News - Mill City Farmers Market 2012 Dates Set

The Mill City Farmers Market 2012 will run from May 12 through October 27, 2012 according to the vendor application on the MCFM website.

Thank You, Mill City Commons, for Your Generosity!

Mill City Commons Members were very generous in their response to the Fourth Annual Turkey, Dressings & Extra Helpings food and clothing drive organized by MCC members Delia and Tyrone Bujold, Barbara Goldner and Linda Willette.

- Members donated a car full of clothes to People Serving People, including job interview and cold weather clothing.

- Five bags of gifts were delivered to Exodus House and Mary's Place at Sharing and Caring Hands.

- Over $2200 in financial donations to purchase food for holiday dinners for 50 families in North Minneapolis.

The food was delivered to Ascension School where Principal Dorwatha Woods had identified 50 families with the most need. Woods told the volunteers "Your choices and generosity will help the families in many ways -- they will live off this food for a week. These children come from low income families, many of whom count on the school lunch program. Over the holidays, it's difficult for families to provide three meals a day." Ms. Wood also shared that she received a note from one of the mothers who said "Woohoo!" It was the largest pork shoulder roast she'd ever seen -- it would provide her family with multiple meals.

Photos courtesy of Linnea Tweed, Executive Director of Mill City Commons:

MCC members Delia and Tyrone getting into their vehicle after meeting five other drivers with 13 volunteers.

Meeting Rainbow Foods manager Jeff Hamm.

One of the Rainbow Foods team helping with the five rolling carts of food.

Loading up the SUV's and unloading at Ascension School in North Minneapolis.

A job well done!

Visit Mill City Commons on the web at http://millcitycommons.org/ to find out how to get involved in future projects.

West River Parkway Near Washington Avenue Bridge Closed December 22-23

West River Parkway, from 22nd Avenue South to 4th Street South, will be closed from 7am-6pm Thursday, December 22, and Friday, December 23.

The closure is needed to safely remove the north side of the Washington Avenue Bridge deck as part of the Central Corridor Light Rail Transit Project.  Traffic will be detoured to 19th Avenue South during the closure.

The Week Ahead in Mill City / December 19-25

Each Monday morning we provide an easy to reference list of events and activities for the week ahead in the Mill City neighborhood.  Submit your events here...

Monday, December 19

Sounds of Blackness at the Guthrie

Thursday, December 22

Anna Boyer Opening Reception at Open Book

Taste Twin Cities Downtown Minneapolis Skyway Tour

Friday, December 23

Live Music at Crooked Pint Ale House

Live Music at Aster Cafe

Last Minute Holiday Items? Check out the Dec 23-24 Clearance Sale at The Shop at MCBA

On December 23 and 24, The Shop at Minnesota Center for Book Arts (MCBA) will be holding a two-day CLEARANCE SALE: 30% off select Holiday items including wrapping paper, holiday cards and ornaments! (Non-consignment goods only.)

Hours: Dec 23 (10am-5pm) and Dec 24 (10am-2pm).

NOTE: MCBA will close at 2:00pm on December 24, and remain closed through January 2, 2012.   The Open Book building will undergo floor refinishing and  maintenance during this time, so MCBA, Open Book and the Coffee Shop will all be closed to the public. They will reopen at 10:00am on Tuesday, January 3, 2012.

This Weekend in Mill City / December 16-18

Events this weekend in and around the Historic Mill District and Minneapolis Riverfront Neighborhoods.  Have an event to share?  Contact us...

Friday, December 16

STUCK BETWEEN STATIONS debut at St. Anthony Main Theatre

Live Music at Crooked Pint Ale House

Live Music at Aster Cafe

Tracking Minnesota’s Clean Water Legacy Effectiveness Meeting at McKnight Foundation

Saturday, December 17

Childish Films at Central Library

Farmers Market at Local D'lish

Washburn A Mill Tour at Mill City Museum

Minneapolis Central Friends Children’s Book Sale at Central Library

Live Music at Crooked Pint Ale House

Live Music at Aster Cafe

MCYC Winter Concert and CD Release Party at MacPhail

International Cartoonist Conspiracy Meet-up at MCBA

Sunday, December 18

Vikings and New Orleans Saints at the Dome

Sonomento Winter Concert, Featuring a Performance of Handel’s Messiah at MacPhail

Japan America Arts Forum with Sheila Asato at MCBA

Weekend Brunch

Saturday & Sunday

Brunch at Spoonriver
750 South 2nd St (at Chicago Ave S)
Minneapolis, MN 55401
612-436-2236

Reservations recommended

10:00am - 2:00pm

See the menu...

Saturday & Sunday

Brunch at the Aster Cafe
St. Anthony Main
125 SE Main Street
Minneapolis, MN 55414
612-379-3138

Until 2pm.

See the menu...

Sunday

Brunch at Spill the Wine
1101 Washington Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55415
612-339-3388

brunch buffet 10am- 2pm Sunday
$12/person (kids 3 and under eat free, 4-12 years are 1/2 price!)

includes: eggs, bacon, french toast, hash browns, fresh salad and fruit, pastries, build your own omlette bar and more...

featuring absolut bloody bar for $5.

also offering fair trade coffee and full bar.

Make a Difference and Have Fun this Season

Thanks to some wonderful community partnerships, December is a great month to have fun, complete your holiday giving, clean out your linen closets, and meet others ALL WHILE MAKING A DIFFERENCE in the lives of homeless families.

 

Below are four ways that you can make a difference this December. 

 

SHOP.

Need to do some last minute shopping?  Find unique and affordable home goods from WildHearts Collection in Hopkins, and 20% of your purchase in December will be donated to People Serving People. Any Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10:30am to 3:30pm WildHearts is open and full of gifts that are one-of-a-kind.  Visit their website for location and inventory.

ROCK.

With the help of local musicians, Rock the Cause is partnering with People Serving People to put on a concert series – each concert collecting donations of socks, warm coats, books for children, and volunteers to help us help homeless families.  Concerts begin Thursday.   1-- Silver Back Colony, Matt Latterell, and Dirty Horse are playing at the Nomad World Pub on December 15 at 9pm.   2-- Maudlin's 3rd Annual Worst Christmas Pageant Ever at the Triple Rock Social Club on December 17 at 9pm. Artists include Little Man, Barb Abney, Pictures of Then, and more!   3-- Alison Scott’s Holiday Show on December 21 and 22 at Lyric Arts Anoka.   Go out, have fun, hear local music, and bring socks!

DECLUTTER.

Clean out your linen closets and bring us your twin and double sized sheets, pillow cases, and clean, warm blankets. Our blanket supply is low - and we have never seen this many families at our shelter  over the holiday season before.  So if you have too many blankets, bring a couple to our shelter so the families and children here can stay warm at night. Blankets can be brought to People Serving People at 614 3rd Street South.  Click here for more details.

DONATE A GIFT.

Still having trouble deciding what to give people for the holidays?  Show them how much you care about the families and children at  People Serving People with a gift in honor of someone you know.  If you donate online, you can tell us who to send a holiday card to (even if it's YOU so you can hand the card to the recipient personally).  This card will let them know you gave a gift in their name to help homeless children and families.   Go here to make a gift in someones honor.

Tonight - Community Meeting: Options for the Former Fuji-Ya Restaurant Site on the Downtown Minneapolis Riverfront

Date:  Thursday, December 15

Time:  6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Place:  Mill City Museum, ADM Room, 710 Second Street South, Minneapolis MN 55401

Only a Few Days Left to Make a Tax Deductible Contribution to MCC's "Turkey, Dressings and Extra Helpings" Drive

Join Mill City Commons (MCC) members and friends for the fourth annual Turkey, Dressings, and Extra Helpings drive.  This is a wonderful opportunity to do good this Holiday season and throughout the winter!

Ways to Help:

TURKEY:  Tax-deductible financial donations ($10-15, or more if you wish) to provide Holiday dinners for 50 families in North Minneapolis.  Any additional funds will be used to stock a local food shelf. 

Financial donations accepted December 1-15.  Mail checks payable to Mill City Commons to: 117 Portland Avenue #213, Minneapolis, MN 55401.

DRESSINGS: Donate cold weather clothing (hats, scarves, mittens) for all ages, and job interview clothing for adults, to benefit our neighbors at People Serving People. 

Clothing donations accepted December 9 -16.  Drop off clothing items at:  MCC Office, 17 4th Street or North Star Lofts, 117 Portland Avenue.

EXTRA HELPINGS: Donate small new or gently used gift items like books, jewelry, and cologne/aftershave, for individuals and families at Exodus Residence and Mary’s Place. These are the only gifts some residents receive.  

Gift donations accepted December 9 - 16.  Drop off gift items at:  MCC Office, 17 4th Street or North Star Lofts, 117 Portland Avenue.

Call Linnea (612-455-3329) or email info@millcitycommons.org at Mill City Commons if you have questions. 

Vandals Strike Pillsbury "A" Mill Water Tower [Photos]

While taking a river walk this weekend Kim and I spotted this, and discussed whether the water tower was recently hit by vandals, or if it had been spray painted long ago.  A search of our photo archive gave us the answer.

Graffiti on the tower captured Sunday, December 11 2011:

Photo taken October 22, 2011 showing no graffiti:

From the Mill District Block Party, August 2011:

Tonight - DMNA Board Meeting at Central Library

Time: 6:00pm

Location:  Central Library, Room N-202, 300 Nicollet Mall

Website:  Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhood Association

Agenda:

The Week Ahead in Mill City / December 12-18

Each Monday morning we provide an easy to reference list of events and activities for the week ahead in the Mill City neighborhood.  Submit your events here...

Monday, December 12

"No One is Alone" Interlude Winter Concert at MacPhail

Tuesday, December 13

DMNA Board Meeting at Central Library

Books & Bars Series at Aster Cafe

Wednesday, December 14

A SIP OF SCIENCE at Aster Cafe

Thursday, December 15

Community Meeting: Options for the Former Fuji-Ya Restaurant Site

Taste Twin Cities Downtown Minneapolis Skyway Tour

Friday, December 16

STUCK BETWEEN STATIONS debut at St. Anthony Main Theatre

Live Music at Crooked Pint Ale House

Live Music at Aster Cafe

Tracking Minnesota’s Clean Water Legacy Effectiveness Meeting at McKnight Foundation

Vegetarian 101 Class at Local D'Lish

Saturday, December 17

Childish Films at Central Library

Farmers Market at Local D'lish

Washburn A Mill Tour at Mill City Museum

Minneapolis Central Friends Children’s Book Sale at Central Library

Live Music at Crooked Pint Ale House

Live Music at Aster Cafe

MCYC Winter Concert and CD Release Party at MacPhail

International Cartoonist Conspiracy Meet-up at MCBA

Sunday, December 18

Vikings and New Orleans Saints at the Dome

Sonomento Winter Concert, Featuring a Performance of Handel’s Messiah at MacPhail

Last Minute Foodie Gifts Class at Local D'Lish

Japan America Arts Forum with Sheila Asato at MCBA

Sanctuary Staff on Air!

Sanctuary's Chef Patrick Atanalian demonstrated the easy way to disassemble a pomegranate December 11 on FOX 9.

Later, Barkeep Patrick appeared on KSTC-TV Channel 45's debut episode of Beer Geeks TV.

One trip to Sanctuary and you'll see why they're such attention-getters.

Holiday Gift Ideas from A Woman’s Paris™

A Woman’s Paris™ is a local business offering great gifts for the holidays, including iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch cases from $24, as well as stunning paintings of sites in Paris.  Friends and family receive discounted prices for a limited time on art prints of the paintings. Prints will be sold at a cost of $50 for large prints and $30 for smaller figure prints. These last minute-gifts are perfect for family and friends.

Prints will be available for a Minneapolis pick up or shipped for a small additional delivery fee.

Click here to order cases.  Click here to view the print collection.  (Discounts for purchases made directly on the website do not apply.)

To order prints by December 17th contact A Woman’s Paris™ at Barbara@awomansparis.com

Subscribe for FREE to A Woman’s Paris™ blog, follow on Twitter, like on Facebook.

Reuniting With the Vendors at the First Ever Indoor Mill City Farmers Market

It was great to see neighbors and vendors converge at the Mill City Museum yesterday morning for the first ever indoor Mill City Farmers Market.

Added bonus - members from Light of the Moon Band provided festive background music.

This Morning - Mill City Farmers Market's Holiday Market at Mill City Museum

Saturday, December 10

Time: 10:00am - 2:00pm

Location: Mill City Museum

Mill City hosts it’s first indoor Holiday Farmers Market at the Mill City Museum! Enjoy a smorgasbord of local fares for holiday gifts and meals, including local produce, pasture-raised meats, wild caught Alaskan salmon, eggs and cheeses, whole grains, and artisan preserves, pickles and pasta.

Visit with some of your favorite Mill City Farmers Market vendors, including:

■Ames Farm
■Goldfinch Flowers
■Swede Lake Farm and Global Garlic
■Prairie Hollow Farm
■Burning River Farm
■Braucher’s Sunshine Harvest Farm
■MN Valley Organics
■Wild Run Salmon
■Northern Lakes Wild Rice
■Singing Hills Goat Dairy
■Shepherd’s Way Farm
■Solomon’s Snacks and Bakery
■Bliss Granola
■Cafe Palmira
■Martha’s Joy
■Birchberry Native Arts and Foods
■Very Prairie
■Lucille’s Kitchen Garden
■Olsen’s Naturals

This Weekend in Mill City / December 9-11

Events this weekend in and around the Historic Mill District and Minneapolis Riverfront Neighborhoods.  Have an event to share?  Contact us...

Friday, December 9

Live Music at Crooked Pint Ale House

Live Music at Aster Cafe

An 'Eventually' Christmas: Holidays at the Mill at Mill City Museum

Mentor Series: Lan Samantha Chang at The Loft

Foodie Gifts Class at Local D'Lish

Ian and Margery of myTalk 107.1 at Wilde Roast Cafe

Saturday, December 10

Raptors of Minnesota at Central Library

History Day Hullabaloo at Central Library

Printing! Printing! Printing! at MCBA

Live Music at Crooked Pint Ale House

Live Music at Aster Cafe

An 'Eventually' Christmas: Holidays at the Mill at Mill City Museum

Guthrie's How'd They do That Workshop: Charley's Aunt

Kevin Kling Book Release Party at MCBA

Mill City Farmers Market's Holiday Market at Mill City Museum

Taste Twin Cities Downtown Minneapolis Skyway Tour

French Christmas Boutique at Our Lady of Lourdes

Sunday, December 11

An 'Eventually' Christmas: Holidays at the Mill at Mill City Museum

Aebleskiver Fun Class at Local D'Lish

French Christmas Boutique at Our Lady of Lourdes

Minneapolis Riverfront Partnership Great River Outing: Snowshoeing North Miss

Weekend Brunch

Saturday & Sunday

Brunch at Spoonriver
750 South 2nd St (at Chicago Ave S)
Minneapolis, MN 55401
612-436-2236

Reservations recommended

10:00am - 2:00pm

See the menu...

Saturday & Sunday

Brunch at the Aster Cafe
St. Anthony Main
125 SE Main Street
Minneapolis, MN 55414
612-379-3138

Until 2pm.

See the menu...

Sunday

Brunch at Spill the Wine
1101 Washington Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55415
612-339-3388

brunch buffet 10am- 2pm Sunday
$12/person (kids 3 and under eat free, 4-12 years are 1/2 price!)

includes: eggs, bacon, french toast, hash browns, fresh salad and fruit, pastries, build your own omlette bar and more...

featuring absolut bloody bar for $5.

also offering fair trade coffee and full bar.

Tonight - Holy Cow! Press Reading: Anthony Bukoski, Ann Iverson, & Catherine Holm at The Loft

Time:  7:00pm

Location: The Loft at Open Book (Performance Hall), 1011 Washington Avenue South
 
Spend an evening with Holy Cow! Press authors Anthony Bukoski, Ann Iverson, and Catherine Holm.

Time Between Trains - Short Stories by Anthony Bukoski

In his fourth collection, Anthony Bukoski brings to life once again the working-class town of Superior, Wisconsin, telling linked tales of its Polish inhabitants in 13 poignant, well-crafted stories.

Anthony Bukoski has published five story collections, including Twelve Below Zero: New and Expanded Edition (Holy Cow! Press, 2008). National Public Radio’s Selected Shorts program have aired readings of Bukoski’s work. A Christopher Isherwood Foundation fellowship winner, the author resides with his wife Elaine in the country outside of Superior, Wisconsin.

Art Lesson
Poems by Ann Iverson

Art Lessons explores the connections between visual art and the written word. By incorporating the words and details from Vincent Van Gogh's life, and by referring to his infamous Sunflower paintings, Ann Iverson's poetry reveals her keen insights into the mysterious interplay between art and poetry, happiness and sadness, God and nature.

Ann Iverson is the author of Definite Space (Holy Cow! Press, 2007). Her poems have appeared on The Writer’s Almanac. She is a Dean of Learning at Dunwoody College in Minneapolis and lives in East Bethel, MN with her husband.

My Heart is a Mountain
Tales of Magic and the Land by Catherine Holm

My Heart Is a Mountain is a collection of eleven fiction stories and one memoir piece. From northern Minnesota to Alaska, from the Dustbowl to Appalachia, from swamps to mountains to the afterlife, these tales blend the magic and the mundane as characters discover themselves, their limitations, and their greatness.

Catherine Holm is an award-winning writer who lives with her husband Chris in rural Cook, Minnesota, on ten acres of boreal forest. Her short stories have been published in several anthologies and chapbooks. She writes about human yearning and how it is shaped by land and place.

MacPhail Community Youth Choir, Under the Direction of J.D. Steele, to Hold Free CD Release Party Concert December 17

The MacPhail Community Youth Choir (MCYC) under the direction of J.D. Steele, will hold their first CD release party concert on Dec. 17, 7:30 p.m. at MacPhail Center for Music, 501 South Second St., Minneapolis.  The concert is free and everyone who attends will receive a download card of the choir’s first CD, “Love as One.” The CD features 10 original songs, 8 by Steele and 2 student-written songs.

J.D. Steele (of the Steele family singers)  and  MacPhail Center for Music have brought together youth in grades 7-12, from all corners of the Twin Cities, all walks of life, to join hands and voices in a new youth choir now in its second year.  The MCYC is free and open to students of all skill levels and abilities.  Rehearsals are every Saturday at the historic Capri Theater in north Minneapolis. Steele said this is a great opportunity for the students to learn music techniques they won’t get anywhere else, covering all genres of music, including jazz, gospel, pop and East African.

“The MCYC allows the kids to experience something different in fellowship as well as music,” Steele said. “It raises their self-esteem when they have to perform professionally. It’s amazing to see how they change and develop. When kids have the opportunity to shine, they reflect it back bright and shiny!”

The MCYC Music Release Party:  December 17, 7:30 p.m. MacPhail Center for Music – free

Breaking News - What Could Rise from the Ruins of Minneapolis Waterworks/Fuji Ya Site on the Downtown Minneapolis Riverfront? First Public Meeting Scheduled.

Historic Central Riverfront site reinvention explored; Public invited to community meeting.

Time: 6-8:00 PM, Thursday, 15 December

Place: Mill City Museum, 704 South Second Street

The ideas will flow Thursday, December 15, when the Minneapolis Parks Foundation and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board invite the public to participate in a “designer-ask” community meeting about a potential new park along the city’s Central Riverfront.  Dubbed “Waterworks” (former Fuji-Ya Restaurant site) because the city’s first water supply and fire fighting pumping station were located there in the 19th Century, the site encompasses Minneapolis Park Board-owned land between Portland Avenue South and the Third Avenue Bridge, and between First Street South and the Mississippi River.

The community meeting, which takes place 6-8:00 PM at the Mill City Museum, 704 South Second Street, is the first step in a preliminary feasibility study that will explore options for what could be a significant new park destination in downtown Minneapolis.  The Minneapolis Parks Foundation is leading the project in partnership with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, for which it is also a forerunner to the Central Riverfront Regional Park Update master planning process.

Mill City-based architects Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle (MS&R) are the lead designers on the project. Together with financing consultants HR&A Advisors, they will produce design and program options and financial analysis by February 2012.

Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle (MS&R) were the architects responsible for the preservation and development of the Mill City Museum.

“The Waterworks site and riverfront area are important for the convergence of Central Riverfront destinations, including the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, St. Anthony Falls, the Stone Arch Bridge, lock and dam, and the Mill City Museum,” says Mary deLaittre, President of the Minneapolis Parks Foundation, which is funding the project through a private donation.  “Because of the site’s historic and national significance, it’s important that we complete an interdisciplinary study of the site and area within the current social, economic and environmental context, and its compelling geography and history, including ruins of long-razed flourmills.”

The public will be invited to a second community meeting in late February, to critique options and review the team’s findings. The Minneapolis Parks Foundation will announce details about that meeting in January 2012.