Clogtown: The 4th Annual Hendrickson Foundation Hockey Festival - Hockey Changes Lives!

I finally got to attend my first Hendrickson Foundation Hockey Festival last weekend, and WOW. Some events have an extra dash of magic dust over them, and this one certainly sparkled with it the entire time. Founded by Larry Hendrickson (the late father of my family of dearest friends), the Hendrickson Foundation was created to support hockey players with disabilities, and to get them back out on the ice. Minnesota Wild Sled (Adult and Youth) Hockey, Special Hockey, Blind Hockey, and the Minnesota Warriors (hockey for disabled veterans) are the hockey programs now supported by the HF, with 54 teams and 1,000 players from 11 states and two countries (so far!) all there to compete in the Festival tournament this weekend. Though Larry is no longer physically with us, his spirit was deeply felt, and I know he was there.

You could tell this event was something special from the moment you walked through the parking lot at the Super Rink in Blaine, Minnesota. Yes, there were a lot of wheelchairs and people that needed assistance with their mobility, but you very quickly forgot about that and focused on the wide smiles on all of the faces. Parents supporting their kids, kids supporting their parents, delighted friends and family cheering on their teams, knowing that each goal scored was so much more than a point ... it was a celebration of bravery, determination, strength, and the pure joy that comes with any goal scored in hockey - only much more so because you knew what it took to get it. I had chills the entire weekend (and not because it was cold, the whole weekend was weirdly in the 40's!).

It takes an absolute village to put on a massive FREE event like this, and an army of volunteers made the whole operation run smoothly and happily. I was kind of a floater volunteer, doing whatever was needed in any moment, so I got to see a lot of the action.

The Blind Hockey was especially cool to watch, as the players use a larger puck that makes noise, making it possible to follow. The goalies are totally blind (!) and positions are given by sight, like the forwards are able to see a little bit, the defense less. Just getting on skates on ice at all when you're blind is great enough (remember Ice Castles!?!), but these teams were scoring! You really wouldn't know that anyone was blind aside from the special puck, but you could sure tell how happy they were when that puck went into the net! More chills.

The merch table was a busy headquarters all weekend (conveniently located next to the bar), with throngs of hockey fans lining up to get the shirts, hats, blankets, etc... that showed off that you had been at this special weekend.

My bestie, Christine Hendrickson Krsnik, was not able to attend this year (so bummed!) because she was home recovering from a ruptured Achilles (!) injury, but her daughters and husband were representing her well, manning and womanning all of that HF merch.

There is so much happening on so many rinks, that it's kind of hard to get to it all, but everyone packed in together for the Celebrity Game on Saturday afternoon. Minnesota hockey legends and pals came out for a friendly game, with a lot of former Wild and Gopher (and Richfield Spartans - home of the Hendys!) giving the crowd a thrill.

The team introductions were hilarious, and the whole game was in good fun. Christine's daughter, Jane, sang the National Anthem for the game and yep, more chills.

American flags had been handed out to everyone and there was a buzz going around about a special surprise (beautifully choreographed by Julie Hendrickson Oss!). There was an opening face-off to the game, and a stick was broken. The announcer called for a new stick, and out came Army Sergeant Acree, striding across the ice to deliver the stick to Wild player Matt Dumba and his sons (one a sled hockey player), after not seeing them for over two years! The place went crazy, and it was a heartwarming moment for everyone in the building. The chills just kept on coming ... !

It was a high scoring Celeb game, but everyone won just be being there. It was super fun to see my old schoolmates back out on the ice, and some that I had never had the chance to see play in person before (like Mr. Assist Larry Olimb!). There were so many Hendricksons running around that Darby's jersey just said "Darby" on the back of his bright Festival jersey. Awesome.

Halftime featured a Celebrity Sled Hockey game, with folks like the Wild's reporter, Audra Martin, Miss Chain of Lakes, and Sergeant Acree strapping themselves on to sleds to race down the ice. This was when you realized how really hard Sled Hockey is, after seeing all the real players make it look so easy. Several gamers could not stay upright, tipping over the moment they took off. Miss Chain of Lakes, however, was the clear champion, flying across the ice with no one even close. There were lots of cheers, but even more laughter, as I think we all got how much skill it takes, and how little these good sports had acquired thus far! Good times.

After the Celebrity Game, everyone headed over to the Banquet Hall on the same campus, where now you understood just how big this event really is. After being spread out among all of the rinks all day, now everyone was in one place, and the venue was shoulder to shoulder as participants lined up for drinks and the donated Jimmy John's grub. This was the party, and everyone was in the mood to do just that.

A really good silent auction kept the donations coming while the party was happening, and then it was time for the speeches and thanks.

HF Executive Director, Danny Hendrickson (son of Larry), thanked the legions that make this exceptional event happen, from sponsors (Yontz Valor! Stickney Hill Dairy! Milk Specialties! Hydrite Chemical! Hendrickson Homes! Jimmy John's! Sota Stick! Etc!) to volunteers. Checks and awards were given out, and everyone was enthusiastically applauded for bringing another fantastic Festival to vibrant, wonderful life.

The party then really got going ... but not too hard, as the championship games still had to happen on Sunday, along with the awarding of the very cool team trophies that kind of look like golden Spartans - Right on. Again, I know there's bragging rights (and sweet trophies) to winning the tournament, but there is no way anyone left this weekend feeling like anything but an absolute victor.

With all of the running around I was doing as a volunteer, I didn't really get a chance to hear the individual stories of the players, of which there are so many, each more touching than the last. There was one girl that took a shine to me, and every time we passed each other, she would yell, "There's my buddy!" and I felt so happy that we had made this connection, and that her happy face got even happier when she would see me. There were so many individual triumphs among the teams, and frankly, it's a huge triumph just to be there at all, whatever your abilities. The feeling that you get from helping someone else find their happiness IS the triumph, and this was happening all weekend.

The 4th Annual Hendrickson Foundation Festival is now in the books, and I can't wait to see and share the video that is being made of the weekend, because it really is one of those things you have to experience to feel how tangible the joy really is. I feel so honored to have been able to be a little tiny part of it all, and encourage any and everyone to get involved yourselves ... because it's true - Hockey really does change lives!

Thank you, Hendrickson Foundation!

Clogtown: Safe Passage By Ai Weiwei At MIA

The Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) is the first North American museum to present the deeply stirring work called Safe Passage, 2016 by the wonderful artist/activist Ai Weiwei. Thousands of life jackets worn by Syrian refugees on their dangerous sea crossing from Turkey to Greece have been wrapped around the neoclassical columns on the facade of the MIA building.

It is quite something to see, and actually forces the viewer to THINK about the massive issue of immigration, and who we want to be as a society. The work is the centerpiece of the exhibition that will open this Sunday (2/at MIA called When Home Won't Let You Stay: Art and Migration. I can't WAIT. Art with an activism bent is my favorite, and I've been eagerly anticipating this show.

I'm proud of Minnesota, as everywhere I go there are open minds and open arms. "All are welcome here" signs hang on homes and businesses, and throwing 2,400 refugee life jackets smack dab in the middle of the city is a pretty big statement that we care about immigrants here (where we're all immigrants, aside from our many Native American neighbors). A friend of mine (shout out to an activist hero of mine, Ryan Harvey!) volunteered a few years ago on the island of Lesbos, fishing people out of the water as they tried to make their own safe passage. These life jackets were all given to Weiwei (a refugee himself) from the Mayor of Lesbos, so this work was all the more real for me, as I could picture the people who had worn them.

You'll be hearing about the exhibition in coming days after it opens, but in the meantime, if you're in Minneapolis you really need to swing down 24th Street and see this piece of art and activism for yourself (or watch WCCO News tonight, as I was interviewed about the piece by a reporter as I was taking it all in).

Thanks again to Ai Weiwei, who always blows my mind, and to MIA for bringing this work to the United States for the first time. WOW.

Clogtown: Swan River - A Love Story!

Happy Valentine's Day, Lovers! In the interest of not going insane, I always try and seek out cool and interesting stories, places, people ... things that I know will bring me some joy and some beauty and some information. I've been a little obsessed (like my Venice hummingbirds obsessed!) with the Swans of Monticello, Minnesota for the past couple of months, as I tried to go see them in December with no luck. There is a Swan Cam set up to look at the wintering trumpeter swans that come to this little bend in the Mississippi River each winter, where the water is a little warmer (I don't believe it) due to the curve, but also this is where they know they are going to be fed. I thought it would be a perfect story for Valentine's Day, as I had heard that swans mate for life, and that's a nice little love story for the day ... but what I learned was an even better one.

Over thirty years ago, a pair of trumpeter swans were released from Hennepin Parks in a partnership between the DNR, the private sector, and the public in an attempt to restore their population (after they were believed to be nearly extinct in the 1880's). A local woman named Sheila Lawrence lived on the banks of the Mississippi River in Monticello, and began feeding shelled corn to the swans that she saw taking a breather in the open waters by her house. (Photo from their brochure)

Well, word got out and soon the swans numbered in the hundreds, and then the thousands. Sheila spent her entire days hauling corn and feeding the swans, all out of her own pocket (and donations from friends here and there - this is not a government funded operation). She soon became known as the "Swan Lady", the area became known as Swan Park, and now you can see these gorgeous creatures there in the winter from December to March.

It was a bust in December when I went, because it was too warm and the swans were still out in the corn fields, fat and happy. I've been keeping a close eye on the Swan Cam so I knew the crowd was growing, and when I woke up yesterday it was -11 outside! I knew this was good news for swan viewing, so I got my Mom and myself all bundled up, and we hit the road for Monticello.

The Swan Park is on a dead end fully residential street, and as soon as we opened the car doors we could hear the call of the trumpeting swans! Exciting! Mom has to walk a little slow these days, but we were both trying to hustle - from both anticipation and the freezing cold! Steam was rising off of the river from the cold, and you could see ice bergs flowing by. Three GIANT swans FLEW by, and we forgot all about the cold (for a moment). I'd never seen a swan fly, I don't think, and it's nuts. Their long necks stretch out straight and their wing span was huge as they swooped in for a landing along the banks where all of the corn feed was ... and hundreds of their friends were down below.  Wow!

I had heard that the feeding was done every day at 10:30 am, and I saw a guy down by the water tossing corn at the swans. I waved at him, and he came over, probably to see what this crazy girl was doing outside in a sweater (it's a lovebirds sweater, in homage to the swans!). This turned out to be Jim Lawrence, the husband of the late Swan Lady Sheila, who passed away in 2011. As Jim told us everything you could ever hope to know about swans, I realized that THIS was the real love story.

Jim was a dairy farm boy from North Dakota, and talks like one. He told us how the original swans were tagged to keep track of, and old #7, well, she was what you would call a "Boss Cow". She came in and if Sheila wasn't out there at 10:30 on the dot, this swan would come right up to her - at eye level on her 5'2 frame - with basically an arched eyebrow and tapping at her wristwatch, like C'mon, Swan Lady. Every other sentence Jim uttered was about Sheila, and he is now out there every morning at 10:30 carrying on the legacy of his Swan Lady. It was incredibly touching, especially when he said that he knew she was up there feeding all of the feathered and furry creatures in Heaven, looking up as he said it.

When he looked up, I noticed the icicles forming on his eyelashes and beard, and thought I'd better get my Mom back inside the warm car. Jim walked and talked us all the way back, with more swan trivia as we went. I wanted to go back and take more pictures and just watch the graceful beasts a bit more, so Jim walked and talked me back. He wouldn't let me help him feed the swans (it's a liability thing), but I bet I could now step in as in information guide if he ever needs me. The love he has for these swans - and for his late wife, Sheila - literally made his eyes sparkle ... and it wasn't just the icicles.

I had to ask if his neighbors hate him, because these guys play some mean horn ... all day and night. He said that they love it, and the walls and your t.v. and grandkids playing all muffle it out - plus it's only for like three months. I kind of thought there would be way more swans, after reading that last year there were almost four thousand there in January. Jim then explained for me (and for you, below), that all those dark ducks weren't ducks at all (save for a few random mallards) - they were cygnets! Baby swans! They'll be all white and huge by June! Oh, man ... I was just loving it ...

... but I also could no longer feel my face. I really could have sat and listened to the swan stories and watched them try to land in between the ice bergs, but I honestly might have lost my nose for real if I'd stayed out there even just a few more minutes. Invigorating! Jim walked and talked me back to the car again, giving me his business card. Turns out he's a professional wildlife control guy, so you call him if a wild animal needs to get caught and removed. His email name is "Ol Trapper 1". Perfect.

I shook Jim's hand (I think - I couldn't really feel it), said my farewell, and sat on the car's heated seat to try and regain some feeling before I began to drive. I looked at my Mom, and my eyes were glistening, from the cold, yes, but also because I was so touched, and still am as I write this. Here is this man living out his wife's legacy in her absence, missing her terribly, but she is so clearly there with him. He told me that the year Sheila passed away, there was no snow that winter, and thus very few swans, making her absence loom even larger. The next year there was a lot of snow, and a lot of swans. Jim knows that Sheila sent it, no question. He waved again as we pulled away, and we drove off feeling like we had just read a really beautiful love story ... and learned an awful lot about trumpeter swans while we were at it. (It turns out, according to Jim, that they mate for REPRODUCTIVE life, but if something happens to their partner, they will hook up again. Jim calls this Swan Park of his the "Pick Up Bar", because that's really what all of those trumpet peals are for.)

So, this Valentine's Day, let's celebrate love - whether we have it in our own lives in a romantic way or not - because it really is the one thing this world could sure use a whole lot more of right now. This beautiful, freezing cold morning could not have warmed my heart more, and I thank Jim Lawrence for sharing his great stories and for continuing his Swan Lady's dream long after she's been gone. Monticello has swans on its street light banners. The iron work on its overpass bridges feature swans. As we were leaving, another car with a couple inside pulled up to see the swans on an arctic blast of a day ... all because of Sheila and Jim. What a beautiful thing to behold ... ! Cheers to love, and Happy Valentine's Day, wherever you are!

If you would like to see these swans for yourselves, just head to 117 Mississippi Drive in Monticello, MN. No financial support comes from any city or state agencies to help feed the swans, so donations are always most welcome.

Swan City Heritage Foundation
c/o Monticello Chamber
P.O. Box 192
Monticello, MN 55362

Clogtown: Frosty Weather, Snowy Weather At MIA

Once I made my decision to fully embrace the chill of winter and have all the snowy fun I can while I'm here in Minnesota, the opportunities to celebrate the frost and snow keep rolling in. I was delighted to read that the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) is going for it too, with a new exhibit all about our most famous season. Frosty Weather, Snowy Weather is a little show that was perfect to take in on a day of flurries and frost outside.

I say little because it's only one room, but the art they've put together in this celebration of winter is definitely enough to put you in the mood for snow.

As my Mom is still recovering from shoulder surgery, and is on one real leg, it's been a little bit sketchy to take her out and about on the slippery, icy sidewalks. We were both getting a little stir-crazy, and to be honest, an art show about winter wasn't met with enthusiasm from her at first. Once inside the massive museum though, she was fully stoked, as she's a fine artist herself. She likes to really take in the pieces, reading all the blurbs, and examining the brush strokes. I was hoping she'd use it as inspiration too, as we've got a slew of empty canvases waiting for her to make beauty on them. (She doesn't need a wheelchair all the time anymore at all, but we just use it for big places like art museums or malls or big places like that). This was her taking in Brook in Winter, 1914 by E. Ambrose Webster. She dug it.

The centerpiece of the show is Winter, 1964 by Peter Blume, and it was probably my favorite. Part of Blume's Four Seasons series, the brightly colored birds against the snow and sky was strikingly beautiful, and Mom and I both loved it.

Another favorite of mine was L'Avenue de Neuilly on a Winter Day, 1874 by Luigi Loir. It was much more striking in person, like almost a photograph, and though we have plenty of ice and snow here, it still made me want to be on L'Avenue de Neuilly with that dude in his wagon.

Snow Squalls, 1909 by Rockwell Kent brought to mind Orcas ... but it was really just the sea. Again, the colors in person made it so much more vivid ... another reason to go check it out yourself if you're able.

A hand-colored lithograph by Wanda Gag, Winter Twilight, 1927 looked like an illustration to a really good children's book. The glowing windows beckon you inside, while the lack of footprints in the snow suggest that everyone is all safely tucked in for the night with their Netflix.

Diane Burko's work is all the way up my alley. A feminist organizer and environmental activist (aka a Soul Sister), her Columbia Glacier: Lines of Recession (1980-2005), 2011 show how the Columbia Glacier in Prince William Sound, Alaska has been melting and receding catastrophically over that 25 period ... along with the rest of our arctic ice. Something MUST be done, and I'm happy to see that artists are getting involved through their work as well. Heavy. Important. And somehow still beautiful.

Another series of Four Seasons was by Wendy Red Star, and her Winter, 2012. Red Star stares at the camera in traditional Native American costume, while sitting among a clearly artificial natural setting, asking viewers to look closer at their perceptions of history. Cool.

Winter Window, 1941 by Charles Sheeler was great because it really felt like you were looking out at your friends in the snow below, making you want to shout, "Wait up!" and get inside that thing. This one caused me to linger ... longingly.

I feel like every other painting was called Brook in Winter or Snow or Ice or something, and there was Brook In Snow, 1953 by Marguerite Thompson Zorach. I enjoyed the colors against the snow, but something about it felt a little dangerous. Like, don't fall in.

There was an all white piece that made me go "Oh, C'mon, is this from the play Art?" (the play where three friends argue about the value of an all white canvas ... "It's Art!") ... but upon closer examination, Untitled #14 (Icehouses), 2001 is a photo from a camera left outside in harsh weather in an attempt to capture the disorientation of being caught in a snow whiteout ... and there on the left side, barely legible, is the titular ice house. Pretty cool, actually.

Winslow Homer was represented by his piece, Prout's Neck in Winter, 1892. I had to look up where Prout's Neck was (Maine), but you could tell it was the East coast just by standing in front of it. Winter in the east ... so cold and lonely looking, but again, beautiful all the same.

Enjoying a hot coffee in the MIA café while watching the snow fall outside was the perfect finale to a show about snow, and I hope you'll get to copy us, because it made for a lovely winter afternoon ... and it's free! Love you, MIA. Thank you. Happy Winter!

Frosty Weather, Snowy Weather is on exhibit at MIA through April 12, 2020 (when it will probably still be snowing in April).

Clogtown: The 2020 Lake Harriet Kite Festival!

I almost wish I hadn't known about the Lake Harriet (Bde Unma) Kite Festival last weekend in advance, because it would have been so magical to have just rolled up on the lake and seen all the colorful kites flying over the ice as a surprise ... because it was already super magical just to see.

The previous weekend had been ultra cold and windy when I went to visit the Art Shanty Projects, and attendance had been pretty sparse. Well, the balmy weather brought out THOUSANDS of people on this day, and it was so fun and enthusiastic and great, that phrase "Only in Minnesota" kept coming to mind as this was its definition.

Kites of all shapes and sizes soared over the ice on the lake ...and if I'm honest, I was a little concerned at how warm it felt. Families were having actual picnics on the ice! Could the ice be THAT thick? To hold thousand of people, buildings, trucks ... and I guess the answer is yes, but there were some slushy spots. Anyway, all was well. Better than well, it was awesome.

A giant fish was among my favorite kites, but they were all great ...

The Art Shanties were jam-packed on this day, and all of them had long lines outside to get in. I was happy I'd seen the most of it the week prior at my leisure, but no one seemed to mind the waits as it was so nice and cheery out, with something cool to see everywhere you looked.

A pretend polar bear was making the rounds ...

There were tightly contested sled races ...

There were arty performances that took peoples' attention away from the bright kites in the sky ...

... but only for a moment, because there was just something so lovely about seeing kites high in the sky against the stark white winter palette. I met my longtime friend, Rebecca, out on the ice and we just hugged so tight at how great it all was - including our friendship.

The Kite Festival (put on by the Minnesota Kite Society) was just for that day, but the great news is you can still check out the Art Shanty Projects fun for the next two weekends! And I hope you do. It is something special. You will be happy you went. And I will be too, because that means that wonderful events like this get to keep on being a thing, and we all get to keep warming our hearts in the midst of winter.

Enjoy!

L.A. In Mourning - Thank You, Kobe Bryant

I was already super homesick for L.A. yesterday morning, doing a lot of thinking about what to do about where I live, and how I can best care for my Mom. I was checking out the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships yesterday morning on Lake Nokomis, and then went home to warm up. I looked at my social medias and saw a post from Michael Franti saying "R.I.P. Kobe Bryant" ... and I just started saying "no, no, No, No. NO!", while frantically Googling to see if this horrible thought could possibly be true. And then the horror of learning that not only was it true, but that his beloved daughter Gianna (Gigi) was with him on board the doomed helicopter that took their lives, and the lives seven of their friends. That's when the tears came. Not just tears ... they were sobs. There is some small comfort that they were together in their last moments, because you could see just how much they loved each other in their faces, and I hope that gave them peace at the end. But I also think about his little ones, that will grow up to never really know their awesome Dad. I lost my Dad at four, so I know that this will affect them all of their lives. This tragedy has many ripple effects.

Unless you've lived in Los Angeles, there is now way you can understand how very much Kobe Bryant has meant to the city. I moved there in 1995, and Kobe began his career with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1996. I saw him play in that city for his entire career, and the joy he brought to every Angeleno - so much joy, so many times - cannot be overstated. The championships ... I think I'm still bruised from some of the hogpile hugs we would share when Kobe would once again play the hero.

I had a boyfriend in the early years of Bryant's career that was an absolute basketball fanatic. Like, he definitely cared more about every NBA player than he ever did about me, which is sad - but true. Because of that, and like many girlfriends before me, I learned everything. I could talk stats, I knew all the nicknames and where they played college ball. I could ace any quiz you gave me ... but the Lakers were my team. I loved them always, because they came from Minneapolis, and moved West - just like me. They were my late Dad's team (and watched them play at the Minneapolis Armory). They wore the same colors as my Minnesota Vikings. And no one wore them better than Kobe - all twenty years that he was active in the NBA. Los Angeles will never be the same.

Watching the terrible news yesterday with tears streaming down my face, I have never felt a bigger yearning for L.A. I knew what it must feel like there. I knew everyone was all hyped for the Grammys - and how quickly that didn't seem to matter at all anymore in the arena that Kobe truly built. I kept thinking the words, "Thank you". Thank you to Kobe Bryant for all of the exciting, fantastic moments he brought to the city. I didn't know him personally, but I felt like I did. We all did. Even if you rooted against him, you had to respect how high he soared above everyone else. My heart keeps breaking all over again when I think about Vanessa, Natalia, Bianka, and Capri Bryant ... how devastated they are, but also how they will forever be in the arms of all of Los Angeles. As Kobe and Gianna will be forever in our hearts and memories.

It's still hard to believe it's true ... and I wish I could take all of L.A. into my arms in a healing embrace right now. Please know that I'm thinking of, and loving you all. Rest in Peace, Kobe, Gianna, The Altobelli's, The Chesters, Coach Mauser, and Pilot Ara Zobayan. You will not be forgotten. I wish so much that I could be at tomorrow's Lakers game at Staples. I am in spirit. Hold your loved ones close - anything can happen, any day.

Once again, THANK YOU, KOBE!

*Photos are off the web, and the illustration at top is by artist Glen Infante.