As we prepare for Memorial Day, I hope everyone will take a few moments and reflect on the great sacrifices made by our soldiers, sailors and military personnel to protect and preserve America. We all need to remember that a democracy like ours takes a lot of effort to keep it strong and healthy.

Many Memorial Days I have visited the grave of my father in Fort Snelling. It is a powerful feeling to see row after row of white crosses and know that every one of the souls resting there contributed to keeping America safe and sound.

I hope everyone has a pleasant Memorial Day weekend...drive safely in your travels.

Posted by Ray Cox at 12:38 PM | Link

 
Yesterday I attended a retirement party for Maggie Lee at the Northfield News. It was great to see so many people there to congratulate Maggie...and I chatted with some folks that came back to Northfield for the event.


Maggie Lee is a wonderful lady that has worked for years at the Northfield News. She started out as a young woman doing bookkeeping work there and moved up through the ranks to editor. She wrote a column "Maggie Says" for many years and lately has covered the downtown business scene.

Renee Huckle, current editor and publisher for the News, asked me to say a few words at the party. I told the folks that my connection to Maggie started out in my high school job at Bierman's where I was assigned to deliver various news releases "directly to Maggie". A few years later I got to know Maggie and her mother becuase I traded the use of their garage to store my car, in exchange for mowing their lawn, trimming trees, changing storms and screens, etc. That car storage plan lasted over 15 years.

But I was most pleased to tell the crowd that my best connection to Maggie was really through my mother, Marjorie Cox. After retiring from teaching at Randolph, Marjorie started work as a proofreader at the News. She and Maggie became fast friends. They attended countless plays, Minnesota Historical Society events, poetry readings, etc. all over the state. Mother and Maggie also shared a love of the color purple and would include it in their attire whenever possible.


I was able to have a good visit with former Governor Al Quie at the party. We both noted that politics feels harder now then when he was Governor in the early 1980's. Gov. Quie gave me several examples...his education reforms and drunk driving laws...where there was good bipartisan support for common sense plans.

Senator Tom Neuville joined in visiting with the Governor and agreed with the Governor's analysis of this problem.

On my way out I visited with Bob Bradford and Jim Huckle. Bob owned the Northfield News for many years before selling it to Jim. Both of them thanked me for the work Northfield Construction did to remodel the News offices...and I thanked Jim for his business. Both commented that while they knew it was less expensive to simply build new office space out on Highway #3, it was good for the News to remain in downtown Northfield. Small town papers need to have a "pulse" on the community, and the best way to do that is be acessible and right in the action. I salute the News for understanding that dollars can't drive every decison, and for investing in their great facility improvement.

This type of small town get together is what makes Northfield a great place to live. I can't imagine too many newspapers that get to celebrate a 60th anniversary party for an employee! Congratulations to Maggie Lee on a fine newspaper career.

See all the photos of Maggie's 60th anniversary in Northfield.org's photo gallery.

Posted by Ray Cox at 4:33 AM | Link

 
Last night Ellen and I attended the annual meeting of the Northfield Arts Guild. Northfield is fortunate to have a very active Arts Guild....operating since 1959. They offer all sorts of art classes, dance lessons, theater productions, etc. for all ages. Our 3 children were all involved in the programs and received wonderful exposure to the arts.

Northfield Construction Company has been a long time financial supporter of the Northfield Arts Guild. We annually sponsor plays, provide on-going support and assist with special project. The Arts Guild hired us to fully remodel the Guild's downtown building about 15 years ago, as well as add a substantial addition to the theater. Last summer we were hired to add a new entry reception area at the theater.

The work of the Northfield Arts Guild keeps helps keep art alive in the Northfield area. I'm pleased to be a supporter of this great organization.

Posted by Ray Cox at 1:08 PM | Link

 
Yesterday Gordy from KDHL Radio called me and asked if I would stop over for a short radio interview and visit at Olympus Athletic Club. KDHL was doing a remote broadcast from Olympus featuring all types of community programs.


I had not met with the new owners of Olympus, but was able to chat with Scot Suess. Scot and his wife Heather, along with Chad and Robin Johnson purchased Olympus last year from Kyle and Dale Snesrud. Kyle and Dale did a great job developing Olympus into a much more active club than it had been. Now Scot, Heather, Chad and Robin are working to keep up the momentum, keeping Olympus a great club.

I also spoke with Toby Anderson, a personal trainer at Olympus. Toby graduated from Northfield High School with my son Tristan, and then they both attended and graduated from Luther College. I had not seen Toby for a couple of years. It is nice to see NHS graduates come back to Nortfield, find employment doing what they like to do, and become active in our community.

Posted by Ray Cox at 7:36 AM | Link

 

Saturday was a beautiful day for the Community Day of Service. There were a lot of teams and individuals out and about in the community cleaning things up.

Ellen and I were assigned to the Odd Fellows Park to pick up trash....a nice, easy task that kept us outside on a nice morning. I was impressed that this park was rather clean already; not much winter accumulation of wind blown "stuff".

The most time consuming activty was picking up the cigarette butts tossed around. Susan Sanderson, the coordinator of the assignments, asked us to keep the cigarette butts separate from the other trash and to bring the butts back to her when we were done cleaning.

I believe Susan plans to bring all the bags of cigarette butts collected in the public parks to an upcoming city council meeting to let them see the amount of trash thrown aside in the parks. Susan and many others would like to see the city ban smoking in the parks to cut down on the trash and to stop second hand smoke.

Saturday was a good service day...I hope it continues in Northfield. (See Northfield.org's photo gallery of the day.)

Posted by Ray Cox at 3:44 AM | Link

 

There is a Northfield Community Day of Service on Saturday, May 8th. It is a great time to get together with friends and co-workers and help clean up areas of town. Volunteer teams will be working on cleaning the river, each area park, the downtown areas, etc. There will also be some painting projects and other community "spruce up" work going on.

If you want to help out on any part of the Community Day of Service, you can check out their website and sign up. They have a listing of projects and what is needed.

Posted by Ray Cox at 8:11 AM | Link