“We’re all sort of immigrants, immigrants to the river,” Allan Burdick, a longtime member, told me last Saturday when I joined the weekly Mill City Commons breakfast at Elsie’s, a restaurant and bowling alley a couple of blocks from the river.
The breakfasts anchor a schedule of events that is packed every week. Once or twice a month, Mill City Commons members arrange for visits to local businesses or institutions. So far this month, they have toured Red Lake Nation College and got a behind-the-scenes look at the downtown library.
There are walks along the river and through the skyways, along with visits to sporting events. And there are also lectures and talks from an array of business and political figures, along with professors and teachers. Coming up Thursday, a panel of local political scientists and journalists will discuss the outcome of the election with the group.
Marcia Townley, standing, talks with members of Mill City Commons at a weekly breakfast mixer in Minneapolis earlier this month. (Evan Ramstad)
“It’s a little bit like a cruise ship,” said Peter Lefferts, who with his wife, Jane, joined Mill City Commons to stay active after a career in financial services and affordable housing that included stints in Venezuela, Jamaica and Puerto Rico. “At this point of life, I find it hugely important to have this pipeline of people and friends.”
Frey said he formally visits the group at least once a year and, since he also lives near the river, bumps into members of Mill City Commons every day. “I see them at the bar. I see them at a music concert. I see them at the Guthrie,” Frey said. “You know how DeLaSalle High School has the slogan ‘Islanders are everywhere’? Same thing with Mill City Commons.”
And when he’s asked to attend a formal Q&A to discuss city issues, Frey said, “I always know I’ve got to be prepared. They will have read everything, probably from multiple points of view, definitely from different media sources. They will have a full spectrum of understanding that few groups are able to mobilize.”
