Please join the Summit Hill Association on Tuesday, May 29, 2018 from 6:30 to 7:30 PM at the Linwood Recreation Center, 860 Saint Clair Avenue for a round-table discussion about recent youth-involved altercations taking place at Linwood Park. CityCouncilmember Rebecca Noecker, along with leaders from Saint Paul Police Department and Parks and Recreation will be on hand to answer your questions. We will be sharing updated information about new security cameras and lighting being installed at the Linwood Recreation Center, and will also be reviewing suggestions about security practices for all of us as we enter the spring and summer months. Please join us for this important conversation.
Thanks to a grant from the Capitol Region Watershed District, the Summit Hill Association (SHA) has partnered with the second-grade teachers and students at Linwood Monroe Arts Plus Lower School to bring community awareness about rain gardens to our neighbors. Through its Environment and Beautification Committee, SHA purchased grow lights, seeds and supplies for the students so they could begin growing a variety of rain garden-hardy plants for the large rain garden at the Linwood Recreation Center on St. Clair Avenue.
On Wednesday, May 23, the students will come to Linwood Recreation Center for a field day, when they will plant their seedlings in the rain garden and learn about rain gardens from a certified Water Steward. They will learn about the “adopt a drain” program, and why it’s vital to our water system. And, the students will also work with local artist Annie Hejny, who uses river water and sediment to create beautiful paintings, to create their own art with natural materials. The students will have a picnic lunch, and have time to play at the playground.
Then, on Wednesday, June 13 from 5:30 to 7 pm, Annie Hejny will present the final paintings from the Linwood Lower School Field Day at the WaterStories Art Activity in the Linwood Recreation Center. These paintings--made with the river/runoff water from the Field Day event--will be a visual and tactical summary of our Water Stewardship collaboration. Refreshments will be provided, and all neighbors are welcome!
Because of the recent snow, the Neighborhood Cleanup Day, co-sponsored by the SHA Environment Committee and the Capitol Regional Watershed District and originally scheduled for Saturday, April 21, has been cancelled for that date and rescheduled for Saturday, May 5. Environment Committee members will join the Linwood Girl Scout troops and interested local neighbors from 9 am to 11:30 am at Linwood Recreation Center, 860 St. Clair Avenue. Supplies to pick up trash and debris will be provided, along with refreshments.
Please join us in getting our neighborhood ready to enjoy in upcoming months! Donate a few hours and make it a family service project. Any questions can be directed to the SHA office at 651-222-1222.
Support your neighborhood and cross a few spring planting needs off your list when you purchase plants from Gertens through the Summit Hill Association. A portion of the proceeds will go to SHA and have a positive impact on your neighborhood association.
Pre-orders were due by Wednesday, April 10.
All plants will be ready for pickup the morning of Saturday, May 5 from 9 am to 2 pm at the Linwood Recreation Center, where there will also be a limited selection of plants to purchase. Early sales will begin on Friday, May 4 from 11 am to 3 pm.
If you have any questions, please call the SHA office at 651-222-1222.
It’s a treasure hunt and also a way to recycle locally! The annual Summit Hill Association spring garage sale will be held Saturday, May 5 from 9 am to mid-afternoon. A minimum of 20 participants is needed to hold the sale, so please sign up as soon as possible—the deadline is extended to Monday, April 30, 2018.
The sale participation fee is $20 per sale location, which is used to defray the costs of promotion and sale materials. Participants coordinate and staff their own garage sale—and retain all the proceeds. Consider joining together with neighbors to make it an SHA Crime Prevention Block or Building Club social event!
Sales sites receive advance copies of the Garage Sale Sites flyer, two bright-yellow "Summit Hill Garage Sale" posters, and advertising in the Star Tribune, Pioneer Press, Villager, as well as on the SHA website. The Garage Sale Sites flyer will be available at each garage sale site, Linwood Recreation Center, and online on the SHA website.
For items you don't sell and want to donate, you can call the Salvation Army at 612-332-5855 for information about their next-day pickup service and donation acceptance practices.
To participate, just complete this form (to complete digitally, download in Adobe Acrobat Reader, fill in, and email to info@summithillassociation.org) and pay your sale participation fee with PayPal or credit/debit card below by clicking on the "By Now" button--both are due by April 25, and your registration will not be complete until payment is made. Please call the SHA office at 651-222-1222 with any questions.
Location Participation Fee
Sign up for the Summit Hill Progressive Supper and have some fun with your Summit Hill neighbors while enjoying an evening of tasty food. The more people who participate, the more fun (and food!) there is.
Beginning at 6 pm on Saturday, May 5, the evening consists of four courses: appetizers, soup/salad, main course and dessert. After the conclusion of a course, you’ll progress to the next home and your next group of dining companions. Each course offers a new mix of people and cuisine. It’s a low-key, casual way to connect and experience a Summit Hill tradition.
If you want to sign up but aren’t able to accommodate people in your home, the dessert course is for you! Everyone ends the night together for coffee and sweets, and those who can’t host a course provide desserts for the group.
To register, fill out this form (open in Adobe Acrobat Reader to fill out digitally; save and email to info@summithillassociation.org) and click here to pay for tickets ($10 per participant) by credit card or PayPal.
After an unexpected 12" snowfall on January 22, neighbors of the Linwood Monroe Lower School were quick to see the need and help out. Starting at 4 pm, it was clear to neighbors of the school that staff and parent cars were getting stuck. Armed with shovels, they came to help--and then stayed until all cars were freed, checking in with school staff frequently to make sure that all needs were met.
In the meantime, a group of parents from Randolph Heights Elementary heard that students were stuck at the school, called the school and found out that only snacks were available. They called the McDonald's restaurant at West 7th and Jefferson, ordered 15 Happy Meals, and then picked them up and delivered them to the school before 8 pm. Dr. Bryan F. Bass, school principal, sent a letter of thanks to these donors for their generosity.
On January 26, the Summit Hill Association and the City of St. Paul gave the Good Neighbor Award to these three amazing community members. Congratulations!
Laurie McCann Crowell is owner of The Golden Fig on Grand Avenue, which opened in 2007 and continues to be the only grocery and home goods shop on the avenue selling exclusively American-made goods, featuring the full Golden Fig line as well as exceptional chocolates, cheeses, snacks, preserves, gift baskets and much more. She was nominated for the award because of her involvement with the neighborhood and her excellent example of a locally-owned business that grows and evolves with the neighborhood it serves.
Laurie apprenticed under some of the country's top fine foods creators. She attributes much of her gourmet appreciation to and continues to be inspired by Barefoot Contessa's Ina Garten, with whom she worked in East Hampton, NY. Voted one of the "Top 100 Minnesotans to Watch" by Mpls/St. Paul Magazine, she has developed and manufactured her line of specialty foods--available in specialty shops nationwide--in Minneapolis since 1996.
Laurie stays involved in the local food scene by selling at the St. Paul Farmer's Market where she has had a stall since 1997, as well as by appearing regularly on local television program "Twin Cities Live."
Phillip McGraw is on staff with St. Paul Parks and Recreation. He is located at the Linwood Recreation Center. Since 2017, he has been a consistent presence in the community, providing quality programming and leading conversations on how to improve the experience of rec center guests. Along with his team, he listened to the needs of the community. He enjoys kids and volunteers some of his time coaching. He believes that St. Paul is the most livable city in America.
Michael E. Murphy is a former English teacher at St. Olaf and Macalester colleges, and a retired partner from Faegre & Benson (now Faegre Baker Daniels). He grew up at 1069 Fairmount Avenue and attended grade school at St. Luke's (now St. Thomas More) and graduated in 1957 from Cretin High School (now Cretin-Derham Hall). Mike's latest collection of poems, "Songs of Crocus Hill," pays tribute to many Summit Hill memories too sweet to forget. He writes of ice skating out under the stars at "The Olympic Skating Rink" (the flooded-and-frozen courts of the St. Paul Tennis Club) and of a yo-yo salesman doing tricks with a Duncan on the wide stoop in front of Radisky's Linwood Sweetshop at Osceola and Oxford (now a duplex).
Mike also writes of his dad--Minnesota Supreme Court Justice William Patrick Murphy--stepping off the Grand Avenue streetcar, and of Carl Wolf, the German tailor, whose shop was at Grand and Oxford, across from Vince's Pure Oil (now All-American Auto Service). He was nominated to honor his love of language, and for the treasure of memories he has preserved through his poetry.