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Donald Rae Ness

Donald Rae Ness, age 80 of Northfield, passed away Friday, May 18, 2012 at his home. He was born November 15, 1931 in Thief River Falls, MN where he spent his childhood and attended school. Following his discharge from the Air Force he began a long career with the U.S. Foreign Service.

He is survived by several cousins and step siblings. Family graveside services will be held near Thief River Falls. Arrangements by the Bierman Funeral Home of Northfield.

Crews were out this morning (Wednesday, May 16) installing the first of Northfield's sidewalk poems in the vicinity of the Northfield Public Library. The poems are winners of the first Sidewalk Public Poetry Contest in 2011, which was sponsored by the Friends and Foundation of the Northfield Public Library and the Northfield Arts and Culture Commission. As of noon, two of the poems had been installed, one on the Third Street side of the library (pictured, right), and one on the Division Street side. Places have been prepared for two more poems, another in front of the library, and one across the street in front of the Archer House. According to a member of the Arts and Culture Commission, downtown business owners have been enthusiastic about having the poems in front of their businesses.

For more good photographs of the installation, see the story on Northfield Patch.

William “Bill” Clifford, age 70 of Northfield, passed away peacefully at his home, Monday, May 07, 2012 surrounded by his loving family. Bill lived his life with great enthusiasm and courage despite a long struggle with Multiple Myeloma. Funeral services will be held 11:00 am Friday, May 11th at the First United Church of Christ in Northfield with burial at the Clifford family plot at Oaklawn Cemetery. Visitation will be held on Thursday, May 10th from 4 to 8 pm at the Bierman Funeral Home in Northfield and on Friday one hour prior to the funeral at the church.

Bill, the son of Edwin and Phyllis (Grisim) Clifford, was born on July 11, 1941 in Northfield. Bill’s parents lived on a farm east of Northfield where Bill was raised and helped his father along with his two younger brothers, Dick and Jerry. In the spring of 1955, Bill’s family moved to a farm west of West Concord where he attended high school.

Raymond “Jake” Jacobson, age 91 of Northfield, passed away Wednesday, May 2, 2012 in Northfield following a short illness. He was Professor Emeritus in Art at Carleton College where he taught for many years and local Northfield sculptor.

Funeral Services will be 11:00 am Saturday, May 12th at Carleton College Skinner Memorial Chapel in Northfield with burial at Oaklawn Cemetery. Visitation will be Saturday 1 hour prior to Services at the Chapel.

Raymond “Jake” Jacobson is survived by his wife Jeanne; son Bob of Mendocino, CA; daughters Rebecca Heines of Durham, NC, Linda Jacobson and husband Marc Chanliau of Sonoma, CA; grandchildren Jay, Josh, and Brandon Heines, Jessica Singh and husband Virinder, Zachary and Tyler Morrison; and great grandchild Jagger Singh.

A complete obituary will follow.

Arrangements by the Bierman Funeral Home of Northfield.

This is Northfield’s last week to enjoy a spectacular visiting exhibit of American art at the Perlman Teaching Museum in Carleton College’s Weitz Center for Creativity. The exhibit is “Our Treasures: Highlights from the Minnesota Museum of American Art,” and it ends on Tuesday, May 8. The exhibit includes thirty works by well-known American artists like Grant Wood, Thomas Hart Benton, Romare Bearden, Christo, and Paul Manship. Among the highlights are three spectacular bronze sculptures by Manship (1885-1966), the St. Paul sculptor best known for this sculpture Prometheus, which forms the centerpiece of Rockefeller Center in New York City.

Daryl Robinson, age 62, of Northfield, passed away unexpectedly on Friday, April 27, 2012 at the Abbott-Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis.

Funeral services will be held on Friday, May 4th. at 10:00 am at the Bierman Funeral Home in Northfield.  The Northfield Veterans Organization will provide full military honors following the service at the funeral home.  Visitation will be held on Friday from 8:30 am until the hour of the service.

Daryl James Robinson, the son of James Harry and Esther Emily (Stieg) Robinson was born on October 30, 1949 in Faribault.  He grew up in Cannon Falls and graduated from the Cannon Falls High School in 1967.  Daryl served in the Air Force from 1968 until 1972 as an aircraft technician in the United States and Germany.

Standing in front of Bob Gregory-Bjorklund’s theater class at ARTech, I asked the students what they enjoyed most about being involved in theater. Half a dozen hands shot up. I called on a boy in the back row.

“I like how everyone works together,” he said.

The other students agreed: the best thing about being involved in theater is the sense of community it creates.

At their meeting on Thursday evening, April 19, the Northfield Parks and Recreation Advisory Board voted to recommend Riverside Park as the location of a temporary skate park for the 2012 season.  Riverside Park is the home of a preexisting asphalt pad on which (after sealcoating) the skateboard equipment can be temporarily installed.

The vote came after a discussion in which some residents of the Village on the Cannon (VOC), which adjoins Riverside Park, voiced concerns about locating a skatepark near senior citizens housing. Some of the residents of VOC fall into the category of vulnerable adults. Skateboarding advocates said they understood these concerns, and promised to work together with residents of VOC, with The Key, and with city officials, to educate skateboarders about their responsibilities.

The Parks and Recreation Board is scheduled to take up the issue of the location of a skatepark at their meeting on Thursday, April 19, at 7:00 pm in the Northfield Public Library meeting room.

Discussions about a permanent skateboard park in Northfield began six years ago, in June 2006, when a group of local youth organized the Northfield Skateboard Coalition. The Coalition, spearheaded by Joe McGowan, pitched their idea to the Northfield Parks and Recreation Board, and began fundraising for a skatepark. Between October 2006 and April 2007, $10,000 was raised through a matching grant from the Northfield Healthy Community Initiative.  In 2011, the Northfield Union of Youth acquired equipment for a skateboard park, which is currently being stored by the city. With equipment in storage, and funding due to expire, 2012 seems to be the year for a decision on a location for the skatepark.

Click "Read more" for a list of links to resources for understanding this issue.

John Maakestad, age 83 of rural Nerstrand, Professor Emeritus in Art at St. Olaf College where he taught for 37 years, died Tuesday, April 10, 2012 in Little Rock, AR following a brief illness. Funeral Services will be 2:00 pm Saturday, April 21st at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Northfield with a visitation Saturday 1 hour prior to Services at the Church. A reception will follow the Services.

Though we had hoped to get outside to kick off Spring, Laura Baker Services Association's spring-themed respite event last Saturday was still full of fun and one of the most successful yet!

Nine kids showed up to participate with what seemed like a record number of volunteers, making it a particularly high energy occasion—an afternoon full of laughs and shouts. We even celebrated a birthday.

Exciting group and team games included the giant parachute used to launch balls; a large scale game of rock-paper-scissors; and a volleyball-like game with the goal of getting all the balls on the other team’s side before time runs out. Crafts went over well too, and many kids went home with lovely handmade crowns, butterfly mobiles, and flower wheels.

Did you know that Northfield’s own Laura Baker Services Association is 114 years old? What about the history of the woman who started it, Laura Baker herself? This month’s issue of the Northfield Entertainment Guide features a great article by local writer-Susan Hvistendal-on LBSA, chronicling the organization’s journey throughout the century from it’s amazingly progressive roots to its extraordinary impact today.