Are you up for a little neighborly competition? Standish-Ericsson, Nokomis East, and Corcoran Neighborhood associations are up to compete for the month of April!

Eat at Pilgrimage Cafe during the month of April and they will donate 5% of your tab to the neighborhood of your choice. It's easy! Write Corcoran on your receipt and turn it in to your server. The neighborhood with the most sales will receive a pot of money (Pilgrimage starts the pot at $100 and customers can designate 5% of their bill to go to the pot). 

To find out how you can get more involved with Corcoran, follow the links below:
http://www.corcoranneighborhood.org/

It's as easy as going out to eat at Pilgrimage and writing down your favorite neighborhood organizations' name on the back of your check. Dine out, do good!

Residential property owners in the Corcoran neighborhood are eligible for a $200 mini grant from the Corcoran Neighborhood Organization (CNO).

Eligible improvements are limited to:

• Improvement or replacement of exterior door(s), or window(s).
• Insulation in walls, foundation, or attic spaces.
• Upgrade to Energy Star-certified furnace, air conditioning, or water heater.
• New, permanent improvements to the principal structure (home). Work on the garage, fencing, or landscaping is not eligible. Materials purchased and projects completed prior to January 15, 2016 are not eligible.
• Materials and/or contractor labor are eligible. Homeowner-installed work is acceptable but homeowner labor is not eligible for reimbursement.

One thing I enjoy about having a yard is having fruit trees, grapes, raspberries, hazelnuts growing every year right outside our back door.   We eat and also freeze many many gallons of raspberries and grapes each year.  Our cherry and plum tree are also providing fruit.  We have also gotten boxes of apples from our neighbors Jim and Marie that they couldn’t eat from the apple tree in their yard.

As enjoyable as this is for us, we know that not everyone has a yard.  But we all share ownership in Minneapolis park lands.

Recently I found out about an exciting new possibility for some nearby Minneapolis parkland.  Specifically, there is a proposal to convert the Hiawatha golf Course into a food forest.

Corcoran Community Garden is excited to announce their 4th season! Inside this issue of Corcoran News you will find the application form for the 2016 season for both Corcoran Community Garden at 3301 24th Ave S and Milly’s Peace Garden at 2017 E 38th St. Print a download of the application here. The community gardening experience offers the opportunity to grow your own organic food as well as share your bounty with neighbors and local food shelves. Share and expand your gardening knowledge through mini workshops at the garden site. Meet new friends and neighbors, share stories and relax at the picnic table while watching your garden grow! Come join us!

“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow!”

One of the best ways to find fashion inspiration, for you or even your home décor, is to people watch and ask fashionistas where they shop and snag great looks!  We found Brittiny Clark walking to the train station!  Brittiny recently returned to Minnesota after spending years on the east coast.  After moving back, she realized that the best place for her was in south Minneapolis!  Now we are lucky enough to have this fashion maven be a Corcoran Resident!

The South Minneapolis Housing Fair is a grass-roots event produced by nearby neighborhoods with hundreds of hours of volunteer time. Corcoran resident Gwen McMahon has been our neighborhood’s representative for several years.

“It’s a fun day that connects many neighbors to people and resources to improve their homes,” shares Gwen, “but we need volunteers to make it happen!” Please sign up to volunteer to help to insure the success of the Housing Fair and the improvement in the safety and value of our neighborhood.

My grandfather taught me how to whittle as a wee lad.  Sadly, shortly after he passed, I broke the jackknife he gifted me with.  I ‘made do’ with a paring knife from the kitchen drawer.  I industriously keep my eye open for interesting pieces of wood to whittle, and no matter where I went, I faithfully carried that paring knife in the back pocket of my britches. 

One day, my brother and I went over to a friend’s house to play, but nobody was home.  We amused ourselves on their backyard tire swing, played on monkey bars, slides, etc. 

This reporting period has seen a drop in crimes in our neighborhood that have been reported to the MPD. A reminder that non-emergency, non-urgent crime reporting can be done via the City of Minneapolis’ 311 service. This includes things such as, reporting abandoned vehicles, graffiti, etc. You can also file an online police report for non-urgent crimes that fall within certain criteria.  http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/police/report/eReport

This month's crime map covers Mid-January 2016 to Mid-February. All statistics are sourced from the Minneapolis Police Department, 3^rd precinct from our sector's Crime Prevention Specialist Karen Notcsch ([email protected]).

Corcoran Neighborhood Crime Map Mid-January 2016 to Mid-February 2016

(source: MPD, Karen Notsch, [email protected], 612/673-2856)

Last September CNO organized a community discussion on the future of Corcoran Park – this was in response to the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board requests for input on the future of park amenities, programs and services, and recreation centers around the city. Over 60 attendees shared what they love about our park and what they’d most like to improve or change. We gathered additional input through conversations at the park with families, Twin Cities Native Lacrosse and other frequent users, through conversations with local day care providers, through door-knocking near the park, and through an online survey. After hearing from over 150 households, the CNO board of directors sent a letter to the Park Board seeking their attention and collaboration to implement the community’s top priorities.

This past month it has been very cold. My guess is we won’t have to deal with sub-zero temperatures anymore this winter. There has been enough snow for many of the things my friends and I like to do outside. In the coming weeks as the sun shines warmer and longer, we can expect our outdoors to get pretty slushy. I know much younger kids like slushy sidewalks the same way they are happy to see puddles after it rains. Because little kids like to put on big boots and splash water with their feet. For those of us older than that it’s probably best to think of things to do inside the house. I like to read, watch YouTube videos, send e-mail to friends and play with my cats, but I can’t just do those four things for a whole month.