Business

The 2010 Winter Olympics are upon us! Beginning Friday and continuing over 17 days, the excitement and glory (and 200+ hours of tv coverage) of 15 Olympic sports will finally be here. Visit the Official Vancouver 2010 site and NBC's official Winter Olympics site for highlights, tv listings, results, athlete info, and more.

Next Thursday 2/25, join the Northfield Skating School for our OLYMPICS PJ PARTY as we watch the ladies figure skating final in the party room at Beef O'Brady's.

Bring your PJs, because it will be a late night! Coverage runs from 7:00-11:00pm. We will raffle off Beef O'Brady's Gift Certificates and a FREE private lesson with a professional skating coach. Participate in our Destination Vancouver coloring contest and learn about skating's International Judging System.

The Dundas-based nonprofit Epic Enterprise recently hosted its annual celebration banquet at the Northfield Ballroom. More than 200 people attended the event, including Epic clients and their families, staff, board members and area business leaders. The gathering celebrated the work of clients, and the efforts of area businesses that work with Epic to help people with developmental disabilities participate actively in the community.

Epic clients earning special recognition were (L-R in photo at right):

• Sam Closser, who received the Commitment to Quality Award. Sam says he is willing to put in the time to get the job done right, and pays close attention to detail in his work.
• Natalie Leske, who received the Winning Attitude Award. Natalie has a positive attitude and is known for persevering when faced with significant challenges.
• Ken Brockton, who received the Team Player Award. Ken was identified as a hard worker who is proud of his work. He says that "joking around" makes the work environment more enjoyable for those working with him.

Competition Teams from Northfield Dance Academy will be selling products from Schwan's in the Northfield Dance Academy parking lot on February 2 from 1:00pm-8:30pm.

The fundraiser will raise money for their trip to Nationals in Chicago this summer.

Items will be available to take home immediately!

We appreciate any help you can offer and thank you in advance!

Rice County Public Health is pleased to introduce Healthy Rice County: Achieving Wellness in the Workplace.

The purpose of Achieving Wellness in the Workplace is to engage employers in developing or enhancing worksite wellness. The goal is to build a culture of health at the workplace that supports healthy behaviors. A team of wellness experts will provide consultation through two new employer coalitions for both the Faribault area and the Northfield area.

Employers are being recruited now to participate. Whether your organization has an employee wellness program in place or is new to this type of work – you are invited to learn more and participate. The project runs from early 2010 through June 2011. The registration deadline is February 26, 2010.

The Northfield Area Family YMCA seeks a part time "Worksite Wellness Specialist." The deadline for applications is January 29th, 2010.

A new collaborative effort between Rice County Public Health, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota and the Northfield Area Family YMCA has been established to create two worksite wellness coalitions with employers in Rice County. The purpose of this project is to build a culture of health in the workplace supportive of healthy behaviors including physical activity, proper nutrition and tobacco use cessation. This program is funded by the Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) and takes place from early 2010 through June 2011 with a possibility of further funding.

St.Dominic School is selling Kwik Trip Gift cards. The gift cards come in various denomination levels from $10 - $100 and are good at all Kwik Trip locations. Consumers buy the gift cards at face value and St. Dominic School retains ten percent (10%) of the gift card value.

Kwik Trip gift cards make great stocking stuffers or gifts for Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries and more!

Gift cards may be purchased at St. Dominic School, at the Parish Center (216 N. Spring St.) or in the social hall after weekend Mass. For more information please call St. Dominic School at (507) 645-8136.

Just Food Co-op is celebrating five years of business this week - an accomplishment for not only the store itself but for the whole community. As a co-op, Just Food is equally owned by nearly 1,900 local households.

Those owners, as well as the many shoppers who are not yet owners, have supported their co-op for the past five years. It’s thanks to that support that Just Food recently posted its first profitable year.

Although the store opened its doors five years ago, the work started years before that. In the spring of 2002, there was an initial meeting to gauge interest in the idea of a community co-op. For the next two years, more people got involved and volunteered for everything from promotion and membership to organizing the writing of bylaws and the conduction a feasibility study.

By the time the doors opened on December 15, 2004, there were 750 owners who had invested. This community was ripe for a cooperatively owned venture, and for a store where local farmers could sell their products to community members. Access to local food was an important part of the reason that this store opened in the first place, and Just Food’s commitment to local food and local farmers continues today.

Riverwalk Arts Quarter and Riverwalk (Summer Saturday) Market Faire have plenty of volunteer opportunities.

We are in need of talented and hard working Northfielders to get to work right after the Holidays so we can create the wonderful 'arts, eats and entertainment' activities we've planned for the riverwalk beginning in May 2010.

Give the gift of yourself!

The Riverwalk Arts Quarter website to find all the details about volunteer opportunities.

Toys for Tots has, over the last 62 years, provided more than 400 million toys to over 188 million children. Several Northfield businesses are participating this year, and Winter Walk is a great time to donate a new, unwrapped toy at a local drop off.

Your donation location options include:

Cannon Valley Vet Retail Store - 1200 South Highway 3 - donators will receive 15% off any one item now through December 18th.

Sweet Peas Loft - 220 Division Street - taking donations through December 12th and offering a 10% discount for people who donate during Winter Walk.

The Garage - 18 Bridge Square - taking donations during Winter Walk from 6 to 9 PM.

Join us this Sunday 11/22 at the Northfield Arena. Open skating is FREE from 3:15 - 4:45 if you bring a bag of non-perishable food or make a cash donation to the Northfield Food Shelf. Rental skates are available for $3. Skate Drive donations accepted at the pro shop window.

Join us at the turkey crafts table and register for Northfield Skating School lessons (deadline Monday 11/23).

More information at www.northfieldskating.com or contact the Northfield Ice Arena at (507) 645-6556.

There’s no better time than now to support the area in which you live! The Northfield Area Chamber of Commerce together with the Northfield Downtown Development Corporation (NDDC) are kicking-off a community-wide awareness campaign effective immediately to promote “buying local” in the Northfield area.

The Riverwalk Arts Quarter began as a concept of a handful of artists and arts services businesses and non-profits in July 2008. We received an initial grant from the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation (SMIF) in Sept 2008 to form a year-long partnership to help us make our dream of an arts destination become a reality.

St. Olaf College's Regents Hall of Natural and Mathematical Sciences has earned platinum certification -- the highest rating attainable -- from the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. The nearly 200,000-square-foot, $63 million building is the largest and most complex academic facility in the nation to earn the prestigious platinum rating. Read more at stolaf.edu ...

Saturday, November 7, 2009 marks the first National Bookstore Day, a great idea cooked up by the folks at Publishers Weekly to promote local independent bookstores. This would be a great opportunity to stop in at Northfield's downtown independent bookstore, Monkey See, Monkey Read and do your holiday book shopping.  Jerry Bilek, the proprietor, has a great selection in the shop, and he's always happy to place special orders for books he doesn't have on hand.  The shop is open from 10 to 5 on Saturday.