The Northfield Community is mourning the loss of 14-year-old Melanie Valencia, who passed away on Thursday as a result of injuries suffered when a car collided with the bicycle she was riding.
At approximately 5:51pm on Tuesday, Northfeld police were dispatched to a report of a person Injury crash involving a car and a bicyclist on Jefferson Parkway at the intersection with Afton Street. The bicyclist, later identified as Melanie, received serious injuries and was treated at the scene by first responders from Northfield Area Fire and Rescue Service, Northfield Police Department, and Northfield Ambulance.
She was airlifted to Hennepin County Medical Center and was taken off life-support two days later.
Melanie was known to many as an exceptional soccer player. One of her coaches called her a very talented player, but “her talent on the field paled in comparison to the person she was off the field. She was kind, courteous, respectful and encouraging.”
In a letter to Northfield School District families, Northfield High School Principal Shane Baier said the Northfield High School Support team is being made available to anyone who would like help processing Melanie’s death and posted some information regarding grief and children a link to which will be posted on our website at kymnradio.net.
The driver of the car has not been identified. The initial statement reporting the accident said that he is an 18-year-old male from Northfield and was not injured. The statement also said he has been cooperative with officers and troopers investigating the crash.
A GoFundMe Page has been created to assist Melanie’s family. It can be found on the GoFundMe website under “The family of Melanie Valencia Galicia.”
Operation Backpack distribution set for next week
Operation Backpack will be distributing backpacks full of school supplies to hundreds of Northfield students next week. 
This is the 30th year of Operation Backpack in Northfield. The program is coordinated and funded by the Northfield United Methodist Church Women’s Group called The Campaign for Children. The Campaign for Children partners with the Community Action Center to register families for the program and coordinate other logistics.
The program serves about 600 children in the Northfield School District every year.
Hillary Lamberty, the Community Engagement Coordinator at the CAC, said the program is especially crucial this year due to inflation. Lamberty said, “I think everybody in one way or another feels the squeeze that’s happening right now in gas prices and food prices. And school supplies are no different.”
Operation Backpack provides backpacks filled with high quality school supplies to students of all ages. The program decides what supplies to provide based on the lists put together by the various Northfield schools.
For Lamberty, the quality of the supplies and backpacks is an important aspect of the program. Not only is it a practical necessity for students to have strong backpacks to carry books, snow pants, and technology, but students should feel excited and proud about the quality of their belongings.
“And every parent wants their kids to have what they want to feel excited… that’s what it is… School success is so much more than doing well at your homework. It is about feeling like you belong and feeling supported and connected. I think the love and the generosity that goes into Operation Backpack really gets at that part of it.”
Registration for families closed yesterday, but if families are interested in signing up, they should still register on the CAC website at communityactioncenter.org/events or contact Hillary Lamberty at the CAC.
Distribution is Wednesday August 17th when students will be able to pick out which backpack full of supplies they’d like to take home.
To volunteer or donate to Operation Backpack or other programs, go to the CAC website or contact Hillary Lamberty at lamberty.hillary@communityactioncenter.org.
New public art honors indigenous connections to the area
And the dedication of a new public statue in Northfield designed by indigenous artist John Sterner will be held on August 19th.
Sterner was commissioned in 2020 while the City of Northfield was writing its Land Acknowledgement Statement. He is a Marshall-based multimedia artist and teacher whose work connects him to his Sicangu (see-CHAHN-ghoo) Lakota heritage.
Sterner sculpts in bronze, iron and fabricated steel, and makes graphic art digitally and on paper. He is a painter as well.
Sterner is known in Marshall for several prominent public artworks, including his work on the Mrs. Whitney statue, which at the time of its unveiling in 2013, was only the seventh statue in the state celebrating a woman.
The statue Sterner created for Northfield is called Wanbli Mitakuye Oyasin, which roughly translates to Eagle Relatives. Eagles, or Wanbli, feature heavily in Sterner’s art.
Sterner said on his website, “The eagle represents my spiritual and holy side as well and my connection to family.”
And “Mitakuye Oyasin” (mee-TAH-koo-yay o-yah-SEEN) is an important spiritual and cultural concept in Lakota that means “all my relations,” or “we are all related.” It means the world is completely interconnected, and no living being or part of nature is separate from another.
Next to the statue a plaque features Northfield’s Land Acknowledgement Statement, which is an official statement that says Northfield sits upon the land of the Wahpekute and other Dakota tribes.
The statue’s dedication ceremony will be attended by Mayor Rhonda Pownell and members of the Arts and Culture Commission and Human Rights Commission. The ceremony is also an opportunity for the public to hear from and meet the artist.
The statue is located at the intersection of Highway 3 and Third Street. The dedication ceremony will be held on Friday, August 19th at 11:00 am.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
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