A Park for All Seasons

Way Park is the heart of a vibrant neighborhood on the west side of Northfield. It features: a musical playground; playground equipment and swings; pre-school equipment; a basketball court; picnic and grilling areas; a walking path; a warming hut and ice rink (seasonal); a small baseball/kickball diamond (seasonal); a large open field perfect for pick up soccer games and kite flying; and lovely rain gardens. Our organization, The Friends of Way Park hosts several events every year including Yoga in the Park, Pumpkin Fest, and a spring picnic event.

FWP Board

Chris Ennis with signboard
FWP Founding board member Chris Ennis
Friends of Way Park Board Members:
  • Kaley Varley (Chair)
  • Maggie Epstein 
  • Peder Jothen (Treasurer)
  • Heidi Rubenstein 
  • Nate Jacobi


    Friends of Way Park (FWP) Meeting Minutes, April 21st, 2015

    FWP Members Present: Matt Rohn (President), Anne Berry (Vice President), Keith Covey, Mary Steen, Cynthia Kauffeld (Secretary), Mary Emery (Treasurer), Edward Smith, Michelle  Martin, Mary Poole.

    Meeting location: Matt’s house.

    A. Minutes: March minutes approved.

    B. Treasurer’s report: No activity this month.

    C. Spring event (May 9th 1-3 pm)

    • Several organizations have confirmed their participation: Booker, Science Alliance; Girl Scouts (troop 25410)  will set up yard games like bocce ball, badminton. Liz Cooney is new contact person for the Y, they will bring parachutes, peewee golf, set up an obstacle course. Bob at Arcadia will do the drumming again. Angie will do an art project as well. Bike Northfield will do something also.
    • Other groups are still pending (initial contacts made, but awaiting response and/or confirmation): Budding Farmers (Monica), CRWP, Cliff – with country and folk group. Transition Youth.
    • Anne has a document set up on Google drive describing the tasks and their status; we can all sign up to help where we can and add any information we have.
    • Mary P and Anne have been working on the poster. They will try to add the logos of participating organizations. Mary found a nature font and the posters look great. 
      • We can advertise this weekend, putting it on the YMCA table at Healthy Kids day (4/25).
      • We should get the posters into the kiosks. 
      • We should get the info into the Northfield News; Anne sent it to the Entertainment Guide already and it looks like it is in in time to appear this year. 
      • Ed will get it on northfield.org and locally grown.
    • The library (Debbie N.) sent a letter to Anne – they are hoping to have a signup at the event for volunteers to pack books at the library for the construction period this summer. The library has been able to get the requirement for a background check that requires SSN’s and ID’s  waived for this particular volunteering activity.
    • Booker is going to be at Way Park once a week through the summer. 
    • We want to have good information on the music plaza project available at the spring event. 
    • Anne B and Cynthia will each do a sandwich board and put them out the morning of the event.
    • 5 gallon dispensers for lemonade – Matt has a FWP one, another one can be borrowed from PCCS (in PE closet).
    • Matt has the FWP tables.
    • We should have the sample instruments there for people to bang on and see a little about the noise.

    D. Annual meeting

    • Usually in June, in lieu of our regular board meeting. 
    • Thinking about new members:  No one is leaving this year. Mary Steen’s term will end at the end of next year. Anne will stay for a 3rd term.  Mary P and Michelle started June of 2012. Matt and Mary S started in 2010. Anne and Mary E started in 2011. Two-year terms renewable up to 3 times.
    • Matt will not be President next year, but Anne agrees to move into the President position.  We will then need someone to move into the Vice-president position. We will think about this; also, we are still short one member to have a complete board. We note that Matt has been attending PRAB meetings regularly, and Sarah did that too. Earlier on it was necessary for FWP be there all the time, this may not be as true anymore. 
    • There is a shared document on Drive where we can note possible future board members. Some new possibilities:
      • Jay and Kiersten Johnson, who live on St Olaf Ave – 3 houses up from the park. He is an architect and she is a master gardener. Could be a good pair to have on the board; Matt has mentioned it to them and it seemed it might be a possibility. 
      • We still don’t have anyone who is really good/has experience at fundraising.
      • Beth Kallestad. She is no longer working with the watershed project, now doing freelance. She does some grant-writing.  May be a good candidate for the board.

    E. Musical plaza

    • We did not get the WINGS grant. It went to social welfare and health issues projects.
    • Heard back from Maple Grove – their instrument installation is 100 feet from the library, and  they said they don’t hear it. They’ve gotten no complaints. Can barely hear it even when they are banging on it.
    • This should be on the agenda at the next PRAB meeting, although the city itself is trying to figure out what to do before they move to get the PRAB to do something with it. 
    • We don’t know what will happen with the project. They may say it really should be in a different place. Having a demonstration instrument installed is really not feasible. If it turns out it is not going to be at Way Park, then FWP will no longer be part of the project (we discuss pros and cons of other possible locations: Central Park, the soccer park, Bridge Square). Not clear how much we want to push for this given the strong opposition voiced by (very few) neighbors.


    F. Miscellaneous

    • Leif Knecht seems to be planning on planting trees in the park although he hasn’t talked to any of us about it. Keith offered to check in with him.
    • The city will probably will take down all the ash trees.
    • Keith, Anne and Matt are going to meet with hospital administrator next week.
    Next meeting: May 19th. Location TBD. 

    Tentative date for annual meeting: Tuesday, June 9th. Keith will check on availability of the Fireside Room at St Johns (need reservation from 6:30-8:30 pm) reservation. 

    Friends of Way Park (FWP) Meeting Minutes, March 17th, 2015


    FWP Members Present: Matt Rohn (President), Anne Berry (Vice President), Keith Covey, Mary Steen, Cynthia Kauffeld (Secretary), Mary Emery (Treasurer), Edward Smith, Michelle  Martin, Mary Poole

    Meeting location: Anne’s house.

    A. Minutes: February minutes approved.

    B. Treasurer’s report

    The only new activity was the concert. We took in $1,690 net, with $750 coming from a leftover matching grant.  Current bank balance: $19,505.15

    C. The March benefit concert:

    It all went smoothly. Thank you Mary P! The right number of desserts and good variety. Perhaps next time we’ll try to have it on a night when there is not so much competition around town (Rock n Roll Revival, Historical Society event, St Olaf choir, etc.), although we recognize  that might be impossible, given the need to fit with the musician’s schedule as well as town events. The direct request for donations (made more than once by Dave, rather than the board) seems to have made a difference because we had a higher per capita contribution rate this year.

    D. Music plaza update:
    • The WINGS application is in, it would be for approximately $3,000 (it would pay for the drum set, for example).
    • As for the SEMAC grant, Matt sent a draft to the director, who said she’d give us some input in writing it, but we’ve not heard back yet. This would be for $10,000.
    • Barry submitted something to Rotary (at the district level) soliciting more funding as well. It’s not clear exactly for how much or how that process works exactly, and we know we are too late for March. But they’ll be looking at the applications again in April.
    • If all of these grants came in, we’d be in pretty good shape as far as financing the plaza.
    • Discussion with Brian Erickson (Keith, Anne and Matt): Right now, it would be difficult for Brian to work any city money into the plaza, but if we waited a year, they could work it into the budget (and then of course it would have to be approved, but he thought it could work.) This year though, that’s not going to happen. If FWP pays for it, we would have control over its design.
    • Process: there has to be the neighborhood meeting, and the PRAB meeting and approval of the plaza, and then city council has to vote to support it as well.
    • Boulders: Brian was ambivalent about the boulder field part of the plan. He thinks it is not too likely they’ll find boulders when they dig as it’s where they’ve dug before. Dave Hvistendahl has a pile of boulders he’s willing to part with.
    • Upcoming neighborhood meeting: Thurs 3/19, 6-7 pm is the neighborhood meeting in the 2nd floor training room at City Hall. Those neighbors adjacent to the park received a letter from the city announcing the meeting (i.e. Matt, Cynthia, and Mary S.). We will have the sample instruments to show. Matt and Anne will be there – Anne for the first part. Mary S. can be there. Cora Schulz is sending a letter, and Lloyd Garrison also contributed a letter (he is on the PRAB). Mark Gleason wrote a letter of support too. Michelle will check in with Roz and Nick Neeb to get their opinion. The PRAB is not going to discuss it this week in their own meeting though. They’ll meet the 3rd Thurs in April and it should be on the agenda then. Dale Gehring is supportive of the project.
    • Possibilities: 1) if the grants come through and all the necessary approvals happen, we move forward with the project this summer. 2) if no money comes through, we decide whether to purchase the instruments and store them while we seek funding for the installation. 3) the city approval process could drag on…
    • Grants: The grant proposals need to show what we are doing to show the feasibility of the project – we need to show how we are going to assess how the instruments are in fact used, assuming they are installed.
    • Ideas:
      • Fall and Spring events – we should incorporate the instruments officially into these     events.
      • Check with Open Door, Debbie LeRoy, other daycares, try to have them log their usage            – or be interviewed about their usage of the instruments. 
      • seek an art student at Olaf – find one who would be interested in doing an assessment.
      • maybe Rotary would participate in this as well.
      • a police cam was used in Jackson Square, but that isn’t what we would do – they were looking at security issues also.
      • music instructor – maybe from one of the grade schools.
      • surveys of people that come to the events – asking them to fill out a form with a few     questions noting how much have they used the instruments.
    • Screening vegetation: try for a garden club grant to pay for it. If we go to full-sized plantings, that would be a good way to cover those expenses.
    • Keith volunteers to meet with Leif if Matt sets up a meeting.
    • Camille is now wanting us to get moving on the nature play – moving a little away from the instruments, but the nature play is sort of on the back burner for us right now.


    E. Upcoming activities/tasks:
    • Anne looked at dates of Allina grant – it’s not until June that we turned it in last time. We assume it will happen again.
    • More on yoga: We still haven’t found out about hospital grant, maybe Anne will simply ask Scott Richardson directly. We could apply for the Healthy Initiatives grant; it seems likely that it would be funded. We could ask Katie Felland, for example, who taught last summer, to give us an idea of how much the yoga instructor should get paid.
    • Spring event. Propose May 9th, 1-3 pm, as the date. If it’s rained out, we will not reschedule.
    • Initial brainstorm:
      • Maybe start getting in touch with Seeds farm, and Science Alliance to get it on their    calendars.
      • Michelle will contact Monica and Greg, we’ll send more info when it gets closer. Bike     Northfield. The YMCA. Angie for community art projects. Community initiative at            Greenvale – Anne will contact Laura Berdahl there. Someone from Healthy Initiatives.
      • Matt will contact Dave Hagedorn to see if there’s somebody who could play music – a    jazz ensemble? the Arcadia drummers? Liz Shepley?
      • The puppets from PCCS? Maypole?
      • Bike registration…Booker… rain barrel.
    • Keith will try to contact the hospital to set up meeting regarding the ambulance house during the last week of March (Keith, Anne and Matt).
    • Re: the 2nd St. re-do: the ash tree that shades the bench will be coming down, unfortunately. We have not asked about the water fountain yet.
    • We need to put images of the instruments in the kiosks.
    • Can we get music in the amphitheater this summer? or movies? Need to start making use of it.

    Next meeting: April 21st. 7:30 pm, location TBD, possibly at Matt’s house.


    Friends of Way Park (FWP) Meeting Minutes, February 16th, 2015


    FWP Members Present: Matt Rohn (President), Anne Berry (Vice President), Keith Covey, Mary Steen, Cynthia Kauffeld (Secretary), Mary Emery (Treasurer), Edward Smith,  Michelle  Martin,  Mary Poole

    Meeting location: Matt’s house.

    A. Minutes:


    January minutes approved.


    B. Treasurer’s report: 

    Mary E. separated out the Rotary Music Play money from the rest of the bank balance and gave us a copy of the updated year-end report reflecting the change. Paper copies of the monthly report were also distributed. Current balance: $19,087.37.


    C. March benefit concert: 
    • Benefit concert with Dave Hagedorn will be March 7th.  Judy Swanson is doing the poster for the concert and may well come up with a title as well, as that has not yet been determined. The poster will be coming soon, and we’ll make at least 40 copies to put up around town and at the colleges.
    • When we have the poster and title, Anne will do an early email blast announcing it, and another closer to the 7th as a reminder.
    • It should go on the website as well. This can be done as soon as we have the title. As in past years, we’ll get the information to the school music teachers, also to the Rotary group, and Liz Shepley. We’ll put up posters at the retirement centers and Village on the Cannon as well. 
    • As in the past, we will have a dessert spread after the concert; Mary P. will handle getting volunteers to make desserts, starting with the list of past volunteers.
    • Matt suggests, and we agree, that instead of a formal program as in the past, we’ll have a souvenir flyer with information about the concert and about ROMP that will double as a solicitation of funds for the project.
    • Centerpieces, etc. – Michelle will check into using children’s creations from PCCS we used last year. We’ll need pictures of the park and of the instruments, architectural drawings, etc. We’ll include the fundraising graphic, and have some of our brochures handy. Anne will work on the tri-fold for ROMP and suggested we use the GiveMN one as well. Mary S. and Cynthia can help with this too. We’ll need to really advertise the fundraising needs on these as well, and the possibilities for sponsorships.   
    • Keith, Michelle, Mary P., Matt, all able to help set up that night. Mary S and Cynthia will be out of town.
    • Mary E. will be there with a cash box for receipts, and Michelle will bring a second one. Several neighbors and supporters of FWP, and past board members were mentioned, such as Jim Holden, the Dimicks,  Mary Cisar, and Sarah Carlsen, who would perhaps  be willing to help out as greeters that evening.

    D. Music Plaza:

    • City communications: Matt had tried to meet with Brian Erickson before heading to CO, and then they ended up having to cancel; since his return, it’s been hard to connect with anyone, but recently Matt heard back from Dale Gehring (Chair of PRAB), who was ready to be proactive and talk with TJ and Brian to help us determine out the city’s role in the music plaza. Our big question is what the city thinks they can provide on this project.
    • Camille wants to do a construction bid on this, although we’re kind of assuming that we’ll need to send the project out for further bids.
    • Again, we note that Camille has come up with a new estimate for the plaza (between $20,000 and $25,000 depending on whether we do pavers or cement), and the instrument cost may go up $1000 for the package. (This info we had for our Jan meeting). 
    • Matt is trying to get ROMP together to plan for fundraising.  SEMAC might be our best bet.  Anne is in touch with them.  We’re not going to be able to offer pavers or anything so specific at the benefit concert, but we can offer sponsorships and note that people will be recognized on a plaque or something.
    • As far as our commitments to Camille, we have paid for everything and received everything from her that we are committed to, although we did sign on for her to design construction documents for us, if the city allows us to do it.
    • Plantings:  again, we need to have some expert advice on this. Matt will get in touch with Leif Knecht and TJ to see what we could/should do for the border along the playground.

    E. Coming up:

    • Yoga in the park grant, Anne is checking into the possibilities for this.
      • the first year, we had an Allina Healthy Initiatives grant; the  2nd year, we got $500 from the hospital, more informally, through Scott Richardson.
      • another possibility  is the Healthy Community Initiatives (HCI) – they look especially   favorably on grants written with kids.
    • Date for the spring event?  In the past, it’s been around May 10th – maybe the Sat before Mother’s Day? It would be a good idea to give it a musical theme this time. Maybe a May pole? We may be inspired with more ideas after the concert. We’ll fix the date for sure at the next meeting. 
    • Keith ran into a hospital administrator recently and mentioned we are interested in meeting to chat about the ambulance house. Keith, Matt and Anne will work on this.
    • We need to remember to check on getting a drinking fountain(s) with the re-do of 2nd St.

    Next meeting: Tuesday the 17th of March at 7:30 pm.


    Friends of Way Park (FWP) Meeting Minutes, January 20th, 2015


    FWP Members Present: Anne Berry (Vice President), Keith Covey, Mary Steen, Cynthia Kauffeld (Secretary), Mary Emery (treasurer), Edward Smith

    Meeting location: Keith’s house.


    A. Minutes: 


    December minutes approved.

    B. Treasurer’s report: 

    Paper copies of the year-end report passed out. Report includes a Give to the Max report and a summary of park improvements for the year; bank balance approximately $19,270.

    C. Music Plaza update and discussion:
    • Given the rather complicated process and the many parties involved in the creative play/music plaza project, we spent some time reviewing what has happened so far and what still needs to be done.  
    • It is important to keep the Music Plaza project and the Creative Play projects separate, as their funding sources are not the same. The Music Plaza will come out of the partnership among ROMP, Rotary and FWP, while the Creative Play project is solely the purview of FWP. We are still waiting for the creative play concept design plan from Camille (we have paid for this already). 
    • At this point, we do not have a specific timeline as to when the Rotary grant money will be awarded. 
    • Letter to neighbors: Anne distributed the letter, composed by Mary S., to all households that seem to be in direct line of sight/hearing, etc., of the instrument installation (to some via email and others via US mail, according to our contact information). Although it is hard to decide exactly where to draw the circle in this initial sweep, we believe Anne reached those homes that will be most affected by the installation. There have been three responses so far.  Judy Swanson and Sarah Carlsen both wrote with enthusiastic support for the project. Amanda Distad wrote as well, in emphatic disapproval of the instruments. Anne responded to Amanda and informed her of ways in which she can be involved in the process and share her views. Anne will also try to send her an email when there is an upcoming meeting with the Park Board, or some other venue at which Amanda might participate and have her voice heard, to make sure she is informed of the process and knows about such events.
    • The next step with the letter is to post it in the kiosks. Anne has put it in one of them and will post it in the others as well. At some point it needs to be posted on the website as well, although it should be tweaked a bit to be from the board as a whole, not just from Mary S. for that purpose.
    • Keith and Anne are waiting to hear back from Brian Erickson about scheduling a meeting to get a sense (if not a commitment) of what parts of this project the City will take on, how Camille’s designs and estimates fit into the City’s process, and simply to further define the participation of the involved parties as we move forward with this. Brian is no longer the City Engineer, and we wonder if/how that might affect our meeting with him.
    • Trees: we discussed the types, size and price of various options for trees (white cedar, fir, pine, etc.) to be planted along the northwest side of the playground. Anne had images of the different types so we could see what they look like full grown. The seedlings on the list from the city (county?) supplier are inexpensive, but we determined that they will be too small to be practical for our purposes as it will be many years before they would provide a sound barrier or a play option for kids. We decided we need to get some expert advice on what would be the best type of tree or shrubbery for our purposes (perhaps from Leif Knecht) before we purchase any.  We also need to make sure we know what we want (i.e. a solid sound barrier or plantings that would invite kids to play beneath/in and around them). 
    • Benefit concert: Dave Hagedorn and two other musicians will play. Title and more information will be coming soon. Anne has the UCC tentatively reserved for March 7th from 5:30-9:30pm, she got a check from Mary E. for the deposit. 
    • Fundraising: we really need to work on other fundraising as well; Anne, Mary S. and Cindy Carlsen will perhaps be able look further into the grants Matt listed on the spreadsheet he sent out; maybe Barry would know how to do searches for more possibilities. We also need to spend some time brainstorming other possibilities such as seeking sponsors for parts of the project, etc.
    • Fundraising graphic: in communications with Camille, she has referred to a fundraising graphic she made that includes the design plan with the instruments collaged on it that seems to have been sent via US mail. Matt never received it though, so we need to check because we want to have it in time for Barry’s presentation on the project to Rotary next month. Anne will call Camille to determine what happened. 


    D. Miscellaneous: 
    • We will try to get a grant to do yoga in the park again this spring.
    • We will repeat Outdoor Day again this year. 
    • We need to make sure the City knows we want to get hooked up to have a drinking fountain in the park during the re-do of 2nd St. this summer, and also that we want any boulders they find during the process.
    • Board bios on the website: is everyone happy with theirs? Cynthia will get photo to Mary!
    Next Meeting: Monday, February 16


    Friends of Way Park (FWP) Meeting Minutes, December 16th, 2014

    FWP Members Present : Anne Berry (Vice President), Keith Covey, Mary Steen, Matt Rohn (President), Mary Poole, Cynthia Kauffeld (Secretary), Mary Emery (treasurer), Michelle Martin

    ROMP Members Present : Barry Carlson, Rotary representative, Dave Hagedorn, St Olaf Music Dept., and Cindy Carlson, community member.

    Meeting location : Matt's house.

    A. Minutes: 

    November minutes approved.

    B. Treasurer's report :

    Paper report passed out. There was one accidental duplicate donation in the Give MN transactions; Mary refunded the duplicate to the donor. We do note that our bank balance is just under $20,000; just a self-reminder that we can't run it down to zero as we continue with the plans for the plaza and music installation!

    C. Update on the Fireflies creative play and music plaza design:
    • Camille has provided a new concept design, which at first she reported would cost $46,000 dollars to make happen. Matt told her we couldn't do that, and she then came down to about $25,000. Matt has repeatedly asked her what the most inexpensive thing is that we could do, so we could start with that and build up from there; Camille is resistant to that method, thinking that it is better to fundraise for a larger amount right from the beginning, and she has not told us what that would look like.
    • She did agree not to charge us an additional $1396 for re-doing the concept design. Since the time Matt asked for the concept design, Camille has assumed they were hired for the job; however, the project will certainly have to be opened up for bidding by local contractors once the city is involved, so that is by no means a for-sure thing. The installation could be carried out by another company, despite some claims to the contrary (previous experience with their installation work at PCCS does not necessarily help to convince us to go with Fireflies.)
    • The firm price tag for the instruments themselves is $19,175; this concept design is at a cost of $2,784.
    • We should keep in mind that there might be a "maintenance" cost involved in the musical plaza, that is, we'll need money set aside for upkeep of the instruments down the road.
    • Matt estimates a total cost of $50,000 for the complete project. $15,000 will come from Rotary (Barry notes that Rotary will want to fundraise even for part of this $15,000 amount), $5,000 from the FWP pledge to the project., and fundraising for the rest.
    • We will look into possible grants, such as the SEMAC grant, which Matt's students have done a mock proposal for (the deadline for this is around April 15 th and awarded funds must be used within one year), the Garden Club, Northfield Shares, MOM, etc. Anne will look into grant deadlines for these.
    • We will have a benefit concert, Dave Hagedorn is willing to head this for us, and we'll get a date set - Matt will send Dave some possibilities (end of Feb. or beginning of March). Andrea Een is happy to pass the baton on this to him this year. We should be ready to start other fundraising (i.e. selling pavers, etc.) at this concert.
    • Matt, Anne and Keith and members of ROMP will attend the PRAB meeting on Thursday, Dec. 18th, to bring this proposal for tentative approval by the park board. We are the first order of new business. If they approve it, we will need to inform the neighbors. Mary S will draft such a letter.
    • It is important in all these discussions to make sure it is clear to PRAB and anyone else that this is a partnership, not just FWP, not just ROMP, but a collaborative effort including Rotary and other groups, to make this musical plaza a reality.
    • Trees: Matt has a catalog of seedlings, we can get a set of 25 18-24" lilacs for $37; discussion of doing a mix of lilacs and white cedar. We want to plant them as noise and activity barriers on the border with the neighbors closest to the playground. This would be a great opportunity to have a collaborative work day with Rotary members also - we could plant them together.
    • We will get boulders for use in the new plaza when the city re-does 2nd St. next summer.

    Misc :

    Anne will send an email blast thanking our list for their contributions this year.

    Next meeting: Tuesday, Jan. 20th, Keith offers to host.

    Friends of Way Park Meeting Minutes, November 17, 2014

    Members Present: Anne Berry (Vice President), Keith Covey, Mary Steen, Edward Smith, Michelle Martin, Matt Rohn (President), Mary Poole, Cynthia Kauffeld (Secretary), Mary Emery (treasurer)
    Meeting location: Mary Steen's house.

    A. Minutes:

    October minutes are approved. Ed will re-arrange the minutes on the website so the most recent ones are first, starting with the minutes from September and the current board.

    B. Treasurer's report:

    Paper copies distributed. General fund balance: $19,720.32. The two considerable expenditures we had this month were two charges of $1396 each, for Camille Calderaro's design work for the creative play and instrument installation. We will be reimbursed for one of these through ROMP as it will come from the $15,000 Rotary grant.

    C. Summary of donations for Give to the Max:

    Net gain: $1,023.37. We had donations from 21 people, some donated with cash and checks at the Grand event, others via the GiveMn website. Mary E wrote thank you notes and sent tax information to all who donated during Give to the Max Day, and she will get one to kindergartner Eleanor Groll as well for her donation. The tri-fold poster is a great visual to represent the activities of FWP and the park. Thanks to all who made the Grand event happen.

    D. ROMP update:

    ROMP has decided on the premium package, the one with 5 instruments, including drums. Cynthia Carlson and Matt went before the arts and culture commission to talk of the project, and the commission was very excited about it and impressed by the plan. Matt hopes to make an appointment with Brian Erickson, city engineer, before the next city meeting which will be the 3rd Thurs in Dec., to plan how to make the next move and to get his opinion on the project. Thinking to the future, we should start crafting a letter to send to the neighbors so we have it ready when needed to inform them of the project. One neighbor, Mark Gleason, who is on the arts and culture commission, is excited about it. Matt is checking into possibilities for application for other grants, such as the Southeastern Arts Council grant.

    E. Fireflies concept designs for creative play:

    Designs from Camille Calderaro were discussed. With the decision to go with the premium package, the best location for the instruments changed; because of the space needed for an installation of five instruments, it now seems that the best location would be near the west set of steps by the playground. Perhaps lilacs will be planted to block sound for the neighbor to the west of the playground. There will be a low wall behind the instruments at seat-level height behind the installation. Board discussed the plans at length and ultimately decided that the current drawing seems a bit crowded, conceptually. We would like to see another version that spreads things out a bit and also that shows more detail. We need to check in with ROMP about this and see if they are in agreement, and then let Camille know of our concerns.

    Miscellaneous related thoughts:
    • Farmington has a newly opened and very well designed county park called Whitetail Woods Regional Park. It has a nature play area that includes a water play area with two hand pumps, boulders, limestone slabs, and more.
    • The current plans for the instruments, etc., will alter the Master Plan. However, the Park and Recreation board says they're fine with the more free-flowing plans we are following now, although we are moving a bit away from Spencer Jones' original plan. We've already changed that original plan a bit anyway - the amphitheater and rain gardens aren't exactly where they were going to be.
    • The instruments could potentially be on the docket for next summer, but since there will have to be an engineering study, and the ground is frozen, it might get pushed back.

    F. Priorities:

    Benefit concert: Dave Hagedorn (sp?), percussionist and jazz xylophonist, and member of ROMP, is interested in doing a benefit concert to raise money for the musical instruments. The board decides to go ahead with such an event and brings up various possibilities to be determined at a later date: asking Andrea Een about participating again; designing it to be kid-friendly; exploring the possibility of the Northfield Youth Choirs being involved. It would take place at the end of Feb. or early March.

    G. Next steps:

    • Keith and Anne and Matt are going to meet with the hospital and talk about the ambulance house and that end of the park.
    • Anne will update the bulletin boards in the kiosks; board decides on the white background with the Way Park border. Matt has replaced the missing kiosk lock.


    Next meeting: Tuesday Dec. 16th (conflicts on Monday). Matt offers to host.

    Friends of Way Park Meeting Minutes, October 20, 2014

    Members Present: Anne Berry (Vice President), Keith Covey, Mary Steen, Edward Smith, Michelle Martin, Matt Rohn (President), Mary Poole, Cynthia Kauffeld (Secretary)
    Treasurer Mary Emery was unable to attend but sent copies of her updated Treasurer's report, which Matt had available for Board members.
    Meeting location: Keith Covey's house.
    A. Pumpkin festival (Sat. Oct. 25th, 5-7 pm):
    • Mary P and Anne will decorate the sandwich board signs and put them on the sidewalks.
    • We should have the tables there by 4:30 - we have six - place one or even two at warming house. Two tables for apples and caramel (Mary P will purchase); need 5 or so bags of apples, caramel, bowls. Save any receipts, put your name on them and give to Matt on Saturday night. Need apple slicers and cutting boards.
    • Pumpkin carvers at picnic tables. Need pumpkin knives.
    • Would be useful to have extra garbage cans and also a compost bag. Matt will bring his garbage and recycling containers, and Mary S. will bring two leaf bags. Michelle can take the compost out to school for industrial compost.
    • Megaphone - Anne will bring it Sat.
    • Face painters usually get there at 4:30 to set up.
    • TJ Heinrichy (city staff person) will have the warming house open and lights on - he'll probably do it the day before. We can ask him to check on the playground light also - to make sure it's on on the 25th.
    • We need lanterns. Mary P has one.
    • Michelle will bring fire ring. Kauffelds can contribute wood. Michelle has glow in the dark bracelets.
    • Drummers will come around 5, play 5:15-6:00.
    • The art class came up with an activity for the kids while they're in the warming house - draw Halloween costumes on paper, and these will be put up like an art gallery, and there will be candy.
    • Need to give personal invitation to Lloyd to attend and a thank you for using his porch all these years.
    • Need event info on FB, and website, and email blast; posters up downtown, around. Everyone should go share the FWP announcement with FB friends.
    • Last year, kids jumped in the leaves. Bring rakes and label them well.
    B. Give to the Max event at the Grand (Thurs. Nov. 13th).
    • We need to have a laptop, and someone willing to be there from 3:30-4:30 pm for set up, then event from 5-9 (we can split it into shifts).
    • No posterboards, only laptops or tablets; we can have brochures (Mary S and Anne are working on updating the brochure - it will be ready for the pumpkin fest and at the Grand event.)
    • People can make their donations right there on our computer. There is food and entertainment. Families walk around and make decisions about how to make their donations.
    background on the event: Last year was first year for this event at the Grand for Give to the Max Day. Cost is $50 for a table. Give MN is no longer using Razoo but has switched to a new electronic system. Non-profits have to re-open their accounts to make them live with the new system. We have to have our information updated by Oct. 31st (Bob and Doug did this task previously, maybe Ed can meet with them so they can give him the necessary information). We still need a master list of passwords, etc. - Ed could give this information when he gets it to Mary S. We passed a motion to try to secure a table for the Grand event; Matt will handle that.
    C. Creative play: receiving the funding from Rotary for the musical instruments is a complicated process. A group called Rotary Outdoor Music Plaza (ROMP) was created, and that is the group that is sponsoring this; FWP is partner with ROMP. The chain of decision-making: ROMP can't do anything without FWP's approval and FWP can't do anything without the City's approval. We have advocacy authority over ROMP, and we do want to make sure that we maintain a degree of separateness. Liz Shepley and Cindy Carlson have been very involved in this project. Next step: we need to talk to the city about it.
    further updates: ROMP met with Camille Calderaro. They talked about where the instruments should go and determined that the best spot is between the two trees where the picnic table is now. Ideally the installation would form some sort of arc so when people play they are looking at each other. Ideally it will be handicapped accessible. Camille will come up with a design for this.
    The board looked over the Fireflies proposal that Camille sent out. First design: "Way Park Music Circle". Second option: "Natural Playground Integrated Concept". The$15,000 grant ROMP received from Rotary would go toward the cost of the instruments as well as the design and installation. The final total could be from $30,000-$50,000. Some of the funding would perhaps come from the city, some from volunteer hours, etc. It's possible to ask them to design it for 5 instruments, even if we only want to put in 3 now.
    Anne showed a drawing with some ideas for the creative play thinking. Discussion: Can pea gravel be used for a "stream" and widen into a pool for digging? Would we like a 'full' design for nature play, for the future? Do we want to go forward with Fireflies on the creative play design, or not make a move on this aspect right now? Board moved and voted to go forward with Camille for concept design on the creative play and pay the initial $1,396.00 required for that.
    Discussion of some of the packages offered by Freenotes Harmony. Purchasing packages is more economical than buying a custom-planned combination of instruments. The cost runs about $4000/instrument, which includes installation, but not shipping. Examples of such installations are in Maple Grove, also Jackson Square Park in Minneapolis. The board moves to pledge $5000 toward this project.
    D. Miscellaneous
    • We ended up spending $489.93 for paint on warming house. Board members have been hearing nothing but great things about the painting. It turned out to be a great partnership between FWP and the St Olaf art class.
    • Priorities for the coming year: we should review the list that Anne and Matt put together over the summer.
      • updating email list.
      • have a welcome committee? where each board member targets new people they know have moved to town and highlight why people should be involved in the park.
      • original bylaws had a fundraising position; we no longer have someone in this role since Ann H. went off the board. Do we want to try to have someone on the board who is a specialist in this area?
      • we should keep thinking about the future of the ambulance house and be in touch with the hospital when they start thinking about what they want to do with it.
    • One lock is gone from one side of the kiosk by the playground, and things keep disappearing. We need to send TJ email and have him reprogram the lock. Extra postings (not from FWP) are not supposed to be permitted in the kiosks.
    Next meeting: Nov. 17th.


    Friends of Way Park Meeting Minutes, September 22, 2014

    Members Present: Anne Berry (Vice President), Mary Emery (Treasurer), Keith Covey, Mary Steen, Edward Smith, Michelle Martin, Matt Rohn (President), Mary Poole, Cynthia Kauffeld (Secretary)
    Meeting location: Matt Rohn's house.
    A. Treasurer's report: Paper copy of the report distributed. Current general fund balance is $21,553.88. The most significant activity since our last meeting includes donations totaling $804 and our expenditure of the money from the Allina Healthy Activities Grant fund and the Northfield Hospital (approximately $650) for the yoga classes in the park.
    B. Warming house project update: through a partnership with a St Olaf studio art class, progress is underway in the repainting of the park warming house. Each of the students in the art class submitted a design proposal for the warming house, these were judged by a jury, and the final design is now being carried out. Preparation for the painting began last week and students will continue work on Wednesday (Sept. 24th) and Friday (Sept. 26th). Young's is offering the student group some professional advice regarding the logistics of carrying out the design. The jury consisted of Keith Covey (FWP board member), Judy Swanson, (non-member for FWP), Jill Ewald (arts and culture commission), Brian Erickson (city staff member), and Grace Clark (park and recreation advisory board). The cost of this project is going to be higher than expected; the FWP board passed a motion to spend up to $500.
    C. Rotary grant: Rotary has awarded a coalition calling itself Rotary Outdoor Musical Plaza (ROMP) that includes FWP a $15,000 grant for the installation of musical instruments in Way Park. Cindy Carlson had approached FWP previously, after learning of a similar musical installation in Jackson Square Park in north Minneapolis. In mid-summer, there arose the opportunity to apply for a Rotary grant, and Anne and Cindy worked on the brief grant application. ROMP subsequently became a finalist, and Cindy, Matt and Michelle then gave a presentation to Rotary as the next step in the grant process. ROMP was notified that it received the grant in early September. Michelle has done considerable research into these types of musical instruments, and ROMP is planning at this point to go with the company Freenotes Harmony for the purchase of the instruments, and Fireflies, a local distributor (in Minneapolis, Camille Calderaro has been our contact there) to help us plan our installation.
    Next steps:
    • a subcommittee of FWP (Matt, Michelle, and Anne at this point) will continue representing FWP in the coalition and will meet with its other members Cindy and Barry Carlson (representing Rotary) and Liz Shepley, Northfield Youth Choirs executive director. Matt and Michelle are waiting for news from Cindy on possible meeting dates.
    • The coalition has one year to spend the grant money; it will probably need to fundraise for another $15,000 to fully fund the installation and FWP will likely be deeply involved in that.
    • as well as the need to meet with neighbors and park board to discuss the installation
    • by our October meeting we will want to have an idea of what instruments we want (Pagoda bell, for example?) and where we want them (one in the healing garden? along the path? clustered together near the basketball court?)
    D. Pumpkin fest: Saturday, Oct. 25th is the proposed date, from 5-7 pm. Michelle will make sure the park is available that day and reserve it for us if so. We will repeat many of the activities from last year to continue what has become tradition: pumpkin-carving, costume parade (6 pm), drumming, led by Bob Gregory-Bjorkland, face painting, apples and caramel, bonfire, leaf piles. We will have a dedication of the warming house that same night with a brief contribution by a St Olaf art class group (5:30 pm). They will carry out some kind of play or narrative, with audience involvement.
    Additional ideas and next steps:
    • lanterns, glow sticks/necklaces, medals for the carving.
    • sample instrument from Fireflies?
    • representative from the 2nd St. rain garden project?
    • contact Sharon Henry and Donna Eicher for face painting
    • update social media and website
    • update pumpkin fest flier and post in kiosks and downtown (Michelle); post on northfield.org, Entertainment Guide if there's time (Anne)
    E. Kiosks: several border options and backgrounds possible. Consensus that we will use the border designed by Judy Swanson; the size of the border, and the background of each bulletin board are still to be determined.
    F. Miscellaneous to-do list:
    • update the Way Park brochure:
    • create a document with the usernames, passwords, bank account information, kiosk combinations, etc., for future board configurations.
    Next meeting: we will try to meet on the 3rd monday of each month. Our next meeting will be Oct. 20th. Keith Covey volunteered to host the October meeting.


    Friends of Way Park Meeting Minutes, May 13, 2014

    Board Members Present: Matt Rohn (President), Anne Berry (Vice-President), Sarah Carlsen (Secretary), Mary Emery (Treasurer), Mary Poole
    Meeting took place at Matt Rohn's house.
    Agenda
    A. Treasurer's report - Current fund balance as of 5/13/14 is $22, 368.65. The most significant change in the last month was the receipt of the Northfield Hospital Grant of $500. This money will be used to fund 3 sessions of outdoor yoga.
    B. Explore the Outdoors event - Anne Berry reported that she didn't feel the first drops of rain until 4 pm on Saturday, despite the prediction of rain and storms throughout the afternoon! We had strong attendance at the event, maybe slightly smaller than last year. Highlights from around the event included:
    • Bike Northfield & Northfield Police - We had the police set up near Bike Northfield, so people had the opportunity to both register and then get a free tune-up on their bikes. Bike Northfield also provided information about biking trails around Northfield. One regret we had was not being able to include information about Bike Northfield and the police in the promotional materials for the event. Once people understood what was happening, many of them went home to get their bikes.
    • Girl Scouts - One of the local Girl Scout troops sent up a "letter boxing" (think treasure hunt) activity. About 20 children participated in this event. The Girl Scouts themselves added great energy to the event in their presence and their participation in the other activities. They also set up a Honey Bee Helper Station at which they gave a way "pollinator" plants and provided educational information about why it is important to have pollinator plants.
    • The Environmental Quality Commission staffed a table that had information about composting and recycling.
    • On behalf of FWP, Michelle Martin & Anne Berry set up three activities that were then facilitated by children or youth. The activities were
      • A sidewalk chalk art mural
      • Making Spring Crowns
      • Making Kites - The day was windy, so this was a very popular activity.
    • YMCA - The Y set up an area for kids to do a sort of obstacle course. They also brought promotional materials for the new Y building and the Y Kids Tri event.
    • Cannon River Watershed Partnership brought a rain barrel along with materials about how to create a rain garden. They set up next to the kiosk with information about upcoming rain barrel events.
    • Budding Farmers helped kids create compostable (newspaper) cups in which they could plant seeds, so that they could plant the cup in the ground or a pot easily. They also brought their "Budding Famers" materials.
    • Science Alliance - The St. Olaf team set up experiential energy producing experiments to demonstrate renewal energy options.
    As we talked about what we might do differently next year, a couple ideas came up including: schedule it in early June rather than May since May is already so packed with events; Use it as a way to start pick-up games; Keep it simple - don't add additional groups
    C. New Board Members - We discussed several ideas for new members and designated specific board members to follow up with various people. We all agreed to report in to Matt by Thursday night so we can finalize the slate of board members ahead of the Annual Meeting.
    D. Annual Meeting - 7 pm, June 3rd at St. John's Lutheran Church. Matt will create a powerpoint presentation showing the highlights of the year along with our intentions for next year. We will provide simple beverages and snacks (Lemonade, cups - Anne; Coffee, napkins - Matt; Bars - Mary P/Sarah) Mary Emery will provide Treasurer's Reports that cover June 2013-May 2014 and year-to-date details. Sarah will provide minutes from last year's annual meeting.
    E. Yoga in the Park - Using the funds from the Northfield Hospital Grant, we will be providing 3 sessions of yoga in the park. Katie Felland, a teacher at Heartworks, will be the instructor. The free yoga classes will be held at 10:30 am on 5/31, 6/14 & 6/28. Childcare will be provided.
    F. Healthy Community Grant - Anne Berry agreed to take the lead on writing another grant for yoga in the park. We are going to propose another 6 sessions in Aug/Sep/October.
    G. Kiosks - The temporary format for the kiosks has worked well, but the colors on the print outs are fading quickly in the sun. Judy Swanson is working on creating a border that we can then digitize and use as part of the template for the final materials. The intention continues to be to have historical/educational information on one side of each kiosk that remains fairly consistent, while using the other side for upcoming event and other information that will change more often.
    H. Eagle Scout Project potential - A local student contacted Anne Berry about doing an Eagle Scout project at Way Park. No specifics have been identified yet.
    I. Ginko trees - Bob Hickcox & Jackie Henry came tonight to present a check to cover the purchase and planting of two Ginko trees. The trees will be located on the west side of the park near their home, and are in honor of Jackie's son and his new wife. Thank you to Bob & Jackie!
    J. Pollinating Plants in the southeast rain garden - The same local girl scout troupe who attended the Explore the Outdoors event has offered to plant an area next to the southeast rain garden with pollinating plants. This work may happen as soon as this weekend!
    K. New Website - Doug Bratland will be ending his term on the board in June, but still plans to develop a new website for our group. Sarah will be working with him to outline a plan. We hope to include a new board member who will be taking over the social media responsibilities from Doug.
    L. Baseball Diamond - The City responded to our request and has both cleaned up the baseball diamond and installed bases. We are happy to see the diamond being used more regularly. One t-ball team has decided to use it for practices. An outstanding question is whether or not we need a backstop. We agreed to see how much the diamond gets used this summer, and whether we hear about the need. At this point, we'd probably need to help fund it, and it isn't among our top priorities.
    M. Board plans for Summer - Matt and Anne will plan to meet individually with new and existing board members over the summer. The next regular board meeting won't happen until August.
    N. Next Meeting - Annual Meeting on June 3rd at 7 pm at St. John's Church


    Friends of Way Park Meeting Minutes, April 14, 2014


    Board Members Present: Matt Rohn (President), Anne Berry (Vice-President), Sarah Carlsen (Secretary), Mary Emery (Treasurer), Mary Steen, Michele Martin, Doug Bratland, Mary Poole
    Meeting took place at Sarah Carleson's house.
    A. Treasurer's report:
    • Andrea Een Concert: Donations totaled $1605.00. We added the matching funds of $1562.00. Expenses were $422.80. Total concert revenue was $2667.80.
    • Allina Healthy Activities Grant Fund: We purchased a small speaker system ($129.99) that can be used for outdoor yoga and other events from the grant money. There is still a balance of $30.69.
    B. Andrea Een Concert - The benefit concert offered by Andrea Een was successful from both attendance and fund- raising perspectives. The addition of the jazz ensemble playing during the post-concert reception added great energy to the whole evening.
    C. Kiosk Design Idea - Anne Berry asked Judy Swanson to suggest a permanent design for content in the kiosks. She did a beautiful sketch with border elements of plants, snowflakes, the sun, berries, etc. on both the top and bottom. We are all excited about her design elements and will move forward with using it in the permanent design.
    D. Northfield Hospital Grant - Anne was excited to announce that we received a grant for $500 from the hospital to fund yoga for this spring and summer. It was slightly less than we need to run three full sessions and pay for childcare, but we agreed we could use FWP funds to make up the difference if needed. Melissa Sharpe is moving, so will no longer be able to lead these sessions. Anne is talking with other yoga instructors now.
    E. Spring Event - We are planning on having the event on May 10th. We agreed on 1-4 pm for the time. We are using a google document as an organizational tool, and filled out specific tasks and responsibilities during the meeting. Several groups have confirmed that they will be helping with the event, including:
    • The YMCA
    • The St. Olaf Science Alliance
    • Budding Farmers
    • Cannon River Watershed Partnership (CRWP)
    F. Monarch Plantings - Adam Elg found a national foundation that would fund plantings specifically designed to attract Monarch butterflies, and brought the idea to Matt for our consideration at Way Park. Matt's daughter has offered to fill out a very detailed grant application that would allow us to be considered for the funding. If we got this grant we could have this be part of the healing garden. We agreed to move forward with the grant application.
    G. Public Art - There is a public art class at St. Olaf next year. Matt talked with the instructor about the possibility of doing something with the warming house. No decision at this point.
    H. 2014 Annual Meeting - Tentative date: June 5, 2014, 7-8:30. Mary Steen will check at St. John's Church to see if we can use space there. We talked briefly about recruiting additional board members since Doug Bratland, Bob Hickcox and Sarah Carlsen will be completing their terms.
    I. Sculpture offer - A neighbor of the park offered to donate a sculpture concept to the park. His concept won a contest many years ago that the hospital sponsored when it existed on Second Street, but the hospital didn't follow through with installing the sculpture. The sculpture itself would need to be commissioned, and we've estimated that it would take $30-$40K to cast the sculpture. Given the fund-raising priorities for the park (nature play, healing garden), the board recommended that we not pursue this opportunity.
    J. Next Meeting - Tuesday, May 13, 2014, 7 pm Matt Rohn's house.


    F riends of Way Park Meeting Minutes, January 28, 2014
    Board Members Present: Matt Rohn (President), Anne Berry (Vice-President), Sarah Carlsen (Secretary), Mary Emery (Treasurer), Mary Steen, Michele Martin, Doug Bratland, Mary Poole
    Meeting took place at Bob Hickcox's house. Jackie Henry provided the French Macaroons.
    A. Treasurer's report:
    • Our cash + receivables as of 12/31/13 was $20, 773.84.
    • We still have $1562.00 in our matching fund account in case we want to use that at the concert this spring.
    B. Ginko Tree donation - Our goal is to have it close to the Hickcox/Henry house since they are donating the trees and would be willing to water them. Matt will work with TJ to get pricing and set the location. TJ would like to plant in the spring.
    C. Andrea Een Concert - The current date is March 8th, but that may change since the MN Orchestra has now signed a contract. Matt will verify the date with Andrea.
    • Bob Hickcox could bring his smartphone to be able to take credit card donations via the Square One app.
    • Rather than sell tickets, we thought the suggested donation route worked well.
    • Mary Poole agreed to contact Cahrene Dimick to get her notes on the last event. Matt will contact Judy Swanson to see if she wants to help with a poster and the program. Michelle Martin will help with publicity.
    D. Musical Playground - Michelle found some musical elements from a company in Germany that would fit beautifully with our concept of the natural play space but the elements are far too expensive. She is planning to meet with Cindy Carlson and Liz Shepley to look at options for moving forward. The question for our board was how interested we still are in having musical elements at the park. We agreed that we are very interested, and that we agree on the following guidelines:
    • Any musical elements need to also have a "play" value - they aren't merely instruments, but have multiple uses and will inspire the kids' imaginations.
    • We want them to look natural so they fit in with the natural play theme - no red plastic toad stools.
    Michelle will bring these ideas to her meeting with Cindy and Liz later in February.
    E. Natural Play Space - We would like to hire a designer to help us think through layout for this area. Anne will work with the interns to do some research on potential designers.
    F. 2nd Street project - Second Street will likely be re-done in 2015, and we would like to be involved in the decision making. Brian Erickson initiated inviting us into conversation about the project. We really appreciated his taking a proactive stance in involving the local neighborhood in the process. Matt responded by email about our hopes and copied the Park and Recreation Advisory Board (PRAB). One of the issues he raised is bike path connectivity. There currently is no good connection between St. Olaf College and downtown, and the likely solution would mean a path either down 2nd or down St. Olaf Avenue.
    We also would like the city to consider adding back parking on the south side of the park rather than narrowing the street at that point. Two St. Olaf students responded to Matt's call for interns (Katie Maxwell & Shin Liu) to help with FWP this spring, so we have 3 hours/week from each of them. Currently Matt has asked them to do some research on bike paths and other options we want the city to consider on the project like permeable pavers for the parking area.
    G. YMCA - Amy McBroom, a staff member for the Y, reached out to Sarah to see if there was a way the Y could do some community outreach in conjunction with our group. They would like opportunities for the larger community to ask questions about the Y building project. We agreed that the spring event is likely the best time for them to do outreach. Anne Berry will talk with Amy to decide how that could look. We tentatively set the date for the spring event as 5/10/14.
    H. Park & Recreation Advisory Board (PRAB) - Nathan Knutson has finished his tenure on the park board, so therefore is no longer the chair. Dale Gehring is the new chair. The newest member is Valier Enfijian-Hoekstra. Matt thinks it is still valuable for us to have a presence there, so he will continue to attend.
    I. Kiosks - Anne Berry talked with Judy Swanson about creating some sort of template that we can use for all our event announcements. Judy is thinking about it. Doug will work with Matt's PowerPoint presentation to come up with some temporary posters we can put in the kiosks in the next month.
    J. Grant Opportunities - We have 3-4 possible grant opportunities and had a discussion about what makes the best sense for us given our current focus.
    • Rain Garden expansion - Matt will get in touch with Dustin Demmer to get an estimate on what he thinks we need to fund an expansion. We potentially could apply for a grant from the garden club to fund this expansion.
    • Michelle suggested that it might be fun to have some kids who participated in yoga write a grant for the Healthy Community Initiatives grant. That grant is up to $300. Anne Berry will talk with her daughter and friends to see if they have an interest.
    • The Northfield Hospital has a grant program for the community. Anne will talk with Melissa Sharpe about proposing spring outdoor yoga, and writing a grant with that in mind. The grant application is due on March 1st.
    K. Next Meeting - March 4, 2014, 7 pm at Mary Steen's


    F riends of Way Park Meeting Minutes, December 10, 2013

    Board Members Present: Matt Rohn (President), Anne Berry (Vice-President), Sarah Carlsen (Secretary), Mary Emery (Treasurer), Mary Steen, Michele Martin, Doug Bratland
    Meeting took place at Matt Rohn's house.
    A. Treasurer's Report:
    • Our cash in the bank as of12/09/13 was $19,019.38.
    • We took in $1,460 on Give to the Max Day, $1,060 on-line and $400 via checks at the Grant Event Center.
    • Razoo has talked about refunding 1% of what they took out for fees on Give to the Max since the site went down for several hours during the middle of the day.
    B. Give to the Max Event - We paid $40 to participate in the community-wide event at the Grand Event Center. Matt & Sarah took turns sitting at the FWP table, and both recommended participating again next year. They felt there is value in supporting the larger intention of drawing attention to local non-profits. Being there also did keep us in front of potential donors, and gave us a chance to tell our story. The setup was a little challenging since the tables were all upstairs, while the entertainment and food were downstairs. We estimated over 200 people attended the event. We had children from at least two different families contribute their own money to FWP. Next year we'd like to encourage the organizers to actively promote bringing children to the event.

    C. Year end mailing
    - Matt raised the question of whether we should do an email to encourage end of the year giving. He expressed a desire to keep FWP in front of our members, so that annual giving continues in addition to any specific fundraising efforts. The board agreed. Sarah agreed to draft the message for Matt to edit and send.
    D. Tree Wrapping - Matt requested help in wrapping the tree trunks in the park to protect them from animals. Mary Emery volunteered her husband, David, to help Matt wrap trees this Saturday.
    E. Kiosk Materials - The kiosks have been installed and the locks have been put on. They are combination locks, and Matt and Anne Berry have the combination. The Park and Recreation Board (PRAB) has agreed that the FWP can change the content of the kiosks. Matt put together some preliminary ideas for PRAB for each of the three kiosks. Matt raised the question of how we fill them in the short term, as well as our intent for the long term. After a fair amount of discussion, the board agreed that we want to get content in quickly, that Matt's proposed initial content is good, and that we'd like a standard look and feel.
    • Doug agreed to take Matt's content and pull it into a template that we can use in the short term. We can then use the template for future event notices, and just replace them each time. He can also have a Powerpoint slide printed as a "poster". He expects to have time to attend to these matters relatively soon.
    • Doug will talk to Judy about the possibility of creating a "Judy Font" that we can use for templates in the future.
    • The material Matt had as a general concept combined our own images with things culled from the internet without copyright clearance.
    F. Andrea Een Concert - Matt has talked with Andrea about the possibility of doing a concert as a fund-raiser in February or early March. Andrea has someone in mind that she wants to invite to perform with her. Matt will stay in touch with her and we can start the planning at our next meeting.
    G. Spring Event - We'd like to repeat the success of our spring event from last year. Michele agreed to take the lead on talking with Mary Poole and Anne Berry about picking a date and other specifics. May 3rd might be a good date. We liked having all the other groups included, and would like to invite them all again. Some additional ideas include: Bike tune-ups, bike helmets, Rain Garden activity, inviting Transition Northfield.
    H. Healthy Activity Grant - We'd like to apply for the grant through Allina to fund yoga again if it is a possibility. We might not know if that grant is an option until mid-summer. Matt suggested looking for other potential funding sources so we could run yoga in the spring.
    Sarah has information from the hospital about their grant funding options. She will get the information to Anne B for consideration.
    I. 2nd Street Resurfacing - Matt talked to some surveyors who confirmed that they are anticipating resurfacing 2nd St during the 2015 season. We need to be in good communication with the City during the planning process so we can include any potential park improvements at the same time. A transit hub has been approved for the Q-block area, so we want to make sure we are involved in bike path discussions. Matt will take the lead on behalf of FWP.
    J. Hickox offer of Ginkos - Matt still needs to talk to TJ about next steps.
    K. Playground ideas - Anne Berry will have more time in January, so will start looking at the website ideas that TJ sent. We will want to have our plans in place ahead of the Second Street resurfacing. Michelle is still in contact with Cynthia Carlson and others about the potential for adding musical elements. Michelle also has a great deal of information about nature play elements and costs.
    L. Fruit Trees - Matt noted a Nov-Dec, 2013 Utne Reader article, "How Fruit Trees Are Growing Communities" his wife had shared with him and reminded us how we have previously considered this.
    M. New Board Members - Doug, Bob & Sarah will all be going off the board in June, so we need to consider what skills we need to add and begin to generate names. There will be additional discussion at next meeting.
    N. Next Meeting - January 28, 2014.

    F riends of Way Park Meeting Minutes, October 15, 201 3
    Board Members Present: Matt Rohn (President), Anne Berry (Vice-President), Sarah Carlsen (Secretary), Mary Emery (Treasurer), Bob Hickcox, Michele Martin, Mary Poole
    The meeting took place at Sarah Carlsen's house.
    A. Treasurer's report - Our cash in the bank as of Oct 14, 2013 is $24,183.83.
    We have $160.68 left in our Allina Healthy Activities Grant Fund. We agreed to use the remaining funds for the Fall Festival since the grant instructions allow us to use the funds for neighborhood activities.
    B. Fall Festival - is scheduled for Saturday, Oct 26, 5-7:00 pm. Michele and Mary requested help with setup, clean up and outlined the following intentions for the event:
    • There should be a FWP table with information, volunteer sign up lists and donation bin. Sarah volunteered to be at the table and bring necessary supplies.
    • Anne Berry will bring necessary supplies and will be at table during even to serve apples with caramel sauce.
    • Michele has invited Kid fiddlers and the Arcadia drummers to provide entertainment during the events.
    • Face painters - The intent is to have face-painting in Lloyd Harkness' front porch, but we are waiting for confirmation from face-painters.
    • Matt indicated that the Environmental Quality Commission contacted him because the pilot compost program is falling short of the expectations, and they were wondering if there is a way to partner with the FWP to help that effort. Transitions Northfield members will provide information and do a demonstration as needed. The board voted to extend that invitation and Matt & Sarah offered to bring compost bins to the Festival to be used. Michele offered to purchase compostable bowls for the event, so the majority of the waste can be composted on site.
    • Sound System - We often need a sound system for our events, so the question came up if we should purchase a system. Michele did some research, and found one that Cathy Zieman has used for Riverwalk for many years. The board voted to approve the purchase of this sound system. The estimated cost is $150.
    C. Andrea Een Concert - Matt will follow up with Andrea to see if she still wants to do the concert in November. Nothing is scheduled at this time.
    D. Kiosks - Scott Swanson has finished building the three kiosks and they are ready to go. Matt put sticks in the ground at each site he suggested so board members and others can weigh in on the locations. We discussed the locations during the meeting, and agreed to communicate any concerns to Matt ASAP. These are the suggested locations:
    • St. Olaf Ave side - near the playground
    • 1st Street - near the warming house, on the north side of the path
    • 2nd Street - near the garbage can next to the path by the south-east corner.
    We confirmed that our intention it to use one side of each kiosk for information about events and the Friends of Way Park, and to use the other side for specifics about the park itself including historical information, rain garden information and natural playground information. Someone noted that QR codes could be used so people could access additional information about any or all of the topics beyond what space permits. We will talk about specific information at the next board meeting.
    E. Meeting with Streets and Parks Supervisor - Sarah and Anne met with TJ Heinricy, the Streets and Parks Supervisor at the park on October 8th to go over some of our ideas for the park, and to get his reactions. The following issues were discussed:
    • Baseball field -The FWP would like to see the field used more often. This past year, the City added lime and did some leveling of the field. In 2014, we would like to have bases and a backstop added if possible. TJ suggested that if we want to have a backstop installed, he'd like the FWP to split the costs for labor and materials. The board decided to revisit this discussion in the spring.
    • Spraying/weeding - TJ acknowledged that the condition of the south end of the park is bad and that the City would like to spray it and then re-seed it just before the ground freezes, with the hopes of allowing the grass seed to take hold before the weeds return in the spring.
    • Rain garden design and maintenance - The rain garden on the southeast corner of the park created some challenges for the City in mowing that area. Due to limited resources, the City only used a large mower for parks now, so the mower was unable to get at the grass between the path, the trees and the rain garden. The short-term solution this year was to spread wood chips in the unreachable area. At our last meeting, we agreed to take up Dustin Demmer's offer to refine the design of the garden and sell us plantings to address that issue long term. TJ would like to see us fully eliminate the need for mowing around that rain garden if possible. We tabled this issue for future discussion once we have additional information from Dustin.
    • Nature play - TJ has a clear preference that we use one of his existing play ground equipment companies for design and purchase because he trusts their understanding of Minnesota's laws concerning playground safety. In reviewing the websites for these companies, Anne wasn't convinced that they could provide what we want to see in terms of nature play. Mary Poole offered to contact the designer of the playground behind Montessori Children's House. We are hoping to get some guidance from that designer on how we could proceed in investigating potential designs.
    F. Yoga in the Park Wrap-Up - We had the final yoga session in the park on Oct 12th, and the overall sense is that it was a great success. There are still some final issues to address:
    • Survey - We need to send out the survey from Allina to get feedback. Anne Berry will get a list of attendees from Melissa and send it out in the next few days. She asked that we forward it to any additional participants as needed.
    • Final Attendance number for the event were: 40, 40, 37. 28. 12, 25
    • We had a few ideas for how to change the event if we are able to get funding for it next year:
    • Invite participants to stay for some additional "cool down time" to extend the community connection by providing informal time to stay and talk.
    • Start earlier in Aug if possible. While we may want to skip Labor Day weekend, we could schedule on Jesse James weekend without considerable conflict.
    • Consider spring if other funding opportunities are available.
    G. Trees - Leif wants us to put wraps around the tree trunks again. Matt offered to put them on again.
    H. Hickox offer of Ginkos - Matt will talk to TJ about potential locations for trees. Bob & Jackie are open, but would love to be able to see the trees from their house since they will be dedicated to their children. Matt will investigate the issues planting this wonderful, but non-native tree may create with stakeholders and eventually clear this with PRAB if that's needed.
    I. FWP Board News - Matt let the Board know that one member was not certain they could continue serving because of other obligations. He will explore this more and we decided to continue with 9 board members until the annual meeting in June if the person has to resign. He asked that we begin thinking about 4 new board members since we may need to replace that many in June. We tabled this discussion for a future meeting.
    J. Future Event Idea - Bob Hickcox recently figured out how to set up a photo booth for his son's wedding. Since he now owns the components that are required to make this work effectively, he offered to set it up for a future indoor event if needed.
    K. Next Meeting - We decided that we may be able to skip meeting in November. Matt will make sure that's the case and we will meet earlier in December, if that's the case, Dec 10th at 7 pm. Bob Hickcox offered to host at his house.

    F riends of Way Park Meeting Minutes, September 10, 201 3
    Board Members Present: Matt Rohn (President), Anne Berry (Vice-President), Sarah Carlsen (Secretary), Mary Emery (Treasurer), Doug Bratland
    The meeting took place at Anne Berry's house.
    A. Treasurer's report - We currently are maintaining four separate accounts: General Fund; Matching Fund; Van Son Bench Fund and the Allina Healthy Activities Grant Fund.
    • General Fund - Balance is $22,424.60
    • Matching Fund - This fund was established to be used as needed to incent additional giving. Balance is $1562.00.
    • Van Son Bench Fund - Bench with plaque was installed this spring. With permission from the family, the remaining $349.10 from that account can be moved to the general fund. They would like the money to be used for plantings, preferably tulips.
    • Allina Healthy Activities Grant Fund - We were awarded a grant of $1378.00 to fund free yoga in the park with childcare. We used 167.32 to purchase yoga mats, and have paid the childcare providers $100 to date for the first two sessions. $1110.68 remains in this fund with 4 yoga sessions remaining.
    B. Ambulance House Property - Matt and Anne had a good conversation with the new hospital CEO, Steven Underdahl. He indicated that the decision about the ambulance house property will not be made for a couple years because the hospital board is in the process of reviewing all their existing properties and want to make a comprehensive decision. Matt & Anne appreciated his intention to start out his tenure by establishing good relationships within the community.
    C. Kiosks - Construction on the kiosks will begin later this fall. We don't know the timing of the installation yet. Sarah moved that we add small plaques on the kiosks to indicate that they are a gift from FWP. Anne B seconded. Motion passed.
    D. Baseball field - The City sprayed for weeds on the ball field and put down new lime. They did not, however, install bases or a backstop. We paid ½ the cost of the lime- $600. Sarah will follow up with TJ to see if we can install bases and the back stop next year.
    E. Andrea Een benefit concert - Andrea Een has again offered to put on a fundraising concert for Way Park. She would prefer the concert to happen in November. We need to identify who will take the lead on setting up this event, but did not make that decision at this meeting.
    F. Yoga in the Park - In May, Anne Berry identified an opportunity to apply for a grant through Allina. After brainstorming at our May meeting, we landed on 3 potential ideas, with providing free yoga in the park as one of them. Multiple people on the board contributed to the writing of a grant, as did Melissa Sharpe. We received notification in July that yoga idea would get grant funding. Our intention in applying for this grant was to leverage the park as a place for not only healthy activity, but also for community connection. Thus far, the yoga sessions have been exactly that. We have had about 40 people at each of the first two sessions at the park. We advertised in multiple ways (Northfield Patch, posters, Facebook, Allina web site) and this resulted in people from outside the immediate neighborhood attending. Mary Poole contacted the Y for child care providers, so free childcare has been provided on the playground. Melissa Sharpe, the yoga instructor, has done a great job of including "connection to self, each other and nature" as part of the experience.
    The next 4 sessions will take place on 9/22, 9/29, 10/5 and 10/12. Doug will put out additional advertising via our website and FB. Sarah will send out an email blast. Melissa has been able to borrow a sound system from a friend for the sessions so far. We discussed the possibility of purchasing a sound system like this for future events. There was general agreement that the investment wouldn't make sense for our group, but we'd like to see if either the library or City would consider purchasing a sound system for check out. Matt will follow up with the Friends of the Library and the Park and Recreation Board to see if there is interest.
    G. Movie outside - We would like to explore what it would cost to show an outdoor movie at the amphitheater. Doug and Mary P agreed to do additional research.
    H. Vintage Band Festival - The festival was a success and Way Park was a key outdoor venue. Getting enough volunteers to help set up and support the concerts was a challenge. Matt had to make multiple appeals. The next festival is planned for 2016.
    I. Landscaping Issues - The park is not in good shape, partially as a result of flood/drought conditions, partially due to limited maintenance attention from the City. It appears that the City is contracting to have weeds controlled with spraying. We have concerns about the impact of the spraying, especially on the playground and the ball field. Sarah and Anne will follow up with TJ Henriecy to explore options for the future. Matt noted that Lloyd Harkness has been going above and beyond in tending the trees and flowers on the north end of the park.
    J. Black Hills Spruce trees - Several years ago, money was raised to plant a tree in honor of Gerald Elg. His son is planning a wedding this fall at Way Park, so provided the necessary input on tree selection. As a result, 3 black hills spruce trees were planted near Bob Hickcox's house, and a plaque honoring Gerald was installed.
    K. Watering - With the current drought conditions, additional watering is required. Bob H has been taking care of the new spruce trees and Matt has been watering the lilacs weekly. Knecht's watered in August as did we. Sarah will coordinate monthly watering efforts for the rest of the fall.
    L. Possible Tree Donation - We have members who have offered to donate two Ginko trees in honor of their children. The board has some concern about planting non-native species so we agreed we should check the list of trees recommended by the City and check with TJ to see if he has concerns before we move ahead with a decision.
    M. Rain Gardens -The rain gardens are in very good shape, largely due to Dustin Demmer's commitment. Dustin redesigned the gardens from the original plan and helped with installation while working as an intern for the City. His time since has been as a volunteer. With the spacing of the path around the south garden, and the City's large equipment, Dustin is recommending that we expand the garden to minimize the maintenance challenge. He will provide a recommendation for an expansion in the next few months. The FWP will likely need to fund it for it to take shape. The board voted to give Dustin a gift certificate and note to express our thanks for his extra care of the rain gardens. Matt indicated that there is a potential grant opportunity through the county that may help pay for rain garden signage. Our intention has been to provide information via signage to instruct community members on the benefits of rain garden installation.
    N. Meeting time - We agreed to meet the 3rd Tuesday of the month for this next year. Next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 10th. Location to be determined.
    O. Fall Festival - We again plan to sponsor a Fall Festival event at the park. Potential date is Saturday, October 26th. Mary Poole agreed to call a small group meeting to plan the event and will engage the rest of the board as needed. Anne Berry raised the idea of including a chain saw sculpture as part of a future event. It would be possible to have a sculptor create a piece that could be used as part of the nature play space we are beginning to imagine. We also want to make sure to advertise MN Gives as part of this event since the MN Gives date will happen in mid-November.

    F riends of Way Park Meeting Minutes, May 21, 201 3
    Board Members Present: Sarah Carlsen (President), Matt Rohn (Vice President), Mary Emery (Treasurer), Anne Berry (Secretary), Bob Hickcox, Michelle Martin, Mary Steen
    The meeting took place at Anne Berry's house.
    A. Treasurer's Report: Mary Emery presented her report. The only recent expenses have been the sign boards and some postage. The Van Son bench fund is still listed separately. While the cost of the bench has been subtracted, we still have the cost of the plaque. The family would like some of the remaining funds to purchase tulips if possible. After that, what remains of their donation can go into the general fund.
    On the topic of flowers, Michelle said that Eco Gardens often looks for places to donate bulbs that don't get sold. We can contact them in the fall.
    B. Annual Meeting: The annual meeting will be held on Thursday, June 6th, from 7:00-8:30, in the Fireside Room of St. John's. Sarah started a discussion of the agenda. Matt said that the people who come really like to hear what's happening, so the consensus was that a presentation about the Way Park "vision," nature play, and plans for the playground/healing garden would give attendees a sense of the direction we're going. Matt will work on the vision statement. Anne will put together some images, report on the survey that was done during the outdoor gathering, and include some ideas from Emma Cromwell's paper.
    This theme provides a context for the announcement of the change in leadership. Matt will move into the position of Chair, and Anne will move into the position of Vice Chair. Sarah will take over the duties of Secretary and can thereby continue to facilitate activities and maintain relationships with the Park Board and others.
    A change in the by-laws is necessary at this point because, as written, Anne Haddad's position as the Fundraising Committee Chair is not a Board position. The group decided to announce the change as upcoming at the Annual Meeting and to send it out as an agenda item and vote on the change at the July meeting.
    Sarah will draft an e-mail announcement about the meeting and put a notice in the Patch, etc. Mary Emery will prepare financial reports for the year. Anne will make 15 copies of the minutes from the last Annual Meeting.
    C. Explore the Outdoors Report: Michelle said she thought the event was really successful and well attended. She noted that the workload was equitably spread and that it was accessible to many age groups. Anne agreed and added that it was a very cooperative event. It helped that each "partner" took responsibility for a station, so the organizers did not have to oversee many activities at once. Also, the gathering seemed to benefit the partners as much as it benefitted FWP and the attendees. Science Alliance, the YMCA and Girl Scouts all said that they were happy to have the exposure in the community. Sarah noted that the approach to publicity was more extensive than it has been with other events, and that seemed to boost attendance. She described the event as high profile and high impact but not overwhelming.
    Everyone was willing to do this type of event again. Michelle said that the musicians she spoke to would like to be involved in the future. Anne suggested a birdhouse/birdfeeder activity and a greater emphasis on bike-related topics, including registration, which could give the elementary school police liaison an opportunity to meet the community. Since the PBS/NRPA materials were the source of the idea for this event but not really part of the execution, there is no real need for this event to be tied to it or to Earth Day in the future. It is a good kick-off to summer.
    Sarah will write Thank You notes to Greg Muth and his volunteers at the Science Alliance, Virginia Kaczmarek and the other volunteers from the Northfield Area YMCA, Liz Cooney from Girl Scouts River Valleys, Betsy Allister and Andrew Erhmann of Spring Wind Farm, Monica Irwin and Becca Carlson of SEEDS, and Sue Welch.
    D. Rain Gardens Update: Matt reported that the rain gardens are draining, they look good, and there are no additional plantings necessary. He said that there may be a problem with drainage in the event of heavier rains, but the fix is not the kind of thing that we can take care of. It requires a decision on the part of Brian Erickson (installation of a cap that would prevent mulch from going down the drain), and it is a project for another year.
    Matt reported that Dustin Dimmer wants us to start weeding and to do it before the other grasses come up. Dustin estimates that six people could do it in an hour, so Matt wants to get a weeding group together and have a weeding party in the next couple of weeks.
    Matt is eager to get signage near the rain garden, with information that explains the purpose of rain gardens and refers people to the City website for more information. He worked up some ideas with one of his classes at St. Olaf College and would like have a professional design made, for example, a metal sign with images, text, and a QR code imprinted. Anne noted that the City website is something that changes and suggested that there are probably better sources for information about rain gardens. Mary Steen reintroduced the general desire often expressed for a consistent look and feel to the signage in the park and suggested the possibility of a brass plaque that refers passersby to one of the kiosks for more information. Anne suggested that if the rain garden sign can't match the plaques, the style of the presentation of information can at least match what will go up in the kiosks.
    On the topic of consistency, Sarah asked the group whether she and Doug could choose a font for the park. The group said yes, so the chosen font will be unveiled at the Annual Meeting.
    E. Composting Program: Sarah reported on a conversation she had with David Sudermann regarding the news that Dick's Sanitation is piloting a curbside composting program in the neighborhood surrounding Way Park. David requested that Friends of Way Park consider providing leadership to make sure that the pilot is successful. He is willing to spread the word and educate neighbors by going door-to-door, and he has asked for help. Sarah asked to group to consider whether and how we want to be engaged with this. The consensus was that the project is aligned with, but beyond, the mission of this group, and that something like canvasing the neighborhood regarding this issue might be a better fit for the colleges. That said, we have an extensive mailing list that includes neighbors within the area designated for the pilot program, so the group agreed to include some information in the next e-mail blast.
    Subsequent to the meeting, Anne spoke to David Domack at Dick's Sanitation, who said he would be happy to write a few sentences for our next mailing or even just give us his e-mail so that we can refer people to him, but he did NOT think that we needed to do any door-to-door educating saying that there would be instructions coming with the bins.
    F. Kiosks: Matt reported that the most recent Park Board meetings were rearranged such that the topic of the kiosks was not addressed. The next meeting is June 20, and at that meeting, Matt hopes to get the approval we need to go forward with the building and installation of the kiosks. Robert will talk to Scott about the two changes TJ would like to make to the design (acrylic instead of glass and locks that don't require keys).
    G. Trees - Watering Update: Sarah talked with Leif Erickson, who told her to fertilize the trees that he had marked and to watch the weather for dry spells. If there is consistent rain throughout the summer, the trees on the south side no longer need to be watered. The clusters of trees on the north end have all been "adopted." Lloyd Harkness will take care of the little oaks and Cora Scholz will look after those that were planted in memory of Kristi Knecht and Howard and Edna Hong.
    Mary Steen noted that the wagons and buckets are in her shed, and we can use them if watering becomes necessary.
    H. Baseball Field: Sarah talked to TJ, who indicated that it would cost about $1200 to resurface the baseball field and add bases and that he would absorb the cost of labor. He also said in a recent e-mail that he would go ahead and order the lime. It was unclear whether he was expecting FWP to contribute financially or not. Michelle suggested that we offer help pay the costs since the baseball field is a high priority and since the gesture might create good will that will come back to us in the future. Matt suggested that we offer to pay half since that is more in line with past projects. Mary Steen made a motion that we offer to pay for half of the cost up to $600. Bob seconded, and the motion passed.
    Mary Emery noted that checks over $100 need to be signed by the Treasurer and the Chair, and she said that she would get the paperwork necessary for making the change from Sarah's name to Matt's at the bank.
    I. Nature Play - Healing Garden: In place of a board meeting in July, there will be a meeting this summer of those individuals interested in working on the play space. We are moving toward needing to hire a designer, both to be ready whenever the city starts to work on the playground and because it helps neighbors and potential donors visualize the possibilities. Michelle is working with Liz and Cindy on ideas and prices for musical pieces.
    We can't really take any next steps regarding the Healing Garden until we know something about the ambulance house, and we won't know anything for a while since the hospital has a new Chief Executive Officer who needs some time to get up to speed.
    J. Approval of the Minutes: Anne asked the group to approve the minutes from the February meeting and April meeting. Matt made a motion to approve both. Michelle seconded, and the motion passed.
    At one point there was a discussion of the changing face of the neighborhood and the desire to connect with new neighbors. Michelle suggested getting our brochure to the realtors because a strong community organization is a selling point. Anne will ask Anne Haddad to send a color version of the brochure to Michelle, and Michelle with pass it along to the realtors, either on paper or as a pdf.
    K. Next Meeting: The next meeting will be Tuesday, August 20th, location to be decided.

    F riends of Way Park Meeting Minutes, February 26, 201 3
    Board Members Present: Sarah Carlsen (President), Matt Rohn (Vice President), Mary Emery (Treasurer), Anne Berry (Secretary), Doug Bratland, Bob Hickcox, Michelle Martin, Mary Poole, Mary Steen
    The meeting took place around a treat-filled table in Matt Rohn's front room.
    A. Treasurer's Report: Mary Emery reported that there have been a few donations and one new expenditure -- the renewal of the P.O. Box. She also summarized the bench expenditure; the city got it, installed it and billed us for it, a total of $1350.90.
    B. Sandwich Board Purchase: Anne Berry described the different sign options available. The group quickly zeroed in on a white, plastic, two-sided, A-frame sandwich board with 24'x36' white-board inserts. Bob made a motion to approve up to $300 to purchase two signs. Mary Steen seconded, and the motion was approved. Subsequent to the meeting, Anne purchased model BSW36PMAWT from http://www.displays2go.com.
    C. Outdoor Day: Anne Berry, Mary Poole and Michelle reported on the "Explore the Outdoors: A Way Park Gathering." At the time of the meeting, there were activities planned (kite making, planting beans in CD cases, a make-your-own-barometer activity) and a connection established with Greg Muth and the Science Alliance of St. Olaf. Anne was working on making a large poster with images of playground equipment and space for comments as a way of engaging the community and gauging interest regarding updates and changes to the current playground. Mary was planning to talk to the YMCA about organizing group games and supplying equipment for outdoor exercise. Michelle was looking into music possibilities and trying to connect with someone from a CSA. There was also talk of looking for someone to organize something related to biking. At the time of the meeting, teachers around town had been given a heads up about the PBS programming related to "exploring the outdoors," and there were posters around town announcing events in Way Park later this spring.
    The main detail left to decide was the date, and the group agreed that Sunday, May 5th, 1-4pm, was the best choice. Set-up was planned for around 12:00, and Matt said he would bring the tables at that time.
    In the weeks following the meeting, more connections were established with the Northfield Area Family YMCA (who sent two volunteers with a collection of balls, Frisbees, hula hoops, and hurdles), Girl Scouts of River Valleys (who organized a nature scavenger hunt and art project), Budding Farmers (who donated materials for planting beans), Spring Wind Farm and SEEDS (who sent volunteers to help plant beans), and Sue Welch (who brought information about bicycle safety and the Mill Town Trails). The event was publicized in all the nursery schools and elementary schools, at Healthy Kids Day, by e-mail through blasts to FWP members and Women in Action, in Northfield online publications, on the bulletin boards around town, and by word of mouth.
    D. Kiosk Proposal: Bob reviewed the proposal he had sent prior to the meeting (see attached). Scott Swanson's design includes 6'x6' cedar posts (which don't rot), tempered ¼-inch safety glass (which doesn't break), and a curved roof. He noted that the proposed height and size are within the specifications of the Northfield Land Development code. His price for three was $2640 for materials, $4000 labor, and $1075 for installation. As a comparison, Bob showed a similar kiosk made by Barco with recycled plastic materials that was in the same price range.
    There was much excitement about the growing reality of kiosks in the park, and the group began discussing all the possibilities - where to put them, whether to lock them, what to post in them, etc. Three kiosks means six sides, which could display park news and upcoming events, but also history.
    Sarah said that the city would probably want to do the installation, and that they would probably want a concrete pad, and she asked Bob to talk to Scott about that. Doug said that Scott is creative and flexible and can work with us depending on what the city says.
    The Board unanimously decided to go with Scott's proposal. Matt made a motion to approve up to $7000 for the kiosks. Michelle seconded, and the motion passed.
    Mary asked whether Scott could do it this summer, and Bob said he would check on that. Matt suggested that we e-mail the design to TJ Heinricy. If he's okay with it, we can show it to the Park Board and propose that we pay for it and that the city does the installation. It will probably be a month before we get approval because of the timing of the Park Board meetings. Matt also noted that we will probably need to exchange a letter of agreement with the city about maintenance; the city probably won't want to maintain the content.
    E. Annual Meeting Plan: Sarah noted that there are no new board members this year; all ten current members will stay on the board.
    The group set the date and time of the Annual Meeting: June 6th, at 7pm. Mary Steen said she would reserve the Fireside Room at St. John's.
    The group considered the possibility of having an event or guest speaker at the meeting, with one possibility being a slide show displaying the vision for the play area. No decision was made, but in relation to this idea, Matt wondered whether we are ready to look for a designer for the playground. He noted that in the past, having drawings have been useful, something that allows people to envision different possibilities. It might be time to get a concept plan or at least start looking into who might do this for us.
    F. Plaques: Award Centre in downtown Northfield (owned by Jan Krause) can engrave brass plaques for benches and trees. A plaque for the Van Son memorial bench would come to around $50. Plaques for the trees would be about $145. We would hope (expect) that the City would pay for installation.
    We need to make templates for the text and run the whole design by TJ. Language for the tree plaques would be on this order:
    Japanese Tree Lilac
    Given by the St. Olaf Music Department
    in honor of Andrea Een
    for her ____years of service.
    G. Vintage Band Update: Nothing new to report. We just need to stay alert, and be ready to lend a hand at the event
    H. Rotary Report: Matt and Sarah made a presentation to Rotary a few weeks ago, thanks to Jim Holden's invitation. They have a weekly meeting with 120 people. At the end of the meeting, Brett Reese and Mark Quinnell stood up and said they had been reminiscing about playing football in Way Park, and "here is a donation right now." They held up a $100 bill.
    Michelle met later with Cindy Carlson (whose husband was at Rotary meeting) and Liz Shepley to discuss musical instruments for the park. They were very enthusiastic about incorporating natural instruments into nature play space; the three of them explored websites and found "a lot of cool stuff out there." Rotary might like to fund; young people could get involved (in making presentations, for example). Michelle will continue working on this.
    I. PRAB Report: The Park Board is under instructions from the city to do long-term financial planning, to prioritize. We need to make sure our planning ducks are in a row, ready when the City is.
    J. Designer for the Nature Play Area and Healing Garden: The discussion of whether it was time to get a designer came up again after a comment that assuring coherence among the elements of the park will be important, especially if we have to make changes one piece at a time. The group agreed that we should look into getting a design, or, maybe the required expertise would mean we need two designers who reference each other. Matt said he is willing to take the lead on finding designer(s) for the spaces. He also indicated that some of those trying to market their services also suggest fund-raising possibilities. We need to know about the ambulance house before we can move ahead on the healing garden, however, and the Mayor has said that there will be no decisions on that until the hospital has a new CEO. (They're down to two finalists now.)
    At this point, Bob noted that he had looked into alternatives to Razoo, since its fees are going up. Pay Pal's fees are more like Razoo's have been in the past. Vanco is used by the Historical Society and Girl Scouts; it has fees for everything. Bob's suggestion is that Razoo gives us added value (marketing and receipting) and that, until we get overwhelmed by donations through Razoo, we might want to stay with them. We can put some wording on our website indicating that if donations are sent by check, the entire amount goes to FWP, whereas the convenience of a credit card entails a 3% charge. We don't want to discourage any donations, though.
    K. Next Meeting: The next meeting will be Tuesday, May 21, at 7:30pm, at Anne Berry's house.

    F riends of Way Park Meeting Minutes, February 26, 201 3
    Board Members Present: Sarah Carlsen (President), Matt Rohn (Vice President), Mary Emery (Treasurer), Anne Berry (Secretary), Anne Haddad, Bob Hickcox, Michelle Martin, Mary Poole, Mary Steen
    The meeting took place in Mary Steen's cozy dining room with many delicious treats, including healthy chocolate chip cookies.
    A. Treasurer's Report: Mary Emery reported that there has been one expenditure since the last report, a payment of $1350.90 from the Van Son bench fund for the new bench.
    In other financial news, Bob noted that Razoo has announced an increase in their rate from 2.9% to 4.9% of donations that go through their site. He is going to research some other alternatives and report back at the next meeting.
    B. EMS Site Donation: Sarah has been in contact with Gina Franklin, Chair of the Hospital Board, about what will happen at the meeting they are having on February 28. No decision has been made yet about whether they will sell or donate the EMS site adjacent to Way Park. It seems that they will be discussing their options after getting information from their attorneys. It is unclear whether there will be an opportunity for public comment. Matt will attend the meeting and report back.
    (Matt's report to the FWP Board came in an e-mail message two days later. He noted that the Hospital's lawyer made clear that only the City can buy and sell property. The Hospital can make recommendations, but the City Council has to make the final decision. No specific mention was made of the possible donation of the land adjacent to Way Park, but during the discussion of the commitments of support to the different community initiatives before them, it became clear that "donations" would need to go only toward projects that clearly meet their health/wellness objectives.)
    C. Upcoming Events:
    Spring Event
    Michelle summarized what she's found out about the PBS/ NRPA partnership and the Explore the Outdoors activities that are available through them online. There are ready-made materials (promotional and "academic") that are designed to help communities host events in parks around the time of Earth Day. PBS will be airing shows (Curious George, Sid the Science Kid, etc.) with themes related to the outdoors (weather, wind, trees, etc.) We can use the materials that expand on those themes, or we can adapt them, or we can do other related activities (for example, kite making/flying). There was a lot of enthusiasm around this event, but some questions remain: When? What exactly? For which age group? Michelle, Anne Berry and Mary Poole will work on planning and beginning to promote something before the next meeting.
    Sarah suggested that this event might be the right time to honor Andrea Een. Matt said he would try to get one of Andrea's former students to play the hardanger fiddle, which would also bring music to the event that the kids might like.
    Matt might also be able to involve a group of students from St. Olaf interested in environmental action. And Michelle will try to enlist the students from the Science Alliance and Greg Muth.
    Another purpose behind this event is to promote the natural play space and gather opinions about the type of equipment that people are most interested in. Anne Berry suggested getting feedback on some of the ideas that we are most excited about by making a poster with some images and lots of white space for comments.
    On a related "note," Michelle said that she has been in touch with Cindy Carlson (who first proposed the idea of a musical playground to us) and Liz Shepley of Northfield Youth Choirs, and they have a meeting planned to talk about choosing and finding funding for some outdoor instruments. Michelle also had contacted the Exhibits Director at Montshire Museum of Science, and he provided some excellent resources. Michelle noted the lithophone, the humming stone and the whale drum as three good possibilities. It was suggested that this piece of the project could become a way to recognize the music teachers in Northfield.
    Andrea Een Concert
    Sarah said that Andrea Een is potentially interested in doing another concert for us, perhaps in the fall. This might be an opportunity to do more targeted fundraising, tying her concert to the healing garden.
    Vintage Band Concert
    We've been asked to have a point person for the Vintage Band Concert Series (Aug 1-4) to attend planning meetings and act as the "host" for the concerts at Way Park. Having 2-3 people share this might be a good way to go since it is a heavy schedule of concerts (all over town, but also in Way Park). The first meeting requiring our attendance is March 2, and Matt volunteered to go and to report back. Bob, Mary Steen and both Annes said that since they would probably be attending some of the Way Park concerts, they would probably be available on those occasions to help out and to make FWP a visible presence. Sarah suggested that this is also probably a good "beyond the board" effort. Judy Swanson is happy to be involved.
    D. Stage Ideas: Mary Steen described some ideas she had been researching for the amphitheater stage - a cement slab, a covered structure that could double as a picnic shelter, a portable stage, an inflatable movie screen. Bob suggested that a paved area seems to go against the "philosophy" of the park in that it creates the kind of run-off that the rain garden prevents. A patio style stage with permeable bricks would solve that problem, and offering engraved bricks with the names of donors would be a good way to raise funds. There was a general consensus against a covered structure, as it would interfere with the visibility of the whole park. There was some discussion of the exact location of the stage: The City's "show mobile" would need to be parked on the far side of the paved walkway, but a permanent stage could fit right in front of the amphitheater on the same side of the paved walkway. Board members agreed to take a look at this and discuss it more later.
    E. Kiosk/bench/picnic table update: Bob showed the group some benches and picnic tables from "By the Yard" that were made of 100% recycled tires and plastic bottles. They require no paint, they are sun-resistant, and solid through, weighing 283-483 pounds. They cost $400-$600 per bench. The Board agreed that the kiosks are a higher priority and asked Bob to talk to Scott Swanson before our next meeting about building two for the park. Bob said he would.
    F. Park and Recreation Advisory Board Updates: Matt reported that the City is moving forward with a design for a skateboard park at Riverside Park. Members of that neighborhood are forming a "friends" group (in the model of FWP) to help influence the development of that site so that neighborhood interests are represented. Matt also described the PowerPoint presentation that he gave to bring the PRAB up to speed on our plans regarding natural play space and the memorial garden. The group acknowledged that some of the development has already gotten away from the original, more formal intention for the park, but the board was supportive of the direction we are headed. Finally, Matt noted that Nathan Knutson is likely in his final year on the PRAB. His leadership will be missed.
    G. Next Meeting: The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 19th, at 7:00pm, at a heretofore undisclosed location. A coded e-mail message will be circulated with more information once all board members have been granted top secret security clearance.

    F riends of Way Park Meeting Minutes, January 22, 2013
    Board Members Present: Sarah Carlsen (President), Matt Rohn (Vice President), Mary Emery (Treasurer), Doug Bratland, Bob Hickcox, Michelle Martin, Mary Steen
    The meeting took place in Bob Hickcox's home, with gingerbread, applesauce and whipped cream available for all.
    A. Treasurer's report: Mary Emery reported on the end of year financials. We had some additional gives via MN Gives after November 16th and a few other year-end donations. As of 12/31/12, our balance is $26, 760.69 with $23,498.69 in the general fund, $1,562.00 in a matching fund and $1700.00 in the Van Son Bench fund.
    B. MN Gives recap: Matt felt like overall our email appeal, and involvement with other locl non-profits in advertising Give to the Max Day went well. There will be a meeting this Friday of the small non-profits that are working together on many fronts, but especially on MN Gives. So far there has not been a recap of how effective the "Golden ticket" was in generating interest. From Matt's perspective, it did raise awareness and get good momentum going. It isn't clear what it will look like in the future.
    Thank you to Bob H for downloading information from Razoo website to have our donors included in the drawing for the golden ticket.
    Recommendation - For next year, use our pumpkin festival event to advertise MN Gives for FWP. Make the email outreach to our members an annual event to make sure we maintain ongoing contact with our members. If it is possible, it may also be worthwhile to see if there is a way to optimize the search on MN Gives website to make sure FWP shows under "you might also like" on the screen.
    C. Review priorities/responsibilities that came out of retreat: At our retreat in November, we reviewed various elements from the master plan, along with ideas for the park that have come from other places. We then prioritized the elements and decided who would take the lead in bringing that idea forward, whether than meant doing research and presenting a recommendation or pulling together people informally so we can evaluate the level of excitement and commitment to each element. Sarah reviewed the elements to clarify lead responsibilities and to get updates where updates were available.
    • Natural Play Space - Anne Berry has taken the lead on this project, but was not available to attend this meeting. She hosted a meeting earlier this week at St. Olaf with a group of interested people (including much of the board) to review Matt's students' final projects about ideas for nature play spaces at Way Park and Odd Fellows. The students raised many good ideas, and at least one wrote a very comprehensive paper about the why's behind building natural play space. The next step is to make photos available to interested people for comment, so we can start to gather information about what people would really like to see. Anne is working with Doug Bratland to determine what tool might be available (e.g., Facebook) that could help us facilitate a discussion. Michele suggested bringing some ipads to the park to have people give input on a set of 5 designs at some point. Per Matt, there is some programming coming out on PBS that we may be able to use in some way this spring that would be related to nature play. If we did an event in April to coincide with that, we could potentially use that event to get additional input. Maybe we could use the hill near the playground in some way to incorporate nature play. Michele said "Leonardo's basement," an organization in St. Paul, is at the beginning of their process to build a different kind of play space in a park. Watching their process may be helpful to us. Michele also suggested we could use Meet-up as a way to set up informal events in the park.
    • Water Play - While not a high priority, Sarah agreed to contact TJ Heinrecy to see if the City was open to our exploring this. Sarah reported that TJ had expressed some concerns about maintenance, but was open to the idea. No further research or action is required at this point..
    • Musical Play - Michele Martin has agreed to take the lead on this. There are a range of options available from the more formal elements we could purchase, to more "natural looking" recycled kind of elements. There was general agreement that we'd prefer low maintenance, sheltered, very musical elements if we move forward with this. Michele will get in touch with Cindy Carlson to see if there is any additional information or interest from others in the community.
    • Electricity/Stage - Mary S and Bob H agreed to take leadership on researching possibilities for the stage. We have information on the MN Landscape Arboretum process of soliciting funds with bricks engraved with donors names or someone they want to memorialize.
    • Kiosk/bench/picnic table update - Bob H is currently looking into the possibility of having kiosks built rather than purchased since that might allow us to have what we really want rather than to settle for something expensive that still doesn't meet the mark. In general, there are a few options if we purchase- powder-coated metal or plastic coated metal or recycled plastic. Plastic seem to have the longest life span. Powder coated metal doesn't seem to wear as well. Bob intends to have a recommendation available by our March meeting.
    D. Update on Sarah's conversation with TJ Heinricy, Street and Park Supervisor - There were a number of lower priority items that Sarah wanted to discuss with TJ to get a sense of the City's willingness, costs and limitations.
    • Drinking Fountain - While we gave this a medium priority, Sarah did check with TJ to get a sense of what it would cost and if there was any optimal timing. Per TJ, it would cost between $2-$5k, depending on where we put it and which fountain we purchase. He encouraged us to include a pet watering option. The project could be done at any time since there are not any direct dependencies.
    • Baseball Diamond - TJ agreed to get a bid for the work so we could have a sense of what it would cost to "clean up" the baseball diamond, including installing a backstop and putting in bases. Sarah will contact the Northfield Baseball Association to see if they have any interest in using the field for t-ball and follow up with TJ in case we want to do something this spring.
    • Warming House\Ice Rink - TJ was open to our improving the look of the warming house with plantings at some point as long as we didn't interfere with the City's being able to get their trucks onto the rink. If we have an interest in painting it a different color, we need to be in conversation with him about it.
    • Picnic Shelter - TJ was open to the idea as long as the maintenance is minimal.
    E. EMS Site Update - Since our last meeting, Mary Steen raised concern when she became aware that the Northfield Hospital Board had voted at their October meeting to sell the EMS site. Since the FWP had been in conversation about this site with Mark Henke, the CEO of the hospital, prior to his sudden death this summer, this news caught us by surprise. After talking with various people at the hospital and the City, none of whom were able to shed light on the suddenness of the decision or the lack of communication around it, Sarah sent an email to the Interim CEO, Mary Crowe Quinn, asking for clarification of the decision in light of our earlier conversations with Mr. Henke. As a result, Sarah had a constructive conversation with Gina Franklin, the Northfield Hospital Board Chair about the decision. Since that discussion, the board had decided to revisit the decision. Nathan Knutson has voiced the Park and Recreation Board's (PRAB) endorsement of our position that the hospital considering donating the land in some way that would benefit either Way Park specifically, or the park funding for the whole city. Our understanding now is that the City and Hospital will have a work session, and we assume this issue will be included in the discussion.
    F. PRAB Update - Matt continues to attend the park board meetings regularly to make sure we have a sense of what is happening. Since the last meeting Matt and Judy Swanson met with a group of people from Village on the Cannon who are considering forming a "Friends of Riverside Park" as a way to support and impact the development of the skate park. Leif Knecht presented a plan at the most recent PRAB meeting about some donations he'd like to make at various parks, including Way Park, in the coming year. He had talked through his ideas with Matt to make sure his thoughts supported the master plan. The PRAB didn't make any decision, but may talk about it further at the next meeting.
    G. Calendar for the year - Sarah presented a listing of upcoming dates for meetings for our meetings as well as for potential events. This list is as follows:
    Board meetings:
    • Tuesday, Feb 26 - 7 pm
    • Tuesday, Mar 19 - 7 pm
    • Tuesday, April 23 - 7 pm
    • Tuesday May 28 - 7 pm
    Events
    • Spring Event - We discussed several options for a spring event, but the most energy was around taking advantage of a program offered by PBS and the National Park and Recreation Association. We don't have many details yet, but the idea is to plan an event that gets kids outside, that has a connection appropriate PBS shows the kids likely know and will be themed to the nature play initiative leading up to mid-April. Earth Day is Monday April 22. General consensus was to avoid Earth Day weekend since there are other events going on. We could consider Arbor Day - April 26th weekend or even May Day.
    • Actions: Matt will send the link to the information. Michele will talk with Mary and Anne B about potential ideas and how best to use the event to gather information about nature play space elements and designs. We also need to build in time to dedicate the bench and the lilacs are part of this event.
    • Midsommar - We aren't the drivers for this event so don't have any specific information about whether and when it will be.
    • Vintage Band Festival - Way Park will be one of several locations for concerts. We don't have specific responsibilities, but the organizer will likely be in touch with us to ask for specific help. August 1-4
    • Fall Event - MEA is Oct 17 - 20, so we thought planning our event for some time between 10/25-10/27 would be good.
    • Annual Meeting - Potential Dates - Tuesday, June 18, Wed June 19, Tues June 25, or Wed June 26. Tentative Location - St. John's Church

    Friends of Way Park Meeting Minutes, October 23, 2012
    Board Members Present: Sarah Carlsen (President), Matt Rohn (Vice President), Mary Emery (Treasurer), Anne Berry (Secretary), Doug Bratland, Bob Hickcox, Michelle Martin, Mary Poole, Mary Steen
    The meeting took place in Matt Rohn's front room around a table filled with treats.
    A. Treasurer's Report: Mary Emery highlighted the changes in the account over the last month - a $100 donation, the $275 in matching funds from Oracle, and an expense of $40 for an advertisement (see below). We have a balance of more than $24,000 for projects, with $1700 of that for the bench and some still in the matching fund.
    B. Fall Festival: Mary Poole reported on the preparations for the Fall Festival coming up on October 27. She said that Michelle had made a poster, and 150 of them had been delivered to homes on Manitou, St Olaf Avenue, First and Second Streets, and posted around town. She sent a press release to Doug for the website and Facebook, and to KYMN, Northfield News, Northfield Patch and Northfield.org. Mary also said she would send an e-mail announcement to Women in Action.
    At the time of the meeting, one face painter was lined up, and they were waiting to hear back from another. The drummers were all set. They were in the process of contacting the Fire Department. The international students from St. Olaf have been invited to come down and help with pumpkin carving, and there are also students from Arcadia who could come.
    There will be apples with caramel and pumpkin cake, but no beverages and no need for cups. Michelle will bring several sets of tools, and there will be a tarp on the ground for carving. The finished pumpkins can line the steps and the wall. Mary said there would be no luminaries, but there would be candles for the pumpkins. (There was a short discussion of using LED tea lights because they last longer and don't blow out, but the group decided against it because of the expense, and because families might go home with them.)
    Mary said that Judy Swanson has the sandwich board sign and will set it up in the morning Saturday. Roz Eaton-Neeb will get the sound system from Lynn Young. (There was a short discussion of the need for a power source, but the group remembers it being battery operated.) Sarah is planning to use the microphone to make an announcement at the beginning to thank the volunteers who are there helping and the volunteers who have been helping to water the trees, to say what we've done since last year, to mention the playground and healing garden, and to suggest that people who are interested in being involved give us their e-mail. Matt said he would bring three tables around 4:30 on Saturday. Bob will bring sign-up sheets for watering, rain garden care, and nature play/healing garden discussions. The information table will also have some brochures and the master plan graphic and maybe a big pumpkin. (Sarah said that Anne Haddad had suggested building a trifold display with slots so that pictures and information can change.)
    Sarah suggested a light source for the face painters since last year the lines were long and it got dark early. Bob said he has an emergency lantern.
    Mary requested help for clean-up
    In speaking about the sound system, Lynne Young's retirement came up. The board agreed that we should send a card and a lifetime membership to the Friends of Way Park.
    C. Nature Play Space: Anne Berry reported that seven people were at the meeting on September 29 in the park to discuss nature play. There seemed to be agreement among them in a general way about the type of spaces and equipment would be appealing to children and different from the other parks in town. And there seemed to be a motivation to start working up some concrete ideas so that, when the city is ready, we have something to suggest. The group had decided to do some thinking and meet again in January. After the meeting, Michelle made a summary of the discussion, and Anne sent it to those who had attended. The nature play slide show that Matt prepared is on the FWP website. Anne also showed the board the handout that was distributed at the meeting - an incomplete list of places and websites to visit.
    Matt suggested the possibility of collaborating on this with a professor who has a class that needs a project. The board was interested, so Matt will try to connect with the person he has in mind.
    D. Bench Update: The family that donated money for a bench is eager to see it installed. Sarah said there was some back and forth with TJ Heinricy about this, but no agreement on the style and model of bench, until now. Matt showed the board a Victor Stanley Homestead 2 bench that had the right design and was the type that van der Zalm had recommended. It costs ~$1000 before tax and shipping, plus $150 for plaque. The city will take care of the installation. (It will have to attached to a slab of the cement.) It is made of recycled plastic and comes in four colors. The group chose "walnut" because it most closely matches what is there now.
    Bob made a motion to go ahead with purchase of this bench. Mary Steen seconded the motion. The motion passed. Sara will meet with TJ to site the bench.
    Sarah also mentioned that Dale Gehring suggested installing a garbage/recycling bin along Second Street. Mary Steen said she thought it should not be installed near a bench. Matt said he thought it should be near the end of the path. TJ has the bins. Sarah will tell TJ that the board agrees with the installation in the area of the southeast entrance.
    Many in the group were interested in getting the kiosks installed, especially now that we have chosen a bench design. Bob will revive the research and look for a design that matches.
    E. Memorial Healing Garden: Matt and Sarah had a meeting to discuss ideas for the memorial healing garden. Matt had prepared a slide show, which Sarah will forward to the board. The people present were all interested in holistic medicine (Henry Emmons, Mary Carlson, Susan Loeman, Hans Meussig, Judy Swanson). They had a nice discussion and agreed that they wanted to continue to be engaged. Susan said that the Hospital Auxiliary can be involved.
    Sarah said she thinks it's a good idea to work on this project now, while these people are still active with the hospital. Part of the discussion planned for the retreat on November 10th will be focused on how to move things forward. Matt is trying to connect with the landscape designers featured in the slide show. Sarah recommended that we all look at it before the retreat. She also mentioned two memorials at Carleton to look at.
    Bob asked if it was possible to get funding through the Legacy Act. Matt said he thought there would be sufficient money for a design from the hospital or auxiliary. Sarah said that Gretchen Hargrove had requested a grant through the garden club. And she suggested the possibility of a Malt-O-Meal grant as well.
    F. Park and Recreation Advisory Board Updates: Matt told the group about the skateboard park negotiations that are going on. There are a few locations and voices for and against each. A new possibility is to team up with the YMCA.
    The board is very anxious about having no money. So, if there is anything we want to do, we will need to raise the money for it.
    G. Minnesota Gives and Give to the Max Day: At Anne Haddad's recommendation, we will be sending out two e-mails to our members reminding them about Give to the Max Day on November 15th. We are working with a group of non-profits from around town setting up tables with computers at high traffic areas (Target/Cub, Blue Monday, etc.) where people can log on and donate. We are also included in a several page spread in Entertainment that announces the event and encourages people to give to one of the organizations. Statewide, Minnesota Gives has a lottery for $1000 every hour, and any organization that received a contribution during that hour is eligible. There is a local benefactor who wants to do the same for Northfield.
    H. Retreat: The retreat will be on Saturday, November 10th, from 1:00-4:00, at Sarah's house. Sara asked the group to think about how we can build on the enthusiasm that came out of the August meeting, and what we want to accomplish at the retreat, especially in terms of our vision for the year. Michele said she likes the checklist on our flyer, and she suggested organizing the retreat around what we want that checklist to look like going forward. Bob said he likes the idea of a visual checklist - an aerial view of the park with areas identified and checked off. Matt said he would like to develop a plan for fundraising. Mary Steen and Bob agreed that fundraising needs a focus. Everyone agreed that the kiosk is a nice fundraising target. Michelle suggested that there should be two. Other items to discuss: the reseeding of the south end, looking for collaborators for the nature play and/or healing garden.

    F riends of Way Park Meeting Minutes, September 25, 2012
    Board Members Present: Sarah Carlsen (President), Matt Rohn (Vice President), Mary Emery (Treasurer), Anne Berry (Secretary), Doug Bratland, Anne Haddad, Bob Hickcox, Michelle Martin, Mary Poole, Mary Steen
    The meeting took place around Bob Hickcox's spacious dining room table with three Marys all in a row.
    A. Approval of the Minutes: The minutes from the meeting of August 28 had been circulated by e-mail and revised. The board approved them.
    B. Fall Festival: Mary Poole and Michelle described the Pumpkin Fest plans. It will be October 27 from 5:00 - 7:30. Michelle hopes for help distributing flyers. Posters will be placed downtown, and they will use the Prairie Creek distribution network. (The Northfield public schools do not allow that.)
    There will have a fire swinger, slack lines, and drum corps. Do we need to follow the tradition of a story teller? Is that actually a tradition? The immediate consensus was that a story teller is not necessary, that it has been hard to hear in the past, that the proposed activities sound great.
    Roz Eaton-Neeb will help Mary and Michelle. Christy Hall-Holt says St. Olaf international students are eager to get involved as well.
    Michelle requested a Board member to staff a table holding basic information about the Park. Bob volunteered.
    Matt noted that the flyer needs to be revised, and requested that everyone send recommended changes and updates to Mary S.
    C. Andrea Een Dedication: Matt raised the question of when we should hold an official dedication of the lilac bush for Andrea Een. They are not looking very good right now. Are they sick or just in fall mode? Matt has sent an inquiry to Leif, but so far has not heard back. Mary S. suggested that the dedication be held in the spring when we know whether they are viable, and when they are blooming. When we do have the dedication, Sonja Wermager may play her Hardanger fiddle, possibly in concert with other students.
    D. Social Media: Doug reported on his plans for the FWP online. He will update the website with the minutes and the board profiles. And, he will publicize the upcoming events and get the information out to Northfield Patch, etc.
    There was a brief discussion at this point spreading the word about less formal events in the park that might come up spontaneously - pickup kickball games or picnics. Mary and Sarah both gave examples of this type of thing happening. Michelle suggested having an e-mail list or sending out an E-vite, just very low-key.
    E. Nature Play Gathering: Anne reported that she and Michelle had met to prepare for a gathering at the park on Saturday, October 29, at 10:30am, to share ideas about the playground. Anne sent out a message (below) to the board, to Women in Action, and to a few other individuals, and Sarah forwarded it on to former Board members.
    Dear (for example, Women in Action)
    If you've been to Way Park lately, you've noticed a lot of changes (paths, amphitheater, rain garden, new trees). Now, the focus is beginning to turn to the playground area in the northwest corner of the park.
    Friends of Way Park would like to start a discussion, share ideas and create a vision for the playground area, so that, when/if the opportunity arises to make changes there, we will be ready.
    We'd like to invite you to join in that discussion, especially if you and your family use the park, especially if you have an interest in designing play spaces. (maybe rephrase?) Please come and share your ideas on Saturday, September 29, at 10:30am, at the park. All are welcome!
    She also put up two posters in the park inviting community members to join the conversation. Matt had made a slide show with images of playgrounds inspired by nature, and Michelle knew of a number of parks, playgrounds and websites that were examples of alternatives to the typical playground found in Northfield. Anne was going to compile some images from those sources to show at the gathering and a list of places and websites to distribute (see attached).
    Anne asked Doug if there was a way to use the website as a central spot for accumulating ideas. Matt offered his e-mail as the conduit. He is teaching a class related to this very subject. Matt also introduced the possibility of creating a natural play space for younger kids in Way Park and looking to Oddfellows and the woods there to create a space for older kids.
    (The Saturday morning gathering did take place as planned. There were seven people present including Matt, Anne, Michelle and Mary P. The group generated a long list of ideas, questions, and next steps. And, a series of opinions/positions emerged - open-ended spaces enable play; kids rarely use equipment as intended; different kids and different age groups use the same equipment differently; nature play aligns with the vision that is evolving for the park. The group agreed to meet again in November.)
    F. Memorial Garden Gathering: Sarah and Matt are planning to bring together some people to start a conversation about the memorial garden. Sarah is thinking about how to start the conversation in a way that encompasses ideas, spaces, people, fundraising, etc. According to Matt, the hospital can offer $5000 in grants every half year. So, they have money, but they like to see a clear connection with their mission now (rather than a connection to the past). Anne Haddad noted that policies are flexible when you have a champion on the inside. She also offered to be at the meeting or to help with some language to use at the meeting to show how the garden is in the interest of the park, and honors the hospital, but also is representative of the current holistic approach to health care. Mary Steen pointed out that the conversation has two parts: the house and parking lot, and the healing garden and memorial (memorial to the hospital and to the Way sisters and the origins of the park).
    G. Park and Recreation Advisory Board Updates: Matt filled the group in on what's been happening at the PRAB meetings. In sum, the last meeting was a sad one. Funding stopped in 2009, so what funds there were, minus what funds have been used, is what funds there are. The city has the regular expenses of general maintenance and required repairs, but no new money. They have simply had to stop the mowing and upkeep of certain parklands around town against protests from neighbors. (On the bright side, Matt was present at the last meeting to attest to the good faith efforts of the board members, which may have earned him some brownie points.) They are required to remove the pea gravel from six of the playgrounds in town at a cost of $10-15,000 per park, and four of the playgrounds have equipment that needs to be replaced at a cost of $40,000, but where is this money going to come from? (Anne, what was your question about taxes? Did you get an answer?)
    Matt also reminded the group that, with Patrick Ganey's departure, our neighborhood has no representative on the City Council.
    Michelle asked if the PRAB is aggressive about grants. Not very, said Matt. TJ Heinricy got a grant for the trees, and Erica Zwifel and an outside ad hoc group got the TIGER trail going. In terms of projects in Way Park, if we got the grant and did the work and said what we want, the city could work with us. Michelle noted that Kaboom is very active with grants for parks. Bob reminded the group that Give to the Max Day is coming up on November 15th. There will be a table of non-profits at Blue Monday. Anne suggested sending out a letter to members to remind them to give.
    H. Fundraising: Anne Haddad described her background as a fundraiser and project manager for fundraising consultants around the country. She has done work with social justice issues and campaigns. She has experience with groups that have big budgets and can try out creative approaches, and with smaller groups that can't take as many risks. Her philosophy of fundraising is that you vote with your dollars.
    In terms of Way Park, she wants us to take our dream and our vision for the park, focus in on what we want, and weave that in with the money required to make that happen. IN other words, she wants fundraising to be grounded in an understanding of what a financial commitment (a donation) represents and supports. Anne was interested in being on the board and rather than just volunteering as a fundraiser because she believes it's important to "put your money where your mouth is." You have more credibility asking if you're giving, too.
    At this point, Matt remembered that, in the bylaws, fundraising is set up as a committee with a liaison. We need to change them so that Anne can legitimately have the position she has.
    Anne said she would look into grants for playground beyond Kaboom, which is mainly for neighborhoods that have no play spaces. She also said that in certain cases, she would send out three communications before Give to the Max Day, especially if there is a plan for the money - an update, a fundraising push, and a reminder. That would be too many for FWP, but she suggests sending out two. The push can be for a "good ideas fund" linked to the future possibilities listed on the brochure.
    Anne also suggested reviving the Development Committee once a funding need is defined , for example, a healing garden. The Board is supportive of that possibility, so Sarah, Matt, Mary Steen and Anne Haddad are planning to meet soon to discuss how we can link vision, ideas, progress and fundraising.
    I. Treasurer's Report: Mary Emery reported that there had been a few more donations bringing the total to $23,795.48. Of that, $1562 is still set aside to be used as matching funds. She also said she was still waiting on the funds from Oracle that match a $275 donation made to FWP by one of their employees.
    J. Tree watering: Mary Steen said that the trees will need to be watered through November, so we need a few more volunteers. She will send out an e-mail request.
    K. Next Meeting: The next meeting will be on Tuesday, October 23rd, at 7:00pm at Matt's house. The retreat is scheduled for Saturday, November 10th. And the December meeting is be on Tuesday, the 11th.
    Submitted by Anne Berry, Secretary

    F riends of Way Park Meeting Minutes, August, 28, 2012.
    Present: Doug Bratland, Sarah Carlsen, Mary Emery, Anne Haddad, Michelle Martin, Mary Poole, Matt Rohn, Mary Steen
    We met on a beautiful evening on the porch at Sarah Carlsen's house overlooking the park. She had us introduce ourselves and recall our first memory of the park.
    We then turned to updates on things that have developed since we met in Spring. Matt reported on the rain gardens. Their planting and upkeep has gone well with weather largely cooperating and various people stepping up to weed it, etc. We probably need to make this more systematic next year and some restorative things will need to be done (partially by the city) before any other heavy amounts of water come (because of rain and/or snow melt).
    Mary Steen reported on the maples and oaks. Care of them has also gone well because people have come forward. We agreed that we should send them thank-yous after watering comes to an end, and we thanked Mary for the work she has done. Talk of note cards led Anne to suggest that we obtain a stamp with the park logo on it. Board members endorsed this enthusiastically, and Anne promised to pursue the matter. Things have gone fine with the lilacs as well, and Mary recruited more of us to water them.
    Sarah Carlsen then reported on the Estenson tree offer. That has not gone well because of concerns about whether we have soil to sustain them and because of the unexpected cost we would incur. Sarah has contacted Rick to let him know why we need to decline his offer.. Sarah then reported on the offer of a magnolia we received and how this complicated offer is presently up in the air. This led her to talk about Leif Knecht's idea of a berm on the west border of the south end, which would cost about $1,500 and involve mounds of good soil and a good many smaller trees such as Techny Arborvitae.
    This matter highlighted the various challenges the board faces as we seek to bring the concept master plan to reality, and it initiated a discussion among the board about past practices, and several new ideas. A couple of new board members spoke about the need for creating "centering" places in the park that invite people other than those with small children to enjoy the park. New ideas included considering building an arbor as a way to create shade in the short term, and having an "edible plant area" for kids. Mary Poole encouraged us to provide elements that don't exist in other parks in the city. Michelle Martin suggested the board educate ourselves more on park design, and offered to provide some reading materials to the board.
    That discussion led to Sarah presenting Anne Berry's idea to host a brainstorming session about nature play areas at the park Sept. 29 at 10:30 a.m. Michelle Martin agreed to host this event along with Anne, and we agreed that we could use the Fall Festival as an opportunity to solicit additional input. We hope to identify community members who would be willing to participate in brainstorming sessions and/or on a task force as we explore ideas for the north end.
    Matt and Sarah also briefly told of the developments with the hospital. There is no additional information about the ambulance house property at this time, but the hospital has asked Susan Lohmann to work with FWP on potential ideas for the hospital memorial garden. Susan has already agreed to help plan a brainstorming session to initiate the discussion and planning.
    Matt reported on a bench donation. The city encouraged us to consider using volunteer labor and a local manufacture to build and install the bench. Mary Emery noted that $1700 was available from donations and a match for the bench. Matt wondered if we shouldn't use that money to purchase one of our favored manufacturer's bench if it fell within that price. Before Sarah could obtain an official vote on that, a major discussion unfolded about how furnishings for the park are selected and approved (including by whom) and what we might consider.
    This once again was an important opportunity for giving background information to new board members and hearing their views and new ideas. Because the city has no formal way of doing these things and we have been developing a constantly evolving relationship with the city in this area, the discussion went many directions. In general, the board agrees that we would like a consistent look and feel across benches, garbage cans, picnic tables etc., and that we'd like to have an overall plan before we start putting in individual pieces. At the same time, we don't want to make our generous donors wait much longer for the installation of a bench. Matt suggested that we officially vote on authorizing spending no more than the approximately $1700 donated if our top bench choice fell within that amount. A discussion about styles of furnishings and how the board might decide on specifics ensued instead, and we took no vote on the motion.
    Doug alerted everyone that he needed to be leaving soon, so we heard him hastily outline his thoughts about updating our social media tools and sites. He would like to move our current site to a new hosting software that would give us a great deal more flexibility in maintaining, leveraging and updating our website. Doug agreed to have a draft plan for the new site available at our next meeting. Because we realized that we were constantly tackling big issues at this meeting, we decided that a retreat in Fall might be a good idea and proposed Nov. 17 as a date. Sarah will us Doodle to finalize a retreat date in case it is possible to do the retreat in October. Sarah proposed having the Sept. 25 meeting at Bob Hickcox's house (7 p.m., 801 W. 1st St. ) and will confirm the location with Bob. Matt and Sarah will meet soon with Michelle Martin and Mary Poole, who will be taking charge of the Fall festival, which we proposed would take place Oct. 27.
    Mary Emery gave a hasty treasurer's report. (All is well.) We postponed Anne Haddad's outline of her fund raising philosophy to next meeting and brought the meeting to a close with the hour getting late.
    Respectfully submitted by Matt Rohn, Vice-President

    F riends of Way Park 2012 Annual Meeting Minutes, June 12, 2012
    Board Members Present: Sarah Carlsen (President), Matt Rohn (Vice President), Mary Emery (Treasurer), Anne Berry (Secretary), Doug Bratland, Bob Hickcox, Mary Steen
    Also present, outgoing board members Chris Kauffeld and Cahrene Dimick; and slated incoming board members Mary Poole, Anne Haddad and Michelle Martin; and 14 other community members.
    The meeting was held in the Fireside Room at St. John's church.
    A. Welcome: Sarah Carlsen welcomed everyone in attendance. She invited everyone to take a copy of the various handouts: the meeting agenda, the annual report, the new Bylaws, and the treasurer's reports.
    B. Approval of the Minutes: Bob Hickcox made a motion to approve the minutes from last year's annual meeting. David Suderman seconded the motion. The motion passed and the minutes were approved.
    C. Treasurer's Report: Mary Emery handed out two reports. The first showed revenue, expenditures and balances for 2011. Mary noted that revenue in 2011 totaled $18,384.74, and that helped finance major park improvements. FWP contributed $34,956.00 toward south side site improvements, the amphitheater, trees and tree planting. By the end of the 2011, the balance in the account was $16,396.27, with $2582 of that amount set aside in a contingency fund.
    The second report showed revenue, expenditures and balances in 2012. Mary highlighted some numbers, including donations so far this year ($1529.51), revenue generated by the Andrea Een concert ($3838.35), and expenditures so far this year ($646.84). The current balance is $21,117.54. Of that, $2582 is still in a contingency fund. When the city settles up with the contractor, they will settle up the FWP as well. Sarah said that, based on a recent interaction, she thought the final amount owed to the city would be around $500.
    Mary also noted that there is $1674 left in "matching funds," which is being kept separate so that it can be used in a future fundraiser.
    C. Election of Board Members: Sarah introduced the slate of current and new board members:
    • Sarah Carlsen - President
    • Matt Rohn - Vice President
    • Mary Emery - Treasurer
    • Anne Berry - Secretary
    • Doug Bratland (our web and social media expert)
    • Bob Hickcox (our database expert)
    • Mary Steen (our expert on writing and documents)
    • Anne Haddad, incoming member (lives on Orchard, has two children, self-employed professional fundraiser)
    • Michelle Martin, incoming member (lives on Madison, has two children, has helped out with park events in the past, recently got her class at Prairie Creek involved and it "reignited a belief in democracy and the power of community action")
    • Mary Poole, incoming member (lives on Manitou, has three children, has been involved with Way Park and Friends of Way Park in various ways over the years)
    Sarah presented the slate. Dan Dimick moved to approve. Doug Bratland seconded the motion. The motion passed and the new board was elected.
    D. Summary of 2011 Accomplishments: Sarah described the progress and the changes that occurred during the last year. In a physical sense, the focus has been the south end project (grading, seeding, installing paths, construction of the amphitheater), but Sarah also described the social "accomplishments" that go hand-in-hand with the physical ones. Using the rain garden as an example, Sarah illustrated some of this progress. She noted, for example, how interactions with the city staff have been changing due in large part to the leadership of Joe Staph, who is open to input and encouraging of community involvement. Where there was once resistance to the rain garden idea, there is now enthusiasm and engagement. Sarah also noted the collaborations that came about as a result of the rain garden effort, with much of the preparative legwork being done cooperatively by Matt Rohn (for FWP), Beth Kallestad (for Cannon River Watershed Project) and Dustin Dimmer (from the city). Finally, asking the community to help with the installation of the rain garden was a great way to involve neighbors and give them a sense of ownership and connection. Other elements of the original south end plan, such as benches, have yet to be installed, and ideally those elements will also come as a result of a community effort.
    Sarah also noted that the evolving relationship with the city is allowing Friends of Way Park to leverage opportunities. In other words, having a presence within city government and regular interaction with other departments means that changes to Way Park can be incorporated into larger city projects as they get underway.
    Another way that Friends of Way Park has attempted to foster a connection with the community was through FORT (Forging Ole Resident Ties), which is one of the St. Olaf honor houses. The FORT house took responsibility for planning and putting on the Fire & Ice festival this year. Although the festival had to be canceled due to unseasonably high temperatures, the groundwork was laid for building civic engagement with St. Olaf.
    Sarah pointed out that there has been a shift in activity from more fundraising to more spending. The benefit of this shift is, of course, the physical changes to the park, but also, the visible progress gives credibility to the Friends of Way Park as a group that is able to get things done and shows the members that their donations are being put to good use.
    Sarah highlighted the changes made to the bylaws. First, in terms of membership, the decision was made that anyone who has made a donation during a calendar year is a member. (As a side note, the group has been looking for software that will help track membership. In the meantime, this change makes the existing system of managing the lists more efficient.) Second, a section was added which allows for special meetings to be called at short notice and for decisions to be made by e-mail with the approval of a majority of board members. (This change came about because, once construction got underway on the south end, some decisions needed to be made quickly.) And finally, a paragraph was added to the section called "Officers and Duties" which clarifies the authority of the Executive Committee.
    E. Looking Ahead - 2012-2014: Sarah outlined some goals on the horizon. One idea that's been in the works is a memorial of sorts to honor the hospital. In particular, a healing garden on or near the site of the ambulance house has growing appeal. Sarah has sent a letter to the various parties who will be involved in deciding what will happen to the lot when the ambulance house moves asking them to consider donating that space to the park. Informal discussions have been positive, and there is hope, but so far there has been no official reaction to the letter.
    Also on the south end of the park, Rick Estenson has offered to donate five black hill spruce trees that can be used as screening trees along one side of the park, and there is a plan to plant flowering trees near the east side cul-de-sac (one of them in honor of Andrea Een). Cora Scholtz asked whether there were still plans to have a sledding hill near the amphitheater. Sarah said that a sledding hill is still a possibility, so trees won't be planted in that area. She also noted that the amphitheater needs a year to "settle," but that it will get more use in the future. We still anticipate a concrete stage, an electric connection and trees for shade in the seating area.
    Looking north, one big element from the original plan is a pavilion. With an existing pavilion at Oddfellows, the city may not be not enthusiastic about building and maintaining another structure so nearby, so that part of the plan is up in the air. There is interest in reshaping the playground to include natural, educational elements that are in line with the park's theme/mission. The board is looking for people with a passion for this to help with design and planning. Finally, in keeping with the educational mission of the park, when plaques are added to identify trees that were donated in honor of someone, they will include the species and common name of the tree.
    The next project on the horizon is the installation of kiosks. These information centers (at the north entrance and one at the south entrance) will have announcements about what's going on, information about the history of the park, etc., and they will be an useful communication tool for FWP right away.
    Some other goals for the group include continuing to be a constant presence at the Park Board meetings, staying ahead of the curve as scheduled replacements and renovations come up (aging playground equipment, street construction, etc.), and taking advantage of these opportunities to leverage what's going on in the surrounding neighborhood into the larger plan for Way Park. Likewise, FWP will continue to cultivate partnerships with other organizations. For example, cooperating with the Alternative Learning Center or STOGROW on the long-term maintenance of the rain gardens would be beneficial to both groups. Finally, FWP is always looking for new volunteers and hoping to include them in the ways that they want to be included.
    Jim Holden asked if there were any contacts with Carleton. Doug Bratland said that Carleton just created a Center for Civic and Community Engagement. He said that he would approach Make McNally and Adrianne Falcon developing a connection with Carleton through them.
    F. Acknowledgements: Sarah remembered and thanked the outgoing board members.
    Chris Kauffeld has contributed so much to the Friends of Way Park over the last six years. His creativity and his way of thinking outside the box have led to many great ideas, including the Way Park t-shirts. He's worked hard at many of the park events, and he's been an important force on the nominations committee, doing a lot of reaching out. Sarah noted that it was actually Chris who recruited her to the Friends of Way Park board. As a thank you for his dedication, the board gave Chris a gift certificate to the Ole Store.
    Dan Dimick has been an honorary member of the board. He has brought passion, commitment and hard work to many different efforts. He's been the fundraising chair, he's written letters to the editor, he's spoken to the community of behalf of the Friends of Way Park, and he has always embodied and conveyed the spirit of the park. He is able to connect with the community and show people what's possible.
    Cahrene Dimick has been a gentle, quiet, gracious presence on the board but with an amazing power to get things done. She's been a neighborhood activist, going door to door, inviting, connecting, and bringing people in. All her behind-the-scenes work makes putting on events seem easy. As a thank you to Dan and Cahrene for their many contributions, the board gave them tickets to a Twins game.
    Finally, Sarah thanked the many, many people who have worked with Friends of Way Park and helped make things happen.
    • Lynne Young (Staff Liason for the Park Board) - for managing communication between the Park Board and the City so well, which really moves things along
    • Joe Staph (Public Works Director and City Engineer) - for being open to the public-private partnership
    • Tim Madigan (City Administrator) - for being so very supportive
    • T.J. Heinricy (Street and Park supervisor) - for making things happen
    • Nathan Knutson - for doing a great job of chairing the Park Board
    • Leif Knecht - for his donation of trees, his advice, and his work on the north end
    • Brian Erickson - for including FWP in decision making for south end project
    • Beth Kallestad and Aaron Wills (Cannon River Watershed Partnership) and Dustin Dremmer (Minnesota GreenCorps) - for their work on the rain gardens
    • Andrea Een - for donating her time and talent to help us raise money, and for bringing more people together
    • FWP board members - for providing matching grant funds
    • And YOU (the community) for the many ways that you get involved, including baking cakes and watering trees!
    Submitted by Anne Berry, Secretary

    F riends of Way Park Meeting Minutes, May 22, 2012
    Board Members Present: Sarah Carlsen (President), Matt Rohn (Vice President), Mary Emery (Treasurer), Anne Berry (Secretary), Doug Bratland, Chris Kauffeld, Mary Steen
    Mary Poole was also present. She and Michelle Martin have agreed to join the board. Their terms will start at the annual meeting in June.
    The meeting was held on Mary Steen's back porch. It was a warm evening with a comfortable breeze blowing in through the screens and the smell of gingerbread sneaking out from the kitchen.
    A. Approval of the Minutes: The board took a moment to review the minutes from the meeting of April 10, and then they voted to approve them.
    B. Treasurer's Report: Mary Emery handed out her report (attached) and highlighted some of the totals. The donations from the Andrea Een concert came to $2126, plus the same amount in matching funds, minus the concert expenses ($100 of which is the refundable deposit for the church), making the total revenue from the concert $3727. That amount plus other donations that have come in minus recent expenses put the balance for the year at $4674.22, which brings the general fund total to $18,488.74.
    Mary reminded the board that there is also $1674 left in the matching fund. The board agreed that, for the moment, these funds should be kept "separate" so that they may be used as matching funds in a future fundraiser.
    Mary also noted that the South End contingency fund is also still set aside. Sarah and Matt said that they thought the city would settle up with the contractor soon, at which point, they would settle up with FWP as well.
    C. Andrea Een Concert: The group reviewed the concert with positive comments all around - many thanks and congratulations to Andrea for the wonderful concert and the generous donation, to Cahrene for her careful planning, to the all volunteers for their many ways of giving support so that everything went smoothly. The event was a great success.
    Just as the board was beginning to discuss any follow-up tasks that needed to be done (like thank-you notes), Dan Dimick joined the meeting. As this is the last meeting of his and Cahrene's terms in office, he spoke for a moment about what working with FWP has meant to him. He recognized board members past and present, and expressed appreciation for the way the people in this community have come forward at different times to offer their unique gifts and to change history. It's been an experience that has made his life richer. He also handed out thank-you notes that Cahrene had written, which indicated to all present that she was right on top of everything, just as we had guessed. Matt and Sarah also thanked Dan and Cahrene for the many ways that they have contributed to FWP, the neighborhood and the community.
    In terms of thanking Andrea, Matt announced that the Music Department at St. Olaf would like to honor her as she retires, and they have decided to fund one of the trees that will be planted in Way Park. It will probably be one of the flowering trees near the east side cul-de-sac, which she will be able to see from her house. There will be a plaque with her name identifying the tree.
    D. Letter to the City and the Hospital: Prior to the meeting, Sarah had circulated the following letter, which she wrote to Mark Henke, President and CEO of Northfield Hospital, regarding the ambulance house and lot.
    Dear Mr. Henke,
    The recent decision to move the EMS station from its current location on West Second Street presents an opportunity for the Northfield Hospital Board and the Northfield City Council to make a lasting impact on the community. On behalf of the Friends of Way Park (FWP), I ask you to please consider the following options as you begin discussions on the disposition of the EMS site.
    Ideally, the full EMS site would be dedicated for park use. FWP has proven to be a committed and able partner for Way Park in the past five years, and would commit to helping fund any future projects. Although we understand that current funding limitations might prevent any development of this land for some time, we also take the long view: if this site is sold rather than retained for public use, we've lost what could be a significant opportunity for future park needs. The additional land could support a parking lot, or expanded space for the Hospital Memorial Healing Garden, or both. Honoring the history of the hospital has always been part of the vision for Way Park. Preserving additional green space gives the City future flexibility in developing this area.
    The EMS station currently occupies a lot that is significantly wider than standard lots on West Second Street. While we understand that it has been used as a single lot, it may be possible to subdivide it in a way that would leave the main lot intact, while dedicating the west segment of the property to Way Park. This second option could meet the need for off-street parking that has long been part of the master plan. Cars line the streets around the park for skating, organized ball games, and special events such as Midsommar, all of which draw people who do not live within walking distance. The new amphitheater is likely to attract even more community-wide events. Dedicating this small portion of the EMS site could allow additional parking spots to be added at the edge of the park, near the amphitheater, without impacting the current form of the park. The remaining full lot could be sold. If this option is chosen, we would encourage targeting any resulting funds from the sale to the park fund for the City of Northfield.
    Friends of Way Park will be happy to provide information or any other assistance to help put this potential asset to good use for the community. I appreciate your consideration of these possibilities.
    Sincerely yours,
    Sarah Carlsen, Chair, FWP
    Sarah asked for feedback. There was a general consensus that the letter was well written and that copies should also be sent to the Mayor, Mary Rossing,; City Council Members Betsey Buckheit, Patrick Ganey, Ivan Imm, Suzie Nakasian, Rhonda Pownell and Erica Zweifel; the Park Board Chair, Nathan Knutson; the City Administrator, Tim Madigan; and at the Northfield Hospital, Gina Franklin (Board Chair), Scott Richardson (Director of Community Relations) and Vicki Stevens (Ancillary Services Administrator).
    E. Tree Plan Update: Matt passed around the tree plan that he received from David Jerky of van der Zalm. (See attached.) He pointed out some of details. For example, the five trees that Risk Estenson offered will go alongside the ambulance house. There will be a lilac hedge just north of that along the east side of the park and two flowering trees near that cul-de-sac. There will be five pines planted on the side of Bob's house, but no new screening trees at Sarah's. The tree that is planted across from the amphitheater will be moved about 20 feet northwest. And the three oaks that were moved into the area across the sidewalk from the rain garden will be moved again to the southeast boarder of the north side. TJ and Rick and Leif will be in touch to get this done, and FWP will be involved as needed.
    Chris asked about reseeding the grass. Matt suggested that for the moment, with all the work on the rain garden still recent, it might be wise to wait a while and approach the city about it later.
    F. Rain Garden Update: Matt reminded the group that last fall a seed mix was planted in the rain garden, and the intention was to add more plants this spring. That was a departure from the original plan, and not actually the best choice for a rain garden. So, the city approved the re-planting of the rain garden using a new plants selected by Dustin Dremmer, Minnesota GreenCorps. Although Dustin's work with the city was finished in March, he came back last Saturday to supervise and help as FWP, CRWP and many volunteers from the neighborhood and beyond planted, mulched and watered the 1200 plants chosen for the two areas.
    The event was another great success - productive, multi-generational, and community-building. The group decided to send thank-you notes to the volunteers, including t-shirts to all the children who helped.
    Matt proposed setting up a schedule of volunteers to weed, water and care for the garden, especially until it gets established. He is going to talk to TJ Heinricy, Street and Park Supervisor, about using the city's water tanker.
    There was a brief discussion of putting a QR Code near the rain garden.
    Anne asked about the kiosks, pointing out that with so many events lately, it would have been nice to have them announced somewhere in the park. Matt and Sarah explained that the city is in the process of getting a handle on signage, in particular because of the new "TIGER trail." (The "Tiger Trail" is a multi-use trail that will help pedestrians and cyclists travel back and forth between the downtown area and the northwest neighborhoods of Northfield. The trail will utilize the existing Trunk Highway 3 railroad underpass adjacent to Water St. to allow safe passage across (under) Trunk Highway 3, and will connect to both Saint Olaf Ave. and Greenvale Ave. TIGER is the acronym for the federal grant that is funding the construction of the trail: Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery.) Sarah said she would talk to the Park Board again about signage and see if it can't be moved forward.
    Sarah also told the group that the family that lived for many years in the house at the northwest corner of Way Park would like to donate a bench in honor of their mother perhaps near the playground. Since the benches and kiosks will ideally have a similar design and style, that's even more motivation to make a decision about these elements.
    G. Nominations Committee: Chris asked whether enough people had been contacted and nominated to fill the vacated slots on the board, so the group revisited the topic and discussed getting in touch with some other individuals who might be willing to offer their skills at this point.
    Chris, whose term is ending, took a moment to express his own appreciation for the board, the members and the experience of working to shape the park.
    Sarah suggested that we look toward a future when we will need a new chair and keep that in mind. She also told the group about the Board Boot Camp - a day of training for nonprofit boards. There's a session in Northfield on June 2nd, and Sarah asked if one or two of us would like to go and if FWP would pay the $35-fee. There was interest, and the group agreed that FWP could foot the bill.
    H. Next Meeting: The next meeting will be the annual meeting on June 12, from 7:00 to 9:00, in the Fireside Room at St. John's church. Sarah suggested meeting for a celebration afterwards at her house.
    Submitted by Anne Berry, Secretary

    F riends of Way Park Meeting Minutes, April 10, 2012
    Board Members Present: Sarah Carlsen (President), Matt Rohn (Vice President), Mary Emery (Treasurer), Anne Berry (Secretary), Doug Bratland, Cahrene Dimick, Bob Hickcox, Mary Steen, Maren Westby (honor house representative)
    The meeting was held at Felland House.
    A. Treasurer's Report: Mary Emery handed out her report (attached). She noted a slight rise in the unencumbered balance, which now stands at $14,540.22.
    B. Tree Plan Update: Following the decision made at the last meeting, FWP hired van der Zalm to do a tree plan. Sarah and Matt met with T.J. Heinricy at Way Park to discuss the possibilities. Matt summarized the proposed tree choice and placement for the group, but the paper plan will show the exact details. Ideally, the plan will be ready before the next Park Board meeting on the 19th.
    Sarah told the group that T.J. had applied for a $25,000 grant for trees for Northfield, and some of the trees in the new plan may be supplied using funds from that grant.
    C. Tree Watering Plan: Mary Steen reminded the group that the trees planted last fall need to be watered ten gallons per tree per week from now until October, whether or not it rains. So, we need to enlist teams of volunteers. Mary has written an e-mail message in which she describes the watering process. She will send the message to the board members, and the board members will send the message on to potential volunteer tree-waterers. Mary will be in charge of organizing the watering schedule and sending specific instructions and an e-mail reminder to the team in charge of each week. Bob will adopt the tree nearest his house, and Sarah will adopt the tree nearest her house. That leaves 16 trees for the teams.
    Subsequent to the meeting, Mary sent this message, which summarizes the process as of now:
    We all remember the glorious fall maples and oaks newly planted in Way Park last October. This season we neighbors and Friends of Way Park need to make sure that these 16 trees thrive, which means that we will have to water them once a week through the coming (already here!) growing season.
    The Hospital has given us permission to use water from the Ambulance House on Second Street; we have eight five-gallon buckets, a hose to fill them, and two wagons to carry the buckets to the trees. A team of three has done a trial run on watering, and found that it took about one hour (two pulling the wagons and lifting the 40 lb. buckets; one filling the buckets). The time spent will no doubt vary with the number of people, and how leisurely a pace they set.
    We aim to have at least ten teams to do the watering, beginning immediately. If we have ten teams, each team will need to water only three times between now and November. More teams, fewer turns. A team could be a group of neighbors, a couple, a family with children old enough to fill the buckets. We hope that you will volunteer to gather a team that will be responsible for one, two or three weeks.
    Please let me know if you can do this, and I'll forward your name to Mary Steen (msteen@stolaf.edu, 645-7274) who will get in touch with you about which weeks you'd be available. She will then set up a schedule and send specific instructions and an email reminder to the team captain for the week.
    D. Rain Garden Update: Matt reminded the group that last fall a seed mix was planted in the rain garden, and the intention was to add more plants this spring. That was a departure from the original plan, and not actually the best choice for a rain garden. So, the city has approved the re-planting of the rain garden using a new plants selected by Dustin Dremmer.
    The long-awaited Rain Garden workshop is scheduled for Wednesday, May 16, at 7pm. The workshop is open to the public and will explain the purpose and value of rain gardens. There are new state mandates regarding storm drainage for every municipality which must be in place by 2020, so the City is promoting this event and offering $250 grants to homeowners who install a rain garden. Matt will be at the workshop, but the CRWP is in charge.
    On May 19th at 8:30am, the two rain gardens in Way Park will be replanted, and that is also an event that is open to anyone who wants to help. Since FWP has adopted Way Park, this is one way to meet that commitment. The group decided that we should have clipboards there with sign-up sheets for watering, weeding, and care of the rain gardens. As part of the Adopt-a-Park program, if volunteers advise the City ahead of time, they will provide the equipment.
    E. Hospital/Ambulance House Update: Sarah and Matt reported on their meeting with Mark Henke (President and CEO of Northfield Hospital), Mary Crow (Vice President of Operations and COO), Scott Richardson (Director of Community Relations) and Vikki Steven (Ancillary Services Administrator). They set up the meeting to talk about the ambulance house and lot, what was planned for that space and whether it might be donated to and become part of Way Park. Ideas discussed included a parking lot and a memorial garden/healing garden. Judy Swanson had done a lovely drawing of what that might look like, which made it easier to share and visualize ideas during the meeting and which showed that FWP is serious about planning for possible annexation.
    There are a number of questions still up in the air. For example, who owns the land - the city or the hospital? Will the land be donated, or might it be sold and the money donated? Can the lot be divided, part sold and part donated? So, no decision was made. However, Sarah and Matt came away from the discussion with a positive feeling. Nathan Knutson of the Park and Recreation Advisory Board is pushing for it. Individuals from the hospital like the idea of a memorial/healing garden. And the seeds have been planted so that, as we go forward, people are thinking about it as a park.
    We will know before September 1st if the property will be donated or not. If the decision goes in that direction, the next step will be to consider a design. The hospital actually has a grant of $5000 that FWP could apply for and use to hire van der Zalm to create a concept, gather community input, etc. The timing for all of this will be tricky because FWP and the city and the hospital are all involved and need to coordinate.
    F. Nominations Committee: The board briefly discussed forming a nominations committee, but since there are 2-3 slots to fill, and in just a few minutes we came up with five names of people who had either expressed interest in joining or who we would like to approach about joining, the decision was made to just call those people and then see whether we need to discuss the matter further.
    G. Andrea Een Concert: Cahrene reported on the planning of the Andrea Een concert. She listed helpers that she has enlisted so far, and asked who among us would be there the night of the concert and how we might be willing to help. Board members will be at the entrance helping out with tickets before the concert, and two board members will be "manning" the poster of the master plan during the reception, answering questions about membership, plans for the park, etc. The group decided that there should be flyers available at the concert with information about Friends of Way Park. Set-up will begin at 5pm on May 12. The concert starts at 7:30.
    Cahrene informed the group that Andrea herself will be writing an article for the Northfield News and the Entertainment Guide. There will also be publicity done through Art Zany on KYMN, Cory Butler of the Northfield Patch, and Rif Wiggly of Locally Grown. Judy Swanson will design posters and the program. Doug will put up information on the website about the concert and the other musicians. Cahrene also said that she will start to organize the desserts because the bakers are also "publicity mouths."
    After a long discussion about tickets, donations, and new members, the decision was made to post a suggested donation to Friends of Way Park of $15, $10 for students, $5 for children 12 and under. Donations beyond that amount will be met with a matching donations from board members up to $3500.
    H. E-mail blast: The group decided to publicize the different upcoming events in an e-mail to members, and on May 4, Sarah sent out the following message.
    Dear Friends,

    Whether you enjoy music, gardening or cleaning up the environment, this may be your time to reconnect with Way Park!

    A Benefit Concert for Way Park: The Music of Edvard Grieg, performed by Andrea Een and Sonia Thompson
    • Saturday, May 12th, 7:30 pm at First UCC Church, Third St & Union St
    • Dessert reception following concert
    • Suggested donation: $15 general/$10 for students/$5 for children 12 & under)
    • Total donations up to $3500 will be matched dollar for dollar!
    Planting Rain Gardens at Way Park
    Saturday, May 19th, 9am - 2 at Way Park. Come for 15 minutes or stay all day. No gardening experience necessary. Bring gloves and shovel if you have them; wear comfortable clothes and sturdy shoes. (There will be a free, rain garden class Thur., May 17, 7-8 pm at St. John's Church if you want to learn how to install and maintain your own rain garden. Registration requested for that via leslie@crwp.net or call 507-786-3915.)
    • Sponsored by Cannon River Watershed Partnership (CRWP) and FWP
    • Children welcome
    • Extra volunteers can help with park clean-up
    FWP Annual Meeting
    Tuesday, June 12, 7:00 pm at St. John's Church, 500 3rd St W
    You've watched grading and seeding and path construction in the past few years--come and hear our immediate plans and our distant dreams!
    I. Approval of the Minutes: The group took time to review the minutes from the meeting of Feb 28, and then they voted to approve them.
    J. Next Meeting: The next meeting with be the annual meeting on June 12, from 7:00 to 9:00, in the Fireside Room at St. John's church.
    Submitted by Anne Berry, Secretary

    F riends of Way Park Meeting Minutes, February 28, 2012
    Board Members Present: Sarah Carlsen (President), Matt Rohn (Vice President), Mary Emery (Treasurer), Anne Berry (Secretary), Doug Bratland, Cahrene Dimick, Dan Dimick, Mary Steen, Maren Westby (honor house representative)
    The meeting was held on a stormy night in Mary Emery's warm and welcoming home.
    A. Approval of the Minutes: The group took time to review the minutes from the retreat, and then they voted to approve them.
    B. Treasurer's Report: Mary Emery handed out her report (attached). She noted that donations keep trickling in, and the current unencumbered balance is $14,318.12.
    C. Bylaws Review and Vote: Mary Steen went through the changes made to the bylaws.
    First, Article II was rephrased as follows:
    "Section 1-Eligibility for membership: Membership shall be open to anyone who supports the mission and purpose statements, and has made a donation to FWP (in money or in kind) during the current or previous calendar year."
    Second, Article III, Section 3 was amended with the addition of Section 3a.
    "Section 3a-Special meetings: If board action is required when two-weeks' notice is impossible: 1) The Chair or executive committee may, with the telephone or email approval of a majority of board members, call a special meeting. Email notice of the meeting shall be sent to all board members. Or, 2) Action may be taken by email with the approval of a two-thirds majority of board members."
    Third, the duties of the secretary were adjusted.
    "The secretary shall be responsible for keeping records of board actions, including overseeing the taking of minutes at all board meetings, distributing copies of minutes to board members, and assuring that organizational records are maintained."
    Fourth, the description of the powers of the Executive Committee was moved from Article V to Article IV, Section 7.
    Matt moved to approve. Anne seconded the motion. The members present unanimously approved the changes to the bylaws.
    D. Meeting with the City Engineer: Sarah described the meeting that she and Matt had with the new city engineer, Joe Stapf. Both were impressed by his thoughtful and cooperative manner and by the fact that he and AmeriCorp, GreenCorps staffer Dustin Dremmer had visited Way Park. Topics discussed included the street repairs, the bike paths/traffic patterns and the plans for the underpass, signage/kiosks, parking and the ambulance house. The meeting was productive and helpful in terms of understanding motivations and processes. Joe was supportive of the Friends of Way Park planning, proposing, and working ideas through the City process.
    E. Van der Zalm Proposal: Sarah had asked van der Zalm to give us an estimate for an updated concept design which would add screening trees on the south end. In addition she asked them to create a concept design for putting a parking lot on the ambulance house lot in the event that the land ever became available. She had sent their estimate to the board by email for review.
    The group discussed the proposal in terms of two aspects. First, there is a general consensus among the board that an expert opinion is necessary in determining the placement of the donated trees, in particular, the placement of screening trees along the east and west sides on the south end of the park.
    Second, there has been interest in a drawing that shows what the annexation of the ambulance house lot would look like, and there is a general consensus that having a drawing in hand will make it easier to talk about that possibility with the hospital and with the city.
    The estimate for the parking lot portion was much more expensive than we anticipated. Van der Zalm didn't want to do a conceptual plan without doing the necessary site evaluation to know that the plan was possible. As a result, the estimate included engineering work. Matt suggested that investing in such a plan would be jumping the gun since there is no guarantee that the hospital or the city is interested in making such a donation. However, there is still interest in having a visual aid for this purpose, and so the group would like to ask someone else to do the drawing or even just a sketch, for example, Judy Swanson or Keith Covey.
    Matt made a motion to spend $500 on the van der Zalm tree plan and to approve up to $100 to be offered to someone else who could do a conceptual sketch of the south end with the ambulance house lot. Mary seconded the motion, and it passed.
    F. Annual Meeting: The group suggested a date a place, and in a follow-up email, Mary Steen confirmed that the annual meeting would be held on June 12, from 7:00 to 9:00, in the Fireside Room at St. John's church. A theme/program will be chosen at next month's meeting.
    G. Andrea Een Concert: Cahrene confirmed that she had paid the UCC $100 for the use of the space and she had given $75 to the sound technician who will record the concert. She will hold on to the $300 for the accompanist until May 12, the day of the concert. After some discussion about publicity, the group agreed to ask Judy Swanson if she would be interested in designing a poster/flyer for the concert.
    Sarah asked if Cahrene had the support she needed for the concert and other events, and there followed a conversation about potential helpers and a publicity partner. Since both she and Chris will be going off the board, it would be a good idea at this point to involve some new people who might be interested in taking over. In terms of the concert, Cahrene will coordinate getting the keys, setting up tables and tablecloths, and baking cakes.
    There is $3500 in donations from board members which can be used as "matching funds" to encourage donations. Matt and Sarah will meet with Cahrene to discuss how to best leverage this fundraising option. The concert is also a good opportunity to inform about FWP and some of the ongoing and upcoming projects.
    Andrea Een has another concert at St. Olaf on March 27th, which many of the current and former board members will attend.
    H. Park Mission Statement: Matt suggested creating a mission statement for the park -- consistent, defining language that we can use when we talk to other groups and individuals about our vision for the memorial garden, the rain garden, types of programming, etc. Matt will draft it and send it around for comments.
    I. Beyond the Board: Matt described an idea that's been brewing related to the need and desire for input and support from members of the community who are not currently on the board. For example, there are people who would like to contribute in a limited way, help out with one project, but not commit long-term. There are also former board members who might be willing to give input without feeling the pressure of board membership. This is a topic for the annual meeting, and coordinating it is a task for an experienced member.
    Tree watering is an example of a project that lends itself to involvement from beyond the board. (We will need to begin coordinating this soon.)
    J. Rain Garden Update: Matt notified the group that the Rain Garden and Rain Barrel workshop has been scheduled for May 16th at St. John's.
    In terms of the Way Park rain garden, there has been some discussion among Brian Welsh, Dustin Drummond, Brian Erickson, and Joe Stapf about the mix of plantings, whether they are of the right type and whether any changes will undermine the contract arranged with the landscaper. Beth Kallestad is working with the city on this and on the larger implications of the storm water regulations for Northfield. The CWRP is encouraging citizens to be involved in planting, and we have an ongoing relationship with the CWRP because maintaining the rain garden is part of our Adopt-a-Park commitment. However, for the moment we are only responsible for supporting; we will let the city and the contractors work out the details. The planting will be done on May 19th, and that is a good opportunity for community involvement and for publicizing the Adopt-a-Park commitment.
    K. Next Meeting: The next meeting with be April 10th at the FORT house.
    Submitted by Anne Berry, Secretary

    F riends of Way Park Board Retreat, January 28, 2012
    Board Members Present: Sarah Carlsen (President), Matt Rohn (Vice President), Mary Emery (Treasurer), Anne Berry (Secretary), Doug Bratland, Cahrene Dimick, Dan Dimick, Bob Hickcox, Mary Steen
    Sarah invited group to her house for a three-hour retreat, which turned out to be both relaxing and productive.
    A. Small Groups: The members present divided into three small groups and spent the first half of the meeting discussing and brainstorming.
    • Matt, Bob and Cahrene focused on benches/kiosks/gates/water fountains, and on "Beyond the Board."
    • Mary E, Mary S, and Doug focused on the Virtual FWP, the Bylaws, and the Annual Meeting.
    • Sarah, Anne and Dan focused on the North End plan, and on screening trees
    B. Reports: The members returned to the larger group to report on the "big ideas," propose some "next steps," and consider connections between the groups and beyond the Board.
    Capital Improvements Matt, Bob and Cahrene described a kiosk they found: a medium-sized sign board, double-sided, made of recycled milk bottles, with a non-yellowing acrylic glass covering and a brochure bin, 29" x 21", with a lock and two keys, price $1500. The idea is that it would go near the playground, where the traffic is highest. It would be used to keep visitors to the park informed, so the sooner it goes up, the better. Matching kiosks in different sizes were also available for signage in other areas (near the rain garden, on the south side). Other park elements (benches, for example) are also available in the same style, so even if they were purchased separately, they would unify the park. Next steps: Choose the best option. Talk to the city.
    The group decided not to look at barriers/gates/rails and to leave that to the City. Similarly, while they had researched water fountains, they decided that they also were the City's responsibility. Sarah suggested taking these items to the Park Board.
    Beyond the Board As a way of engaging new and old members, Matt, Bob and Cahrene suggested creating a position on the board called Volunteer Coordinator. They also considered the idea of a Board Alumni Council and the possibility of inviting former members to retreats and annual meetings.
    The Website Doug, Mary E and Mary S agreed that the website needs upgrading, and they described their suggestions. First, Dream Host offers free space (enough for the FWP site); the cost of the domain name is $15-20 per year. Second, Doug has access to a content management system that is easy to administer and ready to go. Third, we can get an account on Mail Chimp that is free up to 2000 people and that will make e-mail blasts easier. Next step: Sarah will make time at a future meeting for Doug to do a demo of this for us.
    There was also some talk again about the need for a comprehensive mailing/member/donor list. There is bound to be something out there, but we haven't found it yet.
    The Bylaws Mary E, Mary S and Doug had looked at the Bylaws to see whether they needed to be amended with regards to membership qualifications, calling an emergency meeting, and filling a vacant spot. And, they looked at the procedure for making the changes. They discovered that amendment can be approved by a two-thirds majority of the Board. They then must be sent out by the secretary with other announcements and reported at the Annual Meeting. There was some discussion of how to amend the Bylaws. Next Steps: Mary S will make the proposed changes to the document, and we will vote on them at the next meeting.
    The Annual Meeting The group discussed the possibility of organizing the Annual Meeting around a report ready to be handed out, 15 minutes of business, and then a "program." Everyone liked this idea because it might inspire more members to attend. The report will go out by e-mail as well. Next Steps: Choose a location and a theme for the June meeting. Give members two weeks notice.
    Shading Trees Sarah, Anne and Dan discussed the placement of the donated screening trees and came to the consensus that someone who knows about trees and about parks should be brought in to come up with a design. At this point, it should be a surface plan, rather than a building plan, and it should be drawn in such a way as to include integration of the ambulance house lot since annexation of that lot is possible, but not definite. Van der Zalm can coordinate with Leif Knecht (who knows about the trees in question) and create such a plan for about $500. The group agreed that it is worthwhile to be prepared with a plan for future discussions with the City and the hospital. Next step: Get a proposal from van der Zalm. Vote on the proposal at the meeting in February.
    The North End Sarah, Anne and Dan discussed changes to the playground. They gravitated toward play spaces that emphasized nature and that integrated natural forms and "educational" elements into the park (large rocks, a sundial, a labyrinth, a bridge, hills, spaces reminiscent of animal habitats, etc.) - a playground very different from any of the other playgrounds in Northfield. The ideas reminded the group of the book Last Child in the Woods and the need to get kids outside and into nature. The ideas about the playground (the pavilion, the warming hut) were not concrete suggestions, so the group also discussed ways to get community involvement and input (brainstorming meetings with moms and dads at the park, a virtual conversation, a design contest, student projects through courses at St. Olaf or the University of Minnesota). Connections: In previous discussions of the hospital memorial, the idea of a meditation garden had come up; there is a connection there with the labyrinth. Outdoor play spaces that are not playgrounds or something related could be the topic of the "program" at the Annual Meeting.
    C. Andrea Een Concert: Cahrene asked the group to approve the expenses required for staging the concert: $100 for use of the space at the UCC, $75 for the sound technician, and $300 for the accompanist. The board with vote to approve these expenses at the February meeting.

    Submitted by Anne Berry, Secretary

    F riends of Way Park Board Meeting, January 10, 2012
    Board Members Present: Sarah Carlsen (President), Matt Rohn (Vice President), Mary Emery (Treasurer), Anne Berry (Secretary), Doug Bratland, Cahrene Dimick, Dan Dimick, Bob Hickcox, Mary Steen, Katharine Jenks and Laura Smith (honor house representatives)
    The meeting was held at the peaceful Dimick home, with snacks and drinks that Dan and Cahrene provided.
    (On January 6, there was an online consensus, and on January 9, the official decision was made to cancel Fire & Ice due to unseasonable high temperatures and lack of snow.)
    A. Introductions: The individuals present introduced themselves briefly to the two honor house representatives. The students had come to the meeting to touch base with the group and see how they could contribute now that Fire & Ice has been cancelled. The Board was happy to see their interest and would like them to be involved with one of the upcoming events.
    B. Treasurer's Report: Mary began by thanking Bob and his wife for helping with the mass mailing of tax receipts. Their efficiency and know-how was much appreciated.
    Mary went on to highlight certain elements of the report (attached). In particular, she noted the cash balance of $13,789.27. The contingency fund is still listed as an encumbrance. Under "Revenue", this report shows all donations dated up to 12/31/11, including some made through Razoo in 2011 which had not come in yet at the time of the meeting. (They bundle donations and send one check.) Mary suggested that the $4677 that has come in since 11/16 was largely the result of the Give MN drive and, more importantly, the end-of-year fundraising letter, and she congratulated the group on getting that out. Mary also pointed out that $30,456 was spent by Friends of Way Park this year on park improvements, and that signals a real partnership with the city and shows that the community really came through.
    Mary said that, in the future, she will send a combined thank-you note/tax receipt at the time that a donation is made, rather than a thank-you note for the donation and a separate tax receipt at the end of the year. In the case of donations received through Razoo, Mary will only send a thank-you note since Razoo sends the tax receipt. Bob noted that the 3% commission that Razoo takes is low.
    Mary asked again for some documentation from Leif Knecht about the value of the donation of trees that he made so that she can send him a tax receipt. Sarah said that she would call him again about that. She also said that he has pledged another donation of trees next year.
    There was a spontaneous discussion at this point about how the odd weather this year will affect the trees and the grass. Matt guessed that the grass seed would not sprout, and the group wondered whether the city would re-seed. Bob brought up the health of the tree roots and wondered whether they were well enough protected. (When there is so little water in the soil, and no insulation layer of snow, roots are more likely to suffer permanent damage from freezing.) Sarah said she would ask Leif when she spoke to him.
    C. Rain Garden Update: Matt said that Beth Kallestad (from the Cannon River Watershed Partnership) was intending to organize a Rain Garden workshop at St. John's in March. He said that he would work on signage. Beth will take the lead on this and contact us as she needs our involvement. Mary Steen said that the League of Women Voters might be a participating group.
    D. Andrea Een Concert: Cahrene told the group that the date has been set for the benefit concert: Saturday, May 12th at 7:00 or 7:30 at the UCC. She said that Andrea is so, so busy, so this is a real gift. She also said that it makes Andrea feel good to see what good her contribution does. Mary Steen suggested that we all go to one of her other concerts this year (Sunday, 1/22, at 3:15, or Tuesday, 3/27, 7pm). Bob suggested another "matching funds" offer, and proposed getting up a "kitty" from board member pledges.
    E. Project List / Retreat Plan: Sarah handed out the Priority/Project List and suggested a schedule and format for discussing the topics during the retreat. Then she went through the project list in case there were questions and so that individuals can prepare between now and January 28.
    • Fundraising (high priority): Sarah suggested that we not discuss this at the retreat, but that we let some time pass and pick it back up later.
    • Tree watering (high priority): Sarah said that Mary Steen has graciously agreed to take this over, so we don't need to discuss it at the retreat.
    • Tree placement (high priority): We need to think about a plan for placement and timing of the planting of the pine trees that Rick Estenson (of First National Bank) donated and the new trees that Leif Knecht is planning to donate, and we need to work with the city on this. Dan, Sarah and Anne will discuss this topic at the retreat.
      • (Dan is going to see whether First National can cover the cost of planting. Mary Emery noted that many of the recent donations came from members with accounts at First National.)
    • Andrea Een concert (high priority): (See above.)
    • The Virtual FWP (high priority): The issues are document sharing, changing from a blog to a webpage, e-mail blasts, etc. Doug will head this up. He and the Marys will discuss it at the retreat.
      • (Finding a system for tracking money, Friends, mailings, etc. is a high priority, but will not be addressed at the retreat. Bob will help take this on in June.)
    • Beyond the Board (high priority): The issue is finding a way to encourage involvement. Matt is heading this up. He, Bob and Cahrene will discuss it at the meeting.
    • Review of the Bylaws and the Annual Meeting (high priority): Mary Steen will be in charge of these topics. She, Mary and Doug will discuss them at the retreat.
    • Park management issues (medium priority): Bob will consider and lead the discussion of a brochure container, kiosks, gates and a water fountain. He, Matt and Cahrene will talk further at the retreat.
    • Benches, electricity, amphitheatre (medium priority): Sarah suggested putting these off for the time being.
      • (The group agreed that living with the park for a while before trying to install benches was a good idea. However, everyone also agreed to continue to fundraise with an installation target date of 2013. Having the funds and the design in hand before going to the city is a smarter approach. Bob is looking into benches, and Sarah has a catalog from TJ Heinricy with different alternatives.)
    • St. Olaf Avenue / Second Street reconstruction (medium priority): Sarah suggested not including this item at the retreat, but she and Matt emphasized the importance of getting out in front of this in case there are elements of the future park that would be affected by work done to the streets. (St. Olaf reconstruction is scheduled for 2014 and 2nd St. is scheduled for 2015.) They will make an appointment with the city engineer to learn more.
    • Hospital Memorial (low priority): The Hospital Memorial is not on the agenda for the retreat.
      • (Sarah suggested finding individuals with an interest in memorializing the hospital and getting them involved. Mary Steen said that originally the idea of a memorial was suggested as one reason to preserve the park. Bob asked about Legacy money. Anne wondered whether the Historical Society had interest or funds for the project. Dan reminded the group that Ken Banks, the former President and CEO of Northfield Hospital, was not supportive of a memorial structure on the site of the old hospital. Matt mentioned the idea of a healing garden and Dan guessed that something like that would be more appealing. Sarah noted that the changes to the ambulance house would likely affect the discussion. Dan said he would talk to Mark Henke, the current President and CEO of the hospital, about whether any decision is being made at this time about the ambulance house.)
    • The North End (low priority): Some of the issues are the overall plan (the pavilion, water play, etc.), decision making processes and fundraising. Anne will gather some ideas. She, Sarah and Dan will discuss an approach at the retreat.
    • Bulk mailings (low priority): The issue is to decide whether to subscribing is worthwhile, but it will not be discussed at the retreat.
    F. The Retreat: The retreat will be January 28th, 1:00-4:00, at Sarah's house.
    G. The Next Meeting: The next meeting is Tuesday, February 29, at 7:00pm, Mary Emery's house.
    Submitted by Anne Berry, Secretary

    Friends of Way Park Board Meeting, November 29, 2011
    Board Members Present: Sarah Carlsen (President), Matt Rohn (Vice President), Mary Emery (Treasurer), Anne Berry (Secretary), Doug Bratland, Cahrene Dimick, Dan Dimick, Bob Hickcox, Chris Kauffeld, Mary Steen, Maren Westby (honor house representative)
    The meeting was held at Mary Steen's comfortable home, with sweet spicy nuts that she made for the occasion.
    A. Treasurer's Report: Mary Emery handed out her report ( click here to view), and highlighted certain amounts. In particular, she noted that she had paid a bill for tree planting, which moved $2700 from encumbrances to expenditures. She is still waiting for the bill from the city, which is why the funds for the South End and Amphitheater Projects are still listed under encumbrances.
    B. Give MN update: Sarah reported that $285 was donated through GiveMN.org on November 16, Give to the Max Day. Matt had helped staff a table that was set up at Good-bye Blue Monday for FWP and several other non-profits in town to raise awareness about Give to the Max Day. He reported on that event and shared some ideas for next year.
    C. Update on South End Funding: Sarah presented a table with estimated, adjusted, and paid costs of the South End project. In summary, the original estimate approved by the City Council was for $83,110 with a contingency of $6234. Friends of Way Park was prepared to contribute $13,466 to the base bid and to fund the entire contingency. When the adjusted estimate came in at $86,762, FWP offered to pay the difference using dollars set aside for the contingency, which left $2582 in that fund. In the end, the city requested only the original $13,466. No contingency funds have been requested so far, so the adjusted amount remains. The estimate for the amphitheater came in at $15,500, and the city has requested $14,250 from FWP, which amounts to 95% of the actual cost. A small amount of the landscaping can't be completed until Spring. Only then will the city pay the contractor in full.
    D. Fire & Ice Update: Maren reported on the progress that she and the other honor house students were making. For example, she was looking into having Bon Appetit cater cookies, bars, hot chocolate and cider, and she was going to line up the Northfield Skating Club and some singers to be there. She also asked some questions, including how to arrange the park permit.
    E. Rain Garden Event: Matt reported that Beth Kallestad of the Cannon River Watershed Partnership was planning to schedule and sponsor an event related to rain gardens in the spring. The date and time had not been set. There was some discussion of how the goals of the CRWP and the FWP overlap and of how the rain garden in Way Park and the event could be connected.
    F. Andrea Een Event: Cahrene reported that she had spoken to Andrea Een and that Andrea had said she would be interested in doing another benefit concert. Cahrene described Andrea's very busy semester, with other concerts scheduled, so setting a day and time will require some thought, but Cahrene will stay in touch with her and report back when the details have been decided.
    G. PRAB Update: Sarah had been to the last meeting of the Parks and Recreation Board, so she updated the group on what she had heard there. The City was hiring a new Public Works Director - Joe Stapf. Park Board members Dale Gehring and Dick Johnson had examined every path and bike way and reported to the council on a need for more connectivity among bike ways. Street reconstruction and repair was scheduled for St. Olaf Avenue in 2014 and for Second Street in 2015. The FWP Board discussed the need to stay out in front of this and work with the city as these projects go forward so that, where there are elements of the park that intersect with the bordering streets, FWP has a say in shaping those elements. There is talk of using the Q-block as a sort of transportation hub, and a bike path going down Second Street would not only lead into that hub but would be a way of connecting the other side of town with Way Park. If elements like a bike path along Second Street and/or a stop for bikers at Way Park with a drinking fountain and/or a kiosk are desirable, the time to start planning for them is now.
    H. 2012 Project planning (Priorities): Sarah passed out a list that Matt had put together of events/activities/plans/ideas that the group had discussed in the past. She suggested that we prioritize them and divide up responsibility for them (even among non-board members and former board members), and that we take some time, perhaps during a half-day retreat, to discuss an approach to accomplishing those things that we deem most important. The group went through the list, and by the end, they had been more or less ordered and divvied up.
    • Fire & Ice event: (Maren was working on all of this. See above.)
    • Tree water schedule: Who might coordinate it / share coordination of it? Who might be contacted and how? Do we have the supplies come summer? (Mary Steen volunteered to coordinate this.)
    • Container for a brochure near north-end playground: Can we find something to put on the Adopt-a-Park post? Do we need signage near it about the master plan and can that be put on the same post? (This was ranked as a medium priority and will be discussed at the retreat.)
    • Rain Garden activity: Partner with CRWP and maybe City for a spring event. (See above. Matt and Cahrene are involved with coordinating this.) Some thoughts - Make sure plantings make sense. Add signage and brochures with grant money.
    • E-mail blasts: We should do these periodically when special events need to be publicized. Sarah can send them out. We should consider whether to set up a rotation for different people to compose each or for an individual to compose them all? (This topic is a high priority and will be discussed at the retreat.)
    • The Virtual FWP: Change over from a blog to a webpage. Get "cloud" space or its equivalent for our keeping track of information. (This topic is a high priority and will be discussed at the retreat.)
    • Benches: How many and where? What is a good style, brand, type and cost that we might "sell" PRAB and the City? Can we raise funds for this by having business concerns or others donate a bench with naming rights? (This topic was ranked as a medium priority.)
    • Rick Estenson's offer of trees: We have a good spot for them (10 tall trees) along the property line near the warming house (where a set of ill pines was cut down and the new property owner cut down more trees). Work with the City in getting its okay and cooperation. Work out details with Rick Estenson. (This is a high priority and will be discussed at the retreat.)
    • Screening trees: The offers are from Rick Estenson and Leif Knecht again for trees to be planted along the west and east borders of the south side and near the warming house. Do we need a landscape/arborist's plan for doing this? How might we do this a least a small bit at a time over more than a year? (This is another high priority, which will be discussed at the retreat.)
    • Systems for tracking money, Friends, mailings, etc.: The current system continues to be full of problems. We know of an integrated system and its worrisome cost, yet should we consider this more? We hoped for a less expensive alternative (Google docs), but it didn't work. Are there other less expensive ideas we could try? (This is a high priority but will not be discussed at the retreat.)
    • Bulk mailing: We should decide if it's now worth subscribing to and using. (The general consensus is that it is not worth it.)
    • Andrea Een concert: Date set? Venue settled? Who is overseeing this? Who can help out (prepare concert place, prepare dessert area, serve dessert, sell tickets, usher, introduce concert)? (Cahrene is coordinating this.)
    • Annual meeting: We need to decide the date and the place and how to publicize it, and we need to get the annual report ready and prepare the slate of board members and officers. (Mary Steen volunteered to head this up it will be discussed at the retreat.)
    • Bylaws review (to be done in time for the annual review): We need to change membership so any family making a contribution is a member. And, we need to change the rules governing emergency meetings of the Board so that it conforms to what we did in late August when we had to decide on amphitheater walls. (Mary Steen also volunteered to head this up it will be discussed at the retreat.)
    • Kiosks for the north playground area and south Second Street where the sidewalk meets the asphalt path: What should go on them? What is a good style and cost that we might "sell" PRAB and the City? (This topic was ranked as a medium priority and will be discussed further at the retreat.)
    • Water fountain: Should we have one again? What's involved? Where? What might be a style and cost we could "sell" to PRAB and the City? (This topic was ranked as a medium priority and will be discussed further at the retreat.)
    • Hospital Memorial Garden: Buy-in from the hospital and medical community would be good. Newer conceptual brainstorming would be useful. Landscape design will be needed eventually. Fundraising will be needed. How should we start this and when? Under whose direction does this fall? (This was given a low priority and will not be discussed at the retreat.)
    • Water play at the north end: How might this get started? Who takes this on and develops a plan? How might funds be raised for this? (This is a low priority item but will be discussed at the retreat.)
    • Pavilion: This is a concept that needs to be fleshed out. A plan, cost estimate an funds will be needed. How does this get started? Is this a big project for Malt-O-Meal? (This is a low priority item but will be discussed at the retreat.)
    The group set a date for a planning retreat to talk about some of the priorities: January 28, from 1-4, at Sarah's house.
    I. End-of-year Mailing: Sarah brought the mailing to the meeting, and the group discussed the benefits of hand delivering. The general consensus was that a letter delivered hand to hand provided an opportunity to make a personal connection, but that, otherwise, regular mail was preferable to just leaving the letter in the door or on the stoop. So, many members of the board flipped through the stack to pull out letters addressed to individuals and families that they would have a chance to see. The rest of the letters would be sent my regular mail.
    J. The Next Meeting: Because the fourth Tuesday in December is right during the holidays, the group decided to schedule the next meeting for Tuesday, January 10, at 7:00pm, at Cahrene and Dan Dimick's house.
    Submitted by Anne Berry, Secretary

    Friends of Way Park Board Meeting, October 25, 2011
    Board Members Present: Sarah Carlsen (President), Matt Rohn (Vice President), Mary Emery (Treasurer), Anne Berry (Secretary), Cahrene Dimick, Dan Dimick, Bob Hickcox, Chris Kauffeld, Maren Westby (honor house representative)
    The meeting was held in Bob Hickcox's lovely home, with delicious snacks which he and his wife provided.
    A. Fall Festival: Sarah began the meeting with the first item on the agenda, a wrap-up report on the Fall Festival. Cahrene said that she thought it was a good event with good energy, and everyone agreed, noting also the great weather. She said there seemed to be fewer pumpkins to light this year, and she mentioned that Judy Swanson had suggested "judging" pumpkins next year so that there's recognition for that part of the evening. Chris noted that the festival was competing that night with Ghost Stories in the cemetery and a Co-op member meeting at the Pizza Barn. He also noted that there was only a small blurb in the newspaper calendar and nothing on the day of the event. Dan recommended, in the future, writing an article ourselves and submitting it with a photo.
    Chris recognized all the individuals who contributed in so many ways to make the night a success: Sharon Henry and Donna Eicher who painted faces, Bob Gregory-Bjorklund and ArtTech for drumming, Tom Kotula for the storytelling, Michelle Martin for leading the campfire songs, Christy Hall-Holt and her students for lighting the luminaries, and Lynne Young for the sound system. The group agreed to send a thank-you to each one from FWP.
    At this point, the group addressed Judy's offer to donate her tables to FWP. After discussing her tables, other types of tables, storage of the tables, and the advantages and disadvantages of having our own tables vs. borrowing tables when we need them, the group decided not to take Judy's tables, but to purchase lighter tables a couple at a time in the future if/when they can be found on sale.
    Cahrene also suggested that we look for a different type of lighter for the pumpkins and the luminaries.
    B. Fire & Ice: The group began this part of the meeting by describing Fire & Ice for Maren, who had not been involved before, but who, with the other honor house students, would be taking the lead on planning, publicizing and running the event. Sarah explained that there is an event for each season, and this is the winter event. Matt noted that last year Fire & Ice was called off due to unseasonably warm temperatures. Bob described activities that can be included, such as ice skating, sledding and a bonfire. Some ideas were exchanged about luminaries that stay lit in cold temperatures. Cahrene showed Maren last year's flyer. Sarah and Cahrene suggested that the honor house students come up with other ideas, too, for example, activities that would appeal to St. Olaf students and that would meet the goals of the honor house project (FORT). Chris suggested looking into having a St. Olaf choir sing carols. Matt suggested asking the skating club to give "lessons."
    The Board wanted to make clear its willingness and desire to help with advice, suggestions, contacts, publicity, etc. But, the Board also wanted to be sure that the honor house students are prepared to take the lead and to be the ones in charge of this event. Planning should be well underway by mid-November or early December, and if there is something that needs to be accomplished while the students are away during the Christmas holidays, they should make sure we know about those tasks. Matt emphasized that the students don't need to make it all happen, but they should take charge and delegate. He also recommended that they stay in touch with him about their progress.
    C. Watering Schedule: Sarah and Bob have each "adopted" one of the new trees, but the other new trees need to be watered regularly this fall, so Sarah checked with the group to be sure that there were no problems with the watering schedule she had made up. She, and other members who had already taken a turn at watering, described the process. She suggested that getting friends to come along is a good idea because in the spring, we will need a lot more people taking turns.
    The two trees that Leif Knecht planted at the north end of the park are being watered by the city. Those two trees were donated in memory of two individuals, and they are currently identified with two temporary signs. This led to a discussion of the plaques which will replace those signs - what they will look like, whether similar plaques should be used to identify other trees donated as memorials, and how to recognize donations in general. The city is installing those two plaques, so we have to wait to know what they will look like. The group also discussed other ways to recognize donors. Chris noted that, at Spring Creek Park, there is a board with the names of organizations and individuals who made contributions, and he suggested that, when the stage area is constructed, the bricks could be engraved with donors' names. Mary raised a question about whether bricks would be given for specific donations given for that purpose or in recognition of donations made over the last seven years. Sarah suggested having a conversation in the spring with Steve Groutman, who organized that type of fundraiser for the football field at the high school.
    D. Rain Garden Update: Prior to the meeting Sarah circulated the following report, which had been prepared by Matt.
    Shortly after the last Board meeting, Matt and Beth Kallestad met with City staff about the Way Park rain gardens and the rain garden education plans to be partially funded by the $1,800, Northfield Area Foundation grant FWP received with CWRP as the grant's agent. Beth subsequently sent Matt a draft for how plans might unfold. This remains a draft but she proposes the following, which she believes makes good sense:
    • CRWP will plan and host a workshop on rain gardens and rain barrels in the spring of 2012. (There might be more than one, and one might be jointly hosted by FWP in the Park.) CRWP might also organize neighborhood cleanup of leaves with door-hanger material distributed about storm water education in the fall of 2012.
    • FWP will work with City staff and PRAB and ECQ to get signage in the park telling people about the rain gardens. (Beth has provided Matt with some ideas for signs.) Matt/FWP will see that a rain garden brochure has been designed that educates people about rain gardens, can be obtained in a container on the signs, at the library and off the City's website. FWP will also weed and water and add to the rain garden plantings as needed and with City approval.
    • The City will ensure that K.A. Witt completes the rain garden plantings in spring 2012 and work with FWP on the items the section above.
    At this point the group had a tangential discussion of the grass. Matt said that the seed had not sprouted, which is probably good, considering there has been no rain. Someone worried that the seeds have blown into clumps with all the wind, but Chris had noticed that the seeds had been drilled in so they weren't blowing away. Chris also suggested that we organize a "rock party" and pick out all the rock before the grass starts to grow. (Sarah subsequently organized such a rock party and the city left a loader bucket in which to pile the rocks.) Cahrene asked what type of grass was planted and whether it was better than what was there before. Matt and Sarah said that it is the "approved grade" and that it was approved by van der Zalm.

    E. Park Board Update:
    Matt reported that, at their recent meeting, the Park Board declared the Way Park project complete, except for signage, and passed a policy for signage that works in our favor. There was also a presentation given by the Roundtable, a group which is working on reshaping Highway 3, the Depot and the Q-block. The talk is of making that area into a transit hub for buses/bikes/ride-sharing, etc., and it is relevant to the Way Park project because 2nd Street is an artery that connects the two. A city planner from Hope, Michigan, came to describe his ideas, and there is a lot of excitement surrounding the plans, but the city is dragging its feet.
    F. Fundraising Meetings: Dan and Sarah described the fascinating and revealing meetings that they had with the three banks: Community Resource, Premier, and First National. None of the three meetings was initially fruitful, times being tough, as they are. However, the Rick Estenson at First National Bank was very kind and encouraging. First National is a local bank, with offices only in Northfield, so it is centered in this community, and Rick is a member of the Roundtable, so he's interested and involved in Northfield planning. He wants to help, but said there are no funds this year, and offered instead some black hills spruce from his own property. (The group briefly discussed this offer and considered a few spots for these trees, but quickly got back to the larger topic at hand.)
    Dan would like to work with Rick to find a way for the bank to help fund the amphitheater. He has come up with a few ideas, and he presented them to the group. One idea is to structure the fundraising so that the bank gives "matching funds." In other words, FWP goes to the community with a targeted goal of $5000, members fulfill pledges, etc., and the bank matches that amount. Another idea is to ask the bank to sponsor an annual event series in honor of Judy Swanson. By creating a clear vision for how the bank and the FWP could partner to leverage the amphitheater for community use, Dan hopes to encourage the bank to consider a broader financial partnership.
    The group was enthusiastic about Dan pursuing these ideas with Rick. Matt commented that the three events Dan described were all good events but that three events before April may be too many. Someone suggested coordinating with GiveMn.org, our on-line gift processor, which will help set up "matching" programs for on-line giving. Sarah encouraged Dan to find out quickly whether Rick was receptive to these ideas, and if so, to use the end-of-year letter to lay out our goals. Mary suggested that it would be a good idea in terms of tax implications to have the matching period go beyond Dec. 31. (On a side note, November 16th is "Give to the Max Day" and the FWP will be joining several other non-profits in town to raise awareness about the event. The organizations will staff a table at Good-bye Blue Monday that has information about the various non-profits along with a computer to make on-line giving immediately accessible.
    Sarah also suggested that, since Premier Bank, seemed open to some level of support, we return to them at some point to talk about benches.
    G. Treasurer's Report: Mary Emery handed out her report of the FWP finances for the year so far, including revenue, expenditures, encumbrances, and balances. ( Click here to view the report.)
    H. Membership: The group discussed the terms of membership. Sarah expressed her support for the idea that Mary Emery proposed at the last meeting, that any donation makes the donor a member. The by-laws simply state that the Board sets the membership amount. Matt made a motion to adopt Mary's proposal. Bob and Cahrene seconded the motion. The motion passed.
    Bob asked whether Mary was keeping track of "in-kind" donations (such as Leif's trees) in terms of a dollar equivalent so that those donations would be tax deductible for the donor. Mary agreed that those donations would be treated as such.
    Sarah asked for a few members to join her in exploring membership ideas, so that FWP can be intentional about its principles and structures over the long-term. Bob and Mary agreed to work with Sarah.
    I. Mailing List Maintenance: Sarah reported that cleaning up the mailing list with the Google spreadsheet is not a practical method, as earlier thought. She has enlisted the help of a few individuals who are familiar with the neighborhood, and, with their help and the help of the group, she is planning to start going through the lists "by hand."

    J. End-of-year Mailing:
    Sarah suggested that the end-of-year letters be distributed using a combination of hand delivery and postal service. She intends to keep the cost as minimal as possible, but she asked the board to approve the funds necessary for the mailing. Bob made a motion to approve up to $500 for the mailing. Matt seconded the motion. The motion passed.

    K. Next Meetings:
    The next meeting will be Nov. 29 at 7:00pm at Mary Steen's house. The fourth Tuesday of December is the 27th, which falls in the heart of the holiday season, so Sarah suggested merging that meeting with the one previously scheduled on January 24th, such that we will meet only once on January 10th.
    Submitted by Anne Berry, Secretary

    Friends of Way Park Board Meeting, September 27, 2011
    Board Members Present: Sarah Carlsen (President), Matt Rohn (Vice President), Mary Emery (Treasurer), Anne Berry (Secretary), Doug Bratland, Cahrene Dimick, Dan Dimick, Bob Hickcox, Chris Kauffeld, Mary Steen
    The meeting was held at Felland House, a St. Olaf Honor House. Also present were Hannah Dennis, Laura Smith, Andrea Dittman, Theresa McDevitt, and Hillary Boyce - all residents of Felland House who will be involved with Way Park in the coming months.
    A. Introductions: Each of the individuals present briefly introduced him- or herself to the group. Sarah also spoke about the FORT-FWP partnership. The residents of Felland House are living there because of their interest in the house project: Forging Ole-Resident Ties. Matt is the group's project advisor, and their mission is to strengthen relationships between the college and the town. Getting involved with FWP is one way to further their mission. They will send one member to the FWP monthly meetings to act as a liaison.

    B. Fall Festival, Committee Report:
    Cahrene reported that the committee had met once and corresponded by e-mail regarding plans for the 2nd Annual Fall Festival, which will be held October 15 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. People can bring pre-carved pumpkins, which will be lit and placed along the seats of the new amphitheater. There will also be luminaries, face painting, and drummers from St. Olaf and from Art Tech. Michelle Martin will lead songs around the fire. There will also be pumpkin bars, apples with caramel, and cider. Lynne Young, from the public library, has offered use of a sound system; she will be there to help set it up. Judy Swanson has offered her tables, and Sarah offered her van to transport them. Judy will also make up flyers, and the rest of us can take them around to homes in the neighborhood. Cahrene asked the group for volunteers to make pumpkin bars, help set up the tables around the fire, and help light the pumpkins as people arrive. Last year, about 200 people came to the festival.
    The honor house students said that they could take flyers up to St. Olaf, help distribute them in the neighborhood, and that they would be at the park the night of the festival to the extent that they could.
    During the rest of the meeting, only Board Members were present.

    C. Fire & Ice:
    The group confirmed January 14th as the date of Fire & Ice - a winter gathering at Way Park. The honor house students will be in charge of organizing this event. The Board will communicate the date to them and make it clear that they are in charge. Cahrene will give them ideas and the contact information for people who can help.
    D. Arbor Day: The group briefly discussed ideas for an Arbor Day/Earth Day event in the park around April 20th. One idea involved doing Rain Garden education at that event. Bob suggested raising money for shrubs over the winter and making it a planting day with community involvement.
    This led to a comment about fundraising. Cahrene asked if Andrea Een would be interested in doing another benefit concert, and if she would be interested in making it an annual event. Mary Steen said she would ask Andrea. In a follow-up e-mail, Mary said that Andrea would be happy to do another concert in support of the park next spring.

    E. Treasurer's Report:
    Mary Emery handed out her report of the FWP finances for the year so far, including revenue, expenditures, encumbrances, and balances. Doug uploaded the document to our Google Docs site. ( Click here to view the report.)
    Sarah noted that a portion of the total encumbrances ($37,900) was contingency and might not actually be spent, and that we will seek "retroactive funding" from the banks, such that the final unencumbered cash balance might end up being more than $2974.
    Sarah also said she had called to ask whether the Memorial Tree Fund could be used for the trees that were just planted. She is waiting for an answer.
    This led to a discussion of trees and how they were funded. Leif Knecht ended up donating the trees and only charging $150 each for planting. The group decided to circulate a thank-you note for all to sign to give to Leif. Chris suggested that we consider putting up a plaque to recognize the donation and that we research plaques so that we know what is possible/available when people make donations. Sarah said she would ask Brian Erickson what is being done in other parks around the city. She also said that, at the City Council meeting, there should be a formal recognition of Leif's donation.
    F. State of the South End Project: Sarah passed out a new matrix of with the elements of the plan that have not yet been completed so that we could discuss priorities. She noted that when the major elements have been installed, the park will "look done," but it is not, so we can't stop now.
    • The Rain Garden: The rain garden is still a high priority. George Kinney of the Environmental Quality Commission and Beth Kallestad of the Cannon River Watershed Partnership are both eager for the plans to move forward. Funds are available through storm water management; there are state incentives; the city council is for it. A seed mix will be planted this fall, but additions and improvements can be made in the spring. For example, Matt and Beth have been attempting to figure out what might be possible in replacing the perennials that were dropped from the original van der Zalm plan in order to make it more affordable. Matt observed that despite the coordinated efforts of FWP and the individuals and groups just mentioned, progress on using the rain garden education grant keeps being delayed by the city's engineering staff's apparent resistance to rain gardens. He added that, while other cities in the metropolitan area have embraced rain gardens as a much-encouraged means of storm water management, Northfield has not. Someone noted that maybe the hiring of a new director for the engineering department will change that.
    • The Screening Trees: Screening trees were not part of the more recent van der Zalm plan, but they were part of the master plan, and they have come up again and again, so they do seem to be a priority. They will need to be incorporated in to the design.
    • The Sledding Hill: There was much discussion of the sledding hill. Now that the amphitheater is in place, it looks as if there is no sledding hill. Many ideas were proposed - building a wooden structure to put in place each year before the first snow, building the hill up with snow once it has snowed enough, just using the west side of the amphitheater because it is the steepest and straightest stretch, etc. In any case, this is an element that the group does not want to give up. It should be on the wish list.
    • The Grass Pavers: Since the asphalt path is wide enough for vehicles, including Booker, the grass pavers are an element that is no longer necessary.
    • The Hospital Memorial/Garden: One of the students in the Ideals to Action courses at St. Olaf has chosen this as his project. With Jim Farrell as his instructor and in consultation with Matt, he will do such things as studying the site, researching memorial gardens, maybe creating a mock-up, estimating costs, etc.
    • Fences: The fences that were in the original plan near the rain garden and at the end of the cul-de-sacs were outrageously expensive and therefore eliminated during this phase of the project. The group discussed whether or not to include that as a priority going forward. There was general agreement that, unless the rain garden turns out to be dangerously deep and in need of a barrier, that money would be better spent elsewhere. If, in the future, that area looks unfinished, a need for fences can be addressed at that point.
    • Other Elements: Benches are still desired. (See previous discussions of funding, style, timing, etc.) Mary Steen said that her husband would research bench alternatives. Kiosks are a priority, one at each entrance to the park. A water fountain/water source is still of interest. There used to be a fountain on the north side of First Street. TJ Heinricy said it might be possible to put a new one in if the pipes are still there, but it is not clear where the city stands on this.
    The discussion of water led to a larger discussion of the Second Street Project. One suggestion was that the water fountain be installed on the south end of the park when Second Street is redone. A fountain in that location could also serve bikers headed downtown if there were a clear path through or by Way Park. Sarah noted that being present at the city meetings has been crucial to the Way Park project, and therefore, it would be a good idea to continue that presence as the city discusses the Second Street project and to start planting seeds for these ideas now.

    G. The End-of-Year Letter:
    Dan will write the end-of-year letter to FWP members, but he noted that a letter like past letters will not generate the funds needed to complete the project. There was a long discussion of how that letter should be framed, what information it should contain, what tone it should take, and what its purpose should be. Among the many ideas proposed by the group during this discussion were the following: Sarah suggested that the letter not be about the money, but about making it clear that the project is not finished. Anne suggested that creating the desire to want to "get in on the excitement" would be an effective way of stimulating involvement. Mary Steen suggested that the letter include a list of what's left to do. The letter could give nod to fundraising by stating upcoming goals and telling members to watch for ways to contribute. Matt suggested that the letter might encourage members to give a certain amount for a specific piece of the plan. Bob suggested that just donating money and letting the Board make decisions about how to use it might be a good approach, especially if the letter could explain that there is "a frame and a palette," a design with holes that need to be filled in. Doug also liked the idea of portraying the Board as good stewards of the funds making thoughtful decisions. Thanking members for past support was also suggested as a crucial element in the letter, as was reminding members what their money has been able to accomplish.
    This led to a discussion of fundraising. Sarah and Dan will be scheduling meetings with the banks, whose charitable giving budget has gone way down, but who might still be able to sponsor the amphitheater.

    H. Donor/Member Management Software:
    The Board discussed various aspects of membership and the mailing list. First of all, the group noted that having members who are not just donors, but members, is important because it shows there is support for the organization and it allows money to be used for administrative costs. Currently, there is a spread sheet with donors and a spread sheet with members, but there should be just one database to keep track of membership status, donations and the mailing list. Mary Emery also suggested that our current system for identifying members is somewhat flawed in that it requires a member to fill out a member application and check the membership box. Since many donors, who also think of themselves as members (e.g. Board Members), don't take the time to fill out the slip, and therefore, they don't get identified as members according to our current process. She raised the question of whether all donors who contribute at least $10 in a calendar year should be counted as members.
    Bob researched three software packages and reported his findings to the group. (See his executive summary.) Mary Emery said that this type of software would be useful if there is going to be a big push for new members. Questions that emerged during the discussion included the following: Does this software allow us to print addresses for mailings? Can this software merge with the tax deduction letter? Is membership tax deductible? What qualifies individuals as members?
    The cost of renting or buying one of the packages is not insignificant, but Sarah mentioned a donor who wanted his contribution to be used to help FWP professionalize.
    We didn't have time to finish the discussion so will revisit the questions at the October meeting. However, the group did decide to work together to clean up the current lists using a shared Google spreadsheet and then to test one of the packages using their free trial. Sara said she would e-mail everyone with instructions so that we can each go through and check the list.

    I. The Website:
    Doug gave a one-minute report on the website. He said that we have outgrown the blog and that we need an actual site. It will be almost free, and he will send out his proposal by e-mail.

    J. The Next Meeting:
    The next meeting is Tuesday, October 25th, at 7:00pm, Bob Hickcox's house.
    Submitted by Anne Berry, Secretary

    Friends of Way Park Special Meeting , September 9, 2011
    Board Members Present: Sarah Carlsen (President), Matt Rohn (Vice President), Mary Emery (Treasurer), Mary Steen, Chris Kauffeld
    Sarah called this special meeting because she had just received 2 bids for building the park's amphitheater. This had not been included in the initial contract, but could still be added if we wanted to do so. The K. A. Witt landscaping firm provided the bids; in order to include the amphitheater in the current project it needed a decision within a day. Sarah had been keeping Board members informed about the amphitheater options in the days and hours leading up to the meeting and had solicited opinions by e-mail and telephone from those who could not attend the meeting.
    Sarah started the meeting (held on her porch) by briefly outlining the 2 bid options the firm had provided and by setting forth a 3rd option: that we reject both bids and pursue the amphitheater later. Option 1 involved poured concrete amphitheater seating and would cost $19,500. Option 2 involved Versa-Lok, concrete blocks that look like stone slabs and would cost $15,500. The landscapers had left a sample of this in the park that day.
    Much of the discussion focused on cost relative to value. Choosing option 1 would deplete all of our existing funds and possibly then some. All wondered if option 2 would then be a good investment, or whether option 3 (waiting until later to do the amphitheater) would assure us more bids and possibly a better price.
    Mary said that she had begun her process of thinking about options by asking whether the park should even have an amphitheater and had decided that since no other park in Northfield has an amphitheater, it would increase Way Park's distinctiveness and value beyond the neighborhood. All concurred. Mary Emery said that we should vote to build it now to keep the momentum of park construction moving forward.
    Those present reached a consensus that we favored option 2 over option 1. Sarah and Matt had done as much research as feasible on the 2 options and had been consulting with City engineer Brian Erickson about the options. Option 2 appeared to be structurally and aesthetically sound. Because it clearly fit within our budget, it appeared to be the better choice financially, and Sarah said that all the Board members who could not be present had informed her by e-mail or telephone that they preferred option 2 over option 1.
    Serious discussion continued about the wisdom of option 2 relative to waiting until later. We were all concerned about the time pressure the landscape firm was exerting on us to make a choice in such a short time. Might they be gouging us in forcing a decision without our having an opportunity to seek other bids for this same type of work? We finally decided that the estimate seemed reasonable and any lower amount some other firm might propose later for the construction would be offset by the cost of redoing the landscaping presently underway and restoring damage produced later by constructing an amphitheater.
    Having reached a consensus, we checked the by-laws governing voting at a special meeting and found that they called for a 2 week notice of a special meeting. We had only 24 hours between when we received the bids from the firm and when it wanted a decision so it could incorporate building the amphitheater in the work it had underway. Matt moved that we suspend the 2-week rule. Mary seconded the motion, and the Board voted unanimously in favor of the suspending the 2-week rule.
    Mary then moved that the Board approve funding the 2nd, Versa-lok option for building the amphitheater as part of the current project. Matt seconded the motion, and the Board passed the motion unanimously.
    Sarah then informed the Board that Leif Knecht had spoken to her about the possibility of donating trees in the part of the park being landscaped; FWP would pay only for his crew to do the planting. She sought Board authorization to pursue further this possibility with him and the City. Matt so moved. Chris seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously. Sarah also told the Board that a power pole guy wire blocked building of a segment of sidewalk at the east 1st Street turnaround. The City will construct that and adjacent segments at a later date once the pole or guy wire had been moved.
    The meeting was then adjourned.
    Submitted by Matt Rohn.

    Friends of Way Park Board Meeting , August 3, 2011
    Board Members Present: Sarah Carlsen (President), Matt Rohn (Vice President), Mary Emery (Treasurer), Anne Berry (Secretary), Cahrene Dimick, Bob Hickcox, Chris Kauffeld
    The meeting was held on Sarah's back porch, which has an excellent view of Way Park.
    A. Welcome: Sarah welcomed new members to the Board, made introductions, and got the meeting started.
    B. Treasurer's Report: Mary handed out her report of the FWP finances for the year so far, including revenue, expenditures, encumbrances, and balances. She described the new format of the report and went over the information, in particular, the encumbrances, which are amounts that we can consider as reserved for a memorial tree fund, the FWP contribution agreed to for the south end project, and a contingency fund that the city built into that agreement.
    At this point, Sarah and Matt briefly summarized the results of the Park and Recreation Advisory Board (PRAB) meeting that they attended on July 21. Brian Erickson reported to the PRAB that the six bids for the south end project came in much higher than expected. As a result, the project did not have enough funding, even with the FWP commitment, to move forward as planned. After discussing various possibilities, Matt and Sarah agreed in concept with Brian Erickson's recommendation to cut two elements from the base bid (the grass pavers and shrubs for the rain garden) and to change the FWP funding commitment to provide up to $20,000 to cover the base bid and necessary contingency fund. After receiving e-mail approval from the FWP Board for the new funding agreement, Sarah drafted a letter to the Council for the August 2, 2011 packet. The City Council approved moving forward with the new funding strategy and reduced project scope. The project will now include the grading, soil restoration, paths and the rain garden. Several of the elements that had been included as add-ons in the bid (the amphitheater retaining walls, trees for the circle path, benches, the concrete stage) were eliminated from the base project.
    C. State of the South End Project: The discussion turned to the various aspects of the project, beginning with the bids. Chris asked why the bids were so high this time around, and why there wouldn't be another round of bids. Matt said that nobody knows and that the same question was raised by Susie Nakasian at the City Council meeting, but he suggested that the original estimates had been low. Since all the bids were in the same range, they are probably reasonably accurate, and there wouldn't be much value in soliciting new bids.
    Sarah explained that the new bids were 40% more than expected. K. A. Witt's bid was the lowest, and they were awarded the contract. Matt then presented a matrix that he had prepared to help us think about the elements of the design that are not currently part of the base project, along with their relative expense and importance (see attached). A discussion of the matrix and the items on it followed.
    Electricity: Providing electricity to the amphitheater site was not included in the bid process because it came up later as a FWP idea. The City got an estimate of about $4400 for this work. To avoid the additional expense, but not limit our options in the future, City staff recommended running conduit from the west side of the park under the trail to the proposed amphitheater site as part of this project, but leaving the rest for later. The advantages of waiting are that there won't have to be a post in the middle of the park, the option of where to center the electricity is still open, and funds can be raised at a later date specifically for electricity. The FWP agreed with that recommendation.
    The Rain Garden: This is a core piece of the base project as approved and a high priority. One component of the original van der Zalm (vdZ) plan (the shrubs) was eliminated from the base project to save money. The current plan is to plant a rain garden seed mixture in place of most of the shrubs. While this is an acceptable alternative, the board would like to explore other possibilities, including raising funds for the original design and working with the City to use volunteer planting to minimize cost, either as part of the project this fall or in 2012. The funds from the Cannon River Watershed Partnership (CRWP) are for rain garden education, so working that in is a good idea. The board agreed to continue to explore other possibilities with the City and with the CRWP.
    Amphitheater basics: The amphitheater retaining walls were eliminated from the south end project at this point due to the bid price of over $32,000. The original plan included using the bricks recovered from the old hospital as a decorative "face" on the curved, poured-cement benches of the amphitheater, but the cost of that was exorbitant. The Board discussed the pros and cons of various alternatives and came to the tentative conclusion that, first, because of the maintenance concerns and the expense, the bricks should not be used as a facing on the benches; second, if eliminating the brick facing brings down the price, a curved bench is preferable to three flat-sided benches; and third, depending on the condition of the bricks, they can/should be used for a separate hospital memorial to be designed at a later date. The group briefly discussed approaching the banks in town about funding or sponsoring the amphitheater. The board agreed to pursue asking the City to request a cost estimate for the existing design without the brick facing to see if the cost is within reasonable means. Including these retaining walls is a high priority given that it is part of the hardscape, and it makes sense to include it at this point in the project if at all possible.
    Benches: The benches are not currently part of the south end project, but can be added in the future fairly easily. The discussion of the benches followed two lines - funding and design. Sarah said that Dan Dimick had scheduled meetings with four banks to discuss funding for four benches. The group discussed different styles of bench including concrete benches like those Chris had seen at the Milwaukee Zoo (??), benches of the style that Cahrene had seen at the Northfield Retirement Center, benches like those near the War Memorial in Northfield, benches with a back, without a back, etc. Bob noted that they should be durable and low maintenance. No concrete decision was made about bench style. The benches in K.A. Witt's bid are similar to other benches around town, and they are priced at $2600 (including the poured cement platform and labor), so that is what the banks will be asked to contribute.
    Trees: Due to the expense, no trees are currently part of the south end project. Sarah asked the group to discuss various options for future tree planting. The vdZ design includes maple trees along the circle walk and a grove of oak trees in the southeast corner. Van der Zalm was not asked to consider screening trees along the east or west sides. There are various opinions about how to ultimately decide on tree species and locations, including working with the city parks supervisor or independently hiring a landscape architect to get either advice or a written plan. A long discussion of trees followed. Bob asked who is the decision-maker regarding trees for the city. Matt said that there is a list of preferred trees but no specific tree expert on staff. Chris suggested finding "working" trees - fruit trees, currant bushes, flowering trees. This idea had some appeal, but Sarah also noted that plants with fruit require maintenance. After talking through pros and cons of the various approaches, the group agreed that having a full tree plan is desirable. In general, the plantings in the park have been given a low priority because they can be added later, over time, and because it seems like raising funds for trees once the project is visibly underway will be easier than raising funds for cement and grading. There most likely will be the option of using plaques to recognize specific people who donated trees. We currently have $350 in the Memorial Tree Fund, and Matt suggested that could be used as part of this project. No solid conclusions were reached, and the group will continue to explore options with the City and the PRAB
    The Hospital Memorial: In general, the group agreed that this is a project for "the next phase." However, there was a general consensus that the brick recovered from the old hospital could potentially be used here. Bob suggested talking to the hospital and including them in the fundraising for and design of the memorial.
    Cahrene asked when the work was scheduled to begin. Sarah said there would be a pre-construction meeting the 3rd week of August, and then things would get rolling. She asked Board Members to be engaged during the next two months so that decisions can be made quickly as they come up.
    Cahrene asked whether there should be a "heads up" article in the newspaper now that the project was getting underway. Sarah said that FWP was due for a guest column on August 20, and that she would contact the paper about an article as well.
    D. Next Meetings: The group decided that monthly meetings would be held on 4th Tuesdays at 7pm. In a follow-up e-mail, Sarah listed the following meeting times and places.
    • Aug. 30: Sarah's house (We'll only have this meeting if necessary.)
    • Sept. 27: St. Olaf Honor House
    • Oct. 25: Bob Hickcox's house
    • Nov. 22: Mary Steen's house
    • Dec. 27: (I'm guessing we will cancel or reschedule this one.)
    • Jan. 24: Cahrene Dimick's house
    • Feb. 29: Mary Emery's house
    • Mar. 27: Bob Hickcox's house
    • Apr. 24: Mary Steen's house
    • May 22: Cahrene Dimick's house
    Submitted by Anne Berry, Secretary

    Friends of Way Park Annual Meeting , June 13, 2011
    Board Members Present: Sarah Carlsen (President), Judy Covey (Vice President, out-going), Chris Ennis (Treasurer, out-going), Doug Bratland, Bob Hickcox, Chris Kauffeld, Matt Rohn, Mary Steen. Also in attendance: Anne Berry, Mary Emery, Judy Swanson, Keith Covey, David Sudermann.
    The meeting was held in the Public Library's meeting room. Refreshments included Mary's yummy bars and Sarah's brownies.
    A. Welcome: Chair Sarah Carlsen welcomed those present and called the meeting to order.
    B. Approval of 2010 Annual Meeting Minutes: Sarah presented the minutes from last year's annual meeting. Mary Steen moved to approve the minutes. Bob Hickcox seconded. The group voted. The minutes were approved.
    C. Treasurer's Report: Chris Ennis described the finances of FWP, noting in particular the account balances at the beginning of 2010 ($18,666.44) and at the time of last year's annual meeting ($28,658.58), and the current account balance ($40,922.19). He also showed various graphs:
    • Income and Expenditures 2004-2011
    • Expenditures 2004-2011
    • Income by Date of Check Received
    • Account Balances 2004-2011 (pledges not included)
    Chris noted that the Andrea Een concert brought in a lot of income for FWP.
    Judy Swanson asked if FWP was complying with all of the IRS regulations related to how much income a non-profit can take in. Chris explained that FWP would have to collect $24,000 per year for 2-3 years in a row before needing to file in a different way. So, we're good.
    D. Annual Report: Sarah explained that an Annual Report Summary will be mailed out on an oversized postcard. Details will appear on the website.
    E. Elections: Chris Kauffeld, who, along with Eric Poole and Nick Neeb and Matt Rohn, recruited two new members to the board, nominated Anne Berry for the position of Secretary and Mary Emery for the position of Treasurer. The slate was presented as follows:
    • President: Sarah Carlsen
    • Vice President: Matt Rohn
    • Treasurer: Mary Emery
    • Secretary: Anne Berry
    • Board Members: Doug Bratland, Cahrene Dimick, Bob Hickcox, Cris Kauffeld, Mary Steen
    Chris Ennis moved to approve the slate. Bob Hickcox seconded. The group voted. The slate was approved.

    F. Summary of 2010-2011 Accomplishments:
    Sarah listed and described the events, changes and accomplishments of the last year.
    • The seasonal events: the Pumpkin Festival, the Fire & Ice Skate, the upcoming Midsommer Festival
    • The fundraising concert by Andrea Een, Theo Wee, and Dana Maeda
    • A move into social media (Twitter and Facebook)
    • The enhanced website (Doug Bratland explained that there is a new visual design and the focus of the site has been taken off the Board and put on the park itself.)
    • The connections developing as a result of a St. Olaf Honor House project called FORT: Forging Ole-Resident Ties. (Matt Rohn is the group's advisor, and their mission is to strengthen relationships between the college and the town by hosting discussions about topics of interest to both.)
    • The Adopt-a-Park commitment (Sarah explained that FWP has formally adopted the park. The city will erect a sign recognizing our adoption, and we are responsible for three clean-ups per year.)
    • Increased focus on and attention to membership. (Sarah explained that membership is for the calendar year in which the contribution is made.)
    • The growing focus on the Way Park rain garden and a coordinated rain garden effort that is just beginning to take shape in the area (Sarah described how far this idea has come, from opposition and "foot dragging" to a financial commitment from the city and a commitment from STOGROW farmers to foster the rain garden. In addition, CRWP is applying for a grant which is intended for the Way Park rain garden but part of a city-wide effort, and Environmental Quality Commission is working on a comprehensive rain garden education program. Finally, the students in an Ideas to Action class at St. Olaf produced a report and tri-fold brochure on rain gardens using Way Park as an example, and there is talk of coordinating with the Alternative Learning Center at the high school.
    • Perhaps FWP's biggest success, a new relationship with the Parks and Recreation Board and with the city staff, the city manager, and the city council (Sarah described a document being prepared by Lynne Young of the city staff with will lay out what "Friends of…" means, the roles and relationships of the individuals involved and procedures for reaching goals. This document and the process that is unfolding here could be a national model and could inform the conversation going on nationwide.)
    G. Acknowledgements: Sarah went on to formally acknowledge a number of individuals who have helped and supported FWP this year.
    • Andrea Een/Theo Wee/Dana Maeda for the benefit concert, which raised over $3000 with an anonymous matching grant
    • The city staff, including Lynne Young, who was our liaison with the Park Board and who brought FWP to the table, Brian Erickson, who was great at pushing funding forward, Katy Gehler-Hess, who has helped define the relationships, Tim Madigan
    • Rick Vanasek, who's been a long-term supporter, and Nathan Knutson for the skillful presentation to the City Council regarding funding this park in the midst of uncertainty and for contributing to the long-term vision of park funding
    • David Jerky from van der Zalm and Adam Parker from Mariner who have been great and open to incorporating Spencer's vision
    • Roz Eaton-Neeb for initiating the Fall Festival
    • Beth Kallested, Executive Director of CRWP for including Way Park in grant ideas and encouraging collaboration across groups
    • Sarah also acknowledged and presented good-bye gifts to the out-going board members.
    • Judy Covey, who helped set a foundation for FWP and who has mentored and been a great help to Sarah as she was learning about chairing and about running a non-profit, AND, who has written the thank-you notes to all the new members!
    • Jim Holden, whose many contributions were noted by Judy Swanson. Jim was a high school teacher and tennis coach, and a supporter of Way Park since the very first meeting, to which he came armed with a list of top grant makers that Jackie had given him. He helped define the focus of the park, not by narrowing the vision or limiting activities but by including all groups of all ages.
    • Chris Ennis, whose many contributions were also noted by Judy Swanson. Chris was the one who went door to door to get the 500 signatures necessary to save the park. He passed out questionnaires and collected opinions about what should be done with the hospital. He tabulated the results and had them printed, along with names of the 500 supporters, in the newspaper. The City Council was impressed. Jim also got Bob Cernia to print day-glow signs that said "Honor the Gift" - signs which were seen in windows around the neighborhood for a long time. Chris also did the work necessary to get non-profit status for the FWP, and he has made sure it has stayed legal. Finally, it was Chris who had the vision for the amphitheater. Chris replied that Judy was his inspiration when, at that first meeting, Judy stood up and said: "I will personally lead."
    Sarah brought this portion of the meeting to a close by welcoming Anne Berry and Mary Emery. She acknowledged that we are a new board, but we are standing of the shoulders of the strong leaders who went before us.
    H. Fundraising Report: Sarah read Dan Dimick's report in his absence. Highlights of the report include the following:
    • The city has committed $80,000 toward the overall estimated cost of $126,634. Our board has discussed making a significant contribution toward the balance, but doing so in a way that doesn't completely deplete our account. We hope to retain some funds to carry over toward the next phase of restoration on the north end of the park.
    • Dan is ready and excited to energize our forces toward fundraising targeted at the of the "above ground" elements of the park - shrubs and perennials (est. $8939.25), 12 trees for the path (est. $3438.00), and 4 benches ($8000).
    • Dan is committed to raising this total by the end of the year and will approach local service organizations and the banks for funds. FWP will also seek a contribution from every property owner within a five-block radius of the park, essentially asking every west side resident to contribute.
    Sarah emphasized the importance of not committing all of FWP's funds to this phase of the project; reserving funds for the next phase shows that we are committed to that as well. She also noted that fundraising for trees and benches might be easier since donors will be able to see their contributions at work.
    There was some discussion at this point about trees and other plantings. It's a discussion to have at a later date, after "sitting with" the new shape of the park and watching usage, and it's a discussion to have with input from the city and a landscape architect, with an eye toward incorporation Spencer's original ideas.
    There was also some discussion of power and water. Sarah relayed some ideas she had gotten from TJ Heinricy (Streets and Parks Supervisor) regarding electricity and water. She also noted the importance of planning for the long-term.
    I. Looking Ahead: Sarah listed the projects and goals for the upcoming year.
    • Fundraising for trees and benches
    • Setting up a donor/member tracking system
    • Further defining and strengthening the relationship with the city, both short-term and long-term
    • Working on the rain garden education project
    • Organizing the Adopt-a-Park clean-up efforts
    • Planning and promoting the community building events
    • Focusing on the north end and identifying people with a passion for those next steps (playground upgrades, picnic shelter, warming house)
    Sarah mentioned that our best marketing efforts are the events that are held at the park and the conversations that we all have with people at the park. Mary Steen suggested that we all take some of the green flyers to hand out as we meet and talk to people.
    There was some talk at this point of a celebration to honor the accomplishments. Doug Bratland complimented the group on coming such a long way. The group thanked Sarah for her hard work this year.
    Submitted by Anne Berry, Secretary

    Friends of Way Park Board Meeting , May 2011
    Members Present: Doug Bratland, Sarah Carlson, Judy Covey, Bob Hickcox, Jim Holden, Chris Kauffeld, Matt Rohn, Mary Steen, and special guests Dave and Mary Emery (who will assume the position of co-treasurer for next year). Thanks to Judy Covey for hosting the meeting.
    A. Treasurer's Report (given by Sarah Carlson in Chris Ennis's absence): The current balance is a robust $40,974.35, a nice increase from the April balance of $37,691.30. Most of that increase is a result of the benefit concert "matching contribution" of $3,132 from an anonymous donor and the "redeposit" of $100 used for making change at the concert. In addition, there have been several smaller gifts from individuals and some "reimbursement expenses" connected with the concert. Also, our annual IRS e-file registration is due and has been electronically filed by the treasurer.
    B. Update on the south-end Project: Matt and Sarah met with City administrator, Tim Madigan; Katy Gehler-Hess; Brian Erickson; and T.J. Heinricy to discuss our relationship with the City, both long-term and short-term. In a second meeting with Katy Gehler-Hess and Lynne Young, Sarah and Matt discussed our plan, the costs, and what steps should be taken next.
    The cost for all aspects of the van der Zalm plan is estimated to be $126,419.48. City engineer Brian Erickson proposed that the city cover the costs of the grading, seeding, and paths up to $82,784.68. He recommended putting the entire project out for bid so that FWP would know the costs associated with funding additional elements. PRAB formally approved this plan of action, so the City Council at its June 7 meeting will vote on whether to approve the plan for bids. Sarah will attend the meeting to give a brief overview of FWP's efforts. She noted that we will learn what the bids are around July 11 and will then negotiate with the City on what we will actually fund. This step will probably need to be completed by July 13, when a packet containing a motion to approve the awarding of contracts must be readied for the July 19 City Council meeting. We will either meet in July or contact members by e-mail to complete this part of the project.
    On another matter, the van der Zalm estimate listed 8 benches at $2,000 each, but only 6 were noted in the plan. We agreed that 4 would probably be enough, and Matt initiated a lengthy discussion among us about how the benches could be placed better. Members agreed that at least 2 should be near the rain gardens and that groupings of benches would be wise, for groupings work better than isolated benches on the campuses. Matt noted that we want to approve funding of the concrete foundations for the benches to make sure that is done when other infrastructure work the City will cover is being done. As Dan Dimick has suggested, we can seek donations for the actual benches later. And at the last PRAB meeting it was agreed that one walkway by the southeast rain garden would be eliminated from the design plan.
    There was also a good deal of discussion about the placement of trees (Chris Kauffeld thought planting some by the amphitheater for shade might be advisable), how to pay for trees, and what types of trees should be planted. Sarah and Dan Dimick will meet with T.J. to discuss the types of trees he would suggest (oaks, maples, pines, etc.), and Dan Dimick will continue to work on this part of our project. In addition, Dan and Sarah will discuss the possibility with Leif Knecht of donors purchasing trees for the park, through his nursery, at a reduced rate.
    A concern was expressed that the path near the amphitheater for the Showmobile might be too difficult to negotiate.
    Board members were then given a breakdown of costs for Phase 1 of the project ("Figures and Items for Way Park Improvement Discussion")--these included the total cost estimate of $126,419.48 and a breakdown between the City's contributions and Way Park priorities. So, for example, the City will contribute about $82,000--broken down into costs for the designer, administration/advertising, and construction. FWP priorities were listed as Top Priority (concrete stage, benches concrete pads, and retaining walls) and Lesser Priority (fences, benches, trees for path, staking trees, and installation).
    Finally, Bob Hickcox moved, and Jim Holden seconded, that we approve a letter to the City Council (written by Sarah and Matt) in which we offer additional funds (should bids come in higher than expected) to help defray extra expenditures.
    C. Nominating Committee: Chris Kauffeld reported that Anne Berry has agreed to serve as secretary, but he was unable to find a third volunteer. Therefore, we might only have 9 Board members next year, which Sarah noted is OK with guidelines prescribed in the constitution. As noted earlier, Dave and Mary Emery have graciously consented to serve as a treasurer duo.
    D. Midsommar: Cahrene and Judy Swanson have been involved in planning this event, to be held on Sunday, June 19. Sponsoring clubs are FWP, the Sons of Norway, and the Northfield Swedish Club. The schedule looks like this:
    • At 5:30 a picnic with hot dogs and ice cream, fiddlers, and Scandinavian activities and games;
    • At 6:30 there will be Scandinavian music performed by a children's group from Edina called Evergreen School of Performing Arts); and
    • At 7:00 there will be a Maistang with a procession, Swedish group dancing, and fire pits.
    Judy Swanson will do posters, Doug will create a website announcement, and Sarah will send an e-mail note which will also focus on the status of our park project. Donations will also be encouraged to pay for the musicians.
    E. Annual Report/Meeting: Mary Steen has kindly volunteered to put together the Annual Report for this year. There was a good deal of discussion about the format of such a report and what should be included in it, and we agreed that it should be in an over-sized postcard format (with color stock paper) and include the following: our mission statement, a message from the president, what we have accomplished, the names of Board members, goals for the future, and a brief financial report. This report will be mailed to the 300 members on our mailing list after the Annual Meeting. Sarah will also send an e-mail blast to remind about the Annual Meeting, scheduled for June 13. Sarah called for volunteers to help plan the meeting and several members offered to make bars. The meeting will be held again at the Northfield Library at 7 P.M. The secretary reviewed the agenda for last year's meeting and it was decided that at minimum the following items would appear on this year's agenda: special acknowledgements, a summary of recent accomplishments, a fundraising report, and a "looking ahead" report.
    F. More PRAB information: The isssue of signage came up, and Matt reported that the City is amenable to having us come up with our own proposals for a kiosk and signage as long as the City and PRAB have final approval of how any sign looks.
    G. CRWP: Beth Kallestad, the director, has a new rain garden opportunity she hopes might include Way Park. She will be discussing this opportunity with her board and representatives of FWP board.
    H. The Northfield News is looking for guest columnists for the summer, so it was agreed that we would write a column. Matt will write a draft and get input from Board members.
    I. The next meeting will be the Annual Meeting on June 13, at the library, at 7pm.
    Respectfully Submitted,
    Jim Holden, soon-to-be Secretary-emeritus

    Friends of Way Park Board Meeting , April 2011
    Members Present: Sarah Carlsen, Judy Covey, Cahrene Dimick, Chris Ennis, Bob Hickcox, Jim Holden, Chris Kauffeld, Matt Rohn, Mary Steen, and Dan Dimick (Fundraising Chair). Thanks to Bob Hickcox and Jackie Henry for hosting the meeting.
    A. Honor House Presentation: St. Olaf students Hannah Dennis and Theresa McDevitt shared plans for an honor house they have proposed (and which has been accepted) for the 2011-12 St. Olaf school year. Their proposal is designed to create more opportunities for connections between St. Olaf students and the Northfield community. Therefore, they want to partner with FWP by (1) helping with Way Park events and by (2) enlisting FWP Board members to initiate conversations centered on the theme of "life in community after college."
    On May 1st, the women will be hosting a "Hooray for May 5K" race to raise funds for their house. Matt Rohn is serving as their unofficial advisor, and he suggested that we hold one of our Board meetings next year at their house, Felland House on St. Olaf Avenue. The students commented that they, and the other women who would be living in the honor house, have worked in the community and gotten to know people in Northfield. FORT (Fostering Ole Resident Ties) is the acronym they have chosen to illustrate their interest in breaking down the town-gown divide and in getting Oles to become more invested in Northfield. They will also hold a progressive dinner which will bring together students and community members. The dinner will be held at the end of the school year and at that time the honor house students will share stories about their projects. Board members agreed that we will publicize the 5K run on the FWP website.
    B. Concert Report: Plaudits to Cahrene and Chris for organizing the benefit concert and to all Board members who helped make the event a success. Most importantly, credit to Andrea, Theo, and Dana for giving of their time and for performing such soul-stirring music. We agreed to buy gift cards for the performers to show our appreciation for their efforts.
    C. Treasurer's Report: Chris Ennis, who received some donations from people who literally stopped him while he was on his daily run, reported receipts of $45 and $90 from donations after the concert; $44.25 from T-shirt sales at the concert and fall festival; and $2,992 in donations from concertgoers. With deductions for reimbursements ($91.20), envelopes ($4.80), and change for the concert ($100), our balance is now $37,691.30. This balance does not include a matching check for $3,000 given by an anonymous donor and presented to Chris at this meeting.
    D. Adopt a Park Idea: After considerable discussion, Board members agreed that we should complete an application for an Adopt a Park proposal for Way Park. Guidelines have been established by the City, but in essence FWP would be required to sponsor three cleanup/work days a year. Activities during those days might include planting trees and/or flowers, watering bushes and trees, clearing debris, monitoring the rain garden, etc. It was suggested that a good time for the activity might be a Monday after a busy weekend, perhaps following one in which FWP had sponsored an activity. Matt Rohn agreed to be our point person for the project, and Sarah Carlsen will fill out the application form. It was also agreed that we would pay the city $40 in order to procure an Adopt a Park recognition sign. If the City accepts our application, we would need to make a three-year commitment.
    E. PRAB Update: At the last PRAB meeting, there was more discussion about the rain garden and dirt. Alas, in part because there has been too much snow and the soil is wet, the City has not done any soil boring testing yet. An early estimate of $122,000 was presented as a preliminary cost for the project: grading, storm and drainage, sodding, plants, earthwork and trails, benches, fences and wall, etc. The City and PRAB will hold a work session in April and there will be a "final plan" open house in May. In the next few weeks, selected FWP members will meet with the appropriate City managers to discuss plans for the park.
    F. Fundraising: Dan Dimick encouraged us to meet with the City to lay out a timeline for the project. He has spoken with Leif Knecht, who suggested the following ideas: (1) find volunteers for a tree planting day, (2) set a date--one of Leif's workers could give us a lesson on planting, and (3) recruit a crew chief. Leif has a program in place through which individuals can purchase trees at a discounted rate for planting at a city park. This project could be completed in late fall, after the soil has been improved and graded. There was general agreement that many people would be willing to donate trees and that we might attach naming plates in honor of individuals and perhaps businesses. One suggestion was that we raise the money for benches and trees, then use the $18,000 allocated for these in the City budget for soil (because good soil will be critical).
    G. Potpourri: David Sudermann received an offer for a flagpole; but since there was no flagpole included in the master plan, we decided not to pursue the idea. Matt Rohn noted that there are three (possibly four) St. Olaf students who have applied for a 10-hour per week intern project involving Way Park and possibly the Depot. The project will run through July, and Matt will interview the candidates and select one.
    H. Annual Meeting: The meeting will be held on June 15th at 7 P.M., either at Co-op Foods or the Library.
    I. Nominating Committee: Chris Kauffeld will head up the Nominating Committee and find one other member (Nick Neeb has already agreed to serve); the committee will then recruit qualified candidates to replace outgoing FWP Board members. Matt Rohn has agreed to be vice-president for next year, and Sarah Carlsen has kindly agreed to stay on as president for one more year.
    J. Next Meeting: Tuesday, May 3rd, at Judy Covey's house.
    Respectfully Submitted,
    Jim Holden, Secretary

    Friends of Way Park Board Meeting, March 2011
    Just one day after an exhilarating Open House meeting with a representative from the architectural firm van der Zalm + associates and a civil engineer, an elated, enthusiastic, enouraged, excited, optimistic, euphoric (choose your own descriptor) FWP Board gathered for a state of Way Park planning meeting.
    Members Present: Doug Bratland, Sarah Carlsen (chair), Judy Covey, Cahrene Dimick, Chris Ennis, Bob Hickcox, Jim Holden, Chris Kauffeld, Matt Rohn, Mary Steen, and Dan Dimick (Fundraising Chair). Thanks to Cahrene and Dan Dimick for hosting the meeting.
    A. Treasurer's Report: Chris Ennis noted that an additional $1,485.37 has been received since the end of 2010, so the present balance stands at $34,716.05. Chris also said that he has renewed the FWP P.O. box at the Post Office (cost of $44) and that he is working on year-end tax receipt statements.
    B. Discussion about the Open House with van der Zalm + associates at St. John's Church, Monday, February 28: The conversation covered the waters, but in general members seemed pleased with the tenor and substance of the meeting. First, however, those who had attended the meeting provided a recap of the plans presented by the architect: two rain gardens--one located on the north side of the cul-de-sac and one on the south side, a terraced amphitheater in the southwest corner of the combined park, a bituminous circle walkway connecting St. Olaf Avenue and Second Street, details about the fill and seeding of the "south" park, a proposed oak "forest" on the east side of the park, and information about the need to work around utilities on the east side of the park. Mary Steen wondered if tree plantings located near the rain gardens would in fact divide the park in half and make it two separate parks. There was a general consensus that the presentation was most informative and that the architect and engineer, both of whom were congenial and well-informed, seemed amenable to our suggestions. Someone mentioned the bricks that were salvaged by Steve and Judy Swanson, now residing in their garage; so there was some discussion about how we might use them in this project--perhaps "selling" them to donors whose names would then be inscribed on the bricks before the bricks would be placed on a walkway or memorial space. Matt Rohn agreed to draft a letter to the architects, thanking them for their good work and indicating our willingness to continue to work with them. In this letter he will also mention our upcoming fundraiser (Andrea Een-Theo Wee benefit concert) and the possibility of having a kiosk at the park.
    C. Fundraising Report (Dan Dimick): After it was noted that the architect estimated a cost to complete this phase of the Way Park project at between $115,000 and $150,000 (including soil boring, grading, trees, rain gardens, shrubs, circle path walkway), Dan Dimick encouraged us to be bold in our fundraising efforts. Therefore, he recommended that we move quickly, going door-to-door to enlist donations from Way Park neighbors (maybe in as many as 500 homes), organize a tree planting day, approach Malt-o-Meal for a donation--perhaps for a concrete walkway, talk to the four banks and other businesses in town, and try to secure matching funds where we can. Also, there are other pledgees who have not yet contributed and the Cannon River Watershed Partnership has agreed to donate $1,800 for the rain gardens. Given that the City has pledged $80,000 toward this project and that we now have $35,000, we may be no more than $30,000 short of the funds needed to complete this first phase of the project. And given that the City is on a fast track to complete this phase: consultants will meet with the PRAB on March 17, present their final design to the City Council on April 4, meet with the PRAB on April 21 for their approval, and present a report to the City Council for approval on May 3; we have even more reason to move swiftly.
    D. Fundraising Concert (Andrea Een, violin; Theo Wee, piano/organ; Dana Maeda, oboe): Cahrene reported that the concert will be held on April 2, from 6:30-8:00, at the UCC. Cake and drinks will be served after the concert, so Cahrene asked Board members to bring cakes. There was considerable discussion about how to make this a fundraising event without making it look like a hard sell. So Cahrene will talk to Andrea to see what ideas she might have, but for now the plan is for Sarah Carlsen to introduce the performers and to let people know that the concert was planned to be a fundraiser for FWP. It was also suggested that we have some kind of visual (perhaps a thermometer similar to the one used by United Way) to show how much we have raised and how much is needed, but in any case there will need to be a place to display information about our project--including the current architectural plan. Other suggestions included the following: ask for a $10 minimum donation, have Board members wear name tags, and encourage Board members to greet concertgoers at the door.
    E. To Do List: Matt will compose a letter to the architects, Dan will draft a fundraising plan and request feedback from FWP members, and Cahrene will contact Andrea about how we need to address the fundraising aspect of the event.
    F. The next FWP meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 5, at the home of Bob Hickcox.
    Respectfully Submitted,
    Jim Holden, Secretary

    Friends of Way Park Board Meeting, February 2011
    Members Present: Doug Bratland, Sarah Carlsen, Judy Covey, Cahrene Dimick, Chris Ennis, Bob Hickcox, Jim Holden, Matt Rohn, Mary Steen, and Dan Dimick (Fundraising Chair). Thanks to Mary Steen for hosting the meeting and for providing delicious refreshments.
    A. Treasurer's Report: Chris Ennis reported that, since our last meeting in December, FWP has incurred one small expenditure and taken in $2,828.91 from 68 contributions--many of which came from new contributors. The current balance is $33,274.68.
    B. Park and Recreation Advisory Board (PRAB) update: Matt Rohn attended the January meeting and reported that a Request for Proposal (RFP) has been sent out to three architects, including Spencer Jones. The city staff, with input from the PRAB, will review the RFPs and plan to make a decision by mid February. The current plan is to hold an open house to discuss the architect's proposal on February 17th. Matt was pleased to announce that PRAB members were comfortable with the $80,000 allocated for the design process. As an aside, he also mentioned that the actual Way Park land survey can be found on the PRAB website. Finally, while Matt was pleased that the meeting was efficiently run, he expressed a concern that new PRAB members will need to be brought up to speed; so he will write a letter to these new members to inform them of our plans for Way Park.
    C. Report on Meeting with Patrick Ganey: Sarah Carlsen and Matt Rohn met with new City Council member Patrick Ganey to discuss our plans for Way Park and to hear his views. They emphasized our hope that a rain garden will be an integral part of the site, that we are exploring creative funding possibilities, and that we hope the public-private partnership between the city and FWP can act as a pilot for future projects . There was some discussion about the possibility of having a bike path leading from Way Park and down Second Street (as part of its expected, future repairs) to a possible Depot transportation hub to be located near the Quarterback Club.
    D. Student Intern Report: Matt Rohn mentioned the possibility of an internship position for a St. Olaf student who could work with FWP: helping with publicity, fundraising, and research on how other nonprofits work. Such a position, perhaps for credit, is being advertised by the Center for Experiential Learning and Matt will be the contact between the student (or recent graduate) and FWP. David Sudermann has also proposed a similar internship position for the Depot project. Matt will also contact the appropriate office at Carleton to solicit interest in FWP-related internships among their students. Matt also shared the news that one of the Ideals for Action students who spoke to us in December has expressed a desire to establish a Way Park Honor House for female St. Olaf students.
    E. Communications Update: Mary Steen has written an article about Judy Swanson which will appear on the FWP website as soon as Judy approves the draft. Mary intends to research and write more such articles in the coming months, including a profile of David Sudermann and a feature on pick-up hockey games. There were other suggestions for updating the website, including one about sending occasional messages to subscribers; and Doug Bratland said he could set up a subscribe-unsubscribe system.
    F. Upcoming Event: Cahrene Dimick reported on the next Way Park event, a "Full Moon Fire and Skate" night scheduled for Saturday, February 19th. The event will take place from 5:30-7:00 and will feature refreshments (hot cocoa, popcorn, popcorn balls, and cider) and a variety of winter activities. These include skating, maybe a snow shoe race, etc. Cahrene has contacted Erin Mayberry from Community Rec. and she will find some young skaters to come and demonstrate skating routines at 6 o'clock. Doug Bratland also mentioned the possibility of inviting youngsters from the skating school in Northfield, so Cahrene will look into this. There will also be ice candles, and Chris Kauffeld will give out FWP T-shirts to the figure skaters who put on a show. Doug will advertise the event in Northfield.org, facebook, etc.; and Chris Kauffeld will write an article for the Northfield News. In addition, Judy Covey suggested that we send an e-mail message to our FWP list (announcing the event) and encourage everyone to forward the message to their friends. Judy Swanson has agreed to do a poster and to place several of them in strategic places downtown.
    G. Mary Steen has created a Board member profile survey so information about Board members can be posted on our website.
    H. Judy Covey spoke to Tim Geary from Malt-O-Meal and discovered that the company does give out grants for "large" sums of money. She will forward this information to Dan Dimick, and Tim Geary will provide the contact person for such an application.
    I. The next FWP meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 1, at the home of Cahrene and Dan Dimick.
    Respectfully Submitted,
    Jim Holden, Secretary

    Friends of Way Park Board Meeting, December 2010
    Members Present: Doug Bratland, Sarah Carlsen, Judy Covey, Cahrene Dimick, Chris Ennis, Bob Hickcox, Jim Holden, Matt Rohn, Mary Steen, and Dan Dimick (Fundraising Chair)
    A. Report on a proposal for a rain garden from St. Olaf students Arielle Johnson, Matt Thompson, and Melissa Brashers. The students are enrolled in a course titled "Cultivating Civic Engagement" taught by Professor Eric Fure-Slocum. This is a course with a focus on cultivating social change, so students work in small groups on a project of their choice. For Arielle, Matt, and Melissa, that project is a rain garden for Way Park.
    In their presentation they:
    1. described the concept of a rain garden
    2. discussed the advantages of a rain garden
    3. passed out two items they had prepared--a pamphlet describing their project and a project summary document
    4. mentioned two examples of rain gardens they had researched, and
    5. suggested a future course of action
    They also mentioned contacts made during their semester of research: Matt Rohn at St. Olaf, Leif Knecht at Knecht Nurseries, the Northfield Schools Alternative Learning Center (ALC), and St. Olaf's Sto-Grow program. From these contacts they learned that Leif Knecht would be willing to donate some materials for the project and that one teacher at the ALC is very interested in getting her students involved in this project. In addition, the Sto-Grow students have pledged "to partner in a Way Park garden. This means helping to see to its physical creation if help is needed, to mentor area K-12 students if they could be involved, and to maintain the garden into the future."
    The three students also noted that it might be possible in the future to institute an environmental studies class at St. Olaf connected to Sto-Grow and our rain garden project. There is also the possibility that the project will be documented. Finally, the students emphasized that a rain garden has tremendous potential to be an educational resource.
    B. Treasurer's Report. Chris Ennis reported that FWP balance is now $30,636.39. He noted that there have been some recent generous donations and cash contributions amounting to $2,015.13. Expenses for the Fall Festival were about $100. There was a good discussion about how FWP should handle in-kind contributions in the future, so Bob Hickcox and Sarah Carlsen agreed to meet to discuss a possible donor management/tracking system Bob found online. This will be discussed at the next meeting.
    C. Logo Design. Doug Bratland distributed three FWP logo designs created by Judy Swanson and focused on our theme of "A Park for All Seasons." There was a spirited discussion about the value of each, but many liked our current logo (in part because it has, according to Doug, a historic, Depression-era look to it), and we also talked about the purpose of a logo. Bob Hickcox suggested combining elements of two logos into one, so we will ask Judy Swanson to consider this in her next design model. There was a good deal of sentiment for using a new logo to bring focus to the park itself and activities there (since the logos were all action-focused) and for retaining the original "Friends of Way Park" logo for official business correspondence.
    D. PRAB Meeting. Sarah and Matt attended the most recent Park and Recreation Advisory Board meeting. Two items came out of the meeting that will change the course of the south end development. The first is that the city recommended sending out a Request for Proposal (RFP) to landscape architects for design documents needed to identify costs associated with the south end of the park. This was a change from the last meeting when the PRAB recommended that the city hire Spencer Jones to do that work. The RFP is currently being drafted and should go out by year end. The PRAB then discussed the components of the City Improvement Plan (CIP) that relate to capital expenses for the parks. By the end of the meeting, the PRAB agreed to forward the CIP to the City Council with a $10,000 figure for Way Park in the 2010 budget (to pay for a survey and soil boring) as well as an $80,000 figure for Way Park in 2011. Sarah and Matt will continue to attend PRAB meetings to represent Way Park interests.
    E. Contacts to be Made: FWP will contact our new Council member, Patrick Ganey, to update him about the work of our committee. And Dan Dimick will contact hospital administrator Mark Henke to discuss a proposal Matt Rohn shared with us (in the form of a letter he had written) to solicit donations from hospital staff.
    F. Kudos to all who helped get the end-of-the-year fundraising letter out. The letter focused on (1) Highlights of 2010, (2) 2011 Plans in the Works, and (3) How You Can Help.
    G. The next meeting (if needed) will be held on Tuesday, January 4th, at Judy Covey's house.
    Respectfully Submitted,
    Jim Holden, Secretary

    Friends of Way Park Board Meeting, November 2010
    Members Present: Doug Bratland, Sarah Carlsen, Judy Covey, Cahrene Dimick, Bob Hickcox, Chris Kauffeld, Matt Rohn, Dan Dimick (Fundraising Chair).
    A. October Minutes were approved via e-mail vote of Board members prior to the meeting.
    B. Treasurer's Report: Chris Ennis was unable to attend the meeting. Sarah reported that as of November 2, 2010, FWP balance was $28,675.39.

    C. Park Board Update:
    Sarah reported that the city has agreed to use the previously committed funds for Way Park to hire Spencer Jones. They will ask Spencer to prepare a detailed plan for the south end of the park. This plan should include a new survey and soil testing, so that we have a full picture of the potential costs and can use the plan to get project bids. We do not yet have confirmation that the city has engaged Spencer. Matt and Sarah have agreed to continue to attend PRAB meetings for at least the next few months.
    D. Fundraising Updates:
    • Dan reported that he and Sarah had a productive meeting with Mark Henke and Scott Richardson at the hospital.
    • Sarah recommended that the Board approve up to $500 to pay for an end-of-year fundraising mailing. While the costs should be well under that figure, the Board voted to approve that figure to enable the project to move forward. The mailing will include a letter or brochure, a membership form, and a return envelope. We will most likely hand deliver as many as possible to keep postage costs down.
    • Bob recommended that we take advantage of our relationship with GiveMN to allow members to donate online. GiveMN has the lowest possible processing fees, and it will provide the necessary tax statements to donors. Last year GiveMN covered the costs of processing on a specific day and provided some matching funds. That will not be the case this year.
    • Doug will add the necessary code to the FWP website and update the FWP page on the GiveMN website to make it easy for supporters to give online. A reference to online giving will be included in all future brochures and mailings.
    • Judy Covey has agreed to oversee the sending of thank you notes for all gifts.
    E. Communication Plan Update:
    Doug has reworked the FWP website to feature the park more fully. The Board information is readily available but isn't the focus of the site. The meeting minutes will continue to be available on the site, but they will not be part of the blog that automatically includes them in several internet feeds.
    Doug requests that anyone who has photos of park events or photos that feature the park should send them to him for future photo galleries. Mary is planning to write some profile stories of local people with strong ties to the park. We will also use the site as a place to update the status of the project once there are some clear plans from the city and park board.
    F. Update on conversations with Northfield East Side Neighborhood
    Association (NESNA):

    Members from NESNA have initiated conversation with Sarah and David Suderman about potentially joining efforts. The Board agreed that along with our goal to develop Way Park, we want to promote green space across the city as an important community resource. Therefore, we value ongoing communication with other park groups. Sarah is planning to meet with NESNA representatives within the next few weeks.
    G. Fall Festival Report: The Fall Festival was quite a successful event. We estimate 300 people attended and that there were 50 carved pumpkins.
    • Board approved funds for reimbursement of supplies and for thank you gifts for the key performers.
    • Ideas for next year included providing a microphone and setting an event budget ahead of time. The events committee will reconvene and make a recommendation for how to proceed next year.
    Respectfully Submitted,
    Sarah Carlsen, Secretary Pro Tem

    Friends of Way Park Board Meeting, October 2010
    Members Present: Doug Bratland, Sarah Carlsen, Judy Covey, Cahrene Dimick, Chris Ennis, Bob Hickcox, Jim Holden, Chris Kauffeld, Matt Rohn, Mary Steen, Dan Dimick (Fundraising Chair).

    A. August Minutes
    were approved via e-mail vote of Board members prior to the meeting.

    B. Treasurer's Report:
    Chris Ennis reported that as of September 21, 2010, FWP balance was $28,638.71.

    C. Fall Festival Celebration:
    Cahrene Dimick and Chris Kauffeld reported that this event will take place at Way Park from 6-8 P.M. on October 15th. In case of inclement weather, the event will be cancelled. A variety of activities will be scheduled, including children's dancing, story telling, face painting, drum playing, etc. There will also be a "lighting of the pumpkins" ceremony at 7:15 near the wall. In addition, there will be a table at which FWP members will sell Way Park t-shirts, answer questions about the park, hand out brochures, show the Master Plan, etc. There was some discussion about whether we are biting off more than we can chew in our efforts to promote our "park for all seasons." In order not to burn out Cahrene and Chris, it was suggested that we might plan fewer activities (perhaps only one per season) and that we find volunteers to arrange some of the activities. Cahrene and Chris will do an evaluation of the Fall Festival Celebration.
    D. Kiosks: Bob Hickcox. Bob distributed a handout titled "Kiosk Ideas and Next Steps" which served as a basis for discussion. First he noted that City guidelines require that kiosks must be no more than 20 square feet per face and no more than 4 faces. The sample kiosks represented a wide sampling of those made of plastic and wood, three or four sides , surface-mounted or wall-mounted, etc. Board members agreed that we need at least one kiosk, located near the playground on the north side of the park, and that two of similar design would be nice--the other for the south side of the park. The Board also agreed that any kiosk should be something more permanent and upscale. Other suggestions included posting a thermometer (ala the United Way campaign) to note fundraising progress, posting a bulletin board in the Warming House, and perhaps securing sponsor donors to pay for the kiosks. Bob suggested that the next step would be to talk to the City engineer about issues such as how much to spend, whether we could build the kiosk ourselves, whether kiosks should be long-term or limited lifespan ones, where the kiosk should be located, what the City will allow us to do, etc.

    E. Communication Plan Update:
    Doug Bratland and Mary Steen outlined a proposed communication plan for FWP which focused on the following questions: Who is our audience, How do we reach them, what is our message to them, how does the message differ for different segments of the audience, what do we want from them, and what are the strengths/weaknesses of the Way Park "brand." In addition, they brought a sample design page for our website. Also, Mary had prepared two items and invited feedback on them: a promotion brochure titled "Way Park: A Park for All Seasons" and a "Join Friends of Way Park" handout. Other ideas were advanced by the group and Doug and Mary will send the plan out to Board members for additional feedback. Additionally, Doug will put Spencer Jones' Master Plan on the website and Judy has agreed to design a new logo for our theme (A Park for All Seasons).
    F. Fundraising: Dan Dimick presented an ambitious tentative fundraising plan which focused on several key elements. These were (1) ask all Board members to pledge by December 1st, (2) boost membership numbers to 250 by December 15th and ask them to consider an end-of-the-year gift, (3) develop a core group of 25 contributors willing to give $1,000, (4) develop a multi-media marketing message by January 1, 2011, (5) begin conversation with the new hospital CEO no later than Novem- ber 1, 2010; (6) approach Malt-o-Meal by January 15, 2012; (7) seek funds from any relevant and local foundations; (8) develop a list of potential large givers and seek donations by February 1, 2011; (9) develop a community fund drive to take place during the month of February 2011. Sarah noted that we hope to get the grading and seeding of the park done this next spring and that we would need about $200,000 for this project. Matt Rohn mentioned that there is black dirt on the new Mayo Clinic/St. Olaf site, so Dan will contact Pete Sandberg about the possibility of using securing some of this dirt. Finally, he asked each Board member to send him names of people who might be willing to help in our fundraising efforts.

    G. Membership Resolution Vote:
    Sarah presented a draft resolution and members voted in favor of it. Details follow.
    • FRIENDS Those who have made at least one-time financial or in-kind contributions to Way Park. Those who have expressed interest in Way Park.
    • MEMBERS Individuals and members of a household who are current on an individual or household membership fee for the calendar year. The membership fee amount will be established annually by the Friends of Way Park Board.
    • MEMBER BENEFITS
      • Voting Rights
      • Invitation to Annual Meeting
      • Newsletter
    • Membership fees will be used exclusively for Friends of Way Park sponsored or co-sponsored publicity and projects.
    The Board then voted to establish $10 as the annual membership fee.
    H. The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 2nd (Election Day).
    Respectfully Submitted,
    Jim Holden, Secretary


    Friends of Way Park Board Meeting, August 2010
    Members Present: Sarah Carlsen (Chair), Doug Bratland, Judy Covey, Cahrene Dimick, Chris Ennis, Bob Hickcox, Jim Holden, Chris Kauffeld, Matt Rohn, Mary Steen, Dan Dimick (Fundraising Chair), Judy Swanson (Past Chair).


    A. Sarah Carlsen, new FWP chair, opened the meeting with some remarks about how she perceives her role: "to keep the big picture in mind, to keep us on track, to help us achieve our goals, to assist us in developing better communicating and marketing strategies, and to help promote fundraisers and other events." In short, she sees her role as one who "sees that things flow smoothly."
    B. Sarah then encouraged members to say a bit about themselves and why they have an interest in the Way Park restoration project.


    C. Next, Sarah noted that the following members had agreed to assist in important duties and functions of the Board: Cahrene Dimick and Chris Kauffeld--events; Doug Bratland and Mary Steen--communication and marketing; Chris Ennis--money and membership; and Bob Hickcox, research for the kiosk.


    D. Treasurer's Report: Chris Ennis reported that our balance at the Annual Meeting was $28,457.48. Since that time we have paid out two checks and received $301.51 in contributions, so the balance as of this date is $28,711.86. Chris also noted that Sarah's name has been given to the bank as a co-signer for business matters.
    E. Minutes of the May 4 meeting were approved, and it was agreed that minutes from Executive Committee meetings would not need approval. In addition, minutes from the 2010 Annual Meeting will be approved at the 2011 Annual Meeting. To avoid too much lag time between Board meetings and the posting of minutes on the website, the board agreed that the minutes could be approved via e-mail, and that they would be posted when half the board had e-mailed ("Reply All") their approval. Approval would be confirmed by a vote at the next board meeting.


    F. Sarah distributed 3-ring binders containing important FWP information to each member.


    G. Fundraising Report--Dan Dimick has prepared a rough draft of a fundraising plan. Given the state of the economy, Dan believes FWP will need to raise the full $750,000 on its own to complete the park. He then laid out a preliminary course of action for fundraising which included the following points:
    1. 

The Fundraising Committee will be reconstituted to include people with strong backgrounds in fundraising and communications; in addition, we will invite people who have political clout with the City Council and the commissions.
    2. The committee will work to write a step-by-step plan for how the money will be raised.
    3. The fundraising message will convey that Way Park is a neighborhood park with a unique niche for the city, a message that will also focus on the functions the park will provide to residents of the city. Themes of community service, environment, arts, and athletics will be emphasized. In addition, the message will focus on the historical opportunity we have to complete the park during a recession (similar to the context of the Way sisters' situation in the 1930s).

    4. In total, in order to realize Spencer Jones' vision for the park, we will need to raise perhaps $750,000. Dan emphasized that the credibility of our fundraising depends on FWP raising the first 10th ($75,000). At the moment we have approximately $30,000 in the bank. Given this fact, he proposes that a core group of committed individuals come together to raise the remaining $45,000 amongst themselves to create "the first 10th." The core group would also provide the major leadership and effort for making an appeal to the citizenry in a concerted fashion.

    5. The remainder of the funds would be solicited from Malt-o-Meal, the hospital, local businesses, wealthy individuals, government agencies, and foundations.

    6. Dan encouraged the Board to give specific feedback to the fundraising group, including (1) comments about the proposed rough draft, (2) names of potential wealthy donors, and (3) names of potential core group members.
    H. Operating Procedures:

    1. Tentatively, we decided to skip the September meeting in order to work on important matters such as researching a kiosk, establishing a framework for marketing, developing a communication plan, and outlining future events.

    2. Board meetings will continue to be held on the first Tuesday of the month--the next one scheduled for October 5th.
    3. Sarah will e-mail the agenda five (5) days before the meetings and we will all be responsible for printing our own copies of the agenda.

    I. Healthfinders Walk on August 14: Members will bring publicity about Way Park to the walkers who will be making a brief stop at the park.
    J. Goals for the October Meeting:

    1. A communication plan--Doug Bratland
 & Mary Steen
    2. Involvement of the Colleges--Matt Rohn

    3. A conceptual plan for the kiosk--Bob Hickcox

    4. Event planning--Cahrene Dimick and Roz Eaton-Neeb (pumpkin carving event in late October).
    We want Way Park to be "A PARK FOR ALL SEASONS" (apologies to the long dead St. Thomas More).
    Respectfully Submitted,
    Jim Holden, Secretary

    Friends of Way Park Board Meeting, May 2010
    Members Present: Sarah Carlsen, Judy Covey, Cahrene Dimick, Chris Ennis, Bob Hickcox, Jim Holden, Anne Larson, Judy Swanson.
    A. Minutes of the April meeting were approved.
    B. Treasurer's Report--Chris Ennis: A $280 check for a half share in a Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) program was disbursed, and $135 was received in various individual donations; so the balance is now $26,042.44.
    C. Raffle Report--from Bob Hickcox: There were 33 tickets sold and $430 received in ticket sales and donations. The raffle generated some interest, but we need to do a better job of publicizing the event, especially at Just Foods. More advance notice needs to be given and more time needs to be devoted to marketing if we promote such a raffle in the future.
    D. Nominating Committee: Chris Kauffeld was ill, but it was noted that he has met with and contacted several possible FWP new members; and Board members suggested additional names for the committee, which will meet tomorrow night.
    E. The new member of the Park Board has resigned, so members discussed names of possible replacements for her.
    F. City Hall Reports--Sarah Carlsen and Judy Swanson:
    • FWP's request for a Heritage Preservation Site designation was turned down by the City Council.
    • Sarah Carlsen reported that the Park Board has targeted three projects for future consideration: Memorial Field, the trail behind Just Foods, and Way Park. Way Park is number 3 on the list.
    • Brian Erickson, Northfield's Public Works Director, said that because of shortages of staff the city is not taking on new projects at the moment. Nathan Knutson met with city employees Katie Gehler and Brian Welch and asked them to provide an estimate of costs for two possible grading/soil plans for Way Park, one following the original Master Plan and the other a cut fill plan which would require fewer loads of dirt.
    • Nathan also reiterated that we will not be able to get money from the City; however, the Park Board will commit $25,000. Estimates for the grading/soil plans will be provided at the next Park Board meeting.
    G. Summer Schedule:
    • Judy Swanson will attend a planning meeting for Midsommar on Friday. The annual Midsommar event will be held on June 20. There was some discussion about how much or what involvement FWP should have in planning for and helping with the Midsommar celebration.
    • The Annual Meeting will be held on June 26. Judy Swanson is preparing a flyer highlighting the Midsommar and Annual Meeting events, and she asked if Board members could help distribute these flyers in the neighborhoods.
    • It was noted that the Vintage Band Festival, organized by Paul Niemisto, will be held from August 5-8 and that 10 of the concerts are scheduled for Way Park.
    H. City Fee Schedule: FWP will very likely fall into the lowest fee category, in part because our events will not require city services.
    Respectfully Submitted,
    Jim Holden, Secretary

    Friends of Way Park Board Meeting, April 2010
    Members Present: Sarah Carlsen, Judy Covey, Chris Ennis, Bob Hickcox, Jim Holden, Chris Kauffeld, Cora Scholz, Judy Swanson.
    A. Minutes of the March meeting were approved.
    B. The Annual Meeting of FWP will be held on Saturday, June 26, from 10-11 A.M., at the City Library Meeting Room.
    C. Park Board Report. Sarah Carlsen and Judy Swanson met with Park Board chair Rick Vanasek to discuss plans for Way Park. Rick had met with Joel Walinski and Nathan Knutson to discuss a proposed pathway on the south side of the park. The Way Park Plan will be on the Park Board agenda for the April 12 meeting--some FWP Board members will attend this meeting.
    D. The Northfield City Council has scheduled a meeting that same night, April 12, to discuss a proposed "events fee" schedule for city park use. FWP will try to have a representative at this meeting as well. Sarah Carlsen also reported that the City might require that groups have liability insurance for park events, so we need to address this issue. In addition, Judy Swanson raised a question about whether we will need to obtain permits for vendors selling at FWP events.
    E. Nominating Committee. Mary Titus, Nick Neeb, and Chris Kauffeld have agreed to serve on this committee. Several other names have been suggested as potential FWP Board members and we will continue to add names to this list.
    F. Terms of Current Board Members and Positions to be Filled. Jim Holden will stay on as secretary for one more year, as will treasurer Chris Ennis. Anne Larson, Cora Scholz, and Judy Swanson will be going off the Board this year. Chris Kauffeld may also be leaving, so we will need to appoint three or four new members at the June meeting.
    G. Proposed Officer Succession Plan. There was considerable discussion about how long the president should serve, particularly since the next two years will be crucial for FWP. The proposed recommendation for succession (Sarah Carlsen as chair for one year, with Judy Swanson staying on in an ex-officio capacity, and the vice-president then succeeding Sarah) will be implemented next year as a one-year experiment, with the proviso that three or four new members will be elected in June.
    H. Officer Job Descriptions. Judy Swanson suggested that Nominating Committee member Chris Kauffeld become familiar with all job descriptions before meeting with prospective FWP board members.
    I. Skill Sets/Six Focus Areas for Board Members.
    1. City Staff Liaison--maintains relationship with the Park Board, Administration, City Council, and Mayor through conversations with these groups;
    2. Membership Liaison--works with "outside" standing membership committee;
    3. Fundraising Liaison--works with "outside" standing fundraising committee;
    4. Events Person--helps organize nonfundraisers, community building/gathering events;
    5. Communications/PR Liaison--newsletters, letters to the editor, KYMN,
      website;
    6. Nominating Committee Liaison--serves ON nominating committee
      with two qualified non-board members.
    We have identified these six skill sets as areas of focus and will continue our discussion of these roles at future meetings.
    J. Raffle. Members will continue to sell tickets up until the drawing--to be held at Way Park at 10 A.M. on Saturday, April 10.
    K. Treasurer's Report. Chris Ennis reported that our balance as of April 6 is $26.187.44. Some gifts were received at the Lloyd Harkness tribute, and $280 was disbursed to Valley Creek CSA to pay for the raffle prize. Chris noted that we have officially been granted status as a public charity by the IRS.
    L. Driving Through Way Park. The Park Board has discussed a possible common solution to this problem--which some other City parks are faced with.
    M. Cannon River Watershed Partnership has received a grant of $1881 for the proposed rain garden and is looking for other grants.
    Respectfully Submitted,
    Jim Holden, Secretary

    Friends of Way Park Board Meeting, March 2010
    Members Present: Dan and Cahrene Dimick, Judy Swanson, Judy Covey, Anne Larson, Chris Kauffeld, Sarah Carlsen, Bob Hickcox
    Minutes from January 5th were approved.
    Treasurer's Report: A little more money came in from the December mailing. A thank you postcard was sent to each donor. Official notices will be sent soon for tax purposes.
    Park Board Meeting: Anne Larson attended and reported that after an agonizingly long discussion the proposal to designate Way Park as a Local Historic Site was approved. Now it will move on to the HPC for their recommendation and then on to the City Council.
    Officer's Meeting: A meeting was held on February 13th with the four officers, Dan Dimick, and Judy Covey. This was held instead of a board meeting last month. Time was spent looking at leadership roles on the Board. According to the by-laws almost everyone's term is up. Descriptions need to be written for each role in order to recruit new board members. Consider having the president stay one more year. All board members are requested to tell Judy Swanson or Sarah Carlsen before the next meeting if they would consider another two-year term on the Board. There is concern about maintaining some continuity on the Board.
    Board members need to be focused on where and how they want to be involved. Try to match talents with what they do. Think about where you would most like to be involved.
    Recommendations will be sent out with questions for board members to think about.
    A suggestion was made to put meetings on a regular schedule--for example, every July new members begin and at that time roles are clarified for the year.
    Nominating Committee: should have no more than three members. Usually no board members on this, but maybe one would be helpful. Chris Kauffeld volunteered to be on this committee.
    Some suggestions were made for this committee--Mary Titus (Judy will call), Roz Eaton-Neeb (Sarah will call). We may want to think well beyond the park neighborhood--get someone from the east side of town?
    At the April meeting we can be clear about how many members we will need and in what capacity.
    We may need a subcommittee on the Board (but does not need to be all board members) for membership.
    On the April agenda--define "membership."
    Annual Meeting Date: June 26th was proposed. Some discussion about whether we need to hold the meeting in the park--maybe St. John's instead? Some discussion about having the annual meeting right before or after the midsummer event. This will be decided in April.
    Cora Scholz and Mary Steen are hosting a neighborhood birthday party for Lloyd Harkness on March 13th. Friends of Way Park members are invited.
    Fundraising Committee: met last week. Prepared for the meeting with the hospital. Jane McWilliams, Judy Swanson, and Dan Dimick had a great meeting with three people from the hospital. They were very supportive but due to being in a state of flux because of state and federal health insurance legislation, they were unable to commit to donations at this time.
    We will call Joel Walinski and follow up. We need to be able to communicate with possible donors about what the city is doing. We have been on hold for a while. We need an agreement with the city about what we are going to do with the money we raise. We need to know that the city plan is for the grading.
    We were supposed to know about the rain garden grant by the end of February.
    Is there a good model in this town for public-private partnerships? Maybe the soccer field project? Dan will talk to Rick Estenson.
    Gretchen Hardgrove is writing grants--Thrivent, WINGS.
    We should check with the 25 biggest donors in Minnesota and see if we meet their criteria.
    Valley Creek CSA will sell us some shares to raffle at Just Foods. We need to fill out paperwork from the state about holding a raffle. Sarah will take care of this.
    We discussed spending $250.00 for a half share, or $500.00 for a full share. After some discussion, we voted for the half share.
    We need to print tickets. Discussion was held about the price of the tickets. We decided to charge $10.00 per ticket. Cahrene will talk with Joey Robison about selling the tickets at Just Foods.
    Chris Kauffeld feels that the Board needs to be more involved in fundraising and that too much of the responsibility has fallen on Dan.
    Next meeting: April 6th.
    Respectfully submitted by Anne Larson

    Friends of Way Park Board Meeting, January 2010
    Members Present: Sarah Carlsen, Judy Covey, Cahrene Dimick, Bob Hickcox, Jim Holden, Chris Kauffeld, Anne Larson, Cora Scholz, Judy Swanson, and Dan Dimick (Fundraising Chair)
    A. Bob Hickcox showed us his excellent video presentation that was given to the Rotary Club.
    B. Minutes of the November 30 special meeting were approved.
    C. The Treasurer's report, given by Judy Swanson, was approved. Judy reported that the response to our year-end mailing (a request for donations) was very positive. Many contributions were received and it was agreed that we should send thank you cards to donors who responded to this appeal. Next year we will ask donors if they wish to remain anonymous or if they would agree to let us use their name(s) in our publicity. Chris Kauffeld mentioned another possible giving venue: Donorschoose. com.
    D. Dan Dimick then presented a report on our fundraising efforts. Though we were not one of the two remaining finalists for the Rotary grant, he noted that we have laid the groundwork for future fundraising efforts. We have the video created by Bob Hickcox, a script Dan used in his Rotary presentation, and other items we can use. He thanked everyone for their help, then commented that he and the Fundraising Committee will meet soon to make further plans, plans that will include a conversation with the new hospital administrator.
    E. Next, discussion centered on plans for the grading of the park and the installation of the rain garden. We take pride in our successful efforts to get First Street closed, but we need to continue to meet with Joel Walinski to discuss plans for the grading. Dan Dimick, Sarah Carlsen, and Judy Swanson will schedule a meeting with Joel.
    F. Judy Swanson shared information from the recently purchased Northfield "Parks, Open Space, and Trail Master Plan" book about the distinction between neighborhood and community parks. It was noted that "neighborhood parks are the basic units of the parks system." So, though Way Park is not considered a community park, we believe its designation as a neighborhood park should not be a barrier to our proposal. With a rain garden and a full array of "community" activities sponsored in the summer, we can truly promote it as a park for the entire city.
    G. Another positive step is that the Historical Preservation Commission will present a recommendation to the Park Board to designate Way Park as a local historic site. If the Park Board gives its approval, the recommendation will then go on to the City Council.
    H. Judy Swanson encouraged us to think of potential FWP board members.
    I. Chris Kauffeld proposed the idea of a raffle for a membership in a local Community Supported Agriculture venture. He will look into this.
    J. Finally, there was considerable discussion about possible summer activities, some of which could be designated for fundraising. Dan Dimick indicated that the hope is to have weekly events and that FWP board members could alternate hosting events and bringing beverages such as lemonade. The following events were mentioned:
    • Leif Knecht--a talk about trees and shrubs
    • Anton Armstrong--a talk about the history of the St. Olaf choir and perhaps some Ole singers
    • Cannon River Watershed Partnership--a talk about rain gardens
    • Former St. Olaf and Carleton coaches discussing the cross-town rivalry,
    • Brick Oven folks--a presentation on bread making
    • A Ben Franklin impersonator for the 4th of July
    • A kite-flying day
    • Chris Kauffeld--Spanish for travelers
    • Fly fishing demonstration and practice
    • A pig roast, an art show sale, a ribbon cutting ceremony in the spring, etc.
    We agreed to table this item for further discussion in February.
    K. The next meeting of FWP will be on Tuesday, February 2.
    Respectfully Submitted,
    Jim Holden, Secretary

    Friends of Way Park Special Meeting, November 2009
    Members Present: Sarah Carlsen, Cahrene Dimick, Chris Ennis, Jim Holden, Cora Scholz, Judy Swanson, and Dan Dimick (Fundraising Chair)
    A. Congratulations to FWP and the Fundraising Committee for a first grant writing victory, a $2,000 grant from the Northfield Area Foundation.
    B. Discussion of Grant Proposal. Lisa Carey of the Cannon River Watershed Partnership has offered to write a grant proposal for rain gardens on the south end of Way Park. The grant is for $5,000 plus $5,000 of matching, in-kind contributions (some of which would be from maintenance provided by FWP and Garden Club members, etc). FWP chair Judy Swanson met with Lisa and city employees Katie Gehler and Brian Welch to discuss this proposal. Katie indicated that the rain gardens should be put in place at the same time the grading is done, and she estimated the cost for grading and installation of the rain gardens would be $90,652.25. Judy will meet on November 30 with Katie Gehler to find out how much of this amount FWP will need to raise, what her estimates actually refer to, etc. It is likely that FWP will need to commit to helping out with maintenance of the rain gardens, perhaps five times the first year, for example. It was suggested that someone attend the next Park Board meeting to inform them of this grant possibility.
    C. Hospital Contribution to Way Park Renovation. David Sudermann will approach Ken Bank about a grant from the hospital. Due dates for grant proposals to the hospital are in March and September.
    D. Educational Emphasis of the New Park. A rain garden will offer educational opportunities, and Dan Dimick shared some other possibilities for weekly forums: (1) Leif Knecht--care of trees, (2) a Scandinavian cooking program on Syttende Mai, (3) St. Olaf Choir--singing and history of the choir, etc.
    E. Fundraising Opportunity. Chris Ennis mentioned Bob Hickcox's idea of selling yards of sod for $2.50 each (if we sold 10,000 of them we would almost raise the two-thirds of $50,000 the City wants us to raise to help with grading costs).
    F. Rotary Grant Proposal. We may need to update this proposal now that we have a grant from the Northfield Area Foundation and a Cannon River Watershed Partnership grant in the offing.
    G. Letter to Potential Donors. Judy Swanson's letter to potential donors will go out before Christmas. Cora will prepare labels and FWP Board members will deliver as many letters as they can. Dan Dimick suggested that we also write an article in the Northfield News, highlighting our end-of-the-year push for donations.
    H. The next meeting of FWP will be in January.
    Respectfully Submitted,
    Jim Holden, Secretary

    Friends of Way Park Board Meeting, November 2009
    Members present: Sarah Carlsen, Judy Covey, Chris Ennis, Jim Holden, Chris Kauffeld, Anne Larson, Judy Swanson, and Dan Dimick (Fundraising Chair).
    A. Minutes of the October 6, 2009, meeting were approved. The secretary will post these minutes on the FWP website. These minutes, posted for the month prior to each current meeting, will include only action items and important information.
    B. Treasurer's Report--Chris Ennis. The current balance is $15,468.01 and includes $1,145 raised from the concert given by Andrea Een and Theo Wee.
    C. Purchase of the Northfield Parks, Athletic Facilities, and Open Space Plan document. The Board authorized Judy Swanson to buy a copy of this document from the city for $50. Board members were encouraged to read the document.
    D. Letter to the Editor. In an attempt to keep Northfielders up to date on our efforts, Judy Swanson has prepared a letter to the editor of the Northfield News. Board members offered suggestions to Judy, and she will submit the letter.
    F. Fundraising Plans. Dan Dimick updated the Board on the Fundraising Committee's recent activities:
    • We have added Jane McWilliams to our committee and she has helped immensely with her experience and insight.
    • We have completed a grant to the Northfield Area Foundation, a grant in the amount of $5,000.
    • Our application to the Rotary Club is in full swing. The deadline has been extended to November 16. We have passed on a rough draft to Rick Esse, who will present our case to the Rotary President's Council. Judy Swanson and Dan Dimick have met with Rick Esse. Semifinalists will then be selected and they will have the opportunity to present to the entire Rotary group. We will be amending our paperwork with more specific fundraising ideas as to how we plan to raise funds. (NOTE: Ideas suggested include a pumpkin carving event, an appeal to people born in the park--the hospital, etc.)
    • We will apply for a grant to Northfield Hospital which meets late in the month. This is a one-page application.
    • Jane McWilliams suggested that we try to look at our strategy as a group and find ways to divide the work load among us. She will try to sketch out a plan.
    • The committee was in consensus that the FOWP Board form a membership drive and have that be a separate effort from our own fundraising work. An upcoming meeting at the home of Mary Titus will address this issue.
    • Jacob Anderson and Luke Ramsay are working on a film about the history of Way Park. Though it will not be ready in time for the Rotary presentation, it will be a valuable tool to be used in future fundraising efforts.
    G. Representing FWP, Sarah Carlsen attended the most recent Park Board meeting.
    H. Judy Swanson drafted a fundraising appeal letter to be delivered to all 500 people on our current mailing list. She strongly urged Board members, and other selected individuals, to hand deliver these letters.
    I. There was some discussion of the request to include a portion of Way Park as a garden plot for interested Northfield citizens; however, because of the upcoming grading and cement work to be done next year, it was deemed not practical to allow this.
    J. The next FWP meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 3, at 7 P.M.
    Respectfully Submitted,
    Jim Holden, Secretary

    Friends of Way Park Board Meeting, October 2009
    Members Present: Sarah Carlsen, Judy Covey, Cahrene Dimick, Chris Ennis, Bob Hickcox, Jim Holden, Chris Kauffeld, Anne Larson, Cora Scholz, Judy Swanson, and Dan Dimick (Fundraising Chair).
    A. Minutes of the September 2009 meeting were approved.
    B. The Board approved a special thank you letter Judy Swanson created for use in replying to donors.
    C. Treasurer's Report--Chris Ennis. FWP balance before the Spaghetti Supper was $11,805.69. An additional $2,171.25 was received from profits realized during the Spaghetti Supper and from other donations, so the new balance as of October 6, 2009, is $13,976.94. NOTE: Unpaid pledges are not included in this total.
    D. Spaghetti Supper--final thoughts. Thank you letters (written by Sarah Carlsen) will be sent to Galen Malecha and the Eagle's Club. A flyer created by Judy Swanson was very helpful in promoting the supper. Board members delivered flyers door-to-door.
    E. Fundraising--report from Dan Dimick and Bob Hickcox. Rick Esse has agreed to present our grant proposal to the Rotary Club. High school students Jacob Anderson and Luke Ramsay will create a short film about Way Park.
    Bob Hickcox presented his FWP Action Plan (Capital Campaign for Park Construction), focusing on: (1) our goal, (2) what we will achieve, (3) who will benefit, (4) Way Park history, (5) a summary of needs, (6) gift expectations, and (7) organization.
    Bob noted the importance of Spencer Jones' Master Plan and David Sudermann's documents in his shaping of the draft. Discussion focused on how to approach Rotary, how to ask for a donation from them, what to present to Rotary (a short film, a PowerPoint presentation, and a short executive summary), and how to request gifts from donors. Amy Boxrud provided comments about the draft and Dan Dimick shared David Sudermann's tentative prospectus.
    F. Next, the Board discussed the dissemination of minutes. It was agreed that they should be available to everyone, so the secretary was instructed to provide a concise summary of action items and to submit the minutes to the FWP website (waypark.blogspot.com).
    G. Bob Hickcox will assist Cora Scholz in updating her FWP mailing list. The list will be sent to the secretary and he will put it on his hard drive.
    H. Judy Swanson distributed copies of a Donor Bill of Rights for our information.
    I. The Board discussed Article V of the bylaws, Financial Management and Confidentiality. The Board amended Section I so that it now reads: The Board shall approve all outlays of the organization's funds "in excess of $100. Expenses of $100 or less may be approved by two of the officers (chair, vice-chair, treasurer)." Sections 1 and 2 were approved, and discussion of Sections 3-6 was tabled until the next meeting.
    J. A benefit concert presented by Andrea Een and Theo Wee will be held at 7 P.M. on Saturday, October 17, at the UCC church. The cost will be $10 for general admission and $5 for students and seniors.
    K. Next meeting: Tuesday, November 3, at 7 P.M.
    L. Final Note: Members' ears were glued to the radio for reports on the Twins' incredible final game victory over Detroit. Anne Larson provided the periodic updates.
    Respectfully Submitted,
    Jim Holden, Secretary