In December and January, we accepted nominations for the 2023 Como Neighborhood Honor Roll, our board members voted to select honorees among the nominations, and the winners were honored at our March 19 Como Community meeting.
Congratulations to 2023 Honorees Alison Eva Goetzman, Jessica Willman, and Gordon Wrobel!!
The Honor Roll is an annual tribute that recognizes everyday residents and organizations who make a sustained and lasting impact in their neighborhood. The honoree names will be added to our website honor roll page as well as the permanent plaque in our office.
Alison Eva Goetzman was nominated by neighbor and D10 Vice Chair Dan Edgerton: “Eva is involved in our neighborhood in so many ways. She heads up the Churchill Gardens team. She provides info via our Facebook neighbors page about all things related to native vegetation, pollinator-friendly landscapes, and invasive species control, including the North American Invasive Species Management Association. She holds an annual plant sale to raise money for the Hallie Q. Brown Food Shelf, and this year raised over $1,800! She organized our National Night Out in the past. And she’s just a great, involved neighbor.” Eva has also been a leader in the Garden renovation project at Crossroads Elementary.
Jessica Willman was nominated by D10 Board Chair Jenne Nelson: “Jessica is a Como neighbor who I have gotten to know because of our shared work on the Como Community Council. Over the years, I have watched her live into her values of offering radical hospitality to everyone in her life and advancing equity in any organization or network she is part of. She is endlessly creative and her energy is infectious. She has transformed the community engagement programming of the Como Community Council, and because of her leadership, hundreds and hundreds of our neighbors have gathered together at the joyful and meaningful events she’s created. I learn from the way she leads, the way she parents, and the way she shows up for her community, and I know I’m not alone in that. If you know her, you love her. If you don’t know her yet, I hope 2024 is the year you get to meet this extraordinary neighbor of ours. Thank you, Jessica, for sharing your light with this community and for everything you do to make Como the special place it is.” Among the myriad initiatives Jessica has coordinated in Como are the South Como Lawns to Legumes project and the annual events of our expanded community engagement plan.
Gordon Wrobel was nominated by D10 Environment Co-Chair and verbose nominator Mike Ireland:
Each year, residents of District 10 can nominate a neighbor who helps make the Como Park area a better place to live, work and play. The Neighborhood Honor Roll is an award to honor people who improve the quality of life in our community.
How does the resident, group, project, business, or organization help make Como great?
I am nominating Gordon Wrobel for the 2023 Como Neighborhood Honor Roll in recognition of his outstanding contributions and unwavering dedication to keeping the Como Park area a better place to live, work and play.Since his first Como Community Council’s Environment Committee meeting on October 24, 2018, Gordy has been an active member and key participant in many of District 10 Como Community Council’s events and initiatives. This has brought an awareness of how impressive Gordon has been as a tireless champion for our neighborhood and an active advocate of our environment. He demonstrated exceptional leadership in support of the council’s vision for our community to be “a vibrant, diverse, affordable neighborhood filled with a spirit of kindness and belonging” as follows:
Lake Como Cleanup
– In the previous five years, Gordon participated in nearly every Como Lake Cleanup led by the Como Community Council. Along with trash typically found around the lake, at these events, he found an assortment of unique items, including the top of a streetlight lamp, a flatscreen TV, discarded construction materials, a guitar case, a large dumping of clothing and other personal items, beer cans and a lot of large metal scraps
– Gordon was an organizer at several of these D10 cleanup events, where he ordered and delivered refreshments, transported tools and supplies to and from the pavilion where the events were held, provided instructions to community members on the cleanup activities, and weighed and properly disposed of the trash that was picked up
– He effectively rallied his neighbors to participate in the council’s cleanups, and they considerably contributed to the events’ total volunteer hours and pounds of trash removed
– Gordon filled in whenever there were unexpected absences with the scheduled cleanup organizersCity Related
– Each year since 2019, Gordon has participated in the annual Citywide Spring Cleanup, including being a leader with the council’s site host duties
– He has consistently volunteered at the City of St. Paul’s annual drop-off events in the State Fairgrounds, hosted by D10, where residents bring an assortment of qualifying items, including cardboard, paper, bikes, metal, and appliances, to be recycled or appropriately thrown out. These categories are items Gordon often found discarded in his cleaning of Como Park
– Gordon reported unsafe pedestrian hazards and when he saw significant accumulations of trash, such as overflowing dumpsters, to Parks and RecreationComo Park Stewards Program
– Gordon organized neighbors to participate in the Como Park Stewards program, where he ensured his community assisted in the upkeep of the parcel of park noted as -East Como Blvd Woods by periodic clearing of accumulated trashMore Ways Como Park area a better place to live, work and play
– He cleaned several storm drain grates in conjunction with the Adopt a Drain program
– Gordon frequently walked through Como Park, picking up trash on his own. On these excursions, he reported to the police when he found drugs and drug paraphernalia, abandoned bikes, bullets and a bunch of other bizarre stuffAll of the above exemplifies Gordon’s enthusiastic and passionate leadership to our community, which has directly and tangibly improved our community and its environment.