Star Tribune
Meet the man who resuscitated St. Paul’s Grand Old Day street festival
Growing up “a child of St. Paul,” Chris Jensen said going to Grand Old Day and other neighborhood festivals reinforced what was special about the capital city. But over the past several years, rising costs, dwindling sponsorships and shrinking participation ended keystone festivals such as Rice Street Days, Highland Fest and Rondo Days. In 2019, the folks running Grand Old Day decided that they, too, could do no more. Then came the pandemic, racial unrest and ballooning security costs. Talks to bring back Grand Old Day withered.
Jensen, a Grand Avenue area residential mortgage specialist, decided that St. Paul had done without celebrating long enough. Tapping into the expertise of the St. Paul Area Chamber, Jensen — the new head of the Grand Avenue Business Association — revived Grand Old Day last year. Eye On St. Paul recently visited with Jensen, 47, as he was putting the finishing touches on the 2024 Grand Old Day — Sunday, June 2, will be the 51st edition. This interview was edited for length.
Q: What are some some of the last-minute preparations that you’re doing?
A: We’re canvassing Grand Avenue this week. We want to make sure we get all that information out to everyone that lives on the avenue and in the neighborhood. We’ve put together an FAQ for everybody that breaks down the events of what’s happening [Sunday].
Q: Who gets the FAQ?
A: We get it to all the businesses, all the neighbors and the major landlords on the avenue, to let them know street closures and parking restrictions. And, of course, how they can buy wrist bands to help support us.
Q: How much are the wrist bands this year?
A: $10 [on the website]. Day of, they’re $15, plus a processing fee. We do have VIP tickets again this year [$75]. I want to give a big shout-out to Brasa-St. Paul and Bank Cherokee [sponsors]. Our VIP lunch is actually going to be inside Brasa, so it’s gonna be really cool with the main stage right next to it and some great sightlines. And, more importantly, you’re gonna have shade.
Q: What are you expecting for weather?
A: I stopped looking about a week ago but it was it was looking really nice — 78. But I don’t want to jinx it.
Q: This is your second year in a row. What’s different from last year?
A: The main difference this year is we’re not going west of Snelling. We’ve shrunk it a little bit due to the road construction happening from Fairview to Snelling.
Q: Why was bringing Grand Old Day back so important to you?
A: It was kind of depressing for citizens of St. Paul. We didn’t have anything to celebrate for three years with COVID and everything. Last year, we gave everyone an opportunity to come out and celebrate each other. At the end of the day, it’s all about community.
Q: How many people attended last year?
A: We estimate around 200,000, judging by the amount of trash we generated. And last year was pretty hot — 97, 98 degrees. So if we can keep it a little cooler, I think better attendance this year. We’re planning to have 225,000.
Q: What are all those people going to do?
A: We have eight stages here. We have everything from the Twin Cities Mobile Jazz Project on our Youth Stage to up-and-coming artists on our Flavor Stage, to our Grand Stage, where we’re partnering with the Current. We’ll have some pretty big headliners such as Yam Haus, Charlie Parr and Your Smith. We even brought live wrestling back, which was such a big hit back in 2018.
We did bring a [3K] run back. That starts at 8:30. And then our parade kicks off at 9:30. Our vendors have booths open around 9. And then at 11 all our beer gardens open and the music starts. The wrestling also starts at 11.
Q: Tell me more about what I can see without a wristband.
A: We’ll have the car show at Grand and Hamline. We have a very large art corridor. Last time I looked, we had almost 70 artists, artisans, performers and small nonprofits. That’s going to be from Hamline to Snelling. We have 227 vendors this year. One thing that’s brand new this year is we partnered with Metro Transit for free rides that day. There will be a link people will be able to click on day-of and get a free ticket. We also have a bike parking lot this year, at 1189 Grand.
Q: You told me that you and Brian Wagner [Grand Old Day co-chair] basically started from scratch last year. Is it worth the work?
A: Community’s really important to me. I didn’t like how my community looked with nothing to celebrate. So I got involved and decided to change that. At the end of the day, to see the kids’ faces last year who were 4 to 6 and had never seen a parade in St. Paul before, made it all worth it.
A onetime substitute teacher at St. Paul charter school was put on probation and spared incarceration after admitting to having a sexual encounter with a student.
Caitlin K. Thao, 25, of St. Paul, was sentenced in Ramsey County District Court after pleading guilty to fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in connection with the incident that happened early this year at St. Paul City School.
A possible two-year sentence was set aside in favor of five years probation. Thao also was ordered to perform 160 hours of community work service, follow the recommendations of a psychosexual evaluation and register with the state as a predatory offender.
Eric Fergen, interim executive director for the charter school on University Avenue West, said in May, at the time charges were filed, that Thao “hasn’t worked with us for quite a few months.”
According to the criminal complaint and a related court filing:
A teenage boy told police on March 13 that the two of them had a sexual encounter about 1½ months earlier in an otherwise empty middle school classroom where Thao taught. She later invited the teen to her home but he declined, according to the court documents.
After Thao resigned in late February, she reported the sexual conduct to a social worker while in the Regions Hospital mental health unit, according to the court documents.
A 20-year-old man was charged Tuesday with firing off several rounds from a handgun outside a Blaine shopping mall, where weekend shoppers and employees inside were ordered to take cover.
Maurice Eugene Neylon, 20, of Anoka, was charged in Anoka County District Court with two felonies: discharging a dangerous weapon and reckless threats of violence in connection with the gunfire mid-afternoon Sunday outside the Northtown Mall.
Neylon was arrested in Spring Lake Park on the day of the shooting and remains jailed in lieu of $1 million bail ahead of a court appearance on Oct. 7. His attorney was not immediately available to respond to the the allegations.
According to the criminal complaint:
Police were alerted to the gunfire shortly after 3 p.m. at the mall just off Hwy. 10 and east of Hwy. 47. At first believing the shooting occurred inside the mall, law enforcement instructed people inside to seek refuge in stores and clear the hallways.
Moments later, the gunfire was determined to have occurred outside the mall, with at least one bullet hitting a display case inside.
Mall security video captured Neylon exiting the mall on his own along with four others together and going to the parking lot where the shots were fired.
Officers collected eight 9-millimeter bullet casings in the the parking lot.
PBS North President Patricia Mester has plenty of reasons to throw a party.
Her station is marking its 60th anniversary Saturday afternoon in Duluth’s Chester Park with free performances from the Okee Dokee Brothers and Nicholas David. She also can revel in the fact that her fiefdom, which includes Duluth’s WDSE and Hibbing’s WRPT, has consistently been a shining example of how public television can make a mark without being based in a major metropolitan area.
“For six decades, PBS North has been serving the people of Minnesota with media that educates, engages and inspires,” said PBS president Paula Kerger, who will fly in to be part of this weekend’s festivities. “This rich legacy is stronger than ever thanks to the stewardship of Patty Mester.”
Mester, who joined the organization seven years ago, talked about her station’s greatest hits and what she watches when she’s not on the clock.
Q: Looking back, what would you say have been the station’s highlights?
A: Most recently, we had “Northern Nights, Starry Skies,” which came along with lesson plans from Hamline University that are being used in classrooms in all 50 states. “Doctors on Call” has been on for 42 seasons. It’s an old-fashioned call-in show, but it gives our community the chance to talk to local doctors. During the pandemic, we extended the season by nine weeks. “Almanac North” is in its 32nd season and “Native Report” has been on for 20 seasons. That program airs on over 100 stations across the nation. One of our newer productions, “Minnesota Historia,” is a digital series focusing on little known historical stories. Last year the team won three Midwest Emmys.
Q: What PBS shows did you watch as a kid?
A: “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” was probably my favorite show. If I wasn’t watching Mister Rogers, then I had to go do homework. I still watch videos of him from time to time. He’s been such a great friend, and his message of kindness and inclusiveness continues with “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.” My parents would have “Masterpiece Theater” on. The host, Alistair Cooke, was a little scary. I think it was his delivery and his voice.
