Girls Night Out 2008 (PDF poster) is coming soon!
Last year’s incredibly popular event is back. In-store specials, drawings for prizes, pampering, appetizers, beverages, tons of fun…
…and, of course, entertainment.
You’ll never believe what guys they convinced to be exotic dancers this year.
May 9th, 5 pm to 1 am, in Downtown Northfield.
It’s a lot more than just some pretty flowers. The members of the Northfield Garden Club made that very clear this morning at the NDDC’s Monthly Forum.
In fact, the America in Bloom (AIB) competition is based on an eight-part plan that includes Floral Displays, Tidiness, Landscaped Areas, Urban Forestry, Heritage, Community, Turf & Groundcovers, and Environmental Effort. Pictured here with the soon-to-be-named NDDC Cow are Pat Allen, Judy Code and Jerry Nord. Let there be no doubt, this group will do whatever is necessary to succeed.
The first step is celebrating your community’s assets. Again and again, the presenters made clear that their initial efforts are focused on creating a positive culture within our community. Personally, I think some of Northfield’s leaders could benefit from listening to these Garden Club Ladies.
The many participants in this national program over the years believe that the effort has produced economic development, reduced vandalism, and resulted in a better overall quality of life. In the short term, they promise visible results and over the longer term the national attention generated often wins new resources for the communities that participate.
The group is starting with the section of the Riverfront between 2nd and 4th Streets and expanding outward from there to the furthest edges of the community. In addition to plantings, they have already listed cleaning up the river’s edge, responding to the graffiti, expediting curb repair, getting the next few benches installed, and painting the railings as priority projects. As an exciting visual addition to Northfield, the group is planning to install flower boxes on the pedestrian bridge, uniting the east and west sides of the river.
The Garden Club’s efforts in the America in Bloom competition are all about collaboration. They have met with Downtown Retailers, The Key, The Railroad, The City, the Cannon River Watershed Partnership, the Senior Center and both Colleges. All of these organizations are finding connections between their missions and some part of the AIB efforts.
There is still plenty of time to join the effort before the judges arrive at the end of July. Contact the group at northfieldinbloom@yahoo.com
The third in a series of Open Houses to share information and gather input on the 5th Street and Water Street Projects is tomorrow, Tuesday, February 26th, from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm in Council Chambers at City Hall.
The final layout, including drawings, will be presented for review and comment by citizens. For more information, see the City’s website through this link to the projects. The City Council will hold a Public Hearing on the proposed $1,967,000 project at their March 3rd meeting.
The City will also be requesting individual meetings with property owners along the project to go over the project impacts and document existing conditions. There will be an opportunity to sign up for a meeting time at the open house.
For questions contact City Staff members Joel Walinski at 645-3009 or Katy Gehler-Hess at 645-3006.
In a recent exchange, Jerry Bilek, owner of Monkey See, Monkey Read, accused me of being a wimp. As a guy who generally doesn’t lightly pass on a challenge, I had to follow up.
I had admitted that although I try to commute to work by bicycle at least four days a week during the Spring, Summer, and Autumn, I take the car during the winter. Unless it’s ten below or colder, I run outside all Winter, so it’s not the “eager and nipping” winds that keep me off my bike, it’s the slippery surfaces. Jerry commutes by bike year round. He told me that the secret to success is in the tires.
Here is a photo of Jerry arriving at work this morning, as well as a close-up photo of the tires, the Nokia Snow and Ice 160s…or something like that… They are made in Finland, where they’ve got even more snow and ice than Minnesota.
I appreciate the fact that Jerry is so determined to keep riding his bicycle, even during the winter months. It’s really great that he’s leaving one more downtown parking space available for a shopper or a diner. However, even if I had the special tires on my bicycle, I’ll admit I’d still be a little hesitant about riding on ice and snow.
Hey, Spring is just around the corner…
…right?
The NDDC’s E R Team (or Expansion and Redevelopment Committee) met with State Representative David Bly this morning. The topic was legislative strategies for addressing the issue of ever-rising commercial property taxes in the downtown district.
The meeting was held at our usual location, the Rueb-N-Stein. Pictured here are NDDC Secretary Keith Covey, EDA Member Victor Summa, State Representative David Bly, and NDDC Vice President Joe Grundhoefer.
We discussed the economic challenges faced by our downtown district and the threats they pose to the overall quality of life in Northfield. Representative Bly said that we are not alone; it is a problem in many other communities in Greater Minnesota. He believes that there will be support for our efforts at the state level. He offered to set up a meeting for us with some key leaders in St. Paul.
There was some fairly detailed consideration of the pros and cons of previous approaches such as This Old House, Green Acres, and Limited Market Value. Bly is currently having a legislative researcher conduct analysis of the possibilities. We want to craft our strategy to increase the likelihood of success.
It was a bit of much appreciated momentum at a critical point for us. We’re going to reconnect on the issue next week.
