Interviews

Interview: Brent Weaver and Ann Hansen

Posted Mon, 12/19/2011 - 10:06pm

—by Rachel Fang

Ann Hansen and Brent Weaver moved to St. Paul from Nevada City, California, 15 years ago and almost immediately began looking for a “genuine co-op” like the ones they were involved with back in northern California: a working co-op where members can volunteer for a discount. We’re lucky they found HPC.

An interview with Ike Russell

Posted Sun, 06/05/2011 - 3:20pm

—by Rachel Fang

Not having been around many babies lately, I enjoyed meeting Ike Russell at his home in South Minneapolis near Powderhorn Park. Ike may not have been having as much fun as I did, as he was juggling diaperless one-year-old Oliver in one hand and setting up a DVD for three-year-old Sebastian with the other.

Board Member Profile: Michael McKenna

Posted Mon, 04/04/2011 - 8:48pm

—by Anne Holzman

While he nudges his fledgling law practice toward flight, Michael McKenna has been working to get Hampden Park Co-op settled on ever more solid legal ground.

Interview with HPC member Susan Warner

Posted Mon, 04/04/2011 - 1:44pm

—by Rachel Fang

If you shop at HPC you know Susan Warner’s art. Her tile work adorns the facade of the store’s foyer, the picnic table out front, and the building’s north-facing wall.

I interviewed Susan at her studio in a one-story building in the Seward neighborhood in Minneapolis. The studio is a large open space, taking up half of a warehouse she owns and shares with another artist. Shelves and wooden racks, custom-built by her husband, George, line the walls and are neatly filled with raw materials and works in progress. All work tables are on wheels so the space can be reconfigured depending on project requirements. Twelve-foot ceilings allow viewing of large tile compositions from above during production.

Meet HPC Board Member Joel Krogstad

Posted Wed, 12/01/2010 - 3:19pm

—by Rachel Fang

New HPC Board member Joel Krogstad comes from a family that has “cooperatives in its blood.” Joel grew up in a housing co-op in the suburbs of Chicago called York Center, in which some 70 families collectively owned 50 acres. Each family owned its own home, and shared common areas. Growing up in this close community, in which people were in and out of each other’s homes, helped form Joel's passion for the cooperative model.

Member Profile: Al Uhl and Nancy Adair

Posted Thu, 06/03/2010 - 7:04pm

by Rachel Fang

I first sat down with Al Uhl at his favorite Chinese restaurant on University Avenue in St.Paul (where he bought me lunch!) and we talked about his long history in St. Anthony Park and with the co-op movement.

Interview with Heidi and Bill Schwabacher

Posted Mon, 02/01/2010 - 6:00am

—by Rachel Fang

I spoke with longtime Hampden Park Co-op members Heidi and Bill Schwabacher on a sunny, cold day in January. We sat at a table in their dining room, decorated with an eclectic collection of paintings—some by Heidi, some by friends or family members— and had tea, served in a wonderful teapot—also Heidi’s work. They told me about their experiences with co-ops and how they came to Minnesota.

Board member interview: A. K. Vincent

Posted Mon, 02/01/2010 - 6:00am

—by Anne Holzman

When North Country Co-op closed its doors about two years ago, A. K. Vincent was a member of the board of directors. Now she finds herself again serving on a co-op board, this time at Hampden Park Co-op.

North Country had served Minneapolis’ Cedar-Riverside neighborhood since 1971 and had nurtured many other Twin Cities co-ops. “It was a large piece of history,” Vincent wrote recently in an e-mail. “Many of the other cooperatives sprang up out of North Country."

“Many hearts were broken when [North Country] closed,” she wrote. “I will never forget NCC; however it mends my heart to be here at HPC.”

Board Member Profile: Matt Hass

Posted Mon, 08/31/2009 - 2:52am

-by Anne Holzman

A shopper’s first glimpse of Matt Hass is likely to be around the corners of a box of vegetables, from behind which he might be calling instructions to a volunteer, answering a customer’s question, or exchanging quips with a passing acquaintance.

Assistant manager and produce manager Hass serves as Hampden Park Coop staff representative on the board of directors, a post he’s held for three years.

He shares with other managers the day-to-day buying, selling, recordkeeping, and coordinating of volunteers that keep the store running.

Hass grew up in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, where he didn’t have any co-op experience but did work in a grocery store during high school.

Laura-Leigh Madsen, the Compost Queen

Posted Mon, 06/01/2009 - 8:53pm

—interview by Rachel Fang

If you think you see Laura-Leigh smiling to herself as the snow flies outside, you’re right: she adores snow, maybe because it gives her time to dream about her grandchildren, her garden, and the promise of spring. Or maybe just because she thinks it’s beautiful. Laura-Leigh has been shopping at the co-op since about 1980, and volunteering for many of those years as a cashier (most recently), banker, stocker, and cheese-cutter (she had one shift as a cheese cutter, she reports, and was not asked back).

Originally from Seattle, Laura-Leigh Madsen moved to Minneapolis more than 30 years ago with her husband, and raised three children. She taught fourth grade in several Minneapolis schools and says she was known as the Compost Queen. “I had a compost bucket in my classroom,” she remembers, “and one year a composting experiment recommended by a colleague went awry and the school was almost evacuated because of the indescribably bad smell.” Laura-Leigh emphasized that this only happened once and that most years her classroom was much less odorous.