Northfield Downtown Development Corporation

The Northfield Downtown Development Corporation (NDDC) will present a public forum focusing on supporting and strengthening area tourism on Tuesday, June 3 at 8 a.m. Featuring a panel of experts, including Kathy Feldbrugge of the Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), Hayes Scriven of the Northfield Historical Society, Brad Ness of the Defeat of Jesse James Days (DJJD), and Michelle Weber Egeness of St. Olaf College and CVB board member.

The forum will take place the Riverview Conference Room, lower level of the Archer House, 212 Division Street, in downtown Northfield. This month it will be co-hosted by the Northfield Area Chamber of Commerce.

Feldbrugge will discuss the importance of tourism to the community’s economic health and the CVB’s on-going efforts within the context of her extensive experience and current best practices. Scriven will share details of the Historical Society’s efforts to draw tourists to Northfield, which is vital to the organization’s financial success. Ness will summarize the DJJD’s long history with tourism, including lessons learned. Egeness will highlight the benefits of collaboration between city organizations, essential to providing visitors with the best possible experience while visiting Northfield.

There has been much discussion in recent weeks about Northfield’s efforts in supporting and strengthening tourism and a number of key participants have been invited to attend. The panelists will start the discussion and then field subsequent questions.

The NDDC is a non-partisan, non-profit community organization dedicated to the vitality of downtown Northfield. The event is free and open to the public. As always, coffee and cookies will be served.

For more information, contact Executive Director Ross Currier at (507) 663-0319 or rcurrier@nddc.org.

In case you hadn’t noticed, the 5th & Water Project has begun.

Work started on the 27th, and it will include both Reconstruction and Enhancements. The work is being phased to minimize disruption to businesses. The first phase will be the Water Street Parking area between 5th and Bridge Square and is scheduled to be completed by July 4th. The second phase will be the intersection of 5th and Water Streets and cannot begin before June 16th and should take 3 to 4 weeks. The third phase will be 5th Street from Water Street to Washington Street and will begin when phase two is complete and be substantially finished by September 3rd.

The City will be holding a series of sidewalk tours called “Construction Coffee” during which an update on the project process will be given. The first tour is scheduled for Saturday, June 7, 2008 at 8 AM. Those interested should meet at the corner of Division Street and 5th Street with their favorite cup of coffee.

Any questions or concerns about the project can be directed to Joel Walinski, Public Services Director, or Katy Gehler-Hess, City Engineer, at 507-645-3020.

Bike racks, trash receptacles, street striping…how low can I go on the civic investment “to-do” list?

Don’t ever underestimate me.

Try to imagine my unbridled joy when I saw City of Northfield crews filling potholes in downtown the other morning. Let me help to stimulate your imagination.

Personally, I believe that unaddressed potholes are the harbingers of the decline and fall of civilization as we know it. Seeing these guys fill the potholes renewed my sense of hope in our community’s future.

Thanks again to Joel Walinski and his team at the City of Northfield.

The much-anticipated Annual Northfield High School Honors Art Show offered an opening reception to the community on Saturday night. It was very well attended by art appreciators of all ages.

The show features work by the students in the High School’s Honors Art Class, led by Katherine Norrie. This year’s emerging artists are: Phoebe Currier, Gus DeMann, Gerrit Duys, Marie Fischer, John Frazier, Madi Fritzke, Paloma Garcia, Anders Hanson, Ashley Jahnke, Claire Johnston, Kellen Kirchberg, Jared Korbel, Kristen Mace, Clara Reitz, Ben Smith, Natalie Stangler, Kristen Strobel, Matt Taylor, Siri Thompson, and Ashley Tollefson.

Their work is well worth viewing. The show runs through Saturday, June 14th. For more information, see the Northfield Arts Guild website.

So come on down(town), check out the show, and celebrate some of the artistic vitality of Northfield.

Yeah, there will be a lot of black and gold around town this weekend. It’s St. Olaf’s Celebration Weekend, with both their Reunion Weekend and Commencement (2 pm, Sunday, Manitou Field). But even if you’re not an Ole, you can celebrate.

Friday, there’s the Carleton Symphony Band, 8 pm in the Concert Hall, the St. Olaf Orchestra Concert, 8 pm in Skoglund Auditorium, Kim Bloom, 8 pm at The HideAway, Marty Anderson and the Goods, I’m guessing around 8 pm at the Contented Cow, and After October, some time between supper and last call at the Tavern Lounge.

Saturday, starts off with the Celebration 2008 Alumni Author Event, from 10:30 am to 2:30 pm, at the St. Olaf Bookstore, featuring Lowell Erdahl, David Rostollan, Jean Cross, Angela Dickerson and, Northfield’s own, Thomas “Tom” Swift. There’s also the St. Olaf Orchestra Concert, 3 pm in Skoglund Auditorium, the Annual Eccentric Circus, 3 pm to 12 am in The Cave at Carleton, the Northfield High School Honors Art Reception, 7 to 9 pm at the Northfield Arts Guild Center for the Arts, Woody Boys, 7 pm at Hogan Brothers, St. Olaf Choir Concert, 8 pm in Skoglund Auditorium, Eggmen, probably around 8 pm at The Contented Cow, and Norwegian Cowboy, sometime at the Tavern Lounge.