Northfield Downtown Development Corporation

As you may have noticed in previous years, the 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays. I marvel at the historic coming together of such imperfect yet incredible characters to fight corrupt incompetence in government, work against unjust taxes in town, and experiment with a new and hopefully better way of doing things. I admire their vision, determination, creativity, and endurance and wonder where can such a group be found now.

Here’s a group of volunteers from the Northfield Historical Society, under the direction of tent raising expert Lee Lansing, getting ready for tomorrow’s activities. There’s much going on downtown, Friday, July 4th, including a Flea Market in Ames Park at 9 am, a Yankee Doodle Kiddie Parade along Division Street at 1 pm, a Presentation of the Colors at 7:30 pm and, thanks to Dan Freeman and a group of the community members, Fireworks at Dusk. From 1:30 to 9:30 pm, or most of the day, there will be all sorts of entertaining performances on the Showmobile in Bridge Square, featuring a group of talented artists such as the Northfield Dance Academy and Folkloric Dancers, the To Be Announced Band, Marty Anderson and the Goods, Down Lo and Madelyn Hartke and The Patchwork Orchestra. Waking Avalon is at the Contented Cow.

On Saturday, fresh off their triumph at the First Annual JuneBug Music Festival, the Last Known Whereabouts are at the Contented Cow. The group features Jake Stroup on mandolin and vocals, Aaron Hagenson on guitar and vocals, Aaron Cross on fiddle, and Carl Haskins on bass. They’re high energy fun so check them out.

On Sunday, relive those political discussions at the Green Dragon Tavern that contributed to our nation’s independence. It’s Policy and a Pint at the Contented Cow, 6 pm.

The Third Annual Taste of Northfield has been officially declared a success. That was the consensus of the Taste Committee at their annual debriefing lunch today at Chapati.

It appeared to most everyone last night that it was a successful event. The weather was perfect, the people were out and about, the food was, as usual, delicious, the Community Band was in perfect harmony with the on-going activities, the auctions were quite a pleasant diversion, the beer tent on the bridge overlooking the falls was a special treat, and the folk dancing in the street was just phenomenal.

Based on food ticket sales, and the expert crowd estimating talents of former Historical Society President and current NDDC President Mary Rossing, we think there were about 4,500 people who participated in the event, almost double of last year’s attendance. It sure seemed like they were all having a good time.

We’d like to thank our sponsors: (Cornerstone Sponsors) First National Bank, the Northfield News, Northfield Automation Systems, Upper Lakes Foods, (Corporate Sponsors) Carleton College, College City Beverage, KYMN Radio, Malt-O-Meal, (Business Boosters) Community Resource Bank, Contented Cow and Chapati, Taylor Trucking, J. Grundy’s Rube-N-Stein, Premier Bank, and Rick Pavek Construction for their underwriting of this delightful and growing event. Without your initial support, we wouldn’t have been able to gather together the vendors, the volunteers, and the attendees, who all united last night to make the Third Annual Taste of Northfield a success.

For a photo gallery of the event, see Griff Wigley’s post on Locally Grown.

The Third Annual Taste of Northfield is rapidly approaching. Next Thursday, June 19th, from 5 to 11 pm, it’ll all be happening right in the center of Downtown, the heart of our community, on Bridge Square.

Hopefully, you’ve been hearing some of the buzz about it. Our local media outlets, the Northfield News and KYMN Radio, have been supporting the event with their generous access to their audiences.

Last Friday, some of the “Taste Team” appeared on Paula Granquist’s “Art Zany” Show. Some of us consider food to be an art form, but at the very least, I’m sure we were quite zany on the broadcast.

There are more vendors than ever this year, including J GRUNDY’S RUEB-N-STEIN, CHAPATI, THE CONTENTED COW, TINY’S DOGS ALL DAY, PERKIN’S RESTAURANT, THE QUARTERBACK CLUB, THE NORTHFIELD GOLF CLUB, THE HIDEAWAY, JAMES GANG COFFEEHOUSE, FROGGY BOTTOMS, JUST FOODS, SWEET LOU’S WAFFLE BAR, SWEET PEAS LOFT, THE FIELDHOUSE, THE OLE CAFÉ, ERBERTS AND GERBERTS, and DOMINO’S PIZZA.

If you want to get right into the tasting, you can purchase food tickets ahead of time. They are available at J. Grundy’s Rueb-N-Stein, Present Perfect, and the Contented Cow.

So come on down(town), and enjoy all the food and fun, next Thursday, from 5 to 11 pm.

The City of Northfield installed the first Way-Finding Signage yesterday. I’m hardly an unbiased opinion but I think that it looks great. I’m just so pleased to see it.

It’s the first of what is supposed to be a number of way-finding signs installed in and just out of downtown. Last year, a test model was erected temporarily but this one is intended to provide years of service.

The signs provide directions to the major sites and attractions in Northfield as well as the location of the public restrooms. The overall plan (developed by City staff and Neuger Communications Group, through a number of public input gathering sessions over the past year or so) is to help visitors move into and around Northfield.

It’s really exciting, now that the snow is gone, to see some of the many projects begin. I think that projects of this more modest scale can really add up to make a big difference in our community.

Members of the NDDC stopped in the studios of KYMN Radio this morning, in Downtown Northfield, to celebrate Wayne Eddy and his many contributions to the community.

The occasion was Wayne’s 500th radio show, The Wayne Eddy Affair, since his return to the airwaves of KYMN two years ago.

NDDC President Mary Rossing brought flowers, Jim and Joan Spaulding, from The Hideaway, brought a cake and coffee, NDDC Secretary Keith Covey brought an NDDC coffee cup, and the rest of us brought high spirits and deep appreciation.

It’s people like Wayne that help make Northfield a great town and businesses like KYMN that make Downtown a great place.