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Summer Quarterly 2013

Out & About:

Here comes the Sun

the place to hang out for summer. and all that makes our hood Discover the parks, shops, to-dos Were HOT in Seward!

Abdi of SPOKES
Cam Gordon Garden Tour Get Biking Riverside Reveries
speaks his mind

Read all about why Seward is the place folks talk about, visit and check out to live!

Seward Garden Tour:

The Seward Profile, a quarterly publication of the Seward Neighborhood Group (SNG), strives to keep neighborhood residents, businesses, property owners and organizations informed of what's happening in Seward and assist SNG in building and sustaining a strong, diverse, and vibrant community. As a typical Seward endeavor, the Profile relies on volunteers to plan each issue, create copy, sell ads, and prepare the printed edition for mailing. We welcome your suggestions and would welcome your time and energy even more.

Have you wished you could walk into your neighbors beautiful backyard but didn't want to appear pushy? Here's your chance to see some wonderful Seward gardens to share garden ideas and meet neighbors and talk about gardening all while being served snacks and drinks. Enjoy a variety of beautiful Seward gardens by joining the afternoon Seward Garden Tour from 1 to 5 p.m. on June 15th. There will be light refreshments including Tea/Coffee and cookies or appetizers and sparkling waters or wine at many of the gardens. Youll be invited into all different kinds of gardens, a tranquil Japanese garden, native plantings, rain gardens, and venture into secret gardens hidden away behind fences. You will even have the opportunity to speak with a chicken farmer. Each garden you visit will give you a chance talk with the gardener about plans and planning, techniques and trials. There may be a professional gardener or two but most are just people who love to garden and have created interesting landscapes. The Garden tour is a fundraiser for the Seward Neighborhood Group. Tickets are $10 in advance ($15 on the day of the event) from SNG at www/sng.org or 612-338-6205, ext 119. Tickets and Maps will be available on June 15th at 2901 E. 22nd St. for $15/ticket.
Owner, Tabitha Obert of Franklin Freeze has two new partners, Louie Abukhdair and Fayez Almukrahi. Pita King specialties such as falafel, gyros, sambussas, domadas, hummus are their must-have, go-to Middle Eastern standards. Have a sweet tooth? Try the delicious baklavas. And dont forget theres always the frozen delight of soft-serve ice cream! Now open together at 328 East Franklin Street.

Our Annual Afternoon Delight!

Published by The Seward Neighborhood Group Minneapolis, MN 55406

Volume 2, Issue 6 2013

A Yummy Partnership Franklin Freeze and Pita King!

To get involved, contact us at profile@sng.org or Seward Profile, 2323 E. Franklin Avenue, Minneapolis, 55406.

Upcoming Issues and Deadlines:

If you or someone you know would like a written translation of the Profile Quarterly, please contact profile@sng.org or call 612-338-6205, ext 119.
Editors: Diann, Bruce, Maddy, Trevor and Ryan Design: Marne e-mail:profile@SNG.org Printer: PrintCraft

Fall Issue 2014 - Festivals and Frolic Copy and Ad Deadline: August 9 In Homes and Businesses: August 30-21

Discover all that is Seward at www.sng.org

Whats (Hip and) Happening in Seward

Neighborhood Note

Whats in a Name?

The Seward Profile was named after a refrigerator. Cheri and Karey Getz were eight and nine year-olds who lived with their parents at 2514 30th Avenue South while attending Seward School a block away. Their dad worked at the Moline plant in the neighborhood until the company folded that facility. The Getz sisters found out about a naming contest for the paper when one of their teachers handed out the information about the contest in class. We all took a copy home and eventually decided to enter, Cheri recalled. We (my sister and I) were in the kitchen banding about names. I happened to look at our refrigerator. Its brand name was Profile. We thought that would be an appropriate name for the Seward paper. We had two different versions.I wanted Seward Profile. My sister suggested Profile of Seward. We chose Seward Profile with the understanding that we would split the prize money between us. We were playing in the front yard with some friends when my mother came to the door and hollered you won. The following month, the contest winners were announced in the newsletter and the Seward Profile was born. The Getz sisters picked up their prize at the SNG office. Cheri put her half in the bank while Karey spent hers. Ten bucks went a long way in those days, Cheri said. I always saved my money. Interestingly, Cheri ended up working for U.S. Bank at 2800 Lake Street, where she has been for 33 years. Soon after the contest award, the Getz family moved from its rented Seward home. Cheri bought a house in the Longfellow neighborhood where she lives today while Karey moved to St. Louis Park. Ive always been in this area, Sherri explained either in Seward or Longfellow.As for the famous refrigerator, it was left in the Seward apartment when the Getzs moved out. Its namesake, on the other hand, continues to bring news to the neighborhood.

by Burt Berlowe

Seward Neighborhood Group

Home Improvement Assistance

Are you thinking about making improvements to your home, but not sure how to proceed? The Seward Neighborhood Group's Housing Coordinator can help with project planning, hiring contractors, obtaining financing and advice during construction.

The Emergency Deferred Loan Program provides deferred loans to owner-occupants of properties in the Seward neighborhood who face emergency home repairs and are unable to obtain funds to repair the problem. Loans will be made to cover the cost of correcting the problem up to a maximum of $5,000. For home-owners unable to make monthly payments, the loans will be repaid when the house is sold. All of the loan programs have an annual household income limit of $96,500 for the owner of the property.

The SNG Interest Subsidy Grant Program reduces the interest rate on Community Fix-up Fund loans from 5.75% to 2.5% on loans up to $20,000 for up to 15 years. The Community Fix-up Fund is available to owner occupied 1-4 unit buildings and townhouse and condominium owners. The loans can be used for most types of home improvement projects including interior remodeling and additions.

The SNG Revolving Loan Program can now be used for improvements to 1-4 unit owner occupied and non-owner occupied rental properties. The loans are also available to townhouses and condominiums. The Revolving Loan Program provides loans up to $12,000 for exterior, energy, mechanical, electrical and code improvements at 2.5%.

Low Interest Home Improvement Loans for Owner Occupied and Rental Housing

SNG Home Improvement Loan Programs:

by Doug Wise

For more information on the loan programs or general home improvement advice, contact Doug Wise, SNG's Housing Coordinator, at (612) 338-6205, ext. 102 or doug@sng.org.

A Dying Nurse; the Doctor Vanishes; A Park Ravaged

Riverside Reveries by Bob Haddow

Discover all that is Seward at www.sng.org

This is an excerpt from a longer essay by Seward resident, historian, and novelist Bob Haddow. In Seward the best place to experience a recreational walk in the old tradition, replete with picturesque views, is along the Winchell Trail; or perhaps by making the loop around the Cappelin and Lake St. Bridges. This loop has been a daily tradition for many residents over the last century and, along with the trails through Riverside Park, provided some of the inspiration for Riverside Reveries, a series of letters compiled and published in 1928 by a young doctor named Otto Schussler who liked to wander along the bluffs on his way to and from work at the Sivertson Clinic and St. Marys Hospitalall of which became the sprawling FairviewAugsburgU. of MN complex along Riverside Ave.

Riverside Park was once a cherished retreat from the bustling city and it was this aspect of the park, destroyed pretty much entirely by the construction of I-94, that inspired Schusslers masterpiece. His slim volume (rarer today than a view of the aurora borealis from the Capellen Memorial Bridge) called Riverside Reveries, was written in the form of letters to a convalescing nurse. Were they love letters? Was the unnamed paramour a victim of TB? It may even be possible that Riverside Reveries was a Manti Teo style hoax ginned up to gain sympathy among wealthy patrons ... TB was prevalent in the 1920s and Dr. Sivertson, Schusslers employer, was active in the fight against it. At the time Schussler was writing his heart-wrenching letters to the mysterious nurse confined to her home in a neighboring state, Dr. Sivertson was moonlighting as the chairman of the Minnesota Boxing Commission. Sivertson would eventually quit this position in disgust because too many promoters refused to allocate 10 per cent of their receipts, as required by law, toward his anti-tuberculosis fund. The young doctor, Otto Schussler, lived at various addresses around the park and worked for about a decade at the Sivertson clinic on the corner of 24th Ave and 6th St. (the building was eventually donated to Augsburg College). He was in the park almost daily, shuffling to work in the morning, exploring after lunch, or taking notes in the evening. The Fairview Hospital School of Nursing, and St. Marys Hospital were both near the park and Riversides beneficial atmosphere for both staff and patients must have been considerable. Schussler never seems rushed and at the spring, especially, he is able to calm his worries and focus on what is essential. Everyone, almost without exception, I take it, loves a brook. . . . It gurgles and laughs and chatters and runs . . . holds for us so many of our numberless questions and satisfies so much of the tantalizing curiosity with which we are bursting . . . . We see, too, that it is a very social creature, for does it not furnish a home for the minnows and frogs and a hundred other darting, jumping, squirming things, a bath for the birds and a wading place for the children?

Almost a century later, it is hard to find remnants of the half-wild park where Schussler sat in meditation by his favorite spring following the myriad bubbles that float and dance along its devious course, coming seemingly from nowhere and vanishing suddenly into nothingness . . . That park was a place where overworked men and adventurous children could observe the myriad wild birds of the Mississippi flyway and the acrobatic stunts and secretive habits of crafty varmints. It was a place where you could forget for a moment or for a day about money-grubbing, about human suffering. It was a quiet, mysterious place; the equivalent of that place inside each of us, that place we call the soul that the world nibbles at as if it were a bit of cheese.

Neighborhood Note

Whats (Hip and) Happening in Seward

Now open for business Capital Caf. A warming aroma of roasting coffee beans fills the air and the attentive service is classically East African. Serving traditional specialties such as Zedbebe, sambussa, habasha, injera and other treats, its an ideal place to have spirited conversations or enjoy a quiet respite. Owner, Tsegaye Sombo invites one and all to his place at 2417 East Franklin.

Hello

Meet Abdiasis (Abdi) Hirsi of SPOKES Bike Walk Center. You might expect the community outreach coordinator of SPOKES Bike Walk Center to identify as a long-time bicycle enthusiast. That Abdiasis Hirsi does not, actually makes him a perfect fit for the job.

Abdi of

by Bruce Johansen

SPOKES!
bike-walk-connect

SPOKES

As a novice rider himself, he can easily relate to the core population that SPOKES serves in Seward, Cedar-Riverside, and Phillips, many of whom are East African immigrants and refugees. Back home in Somalia, he says, walking was the most common way to get around, followed by bus. Owning a car was too expensive for most people and cities lacked infrastructure for bicycling. Those who biked tended to live in farming communities. For them, he says, it was often the best way to get from the farm into town. Once in the U.S., African immigrants and refugees tend to drive everywhere and want bigger cars or mini-vans that will accommodate large families, observes Hirsi. As a result, a big part of his job is to educate adults about health and other benefits of bicycling. He also teaches that bicycling is a legitimate alternative form of transportation, not strictly something a person does occasionally for recreation. Younger people, he says, are already biking, so the outreach he does is mainly to their parents, who he calls the target group.

Basic Schedule

To learn more about SPOKES, visit SPOKES website http://spokesconnect.org, which features information about classes, open shop hours, and volunteer nights, or stop by the shop at 1915 E. 22nd Street. You can also read excerpts from an interview with Hirsi at http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/ 2012/12/13/q-abdiasis-hirsi-sharing-newfound-passion-bicycling.

Helping a population unaccustomed to Minnesotas climate get around safely by foot during the cold, icy, snowy winter months is another mission of SPOKES. To that end, winter safe walking classes are offered. A Seward Towers resident since 2007, and former board member, Hirsi came to the United States from Nairobi, Kenya in 2005. He and his family had fled their native Somalia for Nairobi in 1991 during its civil war. A University of Minnesota graduate, Hirsi is also employed as an associate educator for Minneapolis Adult Education.

Youth Open Shop For youth 9 to 18 years old Fridays 3 PM to 6 PM

Open Shop Use our tools to fix your bike -- with guidance from our mechanics All you pay for is the parts you need (new and used parts available) Wednesdays 5 PM to 9 PM Saturdays 1 PM to 5 PM

The Hub @ SPOKES open Saturdays 10 AM to 5 PM

Grease Rag Open Shop Women, Transgender and Femme only Second and fourth Mondays, 7 PM to 9 PM Volunteer Night Fix bikes donated to SPOKES and other tasks Earn credit you can apply to buying used parts Thursdays 5 to 9 PM Classes

SPOKES

Check www.SpokesConnect.org or www.fb.com/SpokesConnect for details.

Community events and Community Rides

including Earn-a-Bike, Adult Learn-toRide, Basic Bike Mechanics and more

Uncovering Stories

of One of Sewards Biggest (and Most Forgotten) Employers

by Laura Weber

You may have heard of Minneapolis Moline, Flour City, and the Milwaukee Rail Yards, all major employers in Seward back in the day. But what about PufferHubbard Manufacturing Company? Historian Laura Weber has been researching the company, housed at 2601 32nd Avenue South from 1910 to 1941. What follows is a brief excerpt from her chapter of a forthcoming Seward neighborhood history book. Puffer-Hubbard manufactured numerous products, evolving over the years from agriculture-related implements such as carts, wheelbarrows, silos, and coaster wagons to folding delivery boxes, tricycles, electric washers, and refrigeration products such as laboratory freezers and hinged glass door refrigerators. Some of these products can be found for sale to this day on various websites. A 1919 newspaper ad touted the Daylight Washing Machine, manufactured in the Seward plant, where air, water, and soap combined to clean clothes in one, two, or three tub contraptions, electric or power driven. The company appeared to operate in the paternalistic manner of the time, both for good and ill. Its clubroom, open every weeknight and Sunday afternoons, contained a Victrola, piano, and room for dancing and was furnished with lounging and smoking rooms and card tables. A branch of the public library was also installed. Hubbard cited the need to provide wholesome recreation to workers stranded at the remote Seward location, described as a long distance from downtown. The men did not have a chance to enjoy the things at the disposal of workmen near the center of the city. We felt that they should have a chance to see and have what others enjoy, Hubbard said. No doubt this was an effort to keep employees out of the nearby bars and from the kind of activity recalled by neighborhood lifer Al Madsen. When Madsens father moved into the neighborhood around the Hub of Hell in 1910, he said that kids roamed the city streets in gangs based upon ethnic origin or trade. As the Great Depression began, however, PufferHubbards way with workmen was losing its touch. During (one) strike at PufferHubbard in 1939, the bank forced the company into receivership, then used their control over negotiations to demand a 10 percent wage cut and loss of seniority rights. City directories in 1931, 1939, and 1940 list Puffer-Hubbard as a manufacturer of boxes and carts, still located at 2601 32nd Avenue. In 1941 there is no listing for 2601, indicating the building was vacant.

Block parties sprout all over Seward on National Night Out on first Tuesday in August. And the parties are as diverse as the residents: potlucks, karaoke, traveling musicians, visiting fire trucks and police cars, bicycle parades back and forth on blocked off streets, laughter and conversation into the evening. Although National Night Out is a grass-roots event with each block club planning its own celebration, SNG provides support with suggestions, information, and solicitation of prizes from neighbhorhood businesses to blocks who register their event by contacting SNG's community organizer, Kerry Cashman (kerry@sng.org or 612-338-6205 ext. 119)

Get Out & Meet Your Neighbors!

Neighborhood Note
Whats (Hip and) Happening in Seward

Live Life Strong! Thats the approach and mantra of this close-to-Seward gym. A gym that builds strong bodies and changes lives. Helping people to get strong so that they can stay active is their mission. Their Strong Body Program uses a unique total body strengthening system featuring MedX strengthening equipment to provide you with the most advanced, efficient way to strengthen your muscles and improve the way you feel and perform. Who doesnt want to feel and be in the best shape possible? Stop by and get a consultation at 3260 Minnehaha Avenue or call to discuss all the options, 612-767-0240

Q&A

with City Councilor Cam Gordon

by Trevor Born

Cam Gordon has represented Seward on the Minneapolis City Council since 2006 and lived in the neighborhood since 1991. Prior to his career in city politics, Gordon had stints as co-president of the Seward Neighborhood Group (SNG), chair of the neighborhood group committee that managed Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) money, and editor of the West Bank Stories section of the Seward Profile. He spent 18 years as a pre-school and Montessori teacher.

The Profile turned the tables on its former writer and sat down with Gordon to reflect on his time as a City Council Member and Seward resident. What brought you to Seward? I graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1977 and after that moved to the West Bank. A few years later I bought a house in Longfellow. In 1989 I moved to Seward and, after renting for a while, purchased my current house on Franklin Terrace in 1991. Anything notable during your time as co-president of the neighborhood group? Not all of this happened while I was president, but while I was closely involved with the group I remember some important things happening. The group stabilized in an office and grew a little bit because of NRP. The group was able to provide support for youth activities in the park and run an active housing program that loaned funds for housing improvements. We made improvements along Franklin Avenue and helped bring in the Northern Clay Center and Welna Hardware. We helped demolish some of the boarded up bars at 26th and 26th [the "Hub of Hell"]. Not that I deserve credit for all those things, but those were exciting things happening while I was involved.

As of this writing, Gordon, the council's only Green Party member, is running unopposed for his third term representing Ward 2. The city's regular redrawing of its Council boundaries this spring removed much of Seward's northwestern portion -- north of 24th Street and west of 30th Avenue -- from Gordon's ward.

Describe some city council actions that have been important for Seward during your tenure. The City helped with some of the development of Franklin Avenue. It had a lot of details to work out with the most recent move of the Seward Co-Op. The city had to restructure the alley, figure out how to manage stormwater, bought and tore down a house and did a little rezoning. We worked with the County on adding bike lanes to Franklin Avenue and the full reconstruction of Riverside Area. We're working on improving the bike path along the light rail, including better lighting and improving the crossing on 26th. We're working on realizing the hopes for the Franklin light rail station. Theres a sense that the old industrial uses right near the station is not the vision we want. It would make more sense to have more residential uses there. I think our urban agricultural initiatives have been popular in Seward. It allows commercial food growing in Minneapolis and accommodates this new interest in urban farming. There is already a little farm project on the east edge of Seward.

What do you think of the results of this year's redistricting? I wasn't supportive. I've appreciated representing all of Seward. The change took some of my oldest friends and supporters and neighbors out of my district. But I also realize, and it's a comfort for me to know, that it's all still the Seward neighborhood, and that I'll be able to care about it, help it, and support it, even if there is not a direct vote for me. If I step back further, I can see some benefit in having two Council Members represent a neighborhood. Back when I was president of the neighborhood group, we had two Council Members, and sometimes that made it easier to be heard.

Leading up to the municipal election in November, Gordon is hosting a series of roundtable discussions to talk about priorities for his prospective next term.

What keeps you living in the neighborhood? I really like the sense of community and having neighbors who know and care about each other. I love the way it's connected to the urban wilderness, but yet you turn around and you're in the middle of the city. I like the variety of the neighborhood -- dense housing, a commercial main street, industrial areas. I love that I can walk or bike and get just about everything I need -- groceries, hardware, restaurants, bowling, parks. When my son was born, my wife and I walked to the hospital. I also really appreciate the engagement of the residents and the neighborhood organization. Since being on the council I've had the chance to see how different neighborhoods work. Folks who go to the Seward Neighborhood Group meetings really care about the community and work really hard to make good decisions and involve people in those decisions.

Learn more at www.CamGordon.org.

Photography: Courtesy of Chuck Olsen

Keep up with neighborhood events, meetings, and issues at The Forum.

Join your Neighbors Online

at the Seward Neighborhood Online Forum!

Join today at: http://bit.ly/sewardforum

Check out Seward's other "virtual" properties at: http://goo.gl/Xa6AR

BIKING the day away

Commuting by bike isnt hard! You dont have to wear Lycra or be a daredevil biker to learn to love bike commuting. I am in my mid-forties and enjoy bike commuting to work meetings and social events. I often wish I saw more gray-haired women like me on the bike path enjoying all the benefits of bike riding. I appreciate being outdoors, the opportunity to incorporate exercise into my day instead of requiring a trip to the gym, and I like knowing my transportation is almost free and doesnt pollute the environment. GETTING STARTED Set a goal for yourself. When I started, I decided to commute to work one day per week. I scheduled the day in my calendar and planned out-of-office meetings or after work errands that required a car, accordingly.

by Michele Braley

Discover all that is Seward at

www.sng.org

Calendar

Seward Neighborhood Group 2323 E. Franklin Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55406

FOR MORE INFORMATION Check out SPOKES Bike Walk Connect a new, innovative community biking and walking resource in Seward for information about adult Learn-to-Ride classes; Basic Bike Commuting classes; the monthly Women, Transgender and Femme Free Open Repair Shop, and Basic Maintenance classes. http://www.SpokesConnect.org/

GO DO IT! You may be surprised what you find. The first time I biked from Seward to a meeting near Loring Park, I was intimidated thinking about how I could avoid Franklin Avenue or downtown. Going a few blocks out of my way yielded a very pleasant ride the Midtown Greenway to Bryant Avenue bike lane, then the bike bridge over I94 (have you even noticed this despite hundreds of trips under it in your car?!), then a bike lane that parallels Lyndale/Hennepin. - five miles of biking and hardly a busy road crossing. See you on the trails!

Spend some time on a weekend getting to know the bike routes near your home the Midtown Greenway, Hiawatha (LRT) bike trail, and University of Minnesota Transitway are good places to start. You will be surprised how far you can bike in Minneapolis on dedicated bike routes!

FIND A ROUTE Consult an on-line map with a bike route option, e.g. Google Maps, to review recommended routes and estimated ride times. Another good source is a friend or co-worker who bikes to work.