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)
George Kinney: As someone who has cracked a helmet when pushed off the street by a driver with issues (in Green Bay, not here) I do think wearing a helmet is a very good idea. So — get your bike club to be the coolest thing going, and helmet...
Patrick Enders: Griff, I grew up well before bike helmets became the norm, and still, when I went to high school, almost no one rode a bike, because driving a car was already seen as “the only socially acceptable form of local...
Gabe Meerts: By the way, Griff. I think you do a great job promoting biking (even if I disagree with this particular post).
Gabe Meerts: You must have added the wrong link because the PRI story quotes: “There’s no question that wearing a helmet is a good idea.” There’s a big leap from promoting bike helmets to mandatory helmet laws. I...
Barry Cipra: Hayes, thanks (I think). Just to be clear, I penned (actually keyboarded) those lines in all due affection, not to mention affectation.
Hayes Scriven: Where is the like button! Griff you know I love ya!!
Barry Cipra: With apologies to poetic sensibilities everywhere (and partial blame ascribed to Paul Zorn for his scholarly consultations): A blockheaded blogger named Griff With cement twixt his ears caused a tiff. He showed himself shallow By...
john george: Rob- I guess it doesn’t take much to get Griff agregated.
john george: Griff- Are you sure you don’t have me mixed up with someone else?
Peter Seebach (Seebs): WOO! Go Betsey! As the Ward 2 rep, she has indeed worked for exactly these sorts of things, and was extremely helpful when I was trying to get a bit of paperwork untangled. So, yeah, looks like my vote is clear.
Griff Wigley: Councilor Betsey Buckheit just filed to run for mayor. She sent out this email: Good morning, media folks! I just returned from City Hall where I filed to run for Mayor. Here’s a little information, but there’s much more...
Tom Kotula: Despite rumors you may have heard to the contrary, I have not thrown my hat into the ring.
Sean Hayford Oleary: I was glad to hear Erica Zweifel is running again. She’s done an excellent job and has advocated well for her ward. I’m eager to see some filings for mayor.
Griff Wigley: Today’s Strib: A sobering era for municipal booze The forces that create winner and loser cities in the metro are complex, and they involve clashes with other “muni” cities as well as private operators. Farmington,...
kiffi summa: Curt: obviously I thought there was more in the article that was less than fully informative: see above… But as far as the city paying overtime etc, i.e., all the issues you mention above.. the question is why the city was doing...
Curt Benson: Kiffi, I agree that the $75/hour ambulance time section was incomplete and confusing. However, I wouldn’t negate the whole article because of one weak section. What do you think about the city paying overtime for rescue squad...
kiffi summa: Griff: here’s why I used the word “vendetta”: there has been discord between the firefighters since the Dept of Public Safety was created with one Dept Head, i.e. Police Chief Taylor. That’s close to two years...
kiffi summa: Curt: Once again the NFNews article has left a confusion instead of a clarification, because it says that Elko paid $75 dollars an hour to have a rescue squad presence (and that seems very low to me), and then it says the city was...
Curt Benson: Griff and Kiffi–is this a reasonable recap? The city was paying city employees overtime to be on site at Elko’s events, using the Rescue Squad’s truck. Elko didn’t reimburse the city for it’s overtime...
Kathie Galotti: I’m glad the kids will have this for this summer. I recognize it’s not ideal. Unfortunately, there seems to be NO ideal place.
rob hardy: The PRAB met on Thursday, and the subcommittee on siting a permanent skatepark was on the agenda. Does anyone know what was discussed, and whether the process is moving forward in a timely manner?
Brenton Balvin: Wish I could attend this and listen to the tunes Blowing in the Wind. Unfortunately I’ll be dealing with a Hurricane of issues at work.
john george: Peter- I’ll be glad to do that, if I can figure out how. I’m technologically challenged, to say the least.
Peter Seebach (Seebs): John, that sounds lovely. I will try to remember to call. If I don’t, ping me (email is usually good for reaching me) to remind me, because I have a really bad memory for things I was going to do.
john george: Peter- I was just thinking that I would enjoy a cup of coffee with you sometime. You can ask Grifff- I don’t bite! My days off are Monday & Tuesday. I’ve bee a little tied up recently with new grandchildren being born...
Peter Seebach (Seebs): I think we are probably pretty close to agreement on that one. One of my hobbies is nudging things along to get people out of some of the various poverty loops. It is amazing how little money it takes to move someone from...
Peter Seebach (Seebs): A clarifying note: Consequences of Gay Marriage. No one is proposing making homosexuality a civil right. Marriage is already a civil right, and gays are already a protected class for discrimination purposes in most cases....
Curt Benson: Hvistendahl’s strange request for omerta from the Rescue Squad’s auditors doesn’t seem so strange today, after Suzy Rook’s NFN article: http://www.southernminn.com/no rthfield_news/news/article_...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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?
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