The Northfield Union of Youth (whose youth center is know as "The Key") is the featured organization at tomorrow's monthly NDDC Downtown Forum. See Dan Bergeson's blog post for details.

This photo (click for a large view) is from last spring's writing class at The Key. See the photo album for more.

Faces from the Home and Garden show last week (click any photo for a larger view):

L to R: Lee Klimisch with some hunky guy; Retired St. Olaf Processor Bruce Roberts with a former student, Leif Knecht; KYMN manager Ned Newberg and Nola Mathison drawing tickets for door prizes.

Left photo: The Mill Towns Trail will go under this Hwy 3 bridge (that's Walgreen's in the background) on the north side of the river and then behind the Safety Center. How soon? Stay tuned.
Center photo: Wednesday sunset on River Walk.
Right photo: a City of Northfield work crew, cleaning up Bridge Square on Thursday morning.

Click any photo for a larger view (popup).

L to R: Agora, downtown Northfield, has a new website and is renovating; the roof is on the Village on the Cannon, across from Riverside Lions Park; Caribou Coffee at Hwys 3 & 19 has opened. (Click any photo for a large version.)

The Nothfield Area Chamber of Commerce has named McLane Minnesota as Business of the Year, and Don Kuehnast, CEO of Community National Bank as Business Person of the Year. Both will be honored at the Chamber's Annual Meeting and Business Recognition Banquet next Wednesday, April 6, at The Grand Event Center.

Full Disclosure:

On Tuesday afternoon when it was 70 degrees, I took this photo (click for a large version) of a father and son watching the Cannon River's flow over Malt 'O Meal's Ames Mill Dam.

It doesn't compare to last June's high water (photo album). (See the blog posts of that week, starting here and then click the blog post headlines on the top right.)

In the non-Northfield media this week: Earl Weinmann, Tom Neuville, Chris Richardson, Bruce Santerre, Women in Northfield Giving Support (WINGS), Rob Schanilec, Mark Fagerwick, Joan Kark, Malt 'O Meal, Bob Johnston, Northfield.org, me.

K-12 students from Northfield area schools have their work displayed at the Northfield Arts Guild through Wednesday, April 20.

I've posted a dozen+ photos of the exhibition that I took on Monday in the Schools Art Exhibition photo album. More details on the NAG's exhibition page.

Bart DeMalignon and Jim Bohnhoff, in one of the exhibit rooms at the Northfield Historical Society. (Click photo for a larger view.) What's being done?

See Rob Shanilec's March 16 blog post on interior construction, his post on the discovery of the original ceiling, and their Capital Campaign. Northfield Construction Company and SMSQ Architects are involved in the restoration/construction. Exterior work of the Scriver building starts soon.

Full disclosure:

I took this photo of Northfield City Councillor Kris Vohs circulating a pledge sheet at the Northfield Home and Garden Show (photo album) on Saturday.

He's asking people to pledge to not drive a fossil-fueled vehicle for one day during Earth Week, April 17-23. (Earth Day is April 22.) Click either photo for a larger version. You'll likely recognize some of the signatures.

I spotted this on the paved trail through Carleton's Upper Arb, on the bridge over the creek at the bottom of the hill near Oak and 2nd. (Click the photo for a larger view.)

If you know what's going on, please attach a comment.

FYI, most but not all of the paved path is clear of ice and snow, though mud and debris are plentiful.

(L to R) Merl Dahl, Noel Stratmoen, Ernie Milbrant and Dave "Sewer Man" Legvold serenaded the crowd with some barbershop quartet singing earlier today at the Northfield Home and Garden Show.

Mark Mueller-Dahl, Mueller-Dahl Interiors, makes a hard sales pitch to Bill and Molly Woehrlin who actually just wanted some candy from his handout dish.

Just Food Co-op's Alex Beeby gets hosed down with some 409 by a woman from Procter and Gamble.

Click the photos for larger versions and see three dozen more in the Home and Garden Show photo album.

3/27 update: thanks to Dennis (comment attached) for the help in identifying Dave Legvold. Merl identified Ernie.

Here's the City of Northfield's Mar. 05 edition (large PDF) of The City Commons, their monthly newsletter that gets mailed out to residents with the utility bills.

Among the items in the newsletter:

- Agreement spurs on Riverfront Redevelopment Project
- Village within our village has great potential
- Looking for a good book?
- Over the river we go
- Libray offers spring break fun

Thanks to Marin Amundson-Graham at A+Communications and Brent Kivell at Kivell Design for their help in getting it to me. They produce/publish the newsletter for the City.

Meg Otten (L), the new Chair of the Friends of Mill Towns Trail board, with Kate Larson, Trail Planner for the MN DNR's Trails and Waterways division at yesterday's open house at City Hall.

See ten more photos in the album.

On Saturday, March 19, the Northfield People for Peace and Goodwill (PPG), along with members from the Red Wing Alliance for Peace, held a two hour vigil on Bridge Square. According to Sharon Gates-Hull, "The second anniversary of the US war in Iraq was the reason for Northfield's People for Peace and Goodwill to extend their weekly vigil from 15 minutes to two hours."

Some organizers held up a 70-foot paper banner with the names of fallen US soldiers listed. Participants also led others in songs, readings, and the sharing of personal thoughts and experiences.

The DNR is holding an open house for the Mill Towns State Trail today, 4-7 pm at Northfield City Hall, part of the public comment period now through April. "A draft master plan for the Mill Towns State Trail has been developed by the Department of Natural Resources, Trails and Waterways Division in cooperation with the Mill Towns Trail Friends Group and Mill Towns Trail Joint Powers Board."

See the DNR's site for the trail, with all the PDFs. The master plan is a huge, 100 page PDF so beware. I've snipped a zoomed-in image of the proposed route through Northfield from p. 31. Click for a larger view. The blue "M" on the map is the proposed site of the trail head. See HF0085 for the status of the $4 million dollars of bonding in House and SF0131 in the Senate.