Peter Teachout, Who Fought "The Battle Of Hawthorne EcoVillage" And Founded "Shoe Patrol" Volunteer Unit In North Minneapolis, Promoted To Captain In Afghanistan...

Facebook photo used under First Amendment Fair
Comment and Criticism, blog post by John Hoff

Word comes via Facebook that Peter Teachout, currently serving in Afghanistan, has been promoted from lieutenant to captain. Teachout is pictured on the left in a recent photo, above. 

Before joining the military, Teachout was at the epicenter of a battle to transform the Hawthorne EcoVillage from the most crime-ridden four square blocks in North Minneapolis to...

Shoefiti Makes Fuel For A Wood Burning Stove...

Photo and blog post by John Hoff

Some weeks ago I was driving around with Hawthorne Neighborhood Housing Director Jeff Skrenes (the Hawthorne Hawkman) in his car and Jeff had a pair of tied-together shoes kicking around on the floor, which I recognized as the "ground score" shoefiti shoes he picked up while digging into the facts about slumlord Paul Bertelson, click here for Jeff's blog post and look for the picture of the snowy shoes.

So I was all, like, hey, what are you going to do with the shoes? And Jeff was all, like, nothing...you can have them.

So, as is my habit with shoes I obtain from power lines or, in this case, shoes that didn't make it up to the power line or possibly fell off, I tossed the shoes in my car and, when I got around to visiting my prolific and well-armed country mouse relatives way out in the sticks, I brought the shoes with me to see if they might be of any use to the many, many little Hofflings who occupy that part of Minnesota...

Turns out the shoes were moldy and worn out, but the laces were still good. So the laces were saved because we are, honestly, THAT frugal. The shoes themselves went into one of the wood burning stoves which Hoffs greatly prefer as heating systems, but you can't always do exactly what you want in the big city. I hope that shoe sole was made of RUBBER and not some plastic compound, because dioxins are the devil and are created every time you burn plastic.

Here sits one of the shoes on the wood pile, moments before it met its fate, just like its twin.

Shoes are not going to stay on power lines very long in North Minneapolis, not with decent citizens staying on top of this issue and taking action on their own initiative.

Congratulations to Peter Teachout - U.S. Army Officer Candidate

Photo by Me

Word comes via Facebook that award winning north Minneapolis good citizen Peter Teachout has graduated from U.S. Army Basic Training Boot Camp and is headed on to Officer Candidate School (OCS).


I know Johnny Northside himself would want to shout "Congratulations!" and "Thank you for your service" to Peter and his family, but it will have to be a message delivered through me, for now.


JNS regulars should be well familiar with Peter and the whole Teachout family. Their trials and victories have been well documented here, most notably a flaming truck, a new baby, an army swearing in ceremony and a tear-jerking city council ceremony with an official "thank you" and "good luck" from several city council members and the Mayor.


Before Peter shipped off to boot camp neighbors bid him farewell at a cook-out send off, where the night was capped with one last Shoe Patrol*, removing dangling shoes from overhead power lines.  The photo above displays the evening's catch with Peter on the left, an honorary northsider, Johnny Northside himself, Peter's son Peter in the red and John's son Alex on the right. (*Note, one last show patrol doesn't mean they will never venture out on that mission, but the handy dandy white truck that was so useful was traded in for a minivan for the army family)

And this blog post dedicated to the Teachouts wouldn't be complete without some love to Joyanne, Peter's wife, who is holding down the family of four children back home in NoMi, enduring the separation and taking on the role of Army soldier's wife. Joy, thank you for the sacrifices you and your family are making. You are loved.

Peter, good luck in OCS, we are thinking of you and your family. We know the separation is hard and boot camp is no picnic - but THANK YOU!  You'll make a fine Army Officer.
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