The Minneapolis Police Department will be presenting the 10th Annual Building Blocks and 8th Annual Theresa S. Ruhland Awards tonight. The Ruhland Award honors a Minneapolis reisident volunteer who does an outstanding job of getting youths involved in the community.
The Building Blocks awards are given to block clubs that are the city’s most active and effective. Two Kingfield block clubs are among the eleven chosen for the awards this year: 4200 Garfield and West-of-King block clubs.Â
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To read more about these great Kingfield blocks, click on “read more”.
4200 Block of Garfield Avenue South Block Club, Kingfield neighborhood
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The 4200 block of Garfield Avenue South does not have an official “block leader,†but has many involved neighbors with traditions and gatherings that go back decades. Block members have frequent contact with one another through weekly, monthly and annual events including National Night Out parties, potluck dinners, Saturday morning coffees, and poker nights. The block club even awards new neighbors a travelling painting of “Mrs. Garfield†that remains in the new neighbor’s possession until the next house on the block changes hands. Residents also work with the 5th precinct on neighborhood safety issues including vandalism, drug dealing, excessive speeding and other suspicious activity.
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West-of-King Block Clubs, King Field neighborhood
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The West-of-King Block Clubs is a developing group involving nine blocks from Nicollet Avenue South to Wentworth Avenue South, and East 40th Street to East 43rd Street. The club is led by Mary and Michael Vanderford, Linda Madson, Chris DeParde, and Rosie Novak, and began as response to shootings, drug dealing and a murder in the neighborhood in 2008. Since the block club formed in September 2008, it has held meetings with neighbors, Mayor Rybak, Council Member Elizabeth Glidden, the Minneapolis Police Department and other leaders to work constructively on what could be done about the crime in the area. The group is working to fill gaps in neighborhood leadership, build phone trees, re-create block maps, start an evening walking group, and research how it can support youth programs at King Park. Â