BY DEBRA KEEFER RAMAGE
The concept of a virtual town or neighborhood was actually born right here in Minneapolis decades ago with the founding of an online “community” called e-democracy. It seems old-fashioned now, but that’s because it’s so imitated, yet still around. Global now in its reach but much bigger in the Twin Cities than elsewhere, local e-democracy includes around 50 groups, some by interest but most by neighborhood. Neighborhood groups on e-democracy roughly parallel the nonprofit civic organizations that represent them, and in the case of some, these organizations represent two or more. As in Standish-Ericsson, which is the neighborhood organization SENA and the e-democracy group “Stan-Eric.”
Stan-Eric is virtually a real place now, thanks to both the efforts of SENA and the huge participation in the e-democracy group of that name. It’s more of a small town in its way than a pair of hip urban neighborhoods, although it does have some of the best traits of both. Consider Buster’s on 28th, which is on the very corner of East 42nd Street and 28th Avenue South, pretty much the heart of Stan-Eric. For one thing, it burned down a couple of years ago, and it was like someone’s house had burned down. The concerned voices on the e-democracy group were genuine; the community response was almost immediate. Everybody hoped they would rebuild, even people who had never been there. Well, Buster’s on 28th did rebuild and came back to roaring good health. A little over a year ago, it was featured on the iconic food show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Visiting Buster’s on 28th recently, I realized that we actually live in a small town here in Stan-Eric. On the wall of this elegantly decorated traditional bar and grill, with its delicious food and artisanal ales, was the school sports schedule for the high school, the Roosevelt Teddies, just a couple of blocks away. And also, in the spirit of good neighborliness, the schedule for the high school in the other small town just over the river, the Highland Park Scots. So, TV fame on the one hand, caring about the high school big game on the other—that sort of typifies the little burg we call Stan-Eric.
Another big influence on that same corner, sitting just adjacent to Buster’s on 28th, is A Baker’s Wife. This has long been a well-loved Stan-Eric institution, although due partly to its winning several City Pages Best-of awards; people from all around town patronize it. But not on Mondays, and only with cash or checks; lots of people were dismayed to discover they couldn’t use the ubiquitous plastic. That changed this past summer, when the founder and longtime owner retired and sold the business. The new owners have made some changes and left some things (wisely) well alone. One of the changes that got universally positive feedback on the internet group was that they now accept cards with a $5 minimum. And be warned! Their prices are so reasonable, you may struggle to achieve that. For instance, through careful research, I have found that, with a medium cup of coffee, you have to buy six (6!) doughnuts to reach that lofty $5 threshold. A few other changes were not as well received. There are some who complain that the infamous tea cakes are smaller now. And also—Horror!—that the chocolate icing doesn’t quite taste the same.
If you jump over to the other side of Buster’s on 28th, you will find a very urban and hip locale in the Angry Catfish. The Angry Catfish what? It’s either a bike shop or a coffee shop, depending on your pleasure. Josh Klauck, the owner of Angry Catfish, is also the business partner of Mike Fischer, and together they opened Mend Provisions at 2719 42nd St. in 2013. Mend Provisions is another very attractive retail space with an urban vibe, despite being attuned to country pursuits, specifically fishing. It has a very modern appearance, a slick website, and a unique product mix: outdoor gear, especially for fly-fishing, hand-tied flies, and upscale casual menswear. They also have randomly scheduled monthly fly-tying classes. You will have to check their Facebook page for the November one, as it’s not scheduled yet, and the October one already happened.
Diagonally across 42nd Street from A Baker’s Wife is the venerable St Mane Sporting Goods. This business has been on the corner for 55 years. They sell items and kits for team sports, including custom screen printing of uniforms. Fronting the northwest corner of East 42nd Street is Flanery Brothers’ Auto Service. They are another popular business to Stan-Eric neighbors, which also attracts customers from across the city with reliable service and decent charges. They have been, as their website attests, “family owned and operated since 1957.” The only area business to beat that is Hudson’s Ace Hardware at 2900 E. 42nd, which has been in the same location since 1949, but has had three owners. Just behind Flanery’s, heading north on 28th Avenue, there is a chiropractor’s office and a haircutting salon—Karizma Kutz. Karizma Kutz doesn’t look like much, but gosh darn it, they have good Yelp profile and online appointment scheduler! How 21st century is that?
Until a couple of months ago, the chiropractor was also a local institution with a following, Dr. Kori Mortenson. He has recently relocated to California, and the neighborhood is welcoming a new doctor there—Dr. Tracie Fowler. The name of the practice is truly—erm—stellar: The Spinal Frontier. On her website you will learn that she lives in Nokomis with her family, and her dog’s name is Rocko, and that she’s a nutrition nerd. You may want to go see her just for the name of the practice, and hopefully, in a few years’ time, The Spinal Frontier, too, will be a beloved Stan-Eric institution.
Like, for instance, Nokomis Pet Clinic. This is the domain of Dr. Amos, who has both a good Yelp profile and a great word-of-typing reputation on e-democracy. He also has one of the cutest murals along 42nd Street, a street with a lot of competition for murals. It features charmingly naïve styled little animals of all kinds. There is another very old-school chiropractic practice along the street there, City Lakes Chiropractic, the kind that emphasizes auto accident treatment and doesn’t go in for nutrition or all that woo-woo stuff. But they do have massage and acupuncture and—online scheduling!
Speaking of murals, I left out one of the corners back there at 42nd and 28th. There is a really big-deal mural going up on the west-facing wall of a lovely little gift shop called Doodle Bird. There was a mural painted there by a team from the YMCA down 28th Avenue a block or so, in 2002. (The current project got permission from that artist to paint over it.) The new mural, which will be unveiled sometime in early November, is part of a project of Audubon Minnesota called the Mississippi Flyway. The project makes the connection between two major environmental concerns: a) clean water and b) bird habitats and saving birds. In doing this regionally, Audubon focuses on the Mississippi River as an ecosystem, a bird habitat, and a major migratory route.
Audubon Minnesota reached out to ArtiCulture, an arts nonprofit based in Seward, due to its project called YAC (Youth Arts Collaborative). The idea is that in the process of creating this mural, under the direction of Articulture teaching artists, the youth will learn about the issues surrounding the Mississippi Flyway and incorporate these, both verbally and graphically, into the mural, and also go on to educate other youth and build advocacy for clean water and for birds. ArtiCulture then identified the 42nd Street site as a good choice for the mural and contacted SENA, the Standish-Ericsson Neighborhood Association. As it happens, SENA is also working on Clean Water, and the mural site was available and so it began. Last Sunday, I happened upon two ArtiCulture teaching artists, Nell and Kim, and a youth artist named Ingrid, busy on the painting of birds and river and sky; it looks gorgeous. Unpredictable summer weather has set back the completion date a bit, but it’s now in sight for the end of October. Look to SENA and Facebook for the unveiling event.
The Doodle Bird gift shop on the other side of that wall at 2803 E. 42nd St. is also worth a mention, maybe in conjunction with a similar yet different gift shop, The Roost, at 4205 S. 31st Ave. Doodle Bird opened in the spring of 2013, The Roost just about a year ago. Doodle Bird started out with gift cards and an online card and design shop before it went real-life and still has that shop and also sells products at Corazon and other places. The Doodle Bird product mix tends toward gift cards, other paper products, vintage-y knick-knacks, arty, whimsical jewelry, and pottery. The Roost has a very distinctive and functional website, and sells foodstuffs, apparel (screen printed T-shirts and the like), beer and wine accessories, and a few other interesting items. It is also linked with a related side business, Nokomis Screen Printing, which offers on yet another website custom printing of T-shirts. They have many well-known food and drink businesses as clients, such as Sweet Science Ice Cream and Community Hops. These shops are filling a very urban sort of niche, are operating with limited hours and staff and supplementing with a clever online strategy. And they are apparently making a go of it. If you can’t fit in the limited shopping hours, you can always catch them on the web.
So that’s the small town we call Stan-Eric in a nutshell. There are a few other interesting things to explore here—an old-style Chinese takeaway called, inexplicably, Bill’s Garden. A bodywork studio—Southside Shiatsu, which shares the studio with McGaa Chiropractic. A unique small gym called Southside Kettlebells. The small office and studio space of the Sandbox Theatre. The only other eatery, Chicago’s Taste Authority, formerly Chris and Rob’s. A couple of very small town mom-and-pop groceries. All within easy walking or biking distance, and on a couple of laid-back bus routes.
