Griff J Wigley's blog

The Northfield EDA met on Thursday morning at City Hall and then hosted a Public Input Forum on the Q-Block in the Archer House Conference Room on Thursday night.

Left photo, L to R: Dixon Bond, Rick Estenson, Paul Smith, Tracy Davis, Deanna Kuennen, Brian O'Connell, Bill Cowles, Mark Moors
Left center photo: Consultant John Slack from Dahlgren, Shardlow, and Uban with EDA president Paul Smith
Right center photo: SMSQ architect Steve Wilmot next to City Councilor Jim Pokorney,
Right photo: Mendota Homes developer John Mathern. He's one of eight who own property on the Q-Block.

The Northfield.org ISSUES discussion list held a holiday party at the home of Anne Bretts and Wendell Ellis (click photo to enlarge). See the dozen photos in the ISSUES list holiday party album.

Most Northfield retailers are open evenings every night for the holiday shopping season and many downtown stores have seasonal window displays, including The Art Store and Digs. After I took those photos on Wednesday night, I went cross country skiing in the Arb, under a half moon. The photo on the right of the Carleton campus is from the service road above Lyman Lakes, looking south.

Left: Northfield Youth Choirs has their Winter Concert on Saturday, 3 pm in Carleton's Skinner Memorial Chapel. (The photo is from a 2003 concert. Click to enlarge.)
Center: Village on the Cannon is sponsoring a holiday shopping event 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday titled "Champagne and Chocolates" that will also feature Northfield artists.
Right: See the current issue of the Northfield Entertainment Guide (PDF) for other events around town this weekend.

At 3 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 10, WCCO meteorologist Paul Douglas will appear at River City Books to discuss and sign his book "Restless Skies: The Ultimate Weather Book."

On Sunday, Dec. 11, Noon to 4pm, co-Authors Scott Wolter and Richard Nielsen will visit Bookfellows to discuss and sign their book "Kensington Rune Stone: Compelling New Evidence."

The City of Northfield has a PDF map of this winter's Walk & Path Clearing Route posted on their web site.

The EDA is hosting a Public Input Forum on the Q-Block tonight, 6:30 PM in the Archer House Conference Room "... at which the Preferred Development Alternative will be presented for the site. The public will have an opportunity to comment on the master plan, as well as learn more about the planning process and findings."

See the EDA Q-Block Master Plan page for details, including Concept Plans A, B, and C (pdfs).

See EDA member Tracy Davis's blog posts titled: The Q-Block puzzle, part 1 and The Q-Block puzzle, part 2.

See planning commission member and NDDC Director Ross Currier's blog posts titled:
Thoughts about the Q Block Development; and Yet More Thoughts on the Q Block; and Consultant Urges City to Install Traffic Light.

And join the discussion about the Q-Block on the ISSUES list.

The hockey rink on Hwy 3 at Woodley was nearly skatable when I took this photo early Tuesday morning. Other ice rinks for pleasure skating are at Way Park, Washington Park, Greenvale School and Sibley School. And it appears (right photo) that a rink for pleasure skating is also being created adjacent to the Hwy 3 hockey rink. (Click photos to enlarge.)

I hosted an audio interview yesterday afternoon with (left) Ross Currier, Northfield Planning Commission member and Executive Director of the NDDC and Tracy Davis, blogger, Northfield EDA member and downtown business owner (Donegal Carpets).

The purpose: a light and lively discussion of current issues and events of interest and relevance to Northfield citizens. (We're planning to do a series of these.) Discussion topics: Winter Walk, the outdoor swimming pool, the Q Block development, Tuesday's NDDC forum.

Click the play button to listen. Length of show: 37 minutes. Subscribe to the feed. Subscribe with iTunes.

Former St. Paul mayor Jim Scheibel is the speaker at this morning's NDDC Downtown Forum. Scheibel will discuss his new book, The Promise of Partnerships: Tapping into the College as a Community Asset. See Ross Currier's blog post for more details.

The Northfield City Council meets Monday at 7 pm at Northfield City Hall, 801 Washington Street. The agenda and complete council packet are available on the City's agenda web page.

See the City's Meetings web page for an updated list of other city-related meetings this week, including the Economic Development Authority, Human Rights Commission, and the PRAB (Park & Rec Advisory Board).

I spent a couple hours cross country skiing the Ann Sipfle Memorial Ski Trail in the Carleton Arb on Saturday during the fluffy snowfall. Click the photos to enlarge and see a dozen more in the Cross Country Skiing in the Arb photo album.
Left photo: If you have information on who Ann Sipfle was, attach a comment or contact us.
Update 10:30 PM: I got this email from Northfielders David & Mary Alice Sipfle:

Ann Sipfle is our daughter. She grew up in Northfield, and was a sophomore at Bryn Mawr College when, in November 1977, on a family vacation, in Vermont, she was killed by a drunken driver.

The First National Bank of Northfield thermometer read 1 degree above zero F at 6:15 this morning.

But the Carleton College Weather Database reading was 4.5 degrees below zero F. And it shows that we reached 7 below earlier this morning, the coldest it's been in Northfield since January 17 when it reached 13.5 below.

Northfield High School science teacher Jeanne Hanzlik (right) and her daughter, Kaitlin Hanzlik, were staffing the Salvation Army kettle at Cub Foods yesterday afternoon. Kaitlin and other members of the National Honor Society at the High School staffed the kettle from 10 am to 8 pm. (Click photo to enlarge.)

More signup slots for kettle ringers need to be filled for Fri. Dec. 9, Sat. Dec. 10, Fri. Dec. 16, and Sat. Dec. 17 at both Cub Foods and Econofoods. Click the flyer (PDF) for more information from Rice County Sheriff Dick Cook.

Librarian Kathy Ness sent us 18 photos of Winter Walk at the Northfield Public Library on Thursday eve. Click these for a larger view and see the rest in the Winter Walk library photo album.

If you have photos of the last night's Winter Walk festivities that you'd be willing to share with the community, (ones of you and your family/friends especially) please contact us.