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Edina, MN
AboutTown Magazine
City of Edina
4801 West 50th Street
Edina, MN 55424
www.ci.edina.mn.us
AUTUMN•2002
About Town
Official Magazine of the City of Edina
Art Center
Celebrates 25th
Anniversary
See page 20
for details
***ECRWSS***
POSTAL PATRON
CAR-RT-WS
Vial Of Life Distribution
Begins Oct.21
The Edina Fire Department and Edina Senior Center will begin
distributing Vials of Life Oct. 21.
A Vial of Life is an item that might help paramedics and other
emergency medical personnel save your life or that of a loved
one. The Vial of Life consists of a small tube that should be filled
with important medical and contact information and a magnet.
The magnet should be placed on the outside of the refrigerator
and the vial inside the door. Paramedics and emergency medical
technicians will look for the magnet when they arrive at the
scene of an emergency. If they see the magnet, they will look for
the vial and the enclosed information.
Thanks to donations from the Edina Community Foundation
and the Edina Rotary Club, the vials are free and can be picked
up at the Fire Station No. 1, 6250 Tracy Ave., or the Edina
Senior Center, 5280 Grandview Square.
For more information on the Vial of Life program, call the
Edina Senior Center, 952-833-9570.
1•AUTUMN 2002
SUNDAYMONDAYTUESDAYWEDNESDAYTHURSDAYFRIDAYSATURDAY
1
7 p.m., Edina City
Council and HRA,
Edina City Hall.
7 p.m., River City Jazz
Orchestra,
Edinborough Park.
23
By appointment
beginning at
8:30 a.m., Podiatrist
appointments, Edina
Senior Center.
4
1:15-3 p.m., Blood
Pressure Clinic, Edina
Senior Center.
5
6
7 p.m., St. Louis Park
Community Band,
Edinborough Park.
7
Absentee ballots
available at City Hall.
8
1:15-3 p.m., Blood
Pressure Clinic, Edina
Senior Center.
7 p.m., Music School
Performance,
Edinborough Park.
7 p.m., Park Board,
Edina City Hall.
91011
6-8 p.m., Friday Night
Live, Edina Art
Center.
12
13
1-4 p.m., Fire
Department Open
House, Fire Station
No. 1.
7 p.m., Zuhrah Shrine
Flames, Edinborough
Park.
1415
5-8 p.m., Skating class
registration, Braemar
Arena.
7 p.m., Edina City
Council and HRA,
Edina City Hall.
7 p.m., Amy &Adams,
Edinborough Park.
16
7 a.m., Recycling and
Solid Waste
Commission, Edina
City Hall.
8 a.m., Senior
Advisory Council,
Edina Senior Center.
1819
20
7 p.m., Star of the
North Concert Band,
Edinborough Park.
2122
7 p.m., Human
Relations Commission,
Edina City Hall.
7 p.m., Heritage
Preservation Board,
Edina City Hall.
7 p.m., Richfield Legion
Band, Edinborough Park.
232425
1-3 p.m., Senior
Dance, Edinborough
Park.
26
29
7 p.m., Wayne Hamilton,
Edinborough Park.
2827
7 p.m., First John
Philip Sousa
Memorial Band,
Edinborough Park.
About Town Calendar
OCTOBER 2002
30
7:30 p.m., Planning
Commission, Edina
City Hall.
31
Noon, The Funky
Pumpkin Show with
Annette Fragale,
Edinborough Park.
17
5:30 p.m., Board of
Appeals, Edina City
Hall.
2•AUTUMN 2002
SUNDAYMONDAYTUESDAYWEDNESDAYTHURSDAYFRIDAYSATURDAY
1
Braemar Golf Dome
opens for the season.
2
10 a.m.-3 p.m., Edina
City Hall open for
absentee voting.
3
7 p.m., Zuhrah
Concert Band,
Edinborough Park.
4
Arts and Crafts Sale
opens at the Edina Art
Center.
5
Election Day.
Polls open 7 a.m. to
8 p.m.
6
By appointment,
Hearing Tests, Edina
Senior Center.
7
5:30 p.m., Board of
Appeals, Edina City
Hall.
7 p.m., Don Carlson
Magic Show,
Edinborough Park.
8 9
10
7 p.m., Southside Big
Band, Edinborough
Park.
11
Veteran’s Dayobserved. Most Cityoffices closed.
12
7 p.m., Park Board,
Braemar Golf Course.
7 p.m., Moonlight
Serenaders,
Edinborough Park.
7 p.m., Community
Health Committee,
Edina City Hall.
1315
By appointment
beginning at
8:30 a.m., Podiatrist
appointments, Edina
Senior Center.
Music for Children,
Edina Art Center.
16
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7 p.m., Music Staff,
Edinborough Park.
1819
7 p.m., Edina HRAand
City Council, Edina
City Hall.
7 p.m., Hopkins
Westwind Concert
Band, Edinborough
Park.
20
7 a.m., Recycling and
Solid Waste
Commission, Edina
City Hall.
8 a.m., Senior
Advisory Council,
Edina Senior Center.
21
5:30 p.m., Board of
Appeals, Edina City
Hall.
2223
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7 p.m., Human
Relations Commission,
Edina City Hall.
7 p.m., HeritagePreservation Board,Edina City Hall.
7 p.m., North Country
Cloggers, Edinborough
Park.
2524
7 p.m., First John
Philip Sousa
Memorial Band,
Edinborough Park.
About Town Calendar
NOVEMBER2002
27
7:30 p.m., Planning
Commission, Edina
City Hall.
28
Thanksgiving Day.
Most City offices
closed.
29
Most City offices
closed.
14
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Table of Contents
A Word From The Mayor ......................................................5
Cahill Irish Pioneers Were Prominent In Edina
Life For More Than 100 Years...................................................6
It’s Not Only Neighborly...It’s The Law..............................12
Hot Happenings In Park And Recreation ..........................14
VEAPAnnounces Holiday Programs..................................16
Edina Theater Co. To Present
First Play In November........................................................18
Edina Art Center Celebrates First 25 Years.......................20
Standard & Poor’s Upgrades
City Of Edina’s Bond Rating................................................25
Fire Department To Host Open House..............................26
Watch For ‘Works In Progress’ During
Minnesota Chemical Health Week......................................27
League Of Women Voters Teams Up With City
And Garden Council To Eradicate Blackthorn..................28
Voters To Elect Council Members In November..............30
Local Teenagers Design Disc Golf Course........................32
Edina Community Foundation Appoints
Interim Executive Director..................................................34
Resident Credits Defibrillator With Saving Her Life........36
City Of Edina To Flush Hydrants
In September, October..........................................................38
‘Thugs, Bugs and Drugs:’ Edina, Richfield
To Host Senior Safety Seminar............................................39
AboutTown
Volume 14, Number 4
Autumn 2002
Official Publication of the
City of Edina, Minnesota
4801 West 50th Street
Edina, Minnesota 55424
(952) 927-8861
Circulation 25,000
Editor:Jennifer Wilkinson
Publisher:City of Edina
About Town is produced by the City of Edina.
To advertise in About Town, contact Richard Barbeau at
Barbeau Marketing Group, 612-721-1162 or 612-965-2041.
Copyright 2002 by City of Edina, 4801 West 50th Street, Edina,
MN 55424.
About Town is published quarterly by the City of Edina. The
purpose of the magazine is to keep Edina residents informed
of news, activities and programs that are important to them.
We include articles of interest about our citizens and
community history as well.
About Town is printed on recycled paper to conform to City
conservation guidelines.
www.ci.edina.mn.us or www.cityofedina.com
5•AUTUMN 2002
In early 2001, a single mother of two came to a meeting of
the Edina City Council, pleading with the City to save her
home. At the time, she said the prospect of relocating would
be “devastating” for her family.
The woman spent nine years on waiting lists for the U.S.
Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Section 8 program
before moving into one of Oak Glen Townhouses’ 28
subsidized units. After settling in, she received notification
from the building’s owner that he intended to discontinue
participation in the federal program. She said she would not be
able to continue living there if the rent was raised.
Several other members of the Oak Glen Townhome
Association echoed the woman’s comments, adding that it is
sometimes difficult to find affordable housing units in the
area. The provision of affordable housing is particularly
complex in Edina. The City is now virtually 100 percent
developed and sites for new housing opportunities are almost
non-existent. In addition, extraordinarily high land costs drive
development costs skyward making lower cost housing
impractical without huge public subsidies.
Those comments resonated with the Council and City staff.
Residential neighborhoods are a defining characteristic of
Edina. Many neighborhoods in the community have a
unique character defined by architectural housing styles and
a mix of housing types, including affordable housing.
The first objective of the City’s long-range plan, “Edina’s
Vision 20/20,” is to maintain strong residential
neighborhoods. To meet that goal, the City Council and City
staff work to maintain and improve the condition of the
City’s housing stock through housing maintenance and
rehabilitation programs and encourages affordable, life-cycle
housing opportunities where possible.
We are particularly proud of how we used those strategies to
keep affordable housing at Oak Glen Townhouses. For
about a year, the owner and City staff worked to negotiate an
extension of the HUD Section 8 contract.
As part of a 10-year extension agreement reached with the
owner a few months ago, he will invest approximately $1
million for repair, maintenance and improvements of the
property. The East Edina Housing Foundation will provide the
owner with a low-interest loan to make the project viable.
The City is committed to the Livable Communities Act,
legislation designed to encourage cities to provide more
affordable housing. In addition to the work of the East Edina
Housing Foundation, the City encourages affordable housing
through other programs such as the Metropolitan Council’s
Family Affordable Housing Program, a new program meant to
increase the number of affordable housing units in suburban
Hennepin, Ramsey and Anoka counties.
We are proud to achieve goals set as part of Edina’s Vision
20/20. We are proudest, though, of keeping our residents in their
homes and providing opportunities for others to live in this
wonderful community.
4•AUTUMN 2002
OTHER DATES TO REMEMBER:
Oct. 16 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., Asian Calligraphy, Edina
Art Center.
Nov. 7 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Senior Safety Seminar,
“Drugs, Bugs and Thugs,” Edina Senior
Center.
Nov. 12 1:15-3 p.m., Blood Pressure Clinic, Edina
Senior Center.
Dec. 17 Noon, Children’s Music With Bruce Bell,
Edinborough Park.
Dec. 17 7 p.m., Good News Big Band,
Edinborough Park.
INDOOR SKATING LESSONS
What:Braemar Arena offers ice skating lessons
throughout the year. Registration for the
winter session of lessons is held in October.
When:5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 15.
Where:Braemar Arena, 7501 Ikola Way. Phone-in
registrations will not be accepted.
Info:952-941-1322 or www.Braemar-Arena.com.
TASTE OF EDINA: FOOD, WINE AND BUSINESS EXPO
What:The Edina Chamber of Commerce will
hold Taste of Edina, a food, wine and
business exposition to highlight area
businesses. Tickets are $10 in advance
or $15 at the door.
When:4 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24
Where:Southdale Center’s The District on France
Info: Edina Chamber of Commerce, 952-806-9060.
PUMPKIN FESTIVAL
What:The 50th & France Business and
Professional Association hosts Pumpkin
Festival, a fall event for children. Activities
will include a pumpkin-carving contest,
costume contest and parade, horse-drawn
trolley rides and trick-or-treating.
When:9:30 a.m-noon, Saturday, Oct. 26.
Where:Downtown Edina, 50th Street and France
Avenue.
Info:50th & France Business and Professional
Association, 952-922-1524.
BRAEMAR GOLF DOME
What:You don’t have to put your clubs away when
the area’s golf courses close for the season.
The Braemar Golf Dome opens Nov. 1 and
is one of the largest and longest hitting in
the Twin Cities area with 46 tee areas and
two levels. Golfers can golf by the bucket or
by time.
When:Golf-by-the-bucket, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday
through Friday. Golf-by-time, 7:30 a.m. to
9 p.m. Saturday. Moonlight golf, 7:30 to 9
p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Where:Braemar Golf Dome, 7420 Braemar Blvd.
Info:952-826-6744 or
www.BraemarGolfDome.com
Autumn Calendar Highlights A Word From The Mayor
31
3•AUTUMN 2002
SUNDAYMONDAYTUESDAYWEDNESDAYTHURSDAYFRIDAYSATURDAY
1
7 p.m., Brio Brass,
Edinborough Park.
3
7 p.m., Edina HRAand
City Council, Edina
City Hall.
7 p.m., River City Jazz
Orchestra,
Edinborough Park.
45
5:30 p.m., Board of
Appeals, Edina City
Hall.
67
Holiday gift-making
workshop, Edina Art
Center.
2
7 p.m., Bloomington
Medalist Band,
Edinborough Park.
8
7 p.m., MinneapolisPolice Band,Edinborough Park.
9
7 p.m., Amy &Adams,
Edinborough Park.
10
1:15-3 p.m., Blood
Pressure Clinic, Edina
Senior Center.
7 p.m., Park Board,
Edina Art Center.
11121314
Holiday gift-making
workshop, Edina Art
Center.
15
7 p.m., Northern
Winds Concert Band,
Edinborough Park.
16 17
7 p.m., Edina HRAand
City Council, Edina
City Hall.
7 pm., Community
Health Committee,
Edina City Hall.
182021
22
7 p.m., St. Louis Park
Community Band,
Edinborough Park.
23
Arts and Crafts Sale
ends at the Edina Art
Center.
24
Christmas Eve.
Most City offices
close at noon.
25
Christmas. Most
City offices closed.
26
8 a.m., Senior
Advisory Council,
Edina Senior Center.
27
By appointment
beginning at 8:30 a.m.,
Podiatrist
appointments, Edina
Senior Center.
28
31
New Year’s Eve.
Most City offices
close at noon.
3029
About Town Calendar
DECEMBER 2002
19
5:30 p.m., Board of
Appeals, Edina City
Hall.
Dennis F. Maetzold
Mayor
7•AUTUMN 2002
For all of his 99 years, Tom Ryan lived on that plot of land
on Valley View Road. He took great pride in the fact that
when he went down to his basement, he was standing in
the original cellar of the house his father built in 1857. Tom,
a bachelor and the last living child of Patrick and Catherine
Ryan, farmed the family’s land until World War II.
Tom had boyhood memories of traveling into downtown
Minneapolis by horse and wagon. “The streets were paved as
far out on Hennepin [Avenue] as the Basilica,” he recalled.
From there, he drove on dirt roads to 36th Street and then, as
he said, “Over the hill and through the woods to home.”
Tom’s niece Catherine (Ryan)
Garrison and her husband,
Everett, farmed a 10-acre parcel of
the original Ryan farm. “We
raised hogs and built a house
right next to the house that Tom
Ryan built,” said Everett, who also
came from an old Edina family.
Catherine’s father, James Ryan,
died in 1920 when he was 43
years old. “Dad was 11 years
older than my mother, Rose, so
she was only 32 when he passed
away,” she said in a 1996
interview. “A couple of years
later, mother married Frank
Dowd, who also lived in our part
of Edina.”
In 1955, a 27-acre parcel was purchased from Rose (Ryan)
Dowd for the present site of St. Patrick’s Church on Valley
View Road.
Catherine (Ryan) Garrison died in the late 1990’s, just a few
years after she and Everett moved to Chisago City, Minn., to
be nearer their children and grandchildren.
Misspelled ‘Gleason Road’ Should Be ‘Gleeson’
Commuters and others who travel the Crosstown Highway
on a regular basis are familiar with the signs on both sides
of the highway that point to Gleason Road in southwest
Edina. What most of them don’t know is that Gleason Road
was named for the Gleeson family, but should have been
spelled with an “ee” in the middle instead of an “ea.”
Joe Ryan, former captain of the
Minneapolis Park Police and
descendant of the pioneer Ryan
family, recalled in a 1975 interview,
“Gleason Road was named after the
Gleeson family, but the street and
directional signs spell the name
wrong. It should be Gleeson, not
Gleason. This should be
corrected.”
In 1855, Michael and Mary
Gleeson, along with their young
son Michael, Jr., traveled to
Minnesota and claimed 160 acres
of farmland in the frontier Cahill
By Joe Sullivan, Freelance
Writer and Edina resident
Editor’s Note: Following is Part Two
of a two-part series about the Irish
immigrants who were among Edina’s
first settlers in the 1850s. In Part
One, we traced the lives of the
Duggans, Darcys and Delaneys --
three of the 26 Irish immigrant
families who founded the Cahill
Community that became today’s
southwest Edina. In this installment, we will examine three more
of those families -- the Ryans, Gleesons and McCauleys -- who also
settled in the Cahill Community in the 1850s and became pillars
of the rural community that persisted through most of our City’s
first century.
Monument To Cahill Community’s Irish Settlers
In September 1993 a monument was erected at the
“T” intersection of West 70th Street and Cahill Road to
commemorate four early structures that were once
located at the crossroads and the focal point of the
Cahill Community: St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, the
one-room Cahill School, Calvary Lutheran Church and
the Cahill Store.
A bronze plaque on the monument also makes note of the
contributions made to our City by the earliest settlers of
southwest Edina — pioneer Irish farmers like John Burke,
Michael Delaney, John Duggan, William Fogarty, John Kyte
and William Marriott.
The Ryans
Arrived In 1857
In 1847, Patrick
William Ryan, head
of one of the
founding families of
what would become
Edina, immigrated to
this country from his
birthplace in County
Tipperary, Ireland.
In 1857, he
purchased a 160-acre
tract on today’s Valley
View Road. There he
began building a farmhouse, the foundation of which was in
use for more than 100 years. (In 1922, the farmhouse was
razed and a second home that still stands in Edina’s
Chapel Hills neighborhood was built on the original foundation
by Patrick’s son Thomas.)
Later, Patrick met and married Catherine Duggan, a member
of another original Cahill family. A second generation of Irish-
American Ryans eventually married into other neighboring
Cahill families including the Delaneys, Mooneys, Kellys,
McNellises, Dominicks and Guimonts.
Patrick Ryan died on the family farm in 1906 at the age
of 76. His wife, Catherine, continued to live in the Ryan
farmhouse with her son Thomas until she died in
April 1927.
6•AUTUMN 2002
Cahill Irish Pioneers Were
Prominent In Edina Life For More
Than 100 Years
Catherine (Duggan) Ryan, Edina
pioneer Patrick Ryan’s wife, was flanked
by her sons Thomas (left) and James.
Pictured on a postcard they
sent home during their 1909
trip to Seattle are Thomas
Ryan (left), son of Cahill
pioneers Patrick and
Catherine Ryan, and Thomas’
cousin John Duggan, Jr.
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Gleason Road was
named for the Gleeson
family, but village
officials spelled it with
an “ea” instead
of “ee.”
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(continued on next page)
Community. An 1874 plat map of the area shows the Gleeson
farm extending south from what is now the Crosstown
Highway along both sides of today’s Gleason Road and about
halfway to Valley View Road. The farm, which was sold for
residential development in the late 1940s, now forms the
eastern part of the Indian Hills neighborhood.
Second Generation Took Over Gleeson Farm
Michael Gleeson, Jr., met and married the former Elizabeth
Brennan in Degrath, Minn. where she was teaching school.
They eventually took over his father’s dairy farm in Edina
and Michael, Jr., later became an Edina council member.
Edina Village records from 1888 also list him as an election
clerk and he served as clerk of the Cahill school district
from 1893 to 1913.
In addition to dairy cows, they raised chickens and turkeys
and grew grain and hay. The farm also had a large apple
orchard. “We used to pick apples on the Gleeson property
when I was five or six years old,” recalled John McCauley, a
descendant of the McCauley family whose farm was just
west of the Gleesons’.
Michael, Jr. and Elizabeth Gleeson had 11 children, but life
expectancy was short in those days. Thomas died as an
infant. Joseph died of a heart ailment at the age of 19 and
Elizabeth died of scarlet fever in 1902 when she was only 8.
Gleeson Grandchildren Grew Up On Edina Farm
Three of Michael Gleeson, Jr.’s other children -- William,
Mary and Ellen -- remained unmarried and continued to
live on the family farm after their father died in 1913. “We
used to bake bread every day and we all helped in the
garden,” Ellen remembered in a 1969 interview. “There was
always a lot of washing, ironing and cooking to do.” Her
mother continued to reside in Edina until her death in 1958.
Ellen Gleeson also recalled that visitors used to drive up
their long driveway to the family farmhouse and tell them
that they had “the prettiest spot in Edina.”
Two of Michael Gleeson, Jr.’s other sons worked for the
railroads and a second Thomas worked for the Village of
Edina. Thomas continued to live on the farm until it was
sold and the farmhouse was torn down in1962. He moved
to Hopkins, where he died in 1964 at age 63.
John, another son, worked at the Hennepin County
courthouse. Joe Ryan recalled that he and his “lifelong
friend John Gleeson played baseball for a Cahill team.
John was the pitcher and I was the catcher,” he said.
Gleeson Kids
Attended Old
Cahill School
All of the Gleeson
children attended
the old Cahill
School.
“We walked a
mile and a half to
the Cahill School,”
Ellen Gleeson
9•AUTUMN 20028•AUTUMN 2002
remembered. “We left shortly after 8 a.m. and didn’t get
home from school until after 5 p.m. The boys would stay
home when there was planting to be done on the farm.”
Ellen also recalled the trips her father made into
Minneapolis to sell his apples and hay. On the way home,
he would stop at Mose Darcy’s Cahill Store to buy
groceries for the family. They also shopped for groceries at
stores in Hopkins.
Ellen had fond memories of parties in the Gleeson house
and the homes of friends. “We had school parties every
week. Someone would play the piano and we would dance
and have a lunch. In the winter we would have sleigh ride
parties and skate, ski and toboggan on our farm.”
In 1959, after their mother’s death, Ellen and her sister
Mary sold the family home at 6414 Gleason Road and
moved to Minneapolis. Mary Gleeson died in 1968 and
Ellen lived in their house on Sheridan Avenue South until
her death in 1974 at the age of 82. Her passing marked the
end of the third generation of a proud family of Irish-
Americans, who contributed in many ways to the growth
and heritage of our community.
McCauley Home Is Still On 147-Year-Old Homestead
As noted earlier, the McCauley farm abutted the western
boundary of the Gleeson farm. Today, John McCauley
can stand on the deck of his house on Arrowhead Lake in
Indian Hills and look out over parts of the Edina
homestead his grandfather Dennis McCauley claimed
in 1855.
John is the third
generation of the
McCauleys to live on
that land and he
fondly remembers
the farm that was
once there. As a boy,
John spent many
summers on his
grandfather’s farm --
and he still lives there.
“The approach to the
farmhouse was along a
twisting road and
through a large apple orchard to a cluster of farm buildings,”
John recalled in a 1993 article by Edina historian E. Dudley
Parsons. “There was the large barn, a stable, a machinery
shed, a storage shed, a smokehouse and a small structure for
the gasoline-driven pump, which supplied water for the farm.”
Dennis McCauley came from Ireland to Boston in 1849. At the
urging of his sister, who had earlier married Hugh Darcy and
settled in the Cahill community, he ventured out to Minnesota
in 1852 and became a fur-trading agent for John Jacob Astor’s
American Fur Company. For a number of years, Dennis traded
with the Indians for beaver and other furs.
By October 1855, Dennis McCauley had saved enough money
to “claim” 160 acres of land along the western edge of what is
now Edina. Four years later, he returned to Boston where he
married Mary Higgins on May 20, 1860. Two children were
Harvesting hay in Edina was a huge
operation at the turn of the 20th century,
requiring a big crew and big equipment.
Edina pioneer Dennis McCauley showed off
his barn and two-horse team on the farm he
homesteaded in 1855 in today’s Indian
Hills area.
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“While I was attending St. Thomas College I met June
Foster, who was still a student at Washburn High School.
We were married on May 17, 1941.”
John And June Move To
McCauley Cottage
“June and I came back to
Edina in 1947 when I got
out of the army, “ John
said. With their young
children they moved into
the small summer cottage
his father had built so
many years earlier.
“We were the only ones
in the area,” John
remembers, “and we
were surrounded by berry
farms.” Later, the cottage
was enlarged
to accommodate their
growing family of
five children.
“My mother and dad had sold the ‘back 40’ to a guy named
Burton in 1944,” John recalled. “He was the developer who
named it Indian Hills, put in the roads and renamed the
lake ‘Arrowhead.’” After Burton went bankrupt, Thorpe
Bros. -- the realty company that developed Edina’s Country
Club district in the 1920s and 30s -- took over and finished
the Indian Hills development, which didn’t really start
growing until after World War II.
“June and I have lived on this land longer than my grandfather
did. And I’m the only one of my family left in Minnesota,” John
said. “My brother Tom, Jr. died in 1963 and his wife, Betty, still
lives next door to us up on McCauley Terrace.
City of Edina Symbol Recognizes Irish Settlers
Take a close look at the Edina symbol that appears on the
cover of this magazine -- and many other places, including the
City’s official flag, its stationery and police officers’ uniforms.
The three-leaf shamrock that appears there is a testament to
the contributions made by the Irish families of the Cahill
Settlement. For more than 100 years they were deeply involved
in the planning, government, schools and development of the
vibrant community we live in today.
Background material and photographs for this article came from
the archival collections of the Edina Historical Society; Minnesota
Historical Society; the Ryan and McCauley families; the writings
of E. Dudley Parsons; the personal recollections of Catherine
(Ryan) Garrison and John McCauley; and the following
publications: “The History of Edina, Minnesota,” by Paul D.
Hesterman; NewsNet, a publication of St. Patrick’s Church of
Edina; the Edina/Morningside Courier; the Edina Courier; and
the Minneapolis Star.
born to the couple in Boston -- Mary in 1861 and Ellen in
1862 -- and the next year Dennis and his family returned to
his homestead in Minnesota.
Farmhouse Was At U.S. Highway 169 And Valley View
According to Parsons’ account, the log cabin Dennis had
built four years earlier provided initial shelter, but as the
family grew to 10 children, a larger house was needed.
The new house was built at the base of a hill in the
southwest corner of Dennis’ land, near what is now
Valley View Road and U.S. Highway 169.
“He eventually had a 300-acre dairy farm. It stretched all the
way from what is now the Crosstown Highway and Highway
169 [intersection] down to Valley View Road on the south, and
swung over through what is now Indian Hills to where it
adjoined the Gleeson property,” John McCauley recalled ...
[Today’s] Indian
Hills includes a 40-
acre plot from the
McCauley farm
and the entire
Gleeson farm.
Dennis McCauley
died in an 1894
farm accident,
nearly 40 years
after he
homesteaded in
Edina. For six
years, three of
the McCauley
sons -- William, Dennis, Jr.,
and Thomas --managed the
family farm. In December
1900, the original farm was
divided between Thomas and
Dennis, Jr., who continued to
occupy the original farmstead.
The two sons also divided a
second parcel purchased by
their father that lay east of the
original “claim.” John
McCauley said his father,
Thomas, always referred to
that piece of land as the
“back 40.”
John has fond memories of
summer visits to the shores
of Arrowhead Lake where his
father later built a summer cottage. “For years, we came
out here in the summertime… in a model ‘T’ Ford and
stayed in that cottage. In 1923, the gravel road was paved
and became the original Highway 169, which is now Vernon
Ave. My Dad gave them land just to get the road put in --
nowadays they’d pay him,” he said.
“All of Arrowhead Lake was on the McCauley property--in fact
they used to call it McCauley Lake. All the farmers would
come and get ice from the lake,” McCauley said. When I was a
kid, my Dad used to go out on the point in the lake and shoot
the ducks coming in. We used to swim off that point too,
because there was a pretty good drop-off there.
10•AUTUMN 2002 11•AUTUMN 2002
In 1860, Dennis McCauley replaced the
log cabin he had built as a bachelor with
this larger frame house to make room for
his growing family.
Thomas McCauley, son of
Edina pioneer Dennis
McCauley, posed with his
new bride Mary (Mulcahy)
McCauley on their wedding
day in September 1907.
The rumble seat of a vintage auto
was perfect for John and June
McCauley, as they represented the
pioneer families of Edina in the
City’s 1988 Centennial Parade.
Ed
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13•AUTUMN 2002
Edina Snow Parking Regulations
Many Minnesotans have made the mistake of parking their
cars or trucks on the street during a snowstorm, only to
find later that their vehicles have been “buried” or “plowed
in.” Seeing a parking ticket on your windshield would only
add to the frustration. You can avoid a citation or tow by
following these rules.
No vehicle may be parked on a City street, highway or alley
under the following conditions:
• When 1.5 inches or more of snow has fallen, until it has
been plowed to the curbline.
• For six hours after the snowfall stops, unless traffic signs
specifically allow you to do so or if you are engaged in
certain job-related activities as described in the City Code.
• From 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. Nov. 1 to March 31.
It is extremely important for residents to keep their
vehicles off of the roadways during these times. Edina’s
Public Works Department has a reputation for providing
top-notch snow removing services, but staff members need
your help. Cars parked on the street make it difficult for
snowplow operators to maneuver and also prevent the
street from being thoroughly plowed. By parking in
driveways or lots, you will avoid parking tickets and the
expense and inconvenience associated with towing.
For more information, contact Public Works Coordinator
Steve Johnson, 952-826-0301.
12•AUTUMN 2002
Weeds
Weeds can eliminate wildflowers
and other native vegetation by
crowding them out. To protect
Edina’s natural vegetation, the City
requires property owners to cut or
control weeds so that no individual
plant – turf grass or weed --
exceeds 10 inches in height or
length as measured from its base at
the ground to the tip of each stalk,
stem, blade or leaf. Noxious weeds
defined by the State Commissioner
of Agriculture must be removed.
For more information on weed control,
contact Park Maintenance
Superintendent Vince Cockriel,
952-826-0305, or the City’s Weed
Inspector, 952-826-0353.
Leaves
Keep fallen leaves out of the street
to help prevent clogging the storm
sewer, which can lead to water
runoff, backups and flooding.
In the fall, three street sweepers work eight to 10 hours
per day for four to six weeks collecting leaves
throughout the City. If residents rake leaves from their
yards into the streets, the street sweeper will not be able
to keep up.
Residents should compost their leaves or
contact their refuse hauler for proper
disposal. Licensed haulers in the City are
Aspen Waste, 651-644-3488; BFI, 952-941-
5174; Vierkant Disposal, 612-922-2505;
and Waste Management, 952-882-2300.
Edina Snow Removal
Regulations
We’ve all seen the cartoons depicting
one neighbor shoveling snow out of the
driveway, into the driveway of the
property owner next door. Aside from
this practice disrupting neighborhood
peace, it is also illegal. Any snow
removed from your walkways, driveways
or sidewalks must remain on your
property. Do not shovel snow into the
street or onto your neighbor’s property.
If you have a sidewalk, Edina law states
that you must keep it plowed or shoveled
for the safety of you and your neighbors.
If a fire hydrant is located on your
property, please remember that you
need to clear snow away from it. As soon as the snow stops
falling, start to clear away the snow so that the hydrant is
visible. The few minutes its takes provide access to a fire
hydrant might save you and your neighbors precious time
in an emergency.
It’s Not Only Neighborly ...
It’s The Law
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15•AUTUMN2002
Registration ends the first week in December. For more
information, contact Assistant Park and Recreation Director
Ed MacHolda, 952-826-0431.
Ice Skating
The City of Edina’s outdoor ice rinks will open for the
season in December.
Rinks are at Arden, Centennial Lakes, Cornelia School,
Countryside, Creek Valley, Highland, Lewis, Normandale,
Pamela, Strachauer, Todd, Walnut Ridge and Weber parks.
They will open as soon as weather permits.
Warming house hours at most outdoor rinks will be 4
to 9:30 p.m. school days, 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturdays, 1
to 8 p.m. Sundays and noon to 9:30 p.m. other non-school
days. Holiday hours are noon to 4 p.m. Christmas Eve,
noon to 4 p.m. New Year’s Eve and noon to 9:30 p.m. New
Year’s Day. The rinks will be closed Christmas Day.
Concessions stand and skate rental hours at Centennial
Lakes Park, which features a 10-acre lake, will be 4 to 9:30
p.m. school days, 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Saturdays, 4 to 9:30
p.m. Sundays and noon to 9:30 p.m. other non-school days.
Holiday hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Christmas Eve, noon to
9:30 p.m. New Year’s Eve and 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. New
Year’s Day. The Centrum will be closed Christmas Day.
Skating is free. Skate rental is $3.
Applications are currently being accepted for ice rink
attendants. Call 952-826-0404 for an employment
application or visit www.ci.edina.mn.us.
14•AUTUMN 2002
Job Success Fair
Bloomington Human Services will host a Job Success Fair
to give adults with disabilities the opportunity to apply for
jobs, interview with companies, or just visit with potential
employers. The fair will be held 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 9, at the Ramada Inn - Airport at the
intersection of Interstate Highway 494 and 24th Avenue.
For more information, call Recreation Supervisor Susie
Miller, 952-826-0433.
Men’s Basketball
From five-man basketball to less competitive open-gym
play, the Edina Park and Recreation Department offers a
program for all men interested in playing the sport. Teams
will be divided into leagues and play once a week on
Wednesday evenings. Open gym begins Oct. 9, and five-
man league play begins Nov. 6. For more information,
contact Assistant Park and Recreation Director Ed
MacHolda, 952-826-0431.
Adult Volleyball
The City of Edina Park and Recreation Department is
forming its 2002-2003 adult volleyball leagues. The City
offers a mixed league.
Matches will be held Wednesday evenings beginning Oct.
9. The leagues end play in early March. This season, there
will be two levels of play. One level is for teams that have
played together in the past or whose players have honed
their skills on the court. The other is for teams that are just
beginning to play together or whose players are unsure of
their abilities.
At least half of the players on a mixed team must live or work
in the City.
Registration ends Oct. 1. For more information, call
952-826-0367.
Four-Man Hockey
One of the City’s most popular recreation programs for
adults, four-man hockey is designed for those who love
hockey and miss the hassle-free pickup games of their
youth. The league plays on local rinks that give the feeling
of playing on a pond. Goals are sealed by a goalie tutor that
has four target areas for scoring. Games are run by two
team captains.
Leagues are divided by age and ability, with 20- to 29-year-
old hockey players in the gold division, 30- to 40-year-old
former high school or college players in the silver division
and older players in the bronze division.
Hot Happenings In Park
And Recreation
Adult basketball
12 Years, 1000’s Served
Thank You!
Locally owned & monitored
www.edinalarm.com
Most gifts are needed for children ages 8 to 18. Suggested gift
items include cosmetic bags and shaving kits, diaries and
journals, stationery, compact disc or cassette players, cameras,
telephones, bed sheets and comforters, jewelry boxes,
electronic games, calendars and daily planners, bath gel sets
and cosmetics, flashlights, tool sets, remote-controlled vehicles,
travel carry-on bags, fishing poles and tackle, jerseys, T-shirts,
wallets and billfolds, clock radios, watches, desk lamps, videos,
sleeping bags, blankets, hockey sticks, ice skates, science kits,
tool boxes, skateboards, scooters, books and audio books.
Gift certificates for older children may also be purchased.
Suggested retailers are Target, Wal-Mart, GAP, Old Navy,
Southdale Center, Bath & Body Works, Bed, Bath & Beyond,
Kohl’s, Mall of America, Sam Goody, Best Buy and local
cinemas. Gift certificates should be purchased in $15 or $20
denominations.
New unwrapped gifts must be delivered to the VEAP office,
9731 James Ave. S., Bloomington, by Dec. 16. Through the first
part of December, drop boxes will be available at Edina City
Hall, 4801 W. 50th St., and Fire Station No. 1, 6250 Tracy Ave.
Volunteers are needed to pre-sort gifts, set up the Holiday
Store, help with gift and food distribution on Dec. 18 and 19
and deliver hot meals on Christmas Day. To volunteer, contact
the VEAP office after Oct. 21.
For more information on the food or gift drives or to
volunteer, contact the VEAP office, 952-888-9616, 9 a.m.
to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
16•AUTUMN 2002
VEAP Announces Holiday Programs
Help make the holidays brighter for area families in need
this season by making a donation to Volunteers Enlisted to
Assist People (VEAP), which serves the communities of
Edina, Bloomington and Richfield.
As part of VEAP’s Thanksgiving program,
qualifying low-income families will each
receive a bag of pre-packed
groceries and a supermarket gift
certificate to cover the cost of
perishable food items and
items special to their own
Thanksgiving traditions. You
can help by donating gift
certificates to Cub Foods or
Rainbow Foods in $10 or $20
denominations or food items
such as dessert mixes,
muffin mixes, rice, boxed
potatoes and the like. Money
to cover the cost of certificates
or food items is also
appreciated.
Volunteers are needed to distribute
Thanksgiving food the Monday and
Tuesday before Thanksgiving and to deliver
meals to homebound seniors and disabled individuals and
couples Thanksgiving Day.
Donations for the Thanksgiving program need to be
received at the VEAP office by Nov. 18.
VEAP will also distribute bags of pre-packed groceries
and supermarket gift certificates for Christmas. Due to
the significant increase in usage of the local food shelf,
VEAP officials expect a significant increase in
individuals requesting help with Thanksgiving and
Christmas meals.
In addition to the Christmas meal,
VEAP will also organize a “Holiday
Store” for qualifying families.
Parents will come to the store and
select donated gifts for their
children. Following are
suggested gifts to donate. The
most needed items are for
children ages 8 to 18.
Riding, crib and tub,
developmental, push-pull and
electronic toys and pop-up or
talking books are suggested for
children ages birth to 3. Popular
brands include See & Say, Little
Tykes, Fisher Price, Playskool
and Tyco.
Electronic, remote-controlled, building, cooking
or baking and talking toys are suggested for children
ages 4 to 7, as are multicultural dolls, Beanie Babies,
Magna Doodle and Lite Brite toys, play tents, sleeping
bags, children’s videotapes, music players and games
and puzzles.
17•AUTUMN 2002
No matter what you’re looking for in spirits, chances are any of
your three Edina Municipal Liquor Stores can help you.
Our knowledgeable and friendly staff will be happy to guide you
through our world class selection to find just what you want.
And while our products come from all over the globe, our profits
stay right here in Edina, keeping our parks clean, our roads
smooth and our taxes low. Truly the best of both worlds.
Think Globally.
Buy Locally.
Practice Moderation In Excess.
Edina’s Municipal Liquor Stores
Grandview (near Jerry’s Foods) • Southdale (next to Cub)
• 50th & France (next to Lunds)
EDINA LIQUOR
19•AUTUMN 2002
“Now, it’s hard to keep families together for activities. It is
my hope that maybe in 10 or 20 years, we’ll have an old-
fashioned community theater with a big reputation.”
Youle said she and others have learned much from
Cermelel and are anxious to put on their first production.
“Dick has given a huge gift to Edina by forming the Edina
Theater Co.,” she said. “Those of us who are already
involved are so appreciative of Dick giving of his time,
talents and gifts. After our first production, I’m sure more
people will feel the same way.
“Right now, we are focusing on getting the word out to the
community that there is a serious group of people who are
starting a theater group in Edina. This is more than just
talk. We want to bring people together and provide the type
of feeling that a parade gives – a sense of community
theater and a sense of pride.”
The Edina Theater Co., which has claimed the historic
Grange Hall as its “home,” is seeking volunteers to be part
of the group and funds to offset the costs of productions.
The Theater Co. is available to give private readings to local
organizations.
“I’m not bored anymore,” Cermelel said. “I’ve always
believed that if you have a talent, you should use it. That’s
what I’m trying to do and what I’m trying to encourage
others to do, too.”
For more information on the new Edina Theater Co.,
to audition or to make a donation, call Cermelel,
952-930-3558, or Youle, 952-926-4661.
18•AUTUMN 2002
After retiring as a
theater professor
from St. Cloud State
University, Dick
Cermelel moved to
Edina to enjoy his
golden years. It
wasn’t long before
he tired of
being retired.
“I didn’t want to be
an old man sitting in
a rocking chair,”
Cermelel said. “I feel
the most alive when
I’m directing. It is the
most wonderful
feeling to create an
entertaining
performance for an
audience.”
Cermelel directed his first play in 1956. With more than 45
years experience as a director and seeking an end to his
boredom, he recently formed a community theater group in
Edina. He put up a sign at the new Edina Community
Library, inviting interested people to an informational
meeting in June.
Amy Youle was one of the dozen or so people who came to
the meeting after seeing the sign. “When I saw the sign, I
thought, ‘I’m there! Theater is a passion of mine. It would
be great to get a community theater group going in Edina.”
For the past several months, the group of adults has
been meeting regularly at one another’s homes,
reading plays and making plans for the Edina Theater
Co.’s first production. Auditions for “The Voice of the
Turtle,” a three-person World War II romantic comedy,
will be held Sept. 30 and Oct. 1-4, by appointment. The
play, which tells the story of Bill, Olive and Sally, will
be presented in mid-November.
“We wanted to crawl before we walk,” Cermelel said.
“We wanted to do something realistic, not impossible,
for our first production. ‘The Voice of the Turtle’ was
selected because of the small cast and few scenes
needed for a successful production.”
Leaders of the Edina Theater Co. plan to produce about
six plays per year. The community theater group will
focus on American classics to build the group and a
regular audience. Plays will include comedies, dramas,
mysteries and eventually children’s works.
“The civic theater movement was at its height in the
1930s,” Cermelel explained. “Everyone in town was part
of a community theater group. People spent their lives at
the theater – coming together every night to see their
friends. It was more than just being in a play, though. It
was about being part of an organization. It meant
sometimes having a part, sometimes working on
costumes, sometimes working behind the stage.
Edina Theater Co.To Present First
Play In November
Retired St. Cloud State University
theater professor Dick Cermelel recently
formed the Edina Theater Co.
Ph
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Members of the Edina Theater Co. read through “The Voice of the
Turtle,” a World War II romantic comedy that will be presented
in mid-November.
Ph
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20•AUTUMN 2002
Edina Art Center
Celebrates First 25 Years
By Joe Sullivan
In 1977, a two-story
house nestled in the
trees near the
northwest edge of
Edina’s Lake Cornelia
became the fulfillment of
a dream. It was a dream
first expressed by Edina
residents more than a decade
earlier. It was in 1977 that the
remodeled house opened for business as the Edina Art
Center (EAC).
In September, 25 years later, the Art Center observed
the anniversary of that 1977 opening with an open-to-
the-public “Home to the Arts” celebration. The Sept. 29
open house featured art demonstrations, music, food
and hands-on projects for adults and children.
But the full story of the EAC’s first 25 years began long
before 1977. Starting in the 1960s, the City of Edina
tried unsuccessfully to buy a house owned by Lee and
Rosalyn Miller on a piece of property adjacent to the
northwest corner of what was then Lake Cornelia Park.
The plan was for the City to devote the entire 30 acres
surrounding Lake Cornelia, north of West 66th Street
and between West Shore Drive and Valley View Road, to
the park. When Rosalyn Miller, whose husband died a
few years earlier, decided in 1976 to sell the house and
property, the City realized it had found an ideal place for
the proposed art center that had been under discussion
since in the 1960s.
Earlier, Edina had considered another site for an art
center. The Miller property at West 64th Street and West
Shore Drive came available just as the City had decided
the other site on West 44th Street between Wooddale
and Grimes avenues was too costly to develop.
The debate over the location of Edina’s art center ended
for good when the City Council approved a plan to buy
the Miller’s Lake Cornelia home and make it into a
haven for amateur and professional artists. In 1976, the
Council authorized purchase of the $95,000 home and
one-acre property. The additional cost of converting the
home into an art center was estimated at $35,000.
Edina’s Bicentennial Ball was held Sept. 18, 1976, at
Southdale Center to bring in an estimated $140,000
needed to begin purchasing equipment, supplies and
furnishings for the new facility.
The Millers built the house in 1949 and lived there for
25 years. Lee Miller owned Gaytee Glass Co., still
nationally known for the stained glass and leaded
windows it designs and custom builds. The house’s
original garage, which is now the Art Center’s office and
gift shop, still has one of the beveled-edge, leaded glass
windows that were in the original house. (A second
one is now hanging in the building’s lower level.)
The original house is a solid structure with
extraordinarily thick walls, which serve to keep out heat
and cold.
21•AUTUMN2002
As EAC classes
got under way in
the fall of 1977,
amateur and
professional artists
could be found
dabbling in water,
oil and acrylic
paints. Three
pottery work areas
on the lower level
were filled with
adult and youthful
potters. On the
main floor, the former living and dining rooms became a
gallery for art exhibits. The second-floor bedroom
became a classroom. “It’s the only art center in the area
with two bathtubs,” said former publicity director Jean
Adams at the 1977 opening.
Co-Directors Head EAC
The co-directors appointed to manage the new art center
were Edina residents Marion Ward and Pat Greer. Each
of them brought to the assignment a long list of
credentials dating back to their college days when both
attended the University of Minnesota and the
Minneapolis College of Art & Design. After college, they
also worked as commercial artists and fashion
illustrators.
The official dedication of the Art Center didn’t take place
until 10 months after the first classes began. On May 21,
1978, the festivities got under way with the dedication of
the Art Center and two memorials, the Margaret Foss
Gallery and Taylor Knoll.
Established with funds provided by the Foss family, the
Margaret Foss Gallery is a memorial to the family’s late
wife and mother. It combines the former living and dining
rooms of the house.
Earlier that year, artist Shirley Taylor had created and
landscaped a nature memorial south of the Art Center
building to honor her son Jordy, who had died in a car
accident. Today, Taylor Knoll is a scenic outlook and
transitional space between the EAC, the nature preserve
and Rosland Park (formerly Lake Cornelia Park).
In 1981, construction began on a new painting classroom
on the south end of the EAC, atop an existing basement
This is what the Miller home looked like
before it was converted to an art center.
Maureen Brockway, Bill Dietrichson and Judy Lieber are the only
teachers still active at the Art Center of the 37 original teachers
who were on board when the EAC opened.
(continued on next page)
23•AUTUMN 200222•AUTUMN 2002
Art Center’s lower
level in 1995.
In 1995, the EAC
purchased equipment
once used for slide-
and film-to-video
transfers by the former
media lab at the
Southdale Hennepin
Area Library. The
equipment established
the basis for EAC’s
own media studio,
which opened in
February 1996 on the
second floor,
informally known as “the loft.” The equipment enabled the
EAC to offer transfer of film and slides to videotape.
On April 24, 1997, ground was broken for the larger
Peggy Kelly media Arts Studios in a new wing of the Art
Center. It included equipment for computer training,
video production and photography. The new Media
Studios were made possible through a generous donation
from the Peggy and Mike Kelly family. The new addition
was dedicated July 1, 1998.
Today’s EAC Is A Vibrant, Growing Creative Resource
Diversity is the key word to describe the 165 classes now
offered at the EAC. Arts and crafts classes and
workshops are offered for all ages and all levels of ability.
Watercolor is the Art Center’s most popular medium, but
art classes are also offered in portraiture, realistic
painting, drawing, oils, pastels, acrylics and sculpture. In
addition, the EAC features a large, well-equipped pottery
department. Although the emphasis is on the visual arts,
classes are also offered in design, architecture, computer
graphics, computer basics, photography, video editing
and crafts such as papermaking, jewelry, tie-dying, fabric
painting, bookmaking, puppetry and mask-making.
pottery kiln room previously used as a sundeck. This much-
needed expansion was initiated by a generous contribution
from Howard Nichols in memory of his late wife Elaine
“Tede” Nichols, who had been an artist. That same year,
Ron and Sandy Clark underwrote the cost of renovating the
house’s former screened porch into a gift gallery for the
sale of original artwork and various gift items.
Hedges Appointed EAC Director
Diana Hedges was appointed director of the EAC in 1986
following the retirements of Greer and Ward. She came to
the EAC from Waterloo, Iowa, where she had been director
of the Waterloo Children’s Theater and taught cultural
explorations and art classes for more than 20 years. She
was also box office director for the University of Northern
Iowa in nearby Cedar Falls. Her education at Vermont’s
Lyndon State College focused on art and philosophy.
Art Academy
And More
Students
Create Need
For More
Space
The EAC’s Art
Academy, which
offers special
classes for
talented and
highly motivated
students in
Grades 2-9, was
formed in 1987. Enrollment for this program is by
application only and when openings arise, instructors
schedule interviews with prospective students and review
their portfolios.
By 1988, the Art Center’s original student population of
500 had grown to more than 3,000 per year. Discussions
began that year about adding a third painting classroom
because the Art Center was bursting at the seams.
Expansion plans that included making the entire building
handicapped accessible were approved by the City
Council the following November.
Photo, Video And Computer Facilities Added
The Crosstown Camera Club was started in 1993 for the
area’s photography buffs. Through the generosity of the
Edina Rotary Club, two darkrooms were built on the
This 1989 construction photo shows the new, skylighted
painting classroom being added to the south end of the
EAC. This addition was made possible through a generous
contribution from Howard Nichols in memory of late wife,
artist Elaine “Tede” Nichols.
(continued on next page)
Diana Hedges became director of
the EAC in 1986, following the
retirements of Pat Greer and Marion
Ward, the Art Center’s founding
co-directors.
EAC co-directors Marion Ward (left) and
Pat Greer were photographed in 1977
shortly after the Art Center opened for
business.
This children’s painting class was held in what was a second-floor
bedroom of the Miller home.
24•AUTUMN 2002 25•AUTUMN 2002
Independent bond rating agency Standard & Poor’s
recently upgraded its rating for the City of Edina’s general
obligation bonds.
Standard & Poor’s upgraded Edina’s general obligation (GO)
bond rating to AAA, the company’s highest rating. Edina is
just the fifth city in the state to receive the rating. Bonds
issued by Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester, and Bloomington
also have Standard & Poor’s AAA rating. There are just 55
cities in the country with the AAA rating. Of those, Edina is
just one of 20 with a population less than 50,000.
Moody’s Investors Services, another independent bond-
rating agency in 2000 gave the City of Edina its highest
rating, Aaa. Edina is just one of three Minnesota cities to
have the top rating from both agencies. The other cities are
Bloomington and Rochester.
“Since the receipt of a Aaa rating from Moody’s two years
ago, the City has worked diligently to secure a similar rating
from Standard & Poor’s,” said City Manager Gordon
Hughes. “This is the culmination of a long-term effort for
Edina and a strong endorsement for the financial
management and community development that has
occurred here. It also speaks to the financial stewardship of
the present and past elected officials of the City.”
Standard & Poor’s emphasizes four factors when assigning
the AAA rating to a municipality. The factors are: strong and
proactive administrations, effective debt management with
moderate to low debt, a vibrant and diverse economy and
strong finances.
According to Standard & Poor’s officials, the AAA
rating specifically reflects Edina’s “continued above-
average financial performance with very high fund
balance levels; ongoing growth of the local economy,
which has continued to diversify the tax base and
attract new development of both retail and commercial
property despite the fact that the community is almost
completely developed; and ongoing strong management
practices.” Additional factors include the City’s
participation in the Minneapolis MSA and role as a first-
ring suburb in the prosperous western suburbs of the
Twin Cities and a manageable debt burden with most
GO-backed debt supported by tax-increment financing
or other revenue sources. The stable outlook attached
to the rating shows Standard & Poor’s expectation of
the City’s continued strong financial performance with
good fund balances and appropriate management of its
debt profile.
City Council members were thrilled with the news of the
higher bond ratings. “This is a nice accomplishment for
the community,” said Mayor Dennis Maetzold. “I believe
this achievement is the result of City Councils past and
present, City staff and countless volunteers attention to
improving the quality of life in Edina while remaining
fiscally responsible. The message that investors have is
that Edina is a great community to live, learn, raise
families and do business.”
The bond rating upgrade helps to ensure that future Edina
debt will be issued with the lowest possible interest expense
and cost to the taxpayer.
Since its first classes opened in 1977, the Art Center’s
student population has grown to the more than 7,000 who
will be enrolled this year. The EAC could not have
achieved this kind of resounding success without the vital
contributions of time and effort donated by an active
group of more than 65 loyal volunteers. Under the
direction of Coordinator of Volunteers Betty Kane, they
handle a myriad of EAC functions.
“Every day I am impressed with the number and variety
of resources the Edina Art Center offers to the people of
this area by embracing the traditional while keeping an
eye on emerging trends in arts and crafts,” Hedges said.
Standard & Poor’s Upgrades City Of
Edina’s Bond Rating
The Peggy Kelly Media Arts Studios offers facilities for computer
training, video production and photography. The new media
studios and a new tearoom were made possible through a generous
donation from the Peggy and Mike Kelly family.
Comparison of EAC Operations 1977 Vs. 2002
1977 2002
Students Enrolled 5007,000 +
Instructors 3735
Membership Cost
Individual$15$30
Family$25$40
Types of Classes Offered 1226
Current staff at the Edina Art Center pose for a photograph
just a month before the 25th anniversary celebration there.
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27•AUTUMN 200226•AUTUMN 2002
Children can be firefighters for a day at the Edina Fire
Department’s Open House Sunday, Oct. 13.
The Open House, to be held just after Fire Prevention Week
Oct. 6-12, will follow a series of classroom presentations in local
schools. “Fire Prevention Week and the Open House are
rewarding programs, whether you are a resident or visitor,
child or adult,” said Fire Chief Marty Scheerer. “The
knowledge gained through attending these events could save
your life or the life of someone near and dear. Once a fire
starts, there is no time to develop a plan. Our open house gets
people thinking about fire safety and developing a plan for what
to do should a fire break out.”
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) estimates
that approximately 80 percent of all fire deaths in the United
States and Canada occur in the home. Approximately 11 people
per day die in home fires in the two countries. Every fire safety
team starts with firefighters -– but they can’t do it alone.
Effective fire safety depends on teamwork. That’s why the
theme for this year’s Fire Prevention Week is “Team Up for
Fire Safety.” It’s a simple idea: team up with the people with
whom you live, work, play, and worship so that all of you will be
better prepared to prevent, and if necessary, survive a home fire.
The three-hour Open House, which will begin at 1 p.m. at Fire
Station No. 1, 6250 Tracy Ave., will feature demonstrations and
games. Children will be allowed to try on gear, spray water
using a fire hose and climb through a fire safety house. Older
children and adults will enjoy demonstrations on the use of fire
extinguishers and sprinkler systems. In addition, the Special
Operations Team will set up some of its equipment and
firefighters/paramedics will have an ambulance open for
inspection. Xcel Energy will set up a display on power line
safety and the State Patrol is expected to land one of its
helicopters at nearby Countryside Park to show how it uses its
search cameras. Sparky the Fire Dog will likely make an
appearance.
“The event is a positive experience for the entire community. The
day is action-packed, with many hands-on activities,” said Scheerer,
adding that approximately 1,000 people attend the annual event.
“Our firefighters enjoy the time spent with the community,
educating people about what we do and fire prevention.”
For more information about the upcoming Open House,
contact the Fire Department at 952-826-0377.
Fire Department To Host
Open House
By Kathy Iverson
Chemical Health Coordinator
It is time for the red ribbons to wind through Edina! The
familiar “Tie One On For Safety” campaign launches at this
busy holiday season -- at a time when spirits are high,
celebrations thrive and travel increases. Tie a ribbon on
your car antennae or your briefcase as a pledge to drive
safe and sober and as a reminder for everyone else to do
the same. The red ribbon also reminds us that Edina is a
place where health is valued.
Along with the familiar red ribbons, look for the phrase
“A Work In Progress,” debuting during Minnesota
Chemical Health Week. “A Work in Progress” will be
seen throughout the community as a fun reminder
about the development of healthy kids and especially
healthy brains.
Why do we feel so strongly feel about this? Recent research
on adolescent brain development has called attention to the
profound effects of chemical use on the teen brain. Healthy
brain development involves proper physical care. Brain
development also thrives in a community that enhances the
social development of an individual. Ultimately, one affects
the other. Check the City of Edina website and look for the
Edina Chemical Health Partners link to more information
on adolescence and brain development.
We encourage you to make healthy choices, care for
each other, and keep in mind the two campaigns: “Tie
One On For Safety” and “A Work In Progress.” Tie your
red ribbons on car antennae, on backpacks, purses --
show your commitment to healthy families and healthy
lifestyles any way you can.
For more information on Chemical Health Week, contact
Iverson by calling 952-929-7627 or via e-mail,
menze002@tc.umn.edu. For links to information on healthy
adolescent brain development, visit www.ci.edina.mn.us.
The Future
“The future is not a result of choices among alternative paths
offered by the present, but a place that is created, first in mind,
next in will, then in activity. The future is not someplace we are
going to, but a place we are creating. The paths are not to be
discovered, but made, and the activity of making the future
changes both the maker and the destination.”
-- John Schaar, University of California
Firefighters Ray Wolff and Dan Scheerer demonstrate use of fire
hoses at a past open house.
Watch For ‘Works In Progress’
During Minnesota Chemical
Health Week
29•AUTUMN 200228•AUTUMN 2002
League Of Women Voters Teams Up
With City And Garden Council To
Eradicate Buckthorn
No one purposely landscapes property with noxious weeds.
But take a close look at nearly any residence with a “natural”
area and you will find buckthorn. Declared a noxious weed
by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR),
its sale in Minnesota is prohibited. This woody invasive now
clogs woodlands, much like milfoil clogs lakes.
To combat buckthorn, the League of Women Voters of Edina
(LWVE) has joined forces with the Edina Garden Council
(EGC) and the City of Edina to educate residents about the
environmental threat and remove the alien species from the
community.
Why was this popular hedge
material, which grows 20 to 25 feet
tall if left untrimmed, designated a
noxious weed? A buckthorn
infestation eliminates wildflowers
and other native vegetation by
crowding them out. It reduces the
number of desirable hardwood
trees, which will eventually greatly
reduce fall color. Walking through
a buckthorn thicket is not possible
because of its density and many
thorns. Buckthorn infestation has
also been found to reduce the
number of songbirds by 30 percent.
Since its berries act as a laxative,
buckthorn is not a favorite among
birds, and the reason songbirds
leave buckthorn-infested areas.
This exotic species is successful at taking over local
woodlands because it has no native enemies, neither animal,
nor insect nor disease. It also has a longer growing season
than Minnesota’s native trees. Unfortunately, the ban on
buckthorn came too late. Birds and water had already carried
the berries from residential areas into both Edina’s private
woodlands such as Indian Hills and into the community’s
public woodlands such as Bredesen Park and Braemar Golf
Course. The Minnesota DNR exotic species survey presently
shows buckthorn in all but a handful of Minnesota counties.
Buckthorn remains green an average
of 58 days longer than Minnesota’s
native vegetation, giving it a
competitive advantage. This feature,
however, also gives residents an
opportunity to easily identify it in the
fall and remove it. After the first hard
frost in late September, most other
deciduous trees will either have lost
their leaves or will have turned a
lovely fall color. Buckthorn will still
be green and growing.
It is important to remember that
natural areas are desirable as wildlife
habitat, but must be managed as wild
gardens and “weeded.” There are
many ways to remove buckthorn.
One of the most common methods is
to cut the trees down and to spray the
stumps with a 25 percent glyphosate
solution such as Roundup to prevent the stumps from
resprouting. Spraying should be done within 24 hours of
cutting and well before any rain. Since buckthorn seeds
remain viable for up to six years, seedlings must be hand-
pulled for several years. For larger areas, spray seedlings with
a 3 percent glyphosate solution between mid-September and
mid-October when native vegetation is dormant, as Roundup
is a nonselective herbicide.
Mayor Dennis Maetzold has declared Oct. 5 through Oct. 11
as Buckthorn Abatement Week in Edina. During this week,
all residents are asked to remove buckthorn from their
property and to volunteer to assist in removing buckthorn
from Edina’s public woodlands. City Forester Tom Horwath
has identified two residential areas as those with the greatest
infestation. To assist residents with the removal of buckthorn
in these areas, two tree services are providing a special
reduced group rate for hauling in the target areas.
The first target area is bounded by Interstate Highway 494,
U.S. Highway 169, Minnesota Highway 62 and Gleason Road
and will be serviced by Top Notch Tree Service,
763-253-0027. The second target area is bounded by I-494,
Gleason, Highway 62 and the Soo Line Railroad and will be
serviced by the Carelson Tree Service, 952-884-5125.
Informational flyers will be distributed to the residents in
these areas by the LWVE and the EGC. To participate in this
special program, residents in the target areas must contact
their respective designated tree service before Friday, Oct. 4,
to schedule buckthorn curbside pickup. Residents who do not
live in one of the target areas should coordinate with neighbors,
call a tree service and inquire about a group discount.
Scout, school or other groups that would like to assist in
buckthorn removal in Edina’s public woodlands and parks,
should contact Horwath, 952-828-0308. To volunteer to
remove buckthorn in Edina on the property of the elderly
or disabled who cannot afford to do so, call Dianne Plunkett
Latham, LWVE Buckthorn Abatement Steering Committee
Chairwoman, 952-941-3542.
For more information on buckthorn removal,
visit the Minnesota DNR’s website at
www.dnr.state.mn.us/exotics/terrestrialplants/buckthorn.html
or St. Anthony Park Garden Club’s website at
www.justaddwater.ws/BuckthornHome.htm.
Buckthorn has been declared a noxious weed by the
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
Mayor Dennis Maetzold has declared Oct. 5-11 as
Buckthorn Abatement Week in the community.
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You may qualify for up to $20,000 to make
repairs or necessary improvements to your
Edina home through the Hennepin County
Housing Rehabilitation Loan Program.
This program provides deferred repayment
funds on a first-come-first-served basis to
people who can show financial need. If you would like to receive information,
income guidelines, qualification summaries, interest rates, and applications,
please call Associate Planner Joyce Repya at the
Edina Planning Department, (952) 826-0462.
Dozens of Edina residents have protected the value
of their homes by using this program. If your primary
residence is located in Edina and needs repair or
structural improvements, please give Joyce a call.
Home Rehab Funds
for Qualified Edina Home Owners
CITY OF EDINA
PLANNING DEPARTMENT
31•AUTUMN 2002
Election Day Registration
On Election Day, you may register at your polling place by
presenting one of the following authorized proofs of residence:
• Valid Minnesota driver’s license or learner’s permit (or
receipt for either) showing current street address in precinct.
• Valid Minnesota identification card (or receipt) showing
current address in precinct.
• Oath of a voter registered in your precinct, who is not a
challenger, signed in the presence of an election judge.
• Current registration in the same precinct showing a
previous address.
• Mailed notice received from the registration office
showing an ineffective registration.
• Photo identification card with a former address plus an
original utility bill with current address. The bill must be
due within 30 days of the election. Examples of
acceptable utility bills include those from Reliant,
XcelEnergy, Time Warner Cable, Qwest, City of Edina
and garbage collection.
College students may use:
• A student fee statement showing your address in the
precinct and photo identification card.
• A student identification card or registration card
containing your current address.
• A student photo identification if a college student housing
list or list of students is on file at your polling place.
Absentee Voting
Applications for Absentee Ballots may be obtained in person
at Edina City Hall 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through
Friday, by calling 952-826-0363 to have an application mailed
to you or visiting www.sos.state.mn.us/election/abstappl.pdf.
Mail your ballot at least one week before the election or
mark it at City Hall, whichever is more convenient.
In addition, City Hall will be open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 2, for absentee voting.
For more information about polling locations, voter
registration or absentee ballots, call Voter Registration at
City Hall, 952-826-0409.
30•AUTUMN 2002
If you are an Edina resident and a registered voter, you
may vote for two City Council members at the Municipal
Election, held in conjunction with the Nov. 5 General
Election. Two Council members will be elected to four-year
terms. You will also be able to vote for federal, state and
county candidates.
Polling Places
Polling places are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day
at the following locations:
PrecinctLocationAddress
Precinct 1A Shepherd of Hills Church500 Blake Road
Precinct 1B Chapel Hills United Church of Christ6512 Vernon Ave.
Precinct 2 Edina Senior Center5280 Grandview Square
Precinct 3 Edina Covenant Church4201 W. 50th St.
Precinct 4 Weber Park Warming House4115 Grimes Ave.
Precinct 5 Highlands Elementary School 5505 Doncaster Way
Precinct 6 Countryside Elementary School5701 Benton Ave.
Precinct 7 Normandale Lutheran Church6100 Normandale Road
Precinct 8 South View Middle School4725 South View Lane
Precinct 9 Concord Elementary School5900 Concord Ave.
Precinct 10 Creek Valley Elementary School6401 Gleason Road
Precinct 11 Creek Valley Baptist Church6400 Tracy Ave.
Precinct 12 Cornelia Elementary School7000 Cornelia Drive
Precinct 13 Centennial Lake Park Centrum7499 France Ave. S.
Precinct 14 St. Peter’s Lutheran Church5421 France Ave. S.
Precinct 15 Valley View Middle School6750 Valley View Road
Precinct 16 Christ Presbyterian Church6901 Normandale Road
Precinct 17 Southdale Hennepin Area Library7001 York Ave. S.
Precinct 18 Edinborough Park7700 York Ave. S.
Precinct 19 Calvary Lutheran Church6817 Antrim Road
Register to Vote
You are qualified to vote in Minnesota if:
• You are 18 years of age.
• You are a citizen of the United States.
• You have resided in Minnesota for 20 days.
• You are registered to vote.
You are not qualified to vote if:
• You have been convicted of a felony or treason and have
not yet been restored your civil rights.
• You are under the guardianship of another person.
• You have been found by a court of law to be legally
incompetent.
• You are not registered to vote.
You must re-register to vote if you have moved, changed
your name or have not voted within the past four years.
Register at Edina City Hall 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday
through Friday until 20 days prior to the election.
Little Feet Friendly Lawn Care
Results with our Environment in mind!
952-895-8200
www.qualityseasons.com
Edina’s Favorite Lawn Service!
Little Feet Friendly Lawn Care
Voters To Elect Council Members
In November
decided the best place for such a course was Rosland
Park, which has adequate space and ample parking for
the amenity.
The teens began their project by visiting other communities
in the metropolitan area that have disc golf courses. After
visiting the 15 parks and researching basket types, Darbut,
Freeman and Troup designed a nine-hole course for the
northeast corner of Rosland Park. In addition, they
proposed signage and prepared a budget.
Before presenting their plans to the Edina Park Board, the
boys went over their presentation with 1995 World Amateur
Golf Disc Champion and Edina resident Tim Gill. Gill, who
owns a business called Disc Craft, offered a few suggestions
and endorsed the project.
In June, the Park Board approved the concept of the disc golf
course at Rosland Park. If the $3,500 needed to purchase the
baskets and signs is obtained, Edina High School senior Paul
Buck will install them as an Eagle Scout project.
“We were very confident going before the Park Board with
our plans,” Troup said. “We knew we had a solid design and
really felt a disc golf course would be beneficial for the City.
It is such an inexpensive, but worthwhile, amenity.”
City staff was impressed with the trio’s work. “It was
wonderful to work with Edina High School students who
have an interest in the community’s parks,” Tilsner said.
“Adding a disc golf course was a great idea. Disc golf is a
safe, free activity for the whole family.”
Darbut, Freeman and Troup are excited about the
possibility of their dream course becoming a reality. “It will
be nice to have our hard work pay off and we are so
thankful we were able to give back to the community in this
way,” said Freeman, 18, a freshman at the University of
Colorado at Boulder. “We can’t wait to play on the course
when we come back to Edina from college.”
For more information on the proposed disc golf course or any
of the City’s other park amenities, call the Park and
Recreation Department, 952-826-0367.
33•AUTUMN 2002
Local Teenagers Design
Disc Golf Course
32•AUTUMN 2002
Looking for a fun and
inexpensive way to spend time
together, Edina teenagers Alex
Darbut, Zach Freeman and
Charlie Troup began playing
disc golf their sophomore year
of high school.
“Disc golf is something
everyone can do,” said Troup,
now 19 and a freshman at the
University of Indiana at
Bloomington. “You don’t have to
be athletic to play and it’s a
really safe sport. Fathers and
sons, mothers and daughters,
young and old – anyone can play.
“Disc golf is not an expensive
sport, either. You don’t have to
buy pads, helmets or special
shoes like you have to with a lot
of other sports. All you have to
do is buy a Frisbee. A few
minutes later, you can be playing
the game.”
Darbut, Freeman and Troup
played the game in nearby
communities that have disc golf
courses. They even played in the
snow during the winter.
Unfortunately, there was no
place to play in Edina as the
community’s only disc golf
course was removed from
Braemar Park in the
mid-1980s.
During their last semester
as seniors at Edina High
School, the trio enrolled in
“May Term,” a course
designed to give students
real world experience by
allowing them to choose a
project, set goals and see
it through to the end.
Darbut, Freeman and Troup
decided to design a disc
golf course for one of the
community’s parks.
The teenagers met in the
spring with Park and
Recreation Director John
Keprios and Recreation
Supervisor Donna Tilsner,
who immediately
embraced the idea and saw
the project as another way
for the City to connect with
youth in the community.
City staff and the students
Disc golf is an inexpensive sport for everyone. The only thing
needed to play is a Frisbee or other disc flyer.
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Recent Edina High School graduates Alex Darbut and Zach
Freeman designed a disc golf course for Rosland Park as their
“May Term” project last spring. Charlie Troup was also part
of the project.
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35•AUTUMN2002
Tucker said the Foundation makes it easy for people who
are interested in donating to a charity. The Foundation does
not encourage the support of any one charity, but as a
neutral entity assists donors in identifying and attaining
their charitable goals. In additions, donors can save time
and eliminate the administrative burden of charitable giving
by utilizing the Foundation’s services. Donors can give
money for a specific project, cause or charity or can leave
the money in the hands of the Foundation Board of
Directors to meet the needs of the community.
For more information or to donate to the Edina Community
Foundation, call 952-833-9573.
34•AUTUMN 2002
Edina Community Foundation
Appoints Interim Executive Director
The Edina Community Foundation Board of Directors
recently hired Patricia A. Tucker as interim
executive director.
Tucker, a long time Edina resident, began her
new position June 1 at an office in the Edina
Senior Center, 5280 Grandview Square. Besides
setting up an office for the Foundation, Tucker’s
responsibilities include completing a vision and
mission statement for the organization, drafting a
brochure and other promotional materials, writing
grants, coordinating volunteers and overseeing the group’s
annual campaign.
“I am thrilled to take on
this position with the
Edina Community
Foundation,” Tucker said.
“I believe in Edina and
want to work to make it a
better place. The
Foundation makes a
tremendous impact in the
quality of life in this
community and I am
proud to be a part.”
Tucker comes to the
position with previous
experience as head of a
nonprofit organization.
She is the former
president of the Edina Chamber of Commerce and is
a current board member of Volunteers Enlisted to
Assist People (VEAP). She is an active volunteer
at South View Middle School and St. Patrick’s
Catholic Church.
“After interviewing several candidates, we
were pleased to be able to hire Pat,” said
Foundation President James B. Hovland. “We
have been looking for the appropriate person to
help us build … our new Community Foundation and
in Pat Tucker we feel we found a great fit. She knows our
community very well, having served so many years as
president of the Chamber, and she has incredible energy
for the many tasks ahead of us as we try to create a
charitable organization for our community with a broad
range of donors and a substantial endowment that will
benefit our City, its citizens and its nonprofit organizations
for generations to come.”
Hovland said the Foundation plans to fill the executive
director position permanently on or before Jan. 1, 2003.
The role of the Foundation, established in 1977, is to
help people and organizations in making a difference.
The Foundation fulfills its role by facilitating charitable
giving, initiating responses to targeted needs and
building permanent funds for the support of charities
in Edina. In addition, the Foundation fosters
partnerships with community service organizations
that provide vital links between various segments of
the community.
Patricia A. Tucker is the interim
executive director of the Edina
Community Foundation.
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37•AUTUMN2002
muscle tissue, known as the myocardium, becomes
inflamed, then scarred and fibrous. As a result, the walls
of the heart may become thick and hard, or thin and
weak. The heart sometimes enlarges and beats faster,
trying to play catch-up because it isn’t pumping as much
blood. The doctors told Pederson she might have
contracted the virus anywhere from a few months to a
few weeks beforehand, and that instead of going to her
respiratory system, it went to her heart. Symptoms
include lightheadedness and fatigue. If she had
experienced those sensations, Laura must have
dismissed them because she felt fine until the morning
of the incident.
“The one thing that I heard over and over again after
regaining consciousness was that every link in the chain
was working after my heart stopped. CPR was given, the
portable defibrillator was used before paramedics
arrived and then the larger unit was able to convert my
heart,” Laura said. “Those defibrillators saved my life.”
Fire Chief Marty Scheerer said the City’s defibrillators
regularly save people’s lives. They are used every day,
on nearly every call for a medical emergency. “One of
the first things we do for a potential cardiac patient is
use the monitor and defibrillator,” he said.
However, the Edina Fire Department is in need of new
life-saving equipment and is working to raise money for
the cause. The four monitor/defibrillators used by
paramedics are older three-lead monitors. Currently,
most ambulances carry 12-lead monitors with biphasic
defibrillation capabilities, which operate more efficiently
and cause less damage to the body when used. In
addition, paramedics are able to offer medications based
on the more sophisticated output of the 12-lead
defibrillators. Those same medications cannot be
offered when a three-lead unit is used.
Several hospitals also have 12-lead heart-monitoring
equipment. If Edina paramedics had similar equipment,
emergency room doctors would be able to compare a
patient’s heart rhythm prior to the paramedics’
interventions to his or her current condition at the
hospital to determine what course of action to take.
“You never know when you might need a defibrillator,”
Scheerer said. “Laura Pederson is the perfect example.
She did not know of a previous condition or abnormality
and was living a normal life. But one day because of a
virus, her heart stopped and we were there with a
defibrillator.”
For more information on the importance of defibrillators,
contact the Edina Fire Department, 952-826-0330. To
make a tax-deductible donation to help pay for one of four
needed defibrillators, send a check to the Edina
Community Foundation, 5280 Grandview Square, Edina,
MN 55436. Please write "defibrillator" in the memo line
of the check.
36•AUTUMN 2002
Resident Credits Defibrillator With
Saving Her Life
After her husband had left one Sunday morning for a
round of golf at Braemar Golf Course, Laura Pederson
scurried around the house, cooking breakfast, dressing
her two young daughters and making last-minute
preparations for a family birthday party scheduled for
later in the day. When it was time to leave for church,
she began loading the car. The last thing she
remembers is bending over to pick up 1-year-old Annie.
Laura, then 39, went into sudden
cardiac arrest caused by
fibrillation of her heart muscle
and laid unconscious. Her in-
laws, who had stayed overnight
for the birthday party, rushed to
her side. Roland Pederson began
CPR. His wife, Jean, called 9-1-1
and 6-year-old Jeni gave
dispatchers the home address
she had learned in kindergarten
that year.
An Edina Police officer was at
the scene within three minutes.
Even though he had never used
the equipment on a person, he
confidently broke out a portable
defibrillator stored in the squad
car. He knew she would die unless electrical currents
were applied to her heart to interrupt the fibrillation and
allow the heart’s normal rhythm to regain control. A few
minutes later, Edina Fire Department paramedics were
there with a larger, more sophisticated heart monitor
and defibrillator. After a few attempts, Laura’s heart was
in a purfusing rhythm again.
Laura was taken by ambulance to Fairview Southdale
Hospital where she suffered another “Code Blue” and
laid in a coma for a few days. Her family was given bleak
survival statistics – of the one in 10 who make it alive to
the hospital under similar
circumstances, just one in
10 of those goes home to
lead a normal life.
However, the mother of
two and elementary school
teacher broke the odds
and made a full recovery.
Today, she has a
pacemaker and implanted
defibrillator and takes four
medications a day. “I’m
still absolutely amazed I
survived,” said Laura,
recalling the day in May
1999 when her heart
stopped. “It happened
without warning.”
After many tests, doctors determined Laura had
contracted a virus that had caused the condition
idiopathic cardiomyopathy. Cardiomyopathy is a
breakdown of the muscle tissue in the heart. This
Ph
o
t
o
b
y
P
o
l
l
y
N
o
r
m
a
n
Edina paramedics demonstrate the use of a portable
defibrillator on a volunteer.
39•AUTUMN200238•AUTUMN 2002
City Of Edina To Flush Hydrants In
September,October
‘Thugs,Bugs and Drugs:’
Edina,Richfield To Host Senior
Safety Seminar
To purge rust and stagnant water from the water
distribution system and identify hydrants in need of
maintenance, the Utilities Division of the City of Edina’s
Public Works Department will flush hydrants for four
weeks beginning Monday, Sept. 23. Random hydrants are
also flushed throughout the year as weather and water
demand allows.
Hydrant flushing with take place 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday
through Friday. In an attempt to minimize the impact on
residents, hydrants will be flushed as follows:
•Sept. 23-27 East of Minnesota Highway 100 and
north of Minnesota Highway 62
•Sept. 30-Oct. 4 West of Minnesota Highway 100 and
north of Minnesota Highway 62
•Oct. 7-11 West of Minnesota Highway 100 and
south of Minnesota Highway 62
•Oct. 14-18 East of Minnesota Highway 100 and
south of Minnesota Highway 62
Due to hydrant flushing, it is inevitable that some residents
will receive rust-colored water, which can stain laundry but
is safe to drink. Residents may also receive rust-colored
water when areas adjacent to theirs are being flushed.
Residents should check that water coming into the house is
clear before doing laundry during the flushing period.
The flushing schedule is approximate. For an up-to-date
flushing schedule, call the Public Works Hotline at 952-826-
0375. For more information, contact Utilities Superintendent
Roger Glanzer, 952-826-0311, or visit www.ci.edina.mn.us.
Frank was out shopping and found a shirt he liked.
When he tried to pay for it, the clerk told him his credit
card had been declined. Shocked and embarrassed, he
left the store and called his credit card company. He was
told his account was over its limit and his payments
were past due. Frank had been a victim of identity theft.
The theft of his credit card number was the beginning of
his three-year nightmare.
The cities of Edina and Richfield Thursday, Nov. 7, will
host “Thugs, Bugs and Drugs,” an educational safety
seminar for seniors to prevent incidents like the one
experienced by Frank. The event will be held 8:30 a.m.
to 12:30 p.m. at the Edina Senior Center, 5280
Grandview Square. The organizers’ goal is to provide
useful information to seniors so they can live a safe and
healthy life.
Sessions will be short, lively and entertaining with time
allowed for questions.
The Thugs:Identity Theft Prevention and How to Deal
With Telemarketers -- identity theft is one of the fastest
growing crimes in the United States. Participants will
learn how to best protect their personal information
and deal with telemarketers. Personnel from the
Richfield and Edina fire departments will make
the presentation.
The Bugs: that’s brain bugs Safety and Alzheimer’s –
participants will learn about some of the home and
driving safety tips to consider when friends or family
experience memory loss or Alzheimer’s disease.
The Alzheimer’s Association of Edina will make
the presentation.
The Drugs:Prescription Safety – participants will learn
about the consequences of multiple medications and the
importance of communication with their doctors. They
will also learn about the importance of throwing away old
medications, herbal remedies in combination with
prescription drugs and coping with high drug costs. A
Park Nicollet pharmacist will make the presentation.
Cost for the safety seminar is $5 per person, which
includes morning snacks, a boxed lunch, gifts and door
prizes. Pre-registration is required by Oct. 25. Send $5
registration, made payable to Edina Senior Center, to
Edina Senior Center, 5280 Grandview Square, Edina, MN
55436. Space is limited to 75 people.
For more information call the Edina Senior Center, 952-
833-9570 or Richfield Community Center, 612-861-9360. Coverage for backups of sewers and basement drains is
available, but not always included in a basic homeowner’s
insurance policy.
In addition, insurance companies that do offer the
protection have varying amounts of coverage.
Check your homeowner’s insurance policy to see if you
have coverage for backups.
If you do not have coverage, consider adding to your
policy because in most cases the City’s insurance will
not cover your damages in the event of an incident.
For moreinformation, call Edina Public Works, 952-826-0311.
DOYOU
have insurance for
sewer back-ups?
Check your policy today!