It is 1914 and the Northfield Commercial Club is sponsoring a contest to find the perfect slogan for the town. Northfield is known for its mills, wheat, and award winning flour, Holstein cows, milk and butter. It is a charming town with not one but two colleges and many fine businesses, and is populated with a caring community who know how to protect each other from bandits like Jesse James.

Change is the one constant in life and, for good or ill, it touches even our motivating principles. The drive for education, abolition, and temperance that brought so many west to Northfield, mellowed with time and life experience. Northfield residents helped establish—not one, but—two colleges.  

Northfield’s 22nd Winter Walk is right around the corner, and guess who will be there? Santa’s elves, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and Frosty the Snowman, of course! Come look for them as they meander up and down Division Street after the Tree Lighting Ceremony (5:00 PM) - if, that is, you can pull yourself away from Northfield Library’s Magic of Model Trains exhibit (starting at 3:30 PM).

Have you ever panted past the Headley House during a run on the Carleton College campus and wondered who lived there? Maybe you happened upon the Marston Headley Research Room while investigating the Northfield Historical Society and wondered why a library research room would be named for anyone?

For students, the news headlines say it all: College costs too much.  This has been the way of the academic world for decades. But a college education has been held up to be their future hope for job and success. What are they to do now? The current Covid-19 pandemic has forced educational institutions at all levels to change their classroom protocols from casual face-to-face to virtual instruction and to think outside the educational box.

Well over one hundred years ago, when travelers needed gasoline, tire repair or directions, they made their way to the filling station. From general store to sidewalk pumps to the covered drive-in station, the filling station made filling their tanks convenient and safe, even providing free air and water. Despite advancements in technology, not much has changed.

What do these names have in common: Paul Bunyan --Tater Tot Hotdish -- Luke Skywater -- Drainy McDrainface? They are all names of Minnesota Storm Drains, also known as Catch Basins. These particular catch basins are part of a community volunteer program called Adopt-A-Drain.

Make it local. Make it Northfield. Enjoy a walk along the Cannon River and the sights, smells, and sounds of this year’s Fall Celebration Market October 9 at Bridge Square. Check out the new vendors for this special event and greet your favorite regulars.

The latest in apartment living in Northfield can be found downtown at 5th Street Lofts and down the road apiece on Jefferson Road at Timberlake Apartments. Both built in 2020-2021, they have much to offer the discerning renter.

It has been said that the only thing that you can count on is change. And so it is in Northfield. The latest winds of change swept over two elementary schools—Sibley and Longfellow. In October 2020, the school board considered changes in policy regarding the naming of school buildings and facilities.