Carleton College will begin construction on two new residence halls on the southeast part of campus on Monday, May 12, with a goal of occupancy for September, 2009. The Northfield City Council approved a Conditional Use Permit for the project in their May 5 meeting, clearing the way for construction of the $27.5 million halls to begin.

On Wednesday, May 14 at 7pm, poet James Lenfesty will read at ArtOrg. Jim will be telling tales from his new collection of poems: A CARTLOAD OF SCROLLS: 100 POEMS IN THE MANNER OF T'ANG DYNASTY POET HAN-SHAN (Holy Cow! Press).

The poems have received high praise from the StarTribune: "clear as a crystal bell," City Pages: "A-list recommendation", the Santa Barbara (CA) Independent: "whimsical and wise", and Toronto's POIESIS "a jewel of a book!" Please join us to welcome Jim again to Northfield.

Here is a sample of Jim reading his poem "Finding My Older Brother" a couple of years ago at ArtOrg. An official press release follows:

Phil Lundin, head men's track and field coach at the University of Minnesota, has been named head men's cross country and track and field coach at St. Olaf. Lundin, a four-time Big Ten Coach of the Year, will begin his new job this summer.

Lundin ("lun-DEEN"), a four-time Big Ten Coach of the Year, will finish the spring season at Minnesota before taking the reins at St. Olaf this summer. He will replace Bill Thornton, who is retiring after nearly four decades of service at St. Olaf.

"I'm looking forward to the challenge -- one that is more than coaching," says Lundin, a graduate of Augsburg College. "I'm excited to get back to my roots."

Spring is in the air and May is in full swing! The Northfield Entertainment Guide is on the streets ... and as always there's lots going on. Check out the great events listed in the Northfield Entertainment Guide by clicking the image here or visiting our new website. Here are just some of the happenings going on this weekend – pick up a Guide to get all the events for entire month of May. You won't want to miss them! May 8-10

Thursday, ArtOnWater Gallery hosts its exhibition closing of three big exhibits: "2008 Rochester Art in the Sky," "The Twenty Views of Dundas," and "The 1000 Print Summer." If you haven't seen this phenomenal exhibit – be sure to stop down between 3 to 8 p.m. Also this evening, be sure to stop by Bridge Square at 6 p.m. for the Sesquicentennial Banner Presentation in celebration of Minnesota's 150th birthday! The banner has made its way through every county in the state and Northfield is the last stop on the way to St. Paul. The James Gang rides once again to present the banner! For musical enjoyment, stop by The Tavern Lounge to see Mark Mraz and The Contented Cow to catch Study Hall with Terry and Peter.

The St. Olaf Taiko Drumming group's Spring concert is tonight!

St. Olaf Taiko Spring Concert
Lion's Pause, Buntrock Commons
St. Olaf College
7:30-8:30 pm, Thursday, May 8
Free Admission

Taiko, meaning "big drum," is a Japanese form of drumming. In America, it is known for its deep sound and artistic movements. The St. Olaf Taiko Drumming Group has been drumming for four years.

Could it be? Yes....spring has finally sprung! And Scandium is celebrating the long-awaited arrival of the season by playing this Saturday, May 10th, at the Contented Cow in downtown Northfield.

Grab your friends and come on down! We'll be taking the stage around 8:30. If you get there early, you might just catch the Blue Moon String Band, who play at 6:30.

Hope to see you there!

The Carleton College Players will present "The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, May 9 and 10, and again Friday and Saturday, May 16 and 17.

The performances, which will take place in the Arena Theater on the Carleton campus, are free and open to the public but reservations are recommended.

Details are at carleton.edu.

ArtOnWater Gallery's hosting of "ArtOrg 1-2-3" closes Thursday nite.  ArtOnWater's gracious host and ArtOrg docents will be available for this last evening's look at this remarkable exhibition.

Join us, then for "1-2-3", our usual ChARTdonnay Thursday wine and local cheese, and a special Exhibition Closing Reception.
 
Wonderful, framed relief monoprints from the inagural MIA/ArtOrg 'steamroller' printmaking event are for sale and information is available about "The 1000 Print Summer" steamroller printings to be held at local and regional art fairs in 2008. 

We've added Sweet Lou's Waffle Bar to the list of places that offer free Wifi access to its customers. 

If we've missed any, please let us know and we'll fix it ASAP.  Or, if you know of another list that would be valuable for Northfielders tell us that as well.

Submitted by Suzie Nakasian

(Photos taken by Pat O'Loughlin at the Northfield Earth Day Contra Dance last Saturday, April 26.)

• Click here to see the gallery
• Click here to see the slideshow

The dance was generously underwitten by Carleton's SOPE (Students Organized for the Protection of the Environment) in collaboration with the St. Olaf Environmental Coalition and the Northfield Community Contra Dance Association. The dance was held in Carleton's "Great Space", Sayles Hill Campus Center, and was attended by about 180 people - they were moving - I couldn't count. The room was packed. Music was provided by Contratopia and the dance was led by dance "caller" Robin Nelson of Minneapolis.

A good time was had by all...including the band, as evidenced in the attached photos.

Note: the next opportunity to contra dance in Northfield will be the June Moon Community Dance, part of the NDDC's upcoming Taste of Northfield Celebration on Bridge Square on June 19. The June Moon Dance will proudly feature Northfield's Over and Back Band and include swing dancing, waltzes and contra dances led by dance "caller" Beau Farmer.

With shows titled "Going for Baroques" and "The Organ at Home" it's clear that the program Pipedreams is for people who love organs and the music they produce. It should come as no surprise, then, that St. Olaf's own Holtkamp organ will be featured in an upcoming episode.

The week of May 5, Pipedreams will feature six recordings made for the Minnesota Organ Book last October in Boe Memorial Chapel on the Holtkamp organ that was installed last year. The episode will mark the international premiere of the recordings, which also feature St. Olaf faculty member Marty Hodel on trumpet.

Read the rest of the story at stolaf.edu.

The first ever muggle quidditch tournament was held Saturday at Carleton College. Despite a forecast of rain and snow, it was a beautiful spring day, and it was a hoot watching the students run about with brooms between their legs, throwing balls at each other and at the hula hoop goals.

Check out this short video clip or the set of 16 photos in the Northfield.org community photo gallery.

Two official Sesquicentennial banners are on tour, making stops at libraries across the state. One of the banners will be in Northfield this Thursday and Friday, May 8-9.

The banner will be presented to Northfield officials by the James Gang. Each banner is accompanied by a leather-bound journal in which visitors can write thoughts about Minnesota and the Sesquicentennial. People are invited to sign the journal at Bridge Square on Thursday, May 8th at 6pm, following a ceremonial presentation. The banner and the journal will be at the Northfield Public Library all day Friday from 9:30am – 5:30pm.

From the Strib:

For at least a day, Faribault, Minn., convenience store clerks Jared Gustafson and Kim Bourn were among an elite handful of Rice County residents.

When it came to who might have won this weekend's $180.1 million Powerball jackpot ticket, sold somewhere in the southeastern Minnesota county, they were considered in the know by curious customers and reporters.

Okay, fess up. Did you win $180 million dollars this weekend? I was in the Kwik Trip tonight and they were claiming that they had sold it...

The Northfield Downtown Development Corporation (NDDC) will present a public forum focusing on the health of the Cannon River on Tuesday, May 6 at 8 a.m. Featuring a panel of experts including Beth Kallestad of the Cannon River Watershed Partnership (CRWP), Hugh Valiant of the Department of Natural Resources, and Cailin Orr of St. Olaf College, the forum will take place the Riverview Conference Room, lower level of the Archer House, 212 Division Street, in downtown Northfield.

Kallestad will discuss the CRWP’s efforts to protect and improve the health of the river as it runs through the region. Valiant will present a historic overview of the condition of the river as well its prospects for the future. Orr will shift the focus to the Malt-O-Meal dam and its impact on the river’s health.