The rains have stopped, the skies have cleared, and the temps this weekend will be in the 70s. It’ll be a good weekend for some Bocce on the Contented Cow’s new lawn.
Plus, there are two more Division St. eating/dining establishments opening this year.
I blogged last November that “Northfield’s sidewalk dining ordinance has been in effect since early 2008 but only one establishment has taken advantage of the alcohol clause: the HideAway Coffeehouse and Winebar. Five others have not. It might be helpful to find out why.”
I spoke with Community Resource Bank CEO Don Kuehnast on Thursday who confirmed that they’re intending to move their downtown branch to the Phoenix Building at 7th and Division. A public notice appearing in today’s Northfield News says:
Notice is hereby given that Community Resource Bank, Northfield, Minnesota has notified the Minnesota Department of Commerce of its intent to relocate the detached facility/branch, a distance of approximately .5 miles within Northfield from 25 Bridge Square to 618 Division Street, Northfield, Rice County, Minnesota 55057.
Kuehnast said the ‘intent’ language is required by Federal regulators and he was careful to use it with me in my phone call with him.
Reporter David Henke reports in today’s Nfld News:
Last year, the bank filed a permit with the city indicating that it would move its downtown branch to the Phoenix Building, the former site of Lansing Hardware. But the bank chose not to move after its lease at Bridge Square was extended by First National Bank, which owns the property.
Kuehnast would not comment on whether the bank is still considering a move to the front portion of the Phoenix Building.
[show_avatar email=ray@northfieldconstruction.net]As spring weather arrives it is a great time to be thinking about projects that enhance your home. One of the most significant improvements in Minnesota is a screen porch. A screen porch provides a wonderful are to get away from the bugs of summer and fall…remember those pesky Asian beetles that descend upon us? A well-designed screen porch can essentially be an expansion of your home for half of the year. It can provide a great place to enjoy breakfast, lunch or dinner. It can be a very enjoyable place to play games with family and friends.
Porches generally can have all sorts of wall and roof construction. This photo shows a porch we recently completed that incorporates an arch top window and a vaulted interior ceiling. Railings keep pets from pushing against the screening.
Some people opt to go one step further than a screen porch and create a fully enclosed porch. By using plenty of operating windows a room like this can feel like a screen porch during the warm weather months. But with a small amount of heat from an electric heater it can be a warm room to entertain friends during our winter holidays.
This client elected to use Marvin double hung windows which give excellent ventilation control. They incorporated an arch top window which matches other windows in the ho me. To create a warm feeling in the room they had us finish the inside, including the ceiling, with cedar boards.
Projects like these move along very quickly. Construction is typically not complex and there is very little damage to yards.
The Northfield Anytime Fitness health club, currently in Heritage Square on S. Hwy 3, is moving to the middle portion of the Phoenix Building at Division St and 7th next month. I spoke with Phoenix Building co-owner Randy Lutz of Construction Consulting Partners earlier today.
After a few twists and turns, it happened yesterday. Barbara wrote at the end of a blog post:
Today, February 1, 2010, is the day the beautiful hardcover edition published by Hay House is released in the US. The book is sold in India and will be available in the UK in March, as will the German translation.
This sandwich board in the front of the Goodbye Blue Monday caught my eye, not only because it’s clever (“Look for us on Facebook & Twitter – but you won’t find us”) but because I’ve been trying to get smarter about how Twitter and Facebook can complement a blog.
As the map below shows, the trail would loop around Heath Creek south of Old Dutch Road and north of Armstrong Road, adjacent to the Gill-Prawer property that’s currently in annexation negotiations for the development of the West Armstrong Business Park:
I took this photo last week of Joan Spaulding, co-owner of the HideAway Coffehouse and Wine Bar, holding up two new menus: in her right hand is the print version of their 2009 menu, now available in PDF form. She’s blogged about it here. In her left hand is the September menu for the "Prairie Creek Cafe," the lunch service they now provide for Prairie Creek Community School. It reads:
A tasty, nutritious lunch is being served every school day – cooked fresh by our chefs at the HideAway in downtown Northfield and served by parent volunteers!"
Norman Butler, owner of the downtown Northfield eating and drinking establishments, the Contented Cow and Chapati, is taking over the FieldHouse Sports Bar & Grill in the River Park Mall. The restaurant will be named Butler’s Steak & Ale but will remain The FieldHouse for another month while he changes the menu and applies for a new liquor license under the new name. Temporary hours will be Wednesdays through Saturdays, 5pm to midnight and Sunday brunch, 9am to 3 pm.
Update 9/3: The FieldHouse reopens Friday, Sept. 4 at 5pm. Here are some pre-opening photos.
The New Moon Trio performed on the Contented Cow‘s outdoor stage last Friday, minus their drummer Lance Heisler. Athena Currier more than made up for his absence by joining papa Ross Currier and Justin London for a set.
This is a four day, nearly 300 mile bike ride that will start with an Opening Ceremony at 6:30am at the Mall of America East Rotunda on Thursday, July 16th, and end with a closing ceremony at the beautiful State Capitol in St. Paul, July 19th at 1:30pm. Travel with hundreds of other Riders and Crew members through beautiful southern Minnesota.
The dollars raised for this event benefit seven incredible Minnesota AIDS service organizations. They are: African American AIDS Task Force, The Aliveness Project, Clare Housing, Hope House of St. Croix Valley, Minnesota AIDS Project, Park House, and Rural AIDS Action Network.
Our guest this week was Ray Cox, member of the Northfield Safety Center Task Force (SCTF), discussing you-know-what. I’ve turned off comments on this post. Join the discussion on the April SCTF blog post where there are 40+ comments to-date.
All four venues for the 2009 JuneBug Festival of Music have performances scheduled today, the final day of the 4-day bash. See the schedule. Left to right in the photos above:
The JuneBug Festival of Music gets going in downtown Northfield this week on Wed. eve and runs through Saturday. (Click the thumbnail of the left for the PDF poster.)
Throughout the four days of JuneBug ‘09, Twitter will be used to announce upcoming acts and their venues, 30 minutes prior to each performance. So follow JuneBug on Twitter.
We got back in KYMN’s studio this week (new air-time 6:00 PM Mondays) and covered a bunch of local issues after a brief visit from Julie Bixby who talked about her recent participation in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure (breast cancer) in the Twin Cities. I neglected to get a photo of Julie so I stole one of her with her grandson Luke from the Cow’s website.
I paid a tech-help visit to Knecht’s Nurseries and Landscaping yesterday morning, and when I saw all the vehicles in the parking lot, I asked Leif Knecht how business was this spring, compared to recent years. “Way up,” he said, pointing his dirty green thumbs skyward. I later asked Deb Knecht why, hoping she’d say it was advertising on LoGroNo. She said she didn’t know but wondered if more people were just deciding to do small things to improve the look of their yards.
This morning I consulted with local economist, realtor, auctioneer, and Girls Night Out veteran dancer Ed Kuhlman this morning and he concurred with Deb. If you’ve decided it’s not a good time to sell your house, you’re more inclined to make small improvements to it since you’re going to be there longer, as well as use it for a staycation.
I’ve been working with (L to R) Bill Carlson, Ray Eng, and Ed Lufkin to convert the Cannon Valley Elder Collegium (CVEC) website to a WordPress-based blog site. It went live last week.
CVEC is in the middle of registration for their Spring 2009 courses. See the 3 PDFs on their home page for course descriptions, registration, and the schedule/enrollment update. There’s no online registration nor online payment yet. That capability will be available for the next round of courses.
It might have the promotional blog post of the R-rated third set but whatever, Jon and Daitra Wersal made the trek from St. Peter to Northfield last night to hear the New Moon Trio at the Contented Cow. Their dancing and singing inspired us all. See the album of 10 photos. (continued)
Last week I stopped by the Contented Cow to hear the Blue Grass & Old Time Jam session that happens there every Tuesday night at around 7:30 PM. That night, there were many local musicians and a few drop-ins from out-of-town so I took a few photos and captured a 1-minute video. (continued)
Hayes Scriven: Griff, the money the Arts and Culture Commission got from SEMAC is to go for projects like this! That is why the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment was passed! Now, yes there are some programing projects I have heard bout that I...
Peter Seebach (Seebs): There may well be better things the money could be spent on, but there are certainly many worse things. I do think that things like this contribute to a feeling of community, and I think they dovetail nicely with the...
kiffi summa: I must wonder, Griff, what your opinion on this ”investment” is… I sense your opinion is questioning the wisdom of the expenditure; or are you just “stirring the pot”? I personally think it is a teriffic...
Jane McWilliams: Griff – I think the poetry project is a good investment. As you see from the quote below from the Streetscape Task Force page on the city web site, money comes from the Master Development Fund which is designated for...
kiffi summa: To follow up on Peter’s You Tube video recommendation, read the May 12th article in the New York Times (search archives) entitled “Harming the Troops”. Republicans on the Armed Services Committee, led by Rep. Todd...
Griff Wigley: I’ve removed those 5 ‘orphaned’ comments that were mucking up the hierarchy. All’s good now?
Peter Seebach (Seebs): John, someone forwarded me a thing which helps explain why I do not believe the current situation provides adequate legal protections: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =ah4ke16g1DI Watch that, and then tell me with a straight...
Peter Seebach (Seebs): California in general has very high rates of “drug use”. And frankly, there is no place in the US that can be meaningfully called “very accepting” to gays. More accepting than others, sure. Why, I...
David Henson: Peter, you have the Internet you do the research. Use San Francisco as a baseline (an accepting place) – gays there have very high rates of depression and drug use.
Griff Wigley: Good turnout last night for the Cannon Valley Mountain Bike Team meeting at the high school. I’ve blogged a summary with the ppt presentations.
Griff Wigley: Jordan Osterman, the new Sports Editor for the Northfield News, scooped me on Saturday. I’m glad! Northfield high school mountain bike team forming As a club sport, mountain biking would have no official affiliation with either...
Griff Wigley: Good suggestion, Curt. I’ll do that for next week’s blurb. I have been verbally emphasizing the importance of having girls on the team, especially since their points on race days count more than boys’ points. Other...
Curt Benson: Hey Griff, I wonder if you shouldn’t put a bit more emphasis on the idea that you’re recruiting both boys and girls for this team. And that the scores for both the boys and girls make up a team score. I think that in the...
Griff Wigley: It should be noted that this team does not yet exist! So this meeting is for those student-athletes (and their parents) who might be interested in joining this new team.
Griff Wigley: Suzy Rook has a sidebar to today’s Nfld News update on last night’s Council meeting. Excerpt: The city administrator and finance director say they have asked for the information on several occasions, including last month...
john george: Living where we do, it is only a few blocks walk to North Street and a grand view of the sunsets. Also, with our neighbors’ mature white pines & spruce, our covered deck affords outdoor enjoyment with a fair amount of...
Griff Wigley: Props to the newspaper and Suzy Rook for mentioning LoGro twice in the story: Fire Department officials, including Fire Chief Gerry Franek, did not respond to several requests from the News for association financial records or...
Griff Wigley: Posted to Northfield News at 1pm: Ethical questions arise over Northfield Fire Relief Association expenses Donations made to Northfield Fire Relief Association aren’t public dollars, but that hasn’t extinguished city...
Griff Wigley: Curt/Robert, There’s a summary of the Rescue Squad on Page 21 of the 2009 NFD report to the City. It doesn’t mention that there’s a Rescue Squad Association. The last paragraph states: The Northfield Rescue Squad is...
Robert Palmquist: If Hvistendahl’s motivation was to keep the financials from getting known, his submitting a memo like that just really backfired. I agree, why would these financials be such a secret??? And why did the NRSA hire a lawyer to...
Curt Benson: So Hvistendahl has found another place to wet his beak. You ask a good question, “Why is it important that the City not know the Northfield Rescue Squad Association financials?”
Jim Haas: Happens to me a lot. So much that my lovely wife had to coin a term for it: she says I have datelexia.
norman butler: Since coming to my adopted country 16 years ago I have observed, amongst other things, that not putting the day with the date is both common and peculiar to Northfield (MN? USA?).
John Thomas: Just a reminder, advance tickets for Girls Night Out 2012 can be purchased on The Grand’s website at http://www.thegrandnorthfield. com/public-events. Your tickets will then be available at a special “Will Call” at...
Liz Reppe: This is a great place to buy plants! Jeni is very knowledgeable and they are both really helpful. You get great service and plant expertise, but the prices are not higher than other places in town.
bill metz: While most of how Jake is being remembered revolves around, and rightly so, his great and wonderful talent as an artist and teacher and the works of sculpture he has left for our and the next generations enjoyment, I have had the...
Ross Currier: It was an honor for me and the NDDC to work with Jake. His pieces of sculpture in our community send a powerful visual message that Northfield is an Art Town. I still marvel at his clever and creative approach to building social and...
paul krause: The memorial service will be held at 11am. Doors to the Chapel will open at 10am for a chance to visit with family members and friends to share memories of our dear friend. Anyone who would like to view the documentary Harvest (which...
kiffi summa: Come on, Griff… you say you’re “more than a little clueless about about investments” but you “just happened to notice”… and from what you said, were reading analytically, etc etc… Once...
Griff Wigley: I’m more than a little clueless about investments but I noticed on page 14 in the April 24 Council packet that the Fire Relief Association has 85% of its pension portfolio in stocks. Isn’t that a bit risky/aggressive for...
Griff Wigley: Has there been any media reporting on the intergovernmental meeting in Bridgewater Township that was held on April 25 re: the Rural Fire Protection District and the City of Northfield?
Jim Mangan: I noticed this morning that a few of the newly planted trees along South Highway 3 have a pronounced lean. Could it be storm damage?
Ross Currier: It’s great that someone is enhancing the connection between downtown and uptown. I know they coordinated their work with MNDoT, City staff, and the Streetscape Task Force. Uh, raise your trowels in a toast to the Northfield...
Vicki Serreno: I wish I’d known – this is my neighborhood since I left Northfield in 2010. I’d have shown up to support them.
Kathie Galotti: My neighbor and sometimes babysitter Maggie Kennedy appears in this video as well! Go Maggie, and Cliff and Sophie and Parker and everyone else! Well done, guys!
Peter Seebach (Seebs): Heh, we had those when I was in college. Guess we’re making progress, they’re starting years earlier now!
Sandy Vesledahl: Thanks for blogging our garage sale Griff! We are at 2018 Jefferson Rd, Suite 1, thanks to the Jasnoch Family for allowing us to use the space. We will be there until 5:00 today and again from 8-2 on Saturday. We’ve had a...
Bright Spencer: I have an 8 year old dog that has not been neutered, has not reproduced and never been out unleashed except in our yard. It costs nothing to care for your pet properly.
Bright Spencer: To see this makes me so happy! Best of luck to you!
Peter Seebach (Seebs): For what it’s worth, I’m pretty happy with the whole process so far, although we found exciting new things out about the land development code, such as “the rules for calculating how tall a building is for...
Arlen Malecha: I wish more establishments had outdoor seating & dining. Now that our offices (Coldwell Banker South Metro www.CBSouthMetro.com are downtown, I love to see people sitting and dining outside. It is fun to walk up and down...
Sean Hayford O'Leary: I would say the current configuration of Division Street makes me grateful not everyone is doing it. Sidewalk dining brings a lot of livelihood to the street — but I’ll admit that I’ve been occasionally...
Griff Wigley: Rebecca, there are several Northfield eating and drinking establishments that have outdoor dining with tables and chairs, serving alcohol, but not SIDEWALK dining. Downtown ones that come to mind: The Tavern, Chapati, The Cow, Froggy...
Rebecca Bliss: Timely post, Griff -I didn’t realize this. I was just commenting to my husband about how nice it would be to dine al fresco now that the weather is getting warmer. Guess this is another discovery for the new...
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