Harding Area Girls Fastpitch

Believe it or not, before we know it, it will be time for softball! The Harding Area Fastpitch association is holding registration for girls fastpitch softball on February 20 from 10a to 1p at the Battle Creek Rec Center.

This registration is for girls who are between the ages of 8 and 16 years old as of December 31, 2009.

For additional information, the registration form, and the fees go to the Harding Area Website.

Submitted by the Harding Area Fastpitch Assn.

Ash Removal in Neighborhood to Start Soon

Early February will see city crews out removing ash trees on Wilson Avenue and 3rd Street. There will be 46 trees removed on Wilson between Kennard and White Bear, and there will be 44 trees removed on 3rd between Germain and Flandrau.

Stumps will be ground out and later in the spring, the city will plant replacement trees.

This is a sad thing to see, but the city needs to be proactive to slow down the spread of the emerald ash borer. This is also just the first wave of removals...

Raingarden Workshops Available

Beginning in March, there will be a series of raingarden workshops designed to help you learn everything you need to know in order to install a successful raingarden. Each session costs $5 and requires registration with the Maplewood Nature Center, 2659 E. 7th Street, in Maplewood.

The sessions include a classroom session, a session on drainage and soils, a design workshop, and a construction workshop. Hands-on activities are the name of the game here. The earlier workshops are prerequisites for attending later workshops.

The dates are March 24, April 15, April 29 and May 6. Registration is required a week in advance.

Check with the district council's community calendar for updates on these opportunities.

Fitness Centers - Open Houses

Both Conway Rec Center and Battle Creek Rec Center are the sites of neighborhood Fitness Centers. Residents can join the Fitness Club at the centers for $30/year and have access to fitness equipment and showers. Participants must be over 16 years of age, and must have tennis shoes to wear in the fitness rooms.

To learn more about this great (money-saving and healthy) opportunity, there will be two open houses - one at each center - in February. The Battle Creek Open House is February 7 from 1-3p and the Conway Open House is February 28 from 1-3p. At each open house you can learn how to use the equipment, see how to use an on-line tracking system for your activities, learn about warm ups and stretches, view a video and more. Bring your tennis shoes to the open house, too!!

For more information, contact Battle Creek Rec at 651.501.6347 or Conway Rec at 651.501.6343. This information is also on our community calendar at www.district1council.org under the News drop-down menu...

Thinking of Valentine's Day??

Here is a unique gift to give your loved ones for Valentine's Day. Consider dedicating a tree for a St. Paul park. We are likely to lose a lot of trees from our parks due to the Emerald Ash Borer. Wouldn't it be nice to have a new tree planted in the park for someone you love??

You can order a tree from the Friends of the Parks and Trails of St. Paul and Ramsey County for $75 and designate it for any park in St. Paul or Ramsey County.

Send a check to the Friends of the Parks and Trails, 1621 Beechwood Ave., St. Paul, MN 55116 with the name and address of the person who will receive the dedication card. And specify which park you prefer and how you want the card signed.

For additional information, visit the Friends of the Parks website.

Former Highwood Hills Teacher to be Mpls Superintendent

Bernadeia Johnson, nominated as the only candidate for the Minneapolis Schools Superintendent, is a former fifth grade teacher at Highwood Hills Elementary School in the 1990s.

We know that the Highwood Hills alumni, and neighbors, wish her the best as she moves into her new position.

Fare For All in District 1

The Emergency Food Network has two sites for healthy foods distribution in our area. These programs are open to everyone regardless of income level. They accept credit cards, EBT cards, cash - just not personal checks.

They have meat baskets, vegetarian baskets, monthly specials and the regular mix of foods available for purchase.

Grace Lutheran Church (1730 Old Hudson Rd.) has the traditional Fare For All, which requires pre-ordering at least 5 days in advance of the pick up date. Go to this link and click on the Traditional Fare for All in the upper tool bar. Then you can order your food by calling 763.450.3880. Pick ups occur on the following dates (Saturdays) at 7-10a:

• January 23
• February 20
• March 20
• April 17
• May 22
• June 19
• July 24
• August 21
• September 18
• October 16
• November 13
• December 11

At Hazel Park United Church of Christ (1831 Minnehaha) has the Express Fare For All. This service does NOT require pre-ordering. You can just show up on the distribution day and select the type of food pack you would like. They also accept cash, EBT cards, and credit or debit cards, but no personal checks.

Express Fare For All distribution dates are (Wednesdays) at 4-6p on the following dates:

• February 3
• March 3
• May 5
• June 2
• July 7
• August 4
• September 1
• September 29
• October 27
• November 24

These services are a great way to make sure that everyone in our community has the chance to get affordable, nutritious food.

For more information, contact Fare For All at 763.450.3880

Psychological Stresses of Lay-offs

Linda Schmid, Clinical Director of Crisis Connection, will lead a discussion on the psychological stages one goes through when losing a job on Wednesday, February 24 at 6:30p at the Daytons Bluff Public Library (645 E. 7th St.). The event is called "Surviving and Thriving After a Lay-Off."

Refreshments will be served. Call 651.793.1699 for more information.

Submitted by the St. Paul Public Library

Removal of Ash Trees - Community Meeting

There will be a meeting on Tuesday, January 26 at the Daytons Bluff Rec Center (800 Conway St.) at 6p to discuss how the city plans to deal with removing ash trees.

Starting in February, the city is going to start removing ash trees in a systematic way to help stop the spread of the Emerald Ash Borer. The trees will be removed, the stumps ground down and then new trees planted to replace the ash trees.

This program is supported by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and will be carried out by St. Paul's Forestry Department.

Training Opportunities Available

The district councils in St. Paul regularly hold trainings for people who are interested in serving as board and committee members in our organizations. These are free trainings that focus on issues such as "Board Basics", zoning and licensing, crime prevention, and conflict management. The get-togethers are held at different locations around St. Paul, usually in the evening. Neighbors from all over the city have a chance to meet and talk about how they can make their communities better places.

The upcoming meetings are:

• Board Basics, Saturday, Feb 6, 9:30a-noon at Oxford Community Center, 270 N. Lexington Parkway (near Central High School)
• Zoning and Licensing, Wednesday, March 10, 6p-8:30p at North Dale Rec Center, 1414 St. Albans St. (not too far from Como Park)
• Community Building and Crime Prevention, Thursday, April 22, 6p-8:30p at Hancock Rec Center, 1610 Hubbard (near Hamline University)

YOU MUST PRE-REGISTER TO ATTEND THESE MEETINGS!! But if you are interested in working to improve your neighborhood, call us at 651.578.7600 and we can get you registered. Or contact Diane Wanner at diane.wanner@ci.stpaul.mn.us and let her know you would like to attend from District 1.

Some of the earlier versions of these opportunities are available on-line as videos.

Board Basics

Zoning and Licensing

January Board Meeting in Eastview

We invite community members, especially those living in the Eastview neighborhood, to join us at the Merrick Community Services Center, 1526 E. Sixth Street, for our board meeting. This meeting will focus on what you would like to see happen in the neighborhood in the next few years.

There is a proposal to put a 100 ft wireless service tower on the Eastview Park property, and the Cemstone property is for sale and will ultimately be developed. This meeting is a chance to have input into what happens in the neighborhood. It is also an opportunity to talk about any concerns you may have.

The meeting will be from 6:30 - 8:30p in the Community Center which is attached to Harding High School but on the 6th Street side. Parking is available in the lot and on the street.

We hope to see you there!

Update on Emerald Ash Borer

As you may have heard, the St. Paul City Council has passed an ordinance that declares the emerald ash borer a public nuisance. This allows them to inspect ash trees on private property and order removal of those trees if an infestation is found.

Here is a link to a more general update on the ash borer.

Parent Info Fair for Public Schools

This is short notice, but the Parent Information Fair for the St. Paul Public School system is this Saturday, January 9 from 9:30a to 2p at the St. Paul RiverCentre, 175 W. Kellogg Blvd. The event will be in the Grand Ballroom.

There will be one-on-one assistance in the enrollment process; activities for families; interpreters in Hmong, Spanish, Somali, Vietnamese, Oromo, Amharic, Khmer, Karen and American Sign Language; free shuttles to and from the fair; and private, parochial and charter school info also.

Submitted by SPPS

Disposing of Treated Wood

You know that lumber that is treated so that it doesn't decay, or that it decays more slowly?? Well, if you are trying to get rid of it you need to know a few things.

First of all - do not burn it in your fireplace or woodstove or even in an outdoor firepit!! It is dangerous to burn it in your house, and it is against the law to burn it outdoors. The wood is treated with highly toxic chemicals and is a risk to everyone, but especially to those with asthma, heart disease, or respiratory diseases.

Second - do not dispose of it in the trash. There are only certain facilities that accept treated wood and lumber. In St. Paul, Twin City Refuse at 318 W. Water St (651.227.1549) accepts this material for disposal.

Safety first for you and your family. And safety for the environment in which we all live.

There are safe alternatives to this material. Check out the Ramsey County website for information.

Girl Scout Cookie Time Starting January 16!

An expected 40,000 girls throughout the Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valley's jurisdiction will take orders starting January 16 for everyone's favorite cookies: Thin Mints, Samoas, Trefoils, Tagalongs, Do-Si-Dos, Dulce de Leche and Lemon Chalet Cremes.

But this year the Girl Scouts are introducing a new cookie - Thank U Berry Munch - which contains Ocean Spray cranberries.

The Cookie Program Activity is the only girl-led real world business skills development program that grows with the girls. As girls advance through different grade levels, they are challenged to develop new skill sets and meet new goals.

The Cookie Program Activity continues for 10 weeks, concluding on March 28. Cookie booths will open February 28. An online booth locator will be available at this location starting in late February.

All proceeds from the sales ($3.50/box) stay with the local scout units, with only $0.85 going to the baker. The money supports outdoor living activities, financial management, local and worldwide travel, and local community service projects. And the "Cookie Care and Share" program is an opportunity to purchase cookies for troops to deliver to recipient organizations, chosen by local troops.

Submitted by Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys

Gardening News

As the New Year begins, many residents in the Twin Cities are busying themselves with planning their community garden plots for the coming season. Although the number of community gardens in the Twin Cities has grown significantly in the past decade, there are still more gardeners than plots as well as continuing nutrition issues (see our blog entry of November 12). This is a great time to start organizing and planning a new community garden in the Conway/Eastview neighborhoods north of I-94. Throughout the last several months, different organizations, residents and student groups have been introduced to the proposal of a garden, often with great enthusiasm. Unfortunately, the two formal meetings concerning a garden have yielded few emerging leaders within the community to take the garden proposal from paper to the soil.

The District 1 Council has recently hired environmental sustainability intern, Michael Higgins, to continue this project through the end of March. During this time he hopes to establish a small group of committed residents within the neighborhood to help organize, register for and plan this project, as well as maintain the property and coordinate participants once the garden is successfully actualized. We encourage any community member - whether it be you or someone you know - to contact Michael to clarify what you would like to see in a community garden and what you can do to encourage its creation.

Contact Michael Higgins - higgins.michael2@gmail.com or call the District Council at 651.578.7600.