North Minneapolis resident Bill Moore has seen many ups and downs in the area that he's lived in since the 1960s, particularly along Lowry Avenue North.
The avenue, which is bordered by a handful of neighborhoods, had declined through the years. This led the city to put together a revitalization plan for the street in 2002 and more recently, a
Lowry Avenue Strategic Plan to spur development and strengthen business districts.
A dozen businesses have opened, relocated, or reinvested in the area since 2008, according to a KARE11
story.
Beyond the street’s physical improvements, a few years ago, Moore and other neighbors came to understand that “We need to celebrate the North Side, to bring it together," says Moore, who leads the service-oriented
Camden Lions.
That's when they came up with the idea for the
Lowry Avenue Harvest Festival, which they decided to do yearly. Now, the third annual festival, which is coming up on Sept. 17, celebrates the change that’s already taken place on the street.
This year, the festival will be larger, blocking off part of Lowry Avenue North where it crosses Penn Avenue, all the way to Oliver Avenue, he explains.
Moore is expecting more than double last year’s attendance of 800 people.
There’ll be a car show, farmer’s market, food vendors, pie-baking contest, biggest-vegetable contest and various live acts, including a judo demonstration and local music groups, while a kid zone will have crop seed art, face painting, clowns, storytelling, and more.
The winning pie from the pie-baking contest will be featured on the menu for a week at the nearby
Lowry Café, he says.
Places like the new Lowry Cafe have been instrumental in the process of turning around the street. “We’ve got a lot of good businesses on Lowry,” Moore says, including many that are involved with the festival.
Also, various neighborhood groups, charitable organizations, and local businesses will have table displays. Volunteers will help collect donations for the local food shelf.
All in all, “I hope that this will help people get to know people from other neighborhoods and pull everyone together as a community instead of making it about different neighborhoods,” he says.
Source: Bill Moore, neighborhood activist and president of Camden Lions
Writer: Anna Pratt