18th Annual First Street Fourth of July Parade

For the 18th year, Franklin and Betty Lee are hosting a parade and neighborhood gathering on the Fourth of July. This year's event begins at 10:45am in Way Park and ends up at the Lee residence at 505 First Street West.

Gather in the park with a decorated bike, trike, stroller, wagon, skates, pet, children, grandchildren, parents, and grandparents. Bring noisemakers, whistles, horns, and drums. The parade starts off at 11am sharp and proceeds east down First Street, where host families will serve hot dogs, lemonade, and popsicles.

Come along and see old friends and meet new neighbors! 

The Lees will provide popsicles and lemonade. Please bring one pack of hot dogs or buns to share. 

Annual Meeting: Thursday, June 6

Please join us on Thursday, June 6th at 7 pm for our 2013 Annual Meeting.  We will be meeting in the Fireside Room at St. John’s Church.  Highlights include:

• Updates on “What’s Next at the park”: kiosks, signage, upgraded baseball diamond, and more
• Nature play discussion: Join us in imagining what is possible
• New leadership: While the board membership isn’t changing, we are excited to have Matt Rohn and Anne Berry step into the chair and vice-chair roles, respectively 

As a board, we want to underline our excitement about the Pilot Composting Program that is set to begin with 150 homes surrounding the park! If you are part of the program, you should have already received a letter indicating that your address would be included in part of this pilot. The pilot is scheduled to begin the first week of June and run through the summer. Specific instructions will be included with the compost bins when they are delivered. If you have questions about the program, please contact David Domack at Dick’s Sanitation (david@dickssanitation.com) for details. Please help us make this effort successful!

Photos from "Explore the Outdoors"

Thanks to everyone who helped make yesterday's park event such a wild success! Our estimates are that 300 people showed up throughout the beautiful spring afternoon, and 150 kites were made! Special thanks goes to Anne Berry, Michelle Martin, and Mary Poole, who planned the event.

Here are a few photos from the scene...

Explore the Outdoors: A Way Park Gathering

While spring has yet to really arrive in Northfield, the Friends of Way Park are hoping the weather will improve in time for an exciting event planned for Sunday, May 5 in Northfield’s Way Park.

Together with the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA) and PBS stations across the country, FWP is helping to promote PBS KIDS Explore the Outdoors. The program encourages children and families to get outdoors and spend more time at their local park.

The Friends of Way Park are partnering with the Northfield Area Family YMCA and St. Olaf College’s Science Alliance to present a full afternoon of outdoor fun. The event will take place in Way Park from 1:00–4:00 pm on Sunday, May 5, and will include:

• kite making and pinwheels
• bean planting in a “green house”
• a nature scavenger hunt
• weather forecasting
• a green energy demo by St. Olaf’s Science Alliance
• group games by the YMCA
• brainstorming for future playground updates
• lemonade 
• …and MORE!

Teachers: Consider giving your students an optional homework assignment at Way Park related to something you’ve been working on in class. Download a print-ready PDF with a set of project ideas!

See you in the park!

Support Way Park Today!

Today is Minnesota's Give To The Max Day, and a great day to make a donation to support the Friends of Way Park. Each online donation gives us an opportunity to receive a $1000 grant through the Northfield Gives program supported by 5th Bridge. 

Please support us with a donation of any size. Join us in support for the park with a gift to the Way Park Dream Fund. Your donation of $20, $50, $100 or an amount significant to you will support the Park’s seasonal events, community activities, planning for future park spaces and assist us in planting trees and shrubs and installing benches and kiosks. Thank you!

It's Time for the Way Park Pumpkin Fest!

With the help of Northfield residents large and small, the Friends of Way Park are hoping to create a large display of lit pumpkins at our annual Pumpkin Fest in the park, this Saturday, October 27 from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m.

The event will also include free face painting, a costume parade at 5:45, a bonfire, and drumming led by Arcadia Charter School at 6:30. Community members are invited to bring a picnic dinner.  Friends of Way Park will provide pumpkin saws,  apple caramel slices, and fun prizes for the pumpkin judging.

You can carve your pre-scooped pumpkin at the festival or you can bring your pumpkin already carved. Please bring candles for your pumpkins!

Interested in Playground Options for the Park?

Please join us on Saturday, September 29!

Click to view a PDF of Nature Play Resources

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.

The Friends of Way Park would like to start a discussion, share ideas, and create a vision for the playground area, so that, when 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. Please come and share your ideas on Saturday, September 29, at 10:30am, at the park. All are welcome!

If you want to get your creative juices flowing, check out the Nature Play Resources presentation that board member Matt Rohn put together with examples of natural play ares he visited over the summer.

Photos from Midsommar 2012

It was a perfect evening for a festival in the park as Northfielders gathered for the seventh annual Midsommar celebration! Thanks to the Northfield Swedish Club, the Sons of Norway, Judy Swanson, Eleanor Croone, and all the volunteers who made it happen. Thanks to the musicians and dancers, wreath-makers and paraders for making it a festive event, and to Laura & Mark Heiman and Doug Bratland for sharing these photos.



Here's another batch of photos from Angela Lauterbach at Northfield Patch (who also earn thanks for helping publicize the event):

• Midsommar Celebration at Way Park 

And there are two more excellent photo galleries from Audrey Kletscher Helbling on her blog, Minnesota Prairie Roots:

• Welcoming summer at the Scandinavian Midsommar celebration in Northfield
• A close-up look at a Midsommar celebration

Midsommar in Way Park: Sunday, June 24

Celebrate Northfield's annual Scandinavian Midsommar in Way Park on Sunday, June 24! Informal picnicking, wreath making, and other family-friendly activities begin at 5:30 p.m. Bring your family & friends, a picnic supper, and a blanket or chairs. (Tables and a few chairs, lemonade, and ice water will be provided.)

Enjoy live music, games, dancing, a midsommar processional and raising of the maypole in the NEW south half of the park.

The event is hosted by the Friends of Way Park, Northfield Swedish Club, and Sons of Norway. The rain site is St. John's Lutheran at 3rd & Plum Street.

Annual Meeting: Tuesday, June 12

The Friends of Way Park 2012 Annual Meeting will be next Tuesday, June 12 at 7pm in the Fireside Room of St. John's Lutheran Church, 500 Third Street West.

You've watched grading and seeding and path construction in the past few  years—join us to hear our immediate plans and our distant dreams! We'll also thank our outgoing board members—Cahrene and Dan Dimick and Chris Kauffeld—and vote in the new 2012-13 board members.