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BACKPACK MEALS: Filling the summertime food gap PAGE 3A
Scholars retrace Fitzgerald’s footsteps with visit to White Bear Lake
PAUL DOLS | PRESS PUBLICATIONS
Donors who gave significant gifts to the new performing arts center included: Si and Vicki Ford, left, and the Hanifl Foundation, represented by Suzanne and Paul Hanifl and their daughter Sharon Hanifl-Lee, center.
Act 1: Groundbreaking BY DEBRA NEUTKENS EDITOR
golfer in the world after Bob Jones in the early ‘20s. “Fitzgerald knew Johnston, and I have been informed he didn’t really get along that well,” Mammel said. “It was in part because Scott was a golfer, but he wasn’t a very good golfer like everybody else. He was just a
WHITE BEAR LAKE — To be or not to be? Definitely to be, as the first shovels of dirt were ceremoniously tossed June 27 on the site of the city's new performing arts center. Lakeshore Players Managing Director Rob Thomas kicked off the groundbreaking celebration, acknowledging a script that will focus on both community and production of great live theater. Standing center stage next to props comprising a backhoe and construction trailer, Thomas introduced Mayor Jo Emerson, who told those gathered that a group of people determined in 1953 the need for community theater. But that was then and this is now, and today is about the future of arts growth in the city, the mayor said, pointing out the nearby banners hanging from Hwy. 61 light poles designating the Arts District along Long Avenue. Lakeshore Players Theater has an economic impact of about $1 million on White Bear Lake, according to the mayor. The new performing arts center will increase that to $1.5 million. Thomas also introduced two “significant donors” to the capital campaign to build the theater: Si and Vicki Ford, whose gift allowed the purchase of the former Twin City Nursery property, and Paul and Suzanne Hanifl of North Oaks. The Hanifls head a foundation that supports communities through programs promoting environmental awareness, conservation, education, the arts and
SEE FITZGERALD, PAGE 9A
SEE NEW THEATER, PAGE 8A
PAUL DOLS | PRESS PUBLICATIONS
Allen Christian models a vintage wool swimsuit for International Fitzgerald Society Conference attendees during the fashion show portion of the historical presentation at Boatworks Commons in White Bear Lake Tuesday, June 27. BY JACKIE BUSSJAEGER LOWDOWN EDITOR
WHITE BEAR LAKE – The literature of F. Scott Fitzgerald features extravagant settings such as New York and Paris, but last week Fitzgerald enthusiasts flocked to White Bear Lake to get a feel for the writer’s early life. Attendees of the 14th annual International Fitzgerald Society conference held in St. Paul attended a historical presentation at Boatworks Commons. Afterward, conference goers were able to hop on a fleet of boats captained by White Bear locals, which toured the lake accompanied by live band music before dropping guests off at the White Bear Yacht Club. Born in St. Paul, Fitzgerald debuted some of his first plays at the White Bear Yacht Club while he was a student. In 1922, he spent the summer living at the club with wife Zelda and daughter Scottie, until they were reputedly kicked out for rowdy behavior. Fitzgerald’s story “Winter Dreams” was set in the fictional town of Black Bear Lake. Fitzgerald later called
PAUL DOLS | PRESS PUBLICATIONS
The White Bear Yacht Club was among the stops on the boat tour around the lake.
this story a trial of “the Gatsby idea,” playing with some of the themes that would later appear in one of his most famed novels, “The Great Gatsby.” One of the evening’s speakers was self-appointed Yacht Club historian Mark Mammel. In its history, the club hosted a few world-class golf pros, such as Harrison R. Jimmy Johnston, known as the second-best
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