Judicial cookout for the homeless renamed for late founder Jim Randall
Would Watts, who has lived at Catholic Charities' downtown Dorothy Day Place since September, like to meet a true-to-life judge? Indeed he would, he said enthusiastically, before being introduced to Natalie Hudson, chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, who had just wrapped a shift serving burgers.
'I'm a church-going man,' explained Watts, 67, recounting some of his ups and downs and an apartment lease he soon planned to sign, as Hudson nodded in encouragement. 'God brought me here for a reason. I'm trying to set up a Bible study.'
The outdoor event — organized by judges for more than two decades — drew just under 600 guests, many of them homeless patrons of Higher Ground, the Dorothy Day Residence and the St. Paul Opportunity Center, which form an integrated campus for the city's most vulnerable just off West Seventh Street.
The cookout also drew a record number of volunteers, including upwards of 60 judges and staffers, and a new name. Volunteers wore orange, tie-dye-style shirts recognizing the 'Judge Jim Randall Annual Picnic at Dorothy Day Place,' named after the former appellate judge who founded the luncheon with a handful of likeminded friends 22 years ago.
Randall died in August, but sunny skies and temperate climes for the cookout added to an upbeat atmosphere, punctuated by live music from the Rhythm Pups, who have played the annual gathering since its founding.
'One of the comments I heard was this (weather) is Judge Randall smiling down on us,' said Court of Appeals Judge Diane Bratvold, who became the judicial system's lead cookout organizer after inheriting the task from Judge Jill Halbrooks, its longtime chair.
'This was one of his favorite things to do, and it was one of the most important things he thought for the courts to do. … This gets us out there,' Bratvold added. 'We're missing Judge Randall this year, and it's obviously sweet and sad in many ways.'
Among the other attendees were Supreme Court Justices Theodora Karin Gaïtas, Gordon Moore III and Karl Procaccini, as well as Judge Jennifer Frisch, chief judge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals, and at least nine other appellate judges, as well as their law clerks, court administrators, family and staff.
'It's became one of the highlights of the year for both courts,' said Hudson, who has been volunteering at the annual Memorial Day cookout for about a decade.
'It really is about serving our community, giving back to the community, but it's also it's a way of humanizing the courts,' she added. 'For so many people, their only interaction with the judges, in particular, is often a negative one. This is an opportunity to break bread with our community … and also show we're human beings.'
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