Who knew that dispensing hand sanitizer could take 17 steps? This year’s St. Olaf Rube Goldberg team — hoping to repeat last year's victory — has created a machine that uses chemistry, physics, geometry, music, and computer programming to complete the task.

Watch a live demonstration of the convoluted contraption Saturday, March 13, at 2 p.m., inside St. Olaf's Regents Hall of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (come to campus on St. Olaf Ave., take the left fork, and park by Old Main -- top of the hill -- or on the ring road parking lot between Regents Hall and Highway 19).

Read more about the team and watch a highlights video at stolaf.edu ...

 Neighbors of long time Northfielder Lloyd Harkness invite the community to join them for a party in his honor on Saturday, March 13, 2-4 p.m. at St. John's Lutheran Church Commons Area. Lloyd and his family  have lived adjacent to Way Park park for decades. He has been an invaluable neighbor, keeping an eye out for kids' safety on the skating rink, planting and tending  the landscaping, clearing neighbors' sidewalks and giving way the bounty from his garden. The Harkness family donated the much used mini-basketball court in the park in honor of his widow, Mavis. 

Citizen!  Our struggle to overcome the winter season has been another success!  Again, we stand on the precipice of another beautiful spring in which to be productive!  Accordingly, it is your duty to report treasonous potholes to the glorious city so that they may be repaired!  Failure to report potholes leads to discord!  Click here to submit pothole reports to the authorities!  Be diligent in your reporting!  The return to general economic prosperity is around the corner if we take good care of our vehicles!

ITEM ONE: BIG NEWS!! Starting in March the Bag price for our monthly Bag Sale will be $7.00. The price has remained the same for the past 20 years and due to rising costs of everything we will be raising the price. The Clothes Closet holds their Bag Sale on the Third Thursday of the month, in March that will be the 18th.

ITEM TWO: Thanks to the wonderful generosity of our Northfield Community the Clothes Closet will not be taking donations March 15th to April 5 to make room for the awesome amount of food we receive during our Minnesota Food Share Drive. On April 5th we will begin taking spring and summer clothes. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause our patrons.

On Friday there is a fundraiser for Sarah Henson at the Grand at 7 p.m. which includes performances by Chance Meetings, Mark & Alec, and Sweet North. The Bacchae 2.10, a theater production, is being performed in the Haugen Theater at St. Olaf at 7:30 p.m.

The Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade is taking plance on Saturday at 2 p.m. and will begin at EconoFoods. Handout Helpless is playing the Tavern Lounge from 7-11 p.m. and The Cow is hosting Heritage at 7 p.m. The Northfield Arts Guild Annual Auction is happening at the Northfield Arts Guild from 7:30-11 p.m. Dave Hagedorn & Kevin Clements are playing at the Northfield Public Library at 7:30 p.m. Froggy Bottoms is hosting Lonesome Dan Kase.

On Sunday there is a Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser for the American Cancer Society from 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the Eagles Club.

It’s going to a rainy weekend in Northfield so bring your family to see Prairie Fire Children’s Theatre’s original musical production of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”

“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” will be performed at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 12 and again at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 13. Performances will take place at the Northfield Middle School auditorium. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students. 

Editor's Note: Elle Kaskinen is a senior at St. Olaf College who will be working as an intern for Northfield.org this summer.

This Saturday March 13, come celebrate the 50-year anniversary of the Northfield Arts Guild with a celebration for the whole family. Starting at 5:00 pm on Saturday, the Arts Guild will be opening its doors to the entire community for an art extravaganza. This night of family fun will include artistic activities for all including a potluck style dinner, live music, silent auction, live auction, live music and dancing.  
    
Over the last 50 years, the Northfield Arts Guild has been supporting five different mediums of art including music, theater, visual arts, dance, and literature throughout the Northfield community. All proceeds from Saturday's event will be allocated toward the operating cost for events throughout the year.
    

Communication with your young one can be challenging before speech is an option. Baby language can be a fantastic option for parents and caretakers to conquer this barrier.

“Baby Sign Language,” led by local instructor Amanda Heinritz, will be held from 9-10:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 20. “Baby Sign Language” is a Northfield Public Schools Community Services class and costs $16 per person. Pre-registration is required.

Participants will learn more than 50 signs and several songs that will introduce this way of communicating with babies or toddlers. Using sign language with children impacts brain development and diminishes frustration with parents in trying to understand a child’s needs. This interactive class is for adults only and participants should not bring their baby.

Carleton College’s Information Technology Services (ITS) department will sponsor a personal and home electronics equipment recycling day on Saturday, March 20 from 9 a.m. – 12 noon.

The event’s partner, Material Processing Corporation (MPC), allows local residents to recycle personal and/or home computing equipment for a small fee. MPC will have a large truck available for local residents to drop their items in the parking lot south of Laird Stadium, which sits adjacent to Highway 19. (For a Carleton College map, visit http://www.carleton.edu/visitors/.)

Allowable equipment includes computers, monitors, printers, keyboards, mice and other basic computing equipment. This disposal is for individuals only and is not available to businesses.

Join the League of Women Voters Northfield-Cannon Falls on Monday evening, March 15th, from 7 to 9 pm at the Hideaway (421 Division) to find out what's up in local and state politics, and to schmooze with League members and other politically-inclined types, all while enjoying a latte, a glass of wine, or your treat of choice.

At this, our first event in the What's Up series of get-togethers,  President Jessica Peterson White will update us on recent legislative interviews with Rep. David Bly, Rep. Pat Garofolo, and Sen. Kevin Dahle. Find out what priorities they named for the legislative session, and where they stand on League issues such as education funding, health care, and more.

HOPE Rides!

I attended The Vagina Monologues at Carleton College and was inspired to do something. I became aware of the HOPE Center through a student at Carleton. I wanted to act on my inspiration to do something, so I thought helping to raise money for the HOPE Center would be a good thing to do. I had already scheduled an art show at Faribault Harley-Davidson, and so had a platform to work from.

The opening night/artist reception will be a fundraiser for the HOPE Center. I am donating two original works, proceeds from those to go to HOPE. I will also donate half of my sales made that night and half of all sales on my website (orders over $20).

Join us at the NorthfieldArtsGuildCenter for the Arts on Saturday, March 13 at 5 pm for a fun & relaxed new take on the Auction for the Arts.  This year’s event is designed to celebrate the entire community of people, young and old, amateur and professional, artists, advocates, students and volunteers, who make the Arts Guild a vibrant part of our lives.  This casual and family friendly evening will have arts activities for all ages, live music, and a potluck dinner. The evening will wind-up with silent and live auctions featuring the 50 canvases, ceramic cups and photos by local artists celebrating the Guild’s 50th Anniversary.

 The Main Street Moravian Church is offering a marriage workshop on Sunday Evenings, 6:30-8 pm at the church beginning Sunday, March 14.    The class will be taught my John and Karen Hiscox, who have attended and taught marriage workshops for the past seven years.  John and Karen will be using the workshop of Matthew Gungor’s “Laughing Your Way to a Better Marriage.”  The workshop is free and will run 6 weeks.  Please call the church to register or for more information (645-7566).  There is no limit to enrollment.  

The Grace Whittier Fund Committee was created in 1988 as a result of a gift from long-time Northfield resident Grace Whittier. The purpose of the fund is to support recreational opportunities for Northfield youth. The City of Northfield has established a process to award grants from the Grace Whittier Fund to Northfield area organizations that provide recreational activities for youth and children. The grant application for the current year can be obtained here: Grace Whittier Fund Grant Application