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Garden Party
Environmentally Friendly
Garden Workshops and Walks
Go Solar
Seward Events
Neighborhood happenings
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Published by
The Seward Neighborhood Group
Minneapolis, MN 55406
Gr o u p
The Seward Garden Tour and Tea Party is a chance to stroll through some of Sewards most
interesting urban gardens on an early summer evening, pick
up gardening tips, enjoy light refreshment, and support SNG.
This years event is on Thursday evening June 25th from 6 to
8 pm and is followed by a lovely garden party, you must buy a
ticket to learn the address of our 8PM party. If you have 6
gardens stamped on your ticket you have the opportunity to win
beautiful donated plants. Advance tickets are on sale at Welna II
Hardware, 2201 East Franklin and Mother Earth Gardens, 3738
42nd Ave. S. Ticket sales and maps on June 25th will be at 2901
East 22nd Street from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 in
advance and $15 on the day of the tour. Proceeds benefit the
community building work of the Seward Neighborhood Group.
National Night Out is an annual nationwide event that encourages residents to get
out in the community. Holding block parties and getting to know their neighbors is
a way to encourage crime prevention and create
community. Its a great way to enjoy a Minnesota
summer evening surrounded by friends and family.
Every block club event is individually planned. NNO
out parties range from an informal potluck in someones yard to a closed off street with more formal
games and activities.
SNG provides resources for block club leaders to help organize their events including
a gift bag with donations from local businesses. Welna II provides each block club
with a bag of goodies to raffle off and Seward Co-op has a limited amount of gift
certificates to give to block leaders. If you dont know who your block club leader is
please contact Kerry Cashman at Seward Neighborhood Group.
To learn more about National Night Out and the resources the City of Minneapolis
provides go to http://www.minneapolismn.gov/nno/nno_register If you want to close
down your street for NNO you must register with the city. Note: Not every street can
be blocked off depending on the traffic flow. Generally, bus routes and high traffic
streets cannot be used for block events. You will need permission of 75% of your
neighbors to be approved for street closure keep their names and addresses
handy in the event your permit application needs to be reviewed.
If you register by July 21 you can block your street for free. If you register from July 22
through July 29, there is a $100 fee (to the city of Minneapolis). You will not be able to
block off your street if registering after July 29. It is free to participate in National
Night Out. When you register your event with the city, you will get free Mystery
Point Passes for Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America.
OPEN STREETS
by Deb Ervin
In my role as an organizer, hired by the Seward Civic and Commerce Association, its a
pleasure to meet with business owners in the months leading up to the event. The
process of community planning is as important as the magic of the big day itself.
Im so excited to see what creative and fun ideas return this year, and
what Sewards new businesses bring to the table. Its going to be a
blast!
SEPTEMBER 19
Discover all
that is Seward at
www.sng.org
Seward Longfellow
Restorative Justice Partnership
Looking Ahead
by Michele Braley
by Rick Musser
Sponsored by the Seward Neighborhood Groups
Crime & Safety Committee, History Committee & Environmental Committee
by Jenna J. Zark
Unit Collective Playwrights Explore Older Adults Lives and Shatter Stereotypes
Who are the older adults in our communities? What stereotypes do we carry that prevent
us from seeing them? These questions and others were explored by the Unit Collective at
the Playwrights Center in the Seward neighborhood recently, in a piece called Lines from
Augustana Care Life. Staged readings of the piece also occurred in April at Augustana
Apartments of Minneapolis.
The piece was created by six playwrights who became acquainted with residents at
Augustana Care, a nonprofit that helps older adults and others in need live the lives that
most inspire them while providing health care, housing and community-based services.
We want to help push down the walls around peoples perceptions of older adults,
says founding-member playwright Anton Jones. He and other playwrights including Eliza
Rasheed, Indira Addington and Jessica Huang initially met residents in various locations
at Augustana Cares Minneapolis campus to gain insights into their lives.
Hopefully, playwrights will be able to revisit the folks they got to know originally. As
the playwrights talk to residents more, their experiences might become part of a new rewrite, says Jones.
He is even considering the possibility of future plays being written, directed or performed by Augustana Care
residents.
That would be in keeping with the Unit Collectives mission, which is to create theatre that brings unheard
voices to the stage. The Collectives plays are performed as staged readings monthly at the Playwrights
Center in a series called Minneapolis Madness, which came out of a group at the University of Iowa that
performed plays in the schools parking lot. The goal of the series was to create fresh, vibrant new work that
seeks to change misconceptions about minorities and other overlooked communities.
Jones connection to Augustana Care came through his mother Tisch Jones, a director and one of the original members of Penumbra Theatre
who lives at Augustana Apartments of Minneapolis. She has directed several plays at Unit Collective, including one that occurred just a few
months after she experienced a stroke. When Tisch suggested a partnership with
Augustana Care, Anton agreed it would be an excellent way to discover the often
hidden lives of older adults.
We tend to forget people who are older can be cutting edge and just as experimental
and excited about what is happening now as young people are, says Anton. With the help of the Unit Collective, audiences now have a
chance to discover just how cutting edge, experimental and exciting older adults can be.
For more information about the project, contact unitplaywrights@gmail.com or
call 952-240-0420.
that is Seward at
www.sng.org
Discover all
that is Seward at
www.sng.org
In June 2014 the Gas Tax Group committed to purchase 4 solar panels
on the solar garden being constructed on Bethel Evangelical Lutheran
Church (4120 17th Ave S, Minneapolis). The solar garden is a project
of MN Community Solar (mncommunitysolar.com)
Energy generated by the 4 panels purchased by the Gas Tax Group will
be contributed towards the cost of Faith Mennonite's electric bill. The
total cost of the four panels will be about $3,700
and the panels are projected to generate $5,331 in
offsets for the Xcel bill for Faith Mennonite, over
the next 25 years. During that time, the four panels
will save 22 tons of CO2 emissions.
by Alexis Troschinetz
How can Seward residents have yards that are green and attractive,
free of pesticides, and safe for bees? Find out by joining your neighbors
for a pleasant, informal walk through Seward on the evening of July 8th.
We will stop at a number of locations where residents have earned their
recognition as Great Green Yards by maintaining attractive yards without
resorting to pesticides, herbicides or other pollution creating measures.
Discover all
These residents have shown creativity and ingenuity in the care and
that is Seward at
design of their yards that minimizes adverse environmental effects,
www.sng.org
reduces rainwater runoff, and provides safe habitats for valued creatures
like our bees.
The gathering for the Environmental Walk will start at 6:00 p.m. on July 8th in front of the
Matthews Recreation Center (2318 28th Ave S). The group will proceed for a guided 1.5
hour tour of yards in the neighborhood. Information will be available for each yard on the
approach used to become a Great Green Yard. At some locations the property owner may
be available to provide additional information.
SNG has updated welcome kits to pass out to new neighbors. If you have
new neighbors on your block stop by SNG at 2323 East Franklin Avenue and
pick up a kit. This is an easy way to stop by and meet your new neighbors.
You can help! With the help of the City of Minneapolis, the parks department, and
Friends of the Mississippi River we hope to raise awareness around the pollution of our lakes
and rivers from storm drains. SNGs goal is to freshly stencil all the storm drains in Seward.
We want to make sure our drains stay clean of any trash that is buried in chemicals. These chemicals
will drain directly into the Mississippi River and continue pollution. Take it from the professionals at
Friends of the Mississippi River as they talk about the harm and potential damage of this on our river:
Storm drains are part of the storm sewer system which carries
untreated rain and snow-melt directly from the citys lawns and
streets to rivers and lakes. This runoff from our urban landscape
carries anything in the street pesticides, antifreeze, fertilizer,
motor oil, pet waste, and grass clippings directly to the
nearest lake or river. The stenciled message alerts citizens
to this fact. If you are interested in helping stencil the
storm drains around Seward, SNG will provide supplies for
neighborhood use. Email Kerry@sng.org to reserve
your stenciling kit. Stenciling is a great opportunity to
get outside with your neighbors and make a difference
in your community and the environment.
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Discover all
that is Seward at
www.sng.org