SUMMER FUN WITH KIDDOS (2012)
IN NORTHFIELD
Useful websites for Northfield events + news:
-Northfield.org atnorthfield.org
-Northfield Patch atnorthfieldpatch.com
-Summer 2012 Community Services at brochures.lerntools.com/pdf_view.cfm?id=611
*PARKS AROUND TOWN
Northfield has more than three dozen public parks, with 400-plus acres of land! Many have playgrounds and restrooms, most have picnic tables, and many can be reserved for group events. Here are a few favorites:
Hauberg Woods Park is a hidden park with a beautiful forest and trails. The forest lends itself to many secret hidden spots perfect for fairy houses. Also has a pond with numerous frogs and tadpoles!
Cherry Park also feels a little hidden, on a dead end street on the west side of town. Great pavilion shelter, shady, feels a little magical.
North Park has funky, unique climbing equipment, ropes and webs and spinning thingies. Lots of prairie grasses, beautiful in the fall.
Sechler Park has a big huge spiderwebby climbing structure (very safe), a spacious shelter, acres of sports fields, good bike paths, bathrooms, all the fixings. Closed to vehicles in the winter.
Spring Creek Park on the south side of town is a big place, and hosts Northfield’s in-house soccer program on Tuesday and Thursday summer evenings. An enormous play structure, ADA-certified and accessible, picnic pavilion and tables, ponds, restrooms.
Central Park on the east side has a playground, benches, lots of grass, a well-manicured garden, a stone performance space for summer theater, room for pick-up soccer and frisbee games, and old shade trees, and backs up to the Weitz Center for Creativity (small coffee shop—espresso, smoothies, sandwiches….)
Odd Fellows Park is a classic near St. Olaf, with big pavilion, complex playground, swings, shade, running room.
Caron Park(near Northfield) is a most amazing and kid-friendly 60-acre riverside park to explore! Beautiful trails and a glacial erratic rock formation! The park is a remnant of the Big Woods Forest Community, and is a terrific spot for nature study and sketching. Great creek stomping to the waterfall.
co.rice.mn.us/parks/caron.php
Anonymous park-like setting is another great hike for all: this one is just south of Northfield. Take Cannon City Blvd. (the intersection just south of Menards) and look for a pull-off on the right hand side, maybe a mile after you get onto Cannon City Blvd. and off of Hwy. 3. There is a sign there that explains hiking in regional parks (this is the far side of another great park, also poorly marked called "Cannon River Wilderness Area). Anyway, you hike in along boardwalks and get to this magic little private prairie. It is awesome.
Here’s a detailed directory of all Northfield Parks:
ci.northfield.mn.us/parksandrec/parks
*Dog Parks
Let’s not forget our furry four-legged kiddos. They too need their summer fun, so it’s not a leap to say that our town’s two off-leash parks are, well, a ball. The big one is behind Kmart on Highway 3 (actually in Dundas), with shade trees, picnic tables, lots of running room, and a stash of handy poop bags and water bowls. If your pooch gets all muddy, you can step across the parking lot to the backside of Countryside Vet, which leaves on a hose to give dogs a cooling spray-down. The other park re-opened recently and is also on Highway 3 and next to the Culver’s. Neither requires special permits, but bring only kid-friendly dogs who play well in packs.
*Outdoor pool + grounds
This is at Memorial Park (east side of town), the former playing fields for the old middle school. Now it features a terrific outdoor pool, with zero-entry, fountains, and a splash pool for really littles; a diving board, climbing wall, and social spaces for older littles; and lap swims for parents. Vending machines. Rentable canopies for birthday parties. Lounge chairs. Basketball area. Season passes or single swims. For other play, there’s talk of a public skateboard park going in and possibly an Ultimate Frisbee course. For now, a volleyball court is located north of the city pool. It’s actually rare to see any games going, but it's a nice court if anyone wants to get a game together. Some folks use it regularly as a giant sandbox and bring their own shovels and buckets.
ci.northfield.mn.us/parksandrec/pool
*Red Barn Pizza Farm
Red Barn Farm grows tasty, pesticide-free produce (some of which turns into pickles, salsa, and sauerkraut) and chickens for our area farmers markets and the CSA—and, lucky for us, for the farm’s Wednesday Night Pizza parties. Think homemade dough, garden veggies, local sausages, all done up in pies that come hot from the wood-fired outdoor ovens. The Winter family is transforming this formerly club-style operation into a full-fledged business, and plans to open for pizza evenings again at the end of summer 2012. Pack your own salads, sides, pies, and drinks to enjoy while you wait for your pizza, and don’t forget your picnic blanket or folding table and chairs.
redbarnfarmofnorthfield.com
*Northfield YMCA
No doubt you’ve heard that there’s a groundbreaking in the works for a marvelous YMCA—opening in 2013, behind the Target store. In the meantime, the Y continues to offer all sorts of fun summer and year-round stuff for kids, from park programs to adventure camps to sports teams. The annual Y KIDS TRI noncompetitive triathlon happens in July is a fun experience for the sporty ones.
northfieldymca.org/programs
*Summer Organ Recitals
This is a longstanding series of free, noontime organ recitals in July and August, set for Wednesdays from 12:15-12:45. The 2012 line-up:
July 11: Skinner Chapel (Carleton College)
July 18: Boe Memorial Chapel (St. Olaf College)
July 25: First Congregational Church (300 Union Street)
August 1: Studio A, Skifter Hall, Christiansen Music Building (St. Olaf College)
August 8: United Methodist Church (1401 S. Maple Street)
August 15: St. John's Lutheran Church (500 3rd Street West)
*Young People’s Theater Workshop (YPT)
For kids entering grades 3-12 through the Northfield Arts Guild, it’s a longstanding three-week program that teams up a creative staff of theater artists and educators to lead young thespians through the process of writing their own scripts, rehearsing, and performing dramatics and dance. This is a real gem in town—an intensive theater education hosted at Arcadia Charter School. It’s not what you’d call an economic bargain (at $300-plus a pop for the weeks), but you can’t beat this kind of experience for kids who aspire to the stage.
northfieldartsguild.org
Northfield-to-Dundas bike trail
The one that goes from Sechler Park to Dundasis a nice ride for little legs and makes a good outing for bringing lunch, feels like a big trip for the small ones but is easy and low-key for the grown-ups. Once you get to Dundas, it’s fun to sit on the patio of the L & M bar/café sipping root beer floats, take in a Dundas Dukes baseball game, or mill around the park playground, before finishing the round trip.
cityofdundas.org
ci.northfield.mn.us/assets/b/BikeTrailMap_Pamphlet_20090728.pdf
Baseball games
Speaking of which, it’s a hoot to just pick a random one when the mood strikes, like the Northfield Knights, Dundas Dukes, Miesville Mudhens, or Cannon Falls Bears—these are small, good-time, legion teams, and the games feel almost old-fashioned.
northfieldknights.com
dundasdukes.com
miesvillemudhens.com
mnbaseball.org/team/cannonfallsbears
Fishing the Cannon River
Especially in downtown Northfield. Ne’er a week goes by without attempting to catch (and release) the big one.
Prairie & Wood Day Camp
Held in the Carleton College Arboretum. Kids explore the prairies, woods, bogs, and waterways around the area, do environmental arts and research, play games, and take field trips to farms and parks. Half- day camps run 8:30-11:30 for ages 5-12. $95 for M-F. Prairie & Wood is a program of the Northfield YMCA.
northfieldymca.org/archives/3437
*Historic Stanton Airfield
Kids really love this little grass-strip airfield, right between Northfield and Cannon Falls. It’s home to the Minnesota Soaring Club, mostly a hobby group of retired guys and their small planes and gliders who do pick-up flights using a home-built control station, centuries of collective experience in the air, and some cooperative wind. There’s great nostalgia here, from the old-fashioned pop machine to the walk down memory lane photo gallery on the walls. There’s a play set, picnic tables, lush grass, and lots of chance encounters with pilots that will excite young imaginations. Also: a free fly-in with dozens of planes, pancake breakfast, and all sorts of prototype models every Father’s Day.
stantonairfield.com
Ice cream cones
Hogan Brothers, Bittersweet, and Cocoa Bean all scoop several flavors—it’s lovely to walk down along Division Street in the evening with a cone in hand, then sit by the fountain or waterfall in Bridge Square.
Northfield Public Library
Great reading programs!The summer reading program goes June-July, and there are booklets that kids of all ages can use as guides and motivators (if they need it) or just for a fun way to keep track of what they’re reading for posterity’s record. Every Thursday at 11:45 those who’ve met their reading goal get treated to pizza at the library. Check it out.
And of course, on Wednesdays at 7:00 pm Books & Stars happens at parks around town, with Booker the bookmobile at the curb and live music on the stage. Especially don’t miss Justin Roberts’ annual gig at Central Park.
ci.northfield.mn.us/library
July 4 in Northfield (annual)
Criterion bike races in downtown. It's engaging to watch, wander about with no big agenda and drink cold coffees (depending on weather...). They also have a kid race which is one lap, for which you can sign up on the spot.
CARLETON COLLEGE
carleton.edu
*Walking:Rocks + Benches is a stone-and-log structure beside the big Skinner Chapel (faces First Street)—fun for kids to climb on and a good picnic spot.Riding bikes around campus is fun for beginners since there are few driveways and little traffic (except students absorbed in their smart phones ) to look out for. The Carleton main library has a taxidermed penguin named Oscar, and a great couchy nook with a serious collection of children’s classic and illustrated books—a restorative pit stop, for sure! Also, there is a giant outdoor chalkboard that is fun to find—somewhere in the vicinity of the library (anyone know the exact building?)
*Goodsell Observatory Open House at Carleton: First Friday of every month (cancelled if cloudy). The start time is listed in the Northfield News, as it varies with the season and when darkness arrives. Summer is a terrific time to catch these events, though winter visits are sometimes more compatible with kids' bedtimes (the building is not heated, so choose a warmer evening or bundle up). Once in the building, you wait (in the dark) in line to climb up a ladder to see into the two huge indoor telescopes. Students and professors are there to talk with you about what you see. There are also a few smaller telescopes set up outside and ready to explore night sky with college-student tour guides who love to answer kids’ questions.
carleton.edu/departments/phas/astro/index.html
Japanese garden: This is a favorite spot to hang out, bring some tea & crackers, tell stories and daydream. It's a great setting for make-believe activities (wear a costume, bring a couple props). You can park on Maple & First streets where the newish Carleton dorms are, then just stroll behind the big old dorm right there on Maple. You’ll stumble upon the The Garden of Quiet Listening.
apps.carleton.edu/campus/japanesegarden
Stonehenge: The little rock and oak tree gathering in the Arb (enter at the very end of East Second Street, go down, cross bridge, come up, pick some raspberries along the path, then take the second path to the right and keep going right. Families like to go there for little child-sized ritual and fun (climbing, hugging, and talking to the old oaks and big rocks), light a candle, say a little prayer for the earth (or whatever). Bring a kite, too—the wind is often just right on these fields.
*Weitz Center for Creativity: New in 2011, this is a new town-and-gown hotspot. The building used to house Northfield Middle School, and is now home to dance, film, and live theater venues, an exhibition gallery, classrooms and studios, and a lively lobby with small café (see the website for a calendar). The Weitz adjoins Central Park, with its playground, picnic tables, and summer outdoor theater productions put on by the Northfield Arts Guild.
apps.carleton.edu/weitz
northfieldartsguild.org
*Racquetball courts
If you have access as a faculty or staff family, it’s fun to reserve a court at the rec center and get a bin of tennis balls (both free) and go crazy on the court—throwing, kicking, and sliding on the tennis balls. The race center is super-friendly to kids—just no running on the stairs. Kids also like to watch students on the climbing wall at the rec center.
ST. OLAF COLLEGE
tolaf.edu
Walking: Or running or skipping or jumping…. Spin around the beautiful hilltop, through the little landscaped areas, and under the Wind Chime Memorial by Boe Chapel. Also, you can wander through Flaten Art Museum in Dittman Center, or get a snack in Buntrock Commons. It's all very close together. Birdwatching and running on the soccer fields at St Olaf is a hoot. The entrance to the college’s arboretum is on the corner of Greenvale and Lincoln avenues. It's a fun hike and goes around a small pond and onto the soccer fields. Usually by the time parents get there the kids are ready to get out of the stroller and play.
Dining: Some of us like to bring the kids to eat at the St. Olaf dining room at Stav Hall. It’s affordable, the service is Bon Appetit, a share of the food is locally grown, organic, hormone-free meat, and all food waste is composted at the STOGROW student farm. For an even finer-dining time, try the Kings’ Room when it’s open during the school year.
stolaf.edu
stolaf.edu/visiting/dining.html
Montessori Children's House
MCH offers a rich, month-long summer program during June and a beautiful music week in August, for preschoolers. The house’s back yard is park-like, with live animals, a dry creekbed, all sorts of climbing and fantasy structures, and lively gardens beds.
mchnorthfield.com
*Prairie Creek Summer Day Camps
Northfield’s public elementary charter school offers a spirited, progressive series of week-long summer camps in June. Kids in first-sixth grades spend the warm days in the meadows, woods, and waterways of Prairie Creek’s Big Backyard, gardening, cooking, eating, studying chemistry, playing games, and making field expeditions to area farmers’ markets and produce farms.
prairiecreek.org
Brick Oven Bakery
The free bread samples always help in the middle of running errands. Across the street is the Northfield Gymnastic Center, affordable classes and coaching to get the jeebies out, plus a weekly open gym for $5.
brickovenbakery.com
*Fossum Family Farm Alpacas
Stop out for a frolic with this 70-plus herd of alpacas and a visit to their small shop that features alpaca-wool crafts and clothing. These are awesome animals, and the family welcomes kids to their corner of paradise.
fossumfamilyfarm.alpacanation.com
*FARMERS MARKETS
Try bringing a couple blankets and picnic, munching on market fare, there's sometimes music, kids play on the play equipment. Lots of people show up and it's a cool community gathering. Old friends and new!
Northfield Farmers Market
Riverside Park on Seventh Street (11:45 am -1:00 pm on Tuesdays + Fridays and 9:00-11:00 am on Saturdays, June-October)
Riverwalk Market Fair
Downtown Northfield (9:00 am-2:00 pm on Saturdays, June-October)
riverwalkmarketfair.org
Various Minnesota Farmers Markets
farmersmarketonline.com/fm/Minnesota
STRAWBERRY + RASPBERRY + APPLE PICKING
(and coming soon: Blueberries from Little Hill Farm)
Pick your own—fruitful fun, and the produce tastes better when it’s hand-harvested.
Silkey Gardens