Earlier this month, the Northfield Area Fir and Rescue Service received a report from a consultant, who was hired to do a full
organizational review of the department.
Barb Strandell of What Works, Inc. turned in a fifty-page document that detailed the strife within the organization at the administrative level and made several suggestions on how to improve the inner workings of the board and the department itself.
One of the changes she said should be made immediately is to begin planning for the long term. In the seven years since Northfield, Dundas and the Rural Fire District came together, NAFRS Board Chair Brad Ness said there has never been a long-term strategic plan.
“We’ve never had long range planning,” he said, “looking out five years at what do we want to look like, and where do we want to be.”
Among the things Strandell has suggested the long-term plan address are job descriptions for the Fire Chief and the positions that report to that individual, the creation of an annual review program for the chief and department officers, better onboard training for new board members, and a better definition of the board’s role.
The report also suggests that the board meet more often. Strandell writes that the board should meet on a monthly basis, or at least make the quarterly meeting long enough to receive and discuss reports. Ness said the idea of monthly meetings is on the agenda for the January Organizational Meeting.
Ness said there are numerous suggestions in the report that need to be addressed, and the board should decide item by item which ideas to adapt and which ones to set aside. He believes the board should move incrementally through the report, if for no other reason than to ensure the major strength of the department is preserved.
“We just have to take baby steps, I think. We’re not going to correct every error that was found in that report. But if we start the year off, just adding a couple of them [that would be a good idea]. I think the Fire Department is an impressive operation when it comes to putting out fires. We just have to make sure that we continue down that path.”
The organizational meeting, which, according to the NAFRS website is set for January 13th will set the tone for 2022.The selection of officers will be addressed. Ness said traditionally the position of chair has rotated annually, but there is concern that the board has too much turnover. Terms will be discussed before new officers are selected.
Historical Society to offer interactive Wahpekute exhibit in 2022
The Northfield Historical Society has plans to expand the exhibits offered in the museum and expand upon the scope of Northfield history they are able to show, without expanding the physical space of the museum.
Cathy Osterman, the NHS Executive Director, said the organization will install an interactive touchscreen exhibit this year, that will focus on the indigenous people who were in the area before the arrival of white settlers.
Osterman said the museum has three rooms dedicated to the James/Younger Gang Bank Raid of 1876, and that event is the single largest reason anyone visits the museum. However, she said, the bank raid represents seven minutes in Northfield’s history, and they do the public a dis-service by “starting Northfield history in 1876.”
Her plan is to use the touchscreen technology to talk about the Wahpekute people. With some assistance from the Minnesota Historical society, and using the writings of early settlers, as well as archeological findings, the goal is to show what life was like for the Wahpekute, where they lived in the area and what their culture was like. She said they want to describe the early contact between settlers and indigenous people, to add further depth to the story of Northfield.
The touchscreen technology allows for that sort of storytelling. Without taking up much space, it can offer museum visitors a wealth of knowledge that, as Osterman pointed out, can be broadened as more information and resources become available.
Osterman said the technology will require quite a bit of training for herself and her assistant at the museum. “It’s a technical learning curve,” she said, “and I’m not real technical.” But, she said, it’s something that will greatly enhance the museum’s offerings, and she has been looking forward to doing this for some time. She said it is a different way of doing things than has been done in the past, but it will give the organization to enhance the experience of many people visiting the museum.
“Some people read every word, and they have questions, and they might be the type that would look at every single interactive that we have. And they engage, and they ask questions, and they learn and pick up books on the topics. We really want to reach people in different ways and reach them so they feel that they have learned something.”
Osterman said a pair of St. Olaf college students will spend January helping to get things off the ground doing the initial research on the Wahpekute culture. She hopes to have the exhibit up and running sometime in 2022.
Rice County, DNR holding special deer hunt next weekend
A special archery hunt to monitor deer in the Cannon River Wilderness Park for chronic wasting disease will run this weekend,
Friday-Sunday. It is the second consecutive year that Rice County has partnered with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources to determine whether the disease is present in area deer.
Hunters with a valid permit for the hunt will be guests in an area normally closed to hunting. Rice County is urging residents visiting the park during the hunt to dress in bright colors so they can be seen easily. Anyone walking in any wooded or undeveloped area should also wear bright colors throughout the winter and into the spring as hunting seasons lasts through March.
Hunters must submit their harvested deer for CWD sampling. There are sampling stations in Faribault and Northfield. at dnr.state.mn.us/cwd/cwd-hunts.html
Anyone with questions about the hunt should contact Area Wildlife Supervisor Jeanine Vorland at 507-475-2900 or jeanine.vorland@state.mn.us. Direct questions about the Cannon River Wilderness Park to Rice County Parks Director Matt Verdick at 507-332-6105 or mverdick@co.rice.mn.us.
The hunt is archery only.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
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