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Northfield News
Save the date for Superintendent of the Year celebration
The Minnesota Association of School Administrators, MASA, is sponsoring an open house community celebration for Dr. Matt Hillmann, the 2023 Minnesota Superintendent of the Year. Join on Thursday, April 13 from 4-6:30 p.m. at Northfield Middle School, 2200 Division St. S. in Northfield. Minnesota Commissioner of Education Willie Jett, Northfield School Board members, and others will be in attendance to honor Superintendent Hillmann. A short program will be held at 5 p.m. Light snacks and/or desserts will be served.
Donations accepted for the Northfield Hospital Auxiliary Book Fair
The Northfield Hospital Auxiliary is accepting donations for the 60th anniversary of the Northfield Hospital Auxiliary Book Fair. This annual event is big enough to fill an arena with tens of thousand of books and thousands of shoppers over five days. Book donations will be accepted at the Northfield Ice Arena, 1280 Bollenbacher Drive, on: Tuesday, April 11 to Friday, April 14, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday, April 15, from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.; Monday, April 17 to Friday, April 21, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. ...
Sans Mr. Golf Minnesota, Northfield boys hope to keep the scores low
As the Northfield High School boys golf team looks ahead to the upcoming 2023 season, the obvious question on everyone’s mind is how to replace Nate Stevens. A two-time Class AAA state champion in 2021 and 2022, Stevens was named Mr. Golf for Minnesota last spring before taking his game to the college level at the University of Notre Dame, where he is a freshman standout for the Fighting Irish this season. ...
State of the City event draws capacity audience
All the seats were filled, as Mayor Rhonda Pownell delivered the annual State of the City address on Tuesday, March 21 at 6:30 p.m. at Carleton College’s Weitz Center for Creativity, Kracum Performance Hall, 320 Third St. The mayor’s address celebrated what Northfield has accomplished this past year and what is being worked on this upcoming year. The program featured live music performances by local artist Helen Forsythe and the...
Raider Roundup: Northfielders impact Ole athletics in 2022-23
The city of Northfield and Northfield High School has had a significant impact on the intercollegiate athletic program at St. Olaf College in 2022-23, as a total of 20 student-athletes from Northfield are listed on the Oles’ rosters this year. In the recently completed winter sports season at St. Olaf, the swimming and diving teams featured several former Raiders on their rosters including first year Paige Steenblock. Steenblock earned All-Conference...
3-year-old warrior beats cancer; benefit supports family
Ben Sapp said doctors are calling his son, Oliver Sapp, 3, the "poster boy for screening," because his frequent ultrasounds helped catch a tumor early. To support the Quamme-Sapp family as they navigate the financial challenges that come with a cancer diagnosis, a benefit is being held on Saturday. The event is open to the public and will have silent auction and live auctions, a lunch and a bake sale. The benefit is in Kenyon, where they have roots. They now live in Northfield. ...
Video storyteller weaves threads into visual packages
For videographer Jonny Weaver, telling stories is an art form. Weaver, who moved to Northfield from Iowa with his wife and three children in May 2021, has been working hard to build “Storytelling” from scratch. The new videography business has the tagline, “What’s your story? Let’s tell it together.” “As a videographer, I weave stories,...
Northfield landscapes figure into new abstracts exhibit by mixed-media painter
Before he even approaches a blank canvas, Northfield mixed media artist Wendell Arneson sketches and photographs his longtime subject, the landscape. His latest body of works, titled “Imaginings,” are based on visits to Spring Creek, which runs along Northfield’s southeastern corner. In a spring exhibit at the Groveland Gallery in Minneapolis, Arneson calls his abstract paintings “environmentally conscious.” What matters most, he believes, “is a painterly dialogue between image, shape, color, tactile surface and space.” ...
Health care, internet accessibility top concerns at farmer forum
A listening session hosted Saturday by the Minnesota Farmers Union gave farmers the opportunity to share their perspectives with those writing policy affecting farmers. Among the top concerns of the rural Minnesotan farmers were health care, accessible internet, sourcing food locally and incentivizing sustainable practices. Officials who attended the forum held at at the South Central College Faribault campus were Minnesota Department of Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen, Vice Chair of...
Employee benefits explained at Chamber membership luncheon
In today’s ultra tight labor market, providing additional benefits, like paid time off, continuing education and dental and vision plans, are a great way to recruit and retain new employees, according to the most recent speaker at the Northfield Chamber luncheon. David Cornell, an employee benefits advisor who lives in Northfield but works in St. Paul at Assured Partners, said, as a benefits broker, he can help employers learn which employee benefit programs make the most sense in today’s competitive market. ...
Demand still outweighs supply in local housing market
With interest rates and inflation on the rise, overheated housing markets across the country started to cool off last year. Yet with demand for available housing still far outstripping supply, the local housing sector remains extremely competitive. Across Minnesota, median home prices rose to record highs in 2022, while sales fell to their lowest levels since 2014. Median home prices in Minnesota now stand at more than $350,000 — making it harder for entry level and first-time homebuyers to get a foot in the door. ...
Budget cut proposals floated before Northfield School Board
One idea to make needed operating cost cuts at Northfield Public Schools was posed by Northfield Middle School principal Greg Gelineau at last week’s School Board meeting. Gelineau said that, after researching multiple scenarios, he felt that reducing the school day schedule from seven periods to six periods made the most sense. Gelineau said he’s received 68 responses from his staff, and this option “seemed like the best proposal going...
Family Hair celebrates a busy blur of 15 years in business
Not only has Family Hair had the same name, same location, and same stylist for 15 years, the business has managed to offer affordable haircuts, colors and perms to Northfield families, college students and business professionals throughout that whole time. Owner and stylist Kristie Alexon called the years in the hair business “smooth and easy.” “It does not feel like 15 years have gone by,” Alexon said. “I love my...
Rice County township election results
Unofficial results from Tuesday’s township elections are below. Results are unofficial until canvassed by the township’s canvassing board. Bridgewater Treasurer: Debb Salaba (write in): 41 Supervisor Seat C: Kathleen Kopseng: 134 Supervisor Seat E: ...
New bakery moves from Saturday market to brick and mortar
Like many Americans stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic years, Morgan Morton started baking a lot. Emphasis on a lot. Morton started making porch drops and mailbox deliveries to Northfield friends and neighbors. Then she started trading bread for eggs with a local farmer. Then she started buying bags of flour in bulk, first from 10 pounds to 25 pounds and then up to 50 pounds. ...
Grassroots government participation thin in at least 1 township
As the Shieldsville Township annual meeting began, Supervisor Joe Pesta called to the single-digit audience for a volunteer to serve as meeting moderator. No one volunteered, so resident Todd Schilling was assigned the role. “What do I do?” he asked. “You’re leading the meeting,” replied Supervisor Dale Kuchinka. ...
Free training course to certify community interpreters
A new online course to train and certify community interpreters is now accepting registrations. A pilot program with six students last year helped lay the foundation for this year’s two-part course. Interested students must be bilingual adults who are fluent in English, as well as either Spanish or Somali. “There’s a huge need out there;...
Local songwriter performs tunes from new album around Northfield this month
Tim Goodwin’s soft ballads seem deceptively simple. That is, until the local singer/songwriter, whose musical roots are in folk and Americana, unpacks his process of writing lyrics and crafting music. His new album, “Together,” packs a punch of everyday reality. About 25 community members attended an album release and solo show Friday held in the Atrium at the Northfield Public Library, 210 Washington St. During that one-hour concert, Goodwin’s soft...
Northfield Fire and Rescue contains laundry fire Monday
In and out in about an hour. That’s how Sean Simonson, incident commander with Northfield Area Fire and Rescue Service described the scene at New Wave Laundromat in Northfield last Monday. Simonson said about 20-25 firefighters and five trucks responded quickly to the late afternoon call from the laundry located at 1090 MN-3 South. “There...
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Northfield News has been serving Rice County, MN since 1876 and publishes Wednesdays and online at www.NorthfieldNews.com
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