News & Views of Phillips Since 1976
Saturday December 20th 2025
What”'s Up at the Franklin Community Library | April 2019
By ERIN THOMASSON
All Ages
Learn Together: Connect and Play
Tuesdays, 6-6:30pm
Connect with your child during this drop-in program exploring early literacy activities. Join your neighbors each week for a different theme including music, art, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math), reading and creative play.
Poetry Read-In
Saturday, April 27, 3-4:30pm
For children of all ages and their caregivers. Talk, sing, read, write and play together in a format appropriate for young children. Share books, stories, rhymes, music and movement.
Teen Programs
Urban 4-H Club
Tuesdays, 5”“7pm
We do everything from urban gardening to digital photo/video to theater. Partner: University of Minnesota.
Teen Tech Workshop
Wednesdays, 5-6:30pm
Get creative and make music, videos, animation and other projects using both high- and low-tech tools, everything from iPads and 3D printers to synthesizers and sewing machines. Led by the library”'s Teen Tech Squad.
Dhalinta Horumar sare rabta / Young Achievers
Wednesdays, 4:30-6pmÂ
U dabaaldag Dhaqanka Soomalida, sameyso saaxiibo cusub iyo in aad isticmaasho hab nololeed cafimaad leh. Lamaane: WellShare International. Celebrate Somali culture, make new friends and practice healthy lifestyles. Partner: WellShare International.
Teen Anime Club
Saturday, April 6, 3-4:30 pm
Discuss manga and share artwork. Something different every time!
Adult Programs
Open Crafting
Monday, April 1, 1-3pm
Looking for a space to sew, knit or work on other crafts?… Read the rest “What”'s Up at the Franklin Community Library | April 2019”
Transit: Adopting bus stops
By JOHN CHARLES WILSON
Hopefully, when this is published, winter will be gone for the next seven months. However, since ideas take time to implement, this may be the ideal time to write about it: One of the worst things about riding buses is waiting at snow-filled bus stops. You have four choices, none of which are really safe:
1.You can wait on the (possibly icy or unshoveled) sidewalk, and climb over the snowbank when the bus comes, assuming the driver actually stops for you. Sometimes the snowbank isn”'t as solid as it looks and you sink as much as two or three feet deep into it and then have to try to get on a bus quickly! Not fun!
2.You can stand on top of the snowbank, which is risky because you don”'t know how sturdy the snowbank is, and you might fall in, or worse, fall into the street, just as the bus is coming! Yikes!
3.You can walk to the (hopefully shoveled) corner, then walk back on the edge of the street outside the snowbank, and stand there even with the bus stop sign. This sends the message most clearly to the bus driver that you are waiting for the bus, but can be risky if the street is slippery.… Read the rest “Transit: Adopting bus stops”
Obituaries from the 1860s: Gone to glory before us
Lorenzo Prescott”'s marker was replaced last year.
Obituaries can be a source of valuable information for people wanting to know about family members or other people they”'re interested in, but not all obituaries provide the same information or even close to it. Â
The style and substance of obituaries has changed over time. During the late 1800s up until about the middle of the 20th century, obituaries functioned as death announcements and mostly offered details about funeral and burial arrangements but little else. More recent obituaries tend to focus on achievements and accomplishments and connections to family and friends, sometimes in the newspaper, but increasingly in social media.
In the 1860s, obituaries often told more about someone”'s character or beliefs. Sarah Dickey died in childbirth on Dec. 4, 1868, at the age of 41. She and her husband came to St. Anthony around 1865. He worked as a wheelwright. Her obituary ran on the front page of the Minneapolis Tribune on Dec. 9, 1868:
Only the base of Sarah Dickey”'s marker is left over 150 years later.
DIED ”“ In Minneapolis, December 4th, Mrs. Sarah R. Dickey, wife of Mr. William Dickey.
The deceased, during a residence of somewhat more than a year, had greatly endeared herself to the friends and acquaintances she had formed.… Read the rest “Obituaries from the 1860s: Gone to glory before us”
Keep citizen journalism alive!
