Last weekend I had occasion to visit the Twin Cities, my home and place of employment for more than two decades. A lot has changed since my initial arrival there in 1967.
After completing graduate studies at Arizona and University of California-Berkeley, I was back in the tundra, in neighboring Minnesota instead of my native Wisconsin. Nobody had yet heard of Mary Tyler Moore, I-90/94 connecting the Twin Cities and Madison was not yet complete, and the Foshay Tower, at 447 feet, completed in 1928 just prior to the Great Depression, was still the tallest building in the Cities.
My old pal from kindergarten through high school, Jimmy Goetz, had a few years earlier sneaked across the Mississippi River - under cover of darkness, I allege, and before you could say "Richard Milhaus Nixon," the kid was running the state. Well, not exactly - as Minnesota's youngest ever lieutenant governor, he was presiding over the state senate - but still amazing.
That autumn, the Packers won the "Ice Bowl" against the Dallas Cowboys - it was their last hurrah, to be followed by years of mediocrity and domination by Bud Grant's Vikings and the "Purple People Eaters" that relished intimidating opponents in the mud, slush, and snow. The baseball Twins would long be among the worst teams in baseball. But you could buy good seats cheap.
Minnesota's football "Golden Gophers" were still living on their past glory. Tony Dungy was soon to be the Gopher's quarterback. Success of his teams as a professional coach significantly exceeded that of the Dungy's Gophers. I don't think it was during Dungy's era, but I recall seeing a game in which O. J. Simpson and Southern Cal took the Gophers to task.
Having spent so much time in Arizona and California, I had developed a taste for Mexican food. There was one Mexican restaurant in Minneapolis, and one in St. Paul.
We bought a house in St. Anthony Park, a quiet residential neighborhood in the northwest corner of St. Paul, close walking distance to U. of M.'s St. Paul campus where I was offered that greatest of gifts - steady employment. The "Park," as it was, and still is, called, contained a nice mix of professors, other professionals, and blue collar working people. It hosted St. Paul's smallest high school, a good elementary school, a branch of the St. Paul Library, a small bank, a few small shops, and even a small sandwich bar and soda fountain at the corner drug store.
The "Park" was overseen by the St. Anthony Park Association, consisting of men only. Much to the chagrin, later anger, of Park women, they were not allowed as members. But this was the late 60s - such instability could not last.
Politically, the Cities and the state in general, were characterized by Democrats like Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale, and Orville Freeman, and by Republicans such as Elmer Anderson. Minnesota's liberal Republicans of that era would be considered Communists by today's hardliners.
We had a son born in Minneapolis. Early in his grade school days, he had a friend, Jamie, living on the street next to us. Through that relationship, I met Jamie's father, Tom, and we became friends to this day.
Tom and I met for breakfast last weekend and reviewed some of the changes, too numerous to list, that had occurred since those early days. An obscure radio host, Garrison Keillor, catapulted to national fame. I once accompanied a singer on his show with my accordion - back when he was operating out of a hole-in-the-wall studio in St. Paul. Tom tells me that Keillor is returning to St. Paul for a 40th anniversary performance this weekend.
My old pal Jimmy's ambitions for the governorship were thwarted when he was defeated in the Republican primary by Attorney General Douglas Head, who, in turn, was defeated by Democrat Wendell Anderson. Maybe Jimmy could have won - who knows. But the talented Jimmy went on to bigger and better things. His family now owns and operates the giant Travel Center on I-90/94 near Portage.
The Minneapolis and St. Paul skylines changed beyond belief during the 1970s and every year thereafter, with skyscrapers and construction all over the place. The five-county metropolitan region, as it was back in the 1960s, is now the thirteen-county metropolitan area, including two Wisconsin counties on the other side of the St. Croix.
The giant "Mall of America" was built in Burnsville, on the site of the old Metropolitan Stadium. The Vikings and Twins moved to that miserable plastic dome that, happily, no longer exists. The Twins recently moved to their new outdoor "Target Field," and the Vikings are borrowing the Gopher's field until their own new stadium is completed.
I drove through my old neighborhood in St. Anthony Park. It has never looked more lush and prosperous. It has turned from sort of a mixed neighborhood to definitely upscale. In the mid-70s, I sold our original house and bought that nice Queen Anne Victorian across the street. I had put a lot of work and money into it and hated to leave it. But career was more important than house. So I got rid of it in 1990 when I made the career move to New Mexico State University and bought the adobe in old Mesilla.
That old Queen Anne has gone through a couple of owners, and it's clear that they have put even more money and time in it than I had.
The neighborhood shops have changed and people were dining outside, taking advantage of the long days of Minnesota's short summer.
Tom tells me that it would now be impossible to find a Republican in the Park, that is, one who would admit it. Progressive women have long ago taken over the St. Anthony Park Association.
Maybe that's why things look so good. But I'm sure men, even Republicans if they behaved themselves, would still be welcome.
- John Waelti's column normally appears every Friday in the Times. He can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net.
After completing graduate studies at Arizona and University of California-Berkeley, I was back in the tundra, in neighboring Minnesota instead of my native Wisconsin. Nobody had yet heard of Mary Tyler Moore, I-90/94 connecting the Twin Cities and Madison was not yet complete, and the Foshay Tower, at 447 feet, completed in 1928 just prior to the Great Depression, was still the tallest building in the Cities.
My old pal from kindergarten through high school, Jimmy Goetz, had a few years earlier sneaked across the Mississippi River - under cover of darkness, I allege, and before you could say "Richard Milhaus Nixon," the kid was running the state. Well, not exactly - as Minnesota's youngest ever lieutenant governor, he was presiding over the state senate - but still amazing.
That autumn, the Packers won the "Ice Bowl" against the Dallas Cowboys - it was their last hurrah, to be followed by years of mediocrity and domination by Bud Grant's Vikings and the "Purple People Eaters" that relished intimidating opponents in the mud, slush, and snow. The baseball Twins would long be among the worst teams in baseball. But you could buy good seats cheap.
Minnesota's football "Golden Gophers" were still living on their past glory. Tony Dungy was soon to be the Gopher's quarterback. Success of his teams as a professional coach significantly exceeded that of the Dungy's Gophers. I don't think it was during Dungy's era, but I recall seeing a game in which O. J. Simpson and Southern Cal took the Gophers to task.
Having spent so much time in Arizona and California, I had developed a taste for Mexican food. There was one Mexican restaurant in Minneapolis, and one in St. Paul.
We bought a house in St. Anthony Park, a quiet residential neighborhood in the northwest corner of St. Paul, close walking distance to U. of M.'s St. Paul campus where I was offered that greatest of gifts - steady employment. The "Park," as it was, and still is, called, contained a nice mix of professors, other professionals, and blue collar working people. It hosted St. Paul's smallest high school, a good elementary school, a branch of the St. Paul Library, a small bank, a few small shops, and even a small sandwich bar and soda fountain at the corner drug store.
The "Park" was overseen by the St. Anthony Park Association, consisting of men only. Much to the chagrin, later anger, of Park women, they were not allowed as members. But this was the late 60s - such instability could not last.
Politically, the Cities and the state in general, were characterized by Democrats like Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale, and Orville Freeman, and by Republicans such as Elmer Anderson. Minnesota's liberal Republicans of that era would be considered Communists by today's hardliners.
We had a son born in Minneapolis. Early in his grade school days, he had a friend, Jamie, living on the street next to us. Through that relationship, I met Jamie's father, Tom, and we became friends to this day.
Tom and I met for breakfast last weekend and reviewed some of the changes, too numerous to list, that had occurred since those early days. An obscure radio host, Garrison Keillor, catapulted to national fame. I once accompanied a singer on his show with my accordion - back when he was operating out of a hole-in-the-wall studio in St. Paul. Tom tells me that Keillor is returning to St. Paul for a 40th anniversary performance this weekend.
My old pal Jimmy's ambitions for the governorship were thwarted when he was defeated in the Republican primary by Attorney General Douglas Head, who, in turn, was defeated by Democrat Wendell Anderson. Maybe Jimmy could have won - who knows. But the talented Jimmy went on to bigger and better things. His family now owns and operates the giant Travel Center on I-90/94 near Portage.
The Minneapolis and St. Paul skylines changed beyond belief during the 1970s and every year thereafter, with skyscrapers and construction all over the place. The five-county metropolitan region, as it was back in the 1960s, is now the thirteen-county metropolitan area, including two Wisconsin counties on the other side of the St. Croix.
The giant "Mall of America" was built in Burnsville, on the site of the old Metropolitan Stadium. The Vikings and Twins moved to that miserable plastic dome that, happily, no longer exists. The Twins recently moved to their new outdoor "Target Field," and the Vikings are borrowing the Gopher's field until their own new stadium is completed.
I drove through my old neighborhood in St. Anthony Park. It has never looked more lush and prosperous. It has turned from sort of a mixed neighborhood to definitely upscale. In the mid-70s, I sold our original house and bought that nice Queen Anne Victorian across the street. I had put a lot of work and money into it and hated to leave it. But career was more important than house. So I got rid of it in 1990 when I made the career move to New Mexico State University and bought the adobe in old Mesilla.
That old Queen Anne has gone through a couple of owners, and it's clear that they have put even more money and time in it than I had.
The neighborhood shops have changed and people were dining outside, taking advantage of the long days of Minnesota's short summer.
Tom tells me that it would now be impossible to find a Republican in the Park, that is, one who would admit it. Progressive women have long ago taken over the St. Anthony Park Association.
Maybe that's why things look so good. But I'm sure men, even Republicans if they behaved themselves, would still be welcome.
- John Waelti's column normally appears every Friday in the Times. He can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net.
