Kevin Kling Joins River Roots Revue
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
KEVIN KLING JOINS RIVER ROOTS REVUE SUNDAY, MAY 21, 5 to 10 PM VAN DUSEN CENTER, 1900 LASALLE AVE, MINNEAPOLIS
Press Contact: Georgia Gould-Lyle, 763-546-8715
"Nicollet Island is everyone's backyard. ... To have a place in the center of Minneapolis where you can hear the wind blow and the river roll by is a treasure."
-- Louise Erdrich, Star Tribune, May 10, 2006
(MINNEAPOLIS, MN, MAY 10, 2006) Storyteller Kevin Kling will appear at the "River Roots Revue,"? a fundraising party on Sunday, May 21, 2006, from 5:00 to 10:00 PM, with a host of performers, four dance bands, a silent auction and free carriage rides at the Van Dusen Center, 1900 LaSalle Avenue, Minneapolis. For information call 612-874-1900 or go to riverrootsrevue.org/ Suggested donations are $25, $50 and $100.
Kling is a noted performer and writer who describes his Zodiac sign as "Minnesota with Iowa Rising."? He is best known for his regular storytelling contributions to National Public Radio's "All Things Considered." www.kevinkling.com
Other entertainers include fiddle and mandolin player Peter Ostroushko, folk performers Bill Hinkley & Judy Larson, singer Prudence Johnson, pianist Dan Chouinard, singer Leslie Ball, comedian Ari Hoptman, performance artist Patrick Scully, keyboardist George Maurer and many more.
The River Roots Revue will raise funds to assess the impact of DeLaSalle High School's intention to build a football stadium on this small island in the Mississippi River by the Hennepin Avenue Bridge.
Closing of the eastern half of two-block Grove Street has been proposed to make way for the stadium. However, the loss of east Grove Street would endanger the 19th-century neighborhood, where residents rely on access to the only bridge over a busy railroad crossing. Closing Grove Street would also block a vital route for fire trucks and other emergency vehicles.
Over 50 trains* cross the island daily, and the number will increase to 80 trains if the Northstar commuter rail corridor goes through. Trains obstruct the crossing on two of three available streets, Island Avenues West and East. With the east end of Grove Street sealed, there would be no eastern access to the third road, Nicollet Street, which bridges the railroad. (Note the street map of Nicollet Island.) www.4factors.com/pics/maps/island-map.jpg
Grove Street was recently named among Minnesota's "Ten Most Endangered Historic Places," making this the second consecutive year the Preservation Alliance has put the stadium's threat to Nicollet Island among the state's most urgent.
Ticket purchases and donations to the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota help save historic Grove Street and protect Nicollet Island's public parkland, and are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
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* "BNSF train traffic is 50+ trains per day thru this area." -- Spencer D. Arndt, assistant director, public projects, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, in a Nov. 21, 2005 official comment letter to the City of Minneapolis.