As we note on our Locally Grown About page, “we’re indebted to former KRLX news director Morgan Weiland and former KRLX station manager Cameron Nordholm for their help in launching the show in early 2006.”
I see they’ve cleaned up considerably since the photo (left) I took on the deck of the Cow. Cameron wrote via email:
You should also know that we’re headed out to California in July. Morgan is starting at Stanford as a PhD graduate fellow in communications. We’ll be living in/around the Palo Alto area. I’m starting a digital strategy consulting LLC and will continue to work largely with PBS but will also be looking for new projects. I’ve attached one of our photos – we’ll be posting more soon on Flickr/FB. Hope all is well.
Just like last year, we got a holiday greeting card from Morgan Weiland and Cameron Nordholm that included their photo.
Who are they? We have this blurb on our About page:
We’re indebted to former KRLX news director Morgan Weiland and former KRLX station manager Cameron Nordholm for their help in launching the show in early 2006. Both graduated from Carleton in the spring of 2006 and then promptly abandoned Northfield for Washington DC and lives of quiet desperation.
Our guest today was Randy Jennings, local citizen, long time Northfielder, and eloquent critic of Locally Grown. We mostly discussed his criticism of the recent controversial blog posts and comment threads about the 6/2 Council meeting and the CVB’s performance, with an occasional tangent about citizen journalism.
The Twins broadcast bumped us from our normal 5:30pm air time on KYMN and we used that as an excuse to do a full-hour show. (I have no idea when KYMN news director Jeff Johnson plans to air the show but probably sometime after 2 am, just to be safe.)
Later in the show we were joined by two Carleton College grads who were instrumental in the formation of Locally Grown’s radio show/podcast, Morgan Weiland and Cameron Nordholm. (We think of them as the parents of our show.) Morgan was KRLX news director and Cameron was KRLX station manager during the 2005-06 school year. Morgan is now a reporter in the health care division of BNA in Washington DC. Cameron is a digital producer with PBS Interactive in Arlington, VA.
Tracy and I (Ross headed out to celebrate his 25th wedding anniversary) took them out for a drink at the Cow after the show to try to explain why we’ve fallen so far down since they left town.
After an otherwise pleasant local shopping trip turned sour the other day, I tried again by moving a block north (of 4th Street) and west (across Division Street) to River City Books. Drat it all, they found me again.
Had I only known what I was getting myself into two years ago when Griff first approached Tracy and me to do this community interest podcast show. I didn’t even know what a podcast was, I still don’t own an iPod (still a few shopping days left Mr. Governor), and I was highly skeptical that anyone but a handful of geeks would be interested in hearing from a Planning Commissioner and an EDA Member.
The first few shows were posted on Northfield-dot-Org. The powers-that-were at that site complained that our “click and play” format was slowing things down and they weren’t going to let us use it anymore. Vic Summa was already having trouble understanding my instructions to “just hit the play button” when all he could see was a little triangle pointing to the right, so we were all thinking that requiring a download to an iPod was going to cost us our only listener. Someone, perhaps it was me, suggested that for fifty bucks we could get our own dang website and Locally Grown was “launched”.
Then Griff suggested that a weekly podcast did not a website make and maybe we should each write regular posts. He suggested two per week. Tracy and I fell off our chairs laughing and eventually Griff twisted vague commitments to try to post once a week from the two of us.
At some point, Cameron Nordholm heard about us. He was a Carleton College student at the time, so he understood the term podcast and offered us KRLX’s studios for our recording purposes. We were promptly seduced, journalistically, by KRLX News Director Morgan Weiland and a long and creative partnership was conceived.
Oh, but those indolent college students can only study nine months out of twelve and so in the summer we were reduced to broadcasting from coffeehouses and bars. Not that I’m really complaining. Griff figured that KYMN had studios and why wouldn’t they let us use them. That smooth-talkin’ Jeff Johnson responded with a proposal to actually do a radio show that was part of their weekly format.
It continues to spin out of control. We received a buy-out offer from an emerging media empire but it fell apart when they found out that we were like Factory Records and there was nothing to buy. We’ve had offers of massive foundation grants but are unwilling to fill out the applications or agree to anybody else’s rules. And now we’re hosting a State Senate Candidate Debate.
So help me out here, distract Tracy and Griff so I can live my life in peace. 7 pm tonight at the historic Grand (at the corner of 4th and Washington Streets).
I followed Dan Bergeson into Tiny’s Dogs All Day at lunch today and while chatting with him and proprietor Tim Sellars, I noticed a few things. Hence, a little quiz (click photos to enlarge):
Left: What’s relevant, community-wise, about the xmas tree? Center: What Northfield store did this bobblehead Jesus come from? Right: What does this ceiling tile have to do with leather?
I got a holiday greeting card from Morgan Weiland and Cameron Nordholm that included their photo. Click to enlarge.
Who are they? We have this blurb on our About page:
We’re indebted to former KRLX news director Morgan Weiland and former KRLX station manager Cameron Nordholm for their help in launching the show in early 2006. Both graduated from Carleton in the spring of 2006 and then promptly abandoned Northfield for Washington DC and lives of quiet desperation.
“Locally Grown” is now the name of the Northfield.org weekly audio show about local Northfield issues. Our third show was recorded in the KRLX 88.1 FM studio at Carleton last Friday afternoon. The show airs for the first time this Thursday, Jan. 19th, 5:30 PM.
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...
Cameron Nordholm and Morgan Weiland were in Northfield this week for Carleton College’s Reunion week. They graduated in 2006, got married last summer, and are now living in Silicon Valley. We had lunch with them at the HideAway Coffeehouse & Winebar on Friday.
Just like last year
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