By Helen Warren

Managing editor Scott Carlson invited me to address Park Bugle readers as I complete six years on the Park Bugle board, the maximum term of service permitted in the board’s bylaws.

Over that period, I’ve had frequent conversations with Bugle readers at community gathering spots. Many occurred at the Bugle booth at the St. Anthony Park Arts Festival or in Langford Park after the 4th in the Park parade.

Far and away, the most frequent comment is, “We love the Bugle.” While I take satisfaction in the consistency and fervor of this affection, I’m also uneasy about it.

Here’s why: Generally, we love what is familiar and predictable. We love what strongly resonates with us.

So, I worry that this love affair with the Park Bugle indicates a sameness or stagnancy that can actually make it more difficult to achieve our mission: “To strengthen our community by providing local news and stories that transform readers into neighbors.”

The difficulty is easier to understand when you examine U.S. Census data for our service area. The 2020 Census counted 33,553 people living in the neighborhoods of St. Anthony Park (9,951), Como (15,962) and the towns of Falcon Heights (5,369) and Lauderdale (2,271).   

Census figures indicate that people of color make up 24.6% of the population, nearly one quarter of our neighbors. I wonder how well the Park Bugle covers their experiences and achievements.

When you look at income, at least one third of residents in our service area earn more than $100,000 annually; more than half $75,000 or more. Fewer than 9% of residents live below the poverty line.

However, some 30% of households are described as “cost burdened,” meaning their housing costs equal more than one third of monthly income. I wonder how well we cover the challenges of folks who are not as affluent, who can’t afford to eat out frequently or shop in our retail establishments.

What are the opportunities to get to know people who don’t resemble our immediate neighbors? I get to know some of them when I deliver groceries to elders in rental properties or take them to medical appointments as a volunteer with St. Anthony Park Seniors.

Conversations at the front door or in the car give me insight into lives I don’t live but might someday. How can the Park Bugle provide more opportunities to learn about the sizable group of our neighbors who are not white or affluent?

Perhaps we think about these folks when we weigh policy or electoral choices. But it’s not the same as reading about their lives or talents in the pages of the Park Bugle.  

Policy discussions about “the working poor” or “racial minorities” often flatten them into a demographic or income category. What we have in common usually emerges only in conversations or personal accounts at the heart of community journalism.

Here’s where those readers who “love the Bugle” can help.

Think about a “familiar stranger,” a person you encounter regularly but don’t know well. Someone you are curious about but haven’t engaged in a substantial conversation. They may not be residents, but there they are, behind the counter or in the kitchen or the shop. Their efforts weave into the life of our community.

Ask them about an article you liked in the Park Bugle. You may have to grab a copy from the rack and show it to them.

Or mention a Facebook post and show it to them on your phone. That’s a way to start a conversation you can continue the next time you see them.

You may learn something about them you didn’t expect. And they will learn something about you, that you “love the Bugle” and want to share it with them. The initial reaction may not be strong; it takes people a while to warm up.

But it could be that what the Bugle does for people who “love” it can also reach people who have no idea that it exists.

The immediate aim is to start a conversation, not suggest story ideas for Bugle writers.

But if the conversation continues, you may learn something about the “familiar stranger” that prompts you to contact the editor, Scott Carlson, at [email protected]. 

Helen Warren lives in St. Anthony Park and is the immediate past presiding officer of the Bugle board of directors.

Photo cutline: Helen Warren. Photo from Bugle archives.