Blogs

Derek Lee “Rick” Gilmer, age 46, of Castle Rock, died on Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at the Abbott-Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis following a serious cardiac arrest on Saturday at the Gilmer family cabin on Knife Lake. Funeral services will be held on Friday, August 27, 2010 at 11:00 am at the Crossroads Church, 17671 Glacier Way, Lakeville, MN. Interment will take place at the Greenvale Cemetery in Castle Rock. Visitation will be held on Thursday, August 26th from 4 to 7 pm at the Bierman Funeral Home in Northfield and on Friday one hour prior to the Service at the church.

The fall sports season is fast approaching . Both Northfield colleges are gearing up for another year of fierce competition. The fall sports that have commenced thus far are football, and men’s and women’s soccer.

This year at St. Olaf, football is off to an exciting start with forty-three new first-year athletes, in addition to last years returning players. Head Coach Jerry Olszewski is implementing a new team motto: “Either grab an oar or grab a life jacket, help paddle or head for shore”. This year is about teamwork and working as one. The first Ole football game will be September 4th vs. Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.

Carleton football is also off to a strong start beginning their season with offensive tackle, Brad Eckelmann being named Pre-Season All-American for the second straight year. Head Coach Kurt Ramler will lead the Knights into their first battle on September 4th vs. Crown College in Saint Bonifacius, Minnesota. Their first home game will be on September 18th vs. Luther.

This fall Carleton College will be debuting a new tennis facility. The Bell Field Tennis Courts have been completely torn down and rebuilt. Not only are these new tennis courts a great addition to the Carleton College campus, they are a great addition to the Northfield community as well.

The Bell Field Tennis Courts are a unique part of Carleton's athletic facilities. What was once six courts has now been expanded into eight new courts, and the court surfacing and nets have been redone with state-of-the-art equipment. Not only will these courts be used by Carleton varsity athletics, they are also open to the Northfield community at no charge.

As the summer quickly comes to a close, head over to Carleton and try out the new tennis facility. These courts are a perfect spot for some summer fun and recreation.

The Northfield Area Foundation (NAF) is seeking applicants from Northfield and the surrounding area to serve on its board of advisors. The nominating committee will review applicants and submit a slate of candidates to the full board at its November, 2010 meeting. Candidates shall reflect the diversity of the Northfield community, which the Foundation seeks to serve including, but not limited to, educational, religious, economic, racial, and sexual diversity.  Interested candidates are urged to submit a letter of interest, including a brief bio, no later than September 1, 2010, to: Northfield Area Foundation P.O. Box 802 Northfield, MN 55057.

Early this morning, my wife and I said goodbye to our oldest son, Will, as he passed through security at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to begin a twenty-four hour journey to Thailand, where he will spend the next eleven months as a Rotary Youth Exchange student. 

But the adventure really began a year ago, when Will and I met with Vicki Dilley, the Northfield Rotary Club’s youth exchange officer, to find out about the exchange program.  The months that followed were punctuated with important milestones leading toward the big day of departure.  In early November, the application was due. In early December, Will joined more than a dozen other Northfield students in Roseville for the district interviews.  In late December, Will learned that he had been placed in Thailand.

This weekend, Northfield has been host to the 2010 Vintage Band Festival.  The four-day festival draws brass bands from as far away as Helsinki, Finland.  One of the highlights of the weekend was a reenactment of a Civil War “battle of the bands,” with two bands in historical costume facing off across the Cannon River.  On the east side of the river was Newberry’s Victorian Cornet Band, from Maryland, which specializes in music from the period 1870 to 1900.  On the west side of the river was the 1st Brigade Band, from Watertown, Wisconsin, which specializes in music of the Civl War era. The band members play "over the shoulder" instruments, the bells of which face backwards toward the soldiers who were marching behind the band. You can see an over the shoulder bugle in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art here.  

Four years ago the first Vintage Band Festival came to life in Northfield. This year it is back and bigger and better then ever. Today, Thursday, August 5, 2010, marks the first day of the second Vintage Band Festival. The festival is focused on historical instrumental music. There are over 100 concerts occurring throughout the next four days, at 17 different sites around Northfield.

One of the events that you cannot miss this weekend is the Civil War band called the 1st Brigade Band. This band features all OTS instruments, which means over the shoulder. On Saturday at 12:00pm this band will play over the Cannon River in the Battle of the Bands.

This weekend marks the opening of the production of the Northfield Arts Guild Production of Romeo and Juliet in Central Park. Everyone is familiar with the Shakespeare classic with young lovers, sword fights, and romance. However, you have never seen anything quite like the Northfields Arts Guild rendition of the production. For the eleventh year in a row, the Northfield Arts Guild will sponsor this type of unique outdoor production. This is not traditional theater, this is going to be a mesmerizing experience which will be a blast for the whole family.

The classic story of Romeo and Juliet is going to be brought to life by director Jean Wilcox. The production will be a new twist on an old classic. The staging of this play is going to be presented in promenade staging. This means that there is no one set stage in comparison to traditional theater which focuses on one center stage where all scenes are framed. Each scene will be framed individually with the use of props. This will be exciting for the audience because the actors will be moving all around you at all times. The direction of your focus will be new for each scene.

Have you noticed these bug-covered, dark purple objects hanging from trees around Northfield? The Minnesota Department of Agriculture is currently conducting a survey to detect the presence of the emerald ash borer. This detection trap is hanging in an ash tree in Central Park. The emerald ash borer is an insect whose larvae tunnel into the bark of ash trees and destory the tree's circulatory system. The state's more than 900 million ash trees are at risk for infestation by the emerald ash borer.

Robert Taylor, age 91, of Cannon Falls and formely of the Randolph area, died on Friday, July 30, 2010 at the Angels Care Center in Cannon Falls.

Funeral arrangements are being completed by the Bierman Funeral Home of Northfield and will be announced later.