People

Next Saturday February 11 there will be an interfaith dialogue at 7pm at First United Church of Christ on the topic of marriage equality featuring Javen Swanson, M. Div. and faith organizer with OutFront MN; Phil Duran, founding member of Lavender Bar Association-MN; and 2 students from Carleton and St. Olaf.  

The forum is sponsored by an interfaith collaborative of local churches and colleges, and will be followed by a dessert reception and showcase of local denominations’ work on equal rights and discrimination. Proceeds will benefit ‘Minnesotans United For All Families’ for its educational work on ending LGBT discrimination.

Survey and Raffle!

Answer questions about diversity, immigration and what it means to be a citizen for the chance to win one of the two $50 Target gift certificates. Survey closes on at 5 PM on March 31, 2012. The survey takes between 5 and 10 minutes to complete.

This is not a political survey: we gather information only for academic purposes. The survey is anonymous. The information you provide for the raffle is kept separate from your answers and is not handled by those who conduct the survey.

To view the survey, click here: http://tinyurl.com/nfld2012

If you have any questions or need help with filling out the survey, please contact Anna Moltchanova by phone (507) 222 7163 or e-mail amoltcha@carleton.edu.

Four teenagers who organized a benefit concert for a family who lost their home in a fire are the December 2011/January 2012 recipients of the Healthy Community Initiative’s  “Making a Difference” Award.  The award celebrates those groups and individuals in the community who have a positive influence on Northfield youth.

Within hours of learning of the Thanksgiving Eve fire that destroyed the home of the Haslett-Marroquin family, ARTech students Gabby Frenstad and Olivia Upham and Northfield High School students Jasmine Barksdale and Jon Fried rallied support for the family through a Facebook page and organized a concert and bake sale.  Their efforts have raised more than $6,500.

Marion, Susan and David Hvistendahl, three long-time supporters of Northfield Historical Society, will be the honorary chairs at the society’s annual meeting Saturday evening, March 17, at Carleton College’s Great Hall.

Marion retired to Northfield in 1990 with her husband, Jake, following rich and varied college teaching careers. She volunteered in the Museum Store and brought local historical figure Ann North to life as part of her Women in History presentations. Marion has also teamed with Brad Ness to present Ole and Lena Night, an NHS benefit.

Epic Enterprise is pleased to announce receipt of a $1,000 donation from Dundas auto dealership CarTime Auto Center. "All of us at CarTime are proud to support and be a part of the community efforts of Epic," said CarTime General Manager Jared Hubers (in photo) as he presented the check to Linda Hibbard, executive director of Epic. The money will go toward the purchase of a new bus for the Dundas-based nonprofit that serves adults with disabilities.

The bus will join Epic's fleet of two dozen vehicles that together transport 100 clients per day from their residences to various area locations, including workplaces. Epic vehicles drove 250,000 miles in 2011. 

It truly was a grand event – celebrating 20 years of Northfield Citizens Online. The organization, run by a committed crew of volunteers (typical of our town), gathered on Jan. 20th for the shindig. The celebration was of “All Things Northfield” noting the efforts of many - most importantly the public - in building a successful online community in town covering events and a collection of unique stories throughout the years.

What sparked the interest of the crowd right away was tech guru Adam Gurno’s presentation of a “Flashback on Northfield’s Past 20 Years” which included video clips such as a high voltage electrical wire fire that apparently topped the charts in the number of online views, along with the flood, the hail storm, the stand up jet ski river jump … need we say more.

The intensity climbed as the trivia questions played out.

A few St. Olaf-related news items of note from the past week include an alumnus winning his second Caldecott Medal, longtime Northfield resident and Professor of Philosophy Gordon Marino (in photo) writing about the legacy of Joe Paterno in the Chronicle of Higher Education, and a Star Tribune obituary about how the late Frank Gery (find the Strib link at the end of our story) transformed the St. Olaf Economics Department "into a bastion of modern economics, steeped in statistical analysis." 

First National Bank of Northfield, the longtime cornerstone of Northfield’s banking community, announced that it has hired Dan Scheffler as vice president of business banking. Scheffler brings more than 15 years of banking experience to First National.

First National President Tim Viere said, “I am delighted we were able to hire a person of Dan Scheffler’s caliber. He will be a terrific addition to our business banking team, and provide the quality of service and expertise that Northfield area businesses need.”

Throughout his banking career, Scheffler has served in a variety of capacities. He most recently served as senior business relationship manager at Wells Fargo Bank in Bloomington, but has been a part of Wells Fargo teams in Northfield and the greater Twin Cities metropolitan area. Scheffler also spent some time with M&I Bank in Wisconsin.

The Northfield Healthy Community Initiative (HCI) Board recently approved mini-grants to support five projects and activities designed to benefit Northfield youth.  Funded applicants included:

•The Northfield High School for the 10th Grade Career Fair.  The high school will host a career fair for all 10th grade students, giving them an opportunity to explore career interests and make connections with adult community members.  At the career fair, community members will speak to students about their careers and answer any questions that the students may have.  Juniors and seniors from the high school will be involved with the planning and implementation of the career fair.  The event follows a “Career Opportunities” lesson taught in all 10th grade classrooms.

With Northfield.org’s highly anticipated 20th Birthday Bash right around the corner, I talked to a few members of the superstar team that brings the news from the community to your computer screen. These three work hard day in and day out to deliver timely, event-packed stories on a hyper local level. Meet tech genius Adam Gurno, editorial whiz kid Rob Hardy, and dedicated board member extraordinaire Jane McWilliams. And read on for an astonishing insight regarding frozen dairy treats.

What are your duties like at Northfield.org?

Rob: What I do is a couple times a day I check the queue, which is basically the list of stories that have been submitted to Northfield.org, and I basically just go through and make sure that they’re formatted correctly and do minimal editing and then publishing.

Adam: I don’t really have a title. My duties are essentially all the tech work: the database, the website, any tech hookups we need to work with other organizations. It’s a lot of tinkering, not heavy lifting.

Jane: I’m an at-large board member. I don’t have assigned duties. However, at least once a day I check the queue for unpublished material and publish it. We meet monthly and I contribute my thoughts to the discussions.

"Inside a crumbling trailer in Northfield, Samantha Castro Flores walks to the bedroom she shares with her mother and 4-year-old sister and shows off a closet bursting with clothes," reports Minnesota Public Radio's Elizabeth Baier in her story, "Latino families battling childhood obesity."

"Samantha is an all-American girl, a 10-year-old born in Northfield. She listens to MTV, watches SpongeBob cartoons and paints her finger nails bright colors. Like many girls her age, she cares a lot about how she looks.

Northfield artist Judy Saye-Willis has created an installation art exhibit titled, “Where Are The Children?” The exhibit explores the lives of orphan children and beyond. An artists’ reception, that includes work from several Minnesota artists, will be held this Sunday, January 15 from 2-4 p.m., at the Owatonna Arts Center.  Hear an interview with Saye-Willis, and read more about the exhibit. Other participating Northfield artists include: Patsy Dew, Matthew Bunch and Kathy Anderson. The exhibit continues until January 29.

What do soup cans, flying toilet paper, and a disco ball have in common? 

They're all part of Target’s impressive new Rube Goldberg-like machine that was constructed last summer by St. Olaf students and alumni. The complex contraption performs a series of tasks in chain reaction involving Target products. 

Recently, the Mayor’s Youth Council (MYC) successfully applied to have Northfield named as one of the “100 Best Communities for Young People.“  As a result, the MYC received funding to support efforts in the community to encourage high school graduation.

With this funding, the MYC is making grants available to groups to help promote graduation and increase our local graduation rates.

A total of $2,000 is available for Northfield projects.  The application is designed to be short and easy to complete.  It can be found HERE.

Applications are due by Friday, January 27, 2012.

Questions?  Call 664-3524 or email nfldmayorsyouthcouncil@gmail.com

First National Bank of Northfield announced the addition of experienced, local banker Lucy Wefel to its customer service staff, and the promotions of Carolyn Seas, Angela Busch and Angie Tanghe.

First National President Tim Viere said, “We’re pleased to add Lucy Wefel to our staff. She is an exceptional banker who understands community banking and our banking philosophy, and will help provide our customers the high level of service and expertise they have come to expect. Many of our customers already know or will recognize Lucy, so it will be a comfortable relationship from the beginning.”

Throughout her 30-year banking career, Wefel has served in a variety of capacities at Wells Fargo Bank in Northfield. She joins the First National team as a customer service representative and will be responsible for opening new client accounts, answering questions, and explaining products and services to business and personal customers. Wefel and her husband, Merle, live in Dundas.