Items of interest

Bardwell Smith led a tour of Carleton's Japanese Garden at noon yesterday, part of ArtSwirl. (See the July 6 blog post for more on the garden.) Bardwell is a Professor of Asian Studies Emeritus at Carleton College, where he taught from 1960 to 1995. He launched the creation of the garden and raised funds for its construction and continued maintenance. He's also on the board of the NDDC.

Margit and Eric Johnson help to maintain the garden. They had visitors last week.

A new shelter at the Spring Creek Park south of Jefferson Parkway is being planned. (See this June post.)

Rick Estenson, Northfield Rotary/First National Bank Northfield, has created a PowerPoint presentation (PDF).

Just Food Co-op has published the premiere issue (Aug/Sep) of The ComPost. And Froggy Bottoms has published its spring/summer issue of The Froggy Times.

Workers began demolition of the Northfield Public Library building this morning to, according to my sources, make room for the new downtown Wal-Mart that was apparently approved at last night's City Council meeting.

5 pm update/correction: I spoke with Library Director Lynne Young who said that the workers are actually installing a new retaining wall, to improve the safety of the stairs and help hold the mulch in place after heavy rains. Other recent outdoor improvements include miscellaneous landscaping and a working flagpole.

Village on the Cannon, on the site of the former Petricka's grocery store, has its grand opening today. Among the residents who've moved in (L to R): Kenneth and Carolyn Jennings, Jo Ashmore.

Monday, Aug 1 update: Left: Mayor Lee Lansing led the ceremonial ribbon-cutting. Right: Generations of Bierman's were on hand in the model unit, furnished by Bierman's Home Furnishings and Floor Coverings.

See 100+ photos of the festivities in the Grand Opening photo album.

Full disclosure:

Oats were havested yesterday on Melvin Malecha's farm in Waterford. The binder machine ties the oats into a bundle. Six bundles are then placed together into a shock to dry.

Next week, the bundles will be taken to the Rice County Steam and Gas Association's property south of Dundas on Hwy 3 and threshed.

Others on the workcrew: Jerry Taylor, Bernie Hughes, Paul Day, Gene Lyman, and Carlisle Aldrich.

See the oats harvest album more more photos. All photos by Ed Kuhlman, Kuhlman Auction.

College City Homes has started construction of a housing development called Stoneridge, just north of their Millstone development in Dundas.

The photo on the left is facing south on Dundas Blvd/Cty 78 (aka Armstrong Rd).

I&S Engineers and Architects of Mankato is putting in a housing development called Bridgewater Heights (formerly called Bridgewater Farms) on County Rd 1 (110th St. E.) near its intersection with Farrel Ave. (Enebak Construction Company of Northfield is doing the site prep.) More developments possibly on the way according to Dundas planning commissioner Bruce Morlan.

Reminder:Marcia Walters' blog post on tonight's League of Women Voter's 4th Monday forum at the library will focus on the Rice County Transportation Plan.

Dylan Jeffrey (center in photo) and Julian Bowrey (right), two officials from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in the U.K. who visited Northfield last summer, are spearheading the International Symposium on Local E-Democracy being held in Mpls. this week at the Humprhey Institute.

On Wednesday, approximately 50 conference participants will be bused to Northfield for lunch and a blogging panel/presentation which will include three civic leader bloggers from Northfield: Northfield Planning Commissioner Betsey Buckheit, NDDC Executive Director Ross Currier, and Northfield Police Chief Gary Smith. The event is not open to the public but it will be blogged and webcast.

Northfield Bicycle Club member Bill Metz's book, "Saturday Morning Rides," was published this week. The book is available at the Goodbye Blue Monday coffeehouse and at Mike's Bikes for $10. Proceeds go the the Nicholas Sansome Named Memorial at SAVE, Suicide Awareness Voices for Education.

Tours de Nick, the annual bicycle tour in memory of Nick Sansome, will be held Sunday, August 14, 2005.

Yesterday morning, workers began removing the peaked roof at the Northfield Historical Society. This morning's 6 am rainfall found its way into many areas of the Scriver building, despite the tarp placed on the roof overnight.

Rob Schanilec, NHS board president (pictured above), gave me a tour of the building at about 7:00 am. Water damaged at least one of the new ceilings in the recently restored museum area. The museum store and basement collections areas were spared, despite falling ceiling tiles. Amid the many buckets and baskets collecting the dripping water, Servicemaster was doing the immediate cleanup. Click the photos for larger views.

The old Carleton stables/barn in the Arb burned Friday night (located at the start of Wall St. Road near 4th and Prairie). According to the Carleton security personnel I spoke with at noon today when I took these photos, there was nothing of value inside.

A tip of the blogger hat to Greg Carlson, CEO of Carlson Capital Management who alerted me to the fact that there was a fire, as he saw huge flames from his house two miles south of Northfield; and to Brent Nystrom, Associate Director of Alumni Affairs at Carleton College, who alerted me on the details via email.

7/20 update: Police Chief Gary Smith's press release on his weblog: "Upon further investigation in conjunction with the Minnesota State Fire Marshal

Jasnoch Construction continues to clear the section of land between south Highway 3 and Jefferson Road, south of the Allina Clinic.

Late last week, the two remaining houses on the land were moved.

The Northfield Garden Club's Memorial Pergola in Riverside Park now has benches.

And flowering vines have been planted at the base of each beam.

1:15 update: I got a call from Mike Hoover, owner of the Ranch House, who said that it has not been sold to Perkins. My apologies for the false alarm.

Northfield Police Chief Gary Smith was released from the Muscular Dystrophy Association's jail cell yesterday at Applebee's after posting $300 "bond". MDA's Brian Gioielli and Jim Leighton said they raised over $7000 in their one-day fundraising visit to the Northfield area.