Who We Are

SCNA is organized to be a voice of the community, to advocate and promote the Shingle Creek neighborhood, to improve neighborhood livability and economic opportunities, to involve and empower residents and to promote the safety and health of our community and its residents.

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We, as a small nonprofit 501(c)3 with a volunteer resident board, strive to achieve our mission in several ways:

Be a Voice of the Community: We work to be a voice of the community on broad issues that affect our neighborhood whether they be environmental, economic, planning, or developmental in nature.

Be an Advocate and Promote: We as Shingle Creek residents know what it’s like to live here on a daily basis. We understand the challenges and benefits of living in this part of Minneapolis and work to advocate and promote it both inside and outside the neighborhood as a positive place to live, work, and play! We don’t want to be left out of important city, county, or state projects, so we participate in various committees, commissions, and other opportunities where we can advocate and promote our neighborhood.

Improve neighborhood livability and economic opportunities: Whether its graffiti or garbage, crime, problem properties, environment or enhancing economic opportunities for our neighborhood and the Camden area, SCNA works with residents to educate residents, connect them to resources or advocate and promote the neighborhood to get needed resources.

Involve and empower residents: SCNA is made up of volunteer residents just like you that care about their neighborhood and keeping it a great place to live, work and play! We work to involve residents through our community events, projects, and programs and empower residents to make a difference in their community.

Promote the safety and health of our community and its residents: SCNA knows that living in a major metropolitan area is full of new challenges on almost on a daily basis. We strive to work within the city to promote the safety and health of our community and its residents. Striving to keep residents informed of neighborhood crime trends, how to improve home and personal safety and promoting healthy ways to improve living in an urban center.

Our Volunteer Board

MarLynn Schleeter

Board Chair

What is your favorite place in Shingle Creek?
My home is my favorite place to be. We like to play at Shingle Creek Park and visits to the ponds and Common Grounds garden are very relaxing.

What makes you laugh the most?
My grandchildren. Kids say the funniest things.

What is your favorite animal that can be found in Minnesota?
I think the little red fox is my favorite. But I do have a pair of cardinals that I love to watch.

Your favorite season and why?
I’ve always loved fall the most. The vibrant colors of the season and all the good foods ready to be harvested. The coziness of a cool evening and a warm fire.

What is one thing you would like to accomplish while serving on the SCNA Board?
Engaging more of the neighborhood with the association. Whether as board members, committee members, block club leaders or as observers and participants in neighborhood meetings and events. Creating community.

Deanna Averill

Vice Board Chair

What is your favorite place in Shingle Creek?
The Children’s Forest & Pollinator (52nd & Queen)

What makes you laugh the most?
Winnie The Pooh and kittens will get a good chuckle out of me.

What is your favorite animal that can be found in Minnesota?
I absolutely love hearing the loons

Your favorite season and why?
I actually like two seasons. Spring and Fall. They are the seasons that I am most comfortable outside. Winter is close behind when it is not -30. Summer is my least because I don’t like the extreme heat.

What is one thing you would like to accomplish while serving on the SCNA Board?
My would like to have SCNA continue to grow the neighborhood and encourage our neighbors to get outside and enjoy the attractions

Patty West

Treasurer

What is your favorite place in Shingle Creek?
My favorite place in Shingle Creek is riding my bike on the trails by Shingle Creek. It is so quiet.

What makes you laugh the most?
What makes me laugh the most is hanging out with my wife Marty and my neighbor Mary …when they get going they are so funny!

What is your favorite animal that can be found in Minnesota?
My favorite animal in the neighborhood is the fox..they hopefully can help keep the rabbit abundance in my back yard manageable.

Your favorite season and why?
Fall is my favorite season because of the changing of the colors and lowering of the temps. It is so beautiful down at the ponds in the fall!

What is the one thing you would like to accomplish while serving on the SCNA Board?
What my goal for being on the board has always been to make Shingle Creek a caring community of neighbors who know each other and share common goals like safety in the neighborhood, a healthy environment for our children and seniors, and a fun community to be a part of.

Jessica Buccholtz

Secretary

What is your favorite place in Shingle Creek?
So far it’s the trails by shingle creek. I’m fairly new to the area so I am still exploring.

What makes you laugh the most?
Kid jokes

What is your favorite animal that can be found in Minnesota?
My dogs and cats, followed by owls

Your favorite season and why?
I love Fall. The colors, the crisp air, bonfires, and fall décor all have my heart.

What is one thing you would like to accomplish while serving on the SCNA Board?
I would like to plan fun events and serve as a resource for my neighbors and become more involved with my community and city.

Martha Grimes

Board Member

What is your favorite place in Shingle Creek?
Ponds

What makes you laugh the most?
Kid jokes

What is your favorite animal that can be found in Minnesota?
Loon

Your favorite season and why?
I love ALL of the seasons! Each season has its own beauty:

What is one thing you would like to accomplish while serving on the SCNA Board?
I would like to continue planning events to build community in our neighborhood and work on wellness.

Jeffrey L. Strand

Board Member

What is your favorite place in Shingle Creek?
Shingle Creek and the Shingle Creek Regional Ponds, Wetlands and Trails area. The stormwater detention ponds complement water quality efforts and the amenity that SCNA played a role is designing and developing in a degraded wetland have provided countless hours to local residents for active or passive recreation and communing with Nature.

What makes you laugh the most?
My husband prides himself on his humorous puns. If not that, since our dogs have gone off to doggie heaven, I will say the antics of the chipmunks and squirrels at my “bird” feeders comes in a close second.

What is your favorite animal that can be found in Minnesota?
The Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) that is found in the metro perching on freeway light poles, or in rural Minnesota areas trees or soaring in open country searching for prey. The bird is wonderful both for its beauty and amazing color variations and for sounds of its call.

Your favorite season and why?
Native Minnesotan, born and bred, but I love summer with its hot weather, (non-tornadic) storms that demonstrate the power of Nature and bring freshness like after a heavy rainfall from a summer thunderstorm, and with the vitality of life all around us. I also love the backyard birds like the Northern Cardinal, Blue Jay, Black-capped Chickadee, Dark-eyed Junco, and White-breasted Nuthatch that remind us to be mindful of Nature.

What is one thing you would like to accomplish while serving on the SCNA Board?
The SCNA has accomplished great things in the nearly 3 decades since its founding in 1992 (Humboldt Greenway, Shingle Creek Regional Ponds, Humboldt Industrial Park Plan, support for Shingle Creek and Kingsley Commons housing, support for youth and seniors like Patrick Henry Herobotics 2500).
Before capping off my service on the SCNA Board, I would like to see organizational stability in the newly adopted Minneapolis neighborhoods funding program that greatly reduced support, and helping to bring together the diverse Shingle Creek residents to an equitable and just “new normal” post-2020 COVID-19 and civil unrest.