The Angler
As we settle into the rhythms of summer, June is a time to celebrate the achievements of students, scholars and other talented people in our community. Here’s the news that came my way for this issue:
Aaron Victorin-Vangerud, a junior this year at South High School, has been accepted into an AFS program to study Arabic in Egypt for six weeks this summer. He is one of just 25 students nationwide to be accepted into the program. Aaron will spend most of his time in Cairo living with a host family and will also have a chance to visit the historical and cultural sites in Egypt. Aaron is the son of Robert and Nancy Victorin-Vangerud of Prospect Park. – Another talented Prospect Park resident, Cory Sherlock (C.B. Sherlock) won a Minnesota Book Award in the “Fine Press” category for What It’s Like Here, a book she collaborated on with poet Jim Moore and artist Regula Russelle. Published by Accordion Productions, the book is the third in a series that integrates literature and art. Along with five poems by Moore, the book features contour drawings by Sherlock depicting the city in winter.
Sherlock, Moore and Russelle received their award at the Minnesota Book Awards Gala celebration held May 5 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in St. Paul.
Other Bridgeland nominees for Minnesota Book Awards this year were Seward resident and Bridge reporter Cyn Collins for West Bank Boogie (General Nonfiction) and Alicia Conroy, who grew up in Prospect Park, for Lives of Mapmakers (Novel and Short Story). Marcy-Holmes resident and mystery writer K.J. Erickson was a presenter at the awards ceremony. –
Congratulations to two groups of successful students at Seward Montessori:
The Seward chess teams did very well at the National Chess Tournament, held April 13–15 in Kansas City, with the U1500 team placing 16th in their division and the U900 team placing 11th.
Also, 28 Seward Middle School students presenting 14 projects advanced from their regional competition to State History Day at the University of Minnesota on April 21. Eight students received honorable mention medals, two won creativity awards, two won topical prizes worth $100, and Nico Dregni won first place in the research paper category, which qualifies him for a trip to National History Day in Washington, D.C., in June. –
Across Bridgeland, congrats to two groups of successful kids at Marcy Open School:
Sixteen students from teacher Amy Johnson’s French class competed at the annual A Vous la Parole oral French contest held at the University of Minnesota on April 17. Fourteen received blue medals for excellent performances, two received red for très bien, and one received a white medal for bien. Students competed in such categories as original play, vocal solos and duets, and poetry recitation.
And the two Marcy teams competing in Project Citizen Day on May 16 at the State Capitol took home top honors, winning the two first prizes awarded. Project Citizen is a program in which middle-school students work in teams to identify problems in their community and then create a plan to engage the appropriate government and civic organizations to solve them. The topic for the first Marcy team, which won first prize for best discussion, was the need for a stoplight at University Avenue and Sixth Avenue Southeast. The topic for the second team, which won first prize for best portfolio, was the need to replace the old carpet on the floor of the Marcy gym. Eve Parker of Seabury Avenue was one of the Project Citizen coaches for Marcy. –
Vivian Orey of Bedford Street in Prospect Park would like people to know that there will be a memorial service on Sunday, June 10, for her mother, longtime Arthur Avenue resident Delores Orey, who died this past March. The service will be held outdoors at 9 a.m. at the Como Lakeside Pavillion at 1360 Lexington Pkwy. in St. Paul. Orey, who lived on Arthur Avenue for over 40 years, was an attorney, judge and women’s advocate who helped to established the first shelter for abused women in the country. –
The Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission and the Minneapolis Chapter of the American Institute of Architects has announced their top 10 historic preservation awards for 2007, and three of the winning projects are in Bridgeland neighborhoods: the Day Block Building (the longtime home of Frank Plumbing), 1101 Washington Ave. S., for adaptive reuse of a historic property; the new Guthrie Theater, 818 S. Second St., for new construction in a historic district; and the Malcolm Willey House, 255 SE Bedford St., for historic restoration of a landmark property.
By contrast, the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota also released a 2007 list of the 10 most endangered historic places in Minnesota, and two of the 10 are in Southeast Minneapolis. The first is the St. Anthony Falls Historic District, which the Preservation Alliance said is threatened by “several controversial and ill-advised development proposals” made in the last year. The second is the Southeast Library, designed by Ralph Rapson; the Preservation Alliance called the building “an icon of modernism” that is threatened by pressure to use the building’s site for other more intensive uses, such as apartments. –
Finally, Anna Sonmore-Costello reports that she is once more accepting applications for youth 9–13 years old who live in the Seward neighborhood or attend Seward Montessori to participate this summer in the annual Seward Peace Garden program. Participants learn to grow their own organic vegetables and flowers to sell at the Birchwood Cafe. The program is free, and kids can earn up to $20 a week, but it requires a firm commitment. Registration deadline is June 15. For more information, contact Anna at the Seward Neighborhood Group, 612-338-6205, ext. 134.
— Linda Lincoln –
If you have community news from Bridgeland neighborhoods that you’d like share, please contact Linda Lincoln at 612-379-4301 or via e-mail at lmlincoln@comcast.
last revised: June 14, 2007