Monday, January 31, 2011

Tonight’s Meeting POSTPONED 1 Week

Due to the current icy conditions - and widespread concern that we’re about to get hit with a “crippling winter storm” (as the National Weather Service calls it) - Old North St. Louis Restoration Group has canceled this evening’s planned Annual Meeting & Pot-Luck Supper.  The gathering has been re-scheduled for NEXT MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7 at 6 p.m.

Please help us to spread the word to anyone who may have been planning to attend tonight.

Please plan to join us next Monday, Feb. 7, and in the meantime, stay safe.

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Friday, January 28, 2011

Reminder: Join us Monday, Jan. 31, for Annual Meeting & Pot-Luck

As you make your rounds over the weekend, please feel free to help us spread the word that the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group’s Annual Meeting & Pot-Luck Supper will take place this coming Monday, Jan. 31 at 6:00 p.m. See below for a flyer with details and gentle suggestions for the food items to bring.

Please take a look at our earlier post about this for information about a cool new project called Team Cookbook, which will be introduced at the meeting.

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Wednesday, January 26, 2011

After 6 Months, Still A Lot of Buzz About the Old North Grocery Co-op

The Old North Grocery Co-op has been in business now for more than six months, but it’s still getting a lot of attention as an innovative and creative way of bringing healthy and affordable foods to an area classified as a “food desert.”  The co-op and several other initiatives in Old North or affiliated with ONSLRG recently got added to the list of community wealth building models posted on Community-Wealth.org, which is billed as “the web’s most comprehensive and up-to-date information resource on state-of-the-art strategies for democratic, community-based economic development.”  The website also profiled the City of St. Louis as a Community Wealth City, with many initiatives in Old North credited as contributing to the city’s revival.

To read the whole article, click here.

Another article that put the spotlight on the Old North Grocery Co-op was published online this week by newhope360.com, “the premiere digital marketplace that connects the healthy lifestyle industry from supply to shelf.”  This feature connects the Old North approach to new interest from the federal government in the challenges of access to healthy foods in urban areas: “The Obama administration has introduced legislation to help solve the problem of ‘food deserts’.  In such communities as the Old North St. Louis neighborhood and Philadelphia, they are coming up with initiatives of their own.”

To read the full article, click here.

Meanwhile, Specialty Food Magazine’s January/February issue includes a story about the “Boom in Food Co-ops” with several references to the Old North Grocery Co-op as an example of the do-it-yourself ethic at the heart of many co-ops.

To learn more about the Old North Grocery Co-op, stop in to check it out at 2718 N. 13th Street, just south of St. Louis Avenue.  Over the past six months, the store has become a great resource for the community, but there’s still room for improvement.  If you don’t see what you’re looking for - be sure to put in your request with the staff or send a note to Sarah Kate Buckles, the manager, (email:  manager@oldnorthgrocery.com) and they’ll see what they can do for you.  And if you’d really like to show your support, there’s always room for more member-owners - just click here for details.

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Sunday, January 23, 2011

ONSLRG’s Annual Meeting & Pot-Luck Supper: Mon., Jan. 31

All members, friends, and supporters of Old North St. Louis Restoration Group are invited to join us on Monday, January 31st at 6 p.m. for ONSLRG’s Annual Meeting and Pot-Luck Supper.  One of the great community events of the year, the gathering provides an opportunity for residents and friends to come together on a cold winter evening to celebrate the warmth of the community and publicly recognize all of those who helped make the previous year so successful.

Over the past few years we’ve moved this event around to different locations in the neighborhood.  This year, we’ll be gathering at the old Sobel’s Dept. Store building at 2624 N. 14th Street, at the center of what had been the 14th Street Mall, but now at the intersection of the re-opened N. 14th Street and Montgomery.  If you haven’t taken a look at Crown Square since the redevelopment finished and the street opened, this is a great chance to get inside one of the historically rehabbed buildings at this award-winning development.

As noted on the flyer, we invite all guests to bring a dish to share and have provided some suggested guidelines for the type of dish to bring (to avoid 100 pots of spaghetti), but we encourage you to bring whatever you’d like to share or to join us even if you won’t be able to bring something.

And, speaking of food, this year’s event will feature something new.  In the late ’90s ONSLRG produced a cookbook, “Out of Old North Saint Louis Kitchens,” to collect and put the spotlight on the many great recipes created or lovingly used by Old North residents, including many reflecting the diverse cultures of the community’s population.  The cookbook has been out of print now for several years, but we were approached recently about an opportunity to use that old cookbook as a jumping off point for a new initiative that celebrates both food and community…

DISCOVER: TEAM COOKBOOK

This creative team consists of an Artist/Cultural Activist, a Museum Educator, an MSW and an Art Administrator. They love to cook, they love to eat, love to talk about food… food history, celebrations… the way food can bring people together (or drive them apart).

TEAM COOKBOOK will be collecting recipes, stories and photos from residents and providing workshops and activities inspired by food in Old North St. Louis.

You can meet the TEAM and learn more about how to get involved in the project at the Annual Meeting and Potluck on Monday, January 31.

Bring your favorite recipe, your camera and most importantly your appetite!

Give us a call at 314-241-5031 if you have any questions.  As always, we invite you to help  us spread the word and invite all of your neighbors to come on out for this wonderful community event.

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Sunday, January 2, 2011

Huge Year for Old North in 2010 - Part 2

Our year-end inventory of the major events and developments in Old North during 2010 started on Friday with Part 1.  We now continue the review of what made 2010 such an eventful year with an even longer list in Part 2…

NORTH CITY FARMERS’ MARKET AMONG TOP 20 OF AMERICA’S FAVORITE FARMERS MARKETS

Although the North City Farmers’ Market had to move around a bit due to the street work along 14th Street and at the St. Louis Avenue plaza area, the 4th season of the market was still a great success.  In fact, this year friends of the North City Farmers’ Market showed the intensity of their support by logging enough votes in American Farmland Trust’s annual competition to get the North City Farmers’ Market into the top 20 list of ”America’s Favorite Farmers’ Markets” (among other markets of similar size)!  In addition to that national exposure, the market got some major air-time on July 31 when the KMOX Radio program “Mike Miller’s Garden Hotline” broadcast live from the market (as seen in the final photo below).

Special thanks go out to all of the volunteers who came out week after week to help with setting up tables and tents, staffing some of the food and information stands, taking down everything at the end of the market, and countless other chores; and to Sarah Pritchard, market master; Lucas Hudson, project coordinator at the beginning of the season until leaving to pursue a career in law enforcement; Veronica Holden, who took over as project coordinator for the rest of the season; and Ivy Tominack (seen in the 3rd photo below), who joined the team this year as nutrition education coordinator; and, of course, Missouri Foundation for Health for providing the financial support that has made it possible for us to host the past four seasons of the North City Farmers’ Market.

ARTS EVENTS AND PROGRAMMING

The Old North Gallery (sometimes referred to here as the “Crown Village Gallery”) in the space adjacent to ONSLRG’s office at 2700 N. 14th Street buzzed with arts events all year long.  ONSLRG partnered with Cinema St. Louis to bring monthly film screenings to the community, often with Q & A sessions with the films’ producers or directors (shown in the 1st photo below), and special screenings for students from Ames School and Confluence Academy (in the 2nd photo below); and Metro Theater Company to bring live performances of Delilah’s Wish.  In July, the monthly story-telling gathering called “Moth-Up” took place at our gallery.

At other times throughout the year, visitors from throughout the St. Louis area came to view exhibits at the gallery, including the professionally-curated Visionary Arts of Haiti exhibit brought to us by Missouri Immigrant & Refugee Advocates; and a display of works by local artists Chris Ruess and Nick Riggio at the rehabbed Crown Square commercial space that once housed Sobel’s Dept. Store; events hosted by the Mayor’s Vanguard Cabinet Subcommittee on Arts and Entertainment, or the Metropolis Wine Club; the graduation celebration for the Pulitzer Foundation’s Hyde Park youth arts program (the Pulitzer is also responsible for bringing the “waving hand” images that are posted at various locations throughout the neighborhood); and for Juan Chavez’s snow cone project during the Crown Square completion street party.  Watch for more art projects from Juan in the coming year.

OTHER COMMUNITY & EDUCATIONAL EVENTS / PROGRAMS AT OLD NORTH GALLERY

In 2010, the Old North gallery space became the most popular spot in the neighborhood for meetings, parties, educational workshops, and other community gatherings.  Among the many events in the gallery this year were ONSLRG’s Annual Meeting & Pot-Luck Supper; a finance & budgeting workshop with presenters from Bank of America; Quality of Life meetings, including presentations about neighborhood safety and MODOT’s plans for the Mississippi River Bridge and re-building the St. Louis Avenue and Madison Street overpasses; a workshop on weatherization techniques and resources; several training sessions for the Minority Contractors Initiative; a meeting of the Covidien Community Advisory Panel; the annual breakfast meeting for the Workers Rights Board; planning meetings for the Old North Grocery Co-op; an 80th birthday party; and the October of the St. Louis Beacon’s monthly “Beacon & Eggs” gatherings.