A tribute to and fundraiser for Danny Freeman, aka Mr. Northfield. Silent and live auction, raffle, toast-and-roast and, of course, a lot of fun and hijinx – we are talking about Danny, after all.
Dan’s had some health setbacks of late that drew several of us together to organize a fundraiser for him. Please mark the date of January 25 and spread the word. We’ll be gathering at the Grand to honor and support our friend whose done so much to support Northfield over the years. There is no admission charge, but a silent auction, a live auction, and “donations” of storytelling at the microphone will bring in money to make his life easier this coming year.
Please consider giving an auction item — anything from merchandise to creative dinner offers to tickets for games or entertainment venues, gift certificates, to whatever you can think of — as well as bidding on and buying an auction item that evening. Susy Immel is the contact for auction items; she can take them right now or right up to the last minute: susyimmel@charter.net.
When the May 2012 issue of the Northfield Entertainment Guide (PDF) hit the streets last week, I noticed a typo on the cover. "GIRLS NITE OUT Saturday, May 11" says the text. Of course, May 11th (tomorrow) is Friday. I had the pleasure yesterday of informing NEG publisher Rob Schanilec (By All Means Graphics) about it. He groaned, "That’s not a typo. I would call that an error."
Rob has a brother named Gaylord Schanilec (Midnight Paper Sales) who’s equally famous in the town of Stockholm, Wisconsin and to some extent, the rest of the Western Hemisphere. Gaylord’s work as a wood-engraver was profiled last week in a StarTribune article titled A bookmaker, unbound.
"He’s one of the two or three finest color wood-engravers ever. He’s really that good," said Robert Rulon-Miller, a rare book dealer in St. Paul who has followed Schanilec’s career for more than 30 years. "He’s a man of many parts: engraver, printer, bookbinder, editor, writer, natural philosopher, and he brings all this stuff together into his books."
This is the first time Schanilec is exhibiting his prints independently from his books. Schanilec explains:
“These engravings were made for books that I’ve printed in the past 25 years. They were made to be seen within reading distance, about a foot from the reader’s face. They were sewn into bindings and destined to darkness on a bookshelf, along with their texts, until the book is opened and a reader, in due course, finds them. Now, here they are, framed on the vast white plains of these walls – like icebergs in an ocean – but emitting, I hope, the warmth of the world from which they came.”
It’s less than two weeks before one of the best and most popular honky tonk bands in Minnesota, Trailer Trash, returns to town. They’re bringing their celebrated holiday show, A Trashy Little Christmas, to the Grand Event Center here in Northfield on Thursday, December 15th.
For more than a decade, Trailer Trash has taken the holiday spirit and put a spin on it that is decidedly their own, performing a series of holiday shows in the Twin Cities and Rochester.
The band played a couple of very well received shows in Northfield this year, and they are really excited to share their own special brand of Christmas cheer with us. Combining original songs for the season with some reworked holiday favorites, these “honky tonk heroes” will have you laughing, singing and dancing your little humbug off.
Left-Handed Entertainment is proud to present this one-of-a-kind holiday classic, and we hope to make it another traditional holiday event in Northfield.
Tickets are $8.00 in advance or $10.00 at the door (A true bargain! Tickets for the sold-out show in Rochester were $17.50 and $22.50). You can order your tickets online at ATrashyLittleChristmas.com or by contacting either me, Rich Larson, at bgwg@charter.net or Jessica Paxton at Jessica@kymnradio.net.
Robbie and I met with Mr. NEG Rob Schanilec on the outdoor patio of the Contented Cow last night. He’s putting together a special issue for June and he wanted to know who we make it with, where we do it, how we do it, what we do the most, and he wanted photos. Yes, he’s one of those kind of publishers.
If you do it too, he needs to hear from y’all by May 16. Details here.
Here it is, loyal Entertainment Guide readers, the long-awaited results to Northfield’s Best of 2010! Our dedicated team of vote counters was wowed by the number of responses we received, but not surprised by the varieties of winners you found for each category.
It confirms our belief that Northfield is a talent-filled town with delights to be found around each and every corner. Though some categories were close, a winner shone through in each and we present them here, with the steady runners-up in italics just behind. Looking at the field of choices, one thing became quite clear to us: the true winner in this poll is the town of Northfield. Congratulations to everyone involved, and here’s to another year!
Friends and family of Rob Schanilec gave him a surprise birthday party at Chapati last night. Rob owns By All Means Graphics and publishes, among other things, the Northfield Entertainment Guide (NEG). I think he’s 60 years-old but I could be wrong.
As long as I’m wearing a PR hat for the Faribault Chamber of Commerce this morning, allow me to mention two of my favorite dining venues in downtown Faribault:
I stopped by Rob’s Bridge Square office at By All Means Graphics this morning to get the latest info. Lo, there are some changes this year so pay attention:
Update 12/25: Patrick Enders emailed me this photo of a single large ice circle at the foot of the dam that he took with his iPhone about 1-2 weeks ago. He says in a comment below that there were two of them.
Update 01/12: Another batch of ice circles has formed during the current cold snap:
Rob is co-chair of the event, as he was for the last big ball, the 2005 Sesquicentennial Governors Ball (photo album here, 2007 blog post summary here)
The event will feature music by the Bend in the River Big Band and information about ballroom dancing lessons will soon be leaking out.
Dan Freeman was at the party with his undertaker face and tuxedo on. It’s not too early to contact Dan about a tuxedo for the event.
Northfield Entertainment Guide (NEG) publisher Rob Schanilec, BAMG, was doing his usual "What’s happening downtown Northfield this weekend" gig (sponsored by the NDDC) on KYMN on Friday morning with Jeff Johnson.
The October NEG is out and has a glossy cover for the first time. Slick!
Griff Wigley: Yep, I think ‘region’ means Northfield, Dundas, and surrounding townships for purposes of a bike advisory committee. There probably should be someone from Rice County involved as well. I’m concerned about ‘too...
Ross Currier: Sean makes good points about institutional memory, continuity of implementation, and the importance of transportation to the community. Bruce shares a broad vision of transportation, one that includes both non-motorized and motorized...
Sean Hayford Oleary: Northfield, Dundas, and surrounding townships, I assume? I don’t doubt the possibility of an unofficial group having a positive effect. I do have two concerns, however. First, it seems that the Grassroots Transit...
Bruce Anderson: That would work for me. By “around the region”, do you mean Northfield and surrounding townships, or a broader region? My vote would be for Northfield and surrounding townships only to focus on our specific issues and...
Griff Wigley: Bruce/Sean, I think Councilor Suzy Nakasian’s sense is that there’s not much of an appetite on the Council right now to create another board, commission or task force for anything. So her inclination is to go with a grass...
Paul Zorn: William et al., Agreed, the ideal provision for biking is a lane that’s (i) reserved for bikes; and (ii) physically separated, even by a narrow concrete berm, from motorized traffic. Amsterdam and, IMO, especially Copenhagen are...
Sean Hayford Oleary: Nancy: An even better option would be a cycle track, parellel one-way bike trails adjacent to the sidewalk. This would be highly practical for young kids accessing Bridgewater, and might actually be cheaper to install than...
Nancy Johnson: If you designated the sidewalk on one side of Jefferson Parkway for cyclists, and the other side for pedestrians, it would be less safe for Bridgewater students who walk to school. If the north side was for cyclists, children from...
William Siemers: Paul…I like the link you provided: “Cyclists Should Never Be Fined”. The best idea in the article was that the ideal thoroughfare is two sidewalks next to a street, one for pedestrians and one for wheeled...
Griff Wigley: Paul, my apologies for the delay in replying. I’m going to use your comment for a new blog post. Soon!
Bright Spencer: Thanks for those super photos, Angela. I really miss my former digs and this brought me back home for a moment.
Angela Lauterbach: How about some photos? I’ve got some for you! [img]http://locallygrownnorthf ield.org/wp-content/uploads/20 13/05/IMG_20130502_085009.jpg[ /img] [img]http://locallygrownnorthf ield.org/wp-content/uploads...
Amanda: I am also looking to get in touch with Mr. Heibel. I will be around his Minnesota town in July and was hoping he could repair my grandmother’s Disney snowglobe while I’m there. It has some cloudy chunks floating in the water. I...
Griff Wigley: Just an FYI to those inquiring: Dick Heibel doesn’t check this blog, he does not have email that I know of, and his web page is no longer working. You’ll have to phone him. I’m not sure if this number is current but...
Mary-Lynn Wigodsky: Hello Mr. Heibel, I would love to have my small snow globe repaired. It has a small figurine that is broken in just two places. The base looks solid. We had it in our home growing up in the 50′s -but it may be older than...
Griff Wigley: The video of last night’s school calendar panel discussion is now up; blog comment thread now open thru Apr 30.
Griff Wigley: I’m putting on my consulting hat again this week and inviting y’all to this panel discussion video conference/live chat/blog discussion thread on the school calendar scheduled for this Wed, April 24, 8 pm.
Griff Wigley: Also in yesterday’s Northfield News, reporter Ashley Klemer (@AshleyKlemer) has an article titled Northfield Public Schools holds second school calendar meeting. You can comment on my Calendar Conversation blog post about the article...
Griff Wigley: The Draft Report on the Downtown Parking Conversation is now up. blog comment thread now open thru May 3.
Griff Wigley: In yesterday’s Northfield News, reporter Kaitlyn Walsh (@NFNKaitlyn) has an article titled Downtown Northfield parking conversation nears its end. You can comment on my Downtown Parking blog post about the article here.
Griff Wigley: Do you live downtown? Do you live near downtown? Then you’re invited to a meeting to discuss parking issues, Mar. 28, 8 pm at the library. Details here.
Griff Wigley: Thanks, Bill. There are some things in the works that might make my announcement of a sale premature. Stay tuned!
Bill Ostrem: Griff, Northfield has benefited greatly from the quality of LGN and the discussion it fosters. I hope it will continue to thrive after it is sold!
kiffi summa: One only has to see how LG has been dormant in recent days/weeks to see how much energy it has to absorb to keep ‘alive’ , and how much of that energy has to be primed by its moderator. But it is sad to see how this forum...
Griff Wigley: Thank you, Bill. It’s not over yet and I have no idea what’ll happen next.
Griff Wigley: Thanks for digging that up, Curt. Very strange.
Curt Benson: The Minnesota Secretary of State website says the name was registered by Gehring in December, 2012: http://mblsportal.sos.state.mn .us/Business/SearchDetails?fil ingGuid=475f479d-c443-e211-bc4 3-001ec94ffe7f
Gary Val Tenuta: Just found out Mom’s Best Cereals contain GMOs. Big discussion about it on the Mom’s Best Cereal Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/MomsBe stFanPage?ref=ts&fref=ts
Griff Wigley: Arlen, I actually didn’t mention or link to a realtor in my blog post or comments. I just linked to the MLS listing for the two houses I spotted on Nevada.
Arlen Malecha: Griff – As a Realtor I am glad to see you helping promote homes for sale within the Northfield community. However, I think it is prudent to advance the local realty websites such as www.coldwellbankernorthfield.c om vs the one...
Jesse Steed: Hello Teresa, I’m a Realtor with Edina Realty based in Northfield. If there’s anything I can do to help, please let me know. My office number is 507-645-1179.
Griff Wigley: I wonder how this could have been avoided.
Griff Wigley: In today’s Strib: Wooddale Avenue’s pioneering bike lanes in Edina look doomed The street that has baffled Edinans since it was re-striped last fall may get an easier-to-understand painting fix this spring. Wooddale...
Griff Wigley: Kiffi, I don’t know that it would be practical to try to launch a Northfield Bike Task Force, a Dundas Bike Task Force, a Rice County Bike Task Force, a Bridgewater Township Bike Task Force, etc. Maybe at some point those...
Griff Wigley: David, I don’t think the primary purpose of a regional bike council would be to secure taxpayer money for bike projects/infrastructure. It would be to study, recommend, plan, guide, educate, collaborate, etc.
Griff Wigley: Mary, the trend among hyperlocal online news entities seems to be heading towards the non-profit membership model where you get extra benefits (see, MinnPost members, Texas Tribune members). I’m not sure Northfield is big...
Mary Schier: Patch (AOL) is under intense pressure from shareholders to make a profit this year. It’s had a hiring freeze for some time and with fewer people, it has been going to more regional coverage. This works OK (not great, but OK) in...
kiffi summa: Agreed …I’m about to unsubscribe. There’s also a tinge of sensationalism, instead of serious news updates; for example: what’s with the story of the death of a 26 year old Lonsdale woman ‘above the...
Griff Wigley: I agree, Jane. And they seem to be over-reaching to make the connection to Northfield on some stories, eg: Northfield State Sen. Dave Thompson Mulling Run for Governor. Next up: Dundas State Sen. Kevin Dahle?
Jane McWilliams: My observation is that there is no local reporting . . . just as I feared!
Donna Volkmann: I see this forum is pretty old from 2008. Does anyone know if there are any homeschool co-ops in Northfield for social interaction? I see there are many in the cities but can’t seem to find any in Northfield. Also, do you...
Griff Wigley: Nfld News: Northfield orders new street signs to fix misspellings “Nineth” Street in Northfield will soon be back to Ninth Street. City staff recently ordered new sign blades from the city’s vendor to fix the...
Griff Wigley: Today’s Nfld News: Proposed bill would take Northfield public meetings discussion online Minnesota Newspaper Association attorney Mark Anfinson said it’s “entirely sensible” to update existing law to reflect the advantages that...
kiffi summa: another tragedy: in a middle school outside Detroit, amidst 800 students,a popular, non-bullied 14year old shoots himself in the head, fatally, with a 40 caliber Glock pistol…. School had no metal detectors; staff said he was...
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