The Largest Brick Ceremony In RCP HistorY

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The rain held off on Thursday, September 19th, as we celebrated the largest cohort of brick purchasers in Rondo Plaza’s history from 3-5 pm.

Following opening remarks from Marvin Roger Anderson, Ms. Geneva Harper Gill welcomed the Golden Women of Rondo to the plaza. The Golden Women include nineteen mothers of the community, 90+ years young. The group was first celebrated in Spring of 2024, for their contributions and dedications to the Rondo community. All Golden Women were honored with a engraved brick at the plaza. Two Golden Women have passed on since the Spring — Patricia Allen and Kazzie Neal —and we held them in our hearts during a moment of silence.

Each participant was invited to the stage to recognize their engraving. We heard stories of those who raised us — Katherine and LaSalle Ransom, Lorraine Harper, James Pillow — and those who we raised — J-Roc Ellis, Devante and Decarlo Jackson, and Olivia Gullickson. More than 20 Rondolites spoke about their bricks, honoring their families, homes, businesses, and loved ones. Afterwards, participants strolled the brick path and received ice cream from Dr. June Parrot.

Inside the Rondo Center, participants were invited to share their stories through in-person interviews conducted by Anna Hover with the help of Sedric McClure. If you have any questions about the interviews or would like to be interviewed about your brick, please contact katie@rcodemn.org.

Thanks to Steve Brunsberg from the Saint Paul Neighborhood Network, this event was livestreamed and is available at the MySPNN YouTube page, or at the Rondo Center of Diverse Expressions YouTube page.

Thank you for sharing your stories, your families, and your memories at the plaza.

A huge thank you to Simmia Nelson for help with AV/Technology, to Dr. June Parrot for passing out ice cream sandwiches and cookies, and to Sedric McClure and Nhoja Thomas for assisting in set-up and take-down.