Junior League of Saint Paul

Infant (Ages 0-18 mo)
2 books, 3

Play Examples

Squeeze Toys
Soft/Textured Balls
Light & Sturdy Cloth Toys
Soft Hand Puppets
Soft Building Blocks

Reading Examples

Books should be soft plastic/fabric
Board books are also acceptable

Pat the Bunny
Goodnight Moon
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
Lamaze books such as:
Monkey See, Monkey Zoo
Fly-Away Lady Bug
Peekaboo I Love You

Toddler (Ages 18 mo-3 yr)
3 books, 2 play

Play Examples

Shape Sorters
Puzzles
Building Blocks
Jumbo Crayons & Paper

Reading Examples

Board books or books with sturdy pages

The Very Hungary Caterpillar
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
The Happy Egg
Green Eggs and Ham
Corduroy
Any of the Little Golden Books

Pre-School (Ages 3-4 yr)
3 books, 3 play

Play Examples

Puzzles
Small Board/Match Games
Play Doh
Crayons & Paper
Egg & Spoon Race game (Creative Kidstuff)

Reading Examples

Where the Wild Things Are
Harold and the Purple Crayon
The Incredible Eating Book Eating Boy
The Mitten
Dr. Seuss
Little Golden Books
Jump Rope
Legos

Reading Examples

Frog and Toad Are Friends
Arthur the Aardvark
Where the Wild Things Are
When I Am Old With You
Aloha, Dolores

JLSP Recommends the following retail stores:

Red Balloon Bookshop
www.redballoonbookshop.com
891 Grand Ave. St. Paul

Lakeshore Learning
www.lakeshorelearning.com
1721 Beam Ave. Maplewood
or
5699 W. 16th St. St. Louis Park

Creative Kidstuff
www.creativekidstuff.com
1074 Grand Ave. St. Paul

Wonderment, Inc.
www.wondermentshop.com
949 Grand Ave. St. Paul

The amazing results are in and generous donors gave more than $13 million to the 3,111 non-profits across Minnesota, including the Junior League of Saint Paul (JLSP) on Give to the Max Day, Tuesday November 17th. This week during Thanksgiving, we have much to be thankful for and we are especially honored by the 49 donors who generously gave $6,900 to our organization. These donations will be matched at an estimated $.04-to-the-$1 for an additional $276.00 in contributions thanks to the challenge grant issued by partners of GiveMN.org.

The response that we received from this opportunity was truly overwhelming. Thank you for answering this call to action and showing your support of our organization. You make us stronger. We hope you will continue to visit our page at http://givemn.razoo.com/story/jlsp and to continue to use GiveMN.org to support all your Minnesota non-profits.

Thank you again for your continuing support for JLSP and the work that we do in the Saint Paul community.

Contributed by Jill G. Thompson, Sustainer and Pedal Pusher


A year ago I wrote a story of how four of the Pedal Pushers (‘PPs”) traveled to New York City to do a century (100 miles in one day) bike ride. We had such a good time that we wanted to do it again! Sue Sorenson spotted the Door County Century – celebrating 30 years in 2009.


A bunch of the PPs started talking early this spring about taking a girls only trip to Door County, Wisconsin. Wow, did we have fun! Mary Ann Betts, Carol Broback, Mary Lynn Gillin, Louise Jones, Dixie Nelson, Paula Soholt, Sue Sorenson and Jill (Greene) Thompson drove to Door County on Friday, September 11th. We had a caravan of three vehicles, and it was fun to stop at Emma Krumbee’s for lunch. You would love our accommodations – a three level townhouse at Little Sweden resort (Mary Lynn found it!), complete with kitchen, deck, three big bathrooms and a rec center with swimming pool and hot tub next door – just south of Fish Creek. As soon as we got there, we pooled all the appetizers that we brought, and headed right out to the deck. There we toasted Happy Birthday to Dixie. She was styling with a Lolita’s wine glass and a special birthday cocktail. Thanks to Louise for securing a reservation; we headed out to the White Gull Inn in Fish Creek for a traditional (and delicious!) fish boil.

Saturday was a day of eating, shopping and registering for the bike ride. We started at Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant and Butik, where we had delectable Swedish pancakes with lingonberries, like none you’ve ever tasted before. Al Johnson’s claim to fame is the amazing pancakes and the sod roof, where goats roam freely and love to have their pictures taken! No trip to Door County is complete without a trip to one or more stores that sell fresh Montmorency cherries. We all had a good time at Seaquist’s. Paula is our expert when it comes to wine tasting. She recommended Lautenbach’s Orchard Country Winery and Market, where we could taste six wines for a dollar. Mary Ann recommended a great spot for our Saturday night dinner – Mission Grille. This restaurant is in a beautiful turn of the century church, and the food is fabulous!


Sunday morning, September 13th dawned sunny and cool – perfect for our rides! Carol, Mary Lynn, Louise, Sue and I opted to ride 100 miles, and Mary Ann, Dixie and Paula opted for 30. We were awe-inspired by the beauty of Door County, and blessed to be there for the best weather in the 30 year history of the ride. The scenery was breath-taking, as we headed up the peninsula along Green Bay, peaked above Sister Bay, and then headed south toward Johannesport, and the little town of Institute, where the ride began. The spaghetti dinner and cherry pie at Sevastopol School were scrumptious for hungry riders. From there, we headed back to Little Sweden where we donned our swimming suits, gin & tonic and snacks for a relaxing couple of hours at the hot tub and pool. What more could we need?


It was tough for us to leave Door County on Monday, so we shopped and ate a bit more. The Door County Century Ride is well-organized, provides options for riders of varying abilities, and takes place in a great spot for a long weekend getaway. We recommend it to the JLSP and your family and friends!