“You’re listening to the new sound in town, KYMN radio. Let’s boogie!” The uplifting strains of “Up, Up and Away,” sung by the Fifth

On Aug. 19, 1915, the Northfield Independent newspaper announced, “Carnival Shows Draw Big Crowds. Many Clever and Interesting Performances to Be Seen with Patterson Carnival Company,

When I lived in New York and told anyone that my alma mater was St. Olaf, more often than not the response was, “Oh,

Need a suggestion for a stocking stuffer? Well, here it is: a compilation of kids’ letters to Santa from the Northfield News from 1902 to 1945. Dear

Dad, why doesn’t Carleton play metric football?” That question, from Carleton chemistry professor Jerry Mohrig’s teenage son David, sparked a very special and unique

The name Thomas Scott Buckham is most likely associated today with the library bearing his name at 11 Division St. E in Faribault. But

What would have been on the covers of the February Entertainment Guides had they been around in the 19th century? In 1892, we may have

It isn’t often that Minneapolis’ major newspaper, the Associated Press and the CBS Morning News carry the results of a campaign for a college

The upset victory of tiny Appalachian State over mighty Michigan in football this season has reminded me of two David and Goliath-type games played

Researching historic happenings can be time-consuming. It can also be as easy as “googling” a  topic on a computer. Occasionally, it is a matter of

Originally Published in the February 2014 Entertainment Guide When I spent my freshman year at St. Olaf in Hilleboe Hall, which was perched on

You may remember Prince’s song, “Party Like It’s 1999,” which was popular as the new millennium approached. Well, Northfielders were in the mood to

Carleton College archivist Eric Hillemann has a colorful poster from the 1930s on his office wall which announces a lecture: “James B. Pond presents

From February 2007 to December 2016, I wrote 119 “Historic Happenings” columns for The Entertainment Guide. What have I been doing since my last column?

Northfield’s rich musical heritage can be traced back to Ann North, wife of Northfield’s founder, John North. When it came to a choice between

No, I am not writing about the Northfield Cannon Valley Lions Club. Nor am I writing about the St. Olaf Lion, logo of the

“Speaker Ushers in Black History Month.” So read the headline of The Carletonian of Feb. 12, 1999. A picture with the story shows Barack Obama at

Originally Published in the April 2014 Entertainment Guide Basket Ball. Yes, two separate words, so chosen because a janitor showed up with two peach

I wrote two paragraphs about Henry Talford Budd, known as “Tal,” in my third Historic Happenings column in April of 2007. I was writing about events

In the latter part of the 19th century, Northfielders celebrated the 4th of July with fireworks, band concerts, flights of oratory, baseball games, races

Gary Rue was in his 9th grade algebra class in Tracy, Minnesota, in September of 1964 and the fellow sitting behind him was beating

“We’ve already started three colleges and have the logs cut for four more.” An early 19th century letter from an Ohio settler to a

In the spring of 2015 the Northfield Historical Society and The Entertainment Guide teamed up to publish volumes 2 and 3 of selected Historic Happenings columns about St. Olaf and Carleton. (Volume

“Noted Organist Accepts Offer: Carleton Secures James R. Gillette, Nationally Known Organist.” This was the front page headline in the Northfield News of Aug. 24, 1923.

In 1855, at the age of 40,  John Wesley North was ready for new challenges. A New Yorker by birth, he had moved to St.

L.K. (Larry) Hanson, creator of a popular St. Olaf comic strip in the ’60s and long-time StarTribune illustrator and writer, came to Northfield recently to talk