Jour 1189 Blog # 3: Community Concerns

The sky was overcast, and a cold wind iced the air at Parkers Lake in Plymouth. People of all ages, with friends and family, watched a carver create a Fire and Ice logo out of a huge block of ice. Sled dogs streaked across the frozen lake, while ice skaters glided over its groomed surface. I stepped inside the brick warming house, and felt enveloped in warmth. Families were putting on or removing their skates. A few picnickers enjoyed sandwiches. I spied a table with a Music in Plymouth poster sitting on it, and headed over see what it’s about. A well-dressed, auburn haired woman was manning the table. She’s with the Music in Plymouth organization. We struck up a conversation about her organization. Barb noted that it accepts donations. She mentioned she understands how the economy is these days, and I can tell she didn’t like to ask for donations. Barb is a real estate agent, and she had never seen such slow home sales. She expressed amazement---she remembers some of the home sale closings she attended, and the mortgages! The buyers had no idea what they were getting into, the finance terms were so complex, and it was unlikely the buyers would be able to repay their mortgage. We commiserated for a few minutes. Barb handed me some literature, and I headed out to the cold once again.

The following week, on a crisp winter evening, I drove to Plymouth City Hall, a modern red brick and glass building, and located the City Chamber. The Chamber itself has a glass wall; proceedings are visible from the hallway, imparting the proverbial fishbowl effect. I attended a council meeting for the Plymouth Parks and Recreation Committee. The staff and council members appeared to be typical suburban men and women. City staff and council members reported on various topics. A couple of reports alluded to the state of the economy. Not all the news is bad; Eric mentioned there had been a “resurgence” in open ice skating sessions. Field house rentals have been picking up steam, surprising in this economy.

A couple of weeks ago, I went for a hair cut. The salon, housed in a small, boxy strip mall, was still chilly at 9:00 a.m. However, it was blessedly free from talk of the bad economy. The stylist, a vivacious red-head named Jaime, and I just chatted about what’s going on is our lives. She has a couple of good friends getting married. Jaime’s looking forward to their weddings. It was a nice change from talk of the bad economy!

People in the community seemed concerned for the future and for others. They’ve experienced downturns because of the recession, but overall, they seem to be getting by OK. There’s a sense of “hunkering down” and riding out these coldly uncertain times.

Jour 1189 Blog # 2: Covering Communities

After much angst over moving to a “gasp” suburb, I moved to Plymouth 10 years ago because my husband and I found an affordable house fairly close to Minneapolis. I’ve enjoyed many neighborhood parks, summer outdoor concerts, art classes—the recreation. I’ve never been active in the community, though. I couldn’t even name the mayor, though I’ve voted in the past few elections. I just voted for whatever name appealed to me at the time.

I’ve since discovered the mayor’ name, along with that of my ward’s councilmember. Plymouth operates under the council-manager form of government, who knew? The city council receives input from a number of citizen commissions. The commissions consist of Environmental Quality, Housing & Redevelopment, Human Rights, Parks & Recreation, Planning and Plymouth Transit. The rosters for each commission list the citizen leaders. I reviewed several months’ agendas and meeting notes for three commissions.

From the Environmental Quality committee meeting agendas and notes, I infer several residents are very interested in water quality. Very commendable.

The meeting notes for the Human Rights committee didn’t indicate much activity, though the commission promotes training for teachers, and an essay contest for students. I’m hopeful this means there are not many human rights violations in the community, though the suburb is stereotypically “white” with limited diversity.

The committee that most drew my attention was the Parks and Recreation committee. From the meeting notes, I gathered this was an active committee, involved with parks, ice rinks, performance and activity centers (meeting places for residents and community leaders) and lots of events, such as Plymouth on Parade and a fine arts exhibit. In fact, there is a winter festival, Fire and Ice, this Saturday, February 7th, at Parkers Lake. Some of the activities include “hayride, ice mini-golf, and snow bowling.”1 The festival will end with fire works. Fun!

So, I’ve learned more about Plymouth, but guess what? I still like the recreation the best, and I’ve already forgotten the mayor’s name.

1 http://www2.ci.plymouth.mn.us/pls/cop/docs/FOLDER/RECREATION/REC_ACTIVITIES/LEISURE_TIMES/WINTER_SPRING/COMPLETE+WINTER+GUIDE.PDF (02/02/09)