Northfield News column: Maggie to pen new history briefs

EDITOR'S NOTE: In June 2004 I began a new venture as managing editor of both Northfield News and Faribault Daily News. This column originally appeared in the Northfield News on Jan. 20, 2006.

Each year, the Northfield News produces a special edition that we call "Portraits." It's a detailed look into the lives of some of the special people who call Northfield home, and we do the piece to not only celebrate the tremendous talent and diversity of human spirit that we have living here, but we also do it to honor those who live among us and give of their time and talent to make this a better community. We do that with the beginning section of the publication we call "Unsung Heroes." There, we profile local residents who go above and beyond in helping their friends, neighbors and community through their kind acts. And we find these people through your generous help. As you may have seen in the newspaper, there have been ads running asking for nominations for unsung heroes from the community. And I am writing to again encourage you all to seriously consider nominating someone you may know from your neighborhood, church or another organization who is always giving of themselves and doing it for the sake of giving. aggie Lee's many avid readers have grown accustomed to her two weekly columns that have detailed the significant events and people in Northfield's history. For a while now, Maggie's been writing her Wednesday "Maggie Says" column, which has contained personal memories of her long life here in Northfield. And she's been writing her Saturday "Do You Remember" column, which highlights the lives of prominent Northfielders, names which Maggie finds while working on the News' looking back history feature. Through her work, Maggie's become known as the unofficial town historian, and we at the paper know many anxiously await each of Maggie's next history lessons. It's become a ritual of their week. Starting today, those Maggie fans who just can't get enough history about this town will be getting a new bonus feature we're sure they're going to love: a new regular feature titled "Historical Highlights by Maggie Lee." That's right: The town's unofficial historian will be penning even more historical news items for the News, only in a format readers haven't seen before. The impetus of the new feature actually came from Maggie herself. In the course of her work researching her other weekly history columns, Maggie recently told us that she often would find a person, event or other historical item that she would have loved to write about, but couldn't find enough information about to complete an entire column. Previously she alone was the beneficiary of that interesting piece of news that she found. Now, however, we've asked if Maggie would be interested in writing in addition to her regular two columns the new feature "Historical Highlights," which will take those odd pieces of interesting history that Maggie uncovers in her research and make mini-history lessons out of them. Designed specifically to be used for shorter items, "Historical Highlights" will be quick, short reads about persons or events of significance in Northfield. We hope the new item will open up a new door to a new set of Maggie fans. We understand that not everybody has the time to read Maggie's lengthier history columns each week, but it doesn't mean they're not interested in the city's past. Well, this new feature will be designed specifically for them. We value the important work that Maggie does here at the News and we're excited that we've found yet another way that the paper and the community can benefit from Maggie's long legacy as a newspaper scribe in Northfield. We hope that you enjoy the new "Historical Highlights," and please drop me or Maggie a note if you ever have an idea that would be good for a "Historical Highlights" piece. How did you meet your Valentine? The News is working on a special feature that will be published around the time of Valentine's Day and we're looking for the community's help. We would like to tell the stories of how some of our local Valentines met, a project that could be very entertaining for the community. What I'm looking for is couples to drop me a note with their love story, their personal "how-we-met story." It doesn't have to be outrageous; it just has to be unique because we want to tell the community a variety of stories. And we want to tell the stories of couples young and old, veterans in love and newlyweds, longtime Northfielders or new to the community ... we want to tell all kinds of stories. If you'd be willing to share your love story with us, drop an e-mail to dbrooks@northfieldnews.com or drop it off at the News, 115 Fifth St. W. Try telling us your story in about 100 words because we want to be able to share the stories of several couples and so unfortunately word limits are necessary. And obviously, since Valentine's Day is quickly approaching, the faster you send in your story, the better it is for us. Thanks in advance to those of you willing to share a portion of your life with us. -- Devlyn Brooks is managing editor of the Northfield News.