Metrodome Festivities

Post, photos, and images by the Hawthorne Hawkman.

Saturday marked the re-opening of the Metrodome, with a portion of the event aimed at thanking tornado volunteers and building community.  I was one of the first 3,000 people to enter, and so I received a commemorative piece of the previous teflon roof that collapsed in last winter's snowmaggedon.  I took a roundabout way to get to the Dome, in order to bike along the final segment of the Cedar Lake Trail.  That particular connection to the Mississippi River cost $9.2 million and took over 11 years to complete.  A similar, more ambitious, connection in NoMi could take even longer to build.  That's no reason to get rid of the proposal entirely, as some groups are recommending.

The Cedar Lake connection to the Mississippi River is quite the sight though...

Once I arrived at the Metrodome, I decided to turn on my Runkeeper smartphone app while I was waiting in line.  Just to see what would happen, I set the activity to "walking" and let it go until I got inside.

And because it was my first time tracking this kind of activity, Runkeeper sent me the following auto-generated email:  "New personal record for walking! Congratulations! This is a RunKeeper FitnessAlert to let you know that you achieved the following milestones with your most recent walking activity: Farthest distance."  For walking 0.13 miles.  Whew!

And I biked back to NoMi in just over 15 minutes.  You can get to the Dome by bike in less time than it would take you to navigate a car through a parking garage.

At the event itself though, I was spotted by longtime NoMi resident and activist Jewlean Jackson.  She asked if I was there as a regular citizen or as a community organizer.  I replied, "I don't have a table with some of the other non-profits, but you know how it is.  When you're active in the community you never really turn it off."  Ms. Jackson proved she understood that dynamic by getting me to commit to a foreclosure prevention doorknocking event on Thursday with NCRC. 

Inspector Mike Martin of the 4th Precinct spoke with me about their efforts to clean up 4th Street North.  We want to employ some of the same tactics that reduced crime in the EcoVillage, and it just so happens the community has some award money from MetLife to do just that.

And I promised a few other folks I'd promote their activities here on this blog:

North High is having a freshmen class this year, and they're fielding a football team.  I'm hoping to continue coverage of their games.  North High will host a Welcome Back to North Community Celebration at the school courtyard from 5-7 p.m. this coming Wednesday August 25th.

Minneapolis Public Schools is hosting a community book conversation as well.  The One Minneapolis, One Read initiative will be a chance for residents across the city to read the same book at the same time.  Well, not the EXACT same book; we are expected to get our own copies.  First up is "The Grace of Silence" by NPR host Michele Norris.

And I have to say thanks and promote the Minneapolis chapter of the American Institute of Architects.  They are offering design assistance to tornado victims at no cost.  Right now they have more architects than people affected who have signed up.  So if in rehabbing or rebuilding a home, you need their services, here's the information.

I'm not a Vikings' fan though, so even getting on the field wasn't quite the same hallowed ground that it was for others.

I did, however, take the field in the same way the players would, just before a humiliating loss to the Bears.

RT spoke, but this time around it was probably a good thing that the acoustics made him sound like the adults in "Charlie Brown" cartoons.  Who wants to hear anyone pump up the Vikings AND likely talk about publicly-financed stadiums?

Minneapolis volunteers were given tickets that could be redeemed for food, and after grabbing a bite to eat, I saw this:

Hula hoops!

This photo is not a picture right before everything falls apart.  The hooping sensei was doing impressive tricks with 3 or more hoops at a time.

When I went down to join them, I saw a camera crew getting shots of the kids.  And then one of the crew said, "Look!  That guy (referring to me this time) is good.  Let's get a shot of him."  That camera, as it happens, was a live feed to the jumbotron.  Apparently for a brief period of time, there was footage of me hula hooping on the Metrodome jumbotron.

So I can cross THAT off the bucket list.