by Rich Larson
After six years as the Director of Buildings and Grounds for the Northfield School District, Jim Kulseth is retiring, and Superintendent Dr. Matt Hillmann praised him as someone who revolutionized his position and leaves a legacy of great leadership on many different levels.
Hillmann said the most obvious example of Kulseth’s success is the execution of the recent construction projects, including the new Greenvale Park Elementary School and the remodeling of the District Offices and Area Learning Center. Hillmann said Kulseth was the main point of contact with the architects and construction managers throughout the building processes. His skills in planning ensured that nearly every project was finished on time, and, Hillmann said, due to his level of expectation for things to be done right, “Jim was a real champion for our taxpayers.”
But he had influence in other areas as well. Hillmann said that Kulseth has been a great advocate in providing opportunities for students to investigate technical and trade work as a career path. Each year, Kulseth has made sure his department was represented at the Northfield Technical Career Employment Fair for middle school and high school students and has offered a boiler certification and licensing class to high school seniors. He has also encouraged the district’s master electrician, Duke Bjorklunnd to bring on a student as an apprentice for the past three summers.
Hillmann said it is the district’s job to prepare students for lifelong success, and to have a choice when they graduate from high school. Whether that translates to choosing a four-year college, a two-year technical school, or some other type of licensing, the district wants to be supportive whatever choice a student makes. Kulseth, he said, has been instrumental in helping to expand those opportunities.
“As a school, we expect everyone to participate in helping advance our vision of preparing every student for lifelong success, and Jin Kulseth is an example of how, in what would be considered a non-traditional education position, that you can do that.”
Jim Kulseth’s final day with the district is today. His successor, Cole Nelson, who was hired away from the Rochester school district, began work earlier this week.
Our full conversation with Northfield Superintendent of School Dr. Matt Hillmann can be heard here
Merlin Players finally set to Present Laughter
Tonight, the Paradise Center for the Arts and The Merlin Players will premier Present Laughter, Noel Coward’s caricaturized, semi-autobiographical farce about an actor preparing for a tour of Africa. It will be the first live theater production that the Merlin Players have presented in a year-and-a-half.
“We’re just really excited,” said Merlin Players Artistic Director Julianna Skluzacek. “It’s been a rough 18 months.”
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, everybody was affected, but few were hit harder by the shutdown than people involved in the theater. With no open venues, no audiences, and no way to even rehearse with a cast, troupes like the Merlin Players were left with virtually no options to do what they love.
Skluzacek said the time off sounded pretty good to begin with, but that didn’t last very long.
“At first, it was like ‘Oh, I have all this time!’ and then it was like ‘Uggh, I have all this time.’ I read a lot of plays and longed for and yearned for the comradery that comes with doing a show together. And the presence of friends and working on something you love. That was hard.”
In fact, Skluzacek said, people are so eager to get back on stage that they are willing to accept even the smallest roles. “Some parts have only twenty lines, and people said, ‘Yes, I’ll do it.’ before I could even get the words out. This play has sort of an all-star cast.”
That cast includes Michael Lambert, a Faribault native and a founding member of the Merlin players, and Northfielders Tania Legvold, Dean Plant, Larry Tolle and Susan Dunhaupt. Skluzacek is directing.
She said a plan has been in place to present live theater since last spring, but they weren’t sure if they would be allowed to do it until two months ago. So, to be able to do the show and have a full audience, she said, is very exciting.
She also said the Merlin Players are planning for a full four-production season, which will include Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoires and the ever popular La Cage aux Folles.
Present Laughter will run this weekend, and next weekend at 7:30, except for this Sunday when there will be a 2pm matinee. Tickets are available at the Paradise Center for the Arts Box Office or by visiting paradisecenterforthearts.org.
Our full conversation with Merlin Players’ Artistic Director Julianna Skluzacek can be heard here
Northfield’s Vintage Band Festival makes its return tomorrow
And tomorrow Northfield will celebrate the return of the Vintage Band Festival. After a year off due to the Covid-19 pandemic,
the event that features brass bands playing a wide variety of musical styles, will return to Bridge Square for a one-day celebration.
The Vintage Band Festival was begun 15 years ago under the direction of St. Olaf professor and band director Paul Niemisto. The three-day event was so well received that it was repeated three years later in 2009. After that, Niemisto said, there was a demand for some sort of event on an annual basis, so the decision was made that the large three-day festival would be every three years, and a smaller, single-day festival would be organized on the off years.
“The one-day event is relatively easier,” said Niemisto. Fewer bands perform, and because so many of them are from Minnesota, there is no need to provide accommodations.
The festival gives excellent examples of how the idea of the brass band has evolved over the years from the British band tradition to more popular forms of music. Festival board vice-president Randall Ferguson said that wide variety of music has become one of the festival’s trademarks.
“The representation… we’ve had civil war re-enactment bands, and this year we have just about everything imaginable from New Orleans to modern jazz. Just a wide variety all put together in one day.”
The Vintage Band Festival is scheduled to begin at 9:30 on Saturday morning. Eleven bands will perform throughout the day before things wrap up just before 10 pm. Niemisto recommends attendees bring a good hat or an umbrella, a folding chair and sunscreen. Non-alcoholic beverages are permitted, and water will be available on Bridge Square. Attendees should be prepared to walk a few blocks as parking downtown is limited.
Our full conversation with Paul Niemisto and Randall Ferguson can be heard here
Rich Larson is the News Director at KYMN. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
