1974
After five years of planning, upgrading Shoreline Drive, studying the water table, sealing the lake with bentonite, erecting a flag pole, sodding and tree planting, Shoreline Park was born. The Diggers donated $500 for beautification of the park and in April, not only cleaned up the area, but planted a wide variety of plants including highbush cranberry, winter berry holly, honey suckle, bittersweet, buffalo berry and others plus six flowering crab apple trees. The 1973 and 1974 presidents of the Diggers were Lois Clausen and Helen Schoenheider. The Civic Beautification Committee [which still exists) consisted of Orpha Kranz, Lois Clausen, Gladys Hyde, Virginia Kobe, Vera Leonard, Evalina Whaley and Helen Schoenheider. The Diggers have contributed much additional money over the years and routinely plant flowers to beautify the park.
Heidi Houck became one of the few girls in Robbinsdale and perhaps in the state who competed on a Little League team. Her coach, Dick Gould told the Minneapolis Star she was one of the best players on the team. Under pressure form lawsuits filed throughout the country the national Little League rescinded its boys only policy, but the decision came too late in the year for girls to sign up. Heidi and 14 other girls got to play because the Robbinsdale Little League board, before the national office voted 8-7 to let girls compete.
This post is part of a series loosely based on the book Robbinsdale Then and Now by Helen Blodgett.