Kingfield Neighborhood Association

Thank you to the Kingfield and Lyndale History Hounds!

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Thank you to the dozen volunteers who have been sorting paper and scouring old news stories about our neighborhoods these past two months.  These History Hounds are helping to clear out the file cabinets, so that both Lyndale and Kingfield’s historic documents can be included in the the collection that the Hennepin Library Archivists are putting together. When completed, this collection will show the breadth and value of neighborhood actions and activities and how it has shaped Minneapolis over the last 30 years.

Our History Hounds are a talented bunch, but many also have a history of their own in archival documentation, or they are simply self-proclaimed trivia-history nerds!

Want to get involved? There is more room at the table (or more correctly, in the basement file-room) for a few more History Hounds. Just contact Nicole at to set a time to come dig through a box of papers!

 Reminder: Today, join us for the Inaugural Kingfield Holidazzle!

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 Join us for the Inaugural Kingfield Holidazzle!

Saturday, December 10th   5:30 PM

Honoring Jim and Joanne from Royal Ground coffee shop

In the spirit of good fun and community building, let’s dress in lights and holiday cheer and have a mini Holidazzle parade (for those not familiar with the winter Minneapolis celebration, watch this video   https://tinyurl.com/bdfam8yp).

In addition to the fun, let’s take a moment to thank Jim + Joanne, the owners of the Royal Grounds coffee shop. After 12 years of incredible service to our community, Jim and Joanne are moving on to a new chapter.  While the shop will be left in good hands, let’s gather together and toast these stalwarts of our neighborhood.

Here’s the plan:

  1. Dress up your clothing, bike, stroller, etc. in LIGHTS, wear a COSTUME, and bring your smiles (see photo below).  Dress warmly as we will be outside.
  2. Bring your own cup of coffee, cocoa, or libation of your choice (the coffee shop will be closed).
  3. Meet at Royal Grounds at 5:30 p.m. to raise a glass + toast to Jim & Joanne
  4. Leave the coffee shop at 6 p.m. for a parade down Grand Avenue to 46th
  5. Hang with your neighbors afterward at Tap Society or Cafe Ena or go home

Kids, grown-ups, + pets are all welcome! 

Support KFNA with a Financial Donation this Give to the Max Season!

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Dear Kingfield Neighbor–

We are your neighbors, and we volunteer our time to lead the Kingfield Neighborhood Association (KFNA), your most local non-profit. Why do we do it?

We volunteer our time because:

  • we learn about projects of importance and interest to our neighborhood,
  • it connects us to our community and helps us build relationships with neighbors, and
  • it is fun and satisfying to come up with an idea, and then have a team of people willing to help you carry it out!

2022 brought opportunities and challenges to KFNA. The availability of the COVID vaccine made gathering in community possible again. From nervously re-entering society for Empty Bowls in February despite well below zero temps, celebrating our talent at PorchFest, kicking off the Pollinator Pathway Project, to flexing our civic muscles at Polling Parties on Primary and Election Day, Kingfield neighbors really have shown up and enjoyed being together!

But events like these brought challenges also, and not just related to health and safety practices. Events are, simply put, time consuming to plan and to run and KFNA does not have the money to continue to pay staff to lead all these projects. We are facing a 66% funding reduction this year and each foreseeable year into the future, from our largest supporter, the City of Minneapolis. Donate today by visiting GiveMN.org

Why should you care? What does KFNA do besides bring neighbors together and create community?

KFNA and other neighborhood organizations were created to help reduce crime, organize neighbors around community safety, and plan and execute infrastructure projects benefiting their neighborhood. Neighborhood associations, including KFNA, also have become the communication tool and conduit for many city departments to share information with residents. Despite how needed this work still is, and how reliant community partners are on neighborhood organizations help them connect with neighbors and get beneficial projects done, we are severely underfunded.

To continue to serve the neighborhood and out mission of creating connections, building community, and fostering engagement we, the KFNA Board of Directors, are taking action.

  • We are raising awareness about what is going on.
  • We are personally investing more time volunteering to reduce staff costs.
  • We are even exploring structural organizational changes including merging with other neighborhood groups and how that might improve our chance of survival.

As we invest our time and energy as your Board of Directors, please know that if we do restructure Kingfield, the neighborhood will not go away. Our goal is to keep the spirit of KFNA alive, and to find ways to sustainably continue our much-loved events, so we can continue to serve Kingfield and address issues as they arise.

If you value the events we put on in the neighborhood, the advocacy for safety and for affordable housing, and having an elected group of neighbors holding regular public meetings to work on issues important to where you live, then please Donate today by visiting GiveMN.org and search for Kingfield Neighborhood Association.

Thank you!

Your 2022-23 KFNA Board of Directors,

Katie, Dave, Josh, BJ, Scott, Becky, Alice, Regina, David, Travis, Todd, Brighton, and Sarah

Got a Nose for News and an Interest in History? Volunteers needed!

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We are looking for some history hounds to help us go through the archives of both Kingfield and Lyndale neighborhoods. We are partnering with the Hennepin County Library archival program, and in preparation for working with them, we need some help sorting through the boxes of paper dating back to the 1990s. We’d love to find people with an interest in the neighborhood’s history and good eye for what we should keep (but we will give some guidelines, too) to get things organized to hand off to the library.

If you are interested in helping, or learning more, please contact Nicole ().

Share your ideas on how to use the former Kmart area!

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Former Kmart and New Nicollet Redevelopment Survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TCF9Y7N

Here are the presentation slides from the meeting about the future of Nicollet Ave on the former Kmart site: