Cleaning up yards after the storm?

Ramsey County residents cleaning up after recent storms have expanded options for disposing of yard debris. The County will open its four yard waste collection sites that accept tree and shrub waste two extra days this week.

The County’s yard waste collection sites are normally closed on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but will be open on Tuesday, June 25, and Thursday, June 27, to give residents extra days to dispose of yard waste, including tree and shrub waste. The Arden Hills, Frank and Sims, Midway and White Bear Township yard waste sites will be open the following days and times:

            Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

            Tuesday, and Thursday, 12 noon to 7 p.m.

            Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

            Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Drop-off  at County yard waste collection sites is free and open to residents of Ramsey County only. Waste is not accepted from businesses. Please bring an  I.D. 

If you have questions, need a map to the yard waste sites, or need to know where to dispose of items not accepted, call the Ramsey County Recycling & Disposal Hotline at 651-633-EASY (3279).  This hotline is answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Or you can visit the online A-to-Z Disposal Guide at RamseyAtoZ.com.  For questions about business waste, call 651-266-1199.

Also, the City of St. Paul is allowing residents to get their help with curbside hauling of debris IF THE DEBRIS IS AT THE CURB BY FRIDAY JUNE 29 AND you call 651.632.5129 and notify the forestry hotline.

Splash pad opening a big success

A fun time was had by all!!

Thanks to everyone who came out last week to celebrate the opening of the Conway Park splash pad. The Conway Rec Center staff did a great job of turning this opening into a festive occasion - and the weather cooperated - no rain, but enough heat to make running through the water seem like a great idea!!

Families were treated to a hot dog supper, a bounce castle, games, and some free gifts, as well as the fun of the main event. Oh yeah, and Parks designer Anne Gardener, Parks official Gwen Peterson, and City Council President Kathy Lantry spoke. District 1 thanked the residents who worked to make the splash pad and the adjacent play area possible - Eric Widi, Erika Martin, Susan Hommes, Mary Brownlow, and Hope Schirmer. Thanks everyone!! This is a great asset to the neighborhood in these hot summer days.

Fourth of July Fireworks

WHAT: The City of Saint Paul will once again celebrate America’s independence with a traditional fireworks show from downtown Saint Paul on July 4th. Those interested in viewing the fireworks are encouraged to carpool, take public transportation, or use alternative forms of transportation to get to the city, and are advised to allow extra time for travel. Similar to past years, there will be no parking in the neighborhoods immediately surrounding the viewing area.

WHERE: The fireworks show will take place from Saint Paul’s downtown riverfront area, near Harriet Island Regional Park. Harriet Island will be open for those wishing to bring a blanket and enjoy the show. Additional recommended areas in downtown for viewing include Kellogg Mall Park along Kellogg Blvd, Indian Mounds Park, Raspberry Island and the Science Museum of Minnesota Stairs.

WHEN: Dusk (about 10:15 p.m.)

KEY INFO: Areas of Shepard Road will be closed before and after the fireworks show, and signs will be posted at least 48 hours in advance.

And of course, there are also good views from the Highway 61 overlook...

Mayor Coleman talks Budget in District 1 July 29

Mayor Chris Coleman will host four resident meetings open to all residents this summer leading into 2014 city budget decisions. Area councilmembers and budget department officials will join the Mayor for discussion with residents at each stop. The purpose of these meetings is to discuss with residents the challenges faced in the budget this year and issues important to them. Meetings are scheduled for:

·         Tuesday, July 16, 2013, 4-5 pm, El Burrito Mercado,  175 Cesar Chavez St., 55107, with City Councilmember Dave Thune

·         Wednesday, July 17, 2013, 8-9 am, Kopplin’s Coffee, 2038 Marshall Ave., 55104, with City Councilmembers Russ Stark and Chris Tolbert

·         Saturday, July 27, 12-1 pm, Rice Street Library community room, 1011 Rice Street, 55117, with City Councilmember Amy Brendmoen

·         Monday, July 29, 4-5 pm, Byerley’s community room, 1959 Suburban Avenue, 55119, with City Council President Kathy Lantry

Residents also have an opportunity to share their ideas, opinions and input on the 2014 city budget by sending an email via the city website. A budget suggestion web form can be found at www.stpaul.gov/budgetideas. Those with good ideas in 140 characters or less are encouraged to tweet at Mayor Coleman (handle: @mayorcoleman) using the hashtag #stpaulbudget. Mayor Coleman will consider all suggestions in any of these forms—whether at a community meeting, via email or on Twitter.

Conway Splashpad Opening 6/20

Remember to join us, Thursday June 20 from 5-7p at Conway Rec Center for the official opening of the splashpad. There will be a ceremony, a jump castle and a climbing wall also, in addition to the splashpad and the fantastic new playground.

This promises to be a fun summer at the park. So come check it out and help us celebrate.

Parks Double Dutch Challenge

It’s back and flying higher than ever. The Jump Jam Double Dutch Challenge is a free, 10-week program that teaches adults and children over the age of 10 how to prepare for a jump rope competition—but that’s just the beginning.

In its second year, the program has been expanded to include weeks devoted to such topics as nutrition, building community and physical fitness. It all leads up to the Jump Jam Double Dutch Challenge final competition August 24 at the Oxford/Jimmy Lee Recreation Center in Saint Paul.

“People had a great time doing the Double Dutch challenge last year, and now we’ve expanded it to include so much more than rope jumping,” said Christina McCoy, YWCA Saint Paul Director of Youth Development. “This is a big win for the community--there’s no cost to participate and we’ll be hiring coaches through the Saint Paul Youth Job Corps.”

Registration for the program is open until June 19, 2013. People can register at any of the three participating recreation centers: 
El Rio Vista Recreation Center / Wellstone Community Center, 179 Robie Street East
Oxford/Jimmy Lee Recreation Center, 270 Lexington Pkwy North
Dayton’s Bluff Recreation Center, 790 Conway Ave

The program runs from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday from June 17 through August 23. The final competition, featuring finalists from each recreation center, is from 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. on Saturday, August 24. Jump Jam is sponsored by the YWCA Saint Paul, HealthPartners and the City of Saint Paul.

Health benefits of jumping rope

Jumping rope for five to 10 minutes a day can provide the same health benefits as 30 minutes of jogging, two sets of tennis singles or 18 holes of golf, according to the Jump Rope Institute.  In addition, jumping helps improve spatial awareness, reading skills, memory and mental alertness.

Watch a fun video from the final challenge last summer.

Conway Rec Update

The Conway Community Advisory Group (CCAG) met last night to assess the one proposal that we received for the potential partnership at Conway Rec Center. The proposal was from the Sanneh Foundation. Last night's meeting was the first time that the advisory group members had heard any specifics about the submission at all. The CCAG will be asking for clarification of and more detail about what the Sanneh Foundation proposes for the center and, depending on the results of our requests, we would expect to hold a community meeting where neighbors can meet with Mr. Sanneh and his staff in late July.

There isn't much more to report at this time. We hope to have the clarification and details from Mr. Sanneh in a month. At that point we can give folks more information, and we will be able to make a decision about how to move forward.

Again, our goal is to have IMPROVED services and programming at Conway. Being careful and thorough is how we expect to reach that goal.

Thanks for your patience.

Preliminary Report on the FIRST Spring Clean Up

Our metal collection rocks!!

So this is the first year that we have partnered with the Daytons Bluff Community Council to hold a joint spring community clean up. We held the event on Saturday, June 1 at Harding High School in the parking lot. In previous years, our two organizations have held separate events, both in the fall. We decided it made much more sense to work together and give our communities the opportunity to clear out their stuff twice a year - once in the spring and once in the fall.

The initial review of participation tells us this was a good idea for everyone involved. Our participation was up 3% over the District 1 5 year average, with 237 households participating. This is a 25% increase over the District 1 event we held last October. Of those households, 23 were seniors who had our volunteer pick up crews come to their homes to haul away their stuff. This number is actually significantly down from previous years (by about 50%), but we account for this by the late date that we notified seniors of the option.

We had a total of 45 volunteers help us out on June 1, including a number from Daytons Bluff, 5 residents from Totem Town (and 2 staff members), and a couple of high school students doing community service toward their graduation requirements. We had 5 crews of volunteers who went to seniors' homes to help them out - and these fabulous folks have committed to providing this service again for the fall clean up.

More details will come later about the tonnage of stuff brought in and salvaged, but we had a dumpster and a half of metals, over a dumpster of mattresses, and a full dumpster of cardboard. Word from Eureka is that our tonnage of reuse was up, too - we will wait and see how it pans out... not as many bicycles and lawnmowers this year as in the past.

Many, many thanks to our fabulous volunteers, to Harding High School for providing the space, to Little Oven and Brueggers Bagels for keeping us well-fed, and to everyone who cleared out their homes and cleaned up the 'hood.

Look for the Fall Clean Up on September 14!

Free Summer Meals for Area Children

Several of our area schools and recreation centers will be hosting free meals this summer for youth now that school is out.

Battle Creek Middle School - 2121 North Park - 6/10-8/15 with breakfast from 7-8a and lunch from 10:30-12:30p
Battle Creek Elementary School - 60 S. Ruth St - 7/29-8/9 with breakfast from 10-11a and lunch from 11:30a-12p

Conway Rec Center - 2090 Conway St. - 6/12-8/22 with breakfast from 12:30p-1p and supper from 4-4:30p
Battle Creek Rec Center - 75 S. Winthrop - 6/12-8/22 with breakfast from 9-10a and lunch from 3-4p


There will also be a snack provided for kids at Eastview Park on SUNNY MONDAYS AND TUESDAYS along with the Roaming Rec program activities between 1-4p starting June 10.