Here and There - August/September 2010

Upcoming Monthly Men’s Sunday Brunches (bring something to share/cook up): August 15th, Tom Weaver co-hosting together with David Mueller 1410 Colorado Ave S., Suite 210, St. Louis Park, 55416, 612-281-5230. September 19th (Fall equinox) at Andy Mickel’s, 106 SE Arthur Ave, Minneapolis, 55414 (in Prospect Park off University Ave near I-94 and 280), 612-331-8396. More than a dozen men attending the June Father’s Day brunch at Jim Lovestar’s. - Andy Mickel, 2010-07-18

Long-time Men’s Center member and member of ManKind Project Minnesota, Gary Haselhuhn passed 2010-06-09 at age 77. His career encompassed working at the State of Minnesota Dept. of Human Serices for decades. He also led Mental Health Resources, a non-profit serving the chronically mentally ill. Throughout the late 1980’s and 1990s, Gary led many workshops teaching the Enneagram, a spiritual personality inventory topology system and made an impact among countless religious leaders throughout the upper midwest. - Randy Genrich, 2010-06-15, based on St. Paul Pioneer Press Obituary.

In Men Center member’s Earl Hipp’s ManMaking Blog: <http://journeytomanhood.blogspot.com/>, he reviews the featured article on the cover of the July/August issue of the Atlantic Magazine, which asks if we are approaching The End of Men, a time in history where men are simply becoming less relevant than women. “While men aren’t likely to go away, the author believes evidence of the cultural devaluing of men is indicated by 7 main points including: The problem of men absent in droves as fathers and role models for young boys.There is much more in the article, but you are getting the idea. In the same issue of Atlantic there is another article titled, Are Fathers Necessary?. In that article the author, Pamela Paul focuses research from the February issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family, by Judith Stacey, a professor of sociology at New York University, and Timothy Biblarz, a demographer from the University of Southern California. The point of their research is that successful parenting is not at all about the gender of the parents, but the quality of parenting. As a result, Ms. Paul indicates in spite of cherished notions of two-parent families, it just may be possible that fathers aren’t necessary.” - Earl Hipp, 2010-07-19.

The next ManKind Project-Minnesota New Warrior Training Adventure will be held October 15-17, 2010 at Eagle Lake Camp near Brainerd, MN. The cost is now $595, with many payment plans and partial scholarships available. To learn more, attend an Open Circle event: Observe, Ask Questions (or Participate if you like) in a safe container with a group of men who are practicing authenticity and connection to feeling at Open Circle of Warriors events at the Men’s Center every 2nd Wednesday, 7-9 p.m. Contact Andy Mickel with any questions 612-279-6416 or see: <http://minnesota.mkp.org/> for Open I-Group dates/times. - Andy Mickel, 2010-07-18.

Gay/Bi Fathers/Husbands Support Group meets second Wednesday evenings and fourth Saturday mornings of every month. Drop-ins always welcome. Contact:<info@fathersgroupmn.com>. Serving TC metro area since 1979. - Bob Anderson, 2010-07-14.

26th Annual Minnesota Men’s Conference, September 14th- 19th, 2010, BRINGING BACK THE FIRE “How can we, as ordinary men, bring some new life to our withering world? Recession and climate change do not affect men’s inner longing for brotherhood and a better life. As we put our stick in the mud of recession and incessant war, how can some old stories and the companionship of men help us to abandon familiar comfort and search for something new?

“We are delighted to have as teachers this year Robert Bly, Malidoma Some, Miguel Rivera, Danny Deardorff, Martin Shaw, Doug von Koss, Tom Gambell, Thomas R. Smith, Timothy Young, Jay Leeming and assorted other poets and ne’er-do-wells.” $800 with $200 deposit ($450 for young men aged 13-20) Scholarship Fund available. Attendance limited to 90 adult men and 30 young men. Camp Miller, Sturgeon Lake, Minnesota, FFI: Craig Ungerman, 860-923-6987 / 860-942-1658cell <hiddenwine@earthlink.net> <http://www.hiddenwine.com/>, - Mark Stanley, 2010-05-15.

Gail Rosenblum’s column “Shared Parenting is One Gift That’s Long Overdue for Divorced Dads” appeared in the Minneapolis Star Tribune on Father’s Day. She based her article on interviews with Molly Olson who founded a non-profit to get family-friendly Minnesota to pass a bill that presumes that after a marriage breaks up, mothers and fathers will continue to share equally in parenting. A bill carried in the 2010 legislature by Rep. Kim Norton of Rochester and Sen. Kathy Salzman of Woodsbury ultimately did not pass, but did address two huge injustices: removing the exception for domestic violence and the unfair support payments formula favoring moms over dads. Sen. Salzman summed it up: “The time has come to find a way to reflect today’s society. How can we make this a win-win?”
- Star Tribune, 2010-06-20.