Covering life, work, and play in the Historic Mill District and Downtown Minneapolis Riverfront neighborhoods. Have an opinion, local news or events to share? Contact us.
The Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival (MSPIFF) runs April 7 - 23.
Look for 200+ feature length and short narrative and documentary films from 60+ countries at multiple venues, including St. Anthony Main Theatre, the year-round home of The Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul.
Click here for trailers and info on films with Minnesota roots.
The Great River Coalition, in partnership with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, recently announced the 1st Annual Earth Day 5K Bee Run/Walk/Cleanup will take place on Saturday, April 23. The 5K Bee Run/Walk/Cleanup will be held as a part of “Earth Week” at Boom Island Park along the banks of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis to support and promote the rivers “Pollinator Pathway”.
Registration opens at 7:30am, Run/Walk starts at 9:00am, and River Cleanup starts at 9:30am (bags & gloves will be provided).
Via a March 16 Press Release from the Minneapolis Downtown Council:
Nicollet Mall Farmers Market Finds New Home This Season At Hennepin County Government Center South Plaza
MINNEAPOLIS (March 16, 2016) — The Minneapolis Farmers Market, in partnership with Go Outsidewith Hennepin County, the Minneapolis Downtown Council and Minneapolis Downtown Improvement District, today announced that it will be open each Thursday this summer at a new location: Hennepin County Government Center South Plaza (300 S. 6th Street) in Downtown Minneapolis.
The Farmers Market will kick off Thursday, May 5 and will be open each Thursday from 6 am to 6 pm through the outdoor Farmers Market season ending November 10. The relocation is due to the Nicollet Mall Project construction, and the Farmers Market will be relocated to Nicollet once the project is complete. In 2015, the Thursday Farmers Market was located on Hennepin Avenue.
“We’re excited to bring the Farmers Market to a new area of downtown that continues to grow and thrive,” said Farmers Market Manager Pat Nelson. “Hennepin County Government Center’s South Plaza offers a fantastic green space that will allow patrons to gather, browse and shop in a convenient location.”
This year’s Farmers Market will feature the same products that customers have come to expect from the Nicollet Mall Farmers Market, including produce, flowers and an assortment of canned products. The location is just three blocks from Nicollet Mall, adjacent to the Government Center Light Rail stop at 3rd Avenue South & 5thStreet South, and nearby multiple bus stops, making it walkable and easily accessed by mass transit.
In addition to Thursday’s Farmers Market, Go Outside with Hennepin County will continue its summer programming at Hennepin County Government Center South Plaza each Wednesday from June 1 through August 31. Each Wednesday this summer from 11:30 am-1:30 pm, stop by the South Plaza for an assortment of activities and food options, including a rotating collection of food trucks, lawn games, a variety of seating options, and more.
“We want our downtown community to have opportunities to enjoy the summer weather,” said Hennepin County Administrator David Hough. “Our programming at Hennepin County Government Center South Plaza will provide an opportunity where you can grab your own lunch, play games, or bring fresh produce home for your family—all in one nearby spot.”
The Wednesday lineup followed by Thursday’s Farmers Market offers back-to-back days each week for workers, residents and visitors alike to get outside and enjoy summer in the heart of the city.
“As part of our 2025 Plan goals, we’re committed to creating a consistently compelling downtown experience filled with activities and events that are important to our community’s vitality,” said Minneapolis Downtown Council and Downtown Improvement District President & CEO Steve Cramer. “We’re excited about the Farmers Market and Go Outside with Hennepin County programming both being located at Government Center’s South Plaza, because it’s a great gathering space near the heart of our city that is located at an intersection point of our downtown core and the bustling Downtown East area.”
For more information and additional details on the Minneapolis Farmers Market, visit http://www.mplsfarmersmarket.com/ or follow along on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
About the Minneapolis Farmers Markets
The Minneapolis Farmers Markets—run by the Central Minnesota Vegetable Growers non-profit—are dedicated to bringing the highest quality, most delicious, fresh, sustainably farmed fruits, vegetables and farmstead products to its patrons, since 1876. The Minneapolis Markets are a source for fresh produce and products for people all over the Twin Cities, and served by more than 230 vendors, with a main daily Lyndale Market and downtown site. Visit mplsfarmersmarket.com for events and information.
About Go Outside with Hennepin County
Go Outside with Hennepin County is an initiative that offers events and activities for the community. The Go Outside campaign focuses on programming Target Field Station, the downtown area’s premier transit hub, as well as the Hennepin County Government Center South Plaza. Visit Government Center South Plaza each Wednesday through August for yard games, board games, picnic tables, food trucks and treats on hand. Events at Target Field Station throughout the summer will feature fitness opportunities, a movie series and fun for all ages. For more information, visit downtownmpls.com/gooutside.
About the Minneapolis Downtown Council:
Founded in 1955, and one of the oldest central business associations in the nation, the Minneapolis Downtown Council (MDC) is a membership-based entity that works to create an extraordinary downtown. The MDC’s collaborative developments of Intersections: Downtown 2025 Plan was designed to help downtown businesses, community leaders and citizens build on downtown assets and implement future goals. For more information, please visit http://www.downtownmpls.com/.
About the Downtown Improvement District:
Founded in early 2009, after more than five years of formative planning and advocacy by the downtown business community, the Minneapolis DID delivers higher levels of service to make downtown cleaner, greener, safer and more vibrant throughout a 120-block area, as is the case with most Business Improvement Districts. For more information, visit http://www.minneapolisdid.com/.
Our friends at Magna asked us to pass along this special offer:
Through April 30, 2016, Magna is offering a FREE TRIAL WEEK of Strength and Conditioning. Then take $50 off your first month if you decide to join.
This program is about meeting you where you’re at, getting results, and making lifelong changes. Meet with a coach to establish your goals then get started on an individualized training program. Train with a coach up to 6 days a week at a time that works best for you. Membership includes unlimited access to the gym and group fitness classes that might be outside of your predetermined workout.
For more information email ask@magnausa.com or call 612-424-6840.
From a March 16 Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board e-newsletter:
Minneapolis Park Board to consider new plan with City to close funding gap for neighborhood parks
Today the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) and City of Minneapolis will consider a new strategy, in addition to the referendum and Charter Amendment discussions underway, to address the funding gap for neighborhood parks maintenance, repair and capital investments. Working in partnership, MPRB and City leaders developed a financial plan called the 20 Year Neighborhood Park Plan.
At tonight’s March 16 Board meeting, MPRB Commissioners will consider a resolution approving a 20 Year Neighborhood Park Plan between the MPRB and the City and directing the Superintendent and MPRB Legal Counsel to prepare an ordinance to implement the 20 Year Neighborhood Park Plan for consideration on April 6, 2016 and final adoption on April 20, 2016.
In January the MPRB approved proposed ballot language for a November 2016 referendum for neighborhood park funding; however there are several benefits of the 20 Year Neighborhood Park Plan to the MPRB, the City and residents, including:
•Reduces property tax impact on Minneapolis residents
•Guarantees protection of current level of Local Government Aid and other funding to MPRB
•Provides neighborhood park funds sooner to MPRB
Tonight’s March 16 Board meeting begins at 5 pm at MPRB Headquarters Board Room, 2117 West River Road. In addition to the resolution, the full meeting agenda can be viewed at https://minneapolisparksmn.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=1587. The Minneapolis City Council will also discuss the proposed plan at their 10 am meeting today at City Hall.
Efforts already underway will continue towards a November 2016 referendum or Charter Amendment to address neighborhood park funding. If both the MPRB and City approve concurrent 20 Year Neighborhood Park Plan ordinances this spring, efforts towards a November 2016 referendum will cease. If concurrent Ordinances are not approved this spring, efforts for a referendum or Charter Amendment will continue.
For details about the state of Minneapolis’ neighborhood parks or the proposed ballot language, visit www.minneapolisparks.org/closingthegap.
Via a March 14 Press Release from Hennepin History Museum:
NEW LOCAL EXHIBIT HIGHLIGHTS HISTORY OF HIGH WHEEL BICYCLES
Hennepin History Museum to host show by the Cycling Museum of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN: High Wheels!, an exhibition curated by the Cycling Museum of Minnesota, will be on view at Hennepin History Museum March 29 through June 26, 2016.
Minneapolis' love affair with cycling began in the 1880s when the high wheel bicycle became widely available. In this decade, thousands of high wheels hit the streets, the first cycling clubs began to meet, and Minneapolis gained national prominence as a hot bed for six-day racing. While we may view the awkward looking high wheel as impossible to ride, this bicycle laid the groundwork for the even larger cycling boom of the 1890s and was a crucial stage in the development of today's bicycle.
High Wheels! is the latest exhibition to be presented Hennepin History Museum's Our Hennepin County gallery. According to Hennepin History Museum executive director Cedar Imboden Phillips, the gallery provides an opportunity to create and strengthen relationships between local arts and cultural organizations with a historical bent. "Cycling Museum of Minnesota brings a new curatorial voice into our space," Phillips notes, "and in turn we can help share their work and mission with a broader audience. The story of high wheel bicycles is a topic that is going to resonate strongly with our visitors, and we are thrilled to work with them on this exhibition."
High Wheels! is accompanied by a robust calendar of public programs and activities. An opening party, free and open to the public, is scheduled for Thursday, March 31, from 5 to 8 pm.
About Hennepin History Museum: Founded in 1938 as the Hennepin County Historical Society, Minneapolis-based Hennepin History Museum is dedicated to bringing the diverse history of Hennepin County and its residents to life through exhibitions, library, collections, publications, and educational programs. For more information, visit hennepinhistory.org or call 612.870.1329.
Visiting Information: Hennepin History Museum, located at 2303 Third Avenue in Minneapolis, is open Tuesday 10-2, Wednesday 1-5, Thursday 1-8, and Friday through Sunday 1-5. Admission is $5; $3 for seniors and students. The first Thursday of the month is always free. Visiting the museum at this time does require the use of stairs.
Via a March 11 e-newsletter from the City of Minneapolis:
Portland Avenue in Downtown Minneapolis Closing for Construction
Beginning at 9 a.m., Monday, March 14, Portland Avenue from Third Street to Fifth Street in downtown Minneapolis will close to traffic through early summer. The closing will allow construction of the Downtown Commons, a two-block, public green space being created in the Downtown East neighborhood. Drivers should follow posted detours and find alternate routes into and out of the downtown area.
As Ryan Companies constructs this area, the City is making pedestrian and bike improvements to the adjacent parts of Portland Avenue, Fourth Street South, Fifth Street South, and Park Avenue. These include off-street bike lanes, pedestrian bump outs at intersections and new sidewalks and pedestrian-level street lighting.
This is one of many construction projects that will affect traffic in Downtown this year. To help drivers know about all of the current and upcoming work, the City has mapped these projects. Links to the maps are available at www.minneapolismn.gov/publicworks/traffic.
The following parkways will be temporarily closed on Saturday, March 12, for the Get Lucky 7K event 8:00am-Noon (street closures vary between this 4-hour window): Stone Arch Bridge, NE Main Street and West River Parkway.
Click here to view a course map and read additional information on the event.
NOTE: The Mill City Farmers Market will be inside the Mill City Museum from 10:00am - 1:00pm. During the Get Lucky event, most streets surrounding the Mill City Museum will be clear by 9:45am. However, there will be no parking on 2nd Street from 3rd Ave. to Park Ave. until 9:45am. Plan to enter the market on Park Ave. or Chicago Ave., and use the parking lots in the area or meters to the east of Park & 2nd. Street. The Market is also easily accessible by bike and public transit!
Sanctuary Executive Chef Patrick Atanalian has created this special one night menu (March 24) incorporating J. Carver Distillery gin, vodka and whiskey. For reservations, call 612-339-5058 or go online.
Founded in 2013, J. Carver Distillery is located in Waconia.
Author James Eli Shiffer will give a talk on, and sign copies of, his new book The King of Skid Row: John Bacich and the Twilight Years of Old Minneapolis
BOOK LAUNCH:
7:00 PM, Thursday, April 7, 2016, Mill City Museum (704 S 2nd Street). The event will also include screenings of John Bacich's skid row home movies, and also launches the photograph exhibit "Skid Row Minneapolis." A cash bar will be available at 6:00 PM. Please include this event in your local events/arts calendar, or consider a review of the book. The author is available for interview and review copies are available upon request.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
City blue laws drove the liquor trade and its customers—hard-drinking lumberjacks, pensioners, farmhands, and railroad workers—into the oldest quarter of Minneapolis. In the fifty-cent-a-night flophouses of the city’s Gateway District, they slept in cubicles with ceilings of chicken wire. In rescue missions, preachers and nuns tried to save their souls. Sociology researchers posing as vagrants studied them. And in their midst John Bacich, aka Johnny Rex, who owned a bar, a liquor store, and a cage hotel, documented the gritty neighborhood’s last days through photographs and film of his clientele.
The King of Skid Row follows Johnny Rex into this vanished world that once thrived in the heart of Minneapolis. Drawing on hours of interviews conducted in the three years before Bacich’s death in 2012, James Eli Shiffer brings to life the eccentric characters and strange events of an American skid row. Supplemented with archival and newspaper research and his own photographs, Bacich’s stories recreate the violent, alcohol-soaked history of a city best known for its clean, progressive self-image. His life captures the seamy, richly colorful side of the city swept away by a massive urban renewal project in the early 1960s and gives us, in a glimpse of those bygone days, one of Minneapolis’s most intriguing figures—spinning some of its most enduring and enthralling tales.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
James Eli Shiffer has been a professional journalist for twenty-five years and is currently a columnist and editor at the Minneapolis–St. Paul Star Tribune. In 2010 he partnered with Ewen Media to create Rubbed Out, a multimedia history of the murder of a journalist in Minneapolis in 1945.
THE KING OF SKID ROW: John Bacich and the Twilight Years of Old Minneapolis
By James Eli Shiffer
University of Minnesota Press | 192 pages | April 2016
ISBN 978-0-8166-9829-5 | hardcover | $22.95
PRAISE FOR THE KING OF SKID ROW:
"In its final years, Skid Row was avoided by everyone except the police, storefront Bible-thumpers, slumming sociologists, and the occasional entrepreneur such as John Bacich—‘Johnny Rex’ to the drunks, drifters, and down-and-outers he served as publican and hotelier. James Eli Shiffer recalls the life and times of Johnny, Polack Wally, Moon Face Mary Ann, and other late-stage denizens of that dingy corner of Old Minneapolis with insight, wit, and compassion. The King of Skid Row is terrific urban history, beautifully told." —William Swanson, author of Stolen from the Garden: The Kidnapping of Virginia Piper and Dial M: The Murder of Carol Thompson
"The King of Skid Row brings to boozy life the alcohol-sodden, corruption-filled era when Minneapolis’ lost Gateway District harbored flop houses, slop joints, cage hotels, brothels, and raunchy speakeasies filled with B-girls and ‘gandy-dancers.’ Exceptionally literate, relentlessly humane, Shiffer peels back the veil from a dark and often violent past that, until now, had been literally paved over and believed forgotten. The King of Skid Row is a deft book that stirs together memoir, mystery, and history with the heartbreaking drama of how a city treats its most despondent and destitute. Moving and fascinating." —Paul Maccabee, author of John Dillinger Slept Here: A Crook’s Tour of Crime and Corruption in St. Paul
For more information, including the table of contents, visit the book's webpage:
http://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/the-king-of-skid-row
March 12 update from MNCommunity: We have unfortunate news that the Hewing Hotel Instameet is being postponed due to concerns from the Hotel Management company, Aparium Hotel Group due to the state of the building and the renovation work being done and the logistics of having a tour with a large group of people.
Via a March 7 e-newsletter from Preserve Minneapolis:
In collaboration with MNCommunity, Preserve Minneapolis will be hosting an Instameet (Instagram + meet-up*) at the Historic Jackson Building in the North Loop.
The Historic Jackson Building was built in 1897, and rehabilitation is underway to give the structure new life as the Hewing Hotel, opening later this year.
The Instameet will be a wonderful opportunity to get a sneak peek at this project. Join us to see preservation in action and to photograph and document the Jackson Building before renovation is completed.
Where: 300 Washington Avenue North, Minneapolis
When: Tuesday, March 15, 5pm-7pm
Timeline of Events:
5:00pm - 5:30pm ... Welcome
5:30pm - 6:30pm ... Guided Tour of the Jackson Building
6:30pm - 7:00pm ... Self-Guided Exploration Time
7:00pm ... Post-Instameet Social Hour
More details on the Facebook event page (please RSVP so we can plan appropriately).
Cost: This event is free!
*What's an Instameet? Good question! Click here for an answer.
Via a March 4 Press Release from University of Minnesota Press
R.T. Rybak book launch for Pothole Confidential at First Avenue on April 13
Minneapolis, MN, March 4, 2016 — Former Mayor R.T. Rybak will celebrate the launch of his new memoir, Pothole Confidential: My Life as Mayor of Minneapolis, with a night of local music, highlights from the book, and a book signing on Wednesday, April 13, 2016 at First Avenue in Minneapolis.
The 18+ event starts at 7:00 PM. Tickets are $10 and will be a fundraiser to support the City of Minneapolis STEP-UP youth employment program.
Rybak will give a behind-the-scenes tour of his years running the city of Minneapolis in between songs from featured musical acts:
Big Trouble + dVRG
With Special Guest Lucy Michelle and more TBA
Plus the World's Most Dangerous Polka Band
A signing with Rybak will follow the show and books will be available for purchase from Magers & Quinn Booksellers. Sebastian Joe's will be offering free ice cream scoops to attendees, including Rybak's favorite, The Flavor Formerly Known as Nicollet Avenue Pothole.
Pothole Confidential is a clear-eyed look inside the life and times of Minneapolis and its dynamic three-term mayor. In the words of Lizz Winstead, "This book is a love letter to Minneapolis and it tells the riveting story of what you must tackle to make and keep a city great." Rybak takes his readers into the highs and lows and the daily drama of a life inextricably linked with the city. Pothole Confidential is that rare document from a politician: one more concerned with the people he served and the issues of his time than with burnishing his own credentials.
EVENT DETAILS:
Our Minneapolis: R.T.'s Big Book Launch Party!
When: Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Where: First Avenue Mainroom, 701 North First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55403
Time: Doors 6:00 PM, Show 7:00 PM, Book signing with R.T. 8:30 PM
Tickets: $10, http://first-avenue.com/event/2016/04/rybak-booklaunch
18+
Fundraiser to support City of Minneapolis STEP-UP youth employment program
35th ANNUAL MSPIFF LINEUP ANNOUNCED
This year’s lineup includes more than 250 films – more than 160 features and more than 90 shorts – representing 71 countries. The Festival’s always highly anticipated Opening Night Presentation will be revealed later in March.
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) is seeking enthusiastic volunteer coaches for youth baseball, softball, tee ball and track and field for the 2016 spring season.
• Practices start in April, games begin in May
• Athletes range from 5–18 years old
• Teams practice 1–2 times per week
• Games are scheduled for a weeknight and/or Saturdays
• MPRB will provide orientation for all new coaches
Call for Contributions: Putting Down Roots Fiber Arts Project
You are invited to participate in developing Putting Down Roots, a new eco-art exhibit to be on display at the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization (MWMO) and Nine Mile Creek Watershed District. Use any fiber medium to create a life-sized, 3-dimensional representation of plants for clean water and habitat and/or species that benefit from these plants.
Exhibition Dates: May 23, 2016 - Fall 2016
Location: Mississippi Watershed Management Organization and Nine Mile Creek Watershed District, 2522 Marshall Street NE
Putting Down Roots is an evolving exhibit of artistic fiber representation of plants that are beneficial for a healthy environment. These plants have extensive root structures, provide beautiful habitat and contribute to the diversity of our landscapes.
More information: http://www.mwmo.org/PuttingDownRoots.html
Via a March 1 Press Release from Delta Dental:
Delta Dental of Minnesota Foundation Grants $4.6 Million for New Dental Clinic at Hennepin County Medical Center
New Clinic Will Increase Patient Access to Oral Health Care by 60%
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (March 1, 2016)—Today, the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners approved an agreement between the Delta Dental of Minnesota Foundation and the Hennepin Healthcare System to create a new dental clinic funded by a $4.6 million grant from the Delta Dental of Minnesota Foundation. In recognition of the leadership grant, the clinic will be named the Delta Dental Oral Health Center at HCMC.
The Delta Dental Oral Health Center at HCMC will be located in the new $220.8 million clinic and specialty building, which will consolidate HCMC’s existing downtown clinics in one state of the art, six-story facility. The grant will also fund in-clinic dental services for the highly complex patients who receive care in the HCMC Coordinated Care Clinic.
HCMC and the Delta Dental of Minnesota Foundation share a long-standing commitment and partnership to improve oral health, as well as the overall health for those individuals and families most in need. A few good examples of the partnership to improve oral health are the collective effort to add preventive dental services to HCMC’s Brooklyn Park Clinic, and the coordinated dental referrals in the emergency department to help patients find regular, less expensive dental care.
“We are extremely excited to partner with such an outstanding organization committed to delivering greater access to oral health care. We believe the development of the Delta Dental Oral Health Center at HCMC will be an important step to help address unmet needs,” said Rodney Young, Chief Executive Officer and President at Delta Dental of Minnesota and Chair, Delta Dental of Minnesota Foundation.
The Delta Dental Oral Health Center at HCMC will see and treat the 85% of HCMC’s dental patients who are covered by public programs, are uninsured, or qualify as low income residents. In addition, the clinic will provide enhanced patient-centered care for all patients, especially children and people with special needs. The Delta Dental Oral Health Center at HCMC will increase oral health care access by approximately 60%, or an estimated additional 11,000 visits annually, for a total of 27,500 patient visits per year.
The Delta Dental of Minnesota Foundation grant provides approximately one-half of the capital investment to create the clinic, improve infrastructure, equipment and provide some operational funding. The grant enables HCMC to expand capacity in the center to a total of 30 treatment rooms and two consult rooms with teledentistry capabilities. It will also support creating a state-of-the-art lab, expanded space for advanced dental education, improve accessibility for patients with special needs and the latest technology for video interpreters. The satellite dental room in the Coordinated Care Clinic will be used for an estimated 1,100 annual dental visits per year.
“This grant makes it possible to greatly expand access for the most underserved patients,” said Mary Seieroe, DDS, HCMC Chief of Dentistry. “The support from the Delta Dental of Minnesota Foundation enables us to create an oral healthcare center of excellence in our new medical clinic and specialty center. This partnership will help HCMC lead in establishing best practices for integration of dental and medical care.”
Delta Dental’s involvement with HCMC is part of several other strategic community investments to improve oral health across the state. Recognizing the statewide needs for better dental access, Delta Dental of Minnesota Foundation supports and partners with over 100 communities throughout the Twin Cities and in greater Minnesota to tackle barriers to quality dental care access.
About HCMC:
Hennepin County Medical Center is a nationally recognized Level I Adult Trauma Center and Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center with the largest emergency department in Minnesota. It is operated by Hennepin Healthcare System, Inc., a subsidiary corporation of Hennepin County. The comprehensive academic medical center and public teaching hospital and clinic system includes a 484-bed acute care hospital and primary care and specialty clinics located downtown and South Minneapolis and surrounding suburban communities. More at www.hcmc.org.
About Delta Dental of Minnesota Foundation:
Delta Dental of Minnesota Foundation supports Delta Dental of Minnesota's mission of improving the health of Minnesotans and advancing oral health in Minnesota. Established in 2009 with the proceeds from the sale of a company, Delta Dental of Minnesota Foundation supports initiatives that promote access to oral health and, in turn, improve the overall health and vitality of our community. To learn more, visit www.DeltaDentalMN.org.
Via a March 1 Press Release from FINNEGANS:
FINNEGANS BREW CO. TO PARTNER WITH MINNESOTA FOODSHARE IN THE FINNEGANS CHEF FOOD FIGHT
WHO: FINNEGANS Brew Co. and Minnesota FoodShare are bringing together local restaurants and chefs from around the Twin Cities for a friendly cooking competition. Participants include:
● Bennett's Chop and Railhouse - Chef Joe Bennett
● The Local - Chef Vincent Francoual
● Green Mill (Uptown, Lakeville, Eagan and Albert Lee)- Chefs Eric Heidelberger, Sammy Gonzalez, Danielle Puhle, Derek Oakland
● Le Town Talk Diner - Chef Ozzy Amelotti
● Pat’s Tap and the Red Stag- David Robinson (Pat’s Tap), Chefs Brian Krouch & Andrew Erenst (Red Stag)
● The Minneapolis Club - Chef Hakan Lundberg
● FireLake Grill House and Cocktail Bar (MOA and Downtown Mpls) Chefs Dinesh Jayawardena and Jim Kyndberg
● Jake O’Connors and O’Donovan’s- Chris Oxley
WHAT: Together, FINNEGANS and Minnesota FoodShare aim to raise funds and awareness around hunger in Minnesota during the MN FoodShare March Campaign and to drive traffic to participating restaurants via social media and food blog engagement.
Chefs are invited to develop a menu item using FINNEGANS beer (the Irish Amber, Dead Irish Poet Stout, or the Hoppy Shepherd) and sell it on their menus for the month of March. Each establishment will decide the donation amount per menu item sold and customers will be asked to vote via social media for their favorite dish.
Jason DeRusha is the honorary chair of the MN FoodShare March Campaign and he will be supporting this promo with social media and TV. The winning chef will be announced by Jason DeRusha on WCCO Midmorning and receive a weekend stay at the Chase Hotel in Walker, MN. All participating chefs will receive a FINNEGANS prize pack and case of beer.
WHEN: Online voting will open to the public on March 1st and the four dishes with the most likes by March 7th will be invited to appear on the March 11th WCCO Midmorning show with Jason DeRusha. Voting will continue through the entire month of March. The Chef/dish with the most votes along with our total donation raised from all locations will be announced on WCCO in April.
If you want to be part of the process, gather with your neighbors Tuesday night, March 1, and caucus! Not sure where to participate? Use this handy locater by simply entering your zip code and street number: http://caucusfinder.sos.state.mn.us/. It gives both the Republican and Democratic location associated with your home address.
A caucus is a local gathering where voters decide which candidate in their party to support for the ticket (Hillary or Bernie; Trump or Cruz, for example). The caucus format favors candidates who have a dedicated and organized following because those devoted volunteers can exert influence in the open setting of a caucus.
MinnPost helps us understand the process in this recent article: The 5 things you'll want to know if you're thinking about caucusing in Minnesota.
The National Park Service - Mississippi National River and Recreation Area is very excited to announce their long awaited "River Trip Planner" is now availalble.
Use www.rivertripplanner.org to help you plan a route anywhere in the park, identify bus, rail lines and the best points of access popular river destinations. It's an easy-to-use Google-based map with embedded park destination and alternative transportation (bus, rail, bike, boat, and walking) information that builds on existing regional transit, recreational trails and river access.
Have fun, stay fit and reduce environmental impacts while exploring your national park!
Mill City Times | 35W Bridge Memorial | Mill District Block Party | Mill City Media
Wednesday, March 23, 2016 at 4:31AM