An Interview with HPC Board Member Lisa Scribner

—by Kjerti Hanneman, HPC Member

Co-op volunteer Lisa Scribner grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and moved to the Twin Cities in 1984. She started shopping at Hampden Park Co-op in 1985, joined in 1988, and started volunteering in summer 2005. She was recently elected to serve on the HPC board.

KH: How did you get involved in the co-op?

LS: I moved to Cromwell Avenue from Minneapolis and noticed the co-op. It soon became a routine habit to walk to the co-op and buy what I wanted to make for dinner.

KH: Do you have family in town?

LS: Yes, my spouse. We don’t have kids, but we do have three dogs. My mom lives in Milwaukee and I have a brother in Michigan.

KH: What is your current neighborhood?

LS: I live in Roseville, across from the Roselawn Cemetery

KH: What is your occupation (or previous occupations)?

LS: I am currently a baker full-time at Trotter’s Café. I’ve been baking since I was 10 years old. Previously I worked at 3M as the Automation Group Manager. I walked away from the corporate world and I don’t miss it at all.

KH: What are your hobbies and interests?

LS: Gardening, biking, sewing, and exercise.

KH: Are you engaged in other community activities?

LS: Last year, I led a neighborhood organization against a crematorium to be built in our neighborhood. I worked with that organization for about a year, and we were successful in keeping the crematorium from being built.

KH: Tell me about your most interesting travels.

LS: My mom is an armchair geologist, and when she retired in 1996, we went to Iceland. We took a bus tour around the island to see the thermal pots and glaciers. Another favorite trip was to Little Cayman with my husband. The Island is only six miles around, and we biked around it and went snorkeling.

KH: What do you like best about the co-op?

LS: When I used to live in the neighborhood, I would walk to the co-op. I love the local produce. Organic is wonderful, but it is essential to consider your local growers who do sustainable agriculture.

KH: What is your favorite co-op experience?

LS: The Halloween Blizzard of 1991. It was the day after the snow stopped falling and we had 28 inches on the ground. You couldn’t go anywhere, but the co-op was open!

KH: What is your favorite co-op “treat”?

LS: Cedar Summit chocolate milk.

KH: What is your favorite restaurant in the Metro Area?

LS: The Signature Café, located on Warwick in Minneapolis. My husband and I also like to go to India Palace.

KH: What is your favorite meal to cook?

LS: Pad Thai, a Thai noodle dish. We have it every Christmas, in addition to the traditional fixings.

KH: Is there anything else HPC readers should know about you?

LS: I'm on the Membership Committee, and I'd like to hear people’s ideas about their membership at the co-op. We have an assumption that it is our discount structure that keeps people here, but I want to hear people’s thoughts on what keeps them coming to HPC.