Filed under: Minneapolis
After the frigid Operation Metro Surge, May 1 hit differently this year thanks to ICE and ice. Traditionally, May Day has been a celebration of spring and international workers. This year, we leaned into that as we banded together to reclaim the Minnesota May Day spring – led by our community of international workers. Everyone brought their talents to the table.
What the outsider might not see is that people have been bringing their talents to the table since Fall 2025, when the Metro Surge started. Those talents kept our community safe and fed, with laundered clothes and a safe way to get to school and work. Those talents called out ICE agents, brought necessities to recently released detainees from the Whipple Building, planned large and small events. Those talents built a heightened sense of community around the Twin Cities. May Day was an opportunity to show our solidarity with some of our more joyful talents.
My May Day festivities started with a march on Lake Street hosted by MIRAC. The signs were creative. Native dancers led the event. Speakers were eloquent. Crowd was building the whole time we were there.
Happening at the same time was MayDay MayDay a fundraising concert hosted by MN Music Resistance featuring Mary Cutrufello, Surly Grrly, Cindy Lawson, Los Pinches Gueys and Venus de Mars and All The Pretty Horses. It was a nice blend of styles and genres. What was most fun to see was musicians who had never met stay for each other’s shows, jump up on stage and just in general make connections that solidify the community and lift up everyone’s music.
We snuck out between sets to catch the March as they got to the Lake Street Target, where the Minnesota Singing Resistance staged a puppet performance. Turns out Target closed (at 6pm on a Friday night) in anticipation of what the crowd was going to be. I love the courage of doing bold puppetry in a parking lot. They captured the almost obligatory adoration Minnesotans had for Target and their sense of community and how it morphed into cynicism as Target seemed to lean on performative GLBT sales and took a nosedive when Target was the first to tank their DEI programs.
Some of our events were unplanned like the super cute children’s dance in the park. People celebrating their heritage, community and family. Just what we all do when we are (or have) young kids. It gives us a sense of sense, which should give us the generosity to embrace other people who have celebrated their individual heritage, to appreciate their dance steps and delicacies and to learn and thrive together to build a stronger most-American community.
Another semi-planned event was the brass bands playing two doors down from the Hook. So much good music on one block and few genres that hit a resistance button louder than a brass band.
Our final nod to the times was enjoying a projected screenshot commentary on the failures of the current Administration. Whew – what a May Day!
Filed under: Minneapolis
Every year my friend Kevin reminds me that today (the day before the opening of Art in Bloom) is the perfect day to see the flowers at their freshest and least crowded. Every year, I’m thankful. The deal is local artists and florists sign up to create arrangements to suit specific works of art. The artists are meant to be done by 2pm the day before opening; the museum is open for regular hours until 5pm. It’s not too crowded. The parking is not crazy. It’s free.
There are many paid events happening during Art in Bloom, but you can always see the art for free. (According to the MIA newsletter, donations made during Art in Bloom support School Bus Transportation Grants.)
This year I went with my mom and dad. I won’t pretend my dad was as into it but it’s a favorite from me and my mom. We whip through pretty quickly making quick-response decision of what we like and what we don’t. No dissection of the art. (That would slow everybody up!) Just first impressions – yay, nay and why if you’re inspired. Just a couple of natural judges, doling out salient opinions to the marble statues.
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- Love the minimalism
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- Coffin art flowers – chef’s kiss!
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- Observe the two fists
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- Perfect replication
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- Bold, large and majestic
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- Why are the vases such different sizes? A statement on the girls?
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- the swirls of the see caught in the arrangement
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- recapturing of the main print
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- the colors are so engaging
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- repeated composition – nice
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- love the colors and bridge
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- perfect continuation from flower to art
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- another perfect continuation from flower to art
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- we’re thinking about this one
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- look at the building of the art from nature
Filed under: Minnesota
I was honored to be a guest on the Island of Discarded Women last night and even happier to share the night with the whole Women’s March MN team – and delighted to see ERAMN too! Host, Sue Scott curated guests who had leaned into community during Operation Metro Surge, including:
- The main guest was Jillian Hiscock, owner of A Bar of Their Own, which features women’s sports and a great foundation that supports women and kids in sports.
- Musical guest was Sarah Morris, with her amazing voice and forever focus on something good.
- Stephanie March came to speak about The Salt Cure Restaurant Recovery Fund.
- Singing with Katie Eckeberger, from Singing Resistance, brought me back to some Target demonstrations and musical marches to Minneapolis City Hall.
- I always love the stories – in song and prose – by IODW cast Dae Yang & Zippy Laske.
Sue made me feel so welcome and comfortable. Once we got talking, I wasn’t even that nervous. I took away two themes from the night. First, everyone has a talent to share – singing, organizing, showing up, raising money, throwing dildos at the Whipple building and the crazy list goes on. Everyone’s talent is important and valued, often because is unique and always when it’s shared with a full heart. Second, community is our reward and our salvation!
I’ll share the published podcast once it’s done.
I have started this post a dozen times. Minnesota is at the epicenter of a national emergency. I genuinely feel like what happens here will happen around the country. So we feel both isolated and the weight of the world on our shoulders. But we feel it as a community.
Trump and his lackeys have Minnesota in their sights. Already, ICE agents are shooting US citizens. Vulnerable members of our community are (understandably) afraid to leave their homes. The push from the federal agents is relentless. It started with raids on businesses such as Bro-Tec. It happened slowly enough that even I was able to observe because it was a 10-minute drive from my home. We’ve morphed into numerous daily, often violent, stop-and-grabs of a wide range of people – many of them citizens. Two US citizens have been killed by agents, Renee Good (on Jan 7) and Alex Pretti today (Jan 24). Videos from the events clearly indicate that the victims were not endangering agents. There are also many videos of extremely violent agents in action.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead
Despite the obvious and lethal risks, a growing group of thoughtful, committed citizens have risen up to meet the needs of the community. With training, we have a Rapid Response network, we are ready to leave our homes and/or we drive/walk around neighborhoods to blow whistles when we see ICE, record and legally observe what is happening. We have people who patrol at local schools or places or worship, stealthily deliver food, pampers and other supplies. We have people who financially support mutual aid. We have people who protest.
We outnumber the agents. We saw that two weekend ago, when the Proud Boys showed up for what was lauded to be a “big march” and ended up being about a dozen led by one loser who was met with a huge crowd. The intruders ended up getting cornered by the Minneapolis Courthouse, and subjected to silly string and water balloons, albeit in subzero temperatures and were escorted to safety by Minnesotans. We saw that again last weekend, when in even colder weather (-12) , 50,000 people came out to march downtown Minneapolis to get ICE out of Minnesota.
We are in a hard place. We win many rounds, but we lose community members to murder, detention and violence. The war is to keep Marshal Law out of Minnesota. That is a fine line and I’m thankful for my friends who push the envelope and thankful for my friends who reign it in. We see community members show up with all of their talents. No job too big or too small so long as it goes to protect our people, our state and our democracy.
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” – Emma Lazarus (and inscribed on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty)
We are the tired, poor huddled masses yearning to breathe free.
Filed under: Minnesota
Today, if I heard correctly, 6 generations of Treacy, Mahling, Furnstahl descendants of Stephen Treacy and Mary McCarthy met in Randall Minnesota thanks to some heavy lifting of the most dedicated progeny. Stephen was born in Doon, County Limerick; Mary was from Cleveland, Le Sueur County MN. They were married in 1888. They had eight children: Mary Leone (Sister Leone), Charles Timothy, Catherine Bridget, Margaret (Nell), James William, Florence Irene, William Joseph (my grandpa) and John Patrick (Uncle Jack).
Mary died days after Uncle Jack was born. One of the photos included here, is Sr Leone’s memory of his death. She was the oldest at the time at 12. Somehow they managed to not get separated but rather my grant grandpa became a single father and the oldest (Sister Leone) kept everyone together. Someone mentioned that the key was that everyone did their part and everyone remained close. Pat Furnstahl actually wrote a book about the whole genealogy and history of this corner Irish-Minnesota history. It is a labor of love lasting years of research and it’s fun to have.
Today we drove by the family farm. I call it that and I remember going there (or many some other farm) as a kid but apparently, they didn’t really have a legit house-type structure on the land until my grandpa was 14. We also saw the post office where Nell worked. Much of the family still lives in the areas and many have moved to the Twin Cities, Chicago Kalamazoo, other locations and I think my daughter Kate (in Ireland) and Katie’s Molly (in New Zealand) might get farthest afield award.
I definitely know my first cousins and some were there today. Always fun to catch up! (The Calabreses were missed!) And I know a few of my second (maybe once removed maybe not) cousins and fun to see them too. But it’s very fun to be at an event of 140 family members where even if you don’t know them – people look familiar. Lots of blue eyes. A few serious red heads. A lot of sunscreen on the tables. A lot of Bills, Steves, Marys and Anns.
People are nice and friendly. They tell stories about people who you maybe met or at least know by reputation. There are a lot of smart cookies and hard workers. Hats off to the planners who had intricately coded name tags, set us up with a community center, pavilion, tables and chairs as well as so much good food. And double thanks for moving the dinner up an hour when we all looked hungry. Not just everyone can rush a meal for 140 like that. The last big reunion was in 1982 at the convent (St Bede) in Eau Claire Wisconsin where Sister Leone lived. I remember playing move volleyball that year.
Pictures from Today:
Old Pictures:
Publications and posterboards:
Filed under: St Paul
Today 80,000 people attended the No Kings Day of Defiance TC event in St. Paul. We met at St Paul College, marched half a mile to the Capitol and rallied for more than two hours. A team of folks have been planning for about six weeks including Women’s March MN, Indivisible Twin Cities, MN 50501 and AFL-CIO of Minnesota. Today was not the event we planned. Today was the march we needed.
Sadly, a tragic event changed everything in the early morning hours. A shooter, dressed as a police officer went to the home of Senator John Hoffman and shot him and his wife. He also went to the home of Representative Melissa Hortman, where he shot and killed her and her husband. It is 7pm as I write this and the man is still at large. He apparently is targeting pro-choice and pro-abortion folks. It is abhorrent, frightening and unspeakably sad. While I did not know Hoffman, I did have discussion with Hortman on the ERA. She was frank and formidable. She’d get my vote and I was happy she was on our (ERA) side. But I don’t want to dwell, right now, on the tragedy.
Many thought we should stay at home today. The event was planned as an event to drown out Trump and his grandiose visions of being king with a scream of solidarity with 1,600 other marches around the county. The event became a time to give and accept comfort from our neighbors. To show respect for our elected officials who see us, hear us and represent us. To recognize that we need each other and that we are imminently more powerful together than alone.
I was proud to be part of the amazingly talented planning team. I did some scary things, like be interviewed live on the radio and chat on TV. My heart grew bigger to see friends (such as Venus DeMars, Surly Grrly and Kashimana) perform. Well, actually I couldn’t’ see them because I was livestreaming the march from the College as thy performed from the Capitol – but even a quarter mile away I could hear their amazing voices and songs. Speakers were amazing; big thanks to AG Kieth Ellison for showing up and being inspirational.
In the end, more people that we dreamed attended on a summer weekend in Minnesota with terrible road construction, even for Minnesota and advice from public safety to stay home. I saw many people talk to the tables of nonrpfots to learn about what they could do next to help. I saw coalitions form between speakers, volunteers, performers and security. I saw the best of Minnesota and it gave me hope and drive to continue to do what I can do to fight for our rights and freedoms for ourselves, our neighbors and everyone’s kids.
Also special thanks to my friends Monica Nilsson and Mary Magnuson for helping!
Filed under: St Paul
The People’s March ended an hour ago. I’m just getting the feeling back in my toes, but my heart is full. The march was hosted by Women’s March Minnesota. We started talking about an event immediately after the election in 2024. We started planning a march in earnest about 10 days later. So that’s two months to play a huge event, with no budget on what could be the coldest day of the year.
Thankfully people stepped up. Really awesome people showed up and brought their skills and enthusiasm. We needed it. The trials and tribulations of planning an event like this deserve an instructive post all its own and hopefully we will do one but for now I’ll just say – freedom of speech takes a lot of time, talent and money – especially if you want to be heard.
It was a cold day, but people still showed up – we’re estimating 4-5,000. In spirit of full disclosure, I suggested we do the event inside once I heard the temperature was forecast to be 5 degrees (-11 windchill). Luckily, I lost that vote. Not that it wasn’t cold, the forecast was 100 percent right – but it was worth it. We marched from St Paul College to the St Paul Capitol, led by native dancers from Kalpulli KetzalCoatlicue and Kalpulli Mictlan Tonatiuh. I livestreamed most of the event, so I got a front row seat. The vision of the dancers heading down John Ireland Blvd was priceless.
When we reached Capitol, I was honored and terrified to give a quick welcome. The speeches were inspiring. It was a terrific lineup. My only sadness was that my phone just froze up after 90 minutes in the cold. We had a charging break in the Capitol for 15 minutes and were able to continue. Much as I needed the warmup, I was sad to miss things. (Also big thanks to Mary Magnuson for her help!)
Here are the speakers:
- Emcee Miss Shannan
- Abortion Access Front Chief Creative Officer Lizz Winstead
- Gender Justice Speaker Megan Peterson
- Youth and Transgender Rights Activist, Jayce Wepplo
- Carolina Ortiz from COPAL/ Immigrant Defense Network and Sarah Silva from North STAR Alliance
- Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) Speaker Senator Mary Kunesh
- ACLU Speaker Alicia Granse
- Intergenerational Partnerships & Uplifting Youth Speaker Quincy Powe
- Environmental Justice Speaker Gina Peltier
- Infertility and Healthcare Cuts Miraya Gran
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We ended the day livestreaming a chat with the partners inside. It was a fantastic way to get to learn about what people are doing and hear about how we could help. I won’t detail every conversation – you can watch them in the third video on the playlist below, or you can check out an even more complete list of actions and events where you can follow up on the Women’s March MN website. I encourage you to check it out. I am going to try to make it to a bunch of the special days at the legislature to livestream for Women’s March. You should pick an action too – maybe I’ll see you soon at the Capitol.
Filed under: St Paul
Nothing makes me happier than having everyone home for Christmas. Are we crowded? Yes! Will there be fights? Not as many as I expected – yet. Would I change a thing? Nope.
We started Christmas Eve with an Indian meal in the neighborhood. Lots of takeaway happening but we were one of two or three tables on site. We all got what we wanted. We all dressed up. And the restaurant (India House) looks very holiday every day so felt festive-ish. We had planned to see Nosferatu; in fact, Lily had purchased tickets and then at least two of us realized we’d have nightmares if we saw it. So, Lily worked her cinema magic and traded our tickets for 3D Wicked.
I don’t see many movies. I barely remember seeing Wicked on Broadway, but we all enjoyed the show. We talked about it that night and the next day. (Also, when the girls were little, we saw a lot of Wizard of Oz on stage. So nostalgic for all of us!)
Christmas morning – kids still wake me up. (And some early bird sisters waking up the night owl sisters.) Kate had set the stage with decoration and cleaning. Everyone got gifts they really wanted. Gifts they didn’t know they wanted and gifts that made them laugh.
Then we headed to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for baked pasta from Grandma and banana chocolate chip bread pudding from Uncle Billy. We played the game (like charades but talking instead of acting) and my team skunked the other. We had great conversation, which is just proof that kids are better every year!
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Filed under: Detroit Lakes
Yesterday I was featured on Minnesota Public Radio’s culture feature Art Hounds. I was talking about the Trolls of Detroit Lakes. It was honestly a thrill. I was excited and more nervous than someone with a weekly radio should be. The folks involved (Emily and Denzel) are super nice. I spoke to Emily for 10-15 minutes and they edited the feature down to 1-2 minutes.
I wanted to archive the fun here. You can listen from the Art Hounds page.
This week I had a mini-break with my friend Monica. We went up to her family cabin in Battle Lake (Otter Tail County) in Northern Minnesota. The cabin is right on the lake, which makes for peaceful scenery and awesome views of thunderstorms when they happen.
One of our main goals of the trip was to visit the Trolls of Detroit Lakes. (I wrote about it in my Mostly MN blog too.) International recycling artist Thomas Dambo and crews have built a scavenger hunt or giant trolls, portals and a hidden Golden Rabbit. Dambo has trolls all over the world; but in DL they built their biggest troll ever with 36-foot-high Long Leif!
We also went uber local to see the Nyberg Sculpture Garden in Vining, MN maybe 40 minutes from Detroit Lakes. (Also in the Mostly MN blog.) The artist, Ken Nyberg, was born and raised in the area. His art is made from scrap metal, old lawn mower blade and other recycled materials. One of his first big steps (pun intended) was The Big Foot, which is installed off a highway in town. There’s also a work in honor of his astronaut daughter Karen Nyberg!
The cabin in just a mile walk from the town, which is large enough to have a few restaurants and an ice cream shop called Granny’s Pantry. There is a large statue of a Native American giving homage to the wars between tribes (Anishanabe and Dakota) on the walk to town. And a lovely garden. We also stopped in various locations along the way. For example, we saw the largest turkey in Perham. And we saw a little nature at Glendalough Park (deer) and Inspiration Peak (panorama video).
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