February 2^nd (Thursday) 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. –

Phillips West Community Meeting!  Agenda Items include; an update from the Midtown Global Market, Minneapolis Police Update, Minneapolis City Council Update, 35W Access Project Community Input & ANW Hospital Update. Free Pizza Dinner & Beverages Provided.  Meeting will be held at Lutheran Social Service Center for Changing Lives on the 1^st Floor in the Centrum Room (2400 Park Avenue).   Free parking available in rear off Oakland Avenue.

February 9^th (Thursday) 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. –

Phillips West 15^th Annual Winter Social!  Join Phillips West Neighborhood Organization, Community Partners and Hundreds of your Neighbors & Colleagues for a FREE Catered Dinner of Cultural Foods, Door Prizes & Entertainment at the Lutheran Social Service Center for Changing Lives Building (2400 Park Avenue, enter at west side of building free parking in lot off of Oakland Avenue)!!!!!  Neighborhood Recourses and networking opportunities will be available!  If you would like to get involved by having an information table or volunteering at the event please call Crystal Trutnau at the Phillips West Office @ 612/879-5383 or email her at pwno2005@yahoo.com

Carl Peterson shown standing on the 24th Street pedestrian Bridge during the “Bridging Minneapolis” Event in 2011. Carl became 100 years old in 2011 and has lived with his wife Helen in Phillips over 70 years. Carl was at the 11-11-11 Birthday Party for Wendell Phillips and 36th Birthday of The Alley and was featured in a beautiful slid show presentation by Robert Albee that was done to music with remarks by the Bridging event creator, Dallas Johnson. Carl was “the man” behind the citizen movement to have the 24th S. bridge built forty years ago. Picture by Robert Albee

• The Alley Newspaper was able to produce a unique issue each month that also had continuity with previous issues and past years which regularly featured articles and art produced by: Bob Albee, Erin Thomasson, Sue Hunter Weir, Patrick Cabello Hansel, Howard McQuitter, Peter Molenaar, Dave Moore, and Janice Barbee.
• Continued multi-year exclusive publishing of these unique features found in no other newspaper:  Tales from Pioneers and Soldiers Cemeteries, “Spirit of Phillips” Cartoons and Dave’s Dumpster, Raise Your Voice, Searching, Backyard Initiative Updates and Annual Report, and Movie Corner.
• Published the complete monthly Calendar of the Franklin Community Library and Computer Center each month.
• New features were added this year: the Crossword puzzle by Sami  Pfeffer and Snack Attack by Courtney Algeo.
• We had increased coverage of the four Phillips Community Neighborhood Groups— Phillips West, Midtown Phillips, East Phillips and Ventura Village- with updates and special events by Bob Albee, Crystal Trautnau, Shirley Heyer, Joseph Spangler, Carol Pass, and Brad Pass.

• We helped promote many neighborhood events and were active participants in some of them;
• Midtown Fair, Bridging Festival, Taste of Phillips, concert benefit in Pioneer and Soldiers
• Cemetery, Green Tomato Festival, Cepro Park Grand Opening, East Phillips Community Center
• Grand Opening, King’s Fair in Seward Neighborhood and others.
• Dave Moore and Harvey Winje were proud to represent the Phillips Community by participating as presenters in the Wendell Phillips Bi-Centennial Symposium at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA and presentations also at Suffolk University and Old South Hall in Boston, June 2nd-4th.
• Dave Moore’s and Linnea Hadaway’s  63 “Spirit of Phillips” cartoons have been produced as greeting cards and are available from Alley Communications, Seward Co-op Grocery and Boneshaker Bookstore.  (call 612-990-4022 for more info.)
• Harvey Winje and Susan Gust have continued to be active members of the Communications CHAT of the Backyard Initiative and helped to actively involve The Alley Newspaper and promote the work of the BYI and the other CHAT teams.
• As a nonprofit, tax exempt organization, we benefited from increased ads and financial donations from the four neighborhoods of Phillips Community.
• A new fundraising campaign called Alley Allies was begun.
• A successful  Fundraiser/Annual Meeting event was held in November 2011 to celebrate  our 36th Year and  the 200th Birthday of Wendell Phillips with special  presentations by Dave Moore, Josie Winship (impersonating Queen Elizabeth II), and Wendell Phillips Biographer, James Stewart, (impersonating Wendell Phillips) about the life and mission of Ann and Wendell Phillips.
• A new initiative has been launched to bring the history and present-day importance of Wendell Phillips into local schools and, perhaps, senior residences.
• We will end the year with all the bills paid!
• The Alley has been able to inform readers about many community organizations and events throughout 2011.  The following organizations and events have been included in the pages of  The Alley Newspaper over the past year in articles and/or public service announcements:
• Premiere of “A Poet Poets” documentary of Roy McBride, Open Arms and Open Farms,  Rebirthing Community CHAT, Swedish Art Institute-Victor Borge Exhibit Grand Opening of the Eastside Neighborhood Services-Internet for Seniors, Phillips Neighborhood Clinic special events and services, Public Notice that ReUse Center and parent owner Green Institute were closed and dissolved,  Street Sculptures by Andrew Moore, Lake Street Council special events and projects, In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre plays and workshops, Midtown Greenway Coalition events and advisories, Growing in the Backyard CHAT, Seward Co-op Grocery special programs, Updates on Powerline Controversy, Concrete Beet Farmers, Memorial Day at Pioneer and Soldiers Cemetery, Global Poverty Summit, Gardening Matters seminars, Pow-Wow Grounds Coffee, Special $640,00 Gift to HN Libraries, Native American Community Development Institute New Office, All My Relations Gallery Grand Opening,  Julie Johnson and the No-Accounts Concert, Mpls. Park Board Volunteer Awards, Community Garden Spring Resource Fair, St. Paul’s Church- Semilla Project & Taste of Phillips Art Festival,  Noche de Paz-Night of Peace, Spring Family Carnival,-South Area Community Education, Hennepin County Franklin Library, Transition Town Phillips, Summer of Solutions, Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board, Friends of the Cemetery events and fundraising, “Tell Me a Story” Communications CHAT, May Day Parade, Open Eye Figure Theatre, Ventura Village, Backyard Initiative,  Hennepin County Economic Assistance, Midtown Farmers Market, Metro Independent Business Alliance,  Powderhorn Art Fair, Out in the Backyard CHAT, Old Arizona, National Night Out, Midtown Phillips Neighborhood Association, Inc., Amen Corner, Running Wolf Fitness Center, Midtown Global Market-Apple and Cheese Festival and other special events, Woman Against Military Madness, Mt. Olive Church-Paul Manz Tage Concerts, Backyard Initiative and Midtown Global Market Jazz Festival, Seward Empty Bowls, Clean Sweep Green Sweep, Holy Rosary Dinner and Festival, Cepro Park and Amphi-Theatre, Green Tomato Cook-Off, Jeremy Messersmith in Concert at Pioneer and Soldiers Cemetery, Anna Stanley Art Show, East Phillips Improvement Coalition, Circle of Healing CHAT, Walker Church and Mined Arts- Expression for Wellness and Effectiveness, Somaili Women’s Health Support CHAT, People Incorporated Mental Health Services-Huss Center for Recovery and Stark Mental Health Clinic, Phillips West Neighborhood Organization, Stewart Park, East Phillips Park, Peavey Park, Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association, Powderhorn Empty Bowls, A Peace of My Mind, A-POD CHAT, American Indian Community Development Corp.-Bii Di Dash Anwebi Elder Housing, Minnesota Center for Book Arts-2011 Winter Book, Plymouth Congregational Church-Nobel in Literature Poetry Reading by MN Poet Laureate Robert Bly, 9th Ward Councilmember Notices, Dakota Language Revitalization CHAT.

Dear Friend of the Alley:

The Alley Newspaper is the free community newspaper of the Phillips neighborhood in Minneapolis, serving over 20,000 residents, businesses, and visitors. Published on a shoe string budget and largely volunteer run, the Alley informs, engages, facilitates communication, and promotes the exchange of information, opinion, culture and creativity among Phillips residents.

We are writing today to launch a new initiative – an Alley Ally campaign. We ask you to consider becoming an Alley Ally to sustain our ability to continue to publish our monthly print newspaper. Your tax deductible donation of $100 or whatever you can give will keep our print edition alive.

The Alley is the only paper to concentrate exclusively on the Phillips Community. This allows us to cover in-depth the issues and stories that matter to the people who live here as written by people who live, work, or attend school  here. It ensures that our stories are told from our perspective as we experience them and provides a historical documentation of our neighborhood history. We encourage community involvement in all aspects of creating the paper because we want the voices of Phillips to be heard.

As many newspapers have moved to online publishing to reduce printing and distribution costs, the Alley remains committed to maintaining our original free print format because we know many of our readers do not have the same level of access to computers or the Internet as readers in other communities. We have The Alley available online now, too, which costs us money.  However, it is more expensive to print and distribute than it is to only publish an online paper.  Nearly all of our monthly expenses are for layout, printing, and delivering the print edition.

Besides our advertising revenue and our membership with Community Shares Minnesota, a workplace charitable giving organization, the Alley needs the financial support of our readers and everyone who values a vibrant, accountable, representative community media source. Beginning our 37th year of publication, we are still a forum for ideas, information, and announcements that are important to the rich diversity of individuals and groups who make up our neighborhood.

Please consider becoming an Alley Ally and making a tax deductible donation to the Alley. Become an “Alley Cat” with a donation of $100, a “Calico Cat” with a $50 donation, or a “Tabby” with a $25 donation! Give what you can; we appreciate your gift and support at any level.

Please visit www.givemn.org/alleyally to donate online or drop a donation in the mail to the address below.  If you wish, we will add you to our list of published allies each month for the next year. Simply check the box on the form giving us your permission.

We hope you will become an Alley Ally today!  We look forward to hearing from you.  If you have any questions about this exciting new initiative or if you would like to become an Alley Ally but need a different payment plan, please call 612-990-4022 or email editor@alleynews.org, or write Alley Communications P.O. Box 7006, Mpls., MN 55407

Cathy Strobel, President

Board of Directors

Alley Communications

Sharon Albee

Nancy Anderson

Veryl Andre

Anne Christians

Jean Christie

Karen Clark

Jim Cook

Steve Compton

Craig Davidson

Knowles Daugherty

Linnea Hadaway

Luisa Hansel

Patrick Cabello Hansel

Jan Gillespie

Dee Henry Williams

Shirley Heyer

Jacy Hildreth

Julie Ingebretsen

Soren Jensen

Dallas Johnson

Mary Ellen Kaluza

Pat Kaluza

Betty Kinsey

Joyce Krook

Jeenee Lee

Mary Mahoney

Siama Matauzungidi

Jana Metge

Jonathan Miller

Amy Miller

Peter Molenaar

Dave Moore

Mary Regina Moore

Donna Neste

Ruth Olkon

Leon Oman

Lois Parker

Brad Pass

Carol Pass

Carl Peterson

Winton Pitcoff

Gera Pobuda

Connie Pray

Catherine Pususta

Jason Rodney

Claudia Slovacek

Sandy Spieler

Dotty Stewart

Cathy Strobel

Mathew Swora

Jane Thomson

Carol Vara

Dee Dee Vara

Pat Welna

Virgil Welna

Paula Williamson

Edgar Young

Alley In-Kind Contributors 2011

Franklin Street Bakery

Susan Gust

Joan Hautman

Sue Hunter Weir

Julie Ingebretsen- Ingebretsen’s Gifts

May Day Café

Jonathan Miller

Dave Moore

New French Bakery

Leon Oman

Lois Parker

Steve Parker

Jim Stewart

Cathy Strobel

Mark Welna – Welna Hardware

Josie Winship

All writers who we list respectively for each issue every month. Everything printed in The Alley and on Website is contributed writing, art, and photography. See below for list of writers who contributed in 3 or more issues.

The Alley Deliveries in 2011

Beverly Adams

Tara Beard

Vi DeMars

East Phillips Improvement Coalitions

Jacy Hildrith

Sue Hunter Weir

Raymond Jackson

Majorie Magnuson

Lynne Mayo

Howard McQuitter

Midtown Farmer’s Market

Dave Moore

Donna Neste

Brad and Carol Pass

Phillips West Neighborhood Organization

Muriel Simmons and Family

Paul Weir

Youth from Calvary and Mt. Olive Churches

Britney Algeo

Janice Barbee*

Patrick Cabello Hansel*

Linnea Hathaway

Shirley Heyer

Sue Hunter Weir*

Raymond Jackson

Dallas Johnson

Howard McQuitter*

Tim McCall

Peter Molenaar*

Dave Moore*

Chris Oien

Brad Pass

Carol Pass

Sami Pfeffer

Angela Schneider

Carstens Smith

Tim Springer

Jim Stewart

Erin Thomasson*

Jane Thomson

Crystal Trautnau*

There is something about coming in from the cold that warms the heart along with the rest of the body. Angel and Luz had literally come in from a long, cold search; as they woke on that clear, bright December morning, their hearts knew—ahead of their brains—that they had come in out of the cold of fear and hatred, and were new immigrants in the country of hope.

The morning sun caressed the stained glass above their heads, and cast deep rays of color upon the baptismal font. They had not noticed last night that they were resting in the shadow of that marble and wood river. They had not noticed that the picture that was causing such a riot of color was of Jesus welcoming the children.

Luz got up first, and rubbed her eyes.

“Angel—did we sleep here all night?” she asked.

“It seems so,” he said. “Although I think we’ve learned that nothing is ever as it seems.”

“Oh, my dearies, but that is not true,” a voice answered them.

“Who are you?” Luz asked.

“Ask me who I was,” the voice replied.

“All right,” Angel said, trembling a little. “Who were you then?”

An older woman with a cane stepped out of the shadows at the back of the church, and began walking toward them. She carried a basket that was overflowing.

“I was Agnes Anderson,” she said, smiling wide. “Now, I am just one with all.”

Angel was going to ask her what in the world did she mean by “just one with all”, but Luz elbowed him gently in the ribs. He had forgotten that they had been bruised when he was beaten almost to death. How long ago was that? he wondered.

“Welcome, Agnes…” Luz said, and then stopped. “I guess you should be the one welcoming us.”

“Oh, I think you can never have too much welcoming!” Agnes laughed.

Agnes then said something that Luz and Angel heard differently. Angel heard her say: “Are you enjoying your stay?” He thought about it awhile, and believed that she was talking not just about last night, but the “staying” that he had made with Luz. A promise, a desire to stay together, whatever might come.

Luz heard the older woman say “Are you enjoying your say?” My say? she thought. It took her a moment to realize that Agnes must be talking about her voice, her words, the telling of her own story. Luz had awoken to a new trust; a belief that her story, her life was important. Whole and holy. No matter the pain, no matter the joy. She had a “say” that would never be taken from her.

“Well, you’re both right”, Agnes said, although neither had asked her.

“How did you find us?” Luz asked, finally.

“Oh, I didn’t find you,” she said. “You found me.”

Angel and Luz looked at each other, curious.

“Are you saying that we’ve been searching for you all this time?” Angel asked.

“Yes. And you’ve been right on track. And right on time,” Agnes answered.

“But,” Luz said, “All that pain, all the suffering, all the doubt?”

“Yes, dear”, Agnes replied. “All part of it. As well as all the joy, all the love, all the risk. Everything is true at once, you know.”

Luz and Angel knew better than to ask what that meant. Together, without knowing why, they gestured to Agnes to sit on the floor of the baptistery with them. She lifted the embroidered towel from the basket, spread it out on the floor, and began to pull out delights, one after another.

There was hot fry bread and lingonberry jam, churros and sweet potato pie, sambusas and rosettes, empanadas chilenas and Irish soda bread, Russian tea cakes and pierogi, juices of mango and mora and maracuya, ginepas and plum pudding, pansit and green papaya salad, accompanied by a woven Mayan tablecloth and napkins, silverware of real silver, and a large, lit candle.

“Wow!” Angel and Luz said at once. “Did all that come from your little basket?” they asked.

“Oh, I didn’t take everything out!” Agnes laughed. “I had to keep the Rocky Road frozen until it’s time for ice cream!”

“But are you sure it’s OK?” Luz asked. “Are we supposed to eat in church?”

“Oh, of course—what do you think we do here in church?”

Luz and Angel were too hungry to ask more questions. They savored each taste in their mouths.

“Can I ask you one more question?” Angel asked, as they were sipping on hibiscus and ginger tea that had miraculous appeared.

“Of course,” she said.

“All through this time, I’ve been hearing this strange word ‘lotten’…”

“And also “komma” Luz added. “What does it mean?”

“Just look around,” Agnes said.

Angel and Luz turned towards the stained glass window. At the bottom were these words: ‘Laten barnen komma til mig”.

“What does that mean?” Angel asked.

“It means, ‘Let the children come to me’.”

“Is that Swedish?” Luz asked.

“Yes, and every other language,” Agnes said.

“So this is where our search ends? This is where we’re supposed to be?” Angel asked Agnes.

“Oh, everywhere you are is where you’re supposed to be,” Agnes said. “Keep looking.”

Luz and Angel looked at the painting and the words for a long time. The colors held and massaged their hearts, and the words watered their spirits. They both exhaled deeply, and as they took their next breath, they looked into each other’s eyes, and saw a longing, a mission, a fire. When they turned around, Agnes and the feast were gone, but there was a presence of light, light in them and light around them, light that kept growing with each breath.

Alley Communications has been honored and pleased to have been able to publish this novel by Partrick Cabello Hansel, chapter by chapter, each successive month for nearly 3 years. Chapter 34 in this issue is the last chapter to be followed next month by a conclusive Epilogue. Readers are encouraged to send or call with responses to this unique publishing of a novel within a monthly community newspaper. It has been a first for The Alley and for any community paper as far as we know.

Deaths of husband and three children within 15 years grieved Cora Stickney greatly highlighted by 80 day vigil of daughter’s “trance.” Husband, John Stickney died March 20, 1876; Son, John Hanson Stickney, died Sept. 8, 1876; Daughter, Cora Stickney, died between Nov. 30th, 1887 and Thursday, Feb. 17th, 1877; son, William, died August 18th, 1891. Two markers Her husband and children are buried in Lot K, Block 100 in Minneapolis Pioneers and Soldiers Cemetery. There are two markers: an illegible military marker for John H. Stickney, and a family marker bearing the names of John H. Stickney and his youngest son. Cora and William’s names were never added to the marker; the burial place of Ann Stickney is unknown.

By Sue Hunter Weir

It wasn’t often that the death of someone buried in Layman’s Cemetery was reported in the New York Times, but the story of Cora Stickney’s burial was a most unusual, almost gothic, tale.

Cora was the daughter of John H. and Ann Stickney; her parents were transplanted New Englanders, who moved to Minnesota shortly after the Civil War. Mr. Stickney was a Civil War veteran who served in the 16th Maine Infantry. After arriving in Minneapolis he went into business but by the early 1870s was in poor health, and on March 20, 1876, two weeks shy of his 34th birthday, he died of “quick consumption”.

Less than six months later their youngest son and namesake, John Hanson Stickney, died from scarlet fever at the age of two.

Ann Stickney went to work as a teacher to support her two surviving children, Cora and William. The 1880 federal census shows that Cora, then age 12, was no longer in school but working as an apprentice to a hair dresser. The work must not have appealed to her because by 1885 she was working as a bookkeeper for Calhoun and Long, a dry goods company.

In November of 1886, 19-year-old Cora became sick, and on November 30, 1886, the city Health Officer determined that she had died and issued a burial permit. Cora’s grief-stricken mother refused to accept the fact that her only daughter had died and managed to persuade an undertaker to bring Cora’s body back home. Ann Stickney was convinced that Cora was not dead but was merely in a trance and that faith and prayer would bring Cora back to her.

In February 1887 the city Health Officer received reports that Cora had not yet been buried. When he went to the family’s home, Mrs. Stickney wouldn’t allow him in. A doctor, L. R. Palmer, was also convinced that Cora had not died; he offered as evidence the fact that Cora’s body did not show any signs of decomposition. He said that he had consulted with other doctors and an undertaker and that they agreed that Cora was in a trance, a fact which those doctors ultimately denied.

In any event, on February 17th, 1887, the family was finally persuaded that Cora was not coming back. Newspaper accounts offered graphic details about the condition of Cora’s body and there could no longer be any question that she was dead. It was those accounts of Cora’s death that were picked up and printed in the Times. The city Health Officer completed a second burial permit listing the cause of Cora’s death as “general debility.” Her body was returned to the vault and subsequently buried.

Sadly, Mrs. Stickney’s sorrows had not ended. On August 18, 1891, her son, William, was killed in a railroad accident. In a matter of 15 years, she had lost her entire family. Her husband and children are buried in Lot K, Block 100 in Minneapolis Pioneers and Soldiers Cemetery. There are two markers: an illegible military marker for John H. Stickney, and a family marker bearing the names of John H. Stickney and his youngest son. Cora’s and William’s names were never added to the family’s marker; the burial place of Ann Stickney is unknown.

Melancholia

“Melancholia”

Sci-fi/Drama/Art House

Cast: Kirsten Dunst (Justine), Charlotte Gainsbourg (Claire), Alexander Skarsgard (Michael), Charlotte Rampling (Gaby), Stellan Skarsgard (Jack), Cameron Spurr (Leo), Kiefer Sutherland (John). Running time:136 minutes. Director: Lars von Trier. 

“Melancholia” opens up with the classical composition Tristan und Isolde* by Richard Wagner while some of the cast are standing still or moving in eerily slow motion. What a beautiful send off with the underbelly of fate if one looks closely in the eyes of the characters.

Justine (Kirsten Dunst) has just gotten married to Michael ( life forms (including Alexander Skarsgard), both bride and groom join the wedding party at a mansion on a golf course. Justine’s consumed by depression, her sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) the practical one, and her husband John (Kiefer Sutherland) reminds himself of how sumptuous the wedding party is. Justine and Claire’s father (John Hurt) calls every cute woman at the party “Betty”. The sisters’ mother (Charlotte Rampling), long divorced from their father, in her wedding toast blasts out a fatalistic statement: “Enjoy it while it lasts” (I presume she means the wedding).

But Justine runs out of the wedding party and never consummates the marriage. She sleeps with her boss’ new hire. Her fatalism is expressed in her statement: “The Earth is evil. We don’t need to grieve for it”. Justine’s remark is not flippant but a prophesy in the making. Justine’s neurosis finds itself affecting Claire, Leo (Cameron Spurr) and John as the skies sees the planet “Melancholia” move ever closer to Earth.

Director Lars von Trier’s “Melancholia” is unfaltering cerebral like director Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” although different because, for once, the former methodically visualizes the “death” of the Earth and its life forms and the latter visually depicts the birth of the Earth and its life forms (including dinosaurs).

Lars von Trier’s apocalyptic film is serene with a handful of characters devoid of the usual apocalyptic films of panic in the streets of cities in the world, tortured TV commentators predicting impending destruction (of the Earth), or sending off nukes from the U.S. and Russia (the stilted movie “Meteor”[1978] comes to mind) to divert or destroy the oncoming planet or meteor.

“Melancholia” is beautiful, haunting and one of the most provocative–if not the most provocative of–films of the year.

* Tristan und Isolde (Tristan and Isolde, or Tristan and Isolda, or Tristran and Ysolt) is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner