{"id":3361,"date":"2018-01-08T19:48:00","date_gmt":"2018-01-08T19:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/?p=3361"},"modified":"2025-05-08T19:51:05","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T19:51:05","slug":"st-paul-entrepreneur-dies-at-79-arnellia-allen-a-loving-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/2018\/01\/08\/st-paul-entrepreneur-dies-at-79-arnellia-allen-a-loving-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Paul entrepreneur dies at 79: Arnellia Allen: A loving heart"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>By Harry Colbert, Jr.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Managing Editor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>@HarryColbertJr \u2013<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Twin Cities entertainment community continues to mourn the loss of business and entertainment pioneer, Arnellia Allen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.insightnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Arnellias-sign.jpg\"><\/a>Allen, 79, passed away Dec. 21 following her battle with cancer. She was memorized this past Wednesday (Feb. 3).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Allen made history in 1992 becoming the first African-American woman to obtain a liquor license in the state when she opened the now famed Arnellia\u2019s on University Avenue in St. Paul. For years Arnellia\u2019s was the \u201cgo to\u201d spot for live entertainment, hosting countless national acts and serving as the resident home for numerous singers and bands. For many years Allen was the only African-American in the state to hold a liquor license.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kathleen Johnson, a longtime performer at Arnellia\u2019s, and friend of Allen, said Allen had a heart of gold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHer spirit was so beautiful,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cShe was the mother to all the musicians. She really cared about the musicians and singers. She gave so many people an opportunity when no one else would. She believed in people. Arnellia\u2019s was the place to go to get some peace in this town.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When Allen\u2019s long-time cook left, Johnson, who now has a successful food truck and catering business, stepped in to run the kitchen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt was like an internship. She taught me so much about business,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cShe went above and beyond the call, both as a person and as a business owner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tyrone Terrill, president of the African American Leadership Council, echoed Johnson\u2019s sentiment that Allen had a heart of gold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cShe had the biggest heart; she did so much for her employees beyond just a paycheck,\u201d said Terrill, who was a regular patron of the club. \u201cShe had the heart of a giant. She loved our people. We lost a great one. If there was a Hall of Fame for bar owners, she\u2019d be in it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Harry Colbert, Jr. Managing Editor @HarryColbertJr \u2013 The Twin Cities entertainment community continues to mourn the loss of business and entertainment pioneer, Arnellia Allen. Allen, 79, passed away Dec. 21 following her battle with cancer. She was memorized this past Wednesday (Feb. 3). Allen made history in 1992 becoming the first African-American woman to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2284,2283,32],"class_list":["post-3361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-african-american-woman","tag-arnellia-allen","tag-twin-cities","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3361"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3362,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3361\/revisions\/3362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}