The tradition of the Northfield Jingle Bell Run is that each year 100% of race registration fees go to a local non-profit organization. In honor of the 10th Anniversary of the event, a total of $10,000 will go to 10 worthy charities selected by 10 local groups. The exciting results will be announced on the day of the race.
Left photo: A group of agingmaturemiddle-aged young and perky women runners at the GBM yesterday. L to R: Linda Tollefson, Mary Loven, Laura Tiano, Mary Carlson, Kris Estenson, Nancy Carlson.
They’re hoping that they’ll be one of the ten groups selected to designate a charity of their choice. I hope to have identified those groups by sometime tomorrow.
I got this email from Justin Stets late last night, asking me to post the info below.
Griff: Mea culpa. Mea culpa. We/I have failed to keep you (as the leader in the Northfield online community) in the loop about the 5th Annual 5th Bridge FMSC event happening tomorrow and Saturday. I would appreciate any help you can give in posting the following information. As important, you are always welcome to the event to pack, to take pictures, to blog or to sing (probably in that order, though I must admit I have never actually heard you croon.)
I’m a great singer, as my children will attest but I decided instead to take photos this morning when students from Bridgewater, Sibley, and Northfield High School were packing food.
See the large slideshow of 16 photos (recommended) or SLOW CLICK this small slideshow:
Here’s the background info from Justin:
5th Bridge is sponsoring the MobilePack unit of Feed My Starving Children in Northfield on Friday, November 11 and Saturday, November 12. Over the course of the two-day event, 5th Bridge aims to engage 1,300+ area residents in packing 350,000 meals for starving children around the globe and raising $84,000 to pay for the cost of the meals. 5th Bridge raised the meal total from 250,000 to 350,000 as FMSC identified the pressing and urgent need to send food to the continent of Africa. 5th Bridge has taken on that challenge and we are calling upon more volunteers to help achieve that goal and pack food for children whom you will never meet.
This community has proven to be extraordinarily generous and we’re confident we’ll raise the funds necessary to pay for the meals. To date we’ve been successful at engaging a great range of participants. As an example, we’re expecting Sibley 5th graders and seniors from Millstream Commons on Friday morning. So, in short, this will an event that people of all ages will find rewarding. But we’re looking for more people power to pack meals. There are still a handful of openings for volunteers and we’d appreciate anything you can do to help spread the word.
Yesterday afternoon, local business owners, St. Olaf students, and miscellaneous other volunteers filled hundreds of sandbags on downtown’s west side behind Larson’s Printing.
Dear friends at Locally Grown – The 8th annual Northfield Jingle Bell Run/Walk was held on Saturday the 12th and was a great success. We had a super turn out and early numbers indicate that as a community we raised around $3,500 for the HealthFinders Collaborative. The 2009 planning committee sincerely thanks everyone who came out to run, walk or volunteer!
The Northfield mobile packing event for Feed My Starving Children, which was hosted by 5th Bridge, this past weekend, was a fabulous success. 171,072 nutritious, life saving meals, were packed by 705 Northfield volunteers and over $26,000 was donated by individuals and businesses to cover the costs of the food we packed. Simply put, 468 starving children around the world will be fed for the next year, because of the caring and generosity of Northfield residents.
5th Bridge has secured 800 Northfield-area volunteers to pack 150,000 meals and raise $22,500 for Feed My Starving Children this weekend. It all starts Friday at 11 am at the National Guard Armory and goes all day and all night through the weekend. See the press release (PDF) and the 5th Bridge FMSC page for details including who to contact if you’d like to volunteer.
Among the sponsors, contributors, and team sponsors:
Our local Circle of Service did a meal-packing stint at FMSC’s Eagan facility back in 2005. Here’s the slideshow:
kiffi summa: Our mothers consider the ‘bunched panties’ remark too squalid to pass either their sainted lips, or those of their darling daughters… and seriously doubt whether it was said during your father’s time!
Jane Moline: Griff: you really didn’t know my mother and how do you even know if I wear panties?
Griff Wigley: Jane/Kiffi, I did some family of origin research and it turns out your mothers actually said “A stitch in time saves nine” and “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” about 3-4 times more often than...
kiffi summa: Jane: Both our Mom’s were smart, and they knew about the problems with “borrowing trouble” i.e don’t stir up problems that are non existent; there’s enough current problems to deal with, and even some of...
Jane Moline: I can’t believe I have to bring up my mother’s advice: DON’T GO BORROWING TROUBLE! If some women want to join the fire department in Northfield, we must be afraid that our fire department MIGHT respond like North...
Vicki Dilley: How many lives can we even begin to count that have touched by the Youth Exchange program? Northfield has been involved in Youth Exchange since 1969 when we hosted our first student…since then 100′s of High School...
Tom Durkin: This event supports one of the crown jewels of the Northfield Rotary Club – the Youth Exchange Program. Northfield can be proud that we send out more than fifteen students annually for year abroad study programs. We also host several...
john george: Kathie- I knew I was sticking my neck out on that one!
Kathie Galotti: Geez John. Don’t get Griff restarted on the geese!
john george: Yes, more beaches would certainly accomodate more geese. We have to remember to be waterfowl friendly.
Susan Hvistendahl: I totally agree with you re the need for more beaches in Northfield, having just returned from a week in Puerto Vallarta. Could have had rum punches there but….well, after we visited a local tequila distillery and got to...
Bright Spencer: Oh, you both look so happy! Thanks for sharing. More pics please!
kiffi summa: Griff: whither goest thy right arm if it starts to “whither” (sic) ? sorry; couldn’t resist… stuck at home with a bad knee provides way too much time on computer!
Bright Spencer: i’ve been looking thru a site, crazyguyonabike.com that has lots of journals and photos from around the world.
jane fenton: Congrats, Griff! That’s my son Cliff in the orange hat. He’s revamped the recycling bin prototype. You should see it!
Griff Wigley: Don, I’ll keep ping pong in mind. I’d hate to have my right arm start to whither from a lack of racquetball. In the meantime, I’m trying to excite as many Northfielders as I can about mountain biking. I’ll...
john george: Griff- Iris will have to work real hard to keep you in focus on everything else. I shutter to think where this could go.
Griff Wigley: Name: The Local Joint Description: A handmade and vintage collective in Northfield, MN. COLLECTING.CREATING.COLLABORAT ING. Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TheLoc alJoint Nfld News: Store to open in former ‘digs’ space
David Beimers: Hmmm… fans? air conditioners? ice cream?
Jessica Paxton: I know. But I don’t wanna spill the (cool) beans!
Megan Tsui: Edward, Sorry you weren’t able to attend. We’ll be posting notes from the meeting on the NEC website and if you send me your email, I’ll make sure you get a copy! If you (or anyone else!) would like to chat about it...
Edward Smith: I wanted to attend this, but was unable. Does anyone know if there will be a summary posted anywhere?
Kathie Galotti: My kid had a pretty decent AP Environmental Science class 2 years ago….he’s not a great math/science student, but this one got him interested in at least knowing enough science to create good policies. I remember...
Paul Zorn: A few years ago one of my daughters spent a year working in Copenhagen, largely in an office setting. All desks in her office could be raised or lowered to permit either standing or sitting positions. I have no idea whether such...
Griff Wigley: In today’s Strib: Office-dwellers stand up to ‘sitting disease’ Dr. James Levine has reviewed the statistics: One in three Minnesota adults is either diabetic or pre-diabetic, and one in four is obese. And he thinks...
Bright Spencer: The All Pro Game last Sunday between the AFC and the NFC was so enjoyable. The stess, the anger, the anxiety all gone…well I didn’t watch all of it, as I rarely do watch an entire game, usually just the beginning and...
Griff Wigley: Today’s Strib: Hockey safety goal expanded to youth In an unprecedented mid-year change, Minnesota Hockey is toughening the penalties for checking from behind and boarding. The change will affect 40,000 hockey players in the...
Bright Spencer: I like hockey and all sports very much. I was a star basketball player in my day. I don’t remember anyone suffering any major injuries in all my hs and college days. I feel certain that coach’s know who does what and...
john george: You are correct. That is why I didn’t allow my children to attack the character of their siblings just to support their position. There do need to be some kind of ground rules in any discussion so as to keep individual...
kiffi summa: The issue could be considered to be: what is “conflict”, and what are two sides of a discussion… see #33 re: the Mayor’s admonition to Peter Dahlen at the joint Council/ChartComm meeting. I don’t see how...
john george: Kiffi- This is a good article, and I agree with most of it. Just thinking about my kids in their youth, there was always some conflict between them, but our goal as parents wasn’t to force them into some weiner form but to help...
kiffi summa: A very interesting article in the Jan.30th New Yorker magazine on the nature of the dynamics of creative discussion; it’s entitled “Groupthink; the brainstorming myth”. Based on studies done by a psych professor at...
Griff Wigley: Kiffi/Kathie, I didn’t have that reaction. But I’ve put up a new blog post to discuss it and everything else related to the Fire Department so let’s shift the discussion there.
Kathie Galotti: I read Betsey’s blog and, like most of Betsey’s blog entries, found it well-written and making a very good point. Though I agree that geographic districts aren’t the only way to represent different constituencies,...
john george: Griff- The NN editorial presents the difference between geographic representation and ideological representation. Right now, the wards establish geographic representation. With this approach, depending upon the voter turnout, a person...
kiffi summa: I hope that people will use the link here on LG to read the current posting by Councilor Buckheit on her blog, re: wards versus all at-large, and take the opportunity to comment. Once again, the NFNews has not given a very well...
Griff Wigley: Nfld News editorial: Keep the current ward system intact
Sean Hayford Oleary: In any case, this issue doesn’t seem like it needs to be another opportunity to dis/agree with the current council. Regardless of how focused on the downtown (or not) they are, it’s clear this change would not...
Griff Wigley: In today’s NY Times: Turning to Kettlebells to Ease Back Pain Kettlebells, cast-iron weights that have been used for centuries to train Russian soldiers and athletes, appear to be a promising therapy for back and neck pain, new...
Sandy Vesledahl: UPDATE ON RHONDA: We are very happy to report that Rhonda was adopted over the weekend by a local family. Rhonda’s new mom is a Family Counselor and Rhonda will be going to her office with her and helping with her clients. So...
Megan Tsui: Griff, The NEC is moving forward with the idea of a non-profit Coworking Incubator/Accelerator space. Megan
Megan Tsui: What do you think? Come to the Community Dialogue and tell us! January 31st from 2 to 4 pm at the Archer House lower level conference room. Share your ideas, thoughts, and dreams about a Coworking Incubator/Accelerator space in...
kiffi summa: I would hope the City’s Historic Preservation Commission would explore this option, and the appropriateness/allowability for use on properties within the Historic District. Thanks, Jim.
Jim Haas: I was reading a story by Porter Fox about his visit to Copenhagen. He mentioned in passing that the city is vigilant about removing graffiti using high-pressure washers with ice crystals as a mild abrasive. I did a little rudimentary...
kiffi summa: The LWV observer reports are meant to be a summary of actions taken, not a ‘blow by blow’ transcript. This is the reason that anyone deeply interested should watch the meeting for themself, if they want a full...
The tradition of the Northfield Jingle Bell Run is that each year 100% of race registration fees go to a local non-profit organization. In honor of the 10th Anniversary of the event, a total of $10,000 will go to 10 worthy charities selected by 10 local groups. The exciting results will be announced on the day of the race.
Griff: Mea culpa. Mea culpa. We/I have failed to keep you (as the leader in the Northfield online community) in the loop about the 
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