Brian Reichow, Chriss Garlick Celebrate Engagement With A NoMi House Party!

Photo of Chriss Garlick from Facebook, blog post and

other photos by John Hoff

All-around-great-guy Brian Reichow, who lives in the Willard Homewood Neighborhood not very far from Homewood Studios, recently announced his engagement to Chriss Garlick and threw a house party to celebrate. Brian's home has been featured on the...

...NoMi home tour, and it's an outstanding example of how comfortable and even luxurious life can be in North Minneapolis. (NoMi) Here are some photos from the party.

Above, key lime pie dip with vanilla wafers was one of many yummy things served. Guests also enjoyed grilled hamburgers and hot dogs.
Chriss Garlick has her own special beverage: mango lemonade. She put out the ingredients for the drink and told everybody how to mix it. It consists of 1/3 mango juice, and 2/3 lemonade. Incredibly, Garlick's signature drink contains no garlic at all!
Fred the block club leader is so green, he has his own permanent name sticker. I asked Fred what were the pressing block club issues in that part of North Minneapolis? Fred told me about some transitional housing which appeared, and ONE neighbor was all upset about it...but then after talking to the folks involved in the housing, she was no longer concerned, and there have been "no problems" due to the transitional housing.

Oh, also there is one vacant and boarded up property which needs to be torn down. The building has a raze order on it, so that will be taken care of in the foreseeable future. Crime wasn't really much of an issue on the block. Gee, looks like being a block club leader on that part of Russell Ave. N. isn't as difficult as some other places in North Minneapolis. (No offense to Fred, who seems like a great guy!) I'd be happy if our whole neighborhood were this way and it's a great goal.
Brian Reichow was a state spelling bee champ, (click here for related JNS blog post) and his trophy occupies a highly visible spot.
Brian still has some signs on display from the NoMi home tour, which give interesting historical tidbits about Brian's house.
A sign hanging on the wall in Brian's den. Brian's computer tech support services are affordable and top-notch.

My son Alex, hanging out near Brian's vintage, fully-functional pinball machine.

What a wonderful and fulfilling life appears to be in store for Brian and his bride-to-be! Johnny Northside Dot Com wishes the couple well.