Ferrara was struck, ranked

Several dozen protesters marched back and forth across Lyndale Avenue at 25th Street on Oct. 25, demanding immediate safety improvements to a road on which a driver fatally struck a Minneapolis man earlier in the month. Photo by Nate Gotlieb

10th for intersections with the most pedestrian crashes, with 15 recorded in the decade of the study. More than 80% of crashes in Minneapolis occur at intersections and more than half occur at intersections with traffic lights.

A small number of streets, mostly larger county roads like Lyndale, account for the majority of crashes in Minneapolis, according to the studies.

Currently, there is no major construction work scheduled for Lyndale Avenue. A county spokesperson told the Southwest Journal in August that staff have studied 26th & Lyndale and Lake & Lyndale for future pedestrian improvements and are looking at short- and long-term solutions to make the street safer. In a Facebook post about Ferrara’s death, Greene wrote that the county is planning a public meeting on the future of Lyndale.

Minneapolis officials recently announced

intentions to lower speed limits across the city with the goal of improving safety and said they’d be working closely with Hennepin County colleagues. Currently, Lyndale Avenue has a 30 mph speed limit.

‘He’ll be greatly missed’ Johnston met Ferrara years ago playing on the CC Club softball team and became close with him over the years.

“He was a longtime neighborhood fixture,” Johnston said.

Ferrara had an extensive vinyl collection of rock, hip-hop and jazz and would DJ at Nightingale once a month. The Friday before he was struck, he DJed at Nightingale and played records after bar close to brighten up cleaning time for the staff.

Ferrara was also a painter and guitar player who

was drawn to Minneapolis from his native New York in the 1990s by the art and music scene. A recent memorial service drew several friends and family who gathered around Ferrara’s artwork to remember him, Johnston said. Ferrara founded the Chipgroover art gallery in his home on Aldrich Avenue in the late ’90s to showcase the work of local artists, including his own paintings, according to an obituary. With his varied interests in music, art, sports and animals, he was often considered a Renaissance man by his friends.

When Johnston was sad after his dog died a few years ago and hesitant to get another, it was Ferrara who told him there was another dog out there who needed him, prompting Johnston to get his current pet.

“He’ll be greatly missed,” Johnston said.

— Nate Gotlieb contributed reporting to this story.

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Southwest Journal October 31–November 13, 2019

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Longtime curator and creator Suzie Marty opened the Everett & Charlie gallery in Linden Hills after a profound midlife wake-up call PAGE B3

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southwestjournal.com / October 31–November 13, 2019 B3

There’s no becoming an artist — you can’t get it out of you. It’s who you were meant to be.

There’s an undercurrent of not being satisfied when you’re not giving it attention.

— Suzie Marty, owner of the Everett & Charlie gallery in Minneapolis

FROM SUZIE MARTY / PAGE B1

O

n Mother’s Day of 2018, Suzie Marty gave birth to Everett & Charlie, figuratively speaking.

Since then the Linden Hills art gallery — named for her grandsons, ages 4 and 2, respectively — has been her labor of love to create a new kind of space for local artwork as well as one-of-a-kind experiences.

It all began quite serendipitously.

Marty was on her way out to dinner with a friend, chatting about the possibility of opening her own gallery, when they walked past a prime storefront near 43rd & Sheridan and wondered why no one had leased it yet.

“It was right next to Wild Rumpus, where I had brought my sons and then my grandsons,” Marty said. “I said, ‘This is my gallery.’”

Over the next three months, Marty called in connections from artists across the Twin Cities, hoping to get at least 12 artists to showcase their work in the new gallery on consignment.

Quickly, she ended up with more than 25 local artists who were seriously interested. And that was just the start.

SEE SUZIE MARTY / PAGE B4

Suzie Marty’s Everett & Charlie gallery features an eclectic mix of art that often serves as a lively backdrop for public and private events. Photos courtesy of Tracy Walsh Photography

B4 October 31–November 13, 2019 / southwestjournal.com FROM SUZIE MARTY / PAGE B3

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For Marty, life as an artist began at birth.

She grew up crafting and creating — as soon as she could keep her head upright — and hasn’t stopped since.

“There’s no becoming an artist — you can’t get it out of you. It’s who you were meant to be,” she said. “There’s an undercurrent of not being satisfied when you’re not giving it attention.”

Although Marty didn’t grow up in a family where art was a core value, she’s chosen art every step of the way in her life — from winning a grade-school poster contest run by the Montevideo Fire Department, to practically living and breathing in the art wing of Anoka High School, to studying art history and education at St. Cloud State University.

In the years following, Marty worked as an art buyer, a residential mural painter, the proprietor of a gift gallery in Waconia and a docent at the Minneapolis Institute of Art — mulling over, but not taking the steps to open her own gallery.

In 2012, however, she had an eye-opening experience: She went through a divorce and cancer in the same year.

“It was a wake-up call,” Marty said. “Live life the way you want. It’s not about money; it’s about experiencing life. It’s a dream — and you can hope all you want, but you need to take action.”

Exploring her own art It was at that point when Marty made a shift to creating art informed by her experiences.

“Life events are the core of where a lot of art comes from,” she said. “It can be personal.”

She also stopped feeling shy about letting people see her home art studio — and the works inside.

“I was very, ‘Nobody come in!’” Marty said. “Now? I could care less.”

Marty’s most-used materials include watercolor, acrylics and mixed media, though she’s explored other avenues, too — ceramics at Minnesota State University, Mankato, glassblowing at Anoka Ramsey and printmaking and watercolors at St. Cloud State (taught by the Coen brothers’ mother).

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Although her gallery started out void of her own works — she’s been too busy cheering on the local artists she’s so fond of — she’s currently working on a wide range of pieces that will eventually have their time in the space.

That includes a collection of abstract paintings, inspired by photos of prairie lands taken by her oldest son, paired with poems written by her youngest son.

Sharing her passion Before Everett and Charlie were born, Marty was already encouraging personal expression through art with her sons.

“When my oldest son was little, I came out of the house to see he had drawn all over the car,” Marty laughed. “But I thought, ‘Pictures first, clean later.’”

Today, Marty’s oldest son is a photographer, while her youngest is a writer and poet who came up with Everett & Charlie’s tagline: “A gallery where art meets experience.”

Although Marty can’t imagine life without her grandchildren (or “little cubs,” as she calls them), she said it can still be very surreal being a grandmother (or “Oma,” as she’s referred to by Everett and Charlie).

“They shifted my way of living when they were born — in terms of living the life that I want to live in a way that they will be proud of me,” Marty said. “There’s such a love around it that’s hard to explain in words. But I can express it through art.”

As a business owner and a single mother/ grandmother, Marty acknowledges the shifting view of how grandmothers play a role in their grandchildren’s lives.

“I’m not the grandma to have them on a weekly basis,” Marty said. “I’m going be the one that’s going to take them to art museums and concerts and festivals. I’m going to be the one to get them memberships for the Duluth aquarium or zoo and then go home and talk about the monkeys and draw pictures of them.”

Marty said it’s especially fulfilling to be a female role model for her grandsons.

“Since I’m a single grandma, there’s importance in that, too,” Marty said. “I’m a strong, independent woman and a grandma, doing it all on my own.”

Suzie Marty named her Linden Hills gallery after her grandsons, Everett, 4, and Charlie, 2, who live in Duluth.

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southwestjournal.com / October 31–November 13, 2019 B5

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Variety and quality Each month, Marty’s gallery showcases a featured artist, kicked off by an opening reception. Throughout the gallery, visitors will find numerous other art pieces for sale in a variety of media, including paintings, sculpture, jewelry, photography and even home goods and clothing.

“Once people get in here, they’re surprised about the variety, quality, depth and energy of the pieces,” Marty said.

Some notable local artists with international acclaim include jewelry designer Robyn Robinson and collage artist Kristi Abbott.

The main goal of Everett & Charlie, Marty said, is to bring in people from all walks of life, with varying knowledge of art, and help them find pieces that speak to their experiences.

“I always say, ‘The gallery is you.’ I’ve gotten bolder about telling people to buy pieces that speak to them,” Marty said.

The gallery also provides opportunities for customers to meet the artists in person.

“The work will stand on its own,” she said.

“But sharing stories with customers leads to that personal emotional connection.”

— all in the gallery space, among the art and the energy it creates.

In June, the gallery created an outdoor experience with next-door neighbor The Harriet Brasserie, celebrating its seven-year anniversary alongside the gallery’s first anniversary. In the side alley, attendees celebrated with food, drinks, art and music.

And now Marty is teaming up with The Harriet Brasserie to host private catered events in the gallery, such as dinner parties, wine tastings, corporate gatherings and other smaller celebrations.

Of course, the artists’ openings have a festive feel, such as Prosecco, Paintings, & Ed, a midday Sunday soiree this past July that featured mixed-media artist and photographer Edward Bock.

Bock said he appreciated how Marty was supportive and friendly while also being organized, business-knowledgeable and sales-motivated.

“Everything an artist needs,” Bock said.

“Suzie is an art lover and curator who loves organizing and arranging artworks in her gallery to give her customers the best experience possible. Her welcoming presence is the sparkle on the art.”

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Freedom to be fearless

“There’s no judgement in art, no favorites,” Suzie Marty says. “It changes depending on what mood you’re in.” Photo courtesy of Tracy Walsh Photography

The ‘experience’ The gallery’s experiential niche is not just about connecting with art and artists.

Everett & Charlie has already hosted live music performances, art demonstrations and author events, including a recent discussion and signing by author Annette Rugolo

Marty’s fearlessness — and her belief that art truly has no boundaries — might be part of that magic.

“There’s no judgment in art, no favorites,” she said. “It changes depending on what mood you’re in.”

That freedom is expressed in her home and in the gallery.

“I had a woman from out of state tell me she loved how everything is hung in here, which is how my home looks — with modern pieces next to more traditional pieces,” Marty said.

Others have had similar reactions.

“They think it’s brave — it’s not brave,” she said. “It’s everything I love.”

As the gallery has come into its own, Marty has started to see the parallels between the gallery’s growth and that of her young grandsons.

“It’s fun to see progression with both,” Marty said. “As they grow up, I want them to be able to pour the wine here and show their work here.”

Olivia Volkman-Johnson is a local freelance writer, studying to become a pastry chef.

B6 October 31–November 13, 2019 / southwestjournal.com

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By Carla Waldemar

I

n a summary of last year’s best new restaurants, I called 2018 the Year of the Taco.

Well, it ain’t over till the fat lady sings, as opera lovers counsel, and it seems like she’s still got another aria on her program.

A new performer on the Latin dining stage is LynLake’s Prieto Taqueria Bar, where Sonoraborn chef (and former helmsman of Sonora Grill) Alejandro Castillon has taken over the short-lived Hasty Tasty’s space. The second of those namesake adjectives still applies, but there’s nothing hasty about grinding your own corn to fashion your tortillas, nor in using the site’s smoker to produce meats the way they do in Kansas City. The journey from kitchen to table is pretty leisurely, too — fair warning for those racing to meet curtain time at the nearby Jungle.

Worth the wait? Maybe. But if you arrive expecting a big breakthrough of creative Latin flavors, not so much. It’s a nice addition to the intersection’s culinary options, but yet to earn a “destination dining” label.

Inviting happy hour prices (2 p.m.–6 p.m. and 9 p.m.–close) are a good way to enjoy a visit. I ordered a chabela margarita ($4) — summery and instilled with a strawberry’s sweetness without tasting too girly. With it, a taco loaded with pork carnitas ($3) — simple and straight-up, the satisfying threads of meat spilling out of its cornmeal casing, along with shredded cabbage and a few flakes of white cheese. It carries a pleasantly tart tingle via the kitchen’s salsa verde.

On a return (non-happy hour) visit, from the list’s nine taco choices (singles, $5–$6) we sampled the pastor — again with plenty of smoker-enriched protein (this time, beef) paired with more cheese, a sweet, fresh pineapple-amplified pico de gallo and a modest, unassuming avocado salsa. We also begged a taste of the chef’s ancho salsa — rich, velvety and deeply flavored. Order the house-made chips with choice of two of the chef’s quintet of salsas if you wish.

Sliding by the sandwich offerings (choice of three tortas, $9–$11) and quesadillas (two options, $6 and $9), we glued our eyes to the list of five platillos ($11–$14). A pair of empanadas — their doughy envelopes hosting brisket of unassuming flavor pedigree — came garnished with queso fresco, a lickyour-fingers serrano crema (OK, we finally remembered our manners and begged for spoons) and a contrasting but sparse cilantroavocado vinaigrette: tasty, sure, but not gottacome-back-for-more.

The hit of the evening was the order of flautas: cigar-shaped tortilla bundles wrapped around cheese and chicken — so far, so ordinary — but they came topped oh-so-generously with chopped lettuce, that lusty pico de gallo and a subtle, savory, mushroom-like huitlacoche crema.

Dessert? A single selection: the house-made buñuelos. If you go for bubbly, airy, crispy deep-fried dough, state-fair-style, you’ll probably relish the opportunity. Otherwise, simply order another drink.

We’d been sipping a crisp, summery Grüner Veltliner from the by-the-glass choices. There’s a listing of beers and (mostly tequila-based) cocktails, too. On my first visit, I bounced to the sound system’s mariachi music; on a repeat trip it was generic bar tunes. Sidewalk seating is a nice option, too.

Next up? Watch for veteran restaurateur Ann Kim opening her own taqueria in Uptown soon.

southwestjournal.com / October 31–November 13, 2019 B7

Bridget Erickson, an AmeriCorps volunteer with the Duluthbased Northern Bedrock Historic Preservation Corps, applies a fresh coat of white paint to the ceiling of the Hennepin History Museum’s entrance hall on Oct. 18. “I think old buildings have a really cool story to tell and by investing in them and rehabilitating them, we have a unique opportunity to connect with people in the past,” she says.

Photo by Zac Farber

Restoring the walnut walls of a century-old Whittier mansion AmeriCorps youth learn historic conservation skills at Hennepin History Museum

By Zac Farber / zfarber@swjournal.com

When the Hennepin History Museum reopens to the public on Nov. 5 after a three-week closure, the century-old walnut wood walls that line the Whittier museum’s Great Room will gleam more brightly than they have for decades.

A group of six young AmeriCorps volunteers with the Duluth-based nonprofit Northern Bedrock have spent the last few weeks inside the Christian family mansion learning about the art of historic conservation by sawing wood, painting plaster, restaining baseboards and reattaching molding with a 19th-century glue made from animal hide.

“I think old buildings have a really cool story to tell and by investing in them and rehabilitating them, we have a unique opportunity to connect with people in the past,” said Bridget Erickson, a Warroad, Minnesota, native who graduated from the College of St. Benedict this spring. “There’s a certain beauty that historic buildings have that isn’t easily replicated today, and I see that as something worth keeping alive.”

The Christian mansion was built between 1917 and 1919, and Carolyn McKnight Christian lived in the home until 1957, joined by seven servants and four foster children. The first president of the Minneapolis Institute of Art’s Friends group, Christian enjoyed hosting fundraisers in the mansion’s Great Room. “She built the house to be an entertaining house and she loved music,” said Rosella DePietro, a museum staffer. “The two-step-up stage is original to the house.”

The Christian mansion has been the home of Hennepin County’s history museum since the late 1950s, and the Great Room’s luxurious wooden walls have suffered some wear and tear over the years.

Mark Johnston, the founder of Vadnais Heights-based Historic Design Consulting, has been serving as a technical specialist on the conservation project.

“Too often these days, historic repairs also include undoing repairs that were previously done incorrectly,” he said. “These young people are learning to do work in such a way that future generations won’t have to undo it.”

One of the difficulties in conserving the museum’s bookcases, Johnston said, is that walnut turns grayer and lighter as it ages. “It’s easy to make light things dark; it’s harder to make dark things light,” he said.

Luckily, Johnston said, he had a piece of lumber from a walnut tree his great-grandfa-

Northern Bedrock volunteers pose in the Great Room of the Hennepin History Museum with the bust of George Christian, a flour milling magnate who built the 100-year-old Whittier mansion where the museum is now housed. The museum’s director, John Crippen, is pictured at right. Submitted photo

ther cut down on his Carroll County, Iowa, farm in 1905 — the year Johnston’s grandfather was born.

“This is a piece of walnut that’s been sitting, waiting for a special project for 115 years,” he said. “Every woodworker’s got this pile of wood that’s waiting for that special project, and the project never comes, and you die, and it gets sold in a garage sale. So I’m actually going to use my great-granddad’s walnut to replace one of these bookshelf [key pieces].”

During conservation projects, Johnston said, he largely relies on the 150- to 200-year-old tools he inherited from his grandfather. To make the shoe moldings between the museum’s baseboards and its African cypress floor, Johnston showed Northern Bedrock volunteers how

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to use his 1850 molding plane.

The AmeriCorps volunteers also learned to mix a wood varnish out of orasol dyes, pigment and shellac. Anders Christensen, a painter who also served as a technical specialist on the project, said that many people react with disbelief when they find out how shellac is made. “It’s bug poop,” he said. “They look at me sideways like, ‘You are pulling my leg.’ Shellac comes from the secretion of the female lac bug, which is found in southeast Asia. It’s so versatile and produces a beautiful finish.”

The Northern Bedrock volunteers serve six-month stints in the program and are given a biweekly stipend of $800, plus food, housing and an AmeriCorps education award.

The Hennepin History Museum restoration wasn’t the first project for any of the volunteers. Erickson had repaired windows at the Halfway Ranger Station in Ely and at Red Wing’s Anderson Center. Adam Brinson, who majored in public history at Rhodes College in Memphis, had worked on the north shore of Lake Superior, at Grand Portage National Monument. And Lydia Glamann, an Oshkosh, Wisconsin, native, had done a lot of cemetery restoration — “resetting headstones, cleaning headstones,” she said.

Glamann graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison this May with a degree in political science and said she’s now considering a career in historic preservation.

“This has definitely been a lot different than anything I’m used to,” she said.

B8 October 31–November 13, 2019 / southwestjournal.com

If Your Walls Could Talk

By Kathy Kullberg

The Minneapolis nougat that made Franklin Mars’ candy company a household name

F

or decades, the house at 220 W. Minnehaha Parkway was known as the Milky Way House.

The classic Tudor revival residence was built on the hill overlooking the parkway in 1926 by owner/contractor Ella Pendergast. When it was completed, Pendergast sold the Minnehaha house to Franklin C. Mars, a young entrepreneur who later became the owner of one of the world’s leading candy companies.

Ella’s second son, Raymond Pendergast, was a creative man, but instead of focusing on the building trades like his contractor mother, Ella, and his architect brother, Jack, he became enamored with candy and formed the Pendergast Candy Company around 1916. The small business eventually located its factory and shop at 2516 Nicollet Ave., now the home of the Jamaican restaurant Pimento.

Minneapolis was a hub of candy activity in the early part of the 20th century. The city had access to sugar beets, fresh clean water, a major railroad hub and an abundance of European workers familiar with the trade.

The Pendergast Candy Company’s main innovation was the development of a whipped marshmallow-like filling for its chocolate truffles and bars. Raymond Pendergast had created the unusual candy center almost by accident but soon it would become known as the “Minneapolis Nougat.” Pendergast’s best-selling brands were sold as Fat Emma and Pie Face.

Previous retail candies were mostly hard sugar, soft taff y or solid chocolate. The soft whipped creamy nougat center, although radically different, proved to be very popular.

However, there was a major issue with the product: the instability of the soft candy on the retail shelf, particularly in the summer months, and during transportation.

One of the local companies that succeeded in overcoming these stability issues was owned

by Franklin C. Mars. The Mar-O-Bar company’s namesake candy bar, released around 1922, was followed in 1923 by the Milky Way, named by Mars’ son, Forrest, after a popular soda fountain milkshake.

Born in Pope County, Minnesota, in 1883, Franklin Mars had learned to make candy in his mother’s kitchen after he contracted polio and could no longer attend school or work. Mars later moved south to Minneapolis, married twice, and then ventured west to Tacoma, Washington, where he tried his hand in the area’s fledgling candy industry.

Unfortunately, by 1914, his business went bankrupt, and the Mars family moved back to Minneapolis. This time, his determination to be in the candy game yielded success, and around

Ella Pendergast sold the house at 220 W. Minnehaha Parkway to Franklin Mars in 1926.

Photo

by Kathy Kullberg

1920 he “discovered” a new ingredient — the Minneapolis Nougat. According to the candy company’s website, Mars established a line of chocolate confections — “Patricia Chocolates,” named after his daughter — in a factory location known as the Nougat House at 718 Washington Ave. N. The Mar-O-Bar company was growing.

Evidently the Pendergasts did not bear Mars too much ill will, because Ella Pendergast sold the Minnehaha Parkway house to Mars in 1926.

His mother-in-law, Mary Alice Zelisch, and a maid also occupied the house. (At the same time, Raymond Pendergast lived just blocks away at 230 Valley View Place, in a home built by his sister, Florence Lentz.)

Mars’ success, just before the Great Depression, put him in position to survive those difficult years, and in 1929 he moved both his business and family to Chicago. Rather than sell his home, he gave the Minnehaha home to Zelisch to enjoy.

Unlike Mars, Pendergast marketed not only its own brands but also outstate names like Elmer’s Chocolates of New Orleans. However, in November 1928, just before the Christmas holiday rush, the Pendergast factory on Nicollet suffered a major setback when fire destroyed most of the building and inventory. The loss was over $65,000, a huge sum for those times.

Undaunted, Pendergast tried another tactic.

Franklin and Forrest Mars are interred in a custom granite mausoleum at Lakewood Cemetery.

Photo

by Kathy Kullberg

An advertisement for Mar-O-Bar that ran in the Minneapolis Tribune in 1926.

Submitted image

The Pendergast Candy Company’s two best-selling brands. Submitted image

Because his candy bars could not be relied upon to survive shipping long distances, Pendergast decided to negotiate with confectioners in Milwaukee, Winnipeg, Chicago and Boston instead of building multiple factories in larger markets. Those local partner factories would make and market his brands in return for a cut of the sales.

The Minneapolis Pendergast factory relocated to 324 N. 1st St. in Minneapolis until it was sold to the owner, F.A. Martoccio, of the Hollywood Candy Company of Jordan, Minnesota, around 1929. Martoccio was successful in developing a synthetic coating to surround the nougat and marketed his version of the Minneapolis Nougat as the Hollywood bar. He, too, would eventually move his business out of state in 1938.

After selling the factory, Raymond Pendergast took on a new role as a traveling salesman, promoting his brands through other candy wholesalers in East Coast cities. In 1929, after adopting three boys from a Chicago orphanage, the Pendergast family moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The 1930 census listed the Pendergasts living alongside several other candy producers. Harrisburg was merely miles from another major chocolatier of that area — the Milton Hershey Company.

By the end of World War II, Raymond Pendergast was back in Minneapolis, and in 1946 he launched a whole new company in a new industry. Timesavers, Incorporated manufactured commercial building, sawing and sanding machinery for the lumber trades. The company is still operating in Maple Grove, Minnesota.

Raymond Pendergast eventually retired to Arizona, where he died in 1969.

Franklin Mars enjoyed his great success briefly and died at age 50, in 1934, from heartrelated problems. Eventually his remains were returned to Lakewood Cemetery, where they were interred in a custom granite mausoleum.

Forrest Mars continued running the privately held corporation until his death in 1999 when he, too, was interred at the Lakewood tomb.

Though Franklin Mars left Minneapolis in 1929, his widowed mother-in-law, Mary Zelisch, continued residing at the Minnehaha home, affectionately known as the Milky Way House.

Zelisch happily handed out Milky Way candy bars on Halloween until she passed away in 1938.

Kathy Kullberg is a local historian dedicated to illuminating the lives of Minneapolis’ memorable residents, architects and builders and their contributions to the city’s past and present.

southwestjournal.com / October 31–November 13, 2019 B9

Unsung Architecture

By Adam Jonas

Heart of the home

F

rom time immemorial, humans have gathered around fire. Examples of Great Plains teepees to Mongolian yurts span the globe and share the commonality of fire as the absolute center of built space — a universal hub of heat, community and often food.

As the functional need for fire lessened with the advent of more convenient cooking and heating sources — early homes in Southwest Minneapolis, for example, were often equipped with “octopus” furnaces — the psychological and social aspect of gathering around fire continued.

Many architects, including Frank Lloyd Wright, subscribed to the doctrine that the hearth is the heart of a home. He went so far as to extend the physicality of the hearth beyond the confines of the fireplace into the living room — more traditionally with an inglenook, but later in his career with more modern variations.

Gathering around fire has shaped humanity for such a long time that even in the iPhone era it’s hard to imagine life without a campfire.

But in more recent times, the thing that people have focused their attention around has shifted to increasingly isolating objects: trending from the radio to television to smartphones. The latter is a far cry from a gathering space and at best allows “parallel play,” with the occasional comment expressed to a neighbor.

Some homes buck this trend, however, and embrace hygge (the art of winter coziness) in all of its glowing glory. Locus Architecture’s first home was designed with a double-height living room “courtyard” grounded by a fireplace at the west wall. Incorporating a fireplace into

Paul Neseth, a partner at Locus Architecture, chats fireside with his daughter, Siri, in their home on King’s Highway. Submitted photo

the voluminous space has altered not only how people gather within the interior, but has also impacted the owners’ relationship to nature.

Architects often think of “bringing the outdoors in” by using large windows to extend views into the distant landscape, but the act of fire-making literally brings the outdoors into the home through multi-sensory experiences.

The felling of a tree, the sawing of logs and the splitting of wood all take the family outside

and expose them to the sounds and smells of the forest. A less motivated family might hire cords of wood to be delivered, but they still get out of the house to haul in the strong smell of oak on a crisp winter day.

The notion of burning wood might seem out of touch in terms of environmental responsibility. Making a mid-century fire used to mean sucking the heat out of the home and sending it right up the chimney. Such a huge loss of energy

and comfort needn’t be the norm today. Woodburning stoves have since come a long way, and there are many efficient options on the market for both standalone models and inserts, which essentially fill an open fireplace with a metal box with doors.

Wood-fired masonry heaters are particularly effective as they “pull” smoke through chambers surrounding the fire box to more thoroughly burn exhaust, thereby increasing efficiency. The heat of the fire absorbs into the surrounding mass of stone and, as the fire fades into the night, the mass radiates its retained warmth into the surroundings. Coupled with other ecologically savvy systems (such as high insulation and passive solar heating), a wood-fired masonry heater can be an effective solution to heating a home while eliminating dependence on fossil fuels.

While some may wish to limit their fire making to an occasional cabin retreat, the joys of a real wood fire can be found in the urban realm (without the efforts of making one at home). A handful of local restaurants use woodfired ovens and some, such as Burch Steak, even cook over an open flame. Lynhall is one of the few Southwest restaurants offering a woodburning fireplace to sit beside. If that’s not hot enough, you can get really close to a fire in the 612 Sauna Society’s sauna — heated by a madein-Minnesota, wood-burning Kuuma stove.

Adam Jonas is an architect at Locus Architecture at 45th & Nicollet in Kingfield.

Visit locusarchitecture.com to learn more.

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B10 October 31–November 13, 2019 / southwestjournal.com

THE SAINT PAUL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

Community Calendar.

The orchestra will perform Beethoven’s especially intense and audacious Razumovsky Quartet No. 3 for Strings, plus selections from Mozart and Donizetti.

By Ed Dykhuizen

When: 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 7 Where: Temple Israel, 2323 Fremont Ave. S. Cost: $11–$26 for adults; Free for kids and students Info: thespco.org

ARTY COSTUME PARTY Dance to music from MAKR, go on a haunted garden tour and see Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive, a critically acclaimed tale of love between two coolly cultured vampires.

When: 5–9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 31 Where: Walker Art Center, 725 Vineland Pl. Cost: Free Info: walkerart.org

60 ARTISTS ON 50TH This is the 68th semi-annual cultivated show of fine art, featuring works in glass, clay, wood, painting, jewelry, batik, fiber, sculpture, leather and drawing.

When: 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2 Where: Burroughs Elementary School, 1601 W. 50th St. Cost: Free Info: tinyurl.com/60-artists

YOUTH SKATEBOARD ART WITH ARTIST MARK RIVARD Youth ages 12–18 can create a their own skateboard designs and be part of the public youth skateboard art exhibition at Cal Surf Skate Shop on Jan. 16.

When: 1–4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2 Where: Cal Surf, 1715 W. Lake St. Cost: $60 Info: doradthings.net/studio

THE INTERFAITH AMIGOS Pastor Don Mackenzie, Rabbi Ted Falcon and Imam Jamal Rahman bring a message of deep hope and profound possibilities for healing both person and planet. All, of any or no religious affiliations, are invited.

LORELEI RAMIREZ: ALIVE! (FOR NOW) This playfully morbid multimedia special is part of The Spit Take Comedy Series, which finds critically renowned artists that push the boundaries of traditional stand-up and improv comedy.

When: 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1 Where: Phoenix Theater, 2605 Hennepin Ave. Cost: $17 in advance, $20 at the door Info: spittakeseries.com

When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2 Where: Plymouth Congregational Church, 1900 Nicollet Ave. Cost: Free Info: tinyurl.com/interfaith-amigos

LAKE STREET BASH 2019 Celebrate Lake Street’s business community with local beer, wine, aguas frescas, a silent auction and games.

When: 5–8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7 Where: FIVE Event Center, 2917 Bryant Ave. S. Cost: $25 Info: tinyurl.com/lake-street-bash

Cost: $15–$20 Info: bryantlakebowl.com

HONORING OUR VETERANS Major General Shadley, U.S. Army (Retired) will give opening remarks for a performance by the University of Minnesota Health Sciences Orchestra. A reception will follow. Donations will be accepted for homeless veterans.

When: 2–3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 10 Where: Saint Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, 519 Oak Grove St. Cost: Free Info: ourcathedral.org/events

READING FROM MY CAESAREAN: TWENTY-ONE MOTHERS ON THE C-SECTION EXPERIENCE AND AFTER

GIVE TO THE MAX DAY

Parents and anyone interested in the storytelling of birth are invited to a reading of the book, which has Twin Cities-based contributors, and to stay for a Q&A and discussion about writing their birth stories. Babies in arms are welcome.

When: 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13, to 12 a.m. Friday, Nov. 15 Where: HUGE Improv Theater, 3037 Lyndale Ave. S. Cost: Donate any amount Info: hugetheater.com

When: 7–8:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7 Where: Blooma Minneapolis, 5315 Lyndale Ave. S. Cost: Free Info: blooma.com

BEWITCHED BY WEILL Mistress Ginger delves into the songbook of German-born composer Kurt Weill, who fled during the rise of fascism.

When: 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8, and Saturday, Nov. 9 Where: Bryant-Lake Bowl & Theater, 810 W. Lake St.

HUGE Theater will attempt 28 straight hours of improv performances to raise money for its classes and programs. Donate any amount and visit at any time.

SOUND UNSEEN 20 FESTIVAL: CINEMA LOUNGE SHORT FILM SHOWCASE Sound Unseen teams up with Cinema Lounge to present a collection of locally made short films and videos, followed by Q&As with the filmmakers.

When: 7–8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13 Where: Bryant-Lake Bowl & Theater, 810 W. Lake St. Cost: Free Info: soundunseen.com

southwestjournal.com / October 31–November 13, 2019 B11

DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS 2019 AT EL COLEGIO

Get Out Guide.

By Sheila Regan

Día

Come hungry for this long-standing tradition at El Colegio, where you’ll see student-made ofrendas, or altars, and have an opportunity to taste pan de muerto, tamales and chocolate and to watch dance and music performances.

de los

Muertos

When: 5:30–9 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 1 Where: El Colegio High School, 4137 Bloomington Ave. Cost: Free. $15 donation to purchase a Día de los Muertos t-shirt.

Info: tinyurl.com/ el-colegio-dia

Each year, Día de los Muertos — observed on Nov. 2 — is a day for honoring loved ones and ancestors who have passed. A tradition with roots in Mexico and other parts of Latin America, the holiday is embraced by local communities here in Minneapolis, with a number of events taking place around town. Here are a few events that offer a window into this beautiful tradition and celebrate Latin American culture in Minnesota.

COMMUNITY OFRENDA AND MORE AT MIA

DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS CONCERT/ FESTIVAL DE LAS CALAVERAS

Youth, parents and elders from the community organization Centro Tyrone Guzman have been working for the past several months with artist Monica Vega, from Michoacán, Mexico, to create a collaboratively made ofrenda. While you are at Mia, you may also enjoy “Graciela Iturbide’s Mexico,” on view at the museum. Her gorgeous photography captures Indigenous cultural practices and daily life in Mexico, including images of Día de los Muertos celebrations.

The annual Día de los Muertos Concert, the culmination of the Festival de las Calaveras, is a lively scene with local Latinx bands as well as bands from Chicago (Malafacha) and Los Angeles (Olmeca), spoken word performances, live art making, Mexica Yolotl Aztec Dance, an art exhibition and craft vendors. It all takes place in the colorful skull decor of La Doña Cervecería, with mural designs created by Luis Fitch.

When: Community Celebration 6–8 p.m. Friday, Nov 1. On view through Sunday, Nov. 3.

Where: Minneapolis Institute of Art, 2400 3rd Ave. S. Cost: Free Info: new.artsmia.org/event/dia-de-los-muertos-community-ofrenda

When: 6 p.m.–1 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 2 Where: La Doña Cervecería, 241 Fremont Ave. N. Cost: $15 adults, $8 for children and youth ages 6–17, Free for children 5 and under Info: festivalcalaveras.com

CROSSWORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1 Aquarium 5 Yeshiva teacher 10 Dance in a pit 14 Iranian money 15 For all to hear 16 Baja’s opposite 17 Swashbuckling leading man of Hollywood’s Golden Age 19 Precious 20 Delivers, as a convention-opening speech 21 Donny or Marie LICENSE # 1095

23 Hairstyles 24 Art Deco designer 25 Barbara of “Mission: Impossible”

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27 German shepherd of ’50s-’60s TV 32 Beach head-turners 33 Forest moon that’s home to the Ewoks 34 Dedicated poem 35 First chip in the pot 36 Tokyo’s country 37 Pinot __: white wine grape 38 Geol. or chem., e.g.

39 Nattily dressed fellows 40 Fortune-teller’s card

55 Hotel chain since 1952 57 Trap fluff 58 __ Oyl

11 Bread spread

37 Grotesque architectural figure

59 Advance, as money

39 Part of DVD

60 Enemies

12 Laurel seen with Hardy

40 Irish lullaby start

61 Package sealers

13 Difficult

42 Thieves’ bank jobs

62 Pre-revelry nights

18 Diving birds

45 Hands over

22 Swizzle

46 Cow kid

24 Hyphen-like mark

47 State east of Indiana

25 Con game

48 Horse hair

DOWN 1 Long haul

43 City near Provo

3 __ a soul: no one

44 “SportsCenter” channel

4 Ice cream bar named for a Yukon river

45 Gear tooth

5 Rapids transports

46 “Peanuts” newspaper section

6 Fashion monthly

54 “I get it now!” cries

36 Basketball scoring technique

10 Drama set at an advertising agency

41 North Vietnamese leader with a trail named for him

49 Jeep model named for a tribe

9 Ralph Kramden’s pal

2 Suffix with billion

7 Pop music’s Backstreet __ 8 Pastry that might be sticky

Crossword Puzzle SWJ 103119 4.indd 1

26 Bit of high jinks

49 Paper holder

27 Transfer to memory, as data

50 Bee home 51 Ukraine’s capital

28 Best way to sign

52 Feminine suffix

29 MLB exec Joe

53 Breaks off

30 “Take the cake” or “cream of the crop”

56 Suffix with pay or Cray-

31 Home on a branch 32 Diner fare

Crossword answers on page B12

10/29/19 10:16 AM

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B12 October 31–November 13, 2019 / southwestjournal.com

Moments in Minneapolis

By Karen Cooper

WWI armistice was coded by local realtor Marathon encoding session paved the way for peace

I

rving J. Luger, a realtor who lived in six different Southwest Minneapolis homes during the 1930s and ’40s, played a monumental part in ending World War I. Born in 1895, Luger joined the Marines to serve the country during the Great War. When peace was reached 101 years ago, he was a 22-year-old sergeant — a “code clerk” working in Irving J. Luger encryption. He provided the indispensible link between Washington and the U.S. High Command in Paris and kept a world-changing secret for 11 critical days.

A half-century later, in a 1971 interview with the Minneapolis Star, Luger shared what he remembered about his extraordinary service.

After 50 years, he still knew every detail.

“It was Oct. 31, 1918, as I recall, about 11:30 p.m. A Marine guard on duty at 10 Rue St. Anne pounded on the door of my room and hollered, ‘Get up! There’s a general and a colonel waiting for you downstairs.’

The general was H.H. Harts. The colonel’s name was Quackenbush, an aide-de-camp to Gen. Pershing.

“I dressed as hurriedly as I could and went downstairs. Gen. Harts said, ‘We have some important work for you, sergeant.’ He led the way to a car and we were whisked off to the U.S. Paris District Headquarters at 7 Rue de Tilsitt.

“When we entered the headquarters building, all the lights were on and some of the big brass were standing around, including our adjutant general and chief of staff of the Paris headquarters. All seemed quite excited.

I wondered what it was all about.

“Col. Quackenbush asked me to show him the latest key to our code. I did. He asked me

to code a short statement and I did. Then he asked questions about my coding experience.

“After all that, he showed me several legal-sized typewritten sheets of paper, single-spaced. They were the terms of the Armistice, which the Allies had prepared for the Germans to sign. The terms were to be sent to Washington for approval. Col. Quackenbush said he wanted the document coded and transmitted to Secretary of War Baker that same night.

“I told the colonel it would expedite matters if I had the help of my assistant, Cpl. Cassavant.

A staff car was at once sent out to bring him in.

“We started work about 1 p.m. and we worked straight through until 8 a.m. — a stretch of 19 solid hours.

“When we finished we called the Signal Corps to come and pick up the message pronto and send it to Washington. The Signal Corps did.

“Naturally, we were sworn to secrecy until terms of the Armistice were officially released Nov. 11.

“That coding job,” said Irving Luger, “was one of the highlights of my entire life.”

The curious reader is probably wondering about this encoding system that required two men to spend 19 hours to encode several typed pieces of paper. Conveniently enough, Southwest Minneapolis continues to be home to a cryptographer, Bruce Schneier, who also happens to be my husband. He explains the mechanism: “During World War I, important messages were encoded using a variety of pencil-andpaper systems. Some systems replaced letters or words with groups of random letters, either according to an agreed-upon mathematical formula or based on pre-distributed dictionaries of code words known as ‘codebooks.’

A diplomatic message as important as this one was likely encrypted using one of these codebook systems.

“To encode this message, one of the

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Marines likely held the book. The other Marine would tell him words of the message, and he would look them up in the book and find the corresponding code word.

‘The’ might be ‘slcze.’ ‘Germans’ might be ‘qpszf.’ ‘Surrender’ might be ‘hlsaa.’ If a word didn’t appear in the codebook — and there were lots of those — each letter or, perhaps, group of two or three letters would be encoded. One of the two would write the code words down on another piece of paper. And they would go through the entire message this way, word by word and character by character.

“When they were done they would reverse the process and decrypt their message, in order to check their work and look for errors.

The only way to proofread ‘slcze qpszf hlssa’ is to look those characters up in the book, group by group, and find their Englishlanguage equivalents.

“It’s a slow and laborious process, prone to errors, but at the time secure from anyone

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On Nov. 11, 1918, the day the armistice was signed that ended World War I, huge crowds of people flooded Nicollet Avenue. This photo was taken near 7th Street. Photo courtesy of the Hennepin County Library

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who didn’t have a copy of the codebook.

Today, of course, we encrypt messages using computers and much more complicated mathematical systems. But two Marines working for 19 hours nonstop was state-ofthe-art encryption technology in 1918.”

After the war, Sgt. Luger returned to Southwest Minneapolis, married and had kids. His son, Irving Jr., surely grew up knowing how proud his father was of his military service. Irving Jr. signed up when he turned 18, at the height of World War II. At 19 years old, Pfc. Luger was killed in action, leading his squad against an enemy outbreak in Alsace, France. He is buried overseas in a military cemetery. His father is buried in Fort Snelling National Cemetery.

If your house is included in the Hennepin History Museum photo collection, you can ask Karen Cooper for a house history by emailing her at yf@urbancreek.com. Look for your Southwest Minneapolis house at tinyurl.com/hhm-houses.

southwestjournal.com / October 31–November 13, 2019 B13

By Sasha Jensen

Come volunteer at a local farmers market Neighborhood Roots board chair Sasha Jensen gives out salsa samples at the Fulton Farmers Market on Aug. 19.

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ad someone told me 10 years ago I would be the board chair of an organization that puts on farmers markets, I would have been sure they were kidding.

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Fulton, as well as its sister markets Nokomis and Kingfield, were created out of a desire from the neighborhoods to create this type of community, and we as residents and customers are needed each week to keep it running. We can have a say in the programming, policy and funding. And we can just be there as friendly faces handing out samples or setting up and tearing down booths.

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Sasha Jensen is the outgoing chair of Neighborhood Roots, the organization that runs the Fulton, Kingfield and Nokomis farmers markets.

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