by doitinnorth | Feb 13, 2022 | people/passions
Special Olympics Minnesota
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What is the Polar Plunge? The Polar Plunge is a series of events, presented by Minnesota law enforcement, is an opportunity to support Special Olympics Minnesota where by people go to extremes by jumping into frigid waters! Find a Location and Date near you!
“Special Olympics Minnesota is helping to create a world that accepts and welcomes every single person regardless of ability or disability.”
The Polar Plunge is the biggest fundraiser for Special Olympics Minnesota. All funds raised by Plungers help Special Olympics Minnesota provide year-round training and services to thousands of athletes with intellectual disabilities across the state.
The Polar Plunge is presented by the Law Enforcement Torch Run, a movement of volunteers dedicated to increasing awareness and funds for Special Olympics Minnesota athletes across the state.
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SO HOW DOES IT WORK?
Fundraising is required to participate in the Polar Plunge, but the minimum of $75 makes a big-time impact—especially at times when we need it most!
STEP 1. REGISTER
– Register for one of 22 events state-wide or for the Virtual Plunge!
– Set your fundraising goal. Fundraising is required to participate in the Polar Plunge, a minimum of $75. Make sure to check out this year’s cool incentives for each level.
– Ask your friends, family and co-workers to join your team. The bigger the team, the better!
STEP 2. FUNDRAISE
– We get it. Fundraising can be hard, and asking for money can be awkward. Luckily, you’re doing it for a great cause—and we have resources to make it easy!
– Donations can be made online. If you’re Plunging in-person, you can bring cash or check donations the day of your Plunge.
STEP 3. PLUNGE!
IN-PERSON
– When you arrive at your Plunge, make your first stop the welcome area. This is where you will check-in and pick up your incentives.
– Make your way to the changing tent 15-30 minutes before your Plunge time.
– PLUNGE!
– After you Plunge, head back to the changing tent and get into some dry clothes, then share your accomplishments with your donors and friends on social media. Your fundraising page will be open through the end of the Plunge season to receive more donations.
STEP 4. BASK IN YOUR GENEROUS GLORY
Special Olympics Minnesota would not be able to serve individuals with intellectual disabilities without you. Your support means everything to us.
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VIRTUAL
– Once you’ve reached your fundraising goal, it’s time to Plunge! Your creativity can shine during Virtual Plunge; all we ask is that you stay safe. Check out our Virtual Plunge ideas to get started!
– Make sure you get a video of yourself doing the virtual Plunge and post it on social media! Use the hashtags #PlungeMN and #VirtualPlunge. We’re awarding the best Virtual Plunge of the season with some prizes!
Wondering where your money actually goes?
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Special Olympics Minnesota
900 2nd Avenue South, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN
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ICYMI
ICYMI: World Snow Sculpting Championship Awards – Stillwater, MN
by doitinnorth | Feb 6, 2022 | evergreen, people/passions
Landscape Arboretum: Spring Flower Show
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Find inspiration for your spring and summer outdoor living spaces at this year’s Spring Flower Show, featuring more than a dozen vignettes built around outdoor seating arrangements. Get respite from the monochromatic winter landscape and soak up the spectrum of colors found in blooming bulbs, annuals and tropical plants. Each scene is styled in inventive ways by Arboretum staff and local businesses, including:
- Bachman’s
- By the Yard
- Len Busch Roses
- MinneSola Designs
- Orchids Limited
- Tiffany’s Picnic and Parties
- Tonka Bay Fountains
- Wagners Greenhouses and Garden Center
In addition to the floral vignettes, look for beautiful hand blown glass chandeliers created by local artist Andrew Rock of Fluid Philosophy, as well as sculptures from Cynthia Anderson, Dennis Kalow, Jon Kamrath and Paul Olson.
The Arboretum Cafe will be open from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. daily through Feb. 27th.
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When
Now through February 27th 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Where
Oswald Visitor Center
& Snyder Building
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3675 Arboretum Drive, Chaska MN
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ICYMI
North Designer: Gnarled by Nature Artist & Author Anna Fitzer – Minneapolis, MN
by doitinnorth | Jan 30, 2022 | people/passions
The candlelit Luminary Loppet on Saturday, February 5, is the Twin Cities’ most magical event of the season!
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City of Lakes Loppet Winter Festival: Come out to Lake of the Isles and enjoy the Luminary Loppet where you can walk, snowshoe, or ski on the candlelit trail winding across the lake. Experience 1,200 luminaries lining the trail with unique ice features such as Ice Henge, Ice Cropolis, the Pyramid, Enchanted Forest as well as Ice Music, Fire Dancers, and much more – all in the heart of Uptown.
Photo by Leslie Hale
Refreshments such as hot chocolate, cookies, and s’mores will be offered at tents across the lake. Food trucks, Surly beer, and music are located at the REI Co-op Luminary Party.
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REGISTER NOW
The Luminary Loppet is also the Loppet Foundation’s largest fundraiser of the year – supporting our year-round programs promoting outdoor adventure for all in the Minneapolis area.
The Luminary Loppet is part of the City of Lakes Loppet Winter Festival, which includes cross-country ski, fat-tire bike, snowshoe, and skijor races and tours, youth events, and more. The Luminary Loppet is NOT a race.
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ICYMI
The Great Northern Festival: The Guide
by doitinnorth | Jan 23, 2022 | people/passions
Star Tribune/DAVID JOLES
Before sunrise, a group of winter water bathers known locally as the submergents, went for a dip in Lake Harriet Wednesday in Minneapolis. Here, Nicole sampled a birthday cupcake brought by a fellow bather for her 42nd birthday Wednesday and passed around on a floating device. Many participants extoll the health benefits they say come from bathing in the frigid waters, as well as the camaraderie and mental well-being that can come from meeting and sharing the experience with other winter bathers. Participants wear masks and socially distance in the icy waters. Most of those participating asked not to have their names used out of fear that it could lead to police contact.
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Star Tribune: A shirtless Steve Jewell went for a dip Wednesday morning in frigid Lake Harriet, something he has been doing almost daily since the onset of winter. And scores of other people have been joining him in getting their day off to a chilly start.
As many as 40 people who call themselves “submergents” regularly show up at the south Minneapolis lake just before 8 a.m. for a brief polar plunge off North Beach. The frosty dunks have been occurring since November.
“It’s fun and it breaks up winter,” said Jewell, 63, who took his 63rd plunge of the winter season Wednesday. “I have not had a cold since I’ve been doing this. I come out sharp. It perks me up.”
The Weather Channel took notice and featured the group in a December special. Minneapolis Park Police have noticed, too, and have discouraged the practice. At times, officers have threatened to issue citations to plungers, Jewell said.
But no officers were on hand Wednesday when the daily swim commenced at 8 a.m. sharp. The police would have soured the festive mood: one of the plungers was marking a birthday, and the all-ages group celebrated with cupcakes floating in the water.
“This crowd is social,” Jewell said. “I meet a lot of people I would not have met otherwise.”
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Most learned about the daily plunges from friends, who then invited others. Others saw them on social media by following #lakeharrietplungers and #submergents.
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Both men and women come to the “Harriet Magic Hole” at all hours of the day, some in the morning, others at noon or just before sunset to catch “the beautiful scenery,” Jewell said.
Because of COVID-19, plungers wear masks and social distance, he said, and extra care is taken to ensure safety. The group erected a fence around the 11-by-11-foot hole, where posts were drilled into the ice and dug into the sand 3 feet below the lake’s surface. A plastic mesh fence surrounds the ice hole, which offers a ladder leading to the water to keep plungers from accidentally stumbling into it.
Even with those precautions, cutting holes more than 10 inches in diameter in lakes in the Minneapolis park system violates Park Board ordinance and requires a permit, said spokeswoman Dawn Sommers. The board grants only one permit per year for such activity, for the Special Olympics to conduct a Polar Plunge on Bde Maka Ska.
“The person or entity altering the natural feature creates a liability, and therefore must assume the liability if someone were to become injured because of the alteration,” she said.
Sommers also added that fencing must be secure enough to keep people out of the hole when it is not being used, or guarded with 24-hour security. Park staff “has been trying to educate people on our ordinances, our permit processes, and the inherent dangers to ice bath users, as well as park visitors using the lakes for other activities,” Sommers said.
Jewell said there are many benefits to a quick dip in the lake. Extremes, he said, help the immune system fight off infections.
There was no immediate word on whether the Park Police might stop the popular dives. But Jewell said this weekend’s forecast bout of prolonged subzero temperatures certainly won’t.
“It will be a real challenge,” he said. “We have not had to deal with that yet.”
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by Tim Harlow
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ICYMI
Lake Harriet Winter Kite Festival & Art Shanty Projects – Minneapolis, MN
by doitinnorth | Jan 16, 2022 | people/passions
More Than a Thru-hike: Emily Ford’s 1,200 Mile Journey on the Ice Age Trail
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Beginning in January 2022, Wild Rivers Conservancy staff will bring experts to you throughout the watershed, sharing important messages and enriching your understanding of the natural resources, cultural values, and recreational opportunities that make the Riverway special.
Last winter, Emily Ford set out on a 1,200-mile journey to become the first woman and person of color to thru-hike the Ice Age Trail. The 69-day journey with her sled dog companion, Diggins, not only proved to be a feat of physical and mental endurance, it also became a spiritual journey and movement to make the outdoors more accessible for everyone.
Join us on January 27th at @45thparallelspirits to hear Emily’s story, as she shares her harrowing journey and the impact it is having on people and communities across the nation.
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Link here to reserve your ticket!
Stay tuned for more on our other Speaker Series events:
February: Wolves of the Northwoods, Hayward, WI
March: Fly Fishing the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway, Minneapolis, MN
Photo courtesy of @emilyontrail
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ICYMI
Mr. Paul’s Supper Club Celebrates Mardi Gras All Year Long – Edina, MN
by doitinnorth | Jan 9, 2022 | people/passions
Minneapolis (WCCO) — Spoon & Stable’s chef and owner Gavin Kaysen is both a local and a national celebrity, appearing in magazine photos and TV cooking segments. But the team that keeps Spoon And Stable a tough reservation to nab is vast, and two of the next generation leaders are both young and women.
JESSI POLLAK – BAR MANAGER
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“It is mildly terrifying. It’s also wonderful,” said bar director Jessi Pollak, who left an administrative job at a university seven years ago (“I hated it”) and thought she would just be bartending to make some bills. Instead she found a career that she’s received national awards for.
“Executing cocktails: it’s technique, it’s muscle memory. I’m always thinking about flavors and flavor combinations,” Pollak said.
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One of the other restaurant leaders is also visible in the kitchen, executive pastry chef Alexandra Motz, who’s been working in elite Twin Cities restaurants since she was 20 years old.
ALEXANDRA MOTZ – EXECUTIVE PASTRY CHEF
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“My dad’s family was cheesemakers, my mom’s family was artists, and I found this way to blend the two,” Motz said.
Her plated desserts are works of art – a carefully placed sprig of mint, a beautifully arranged quenelle of ice cream. In her spare time she creates paintings on a canvas; at work her canvas is the plate.
“It’s something that’s such a big part of my life,” Motz said. “I’ve found a way to create beauty through food.”
Both Pollak and Motz are part of a younger generation of chefs and drink experts taking on leadership roles in the Twin Cities restaurant scene, driving innovation in the glass and on the plate, and in the often male-dominated culture of kitchens and bars.
“Is it meaningful to have a woman in charge of the program?” asked WCCO’s Jason DeRusha.
“Absolutely. It’s the exception that proves the rule. At most of the bars you see a majority of white, bearded men behind the bar. We can draw attention to that and specifically staff in a way that makes everyone feel welcome,” Pollak said.
Motz concurred, noting the influence her mentor Diane Moua has had on her.
“It’s a really big responsibility for sure. I know a goal of mine is to be someone’s mentor,” Motz said.
Today Moua has taken on another leadership role in Kaysen’s company, heading operations at Bellecour Bakery in two Cooks of Crocus Hills locations.
“To be a leader of the next generation, that is what gets me excited to go to work every day,” Motz explained.
Pollak said she pushes herself by competing and winning national cocktail competitions, like the Marie Brizard “Toast to HERstory” contest.
“I really hope to be known for my work and creativity and atmosphere I set in this bar,” Pollak said.
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Spoon and Stable is a restaurant located in what was once a horse stable, dating back to 1906, in the heart of the North Loop Neighborhood. It is the dream of Chef/Owner Gavin Kaysen, a James Beard award-winning chef to bring his talents back home to Minneapolis, where he grew up. The cuisine is focused on the seasonality of the Midwest, the roots of the local culture and technically inspired by the French cuisine for which Chef Kaysen is known.
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By Jason DeRusha
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ICYMI
Out There 2022: Annual Festival Returns to the Walker Stage – Minneapolis, MN
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