‘Cover Stories’ Archives
The Store That Worked for Working People Closes
Sandy Spieler, HOBT Artistic Director, choreographs a MayDay Puppet”'s bow on Kaplan Bros. Plaza after Kaplan Bros. clothing store has “bowed-out” after 86 years. Kaplan Bros. and HOBT”'s Avalon Theatre are across the street from each other at Lake St. and 15th Ave. Harvey Winje By Carstens Smith People who work outside year round know where to find high-quality work clothes at a reasonable price. For decades, that place was Kaplan Brothers, at 1414 East Lake. “Word of mouth was very good to us,” says Jerry Kajander, one of the store”'s owners. But even word of mouth and a loyal customer base couldn”'t keep the 86-year-old business alive after a series of setbacks. The combined stresses of Lake Street construction, a broken water pipe flooding the store and forcing a 4-month closing, and years of mild winters that lessened the demand for warm outdoor clothing, resulted in the current owners”' reluctant decision to close this [...]
Seeds Planted 40 Years Ago
Walker Community Church rises again out of the ground at 31st Street and 16th Avenue 40 weeks after it”'s devastating fire in 2012. Clarasophia Gust By David O”'Fallon In this age of disconnection, we seek each other. In our isolation, we hunger for eyes to meet ours. Faced with problems and dangers that are, literally, world-size, we doubt our own strength to change energy into creation rather than consumption, into collaboration rather than competition. Always some spark in each of us believes that we can. From such sparks came the fire that glows and warms us now as In the Heart of the Beast Theatre. Wandering back into Minneapolis, 40 years ago, after travels and studies from California to Pennsylvania to Vermont, I brought images and commitments nurtured at Bread and Puppet Theater in Vermont and New York. And a question; Could a theatre belong to a place, a people? Could it be a living part of their search for connection? Many theatres and their [...]
“The story is our escort”
By Harvey Winje The headline above, from The Alley Newspaper, April 1984, is still relevant in April 2013 because the 40-year saga of the Phillips Pool continues. The next chapter is being written as you read this. You are welcomed to be a part of this chapter. Wendell Phillips Junior High School The Pool is empty again! The story intensifies as the characters”' levels of passion and available time move between those who are deeply involved to the casual observer and some in between. The hundreds of activists who have been involved in the Pool through its 40- year history are amazing. Read the article from April 1984 on Page 5 for just one example. A few activists from the beginning are still involved. Some activists are new. Nonetheless, all are working to keep the playing field level as they pursue their various plans to fill the pool. The various plan details and their possible impacts are obvious and important; more pool possibilities vs. less greenery and [...]
