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Congratulations to Allie Lyman (Anna's Closet) for being awarded queen at Saturday night's annual scholarship royalty coronation.  Maria Ziegler (Northfield Dance Academy) and Elyssa Prevost (Polzin Glass) were awarded princess honors. Jr Princess is Lilly King (Northfield Dance Academy) and Jr Ambasador is Sam Hegseth (Women & Kids on Division).

Allie Lyman (Queen)

Maria Ziegler (Princess)

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By now most of you know that on August 23, the Northfield Historical Society will be hosting our first  motorcycle run to raise money for our youth education programs.  If you want to know more about it, visit the Outlaw Run web site.  You can also listen to me on the 93X morning show on August 18 at 8:30 a.m.  I am going to talk about the Run and why a historical society is doing this type of event.

Updates for the Run:

• The lunch at Elysian is going to be a BBQ for $2.00
• After the rally at the Reub N' Stein there will be a drawing for a pair of Minnesota Twins tickets.
• Outlaw Run T-shirts are in!! When you register for the run you get a T-shirt or you can buy them at the Museum Store for $14.95.

For more information on the Run call the Northfield Historical Society at 507-645-9268.

Local author/historian John J. Koblas will give a slide presentation on his new trilogy of books entitled Let them Eat Grass, Thursday, August 14, at the Northfield Historical Society.  The three-part series is broken into different areas about the conflict.  "Smoke," the first book, published in 2006, details American Indian history from earliest times, carefully setting up the climate of inevitable confrontation with the arrival of white settlers in Minnesota. The second book, "Fire," chronicles early attacks on small settlements to the attacks on Fort Ridgely, New Ulm, and the Battles of Birch Coulee and Wood Lake, culminating in the surrender of the Sioux at Camp Release. The final book in the series, "Ashes" focuses on the trials of Dakota leaders, the mass hanging at Mankato, the death of Little Crow, the pursuit of the Sioux into the Dakota and Montana Territories, and the war on a bigger scale—Fetterman, Custer, Wounded Knee, Sugar Point. Whether genocide or accident, if there is a villain in the story it is not peevish old Sitting Bull, or the yellow-haired boy general, but the American people and their never-ending list of places which the Indians 'did not need.'
 

Mr. Koblas will be signing books before and after the presentation.  Refreshments will be served.  The book signing and presentation will start at 6:30 p.m. at the Northfield Historical Society; we are located at 408 Division Street, in downtown Northfield.

Well, Art Swirl is done and it was a great event.  Below are the pictures I took during the event.  You can also view photos from Griff Wigley on Locally Grown and take a look at the northfield.org photos.

There are 158 photos in the slide show!

Last night Art Swirl kicked off with a bang!  The wood sculpture subject was revealed and there was great music and dancing on Bridge Square.  See the slide show from last night.

Art Swirl Poster 2008

I have just updated the Water and 5th Street construction slide show, it is now over 95 images!

I have also added a slide show on the the dam work being done.

In addition, I am posting a picture of one of the first baseball games in Northfield.  It is dated to be in the late 1850s or early 1860s.

Water and 5th Street slide show

Dam work

Baseball Game

Be a donor during Defeat!  Come by the Blood-Mobile on Saturday of the event in the Econofoods parking lot. All donors will be receiving a ARC gift and a chance to win a $25 dollar Econofoods gift card.

Please see the official website to schedule a time and gather further information. 

www.givebloodgivelife.org

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We've put up a raid quiz for all to take.  It's twenty questions that are sure to challenge.  Find out just how raid savvy you are by clicking here.

We've put up a raid quiz for all to take.  It's twenty questions that are sure to challenge.  Find out just how raid savvy you are by clicking here.

Test your knowledge of the raid.  Take this 20 question quiz here. We'll email you your answers and the results imediately after.

About a year ago, I was walking in the Northfield Cemetery preparing for our Cemetery Stories event and I noticed many freshly knocked over tombstones.  As I came up to the Heywood plot I noticed that Mattie Heywood (Joseph Lee Heywood's first wife) stone was knocked over and had broken into many pieces.  Well, because of the generosity of the First National Bank of Northfield, Mattie now has a new stone.

Below is a slide show of the new stone being put into place.  At the end of the show you will see the new stone and the old stone.

Despite what the printed brochure says, there will be no arts and crafts show at the Northfield areana on hwy 3 (indoor arena) this year.  Due to renovation by the city, 4-Star Promotions announced that it was unable to find an alternate location and that the event will be cancelled this year. 

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Earlier this week the First National Bank of Northfield (FNB) removed two safes that have been in their vault since 1893.  Do not worry though, the FNB has donated the 115 year old safes to the Northfield Historical Society and they will be making an appearance probably in November, so stay tuned!  I was at the bank for part of the day when one safe was being removed and below is a slide show of it being taken out.

In addition, Jodi Lawson, a FNB Vice President and NHS Board member, found an article in an 1893 Northfield News paper relating to the vault and the safes.

After you click on the article click on it again to zoom in.

Are you a motorcycle rider?  Do you like Southern Minnesota in August? Are you a history buff?  Well, if you are any of those you are going to enjoy the Outlaw Run!  The Outlaw Run is a motorcycle rally sponsored by the Northfield Historical Society to raise money for our youth education programs.  The run is going to take place on August 23, 2008.  For more information go the the Outlaw Run page.

We will be updating the page frequently, so come back for more up-to-date information.

Well, it's the Monday after the 4th of July and what a great weekend!  It was a great event for Northfielders of all ages to come out and enjoy the great weather and celebrate America's birth day!  Can anyone tell me what organization in town also celebrated a birthday on July 4th?  See the slideshow below for pictures I took during the event. Also see Girff's blog on Locally Grown and the photo album at Northfield.org for more pictures of the event.

Well, tomorrow is the the 4th of July and that means that Northfield's Red, White and Blue Hometown Celebration is back!  To view the event's scheduled, click on the poster to the right.  The Museum and Museum Store will be open from 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. tomorrow as well.  We will also have a hospitality tent up in which we will be giving information out and free American Flag tattoos!

You can see pictures from last year's celebration in the slideshow below.

Just in time for the 4th of July, the city got the first coat of pavement down on the Water Street parking lot.  I have updated my Picasa photo gallery on the project.  I am trying to take pictures every week of the project, and you can see progress in the slideshow below.

See you tomorrow on the Square!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

5:00 -7:30 PM  Rodeo Grounds

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The Northfield Historical Society just received our new T-shirts for the summer.  View the slide show below for the new shirts.  They range from $12.95 to $19.95 in price.

The Museum Store is open from 10:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m. Monday thru Saturday and 1:00 p.m.- 4:00 p.m. Sunday.  If you would like to call us our phone number is 507-645-9268 or you can email us by clicking here.

We are holding our Volunteer Appreciation Day on June 12 at 6:30 p.m. This is our way to say THANK YOU!   We will be honoring  Scott Elmer (Past Board President) and  Matt Hagen-Stowe (former Summer Assistant and Jr. Curator) with our Volunteers of the year award.  There will be free ice cream and cake!  The ice cream is being donated by Hogan Brothers and the cake is from Quality Bakery.  If you are a current member or volunteer, stop on down for some good food and fun.  The night is all about you!  If you are wanting to volunteer with us, this is the best way to find out what we offer, and you get to meet current volunteers and find out what it is like to work with us.  Without volunteers the Historical Society would not be the great organization it is today! 

(Top to Bottom: Scott Elmer, Matt Hagen-Stowe)