Northfield Downtown Development Corporation

You may have heard or read about the joint initiative by the NDDC and the Northfield Area Chamber of Commerce to replace the holiday decorations in downtown Northfield. The goal is to raise $20,000 by the beginning of summer in order to install new decorations for the 2009 holiday season. We’re pleased to report that $6,000 of this amount has been contributed to date!

The Creative Professionals Committee of the Chamber is supporting this cause with a benefit live auction on April 3 from 6:30 – 9 p.m. at the Grand Event Center called “Jailhouse Rock.” The auction begins at 7:30. Winning bidders will accomplish three things during this event: they’ll spring a prominent citizen from “jail”, they’ll receive an incredible outing or entertainment from that same citizen and they’ll provide funding for the holiday decorations project.

Here’s a listing of the event’s “jailbirds” and their generous donations to the auction:

Tim Viere: Lunch and 18 holes of Golf for Three at Bear Path Country Club
Jon Snodgrass: Dinner at Azia Restaurant & Caterpillar Lounge for two
Jeff Johnson: Live on air 30 minute interview and a week of live mentions
Brett Reese: Dinner & Cocktails at Tavern & Evening at Archer House for Two
David Ludescher – Pre-show apps & wine & 8 tickets to Northfield Arts Guild
Joe Grundhoefer – 2 Hour Private Party at Rueb’N'Stein’s JJ Room for Eight
Jeff Hasse and Mark Mohlke – Summer Fun on Lake Pepin for Six
Ryan Heinritz, Evening of Wine and Live Jazz Music for Six
Matt & Charlie Sewich – Round of golf & Dinner at Northfield Golf Club for Two
Chuck Pryor – Private 5 course meal with wine parings for Eight at the Grand.
Christopher Sawyer – 2 Minute Shopping Spree at College City Beverage
Mystery Jail Bird – Zihuatanejo, Mexico trip for two.

So come on down(town) to the Grand and Rock the Jailhouse for Holiday Decorations with the Chamber and the NDDC!

NDDC board members and staff traveled to St. Paul to give testimony on the commercial property tax issue in downtown Northfield yesterday. The opportunity was created by Representative David Bly.

The message was clear: since 2000, commercial property taxes have increased by double-digit percentages every year. Most building owners have seen their taxes increase by over 200 percent in the past seven years.

During this same period of time, rental rates have remained flat or, in many cases, have even declined. As a result, each year there are fewer dollars available for basic maintenance, much less money for building improvements.

Representative Bly introduced H. F. No. 2129 at the Property and Local Sales Tax Committee yesterday. It was successfully and unanimously moved to the Tax Division for further consideration.

Senator Kevin Dahle will be introducing the senate version of the bill, S. F. 1912 on Wednesday. The NDDC will be at the legislature again, supporting this effort.

We thank Representative Bly and Senator Dahle for moving forward on this important issue for downtown Northfield.

Tonight, Thursday, March 26th, there’s an Opening Reception for Stephanie Molstre-Kotz (as well as some of Jim Hass’ “Nicer Pots” in the Other Room), 7 to 9 p.m., Northfield Arts Guild, 304 Division Street, Karaoke, 9 p.m., Froggy Bottoms River Pub, 305 South Water Street, and Mark Mraz at the Tavern Lounge, riverside of the historic Archer House River Inn, 212 Division Street.

Friday, March 27th, it’s New Moon Trio, 5:30 p.m., The Contented Cow, 302B Division Street, Leaves of Grass Open Mic, 7:30 p.m., Tiny’s Dogs All Day, 321 Division Street, Karaoke, 9 p.m., Rueb-N-Stein, 503 Division Street, and Ian Alexy, Tavern Lounge, riverside of the Archer House.

Saturday, March 28th, there’s a Marilyn Sellars Concert, 3 p.m., Northfield Ballroom, 1055 Highway 3 North, KVARTS Concert, 8 to 11 p.m., The Contented Cow, Karaoke, 9 p.m., Fieldhouse, 620 South Water Street, DJ Music, 9 p.m., The Rueb-N-Stein, and Bonnie and the Clydes, at the Tavern Lounge.

Then Sunday, March 29th, it’s Valerie Smith and Liberty Pike, 3 p.m., First UCC Church, 300 Union Street, a Folk Music Instrument Workshop and Allspel with KVARTS, 5 p.m., The Contented Cow, and then Politics and a Pint, Northern Roots Session, and Quiz Night, 6 p.m., 7:30 p.m., and 8 p.m., all at The Contented Cow.

Oh, let’s keep the weekend going one more day…Monday, March 30th, it’s Poker, 7 p.m., Froggy Bottoms, and KVARTS Concert and Dance, 7 p.m., Eagles Club, 304 South Water Street.

One of my co-hosts of the Locally Grown Radio Show, Tracy Davis, gave me a hand-out yesterday on the 3/50 Project. The effort is kind of nicknamed “save the economy three stores at a time”.

The project encourages you to think about which three independently owned businesses you’d miss most if they were gone. Then stop in, say hello, and pick up a little something to make someone else smile, spending at least $50 each month in the independently owned business in our community.

The project reminds us that for every $100 we spend in an independently owned store, $68 is reinvested in the community, compared to only $43 in a national chain. So, your $50 per month reinvests $17 in Northfield, and helps to support our local economy.

Local artist and entrepreneur Nick Sinclair sent me an e-mail last week sharing the good news that there’s going to be a local Gallery Crawl coming up soon. Then yesterday he sent another e-mail letting me know that he’s got a “draft” website up to promote art happenings in Northfield.

The Gallery Crawl is scheduled for Friday, April 3rd from 6 to 9 p.m. Participating venues include the Northfield Arts Guild, swag, Bare Foot Studios, Right Brain Ventures, Grezzo Gallery, ArtOnWater, and Sketchy Artist.

The website, eventually to be christened “NorthfieldArts.com”, is devoted to sharing information about Northfield’s art scene. By next month the site will have local art events, highlights on local artists and galleries, and links to all ten galleries in town.

It’s really exciting to have the artists pulling together a Gallery Crawl. It should be a lot of fun, so mark your calendar now for next Friday’s big event.