Guest Post

As we have said before, Summit is Saint Paul's street. Here's a great link to someone's blog that talks about that:

http://athleticmonkey.com/2015/05/20/show-me-the-money/

(and the answer is NO! - we don't think we are rich (and certainly not the week property taxes are due) and YES! we borrow sugar and scribble on sidewalks and hang out — join us!)

The Great Heart

ETA:  This is TONIGHT (May 28)! Hope to see you there!

Our next event will be a special book release event on “The Great Heart, written by Doug Hennes.

The O’Shaughnessy family held Summit Avenue close to their heart, but Ignatius Aloysius O’Shaughnessy was particularly proud of the street, as well as being one of Minnesota’s top philanthropists. Over his lifetime he gave hundreds of millions of dollars to institutions ranging from St. Thomas and St. Catherine’s to the Highland ballfields and a dental clinic for the Visitation sisters. 

The biography is organized into four sections, covering the Stillwater native’s early years and how he became the largest independent oil refiner in the United States; his family life and other interests, including his ownership of the Cleveland Indians and his sponsorship of the men’s basketball team that won the gold medal in the 1936 Olympics; his history of giving, especially to Catholic education; and his later years, honors, and death in 1973.

The reading will be:

THIS Thursday, May 28 • 7:00 pm

at Common Good Books

38 Snelling Ave. S. (between Summit and Grand)

please stop in!

It’s a Garden Stroll Year!

Mark your calendars for Sunday, June 28^th for the highlight of the summer season.

SARPA does our garden strolls every other year (because though they are a lot of fun, they are also a lot of work!) In 2013, we focused on the area between Lexington and Chatsworth, and people responded that they liked the walkability of keeping the tour to a concentrated area. So this year, we are focusing on the oldest part of Summit, stretching from Dale Street east to the Cathedral. 

Included as one of the ten featured gardens will be the extraordinary, French-inspired gardens belonging to Les and Eileen Meltzer, plus a variety of other stops. We also invite you to stop at the lovely public gardens at that end of the Avenue, including Cochran Park, Nathan Hale Park, and the newly-redesigned Lookout Park.

Tickets remain the same price as past years - $10. Instead of an organized tea location, we have opened it up for budding entrepreneurs to sell beverages along the route. Lemonade stands anyone? 

Look for tickets to be sold online (SARPA.org), with Brown Paper Tickets, and at Frattalone’s Ace Hardware Stores and Kowalski’s on Grand Avenue by Memorial Day Weekend.

Proceeds from this year’s event will go to support our upcoming Pedestrian Traffic Safety study. We want to focus on preserving Summit Avenue as the most-walked, noncommercial boulevard in America!

How can you get involved? Well, we still need gardens on the east end of Summit, and we want to present a wide variety. We also need a number of volunteers for the event (your shift will only be for half the time, and you will get a free ticket so you can tour during the other half). And of course, we need ticket-buyers — why not bring a group and make a day of it?