Responding to the Park Tavern tragedy

Opinion editor’s note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.

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Amid an era of deep divisions and loneliness and isolation so profound it’s been pronounced a health epidemic by the U.S. surgeon general, the Park Tavern has been an antidote. The St. Louis Park bowling alley and bar and grill is a place that’s as likely to host a kid’s birthday party as it is to host an adult’s — a place for families, or where one was made to feel like part of one.

Which makes the “family” tragedy that happened Sunday night all that more painful.

That’s when a vehicle allegedly sped from the parking lot onto an outdoor patio, killing a patron and an employee and injuring at least four others.

On Tuesday, the driver, 56-year-old St. Louis Park resident Steven Frane Bailey, was charged with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide and nine counts of criminal vehicular operation. His blood alcohol content was 0.325% — over four times the legal limit. Court records indicate that Bailey has at least two prior drunken-driving convictions: a 2014 misdemeanor in Waseca County for fourth-degree DWI and a 2015 gross misdemeanor in Hennepin County for third-degree DWI. Bail has been set at $1 million, and Bailey remains jailed.

More focus will soon turn to the consequences he faces. But most profoundly, Sunday’s victims and ultimately all of society face incalculable costs of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Right now, however, it’s important — imperative even — to focus on the victims, and how the community can help.

One of the two killed was Kristina Folkerts, a 34-year-old Park Tavern employee. She was the mother of three young girls and the daughter of a former employee who was pregnant with Kristina when she worked there.

The other, according to an online memorial fund that has been set up, was Gabe Harvey, an employee at Methodist Hospital — another community institution about a mile away from Park Tavern. Four nurses from Methodist were also among the injured.

A statement from Methodist Hospital said that “Our thoughts are with our colleague’s family and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time. … Our focus in the days ahead will be in supporting our colleagues and the loved ones of those affected by this tragedy. The close relationships our colleagues have with each other is part of what makes Methodist a special place. Park Tavern has been a tremendous partner to our hospital for many years and our thoughts are with them as well.”

The solidarity expressed from Methodist for the victims, as well as Park Tavern itself, reflects the role institutions can have in individuals’ lives. And collectively, institutions and individuals make a community, something that’s needed nowadays more than ever.

Solidarity from other entities was abundant too, including from multiple law enforcement agencies as well as Minnesota Nurses Association tri-chairs at Methodist Hospital, who said in a statement that “The entire MNA family mourns the loss of those who were killed, and we are keeping those who were injured in our thoughts. The days and weeks ahead will be difficult, and nurses stick together to get through it. Reach out for support if you need it.”

Sticking together and reaching out is yet another good way to build community. And people should reach out to the efforts to help the victims, including a fund that’s been set up for Folkerts’ three children by Park Tavern. Similar efforts have been initiated for some of the injured victims. People should stick with them as well.

Surveying the outpouring of flowers and support in the wake of the tragedy, Park Tavern owner Phil Weber told the Minnesota Star Tribune that “Nobody can make any sense of this.”

That’s likely to remain the case. But people can make sense of a community. A national bestselling book titled “Bowling Alone,” published in 2000, declared that a local sense of community was steadily evaporating in the United States. People bowled alone more so than in leagues. The instant response to the Park Tavern tragedy demonstrates that here in Minnesota, we continue to bowl together, especially when adversity strikes.