Northfield News column: Thank you for a priceless evening

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 July 21, 2006.

Priceless. That's how all of us here at the News described last week's return of "Pie in the Square." For those unable to attend, it was a classic summer evening in Bridge Square: the delightful sounds of international children singing; some good food; nice weather and a lot of fun. We believe it was a triumphant return for Pie in the Square. The News used to host its "pie" event annually but discontinued the practice a few years back. This year we strongly felt that the community was ready for its return and judging by the turnout, our assumption must have been correct. We served an unbelievable 762 pieces of pie, and even more ice cream. We gave out more than 600 Frisbees and seven people received a cream-filled pie in the face. By those criteria alone, we would have judged the evening a success, but the important news is that more than $1,000, and a handful of grocery sacks of non-perishable food, was raised for the Northfield Community Action Center's food shelf. So thanks to your generosity, the evening far exceeded our expectations. But we couldn't have done this alone. You've heard News Publisher Louie Seesz say that we want to partner with everyone in town: Well, we had some terrific partners to assist us with Pie in the Square 2006. Cub Foods made the pies possible by offering the News a deep discount and they also threw in the ice cream for free. Kes Equipment/Hauge Quality Water donated the water; the Northfield Public Schools Community Education department, Rotary and Rotaract groups hosted the Songs of Hope children's choir; local teacher Earl Weinmann served as our auctioneer to drum up bids for serving some of us pies in the face and our staff graciously turned out to serve pie and ice cream and greet the community. And we cannot go without mentioning the people who dug deep to bid on giving our gang of six at the News our pies in the face. And in addition, Northfield City Councilor Dixon Bond chipped in a substantial amount for the right to push a pie in the face of Candy Taylor, the executive director of 5th Bridge, a local volunteer group. Without those bids, our fund-raising effort wouldn't have been nearly as high. So thank you to all of you. Unfortunately, I lost my bid to receive the honor of planting a pie in Mr. Seesz's face. A lot of people dream of the opportunity of doing such a thing to their boss, but alas, if I had to give up the opportunity, I could think of no one else I would have liked to see the honor go to more so than Roger Stolley. Mr. Stolley, the general manager of Cannon Valley Printing, has a relationship with Louie that goes back much further than mine and you could see the gleam in his eye when he proceeded with the "pie-ing." Of the pie-smashes I saw, I believe I have to give credit to Roger as having the most panache in his delivery method. Not only did his pie splatter, but he held it there and "smooshed" it in with style. Nice work, Roger. I maybe didn't get the honor, but I lived the moment vicariously through you. As you may know, our vice president Renee Huckle was our top moneymaker, and you could see how much her good friend Jennifer Sawyer enjoyed being the one to pie her. Now that's a strong friendship! Renee's bid also earned the food shelf an extra $100 as Bond said he'd donate that much if Taylor agreed to be the victim. She did and the food shelf received the benefit. News sports writer Jeff Wald, Senior Ad Consultant Ryan Heinritz and News Editor Shelley Kubitz all were good sports when they took their pies in the face. And I have to admit there's something humbling about taking a pie in the face from your own 8-year-old son. On behalf of everyone at the News, I want to thank you all who made our Pie in the Square event so memorable. It was our honor to serve you a piece of pie, a token for making the Northfield News a part of your life and bringing us into your homes twice a week. To us, whether its Pie in the Square or informing you about the latest news in town, it's about community, and we're here to serve our community. Thank you. -- Devlyn Brooks is managing editor of the Northfield News.