Our fair city

Have you heard about the idea to stimulate the economy by picking three of your favorite businesses to frequent? I love it: Guilt-free splurging. My choices revolve around food: Lucia's To Go, Galactic Pizza, and one more TBD. My son chooses to stimulate the economy with strawberry crepes at Lucia's, and usually a three-bite mini-cupcake. I can't imagine this event at the Mill City Museum won't be crazy-chaotic, but I'm still penciling it in to support Lucia:

Family Day: Build a Mill City
April 19, 1 to 4 p.m.
Spend the afternoon taking in family activities and performances about the people, places and things that made Minneapolis what it is today. Join Chef Lucia Watson in the Baking Lab for a demonstration connecting children to food with recipes to make together at home; make a mini Minneapolis landscape book with Minnesota Center for Book Arts; take in a performance by History Player Franklin Steele, who arrived in 1837 and contributed to the building of St. Anthony; enjoy the music of Minneapolis’ many cultures with Macphail Center for Music; use blocks to build a Roman arch like the ones in the nearby Stone Arch Bridge; make a mini herb garden to take home with Mill City Farmer’s Market; get wet using the Water Lab’s "Build a Mill City" table; make an "Exploding Washburn A Mill Book" to take home; and view the exhibit "From Mill to Museum," which explores how the Washburn A Mill was re-built as a major museum.
Cost: Program included with museum admission of $10 adults, $8 seniors and college students, $5 children ages 6-17. Reservations are recommended, call 612-341-7555.
Built within the ruins of the Washburn A Mill, a National Historic Landmark, the award-winning Mill City Museum chronicles the flour milling industry that fueled the growth of Minneapolis. The story comes to life through the eight-story Flour Tower, Water Lab, Baking Lab and other hands-on exhibits.

The museum is located at 704 S. Second St. in Minneapolis. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays (open until 9 p.m. Thursdays) and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. For more information, call 612-341-7555 or visit www.millcitymuseum.org.

The Society’s calendar of events is posted on the Internet at events.mnhs.org/calendar. The web site also has information about all of the Society’s programs, museums and historic sites. To request a free guide to museums and historic sites, call 1-800-657-3773.

The Minnesota Historical Society is a non-profit educational and cultural institution established in 1849 to preserve and share Minnesota history. The Society collects, preserves and tells the story of Minnesota’s past through museum exhibits, libraries and collections, historic sites, educational programs and book publishing.