Northfield’s Riverwalk Market Fair kicks off the 2012 season on Saturday, June 2 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.  Located on Bridge Square in the heart of historic Northfield, this one-of-a-kind open-air market runs every Saturday from June through October. Each Saturday features a different combination of organic and sustainably grown produce from local farmers, artisan foods including breakfast pastries and desserts, seasonal flowers and a juried selection of the region’s top artists including ceramics, watercolors, oil, acrylic and mixed media paintings, prints, photography, glasswork, textiles, wearable art, garden sculpture and hand-crafted jewelry.  The Saturday Market features live musical entertainment by local performers as well as family-friendly activities and special events.

Rice County Habitat for Humanity is holding its annual Raise the Roof Dinner and Silent Auction on Sunday, June 3 at 5:30 p.m. at the American Legion in Faribault.  Tickets are $25 and can be purchased on our website:  habitatricecounty.org, by calling 507-744-2933, at Edina Realty in Faribault and Northfield or at the door.  There will be lots of silent auction items – including an antique table, a live auction, a desert table and lots of bottles of wine to bid on.

Reading for pleasure is one of the building blocks for young people to grow into healthy, productive adults.

Fourth grade students who read for fun every day score the highest on reading assessment tests.

When the act of reading extends beyond the schoolroom and becomes part of daily life, ongoing literacy is on its way to becoming a reality. Students who read for fun on their own and talk about their reading with family and friends on a weekly basis had higher average test scores than students who never or rarely read for fun and who talk about their books with family and friends less than once a month.

Public library programming and books for children make a difference.

The Northfield Swim Club Bull Sharks will be holding an official Swim-a-Thon on June 28, 2012 at the Old Memorial Park Pool in Northfield, MN. During this Swim-a-Thon, swimmers will have a two-hour period in which to swim a maximum of 200 lengths. Donors are encouraged to support our athletes by pledging to support their efforts-either via a flat donation, or by pledging a certain amount of money per length that the swimmer completes.

The Swim-a-Thon will provide funds to enable our club to provide scholarships to include all youth of Northfield and its surrounding area. The club is also looking to provide its membership with new technology to record each swimmer underwater in effort to study stroke technique for speed improvement and injury prevention.

Talk about an efficient use of space! According to Kathy Bjerke, Program Director at the Cmmunity Action Center, through a partnership with Ronald McDonald House Charities, Upper Midwest, on the first Wednesday of each month, youth whose families are clients of the Community Action Center are able to take advantage of dental services on the Ronald McDonald Care Mobile® (RMCM). Though the office space itself is quite small, the organization’s comfortable, well-appointed clinic-on-wheels meets a real community need – offering dental exams, cleanings and basic restorative care to people in need.

Have you ever wondered what happens behind the scenes of a theater productions? Or want to get involved, but didn’t know how to get started?  You’re in luck!  The Northfield Arts Guild theater committee is hosting FREE workshops to introduce you to the behind the scenes action of the theater! These sessions are open to ANYONE interested in attending, age 9 to adult.

On Saturday April 19th, 2012 at 10:30AM, Susan Carlson will lead a session titled “Shakespeare: Be Not Afraid”. This session will begin with an educational session on the fun and challenge of Shakespearean language and will conclude with a tour of the theater facility. 

Come an join the fun!  10:30 to Noon in the Northfield Arts Guild Theater.

Take a “stay-cation”, or be inspired to plan a real vacation with photographer Doug Ohman as he explores many of Minnesota's most interesting state parks with a slide presentation featuring images from his book "Prairie Lake Forest - Minnesota's State Parks". The program is sponsored by the Friends of the Northfield Library and begins at 7 PM on Tuesday May 22 in the library meeting room. The program is free and open to the public. For more information or to make disability arrangements please call the library at 645-6606.

Northfield Public Library 210 Washington St.  www.northfieldmn.info

CHANGE IN MEETING TIME FOR NORTHFIELD JOB CLUB MEETINGS

                            JUNE, JULY AND AUGUST, 2012

The Northfield Public Library hosts a bi-weekly meeting of the Northfield Job Club in the library meeting room on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month

During the months of June, July and August meetings will be held from 2:30 – 3:30 PM.

As always, job club meetings are FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC and advance registration is not required.

Call the library at 645-1802 for further information about the Northfield Job Club, or to make disability accommodations.

On Wednesday, May 23 at 7 p.m., Carleton College will host a public panel discussion on the ethics of healthcare access in America.  Entitled “Healthcare as a Human Right: Access & Barriers,” this event will take place in the College’s Weitz Center for Creativity, Room 236, and is free and open to the public.

Americans may agree on a citizen’s rights to life and liberty, but does the nation have a moral duty to ensure healthcare? As Carleton’s EThiC initiative asks in this term’s “Questions” blog (go.carleton.edu/thequestion), “Is access to healthcare a universal human right?” This panel discussion will provide some helpful context for that debate by looking at moral and practical barriers that have emerged in assuring fair use of America’s healthcare system.

The panel will feature Carl Elliott, renowned bioethicist and frequent contributor to The New Yorker, who will speak on the ways in which private research sites test new drugs on homeless schizophrenics who are driven to participate in studies by poverty and lack of access to healthcare. Also participating are Charlie Mandile, executive director of Health Finders Collaborative of Rice County, who will discuss the barriers to health care erected by poverty and immigration status in Southern Minnesota; and Daniel Groll, Carleton philosophy professor, who will frame the discussion in its larger humanistic, ethical dimensions.

Carleton College vocalists will have an opportunity to shine in a concert Friday, May 18 at 8 p.m. in the Concert Hall. The concert, entitled “Let’s Dance!,” will showcase an eclectic range of music about dance, featuring the Carleton Choir (both the Men’s Chorus and Bella Cantemus) and the Carleton Singers. Lawrence Burnett, a professor of music and choral director at Carleton, will conduct. This event is free and open to the public.

“Let’s Dance!” will present a variety of music from many genres. Among the works set to be performed are “Tanzen und Springen” by early Baroque composer Hans Hassler, the “Neue Liebeslieder” waltzes by 19th-century composer Johannes Brahms, and “Creep,” the debut single from the British rock band Radiohead.

At the May 15 city council meeting, Councilor Betsey Buckheit recognized two students for their contributions to the city’s Complete Streets policy development. Ben Hellerstein, a Carleton senior, was instrumental in organizing the citizen group, which met for several months soliciting community support, and drafting the resolution which the council passed to direct the drafting of a policy. He had read about the Complete Streets Task Force in the Northfield News, contacted Councilor Buckheit and then scheduled meetings, provided agendas, brought in other Carleton students and generally kept the group on task.

Crews were out this morning (Wednesday, May 16) installing the first of Northfield's sidewalk poems in the vicinity of the Northfield Public Library. The poems are winners of the first Sidewalk Public Poetry Contest in 2011, which was sponsored by the Friends and Foundation of the Northfield Public Library and the Northfield Arts and Culture Commission. As of noon, two of the poems had been installed, one on the Third Street side of the library (pictured, right), and one on the Division Street side. Places have been prepared for two more poems, another in front of the library, and one across the street in front of the Archer House. According to a member of the Arts and Culture Commission, downtown business owners have been enthusiastic about having the poems in front of their businesses.

For more good photographs of the installation, see the story on Northfield Patch.

This Week at the Northfield City Council Meeting

A Northfield.org reader emailed to ask about clothes recycling in Northfield. She had read a story about Denmark-based group called The Teacher's Group that collects recycled clothing allegedly as part of a money-laundering scam. The story, which you can find here, identifies USAgain as a for-profit subsidiary of the group. USAgain used clothing bins can be found in several locations in Northfield. According to published news reports (from the Lincoln Courier in Nebraska and KIRO-TV in Seattle), USAgain disclaims any connection with The Teacher's Group. Update: In an email to Northfield.org, a representative from USAgain writes: "USAgain is based in Chicago and owned by an American citizen.  We have no affiliation whatsoever with the Teacher's Group."

Northfield.org was able to confirm (from looking at the USAgain bins in the Econofoods parking lot, pictured here) that USAgain is up front about being a for-profit venture. Donations to USAgain are not tax deductible. If you have used clothing to donate to charity, here are some other options in Northfield: