Changing Gears in Northfield

I got this email yesterday from Joe Pahr, Advisor and Social Studies Specialist at ARTech:

Today I met Andy Davis of Changing Gears.  He and his fiancee, Melissa, had stopped at Blue Monday on their way from Bloomington, Indiana to San Francisco by bicycle.  Along the way they are filming a documentary about communities and organizations that are working towards sustainable living practices.  We had quite a discussion about what is happening in Northfield…

Tomorrow, Wednesday, I am meeting them at ARTech to do an interview about the school’s solar project.  At least one of the students involved in the project will be there.  You are welcome to join us.  Andy and Melissa will be in town at least until tomorrow afternoon.  Also, I pointed out Griff’s table at Blue Monday and told them to introduce themselves. On a related note, this morning I met Anders Forselius who is cycling around the world from his native Sweden.  His website is  He hopes to be in Beijing for the Summer Olympics. All roads truly lead to Northfield.

Andy Davis and Melissa of Changing Gears

Andy and Melissa did stop by my corner office at GBM this morning. We chatted about Northfield’s civic blogosphere and citizen engagement… and our mutual history with Utne Salons.

I’m hoping they stick around till this afternoon to catch our podcast recording session and maybe a beer at the Cow afterwards.

They blogged the first day of their visit to Northfield. I expect they’ll have another post in a day or two.’

11:30am update: Andy and Melissa stayed in Bruce Anderson’s backyard last night. Bruce blogged them.

3 Comments

  1. Griff Wigley said:

    Andy and Melissa stayed in Bruce Anderson’s backyard last night. Bruce blogged them… and as usual, more in-depth than me!

    July 2, 2008
  2. Joe Pahr said:

    I’m really happy that I was able to put Andy and Melissa in contact with so many great people. They told me that they immediately felt a positive vibe when they rolled into Northfield yesterday. Today Simon Tyler, Kaya Lovestrand, and I spent two wonderful hours talking with Melissa while Andy filmed the proceedings. Looking at ARTech through their eyes provided us with an invaluable opportunity to gauge the impact of our program. I think that we are doing darn well. I’m looking forward to seeing the video when Andy gets a chance to post it.

    July 2, 2008

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