Come join us.
Community Calendar
From council meetings to events in our neighborhood and Minneapolis, you’re always welcome to join in.
Neighborhood Happy Hour
Join us for our Monthly Neighborhood Happy Hour at Waterbury House.
Come out and meet your neighbors!
Winter Social
Come out and meet your Uptown neighbors at the Lake of the Isles Skating Rink!
From 1-3 pm we will be skating, enjoying hot chocolate and coffee, and warming ourselves with good conversation and fire pits.
More details to come!
Neighborhood Happy Hour
Come and meet your neighbors at our neighborhood happy hour at Waterbury House.
Election Day
Election Day!
If you live in the West Maka Ska Neighborhood, you vote at The Bakken Museum.
MyBurger Fundraiser
Join us on Monday, October 28 for a fundraiser dinner at MyBurger.
More details to follow.
Neighborhood Happy Hour
Come and meet your neighbors at our neighborhood happy hour at Waterbury House
City Budget Workshop
Ward 7 Budget Workshop
Workshop for Ward 7 stakeholders on Thursday, September 26th at the Woman’s Club (410 Oak Grove St) in Loring Park hosted by Katie Cashman, Ward 7 Council Member. With participation by the City’s Budget Director and the Chairs of our City Council’s Budget Committee, Council Vice President Chughtai and Council Member Koski, we’ll learn the basics of how the City’s budget works and collaborate in teams to identify Ward priorities and trade-offs. This will be a great opportunity to actively participate in the City’s 2025 budgeting process. Registration is open and encouraged.
Neighborhood Happy Hour
Come and meet your neighbors at our neighborhood happy hour at Waterbury House
Coffee with Katie Cashman
Uptown Safety focus at August “Coffee with Katie”
Message by Katie Cashman:
Join Katie Cashman for this month’s “Coffee with Katie” community roundtable discussion at Walker Library (2880 Hennepin Ave) in East Isles on Wednesday, August 21st, 6-7:30pm. We know that residents, businesses, and owners in the Uptown area have been struggling through a trend of robberies, assaults, open drug use, and property crimes of all kinds this year. Many residents, workers, and visitors do not feel safe, and it further discourages investment in our commercial corridor.
Hennepin Avenue needs and deserves new resources and a new approach to change the trajectory. We all know how short-staffed our police department is, and it's critical that we deploy some complementary strategies to help reverse these trends. Establishing Safety Ambassadors in Uptown is a pilot strategy that was already funded by the City Council in the 2024 budget can be done using the same model that has proven successful in Downtown Minneapolis.
Contracted by the Minneapolis Downtown Improvement District (DID), Block by Block is a well-established and professional vendor that employs workers with union representation. The DID funds 55 ambassadors each year who clean the public spaces, connect community members experiencing homelessness or mental illness to services and resources, provide an extra layer of security for commercial and retail businesses, and provide hospitality, guidance and more “eyes on the street.” Their presence helps pedestrians, families, shoppers, workers, business owners and residents feel safer as they move through Downtown.
The 2024 Budget approved by the Council and signed by the Mayor included $3m for 10 community safety ambassador pilots throughout the city, including $300,000 for Uptown. Since I started my term in January, I have been pushing our Office of Community Safety (Commissioner Barnette’s team) to implement the Uptown pilot program. $300,000 for Uptown Safety Ambassadors could cover over 5,000 hours of ambassador time, based on data provided by the DID.
Safety Ambassadors, hired and trained by Block by Block or a similar vendor, stationed along Hennepin Avenue would support 5th Precinct police by diverting some “lower priority” calls away from 911, allowing police to respond more quickly to violent crime. This is a proven tool we can leverage now to help restore community faith in our public safety system and quell the sense of “lawlessness” that has impacted our city since the pandemic. I ask you all to support me in urging the Mayor and Commissioner Barnette to implement this pilot program in Uptown immediately.
At this month’s “Coffee with Katie” I’ll be joined by two guests: Shane Zahn, the DID Safety Program lead, to share firsthand about the effectiveness of the downtown ambassadors; and Lesley Kandaras, the General Manager of Metro Transit, to overview safety efforts at the Uptown Transit Station and transit stops along Hennepin Avenue. This is an opportunity for all of us to learn, ask questions, and constructively discuss ideas for securing more community safety resources for Uptown.
When: Wednesday, August 21st | 6-7:30pm
Where: The Walker Library (2880 Hennepin Ave), Bde Maka Ska Room
Neighborhood Happy Hour
Come and meet your neighbors!
Since this is also National Night Out, we will have an abbreviated happy hour so you can join the other festivities.
Lake Clean Up
The East Bde Maka Ska Neighborhood Association is hosting a Lake Cleanup on Saturday, July 27, from 8:30-11:30 a.m. rain or shine! We welcome all lake enthusiasts to participate! Please meet us on the bike/walk trail near the Sailing Club lawn across from the stairs on W. 31st Street to help clean up trash in and around the Lake. We'll have treats and cleanup gear like gloves, buckets, bags, rakes, and trash pickers. You may want to wear tall boots to reach trash at the edge of the Lake. Please be cautious as we sometimes find sharp objects.
Thanks to Wheels Fun Rentals, kayaks will be available free of charge for the clean up!! Boats will be available from 8:30-10:00 am. Adults 18+ must leave an ID and sign a waiver at the rental desk. Kids under 15 must be accompanied by a parent (maximum of 2 kids), but can go out in separate kayaks. Kids ages 5-9 must ride in a double kayak with a parent. Boaters will take bags, trash grabbers, and gloves to clean floating trash away from the shore.
Our cleanups are Park Steward events, and the Park Board asks that all Park volunteers sign a waiver each year. You can find the 2024 waiver here:
Forms for Adults: https://form.jotform.com/210516046139146
Form for Minors: https://form.jotform.com/211065085233144
Neighborhood Happy Hour
Come out and meet your neighbors for a Happy Hour at Waterbury House.
First drink provided by the council.
Neighborhood Safety Walk
Join us on May 28 from 5:30-7 pm
This is a great opportunity to meet your neighbors and address safety issues in our neighborhood
Meet at The Bike Racks at The Bakken Museum
Optional: we can pick up trash as we walk.
Neighborhood Talks w/ Kate Beane Ph.D
For the West Maka Ska Neighborhood's third Neighborhood Talk, we are thrilled to host Kate Beane, PH.D!
Join us on May 23 as she gives an engaging presentation on the Dakota History of Bde Maka Ske at the Bakken Museum. Dr. Beane, who was instrumental in the restoration of the Dakota name, Bde Maka Ska, promises an engaging and thought-provoking event.
Don't miss out on this opportunity to learn from one of the leading experts on local history!
Location: The Bakken Museum
Time: 5-7 pm
Neighborhood Happy Hour
Come out and meet your neighbors for a Happy Hour at the Waterbury House.
First drink provided by the council.
Birds and Bees + Flowers and Trees Earth Day Bash
9 - 11 am, Trash to Treasure Cleanup: We'll roll up our sleeves, join forces with your neighbors turning tidying into a treasure hunt with hidden prizes.
11 - 3pm Spring Bash Meetup: Head over to Cedar Commons/Wholefoods Lot for a neighborhood meetup and mixer. Meet your neighbors, indulge in delicious treats from food trucks, groove to live music, and join in games with exciting giveaways. Get creative and dress as your favorite bird, bee, flower or tree to win a cash prize in our costume contest!
Happy Hour
Come out and meet your neighbors at Wakame!
First drink is provided by the council
Neighborhood Talks w/ Alissa Light
On March 19 Alissa Light, Executive Director of The Bakken Museum, will be talking about The Bakken’s influence on the neighborhood, the city, and the state.
The Bakken is a one-of-a-kind museum and experience that celebrates relationships, storytelling, and experiential learning, sparking joy and innovation.
The Bakken also offers events like the Young Makers Inventors Club, Tinkering after Dark, and Science Studios, for the young and not-so-young.
We hope that you will plan to attend this dynamic talk and hear more about ways you can get involved in the neighborhood.
