UPDATE Spring/Summer 2003 A Place for Peace Edition Volume 15, No. 2 Cedar Lake Park Is a Place for Peace BY NEIL TREMBLEY, SECRETARY n these times of trouble, when the cacophony of events severs our serenity, and ideals and beliefs are cast aside or I torn asunder, it is meet that our heart find a place to heal and our soul a place to rest. We seek a haven. One where com- muning with nature is not only an exercise in the search for a path to follow, but a guide to find what is needed to survive. Cedar Lake Park is such a place. Among the acres of forest, prairie, and lakeshore we can find what is needed to soothe the psyche. Within this circle, life’s cycle plays out. The trees creak in a sonorous language— speaking of stability and strength. The dormant meadows awaken with the blaze of verdant grasses. Bluebirds flit above the prairie lending their voice to the song of life. And the brittle piling of ice shards upon the shore turns into the gentle lapping of waves upon the beach. Here we seek what Abraham Lincoln called “the better angels of our nature.” Here we nurture our spirit by embracing the revi- talizing force of nature. Cedar Lake Park offers diverse opportunities to find peace, escape, and Here we are at peace. renewal, all within a short distance of downtown Minneapolis. Photos by Meredith Montgomery (unless otherwise noted). North Mound Offers a Great, Wide View of the Lake The mound, located near the pump on the north shore of Cedar Lake, is of uncertain origin. Help Complete On the Horizon Gifts the Trail to the River BY KEITH PRUSSING, CLPA PRESIDENT BY STEVE DURRANT, TREASURER iscussions are ongoing with Cedar Lake Park Association gratefully acknowledges recent contributions in the form of money, city, park, county, state and t has been a wonderful spring. It is a real stocks, materials, volunteer time and in-kind services, memorials and gifts. Since the last Update, Dfederal elected officials con- contributions have been received from: cerning the off-road alignment (in spring, with no lingering winter, nor early the railroad trench) of the Cedar Edward Axt Jean McBean Robert Silverman Lake Regional Trail to the Mississippi hot summer. Rains have been abundant, Lawrence Baker Gwendolyn &Preben Mosborg Bruce & Julia Taber River. This alignment would com- I Letitia Basford Steven & Cynthia Mueller Pat Thompson plete a connection between the and it is very green. The park is beautiful. There Robert & Pamela Berkwitz Gwen & Mason Myers Gael Thompson Minneapolis Chain of Lakes and the Tom Bugbee Michael Nystuen Houry Vitale are many places and opportunities to find river, a vision first conceived 100 Sharon Bunnell Bob & Mary Peplin Mark Wernick & Mary Entwistle years ago. peace. It is a joy to be in the park, and we are Kenneth & Judy Dayton Walter & Harriet Pratt Sylvia & Dennis Wilson At present, there is federal and David & Vanessa Dayton Walter & Harriet Pratt city funding for a connection that fortunate to have such a place that offers Peretz Dworsky Ed & Jan Prescott Correction: Virginia Puzak— travels on city streets for three Dale & Lorene Falk Virginia Puzak contribution in memory of so much. blocks, with crossings at three inter- Watch out for Ned Foster & Laura Tiffany Ernest Reinsmith William Holbrook, former sections. We hope to be able to uti- However, all is not good. Recently, there Arlene Fried Jean Roberts member of Minneapolis Park lize this concept as a local, north poison ivy! Art & Joan Higinbotham Wiliam & Jacqueline Rudelius Board loop spur, and obtain funding for Poison Ivy is abundant in certain areas have been assaults on the Regional Trail near Linda Huhn Patricia & David Shirley the preferred alignment. It is very of the park. It does have wildlife value. Vivian Mason Margaret & Davis Shryer clear that without private involve- And, it causes a severe, itching skin reac- downtown. Elsewhere in the park, vandalism ment, this will not happen. tion in certain susceptible individuals. has occurred. The portable toilets are gone, A working group has been The oil is transmitted by contact with the formed, composed of private citi- plant. due to budget constraints.. Graffitti appears on Thanks to Volunteers zens, public officials, and city staff. You can be exposed if your dog runs It is led by this Association. In June Fay Atchison Peter Neubeck through it and then touchs you. You can trees, and trash is scattered. It is noisy near and July, we will be offering tours of Chris Carlson Corky Peterson get it on your shoes or legs. Learn to the downtown area to public offi- the bridge construction, and dirt settles on the Dan Dailey Doris Peterson identify jewelweed, usually found nearby. cials and other citizens as we build Benjamin and Nicolas Keith Prussing Crushed and rubbed on exposed areas, it support. We continue to be hopeful lakes. Exotics such as garlic mustard proliferate. Bob Day Chuck Rhines will remedy the oil. of a successful outcome, and invite Paul Deal Tom Rice New trails are opened by bikes in sensitive your financial support. Peter Durrant Erik Roth areas. The fishing dock is gone, and milfoil Steve Durrant John Richter Ned Foster Martha Richter grows with less mowing. A train station is Linda Huhn Dorene Scriven Ruth Jones Paisley Svensson proposed. The canal wall detiorates. Grass is David Klopp D’Ann Topoluk Welcome to New Board Members mowed less often. Gregg Klopp Neil Trembley Wielding a buckthorn wrench, a volunteer Bob Lazear Carol White ed and his wife, Laura Tiffany, have Public monies are contracting, as the Laurie Lundy Brian Willette worker from Bet Shalom makes short work lived “in the park” at the North end of the invasive, non-native shrub. Mary McGee Carol White demand for amenities and services increases. Jim McPherson Lloyd White Nof the Hidden Beach block of Many groups and facilities and programs are Meredith Montgomery Upton Avenue since 1987. Ned jogs or walks competing for limited funds. It will get worse his dog in the park virtually every day and has Visit Our Website: www.cedarlakepark.org watched the park evolve over the years. He before it gets better. On June 17, we will be unveiling the new, decided it was time to serve on the board to Now, more than ever, it is vital that people improved version of the CLPA website, help provide the perspective of the residents contribute to those things that are important www.cedarlakepark.org. This resource is the that live closest to the park. to the quality of life in our community. Cedar repository of all that we do. The site contains He is a strong supporter of buckthorn Lake Park is such a place, and the park exists maps, photos, newsletters, the concept master removal, and not just because it improves his plan, news and events, links to other resources, view of the lake! Ned worked for the due to the committed actions of many people New board member Ned Foster. New board member Linda Huhn. and ways to participate and contribute. It is the Minneapolis Community Development Agency over several years. There continues to be much story of the park and trail since 1850, and is for eight years before becoming a commercial Linda Huhn is a freelance event/nature pho- she is an avid gardener, lifelong environmental- to do. Please contribute financially, or volun- used extensively. The new edition will be easier mortgage banker in 1989, and now works for tographer who did some photography for ist, and currently on the Minnesota Native teer your time. to navigate, and have many more features. Towle Financial Services, a division of Wells CLPA back in its early days. A 25+ year resi- Plant Society Board. Check it out. Fargo Bank. dent homeowner in the Wedge neighborhood, 2•Cedar Lake Park Update • Spring/Summer 2003 Cedar Lake Park Update • Spring/Summer 2003 • 3 PROJECTS IN THE PARK Peaceful Places Around Cedar Lake Park and Trail BY KEITH PRUSSING will be a major biking extravaganza this sum- mer, as part of the Mayor’s efforts to promote 17 1 3 5 Buckthorn removal has taken place in silent sport, and have a major event occurring the park in several areas. A group of volunteers in each season. from Benilde-St. Margaret, assisted by Park The consultants studying the future Board staff and neighbors, worked on a fine transportation possibilities in the spring morning at Hidden Beach. Native plants Southwest Corridor have been presenting were also installed. Also, men, women and an ongoing series of neighborhood meetings. children from Bet Shalom congregation offered The Midtown Greenway Coalition board has mitzvah (loving service) in the Western gone on record as favoring streetcar/trolley Extension at the pedestrian bridge near the access only through the Greenway, with light Jewish Community Center. Buckthorn was 4 6 rail or diesel hybrid buses (on rails) for the 16 2 pulled using weed wrenches, and trash was potential routes such as Southwest, Nicollet gathered.. Finally, Hennepin County crews are Ave, or Lyndale Ave. into downtown continuing their labors, with cutting in the Minneapolis. There is the possibility of a sta- area of W. 21st Street as well as in the tion near the junction of the Cedar Lake and Kenilworth Canal between Cedar and Isles. Kenilworth trails, in close proximity to Penn Facing severe budget cutbacks, MPRB Ave. and I-394. This would necessitate a has been extensively visiting with the commu- bridge over the railroad. 1 7 nity in various formats to determine the 15 nie e 5 priorities of park users.