Morton Meadows Old-Time Charm & Close-Knit Neighbors T
he buttery smell of popcorn hits the same time a wave of warm air does. Coaches, players, and spectators shuffle down tiled stairs to the semi-subterranean gym. It’s the same oversized subway tile that lines the wall and floors of most schools built earlier in the last century. A few worn bills are exchanged for entrance into the gym. Pony-tailed girls in (often ill-fitted) basketball uniforms shout and shoot hoops, laughing and screeching to their teammates. Volunteers troll the bleachers selling raffle tickets for the “Shoot for the Loot” halftime free throw contest. Younger siblings hover around the makeshift snack bar, like bees to honey, while Aretha Franklin’s “RESPECT” blares over the P.A. system. It’s the annual Holy Cross Girls Basketball Tournament in all its glory—an ongoing tradition steeped in history. Just like its neighborhood. Holy Cross Catholic Church and school, along with Mercy High School, Beals Elementary, and Bethel Lutheran Church, are anchors of the Morton Meadows neighborhood. These strong neighborhood institutions, along with its housing stock, are what drew Amy Haase, her husband, Dan, and their two children to the area. Haase, who serves as the neighborhood association’s president, says that Morton Meadows’ tree-lined streets, >>
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september/october • 2013 H13