Northfield Downtown Development Corporation

…and the stuffings, and the rolls, and the two slices of pie, and get out for some local entertainment, today, tomorrow and Sunday.

Tonight, Friday, November 28th, It’s a Wonderful Life, 7:30 p.m., Arts Guild Theater, 411 West Third Street, Karaoke, 9 p.m., J. Grundy’s Rueb-N-Stein, 503 Division Street, and New Moon Trio (Ross Currier, Lance Heisler and Justin London), 9 p.m., The Contented Cow, 302B Division Street.

Tomorrow, Saturday, November 29th, It’s a Wonderful Life, 7:30 p.m., Arts Guild Theater, local song-writing and singing sensation Meredith Fierke, 8 p.m., The Contented Cow, and The Jealous Husbands, The Tavern Lounge, riverside of The Archer House, 212 Division Street.

Then Sunday, November 30th, It’s a Wonderful Life, 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Arts Guild Theater, Quiz Night, 4 p.m., The Contented Cow, Politics and a Pint, 6 p.m., The Contented Cow, Northern Roots Session, 7:30 p.m., The Contented Cow, and I Cantanti and Le Donne Cantanti, 7:30 p.m., Carleton Concert Hall on the Carleton College campus.

Ann Mosey, the new Northfield Arts Guild Executive Director, will be our guest at this month’s Downtown Forum.

The event is scheduled for Tuesday, December 2nd at 8 a.m. in the Riverview Conference Room, located in the lower level of the Archer House, 212 Division Street, in downtown Northfield. Downtown stakeholders and members of the arts community are encouraged to attend this opportunity to dialogue on downtown and the arts.

Ann was most recently Executive Director of the Arts Alliance of Portage County in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Her service there included an Economic Impact Study of the arts, the development of a Public Arts Master Plan, and coordination of collaborations in tourism marketing.

She brings other valuable experiences to our community. She co-produced the Central Wisconsin Annual Independent Film Festival, was Operations Manager for the Central Wisconsin Children’s Museum, and taught dance at the University of Wisconsin, Arizona State University, and Ohio State University.

So come on down(town) and meet Ann Mosey next Tuesday and talk about our opportunities and challenges for the arts and Northfield.

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.

This weekend is book-ended by Jazz. Northfield’s cool cats will be diggin’ it.

Friday, November 21st, starts with Occasional Jazz, 5 to 7 p.m., followed by the Bridgewater Ramblers, 8 p.m., both at The Contented Cow, 302B Division Street, Josef Hines, 7 to 9:00 p.m., at Hogan Brothers, 415 Division Street, Spring Awakening, 7:30 p.m., at Kesley Theater on the St. Olaf College campus, Sing for Joy Hymn Festival, 8 p.m., in Boe Chapel on the St. Olaf College campus, a Jazz Concert, 8:15 p.m., The Pause in Buntrock on the St. Olaf College campus, The Norwegian Cowboy will be at the Tavern Lounge, riverside of The Archer House, 212 Division Street, and the Wizard of Oz at the Northfield Middle School.

Saturday, November 22nd, the Northfield Raiders take on Mankato West for the State AAAA Football Championship, 3 p.m., at the Dome, then it’s Spring Awakening, 7:30, Kesley Theater on the St. Olaf College campus, the Wizard of Oz at the Northfield Middle School, the Roger Anderson Trio, at The Contented Cow, and Relativity at the Tavern Lounge.

Sunday, November 23rd, there’s a Jazz Concert, 4 p.m., The Pause on the St. Olaf College campus, Quiz Night, 4 p.m., Politics and a Pint, 6 p.m., Northern Roots Session, 7:30, and the St. Olaf Philharmonia, 7:30 p.m., Skoglund Center on the St. Olaf College campus.

This past Saturday morning, a group of folks involved with economic development in our community gathered together to discuss the topic. Their specific focus was on in-fill and redevelopment opportunities, those vacant or underutilized properties within the Northfield city limits.

Those attending included (from the NDDC) Keith Covey, Ross Currier, Joe Grundhoefer and Kiffi Summa, (from the EDA) Jody Gunderson and Victor Summa (Marty Benson and Jim Pokorney were invited but did not attend), (from the Chamber of Commerce Kathy Feldbrugge and Moe Jeskey, and (from the Planning Commission) Jim Herreid and Alice Thomas. Mayor-Elect Mary Rossing also attended. The discussion was facilitated by local consultant Pat Allen.

Although considerable work had been done to set up the gathering (the idea came out of the NDDC’s E R Team), the mood was informal. Coffee and doughnuts were served and their was much friendly banter. The goal was to match potential users with available spaces. The group worked to identify challenges and opportunities, generate action plans, and determine roles and opportunities. We also discussed our next steps.

Everyone was impressed at how quickly the ideas flowed and how much agreement there was between the potential partners. As Mayor-Elect Mary Rossing said, “We all agree; so let’s get going”.

In a Monday Star Tribune article, “Buy local for the holidays, a group urges“, Minnesota 2020, a St. Paul-based think tank, advocates that shopping locally will strengthen our economy. Their just-released report — “Made in MN 2008: Boosting Minnesota’s Economy in Tough Economic Times” — states that “if Minnesotans spent one-fourth of their holiday budgets on items made in Minnesota, more than $2 billion would trickle into the state’s economy”.

The report repeats statistics long familiar to shop local advocates. In particular, they remind us that each $1 spent with a local, independent business keeps 68 cents circulating in the community, while only 43 cents spent at a national chain stays behind to boost the local economy.

There are other benefits to shopping locally, according to the report. Buying Minnesota products reduces transportation and packaging costs, creates jobs, generates more tax revenues, and typically offers higher quality. Finally, clothing products are likely to be more appropriate for our environmental characteristics.

The report also includes a gift guide for shopping locally. It concludes, “When possible, let’s all look to how we can get the most bang for the buck this holiday shopping season”.