Northfield Area Foundation

Among the recipients of 2007 grants was the Northfield Community Band:

$1,500 will pay for guest musicians and to rent the city’s showmobile for four summer concerts in downtown Northfield. Many local musicians will share their talents while others enjoy the music, shop at the local businesses and see friends and neighbors.

Here are photo slideshows from the band’s June 12 and June 26 performances on Bridge Square:

The Northfield Area Foundation 2008 Annual Report is now available (7 page PDF)

Members of the Northfield Area Foundation Board of Directors for 2008 are:

Bill Bleckwehl, Chair
Ray Cox
Dan Freeman
Jayne Hager-Dee, Secretary
Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin
Karna Halverson, Vice Chair
Andy Langehough
Anne Lundstrom
Anne Mayer
Catherine McBride
Jim Nelson, Treasurer
Dale Ness
Donna Rae Scheffert
Lynn Ziegler

The 2008 Northfield Area Foundation brochure (PDF) is now available.

At the January meeting, the NAF board announced its grants for 2008. See the PDF of the announcement, adapted from the press release published in the Jan. 26 edition of the Northfield News.

The NAF board met yesterday in the lower level meeting room of the Community Resource Bank.

2007 Board of Directors

Pat Allen
Bill Bleckwehl, Chair
Ray Cox
Jayne Hager Dee, Vice Chair
Rich Falck
Dan Freeman
Karna Halverson
Clarita Kell
Andy Langehough
Ann Mayer
Catherine McBride
Jim Nelson
Donna Rae Scheffert
Candy Taylor
Lynn Wilmot

The big Community Works! celebration was held Wednesday night at Spring Creek Park.

  
Left: Board chair Bill Bleckwehl receiving a commendation to the NAF from Northfield Mayor Lee Lansing for the NAF drinking fountain donation.
Right: Sue Pokorney and WINGS Board member Nancy Carlson, highlighting the fountain that’s part of the WINGS Oasis

 
Putting the drinking fountain to use. Click photos to enlarge.

See 40+ photos of the event or view this slideshow.

I got this email from Bill Bleckwehl, Chair of the NAF Board.

On Wednesday, June 20, the Northfield Area Foundation (NAF) Board of Advisors hosted its second annual Cafe Forum at Park Ridge Apartments at the Three Links campus. A cross section of Northfield residents were invited to discuss what makes Northfield special and what would make the community better. The event was facilitated by Julie Dappen from MAP for Non Profits.

These photos were taken by NAF Board member Ray Cox who blogged the event. Click thumbnails to enlarge.

I stopped by the WINGS Oasis at Spring Creek Park and took these photos of some very hot and thirsty soccer players taking advantage of the new NAF drinking fountain. Click photos to enlarge. I’ve added these photos to the WINGS Oasis photo album.

I’ve put up a new weblog on the Northfield Rotary website and am updating that blog with WINGS Oasis news, too… including a post today about the new WINGS Oasis photo album. Here’s a slideshow of current photos:

The WINGS Oasis in Spring Creek park, adjacent to the Amerman Pavilion, is almost ready. I took the photo on the left early last week (click to enlarge).

Doug Grove wrote about the construction last week on his blog and he included photos of some of the volunteers who are helping to build it. The inauguration ceremony will be in June. NAF is funding the drinking fountain (see this blog post for more).

The 2007 Northfield Area Foundation Annual Report (PDF) is now available.

We recently received this email from Charlie Cogan:

Dear Friends at the NAF:

We expect to install the water fountain at Spring Creek Park in the next month and there will be a nice inauguration ceremony where all of the donors and sponsors will be invited and we’ll also be putting a plaque on the water fountain to thank the NAF for this huge contribution to the hundreds of people who play at Spring Creek Park all summer long.

I know that a report is due soon, but we’ve held off until we can get the fountain installed and get a photo. We’ve already purchased the fountain and it’s at Joel Walinski’s office awaiting warmer weather. The plumbing is all done and the site for the placement of the fountain is already prepared.

Sincerely,

Charlie Cogan
Rotary Club of Northfield, MN

I spotted (L to R) Jim Pokorney, Catherine McBride, and Charlie Cogan scheming at the GBM last week. What were they up to? (Click the images to enlarge.) Jim emailed me the details. I added some links:

As part of the community’s effort to enhance Spring Creek Park, Northfield Rotary is teaming up with WINGS (Women In Northfield Giving Support) to build the WINGS Oasis. The oasis is a small plaza located between the playground and the newly constructed Amerman Pavilion.

On the paver stone surface, the oasis will have three misting showers, a drinking fountain (provided by the Northfield Area Foundation), and two stone benches. Like any oasis worthy of its name, on a hot day the Wings Oasis will be a shady place to rest and a source of refreshing cool water for all to enjoy.

The WINGS Oasis is partially finished with final completion expected in May. Northfield Rotary is providing project management and labor and WINGS is providing a major grant to purchase materials. The WINGS Oasis was designed by Spencer Jones (Spencer Jones Landscape Architect) and expert construction support is being provided by Doug Grove (Grove’s Landscaping). The photo shown explains the oasis design. It was displayed at Rotary’s recent “Turkey Run” fundraiser for the project.

I met with some members of the NAF board today for a short presentation on leadership/organizational blogging.

L to R: Pat Allen, Pat Vincent, Bill Bleckwehl, and Rich Falck. Click the thumbnail to enlarge… and watch for blog posts soon.