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Update from the Executive Director
Spring weather has finally arrived and driven people out of their winter hibernation in droves! Bicyclers, joggers, dog-walkers, picnickers and those simply out soaking up some vitamin D have come pouring out into the streets and sidewalks the past several days. Our neighborhood parks, walkways and bike trails have been in high demand!
As the snow has melted, the flotsam and jetsam remains for another few weeks until the rescheduled May 12
Earth Day Neighborhood Cleanup arrives.
In the meantime, members and guests are invited to join us on Thursday, May 3, to meet your local Park Board Commissioners, Jono Cowgill and Chris Meyer who will talk about the challenges and the opportunities they see for the Park Board ahead, as well as any special initiatives they're working on. This is your chance to let them know your interests and concerns! MCC members register here; guests contact Betsy Wray.
For those who enjoy studying history and learning more about its impact on our lives today, the Sharing World Culture Through Ancient Manuscripts presentation at RiverWest on April 30 and the day trip to Collegeville to take the St. John's Bible and Hill Museum and Manuscript Library Tour on May 4 are a must! Join your MCC friends for both and double your learning! To register for Sharing World Culture through Ancienct Manuscripts,
click here. To register for the St. John's Collegeville day trip,
click here.
MILL CITY COMMONS: We learn. We share. We engage. We give.
~ Joan Wright
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Last Tuesday Happy Hour
Tuesday, April 24, 5:00 - 6:00 pm
Stray Dog, 401 E Hennepin Ave
 Join us for Last Tuesday Happy Hour at Stray Dog Restaurant & Bar in Northeast. Hosted by Pat Hoven and Penny Hunt, this gathering is a time to catch up with friends and neighbors over drinks and small bites. Dutch treat--no reservations required! If you wish to stay for dinner, reservations may be made by calling (612) 378-2855.
MCC members and guests. No registration required. |
Social Bridge
Wednesday, April 25, 3:00 - 5:00 pm 
Washburn Lofts, 700 S 2nd St
Join bridge players for a round of social bridge; levels of expertise and experience vary. Bring a partner if you can, and remember to register both yourself and your partner. Questions? Contact Carol Jordan at [email protected].
MCC members sign up here; guests email MCC. |
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Driven to Discover: Stories of Students Leading Social Change
Wednesday, April 25, 7:00 - 8:30 pm
Lourdes Square, 186 Bank St SE
Acara is a program of the University's Institute on the Environment that annually teaches 150 to 200 undergraduate and graduate students to identify local and global real-world problems and design solutions to them, which are then incorporated into functioning projects. The best are subsequently funded with grants ranging from $500 to $10,000. Examples include Kaloli Energy, which is turning urban trash into cooking fuel in order to decrease deforestation and air pollution in Uganda; My Rain, a successful business in India that distributes low-cost drip irrigation technology; and Minnesota Freedom Fund, a local nonprofit working to eliminate bail for people charged with misdemeanors. Come and hear inspirational stories about University of Minnesota students and alumni working to address important social problems, and bring your ideas for projects, both local and international, which they might undertake.
MCC members sign up here. |
Our Turn
Thursday, April 26, 1:30 - 3:00 pm 
Mill City Quarter, 322 2nd St S
MCC women, you're invited to attend Our Turn: A Conversation for Women. This week, host Toni Rosen will lead the discussion on "Restaurants: The Good, the Bad, the Local and the Out of Town." It seems like a record number of new restaurants have popped up around Minneapolis; let's help each other find the best ones for your next evening out. Bring your opinions on the restaurants you like (or don't like), both in town and those unique, "must visit" out-of-town eateries. We'll compile the list of recommendations for all to share.
Our Turn meets every other Thursday, alternating between morning and afternoon times. Hosts and topics change each time.
MCC members sign up here; guests email MCC.
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Sharing World Culture Through Ancient Manuscripts
Monday, April 30, 1:30 - 3:00 pm
RiverWest Community Room, 401 S 1st St
 Come and hear the amazing story of how a small group of Benedictine monks in central Minnesota created a manuscript preservation project that now reaches around the world. When the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library (HMML) of St. John's Abbey began microfilming manuscripts 50 years ago, there was no internet and no virtual reality. There were, however, manuscripts in monasteries in Austria that had been threatened by World War II. Today the manuscript preservation project's geography has expanded to include Turkey, Syria, Ethiopia, India and Mali. Featured on "60 Minutes" last December, the project has gained worldwide attention and acceptance by scholars, governments and interested citizens. This same group of monks produced the St. John's Bible Project, a recently completed effort to reproduce the Bible in calligraphy, by hand, with spectacular illustrations. This informational program is a preview to the MCC day tour to see the St. John's Bible and HMML on Friday, May 4.
MCC members sign up here. |
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Minnesota's Leadership on Clean Energy
Monday, April 30, 7:00 - 8:30 pm
Winslow House, 100 2nd St SE 
Energy decisions are critical to both economic development and environmental performance. Minnesota has used bipartisan policy to grow our clean energy economy, including almost 60,000 family-supporting jobs. Business is also leading the way on renewable energy. We are national leaders in wind and solar energy, as well as in carbon reduction. Learn about next steps and get inspired at this energizing forum. Speaker J. Drake Hamilton is science policy director for Fresh Energy and an expert in climate and energy policy at the state and national level.
MCC members sign up here.
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Birding Walk I
Tuesday, May 1, 7:00 - 9:00 am
Location to be announced
 Celebrate spring with a series of four bird-watching walks along the river! We hope to see migrating warblers and other songbirds. Jamie McBride, Naturalist Education Coordinator with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, will lead the walks along with master birding volunteer Gregg Severson. Locations for the walks to be announced each week.
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Rendezvous Readers' Book Chat
Wednesday, May 2, 9:30 - 10:30 am 
Abiitan's Porter Cafe, 428 2nd St S
Join us to discuss
Ragtime
by E.L. Doctorow. An extraordinary tapestry,
Ragtime
captures the spirit of America in the era between the turn of the century and the First World War. The story opens in 1906 in New Rochelle, New York, at the home of an affluent American family. One lazy Sunday afternoon, the famous escape artist Harry Houdini swerves his car into a telephone pole outside their house. And almost magically, the line between fantasy and historical fact, between real and imaginary characters, disappears. Henry Ford, Emma Goldman, J. P. Morgan, Evelyn Nesbit, Sigmund Freud and Emiliano Zapata slip in and out of the tale, crossing paths with Doctorow's imagined family and other fictional characters, including an immigrant peddler and a ragtime musician from Harlem whose insistence on a point of justice drives him to revolutionary violence.
If you'd like to read ahead, June's book is The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell. Have a book suggestion for the Book Chat? Email [email protected].
MCC members and guests. No registration required. |
Men's Coffee and Conversation
Thursday, May 3, 7:30 - 8:30 am
Elsie's Restaurant, 729 Marshall St NE
 It's caffeine and camaraderie for the male members of MCC and guests! This group meets every other Thursday and is hosted by various members who get the conversation going. Please register by the Monday prior to Men's Coffee and Conversation. This week, MCC member Dick Kavaney hosts speaker Jen Stern. Learn about how Great MN Schools (GMS) is making strategic investments in proven and promising schools, providing the expert guidance, funding and resources great schools need to grow and succeed. Jen Stern, CEO, will join us to share GMS' perspective on the current state of Minneapolis schools and share the strategies GMS is pursuing to triple the number of underserved kids in Minneapolis attending high-performing schools to 10,000.
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Meet Your Local Representatives: Park Board Commissioners Jono Cowgill & Chris Meyer
Thursday, May 3, 7:00 - 8:30 pm
Minnesota Tech Center, 1100 Washington Ave S 
In this second in an ongoing MCC series, "Meet Your Local Representatives," members and guests will have a chance to hear from Park Board Commissioners Jono Cowgill, representing the 4th District (west side of the river), and Chris Meyer, representing the 1st District (east side of the river). The commissioners will talk about challenges and opportunities they see ahead for the Park Board, as well as any special initiatives they're working on.
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St. John's Bible and Hill Museum & Manuscript Library Tour
Friday, May 4, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm
2835 Abbey Plaza, Collegeville, MN
 In 1998, St. John's Abbey and University commissioned renowned calligrapher Donald Jackson to produce a handwritten, hand-illuminated Bible. Join us on this day tour to St. John's University, where you'll see 28 original folios from the Bible, as well as tools, materials and sketches used in its creation. After lunch in the University Refectory Dining Hall, we'll visit the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library, where Dr. Matthew Heintzelman will showcase a selection of the library's fascinating and beautiful rare book and manuscript collection. We'll leave the North Star Lofts upper parking lot (117 Portland Ave.) at 8:00 am via a rented van and return at approximately 4:30 pm. Cost for the tour is a suggested donation of $3 each (checks made payable to HMML); cost for lunch is $11.25. Cost for the van transportation will depend on the final number of registrants, but it could range from $35 - $65 per person. REGISTRATION DEADLINE: May 2.
MCC members sign up here. |
10 Years...Time to Celebrate!
Monday, May 7, 5:30 - 8:00 pm 
Surly Brewing Co, 520 Malcolm Ave SE
Mill City Commons is celebrating its 10th Anniversary with lots to remember and even more to look forward to! An evening of revelry is "on tap" to kick off our 10th anniversary year at Surly Brewing. View an amazing slideshow of photos old and new, order a signature beer cocktail or non-alcoholic beverage, enjoy an array of delectable appetizers and sit back to enjoy some fun facts about our amazing organization from emcees Bill Davnie and Allan Burdick. Cash bar, with beer and soft drinks only; the fun, food and frolic are free! Carpooling is encouraged.
Registration is now closed. |
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Birding Walk 2
Tuesday, May 8, 7:00 - 9:00 am
Location to be announced
 Celebrate spring with a series of four bird-watching walks along the river! We hope to see migrating warblers and other songbirds. Jamie McBride, Naturalist Education Coordinator with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, will lead the walks along with master birding volunteer Gregg Severson. Locations for the walks to be announced each week.
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MCC Program Calendar
View the full calendar of MCC's April events
here.
Plan ahead! View the full calendar of MCC's May events
here.
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News from Members
MCC Executive Director Joan Wright invites you to be among the first to get a glimpse of Wyndris, Catholic Eldercare's exciting new 62+ community in Northeast Minneapolis. Attend one of three event dates to view architects' renderings, floor plans, and learn about featured amenities. April 24, 25 and 26, 2:00 pm, 149 8th Ave NE, Minneapolis. For more information, contact Diane Lucas (612) 227-2902 or
[email protected].
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Around Town
Mill City Farmer's Market
April 28, 10:00 am-1:00 pm, Mill City Museum, 704 S 2nd St
It's the last indoor market of the season! Shop from over 40 local farmers, food vendors and artists for unique, handmade items and weekly groceries. Starting May 5, the market will move back outdoors with extended hours from 8:00 am-1:00 pm. Learn more here.
ellipse
April 28, 6:00-8:30 pm, Form+Content Gallery, 210 2nd St N, Ste 104
Come to an opening reception to see Jim Dryden's exploration of the relationships between painting, sculpture and video and the many ways in which a singular, abstract shape might function as a mode of personal and political communication. Learn more here. Exhibit runs through June 2.
Love Never Forgets
June 16, 2:00-3:30 pm, Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, 345 Washington St, St. Paul
Giving Voice Chorus, in collaboration with the American Composers Forum and MacPhail Center for Music, will present Love Never Forgets. This inspiring world premiere concert features the first-ever choral work illuminating life with Alzheimer's - written with and performed by people with the disease and their caregivers sharing their stories, their voices and their creative passion. Tickets can be purchased here or at the Ordway ticket office. Purchase early; this show is expected to sell out.
Mill City Times is a local website devoted specifically to our neighborhood and a place to go to find out what's happening, whether it's a new restaurant opening, a local event, proposed construction, volunteer opportunities and more.
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Volunteer Opportunities
Click
here
for community volunteer opportunities on the MCC website!
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MCC Ongoing Social Opportunities
Dutch Treat
Social Hour
Mondays, 4:00-5:00 pm
Jefe Urban Hacienda
219 Main St SE
Drop in for an afternoon coffee or drink and a casual chat. No reservations
required.
Guthrie Play Reading
Tuesday, 5/1,
6:30-9:30 pm
North Star Group
Wednesday, 5/2,
6:30-9:30 pm
Groups will be reading "An Enemy of the People"
Rendezvous
Readers' Book Chat
1st Wednesday of the month, 9:30-10:30 am
Abiitan's Porter Cafe
428 2nd St S
No reservations required.
Ragtime
by E.L. Doctorow
Rendezvous on 5
Wednesdays, 9-10 am
Guthrie Theater Level 5 Express
Drop in and join your friends and neighbors for fellowship at this neighborhood haunt. This weekly adventure requires no reservations!
Social Bridge
Every other Wednesday, 3:00-5:00 pm
Washburn Lofts,
700 2nd St S
Enjoy a round of social bridge. Be sure to register on the website!
Men's Coffee and Conversation
Elsie's Restaurant,
729 Marshall Street NE
Caffeine and camaraderie for the male members of MCC! This group meets every other Thursday at 7:30 am and is hosted by various members who get the conversation going.
Our Turn: A Conversation for Women
Relax and chat with other MCC women. This group meets every other Thursday and alternates between morning and afternoon times. Look for details in the body of this newsletter.
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| Mill City Commons Ongoing Fitness Opportunities
G-Werx Fitness,
An exclusive opportunity for members, this weekly class focuses on strength, balance
and stretching to keep you fit and strong.
First time participants, please contact G-Werx Fitness at (612) 767-4415 and arrive 20 minutes early to complete paperwork. Cost varies depending on commitment.
River Walkers Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7:30-8:30 am Stone Arch Lofts Riverside Parking Lot
All levels of walkers are welcome for this early morning walk along the banks of the Mississippi River. An MCC volunteer leads each walk.
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Ongoing Member-Led Activities
MCC Caregivers' Support Group
2nd and 4th Wednesdays,
January - April,
10:30 am-12:00 pm
A way to support members and non-members who are or have been in a caregiving role. For more information, contact
Betsy Wray.
Exploring Meditation
Mill City Quarter,
322 2nd St S
Every Tuesday,
9:30-10:30 am
Clear the clutter in your mind, reduce stress and increase the feeling of calm in your life.
Men's Dutch Lunch
Abiitan's Porter Cafe
428 2nd St S
Alternating Thursdays at 11:30 am
April 26 & May 10
This casual, dutch treat lunch alternates weeks with Men's Coffee and Conversation. No reservations required! Questions? Contact
Allan Burdick.
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