Community Calendar

► Lex-Ham Spaghetti Dinner

• SUNDAY, MARCH 19

5:30 — 7:00 PM

St. George Greek Orthodox Church

1111 Summit Ave

NOTE THE LOCATION CHANGE!

$5 ADULTS $4 SENIORS $3 KIDS

SEE PAGE 2

► Western District Safety Meetings

• TUESDAY, MARCH 21

• TUESDAY, APRIL 18

9:30 AM OR 6:30 PM

Western District Headquarters

389 Hamline Ave

► Lex-Ham Community Council

Board Meetings

• MONDAY, MARCH 27

• MONDAY, APRIL 24

7:00 — 9:00 PM

1216 Selby Avenue, All welcome!

► Pedestrian Safety Event

• THURSDAY, APRIL 20

2:30 — 4:00 PM

Lexington Ave & Laurel Ave

MORE ON THIS PAGE

► Citywide Spring Clean Up

• SATURDAY, APRIL 22

9:00 — 10:30 AM

Dunning Park near the playground

SEE PAGE 4

► BandWith Music Festival - hosted by

the Lex-Ham Community Band

• SUNDAY, APRIL 30

12:00 — 5:45 PM

25th Anniversary commissioned piece

in memory of Lex-Ham resident

Richard Norris

Landmark Center, St. Paul

The Eavesdropper The bridge between your home and your neighborhood

VOL. XLI ◦ ISSUE II ◦ MARCH | APRIL 2017 LEXINGTON-HAMLINE COMMUNITY COUNCIL

Information/Complaints/You-Name-It City of St. Paul Information Hotline

651-266-8989

Lex-Ham Celebrates

Loving Every Neighbor YARD SIGNS $16

WINDOW CLINGS $4

CONTACT THE LEX-HAM OFFICE

TO ORDER ONE TODAY! Thank you, Tony Lintner, for the design!

Pedestrian Safety Event STOP FOR ME IS A YEARLONG CAMPAIGN to improve safety for people who use St. Paul’s sidewalks and cross our streets. The campaign is organized by St. Paul’s district councils, St. Paul Smart Trips and the St. Paul Police and has a goal of 60 events in 2017.

Lex-Ham is hosting an event at the intersection of Lexington and Laurel Avenues on April 20th from 2:30-4:00 PM and we’d love your help as a volunteer. An orientation by a police officer is done at the start of the event and then volunteers take turns crossing the street as instructed. Pedestrians are 10 times more likely to die in a collision with a car than drivers or passengers are likely to die in a collision between two cars. In 2015, 40 pedestrians died in Minnesota after being hit by a motor vehicle; 900 were injured. In January 2016 alone, 22 pedestrians were hit on St. Paul streets, police statistics show. To reverse this trend, Stop for Me intends to:

Engage drivers and pedestrians to be more aware at intersections, cross-walks, and parking lots

Educate drivers about how stopping for pedestrians is both common courtesy and the law

Enforce the law when necessary This is a valuable initiative with which Lex-Ham has been proud partner for the past two years. Your help as a volunteer will help to change behavior in our city and make our streets safer. Contact Amy at lexham@lexham.org to sign up. □

Lex-Ham Board unites for an annual retreat

Want to help out? Join a Lex-Ham Committee! The following

committees are looking for additional

members:

Outreach—shape Lex-Ham Programs

Events—plan Lex-Ham Events

Personnel—oversee staff and volunteers

Finance—make sure everything adds up

Go Volunteer! EACH ISSUE OF THE EAVESDROPPER in 2017 will include a prompt to go volun-teer! We love volunteers within Lex-Ham and there is always plenty to do, but we want to highlight other opportunities for you to be generous with your time. This issue, we are focusing on the International Institute of Minnesota whose mission is ‘helping New Ameri-cans achieve self-sufficiency and full membership in American life.’ The Institute supports this mission by providing linguistically and culturally accessible services that enable every New American to work toward achieving full community participation and self-sufficiency.

LOVING

EVERY

NEIGHBOR There are many ways to get involved in spite of the temporary halt on refugee resettlement. One way to help is to become a “Bus Buddy”. Duties include assisting newly arrived immigrants and refugees in becoming familiar with using public transportation with one-on-one instruction and orientation. Find out more about this volunteer opportunity and more at iimn.org or 651-647-0191. International Institute of Minnesota 1694 Como Avenue Saint Paul, MN 55108 □

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Note From the President THE BOARD MET FOR OUR ANNUAL RETREAT last month. We reviewed 2016, previewed 2017, talked about all the things we hope to do and set three goals for the year:

1. Improve Lex - Ham Internal Health 2. Increase Volunteer Activism 3. Implement a Plan for the Good

Works Fund

Lex-Ham is safe and vibrant because of neighbors like you. Please consider working with a committee this year, and help us reach these goals. Being involved is rewarding...and your input and efforts strengthen our community. Do you like to help plan and carry out social get togethers? The EVENTS committee could use your organizing skills and your enthusiasm! Are you interested in supporting seniors in the neighborhood? The WE CARE committee needs you. The OUT-REACH committee facilitates the Lex-Ham Good Works fund - be a part of "paying it forward." Are you enthused about managing money and administrative details? Help out on the FINANCE committee! Finally, be a part of the PERSONNEL committee and oversee recruitment strategy for volunteers and manage staff. □ — Sharon Fischlowitz

St Paul Tool Library

Grand Opening

THE NEW ST. PAUL TOOL LIBRARY will be open for tool borrowing and shop time starting March 4th. Its permanent location is in the CanCan Wonderland building at 755 Prior Avenue. Learn how the library can provide you access to thousands of tools. After opening day, the Tool Library hours will be Tuesday and Friday from 5:00-8:00 pm and Saturday from 10:00 am-4:00 pm. Find out more at MNToolLibrary.org □

Newsletter design and layout by neighbor Dave Tzeutschler. Please address any comments or suggestions to dtzeutschler@yahoo.com

Welcome New Board Members OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS HAS GROWN! We’d like to welcome Amy ‘Lucas’ Riley and Ashley Rashid to the leadership of Lex-Ham.

Both Lucas and Ashley care deeply about our neighborhood and have demonstrated their ability to help our organization thrive. Lucas has been a superstar block leader for many years and is known for organizing her block year-round, gathering for fun and for meaningful service together. Ashley put together an outstanding silent auction for Lex-Ham last October and is squeezing this commitment into her already full days with two little ones at home. Sadly, Faris Rashid has stepped down from his position on the board. We are grateful for his thoughtful contribu-tions to the work of Lex-Ham since 2013!□

Mission Statement

The purpose of the Lexington

-Hamline Community Council

is to improve the quality of

life and bring about positive

community change in the

Lexington-Hamline neighbor-

hood of St. Paul. This is done

through the active involve-

ment of neighborhood

residents in community

projects, programs, and

direct action on issues which

affect the neighborhood.

Who We Are

The Lex-Ham neighborhood in St. Paul is

bounded by University Avenue, Lexington

Parkway, Summit and Hamline Avenues.

Since the Lexington-Hamline Community

Council was established in 1969, it has

been the cornerstone for organizing and

serving the 4,000 residents living in this

neighborhood. We continue to build a

sense of pride and confidence in the com-

munity through a wide variety of

activities and services ranging from

cooperative home maintenance, crime

prevention, energy conservation and recre-

ational programs.

Editorial Guidelines

The Eavesdropper is deliv-

ered bi-monthly to every

home and business in the

neighborhood. Notices and

articles should be submitted

in electronic Word format to

lexham@lexham.org Please

keep submissions to a length

of 150 words or less. Please

contact the Lex-Ham office

for more information.

Lex-Ham reserves the right

to refuse any submission.

Board of Directors

Sharon Fischlowitz, President

[Vacant], Vice President

Larissa Kiel - Secretary Emmy Treichel , Treasurer

Paul Bakke

Yvonne DeMarino

Johnell Kolve

Jeremy Lostetter

Ashley Rashid

Amy Lucas Riley

Sam White

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HEY KIDS! Help us celebrate welcome as we work on loving every neighbor by being a sur-prise chalk mes-senger. Leave a chalk message or picture on someone’s sidewalk that will brighten their day. Something like: “You make a differ-ence!” or “Thanks for being you!”

Ashley Rashid (right)

Amy “Lucas Riley

LED Bulb Testing in Lex-Ham PUBLIC WORKS WILL INSTALL 8 LED bulbs or treatments for testing in the Lex-Ham neighborhood from March to May. During this time, feedback will be gathered from residents using multiple platforms. Signage will be installed identifying the areas for testing and how to provide feedback. One bulb will be tested per block on the following streets between Lexington and Griggs: ○ Portland Avenue ○ Ashland Avenue ○ Laurel Avenue ○ Hague Avenue Residents living on the streets with the testing should receive a letter of notification from the City of Saint Paul. Our neighbor-hood will be used to test bulbs in the older lamp post style lights. Two other neighborhoods will be sites for testing bulbs in the newer lamp post style lights. This process reflects the requests made to the City by the Lex-Ham Community Council regarding the transition of residential street lighting to LEDs and we are eager to partner with Public Works on this issue. Plan to engage with this process! □

Going Away?? Don’t forget St. Paul police will keep an

eye on your house.

If you’re interested, call 651-266-5485

The Lexington-Hamline Community Council 1216 Selby Avenue Saint Paul, MN 55104

The bridge between your home and

your neighborhood ~

phone 651-645-3207 e-mail lexham@lexham.org web www.lexham.org

Citywide Spring Clean Up Day

Saturday. April 22nd, 9:00 — 11:30AM

PICK UP SUPPLIES AT DUNNING PARK

Come to our tent at Dunning Park near the playground and pick up your gloves, garbage bags, and a snack before heading out to help clean up your corner of the neighborhood. You can work on any area that you see needs cleaning and then leave the full bags at designated areas for pick up. It’s easy to do and makes a big difference! If you’d like to volunteer at the tent to help distribute supplies, contact Amy at lexham@lexham.org. □

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Lex-Ham Spring Clean Up 2016

Are you a senior looking

for a little extra support?

Contact Naomi at Neighborhood Network for Seniors to request help with rides to appointments, yardwork, and much more. NNS pairs local volunteers with sen-iors to help people stay in their homes longer. Volun-teers go through a background check and orientation. To learn more about their program and all of the resources they offer or to become a volunteer, visit www.neighborhoodnetworkforseniors.org or call 651-646- 2301. □