But when I saw her pushing a clothing rack into the store this morning at 8:30, she told me that she’ll actually be open today and tomorrow (Memorial Day) noon to 4 pm. while she studies for her college classes.
I’ve been experimenting with Foursquare for the past couple of months. The app on my Android phone (also available on the iPhone, Blackberry, and Palm) uses GPS to show a list of nearby places. I can then check in to see if the business is offering a foursquare special, alert selected friends (txt msg, Twitter, etc) to my location, earn points, and acquire ‘badges’ for repeat check-ins.
The person who has checked in the most at a given location becomes the ‘Mayor’ of that location. I’m currently the Mayor of the Goodbye Blue Monday but just lost my mayorship to someone named ‘Dan’ at the HideAway. Nationwide, retailers are starting to offer Mayor Specials. Starbucks launched a nationwide Mayors Special last week.
Last night was the first time I experienced a foursquare special from a Northfield-area retailer: the Contented Cow has a Foursquare special going this Memorial Day weekend. (No, I didn’t set this up, even though the Cow has been a client of mine for years.)
What other retailers are using Foursquare in the Northfield area?
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.
Despite the efforts of one of her bodyguards, I managed to get a photo this week of the 2010 St. Patrick’s Day Celebration grand marshal, Emily Monaghan.
See this 20-second video of the Folding Chair Precision Marching Unit from the 2007 parage which included Northfield City Councilors Jim Pokorney and Noah Cashman. I’m not sure if this will be in this year’s parade:
Tracy mentioned in her blog post of last week’s Friday Memo that there "… are rumblings that another restaurant will be locating in the space held by Sweet Lou’s Waffle Bar."
Last week, Northfield restaurateur Norman Butler (Contented Cow, Chapati, Butler’s Steak and Ale) signed a lease for the space. He intends to name it The Ideal Cafe and open by year’s end. Cuisine? He’s open to suggestions. Attach your comments here.
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.
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:
We have our first two non-profit advertisers on Locally Grown, sharing the banner ad space on the upper left sidebar.
Lisa Carey, Community Membership and Outreach Coordinator for the Cannon River Watershed Partnership (CRWP), placed an ad that links to their home page where all their recent news items are featured, including the CRWP 2009 annual meeting on Monday, March 9th.
Carl Arnold at the Always Family Center whose text link ad links to their blog where Northfield therapist Stacey Klempnauer has a blog post about the book, The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work.
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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