| Dayton's
Bluff District
Forum August
2008
Volume 21, No. 6 IN THIS ISSUE
1. National Night Out with your neighbors on August 5th 2. Help make a difference in Dayton's Bluff 3. 4th and Bates garden tour on August 26th 4. Block club meetings 5. Margaret Rec Center Flower Project 6. Dayton’s Bluff Community Meeting 7. Meet the police 8. Take a Hike 9. Friends of Swede Hollow will "Watch the Glow" 10. “Rocky Horror Picture Show” continues at the Mounds Theatre 11. Microentrepreneur Class in September 12. Dayton’s Bluff Curb Appeal on HGTV 13. Our Saviour's Lutheran annual block party 14. Stolen Flowering Pot 15. Greening Dayton's Bluff volunteers needed 16. Volunteers needed to help the elderly 17. Signs that it's not politics as usual 18. To paint or not to paint, and which paint? 19. Hunting historic homes: A short walking tour of the Lower Bluff 20. Youth and community come together this summer to help our neighborhood 21. Block Club Leader Summit Meeting 22. A letter to the Council president 23. Life on the boulevard, Mounds Boulevard, 1942 to 1950 24. Set of 12 Dayton's Bluff postcards available 25. Mortgage incentive programs make buying a home easier 26. Reading and talking to children 27. Church Directory 28. Miscellaneous Stuff 29.August ads Past issues of the Dayton's Bluff District Forum |
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National
Night Out with your neighbors on August 5th
Celebrate National Night Out on August 5, 2008 with your neighbors and friends. Some neighborhood groups and block clubs are planning to have a neighborhood barbecue, a potluck, an ice cream social, a band playing music, a volleyball game and many other activities that a group of neighbors can do together. National Night Out is designed to heighten crime and drug prevention awareness, generate support for and participation in local anti-crime programs, strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships, and send a message to criminals, letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back. Join 30 million other people in more than 9,000 communities nation-wide in a variety of events and activities. Let’s make this year even bigger! Here is a list of some of the Dayton’s Bluff National Night Out events: * Mounds Park near Mounds Blvd and Earl - live music * 5th Street East between Mounds Blvd and Maria - food and entertainment * Margaret Street between Johnson Parkway and Atlantic - pot luck and meet the neighbors * Bethlehem Lutheran Church at Margaret and Forest - food, fun and entertainment * Mounds Park United Methodist Church at Earl and Euclid - food, games and fun * Margaret Recreation Center 1109 Margaret – pot luck, fun and games * Fremont Av, between Johnson Pkwy and Atlantic – potluck and fun. * Reaney between Forest and Cypress - fun and games * Swede Hollow Park at Greenbrier and Margaret - potluck, The Exit Band and fun * 1330 Conway - food, music, fun and games * 653 North Street – at North and Bates – this is a NNO event and a Thank You to all who helped with the HGTV project to fix up Kris Nelson’s home. Email Karin@DaytonsBluff.org or call Karin at 772-2075 for more information about National Night Out events. Help make a difference in Dayton's Bluff By Ed Lambert, Executive Director, Dayton’s Bluff Community Council The Dayton’s Bluff Community Council is one of 17 such Councils in Saint Paul, and is the place to be if you want to have your voice heard on land-use, zoning, parks, housing, crime prevention, and overall community development and improvement in this community. The Council will hold its annual elections for Board members October 20, 2008; half the seats (9) are up for election/reelection, and one seat is presently vacant. The Board is organized into 4 sub districts, each with 4 representatives, and 2 at-large seats. We are actively seeking candidates for board positions. Interested residents and business owners (18 years and older) should file for these positions at the District Council office 798 E. 7th St., between August 18 and September 15 at 7:00 pm. Dayton’s Bluff has become a much more diverse community than it was even just 10 years ago. The Council welcomes all newcomers and strongly encourages everyone to contact the office (651-772-2075), or the Council web site www.daytonsbluff.org, to learn more about how they can make a difference in Dayton’s Bluff. All are welcome as we seek board and organizational participants who fully reflect the people who live and/or operate businesses in Dayton’s Bluff. The Council is the organization in Dayton’s Bluff, open to all residents and business owners in the community, which focuses on the whole community and seeks to develop and/or support improvement efforts for the whole community. It is the place where you will be heard, and where you can make a difference, about what is happening (or needs to happen) in Dayton’s Bluff. The Council is most effective when its elections get the attention of a large segment of the community, and its board is made up of concerned citizens from all segments of our diverse and dynamic community. Get involved, make a difference, call and ask how you can get involved in improving your community. You are needed. 4th and Bates garden tour on August 26th The neighborhood around East 4th and Bates has been busy putting in boulevard gardens and hanging baskets. Neighborhood children have been helping with planting, yard work and looking for more jobs. Sage Holben stated, “Putting flowers on the boulevard has been instrumental in more neighbors getting to know each other.” She went on to say, “The flowers and the act of sharing them have also changed attitudes of people on the block and neighboring streets.” The garden tour of their area is Tuesday, August 26th starting at Bates and East 4th at 6:30 p.m. To register, call 651-772-2075 or email Karin@DaytonsBluff.org. Block club meetings *Wilson Avenue Block Club meets on the second Wednesday of each month at Mounds Park United Methodist Church, at Earl and Euclid, at 6:30 p.m. *Beech/Margaret Block Club meets on the last Tuesday of each month at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, at Margaret and Forest, at 7:00 p.m. *Margaret Rec Center Block Club meets on the second Thursday of each month at the Margaret Rec Center, at Margaret and Frank, at 6:30 p.m. If you wish to have your block club listed, or need information about starting you own block club, please contact Karin at 651-772-2075 or Karin@DaytonsBluff.org. Margaret Rec Center Flower Project
Dayton’s
Bluff Community Meeting Generally the Dayton’s Bluff Community Council holds its community meetings on the first Thursday of each month, but since the Special July Community Meeting was on July 15th we will skip the August meeting. The purpose of these meetings are to work with block clubs and neighborhood residents on problem properties, criminal and nuisance behavior, code enforcement issues and any other neighborhood issues, concerns, and new ideas for the improvement of Dayton’s Bluff. Email Karin@DaytonsBluff.org with your specific issues and concerns, with addresses and problems prior to the meeting, so that background work can be done before the meeting. All Dayton’s Bluff residents are welcome to attend. If you have questions please email Karin@DaytonsBluff.org or call Karin at 651-772-2075. On Friday, August 15 the Eastern
District
Police will host their monthly meeting for community members. The
meeting is intended as a time to listen to and address people’s
concerns about crime and other issues on the East Side. There will be
no hikes in August or September. The next hike is Saturday,
October 4th Dayton’s Bluff Take a Hike occurs on the first Saturday of
most months. We meet at 10:30 a.m. in Indian Mounds Park at Earl St.
and Mounds Blvd. We’ll hike from Mounds Park to the Bruce Vento Nature
Sanctuary and then walk along the Bruce Vento Recreational Trail
through Swede Hollow Park. Along the way we will share stories and
learn some history of the area. The hike is about four miles long with
some moderately rough terrain. Transportation will be available to
return to Mounds Park, or you may hike back. Friends
of Swede Hollow will "Watch the Glow" After sunset the evening picnic and socializing begins. Former Hamm’s employees have shared stories about the brewery and working there. A former Swede Hollow resident entertains everyone with Italian music and memories of living in the Hollow. Everyone is welcome. Please bring some picnic items to share. For more information or to RSVP call 651-776-0550. “Rocky Horror Picture Show” continues at the Mounds Theatre “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” continues it run at the Mounds Theatre this summer. This is the original 1975 motion picture accompanied by live performances and audience participation. The scheduled dates are the first, third and fifth Saturdays of the month from June through September. Upcoming dates are August 2, 16, & 30, and September 6 & 20. All shows begin at 11:00 p.m. Ticket price is $7.00. RHPS is the original audience participation experience. A live performance of RHPS is a unique multi-media event where you, the audience, are part of the show. A “shadow” cast made up of members from Transvestite Soup will attempt to recreate as accurately as possible what you see on screen, while leaving room for amusing improv. The audience will yell their own dialogue back at the screen and at live actors (some traditional, some spontaneous). Audience members often dress in appropriate fashion at these shows. For more information or to purchase tickets online for “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, go to www.MoundsTheatre.org. Tickets may also be purchased at the door, or by calling 651-772-2253. The Mounds Theatre is located at 1029 Hudson Road, St. Paul, MN 55106. Microentrepreneur
Class in September Dayton’s Bluff Curb Appeal on HGTV The Shannon and James Ritchey home at 699 Frank Street will be featured on the HGTV Curb Appeal show. The first airing will be August 25th at.7:30 p.m. CDT. Last year we had a couple of photos in the Dayton’s Bluff District Forum about HGTV Curb Appeal work with the Ritchey’s on their property. Their home was also on the Dayton’s Bluff Neighborhood Home Tour this past spring.Our Saviour's Lutheran annual block party Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church is holding their third annual block party Saturday, August 2nd. At 7:00 p.m. there will be a free community give-away of gently used clothes and non-electric household goods. There will also be a moonwalk for young children to play in. Refreshments including hot dogs, snow cones and popcorn will be served at 8:00 p.m. The evening concludes with a fireworks show at 9:15 p.m. Bring your favorite lawn chair for some old-fashioned neighborhood fun. The block party will be held on Beech Street in the church parking lot and playground area. Our Saviour’s is located at 674 Johnson Pkwy, one block south of Minnehaha. Each year the Dayton’s Bluff Community Council places 25 large flowering pots outside of Dayton’s Bluff businesses to help improve the streetscape and gives the businesses community a pleasant feel. On the morning of June 22 a man in his 40’s or 50’s driving a goldish colored Saturn SUV stopped in front of Leo’s Chow Mien at Earl and Hudson, dumped out the soil from the 30” flowering pot, put the pot in his vehicle, and drove off. A short time later he came back with grocery bags and a shovel and put the soil in the bags, put them in his vehicle and drove off again. This was reported to a local merchant, who let the Dayton’s Bluff Community Council know about the theft. The Community Council is asking for your help in finding stolen flowerpot and the man who took it. Please email Karin@DaytonsBluff.org or call 651-772-2075 with information on this crime. Greening Dayton's Bluff volunteers needed Volunteers are needed to help with weeding and upkeep of a number of gardens in Dayton’s Bluff parks. Some of the parks that could use your help include, Hamm Park, Swede Hollow Park, Bruce Vento, and Mounds Park. If you are able to help, email Karin@DaytonsBluff.org or call 651-772-2075.
Volunteers
needed to help the elderly Signs that it's not politics as usual By erin sobaski Are you wondering what outside coat you should use? No, we’re not talking parkas. We’re talking exterior paint for your house. The choices can be overwhelming. This Old House.com has some tips on finding the right paint for your house and your budget. The article “Picking House Paint” will give you advice from independent researchers and industry experts on subjects such as what makes a quality exterior paint, the all-important prepping process, and the aesthetic science of choosing colors. To access this article, go to http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,219538,00.html Hunting historic homes: A short walking tour of the Lower Bluff By Steve Trimble Housing! There has been a lot of talk recently about the problems people are having with mortgage payments and the drop in the market value of many homes. Like other communities, we have been hit by foreclosures and there are literally hundreds of empty residences on the East Side. The Dayton’s Bluff Community Council even had a “Vacant House Tour” to try to help find folks willing to become new owners. So it seemed like a good time to write an article that would look at some of the historic homes in our neighborhood. I’ve narrowed the choices down to the Lower Bluff-at least for this issue-so you could easily follow the route. I also tried to give a diversity of the kinds of local history different houses demonstrated. It might also be a splendid opportunity to get out of the house and take a look at some of them in an informal walking or bike tour. You could even take it in your car if you can afford the gasoline. Take your cameras along and if you see an interesting shot along the way, whether it’s a house, a garden or anything of interest, send it in to the Forum and it may get printed. [Start at Upper Swede Hollow Park, Greenbrier and Margaret] Hamm Family Houses: 668-680 Greenbrier 668 N. Greenbrier was the home of William and Marie Hamm, constructed in 1892 for the newlyweds by the brewing founder Theodore Hamm. It is a large, wide home built in what is called a “neoclassical style.” William was the owner and president of Hamm’s Brewer from 1903 until 1931. It was designed by prominent architect Allen H. Stem. The two houses to its left were built for two of the daughters of Theodore Hamm. 672 Greenbrier was the home of Otto and Maria Hamm Mueller. This Queen Anne style structure was designed by German-American architect August Gauger. 680 Greenbrier, built in 1891 and also designed by Gauger, was the home of Peter and his wife Emma Hamm Classen, who operated a well-known “fancy goods” shop in downtown. [Head east down Margaret Street a few hundred feet] The Defiel House: 732 Margaret A month after his March 1890 wedding, Henry Defiel bought two lots in Dayton’s Bluff for this brick Queen Anne style house, designed by architect Herman Kretz. He was the son of a pioneer iceman, Michael Defiel, who was born in St Paul in 1864. At age 21, Henry went into business with his father in the People’s Ice Company. As you probably know, this was an important endeavor since, before electricity, people kept food cold inside “iceboxes.” In 1912, however, Defiel left the ice business and went into real estate, which he did until retiring in 1923. He and his wife spent their winters in the he south. In 1924 the Defiel’s left to go to a smaller duplex on Summit Avenue. The president of a real estate company then resided there for a decade. In 1950 Edward Balzart, a laborer with 3M, lived there for twenty years and after that there was the principal of the nearby St John’s School. Architectural historians have called the Defiel House, with its octagonal tower, dormers and bay windows, “one of the most ornate brick Victorian homes on Dayton’s Bluff.” [Continue east on Margaret St. to Hope St. Then take a right. Go south on Hope, across Seventh to Sixth. Go right on Sixth.] The Walter House: 770 E. 6th Walter was born in Germany and came to the U.S. in 1871 and a year later married Rose Guthunz, an American-born woman. He had an upholstery shop on East Seventh in Lowertown. They initially lived above their shop, but with the birth of two children they were crowded, and they purchased a lot from Maria Dayton in 1880. It was one of the last on the block and they borrowed money from a building association to construct it. Walter continued his upholstery business and added painting and wallpapering. Their third child, a daughter, was born in 1887. She lived in the house until the late 1960’s. She rented rooms to boarders, often people working at St. John’s Hospital. It is considered an Eastlake style structure because of the heavy ornamentation on the porch and eaves. “Keller’s Row” House: 767 E. 6th In 1889 the Keller family had the eight homes, now known as Keller’s Row, built on East 6th St. just east of Eichenwald. All eight homes were designed by Architect Edwin Radcliffe and share a number of design features, stained glass and beautiful woodwork. Building a small number of “spec” or speculative homes on extra land and then selling them was a fairly common practice at the time. One of the more famous residents of Keller’s Row was Gebhard Bohn, owner of the Bohn Manufacturing Company, which later evolved into Whirlpool. These houses were built on land that had been part of the grounds of John M. Keller’s family mansion which was built at 394 Eichenwald in 1874. It has since been replaced by an apartment building. Keller named his home and the street in front Eichenwald, a German word meaning Oak Forest, as a reminder of his home in Germany which it seems was also named EIchenwald. Keller was a master carpenter and owned his own lumber business. John’s son, Herbert P. Keller, was mayor of St. Paul from 1910 to 1914. Keller Lake and Keller Golf Course was named in his honor. This particular home was featured on the 1999 Dayton’s Bluff House Tour Eichenwald Row: 393-399 Eichenwald Street Across the street from Keller’s old house site is one of the few row houses in Dayton’s Bluff. They were built around 1892. By the early 1890’s, all of the dramatic sites facing the city had been taken, and builders turned their attention to open lots in the vicinity of the mansions to build their upscale projects. Architectural historians consider “Eichenwald Row” among the most elaborate of what they call “serial housing” ventures in the Dayton’s Bluff area. Created by the local master builder Andrew Hoban, it demonstrated nearly every phase of the Queen Anne style of architecture, from the English Tudor of the gable facings, to the Early American of the porch columns, to the Richardsonian Romanesque of the broad-arched stone and brickwork. 399 Eichenwald Street is a 1763 square foot unit and it is mentioned in particular, since I once lived there with my family. Koenig House: 757 E. 6th Arthur and Elsa Koening left Austria and came to St Paul in 1873. He worked for a few different businesses for a time and then gained business prominence in the community when he became the resident agent for the Phillip Best Brewing Company of Milwaukee. In May 1879 the couple bought three lots from Annice Keller who was subdividing the family land. When Arthur got transferred out of town in 1884, they sold the house to the Best Company for $9,000. The Osgoods bought the house after renting it for four years. Benjamin Osgood was president of Osgood and Blodgett, a large box manufacturing company and lumber and planing mill located in Dayton’s Bluff. The factory for the manufacture of packages, boxes, egg cartons, etc. was located on Duluth avenue near Seventh Street. The family lived there until 1915 when Benjamin Osgood died. [Stay on East Sixth and go down the hill to Maple St. and take a left] The Buchholtz House: 758 E. 6th This structure on the south side of the street is a good example of the small workers cottages that dotted the bluff in the 1870’s and 1880’s. This is one of two built by Henry Buchholtz for himself and his son Andrew. He came to St. Paul in 1870’s and worked as a hostler. Both he and his son switched jobs in 1882 and began to work as laborers for Bohn and Company, a large woodworking and lumber business in the area. Henry left the city by 1885 and the house began being offered as rental property. The Bruhels, family bar owners, owned it for forty-five years. The John House: 373 Maple Original owner Peter John started as a pioneer grocery and saloon owner in the 1880’s in a store located on Payne Avenue, although he lived in Dayton’s Bluff. He moved his business to 819 Minnehaha in 1891. Then his fortunes changed—more or less literally—when he married Louisa Hamm, one of Theodore’s four daughters. In 1896 he became a foreman for the Hamms Brewery. This Georgian Revival style home with its symmetry, Ionic columns and wrap-around porch was designed by Buechner and Orth in 1906. They were a prominent firm that had been in business together since 1901.They designed the Masonic Temple as well as the Mounds Park Sanitarium. John died on November 16, 1911 at the age of fifty-seven. The house remained in the family until the 1980’s. It still has its original large carriage house, which has been remodeled as living quarters, [Keep going down Sixth till you reach Bates and take a left. You will then continue for a few blocks] The Bahneman House: 355 Bates Built in 1924, this house is a fine example of Prairie style architecture as applied to a small residence. Inspired by the ideas of Frank Lloyd Wright, Prairie Style features a horizontal look, using bands of wood to make it seem that the house is hugging the ground. At the time of the construction, John Bahneman was manager of the Ideal Home Company. The structure was built with standardized plans bought from the Snell Sash and Door Company. In 1933 he became a real estate broker and two years later sold the house and took a job as a clerk, possibly because of a business failure. In 1942 the house was bought by Lewis Maurer, secretary and treasurer of the Mother’s Friend Laundry. He changed it into a duplex. He sold the property at the end of World War Two and its ownership has changed often since then. Max and Amelia Toltz House: 352 Bates Avenue Built around 1902, this Tudor Revival/Craftsman style structure was probably designed by Max Toltz, its first owner. He was a founder of an engineering and architectural firm, Toltz, King, Duvall, & Anderson, that is still in business today. Toltz was born in Germany, and received a degree in civil engineering from the Royal Academy of Science and Engineering in Berlin n 1877. He arrived in St. Paul in 1882, and worked as a draftsman for the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railroad and advanced to chief engineer of the railroad in 1910. Toltz formed his own company that designed, among other things, the Como Park Conservatory, the Robert Street Bridge, the St. Paul Union Depot, the new Third Street Bridge, the downtown Hamm Building and the famed Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis. This is the largest and finest Craftsman style house in the district, combining a high brownstone foundation, a shingled second story, and large-scale bracket work and porch arches in a Tudor vein. It has a shingled carriage house that still has its decorative cupola. Local lore says that one of the Toltz children died in the home and he and his wife decided they couldn’t bear to live there any more. This story has not yet been confirmed by research. For whatever reason, they left only a year or two after it was built and Dr. George A. Binder lived there from 1904 to 1920. Plondke House: 705 East 4th Dr. Plondke is considered the person most responsible for the creation of St. John’s Hospital and a long time physician who practiced there. He was earlier associated with a downtown institution, but felt there was a need for a community-based hospital on the East Side. He approached a group of business people, pastors and members of the Lutheran churches. It became St. John’s German Lutheran Hospital, located where Metropolitan State University now sits. Plondke lived in this house for many years. It has a very interesting carriage house. [Cross 3rd Street and go to Conway Street] July 4th “Noble Riot”: 717 Conway Street: On July 4, 1892, Percival Noble, an Englishman who lived at 258 Bates, decided to fly a British flag. John DeCourcy of 717 Conway ran across the Van Buren schoolyard to protest, pulled the flag down, folded it and handed it to its owner. As soon as DeCourcy left, Noble set the Union Jack up again, this time cutting the rope, according to a story written by the late Pioneer Press columnist Gareth Hiebert. DeCourcy returned and began climbing the pole. Noble attacked him with a horsewhip. Then a man named Jack Morris, headwaiter of the Ryan hotel, and resident of 705 Conway, arrived on the scene. He punched Noble, allowing DeCourcy to grab the whip himself and start flailing. Noble retreated into his house. Other neighbors arrived and tore pieces off the house’s front porch. A police squad came on horseback and hauled everyone back to the nearby Margaret Street Station. The patriots wanted Noble arrested for defaming the Fourth of July. Soon after the incident, Noble and his family packed up and moved to Winnipeg. [Take a right on Conway and go west down the hill.] Warren Burger House: 695 Conway Street This 1 3/4 story, 1092 square foot cottage was the boyhood and young adult home of former United States Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger from 1914 to 1933. The German-Swiss family’s financial circumstances were modest. His father later worked as a railway cargo inspector and sometime traveling salesman. Burger attended Van Buren School (now Dayton’s Bluff Elementary) and graduated from Johnson High School in 1925, where he edited the school newspaper, was president of the student council and earned letters in athletics. He worked days as an insurance salesman while earning his undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota at night and later a law degree-also at night- at the St. Paul College of Law (today’s William Mitchell Law School). He joined the local law firm of Boyeson, Otis, Brill & Faricy in St. Paul in 1931, becoming a partner in 1933. In 1969, President Richard Nixon selected him to be chief justice of the Supreme Court. In 1987, he resigned from the Supreme Court to devote his time and energy to serving as chairman of the Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution. He was a very competent administrator who made the Court’s work more efficient and was also a tireless promoter of judicial reform, including promoting a national court of appeals and working to increase the competence of lawyers trying cases in federal courts. Incidentally, don’t believe everything you read on the Internet. Placeography-an online resource for local neighborhood history- incorrectly states the Burger house was built in 1884. However, I happen to have a document that says it was originally the small McLean School and that the family bought, remodeled and added to it—most likely in 1884, which would explain the putting forth of the incorrect information. [Take a right on Maria and head north. Go to East 4th Street. Take a left and go to the end of the cul-de-sac.] “That Was Then House”: 654 E. 4th Here is a house that is not of any unique architectural construction. It is a four square—a square footprint with four rooms on each floor a popular style when it was built by Julia Knauft in 1908. But it does have a recent interesting history. In the mid-1980’s Hollywood came to St. Paul to make a movie called “That Was Then, This Is Now.” Released in the fall of 1985, it is the story of two juvenile delinquents slowly parting ways as one starts to give up his reckless ways. Sounds like it was appropriate to use our neighborhood as the setting. A young Emilio Estevaz and veteran Morgan Freeman are two of the main characters. This house was used as the home of Estevez and his buddy. There are many scenes shot in Dayton’s Bluff and other places in St. Paul. It might be fun for you to rent a video or DVD of the movie and see how many places you recognize. It’s really a pretty good movie. [Go right-north-on the sidewalk for a hundred feet or so] Muench-Hinrichs House: 334 Mounds Boulevard The big white house with pillars in front of you was built by Gustav Muench (sometimes spelled Munch) around 1869. It was part of a large estate on what was then called Dayton Avenue, named for pioneer developer Lyman Dayton. The street name was changed to Hoffman Avenue and later to Mounds Boulevard. Gustav was an important part of the early German community of Dayton’s Bluff and many of his relatives lived nearby. The Hinrichs family moved into the house after the Muench bunch left. When Lyman Dayton died he was buried at the front of the bluff between Fifth and Sixth Streets so when this Italianate estate was erected on the crest of the bluff, Dayton’s remains were moved to Oakland Cemetery. The southern plantation-style pillars were not originally part of the house, but are thought to have been added when the structure was an antique shop and someone thought it made it seem more interesting. [Keep going north on the sidewalk until you reach East Fifth Street] Adolph Munch House: 653 E 5th This is one of the most well known structures in this community. Perched on the edge of the bluff, it used to overlook Phalen Creek and a landscape that descended down toward the Mississippi River. Built in 1884, it is a fine example of what is known as the Queen Anne architectural style Adolph Munch, a close relative of Gustav, was a prominent member of the German-American community, and publisher of a German-language daily newspaper, the Volkszeitung. An earlier family home on the site burned down on January 5, 1884, so talented local architect Emil Ulrici was hired to design this elegant structure. It was completed in the fall of that year. It is non-symmetrical in construction, with towers, fancy gables, lathe-turned railing balconies and a traditional tower. By 1901 both Adolph and his wife had died and the house was offered for sale in the papers but it went unsold. Several years later, it was converted into duplex rental property. It was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, one of only three Dayton’s Bluff properties to be so honored. [Take a right on East Fifth Street] John Seeger Houses: 657 & 661-663 E. 5th Street Seeger built 657 E, 5th St in 1895 for himself and his wife. The residences at 661-663, often referred to as “the Seeger Flats” were built in 1904 in what could be called “Late Queen Anne” in style. It was originally a double house, built for his two daughters. John A. Seeger was a long time local businessman and St. Paul civic leader who was widely known for his pioneering efforts in refrigeration. His company, Seeger Refrigeration on Arcade and Wells, was one of he largest employers in Dayton’s Bluff. The company later merged with Whirlpool which eventually shut down production. [Continue east on 5th. Take a left on Maria, go until 6th Street] Schoch Building: 374 Maria While this structure is certainly not a traditional house, it was at one time the home of a prominent neighborhood resident. It was probably built in 1885 and designed by August Gauger, who as you have seen, was a popular choice of the local German community. Of course, today this red brick building is home of the “Strip Joint,” a highly touted restaurant. Andrew Schoch and his wife lived in one of the apartments above the store that they probably ran in the early years. They later built a splendid home on the bluff along Mounds Boulevard in 1894, which among others may be mentioned as the residence of Andrew Schoch, “the popular merchant on Maria Avenue.” While he obviously had a business in our neighborhood, Schoch was most well known for a huge grocery store at Seventh and Broadway on the eastern edge of downtown. [Go right, up the hill on 6th Street until you reach Maple. Then take a left] Catherine Piccolo House: 397 Maple Catherine Filippi Piccolo grew up in a small town in northern Minnesota in a mining family. By the time she was in her twenties, she was playing a key role in the development of the atomic bomb — first as a member of a team of WACs that handled the classified material for the Manhattan Project, and later as the officer in charge. After graduating from high school, she attended Hibbing Junior College for a year-and-a-half before dropping out after her mother had a stroke so she could care of her four brothers. When America entered World War II, she volunteered for the Women’s Army Corps and after basic training her job was to take charge of a WAC contingent that had the job of handling, processing and destroying many top secret documents that were flooding in from the various sites around the country that were working on splitting the atom. Piccolo quickly advanced through the ranks, was sent to Officer’s Candidate School and by Feb. 17, 1945, she was commissioned a second lieutenant. By the time she left the service in 1950, she was a captain. After leaving the service, Piccolo married and moved to St. Paul, where she worked for several companies including two stints with 3M. Piccolo also became very involved in church and civic matters, was elected to the St. Paul School Board for two terms and served on the St. Paul Planning Commission. Piccolo is one of the few women buried in the Veterans Cemetery at Ft. Snelling. [Go north on Maple. Go across East 7th and take the sidewalk that runs through Hamm’s Park which will return you to Upper Swede Hollow Park] Hope you enjoyed the tour. Did we leave anything out that should have been included? Be sure to write us if you have any suggestions or questions. I think there will probably be a couple of more house history tours in future issues that will take you to other parts of Dayton’s Bluff if you think that sounds like a good idea. Youth and community come together this summer to help our neighborhood By erin sobaski Look around your neighborhood in August and September. You may notice cleaner blocks, kids and adults working together, and lawn signs promoting a clean and safe neighborhood. This is the result of an initiative between the Dayton’s Bluff Community Council, and the Margaret and Dayton’s Bluff Recreation Centers. In June the Council was awarded a grant from the City of St. Paul to implement a Summer Youth Program (SYP) designed to improve community engagement and support among residents and businesses, as well as less visible crime, littering and graffiti. The Summer Youth Program goals include: 1) Developing youth leadership and civic engagement skills; 2) Amplifying the “voice” of neighborhood residents; and 3) Building cross-cultural and cross-generational relationships. Concentrated effort SYP targets 15 city blocks in Dayton’s Bluff, drawn from the vicinity of the two participating recreation centers. Each targeted block will be cleaned up on both sides of the block and for both sides of each block in each direction (a total of seven blocks). Clean-up will be done by youth and local residents/block clubs, and will include streets, curbs, boulevards and in some cases front yards. A flyer will be distributed to impact areas one week before the scheduled clean-up date to advise residents and encourage them to turn out and help with the activity. To further continual awareness of keeping our neighborhood clean and safe, a series of signs will be placed on the targeted blocks. (We are currently looking for residents who are willing to place a sign on their property.) The lawn signs include three sets, with three signs per set, viewed as a progressive billboard. Teens from both rec centers gave input on sign ideas. Final sign series are: * No Trash / No Tagging / No Trash-Talking * Don’t drop it / Find a trashcan / Use it * Be productive / Be polite / Be peaceful A key piece of SYP is obviously youth participation. In addition to a minimum of 40 youth being involved, each rec center will identify a Youth Service Support Worker (older youth) to recruit, orient and lead groups of kids on the community improvement projects. If you know a youth who would be interested in participating in the program, please contact the closest rec center (Dayton’s Bluff, 651-793-3885; Margaret, 651-298-5719). For more information on the Summer Youth Program, or to volunteer to have a sign placed in your yard, contact Karin DuPaul at 651-772-2075 or karin@daytonsbluff.org Block Club Leader Summit Meeting Our special guest speaker was Larry Simpson, leader of Grid 34, in Payne Phalen District 5. Larry talked about how his group is making their neighborhood a better place to live. Some of the things Larry’s group have done include forming a group that regularly walks the neighborhood, helping out at the Arlington Hills Library, working with neighborhood young people, and purchasing on old squad car for neighborhood patrol. The car is painted white with “Community Watch” in large letters on the side and near the back it says “Grid 34.” Dayton’s Bluff block leaders had a number of questions for Larry and also shared some experiences dealing with graffiti and problem properties. Dayton’s Bluff Block Leaders will be meeting quarterly. The next meeting will be Wednesday, September 17th. For more information email Karin@DaytonsBluff.org or call Karin at 651-772-2075. A letter to the Council president By Wally Waranka, President, Dayton’s Bluff Community Council: Do you have
any thoughts or responses to what has been
said here? Let me know, either by a letter to the Dayton’s Bluff
Community Council, c/o Wally Waranka. 798 E. 7th St., St. Paul, MN
55106 or to my e-mail: Wallysue1@earthlink.net
Life on
the boulevard, Mounds Boulevard, 1942 to 1950 The year is 1942, when my mother, Phyllis Anderson, five years old, moved into an Arts and Crafts style bungalow at 188 Mounds Boulevard. My mother drove with her brother Curtis, 8 years old, sister Terryl, 6 years old and mother and father, Olive and Lloyd Anderson from Spokane, Washington. They drove in a 1941 Chevy. The purchase price of the house was $4,000. ‘Daddy’ was transferred to the Grand Union Tea and Coffee Co. as a new manager. It was located on Fourth Street across from the old auditorium. Phyllis, my mother, recalls playing hide and seek with her sister Terryl back in the stockroom “where the air smelled wonderfully of coffee”.
In the year 1944, my mother’s father died of leukemia. With Lloyd gone my mother’s mother, Olive, would have to get a job. She was hired as an “office girl” with the Grand Union (the company that her husband had worked prior to his death). Her mother rented out one of the rooms upstairs to supplement the money earned from her job. Usually it was a recent high school graduate from out of town, and female who soon became an extension of the family. Many families rented out rooms on the bluff during the war years as a means to buy groceries and pay the bills. With her husband gone my mother’s mother also had to learn how to drive! Back then there was no test required in order to receive your license. All a person had to do was apply. Olive learned to drive from her neighbor around the corner on Plum Street, Mr. Shefer. She had difficulty getting out of the driveway so the assistant Pastor at her church, Our Saviors Lutheran on Minnehaha and Earl, would stop by prior to Sunday morning services to back the car out of the driveway. (Trust me this is no easy task as the driveway is still very narrow.) The Neighborhood The neighborhood east of Mounds Boulevard has stayed fairly the same but the west side where the park is now located was much different. There was a house on the corner of Cherry and Mounds Boulevard that had a horse garage and an apple orchard that ran the length of Mounds Boulevard between Plum and Cherry. The original owner of this house also owned the grocery store downtown earlier in the 1900’s called Schoch’s Grocery. After the Schoch’s lived there their niece, Jeanine Skotnicki, joined them during the summer. Later the residence became an apartment house. The next house going down Cherry Street toward the cliffs was originally the Schoch’s servant’s house later becoming a rented duplex where my mother and aunts’ friend Grace Davis lived. There were also two other houses on the west side of Mounds Boulevard. My mother had friends at both houses which belonged to the Puffer’s and the Westphals. Around 1942 the concrete back patio of the Westphal’s house fell over the cliff. Phyllis recalls watching the fireworks to celebrated the end of the war while sitting with her legs dangling over the edge of what was left of the Westphal’s concrete patio. There are still remnants of the patio at the bottom of the cliff near the sandstone rocks above Carver’s Cave.
School Days All three girls went to school at Mounds Park on Pacific Street which is now apartments. It was about an eight-block distance. My mother said she used to walk from Mounds Boulevard to Cherry Street to Bates to Mclean and all the way up Mclean to the school. Most of the kids who stayed for lunch were from Highwood (now Woodbury/Battle Creek), which was farm country. They came to school with their lunches wrapped in newspaper. My mother also noted that very few of her grade school teachers were ever married. All single. She remembers them all, Ms Ambler, Ms Engwalson, Ms Horel, Ms Fritz, Ms Alstrom, Ms Boyle, Ms Heim, Ms Serle, and Mrs. Thom (she was tall and thin and her husband was in the Army). Ms. Eng was the principal of the school. She was single too. There were old cane bent chairs outside her office door. If you were sent to Ms. Eng’s office you had to sit in one of the chairs until she came to talk to you. My mother recalls the following poem from grade school. She didn’t say why she recalls the poem but this memory came with the memory of Ms. Eng’s chairs so I am assuming that they are somehow related. (She says she was never sent there for any disciplining.). Anyhow here’s the poem: The gum chewing girl And the cud chewing cow Are somewhat alike But different somehow. And though what is different I think I know now It’s the contented look On the face of the cow Ed Leeson was the orchestra leader, (not a band leader, but orchestra leader). He was not single. He gave lessons on various musical instruments and taught at many other schools. He conducted the orchestra with bow and violin and played too. (We call this multitasking in this day). My mother played the “bells“, xylophone, and took clarinet lessons. The orchestra played at the Minnesota State Fair in the Pioneer Portrait Hall every year. They wore hats and capes. A few years ago their picture appeared in this very paper. My mother also took piano lessons from Ms Brown, who had studied in Germany. She was also single and lived on McLean just west of Earl. The cost of the lessons was 25 cents each. (That would buy you a gumball today). Mrs. Hersch was my mother’s Brownie leader. She had a daughter named Carollou, who still is a friend of my mothers. They lived on Short St. Mrs. Hersch lived in the house that her grandfather built. Mrs. Booth was a Girl Scout leader who had many pow-wow’s in Mounds Park. They would use the fire pits that were in the park near the path that lead down the hill to the old Burlington Railroad Hotel located on Warner Road. The Shoe Repair Man The shoe repair man?! My mother talked of the shoe man like having your shoes resoled was a common practice back then. (Sort of like going to the dentist I guess). Anyway, she said that they would walk over to Third and Maria where the drugstore was and where the community garden is now. The shoemaker/repairman was actually three doors up from the drugstore. Mom said she couldn’t recall the man’s name but he was a German man. She said that sometimes they would wait while their shoes were being fixed. Most kids had one pair of shoes called “oxfords” that were brown leather and laced up the front. These shoes were for school and had to last for at least the year. There were also Easter shoes (that were also Christmas shoes) but these shoes were to last as long as they could fit. (This whole business of shoe fixing has me mystified, as my son goes through two or three pairs a year.) No one wore tennis shoes. My mother added that she got her first pair of jeans when she was in the sixth grade. My grandmother bought them extra large so that she could grow into them. (I wonder if this is the plan of the mothers of boys with the baggy britches these days?) Along with the shoe man, there was the man who gave haircuts on Bates between Hudson Road and Wilson. Nevilles’s Confection was a few doors down from the barber located on the corner of Wilson and Bates. At Neville’s, the owner used to sit in his back room and visit with friends when there were no customers. On the corner of Hudson Road and Bates was Ryan’s Bar and next door on Hudson was Hildeman’s Grocery, which later became Paul’s Cycle Shop. My mother’s mother used to buy her groceries at Hildeman’s. Mrs. Hawkins was the cashier and Frank was the butcher. After Hildeman’s closed Frank took at job as butcher at the White Grocery on Maria next to the Deluxe Theater. (I am assuming that Frank must had been one heck of a meat slicer that my grandmother would remember all his whereabouts for employment.) For eighth grade graduation, Phyllis remembers that she wore a new dress bought at the Three Sisters clothing store in downtown St. Paul on Seventh, up the hill from the Golden Rule Department store and the Emporium. It was made of cotton piqué, a fashionable fabric during 1950-51, and of course she wore “wedgie’s” (shoes). Curt, my uncle, was a paperboy. He used to get his papers at the Earl Street Drugstore on Earl and Hudson. His route went form Earl to Thorn Street to Johnson Parkway. Their cocker spaniel “Skippy” went along. Sometimes Curt would pick up a quart of ice cream from the drugstore or a dozen sweet rolls for 30 cents from Basta’s Bakery on Hudson. Basta’s later became Heroff’s Bakery. Back then the freezers were just a compartment with ice cube trays. The ice cream had to be eaten right away because you could not keep it frozen. Next to Basta’s was Olson’s Department Store where you could buy school supplies, material and other miscellaneous merchandise. This is where my mother used to buy her Christmas gifts, birthday gifts, Mother’s Day gifts, etc. Upstairs from the department store was my mother’s dentist, Dr. Dahlin. The only comment that my mother had about the dentist was that Novocain was only used if requested, as that was an additional expense so she said that she used to grip the arms of the chair instead. (I wonder what the arms of that chair looked like)? The three siblings, Curt, Terryl and Phyllis used to like to play on the cliffs. This was without their mother’s permission of course but it was so full of adventure they could not resist. There was also a playground call the Tuxedo playground where the bridge from Kellogg runs over the freeway now. They called it the ’The Tux’. The Tux was a two-story building with a basketball court upstairs and a warming house for ice skating below. The warming house used to be packed during winter ice skating season because it was used by both the Van Buren School and Mounds Park School students. Van Buren School was where Dayton’s Bluff school is now located. Van Buren was sort of a rival school of Mounds Park Elementary. Mom says that Van Buren and Mounds Park students were always rivals. The weekend After Saturday chores Curt, Terryl and Phyllis would walk down to the library. Phyllis and Terryl walked in front of Curt while he had each arm stretched out with his hand on the back of their necks in order to get them to walk faster. He said that kept them at a good pace. Phyllis favored the books about dogs as she always had a dog. My mother and her friends, Judy Miller and Carol Lindeke, walked everywhere they went. Most destinations, stores, libraries and such were all within walking distance. There was a streetcar that ran down Hudson Road to Maria then turned and ran north on Maria to Seventh Street and then on to downtown. This was known as the “Grand Maria” as it continued on to Grand Avenue as it left Seventh Street and Wabasha in front of Walgreen’s Drug Store. The streetcar remained in operation until about 1956. Occasionally, Curt used to perform puppet shows in the basement. The audience ran anywhere from three to six neighborhood children. Curt also had a dark room in the basement where he developed pictures. Along with the paper route, Curt used to earn money by mowing lawns. One of his customers, Mrs. Smith, an elderly widow living on Plum Street wore dark, long dresses with high starched collars and had an African American maid named “Myrtle“. Her maid also wore the same attire and had Thursdays off to visit family across town! Sunday afternoons were spent at the Mounds Theatre on Hudson Road or the Deluxe Theater on Maria between Conway and Third for the 12-cent matinees at 1:30. Gramma always had Sunday dinner after church. Dinner included pie for desert with Whoopee John broadcasting from the Marigold Ballroom. Sunday dinner was always eaten between 12 and 1 p.m. The “hobos” knew about her nice Sunday dinners with pie and word spread that she never turned them down although they had to have their dinner on the front porch. They were not allowed in the house. My mother, her sister and brother would sit and listen to their stories. One hobo, who limped, talked about how he froze his feet walking from Fargo, North Dakota. They would come up from the trains by using the wood stairs located at the foot of Plum Street near one of the old beer storage caves. One time my mother’s next door neighbor Jimmy Lewis and Jim Radeck discovered one of “America’s 10 Most Wanted” was living in that cave and turned them in to the FBI and won a free trip to Washington, DC! Summertime In the summertime on hot nights my mother remembers sleeping on the front porch and she could hear the calliope on the Avalon paddleboat on its excursion down the Mississippi River. Gramma made Nectar, (not Kool-Aid), that came from the Grand Union, the business that her father had worked for while he was alive. Nectar came as a liquid concentrate in a bottle, which only needed water added to it. Mom liked swimming. Phalen Lake was a good lake and a close option but unfortunately on one occasion a boy yanked on her bathing suit. After that incident she preferred Tanners Lake. It cost 10 cents to swim at this lake but my mother thought that the price was worth her modesty. Back in the 1940’s Tanners Lake was privately owned and segregated. My grandmother always had a large vegetable garden in the back yard, approximately 30’ x 30’. She grew corn, peanuts, beans, onions, tomatoes, and carrots. She sold the back parcel where the garden was originally located in the 70’s. She had sold it to a family that lived in an adjacent property on Cherry Street. She said that after everything was done, all the legal paperwork and such, her profit was minimal. From that experience she decided not to sell any more land. After my mother’s brother joined the Army in 1951, my grandmother rented his room out to a man by the name of Mr. Joe Kelly. Mr. Kelly lived in that room for about 35 years. He would eat out and use the one bathroom on the main floor. (I remember as a child that Mr. Kelly had the use of the bathroom from 6 to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday evenings. And we were not to go in there at that time.) How the bathroom would smell especially Old Spice-ish after Mr. Kelly had washed. He was always “Mr. Kelly” and lived there until my grandmother passed away. My mother and her sister were in high school at Harding High School located on Third Street and Earl, which later became Mounds Park Junior High and now is the Mounds Park Four Seasons School. While in high school my mother made some very close friends whom she is still in contact with today. Those stories I’ll save for another time in another article. Today, the home of 188 Mounds Boulevard is on its third generation of family. With all the changes that “progress” has brought, the community is still strong working together. I feel fortunate to be part of such a wealth of history in Dayton’s Bluff, but especially fortunate that we have the dedicated writers who spend many hours putting together the Dayton’s Bluff District Forum and have kept it in circulation. Set of
12 Dayton's Bluff postcards
available
Mortgage incentive programs make buying a home easier The Saint Paul Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) approved $625,000 in funding for Reserve Accounts that will be used to leverage private dollars for two new mortgage incentive programs, the Make it Possible Program (MPP) and the Sustainable Home Ownership Program (SHOP). Both programs will help to stabilize targeted Invest Saint Paul neighborhoods by providing current homeowners with the option to refinance out of adjustable rate mortgages and an incentive for people to purchase vacant or foreclosed properties.The foreclosure crisis has tightened up the mortgage markets and some people who would have normally qualified for 30-year fixed rate mortgages can no longer qualify. The market for private mortgage insurance also is tight, making it more difficult for buyers who are required to purchase private mortgage insurance when securing a mortgage that exceeds 80 percent of the appraised value. MPP will loan up to $1.75 million in a second mortgage product provided by the Family Housing Fund (FHF). In order to use these funds for this type of program, a Reserve Account in the amount of $250,000 is required to cover any possible foreclosures that may occur within the payback period. The Saint Paul HRA Board agreed to provide the necessary funding for this reserve account. Under the MPP, a 3-percent down payment will be required of buyers/borrowers, and buyers/borrowers who qualify for a first mortgage representing 80 percent or less of the appraised value of the property through a private mortgage lender under standard underwriting criteria will be able to receive the difference of up to 20% of the remaining value in a second mortgage loaned at 3.5 percent payable over a 15-year period. Loans will be made in the name of the Family Housing Fund (FHF) and serviced by Community Reinvestment Fund. Dayton’s Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services (DBNHS) will be the program administrator and loan originator of the Make it Possible Program. This program can be utilized by existing homeowners to refinance variable rate mortgages into a long-term, fixed-rate mortgage, or for new mortgages for homebuyers. SHOP is a partnership between the City’s Department of Planning and Economic Development (PED) and the Dayton’s Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services (DBNHS) working together with local lender University Bank and the Family Housing Fund (FHF).This program provides qualified purchasers the option to enter into a Contract for Deed at a rate of 7.5 percent amortized over a 30-year term with a balloon maturity date in three years or when the purchaser secures a fixed mortgage, whichever occurs earlier. A Reserve Account of $375,000 is required to leverage the $7.5 million to fund this program. The Saint Paul HRA Board agreed to provide the necessary funding for this reserve account. The new SHOP pilot will help borrowers develop and maintain sound financial and home ownership practices through their first years as homeowners with assistance from Dayton’s Bluff NHS. This program is for homebuyers only. Both of these programs are a result of a collaborative partnership among St. Paul’s PED staff, the Family Housing Fund, Dayton’s Bluff NHS, University Bank, and the Community Reinvestment Fund. For more information contact: Natalie Fedie, City of Saint Paul, Planning & Economic Development, 651-266-6549, natalie.fedie@ci.stpaul.mn.us Reading and talking to children By Mary Ann Cogelow For many years I have had a poster quoting Ruth Love, one time superintendent of the Chicago Public Schools, which says, “If we could get parents to read to their preschool children fifteen minutes a day, we could revolutionize the schools.” I think she’s right. Following the child’s interest, Mom and Dad can begin reading to a baby early in the first year of life. (If Dads don’t read to kids, little boys may not think that they should be interested in reading or in learning to read.) Initially reading is more talking about pictures and labeling objects than following a printed text. Parents can make it up as they go: “Oh, look! A big red ball.” “See the puppy, His name is Rex.” “That’s a banana. You had a banana for breakfast.” Talk about a given page or picture as long as the baby is interested. Move on to another page or change activities when interest wanes. Probably the initial payoff for reading is being held by a much loved person and hearing a beloved voice. Keeping the experience pleasurable is of paramount importance. Books with clear appealing pictures of familiar objects like Little Rabbits’ First Farm Book written and illustrated by Alan Baker appeal to the very young reader. Babies are also attracted to pictures of other babies. Another kind of book I encourage “reading’ to babies and toddlers is the illustrated lullaby. Singing Hush Little Baby illustrated by Aliki was a favorite part of many bedtime reading sessions for my children. Don’t limit your reading to board books. Board books are great for “independent” reading when little fingers have not yet become skilled at turning pages, but babies can enjoy many titles not available in board book formant, and, beware, some board books have content which is really aimed at the intellectual level of older preschoolers or even elementary age children. Sometimes as babies grow into toddlers their drive to move takes precedence over their desire to sit on a lap and look at books. This can be frustrating for Mom and Dad, but the parent can read as the toddler moves around the room exploring, crawling, walking, climbing, playing while following the story and coming over to look at the pictures periodically. Indeed, the toddler may be freer to follow the story when she doesn’t have to concentrate so hard on keeping her wiggly body still. Parents are sometimes surprised to learn how much of a story their child has absorbed when she seemed not to be paying much if any attention. As children move into the preschool years books continue to expand their vocabularies and add to their sum of information about the world in which they live. Building vocabularies and knowledge base are both crucial assets in learning to read. Books can also explore issues the child is interested in (horses), worried about (starting school) or confronting in his own life (moving). Hopefully books chosen (some by the kid and some by the parent) should expose the child to many kinds of language – rhyme, repetition, playing with sound, more and less formal language, prose and poetry. The art in kid’s books should also be of many styles and techniques. Often a child may be paying more attention to illustration than the parent is and discussion about interplay between the pictures and the words can enrich the experience of reading the story for parent and child. Using the pictures to understand the text is also a skill, which will help the child when he begins to read the words for himself. Children can learn to know their favorite authors by name and recognize the art of their favorite illustrators. Sometimes as children become able to read independently, parents stop reading to them. This is a mistake for many reasons. Children can understand and benefit from the content of books which are beyond their capacity as independent readers. Continuing to read to children in elementary and even high school years can continue to enrich their knowledge and add to their vocabularies. Moreover, reading to children at all ages is a rich opportunity to enhance the parent-child relationship by enjoying and discussing personal reactions to the facts, ideas, and stories to be found between the covers of a book. There are so many fabulous titles for children that I could fill an entire article by simply listing titles. Wonderful new children’s literature continues to be published faster than I can keep up with it, but continue to read the golden oldies as well – many of the important themes in children’s book are timeless as are great children’s writers. For help finding wonderful titles for kids, ask a children’s librarian for suggestions by age and/or topic. (Remember every child needs to own some books. Book ownership sends a message that books are important and that reading matters. But every child from toddler hood on needs to experience libraries as welcoming places, which provide resources for knowledge and enjoyment.) Consult the Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease or check his website for lists of children’s titles for all ages. Finally, make some books with your kids. They can be as simple or elaborate as you wish. Photographs in an inexpensive album could be a book of “My Family” or “My House.” Cut out magazine pictures glued to sheets of thin cardboard could make a homemade board book of a toddler’s trip to the zoo or the grocery store. The possibilities are endless. These homemade books can provide enjoyment while they, like any other book, strengthens memory, promote many understandings which support continuing development of literacy skills, expand all kinds of knowledge, and enrich the relationship between Dad and Mom and child. I hope that aiming for a minimum of fifteen minutes of daily reading and talking about books with your child or children sounds like fun and profit to you. Find or make a book, relax and enjoy! Church Directory Amazing Grace Assembly of God 463 Maria St. Paul, MN 55106 651-776-7210 1 block North of Metropolitan State University Sun 8:00 am – Free Community Breakfast 9:30 am, - Worship service Sun 10:45 am - Education for all ages Handicapped accessible ALL ARE WELCOME!
Mounds Park United
Methodist Miscellaneous Stuff Dayton's Bluff Neighborhood Clean Up Saturday September 13, 2008 More details next month East Side Youth Circulator Buses are for youth ages 7-17 (no children under 7 without a parent or guardian). The bus is FREE as long as you register and show a Circulator Bus Pass to Ride. (Registration forms available at Dayton’s Bluff Recreation Center. The Circulator runs from June 16th-August 22nd, Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. (no service on July 4th). For more information call 651-793-3885. Advertise in the Forum The Dayton’s Bluff District Forum is now mailed monthly to Dayton’s Bluff businesses and households FREE !! Your 5” x 4” display ad gets to over 7500 addresses for only 2 cents per address. Your ad is also placed in the online edition of the Forum at no extra cost. Other size ads are also available Include the Dayton’s Bluff District Forum in your advertising plans. Contact Karin@daytonsbluff.org Or call 651-772-2075 The Dayton’s Bluff District Forum Wants Your News, Photos and Articles About Organizations, People, Events, Opinions, Businesses, Neighborhood Issues Contact Karin for more info at 651-772-2075 Dayton's Bluff Recycling Pick Up Every Tuesday. Have your recycling on the curb by 7:00 a.m. If you need recycling bins call 651-772-2075. It’s the law! The curfew law, that is! City of St. Paul Curfew for Juveniles Age 15 or younger: Home by 10 p.m. Age 16 – 17: Home by 12 a.m. Midnight Saint Paul Police Department Juvenile Unit An EXTRA connection to Dayton's Bluff In addition to the District Forum, we now have a new e-newsletter, the EXTRA. The goal of the EXTRA is to keep you informed of happenings in Dayton’s Bluff between issues of the monthly newspaper. It’s free and easy to sign up. Just go here. You can unsubscribe at anytime. If you have previously subscribed but haven’t received your issues, be sure to check your “spam” settings and allow our address to come through to your inbox. Sign up today for your EXTRA connection to the Bluffs! Get rid of a junk car and help the Dayton's Bluff Community Council Budget Towing of Minnesota, Minnesota’s largest towing company, is owned by Roy Carlson, an active Dayton’s Bluff Community Council board member. Budget Towing will remove any junk car or truck—located anywhere in Saint Paul—and dispose of it at no charge to the vehicle owner or the property owner where it is located. The vehicle owner will receive paperwork for a tax donation, and Roy will also make a small donation to the Community Council for each car he tows. Just call Karin at 651-772-2075 to find out how you can get a junk car out of the way—and help clean up Dayton’s Bluff. |
Ads found in the August 2008 Dayton's Bluff District Forum
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