• Saturday, June 23 — versus St. Croix Base Ball Club in Stillwater. This will be a combination of base ball and beer tasting. We each have our own label now.

• Wednesday, July 4 — versus St. Croix in Northfield. I p.m. St. Olaf College, Old Main Field

• Saturday, July 28 — Rochester Exhibition, Olmsted County History Center, three 50-minute matches, all day.

• Saturday, Aug. 18 — versus Rochester Roosters at the Rice County Fairgrounds in Faribault, 1 p.m.

• Saturday, Sept. 8 — versus St. Croix at Old Memorial Field, 1 p.m. Defeat of Jesse James Days.

The rules of 1860 have some very interesting differences to today’s game. The players do not wear gloves; if the ball is caught on the first bounce the batter is out; there are no balls or strikes called by the umpire – although a batter can still strike out if he swings and misses three times; foul balls are not considered strikes; and the base runners can be tagged out if they over run first base.

Here it is,  and enjoy!

Student Volunteer of the Year

This year’s youth volunteer of the year, Devyn Gardner, has been contributing to the Northfield Historical Society’s mission since she was in seventh grade. She entered as a member of the Junior Curator program, went on to serve as a tour guide, helped edit “Caught In A Storm” and most recently collected and organized photos for the “History of Northfield,” a textbook written for elementary students.

Earl Weinmann, director of the NHS Education Program, calls her his “go-to girl.”

Competent and conscientious, he can count on her to follow through and get things done.

Now looking back as she finishes a stellar high school career, Devyn said it was a Civil War road trip with her Dad that laid the foundation for her interest in history. She was in sixth grade when, over a spring break, they visited a number of key Civil War battlegrounds and presidential libraries. Then, a class with Mr. Weinmann opened the door to NHS, and Devyn found a place to cultivate her new passion.

Her six years with NHS has given her an appreciation for local history, the commonplace as well as the dramatic.

“I’ve just really gotten an appreciation for even small pieces of history,” she said.

Devyn is the daughter of Ron and Becky Gardner. She plans on attending college next year — campus still to be determined — and explore a degree in economics and international relations.

Adult Volunteer of the Year

For Debby Larsen, this year’s Adult Volunteer of the Year, volunteering at Northfield Historical Society has been a journey of discovery.

During her six years as a board member (president in 2009), Museum Store volunteer, and all-star seat filler at most NHS events and programs, she has learned how important history is to the Northfield community.

“Northfield has a lot of caring individuals and the history of the Northfield area is important to a lot of people,” she said

Debby also has learned how broad the Northfield history story is. People are most familiar with the more dramatic chapters of our community’s history, but through her involvement in NHS, Debby has been impressed with the more ordinary, but sill interesting, stories.

“There’s much more out there than what I knew about when I started,” she said.

A senior executive administrator and document control specialist at Multek, Debby was invited into the NHS orbit through her participation in the sesquicentennial celebration. When asked to join the board, she said: “yes.” Now she is one of NHS’s biggest promoters.

“I am grateful we have NHS to keep our history alive,” she said.

Left to Right: Rachel Wadleigh, Hayes Scriven, and Devyn Gardner. Photo Courtesy Northfield News

On Sunday I had the honor of presenting two $500 scholarships to Rachel Wadleigh and Devyn Gardner.

Both Rachel and Devyn have made great contributions to the Northfield School District and Northfield Historical Society Youth Education Programs.  They both served as Jr. Curators, Jr. Posse Members, and as Museum Summer Assistants.  They were also contributing members of the SCOPE program and published authors of the book “Caught in the Storm.”

Rachel was honored as the NHS Student Volunteer of the Year for 2010 at a reception last July.  Next Tuesday, May 22, at an open house from 6-7:30 p.m. Devyn will be honored as the 2011 NHS Student Volunteer of the Year.  We will also honor past NHS board member Debby Larsen as our Adult Volunteer of the Year.

Congratulations to everyone!

Thank you to the Northfield News for letting me use their photograph.  To see the other photos from the award ceremony you can view them at the Northfield News website here.

NOTE: The Northfield Senior Center wrote the release below and ask NHS to help spread the word.

Help the Northfield Senior Center Find Out How to Better Serve You

The Northfield Senior Center (NSC) is surveying non-members ages 45 and up to find out how the NSC can better serve residents as they become senior citizens.

Thank you for taking the time to complete this quick, 24-question survey which has been compiled by the NSC Membership Committee with the assistance of the statistics students at Carleton College and support from the college’s Office of Academic Civic Engagement.

If this address is used by more than one member of your household, only one person will be able to respond. Your responses will remain completely anonymous.

Surveys must be completed by Friday May 4th, at 5 p.m. in order for the results to be analyzed by a second set of Carleton students. Because we’d like to glean information from as many non-members as possible, we will send
reminders to everyone on the list next Monday and again next Thursday.

Click here to go to the survey.

Your responses will help the NSC Board of Directors determine Senior Center priorities for the upcoming year. We value your opinion and look forward to acting on the useful information this survey will provide.

Thanks in advance for your participation,

Nancy Ashmore, Member, Northfield Senior Center Board of Directors and Adrienne Falcon, Director of Academic Civic Engagement Carleton College

Those affiliated with Girl Scouts, at any point in their life, are encouraged to share favorite stories/memories to add to this historic event. Email rosen@stolaf.edu and please indicate the troop #, unit, and town you participated in while in Girl Scouts. This information will be used as part of the historical documentation for the Northfield Historical Society’s event and for use in its archives. We hope to gather a great collection of favorite troop stories and photos throughout the years. 

Last, we are interested in collecting memorabilia for the display. Items will be accepted up until May 23 at the Northfield Girl Scout Service Center located at 1025 North Hwy 3. If you have questions please  call Elaine Grisim at the Northfield Girl Scout Office at 507.645.6603 x1530. Please see the attachments for submission forms.

Northfield Historical Society Loan Agreement Form

Girl Scouts Donation Form

Ole and Lena Joke Night 2012 from Hayes Scriven on Vimeo.

Here are some photos of the evening.  I hope to have a video of the program up soon as well.  But for now you can also check out the coverage on Northfield Patch  here, here and even here.

Molly Woehrlin’s finger prints are all over Northfield. It is hard to scratch the surface of almost any organization or issue in Northfield without finding Molly Woerhlin prominently featured.

She has been a catalyst for institutional and social change here for the last 50 years. Her role has been that of educator, advocate, politician and community organizer. Her habit has been to help convene people around important issues, start an organization or a movement, and once it is up and running, she moves on.

Her interests are many and varied. She has been an advocate for children with special needs. She has been involved in environmental issues. She was once a Rice County commissioner. She has been actively involved with the ABC program, the Northfield Historical Society board, the East Side Neighborhood Association, League of Women Voters, First UCC church and many, many other groups that have had a major impact on the life of this community

Through her imagination, leadership and sense of civic responsibility, Molly has helped shape the community culture that makes Northfield unique.

Congratulations Molly!