Question: Who Are Northfield’s Quiz Show Aces? This year the Academy Award for Best Picture went to “Slumdog Millionaire,” the story of a teen

“It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s…Schiller!” On Nov. 10, 1962, a Carleton football game versus Lawrence was interrupted by a strange sight. A

“The overture is about to start. You cross your fingers and hold your heart. It’s curtain time and away we go. Another opening of

Originally Published in the March 2014 Entertainment Guide Here in Northfield, insomniacs hear the freight train horns late at night, while during the day

Riki Kölbl Nelson has been part of the local art scene since 1968 when she and her husband, Eric Nelson, moved to Northfield for

I have occasionally been asked, “When will there be a book of your columns?” Now I have an answer: A book with the catchy

Northfield, a temperance town? Well, sort of… “No intoxicating drinks shall be sold or in any manner furnished as a beverage on said premises.”

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.

Let’s get this out of the way from the start. You can’t pay me enough to watch the 40 or more mostly mediocre (and

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

Early in the 20th century, Carleton College students eagerly awaited an ice cream party which celebrated the advent of spring after yet another long

It’s been a good year for New York City artist Ward Sutton, St. Olaf Class of 1989. Four of his cartoons were published in the New

Just two months shy of being elected president of the United States, Ike Eisenhower gave the only college address of his campaign in Northfield.

Originally Published in the May 2014 Entertainment Guide “Do you remember your first bike?” This is the question KYMN radio’s Wayne Eddy likes to

“We were built and now stand on the shoulders of Giants.” This was the shared sentiment of the St. Olaf College Department of Art

What memories do you have of the Tilt-A-Whirl? I think almost everyone has a memory of the first spinning, dipping, dizzying, dazzling ride on

The first “Jesse James Day” was held in Northfield on September 11, 1948, as part of a two-day Jaycee Fall Festival. The event was

Today’s Carleton College students know the names Fred B. and Deborah Sayles Hill. That is to say, they know the names Sayles and Hill

In September of 1868, a mere 13 years after Northfield was founded by John W. North, the young town decided to put on an

Within six years of the founding of Northfield in 1855, Northfield proudly flew its first U.S. flag. The Continental Congress had adopted the nation’s

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

In July of 2011 an open house was held at the Archer House River Inn to show off a $1.1 million renovation of the

The opening game of the 1965-66 basketball season of the Northfield High School Raiders was to be played on the court of a new

If you are a visitor to Northfield for this year’s Defeat of Jesse James Days, Sept. 9-13, you can perhaps be forgiven if you

“Masquerade Ball! Easter Monday, April 7, 1890, at the Opera House. Tickets $1, gallery 50¢ with the privilege of dancing after 11 o’clock. Everybody

“Old Bill” Schilling would have loved this August Historic Happenings column. That is because I am going to tell you a lot about his contributions to

Mike (“Doc”) Hildebrandt has a motto, taken from John Denver’s song Thank God, I’m a Country Boy. It is, “I fiddle when I can and

The Wanamingo Bulldogs and the Faribault Hot Shots have just completed a basketball scrimmage at the Faribault Community Center one cold Monday night in