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Minnesota community remembers women killed in north Minneapolis crash
A community balloon release and vigil honored the lives of Esther Fulks and Rose Reece.
MINNEAPOLIS — Family, friends and neighbors gathered in north Minneapolis this weekend to honor the lives of Esther Fulks, 53, and Rose Reece, 57, after the women were killed in a crash at the intersection of Emerson and 26th Avenue North on Monday, Dec. 16.
Authorities said Teniki Steward, 38, ran a red light and crashed into the vehicle Fulks and Reece were in, which subsequently veered off the road and crashed into a bus shelter, injuring a 17-year-old boy. Steward is charged with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide and two counts of criminal vehicular operation.
A two-day memorial this weekend honoring Fulks and Reece included a community balloon release on Saturday and vigil on Sunday. “All the people that came out, it touched me. It touched me. It let me know that my mom changed a lot of peoples’ lives,” Reece’s son Drakarr Lobley said.
Fulks and Reece were best friends and had worked together at the Cultural Wellness Center for years, their families said. “They were always together, they stuck together,” Lobley added. He said Fulks and Reece were on their way to visit a friend who was recently diagnosed with cancer the morning of the crash.
Fulks’ son Sironta Solmon remembers his mother Fulks as a “God-fearing, loving, caring woman.” The mother of four, he said, was devoted to her community and always wanted to help others.
“This situation is sad,” Solman said. “It just teaches you to love people and just hold them close because you never know.”
Lobley remembers his mother in a similar way. “My mom was a community navigator,” he said. “She knew everything about every resource people could use and helped build people up from the ground up.”
Lobley said he is hoping to honor his mother’s legacy by creating a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people who are struggling to rebuild their lives, no matter their backgrounds or life experiences. Specifically, he said he would like to help people reenter society after incarceration or struggling with drug addiction. He added he is searching for community members, especially those familiar with grant-writing, who are willing to help him with his new mission. “Just trying to keep her name alive,” he said.
STAR Minneapolis, which according to a press release is, “a Trans/Non-Binary/Queer/Two-Spirit, working-class, multi-National AKA BIPOC, (Black Indigenous People of Color) organization,” also helped organize the balloon release and vigil.
“This happening to Rose and Esther, it’s hard. It’s a hard time for everybody,” STAR Minneapolis director Sam Morningstar said. Morningstar also resides in north Minneapolis and said this is a time for the community to pull together. “When we have pillars of our community like Esther and Rose, and some of our other people, they don’t ever leave us.”
The funeral service for Reece will take place on Friday, Jan. 3 at 2 p.m. at ICCM Life Center in Minneapolis. Donations can be made to both families to help with funeral arrangements and other expenses. You may support Reece’s family by clicking here and Fulks’ family by clicking here.
Overall, the MAC says it expects a six percent increase in travelers compared to last year.
ST PAUL, Minn. — Holiday travel is ramping up with the holidays next week, as thousands hit the skies out of MSP to other parts of the world.
The Metropolitan Airport Commission (MAC) says they expect tens of thousands of travelers to pass through security checkpoints each day, with the busiest day before Christmas falling on Friday.
The day after Christmas, Dec. 26, is expected to be the busiest day overall, with nearly 50,000 travelers going through security checkpoints.
Overall, the MAC says it expects a six percent increase in travelers compared to last year.
“It seems like a lot of people are traveling, but not me at this time,” Jose Acuña said. “I’m here to pick up some of my family members from Costa Rica.”
Count Acuña as one of the lucky ones, not having to brave holiday travel this time around.
“A couple of them have never seen the snow!” he said.
Their flight seemed to make it on time, unlike hundreds of others. According to the MSP website, over 250 flights were delayed or cancelled today. Close to 600 were on time.
“Just go with the flow. Sometimes we are too rigid making plans,” Acuña said. “But things don’t happen that way, and we just have to, you know, enjoy it.”
That advice seems apt this time of year – and especially for two travelers we spoke to Saturday night.
“I figured if my daughter vouched for her, and I like her son, because I’ve met her son,” Linda McRae said.
“God bless her for that!” Chris Carlin said.
McRae and Carlin met for the first time in person Saturday for their flight to Tennessee – their kids live together.
Their advice to making it through this crazy holiday travel season? Just keep in mind that it’s never that serious.
“Listen, I was more stressed at home getting my house ready for somebody to come in and take care of my cat!” Carlin said. “This is the easy part right here!”
John’s display draws hundreds of people every night.
SAINT PAUL, Minn. — We’re all familiar with the lore of Santa’s elves.
But at the head of this workshop in St. Paul is John Pihaly. He has collected 30 Dayton’s Christmas Display Characters from 10 of the old shows and restored them to recreate those iconic scenes.
“My wife was quite shocked,” laughed Pihaly. “I brought home 24 characters originally, and had them all set up here in the garage. I said, Honey, look what I did!”
“I always laugh, and everyone always says, what did you contribute?” Lindsay, his wife, said. “And all I can say is, I lived with these elves for the past year, strewn throughout the house. That was my contribution!”
But lucky for John, Lindsay has warmed up to the animatronics and covered up porch which houses the displays.
“He wanted to bring the magic alive, not just for us, but for an entire community,” he said.
Pihaly had smaller displays with a handful of figures in 2020 and 2021, but for the past few years he has dedicated hours into this display. He has consulted other collectors, and even former Dayton employees on how to perfect the art of restoring the figures.
He also had to create all the sets from scratch.
“The stories we share are all very similar,” he said. “It was a magical place to go and be.”
Every night he gets asked if folks can donate to him and his work, but he directs them to fundraising efforts for Toys for Tots and the Salvation Army. He has a box for donations in his yard.
Hundreds of people visit his home at 1887 W Saunders Ave. in St. Paul every night. The display will be alive from 5 to 9 p.m. every evening until Christmas Day.
The National Retail Federation expects 157 million consumers to shop on the Saturday before Christmas.
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — On the Saturday before Christmas, many admitting to procrastination dashed to find their last-minute gifts.
“This was the only day we had,” Carol Schindler said at the Mall of America.
Dave Lafond embraced the holiday hustle as a family tradition. “It’s fun and chaotic,” he said.
They’re two among the 157 millions consumers around the country expected to shop on this Saturday alone, according to the National Retail Federation.
“With a shortened window between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, consumers will be hitting stores and shopping online to get those final gifts and to take advantage of special promotions and deals,” NRF Vice President of Industry and Consumer Insights Katherine Cullen said in a press release.
With four days left until Christmas, anything is possible if shoppers walk fast enough. Hundreds of gift-getters spirited fast passed Douglas Ness who stopped for a much-needed Cinnabon break.
“I’ve got all mine done,” he said. His granddaughter, meanwhile, had yet to complete her shopping.
Until his wife passed away three years ago, Ness said he would shop for the holidays with her. “One of the first things we did is get these Cinnabons over here.”
His holiday tradition continues with his granddaughter. The cinnamon treat comes with crossing presents off her Christmas list, finally.
