News & Views of Phillips Since 1976
Sunday January 11th 2026
50”'s emigrants found romance, jobs, home, and business ownership Right on Lake Street
Video of Chris Oien”'s interview with Carol Blair is online at http://youtu.be/La5zNYQz84g
By Carol Blair as told to Chris Oien
Carol and her husband were involved with Soderberg”'s Floral at 3305 E. Lake St. for almost 50 years, and owned it for 30 of them. She remembers how they got started there and what it was like. To see the full interview, go to www.youtube.com/visitlakestreet
My name is Carol Blair, my husband is Lyle Eugene Blair, sometimes call him Gene. My husband started working at Soderberg”'s in 1957, and we got married in 1959. He graduated from high school in 1956 from Huntley, Minnesota. He stayed on the farm and helped his dad, and got a chauffeur”'s license so he could take grain or cattle to market. He worked for one year and came up in the fall of 1957 to go to North Central Bible College. He was looking for work for about a week, and they had a bulletin board at the school where they listed job opportunities. So his roommate came in and said, could I have a ride to Soderberg”'s Floral, they”'re looking for a driver. Both of them ended up going in and talking to the Soderbergs.… Read the rest “50”'s emigrants found romance, jobs, home, and business ownership Right on Lake Street”
CCC: “Snack Attack” a Cuisine Commentary by Courtney Ecuadorian “Countryman”'s” platter delights at Guayaquil
Guayaquil at Lake St. and Bloomington Ave.
By Courtney Algeo
Although I tend to eat a lot of Mexican and Mexican-inspired foodstuffs, I recently realized that I”'ve never intentionally sought out other types of Latin American delicacies. Rather than sitting around all day trying to figure out why this is, I immediately decided to remedy this issue, and at the suggestion of a friend, dined at Guayaquil at Lake St. and Bloomington Ave.
A simple Ecuadorian restaurant of modest decoration and awesome (I suspect) weekend karaoke offerings after 9 p.m., Guayaquil is almost hidden by all of the hubbub and bright colored buildings in the Phillips area of Lake Street. Despite its ability to blend in, I wouldn”'t recommend overlooking this lovely gastronomical gem.
Having never sat down to an Ecuadorian feast, I wasn”'t sure what to order. Sure, Guayaquil had plenty of safe, same-old offerings like fried rice and fajitas, but I wanted something adventurous ”“ though not so adventurous as the items which included tripe. I wanted something new, that would knock my socks off and burn the name Guayaquil, and a map of South America, onto my belly. Under the menu heading “Especialidades de la Casa” one item caused for me the room to grow quiet, and my vision to tunnel: Bandeja Paisa.… Read the rest “CCC: “Snack Attack” a Cuisine Commentary by Courtney Ecuadorian “Countryman”'s” platter delights at Guayaquil”
“The Alley” Goes to Harvard Law School, Cambridge & Old South Hall, Boston “Spirit of Phillips” to be experienced by its Cartoonist and Editor from Phillips
By Harvey Winje, Editor, The Alley Newspaper
Fifty-nine years ago, as a young boy growing up in Phillips, my parents enrolled me at Wendell Phillips Junior High School on 13th Avenue and East 24th Street where housing stands now north of the Phillips Community Center Pool and Gym. To the best of my recollection, no one ever told us who Wendell Phillips was or why the school was named from him when it was built in 1926. The only reference to Wendell Phillips that I can remember is that a picture of him hung in the front lobby of the school.
Forty years ago, I spotted a book titled Prophet of Liberty: the Life and Times of Wendell Phillips by Oscar Sherwin in a used book store where a dollar and a half bought me the explanation not given at our junior high school. The life of Wendell Phillips opened a whole new endeavor of study for me of mid-19th century history. By learning about the namesake of our community, I was also able to link our community”'s current struggles for human rights and social justice with people like Wendell Phillips who were willing to speak up and passionately debate and agitate for the rights of women, immigrants, slaves, and all other disenfranchised in the 1800”'s. … Read the rest ““The Alley” Goes to Harvard Law School, Cambridge & Old South Hall, Boston “Spirit of Phillips” to be experienced by its Cartoonist and Editor from Phillips”
Keep citizen journalism alive!
