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What's so funny? Why are Lorilee and Tim laughing so hard?
Read on. |
Now that Jennifer has established herself in Northfield, Minnesota, we enjoy bringing visitors there for a grand tour of this storied college town. We've put together sort of a chamber of commerce routine, visiting the St. Olaf and Carleton college campuses, the Malt-o-Meal plant and other interesting venues in this beautiful historic town.
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Tell All Your Friends!
Steve, Zach and Jenn in front of what they believe
at the time to be the bank raided by the James gang. |
Northfield is well known for its Defeat of Jesse James Days, which marks the failed attempt by the outlaw and his gang to hold up the Northfield bank in 1876. As is our custom, yesterday we stopped to take photographs of the famous bank and imagine what it was like when the townspeople rallied there to repel the bad guys. Our guests were thrilled to stand exactly where this historic event occurred so long ago.
After the usual ton of photos, we got back in the car to attend Jennifer's bonfire party in her back yard, just down the Cannon River.
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| Mr. James |
There we consulted with Jennifer's friend and neighbor, Tim, who annually participates in the re-enactment of the famous Northfield raid and knows all about it. He and his wife, Lorilee, had arrived with a wheelbarrow of firewood to toss on the community pile.
Tim was also quite happy to share some embarrassing information. Yes, the James gang raided the bank in Northfield and got shot up bad by an angry populace. But the bank we showed our out-of-town guests? Er, that's not the right bank. Not even close. That one was built in 1910. The actual bank is over there on the other side of the river.
Our apologies to all of our guests. We will make good on the souvenir photos at your convenience.
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The historic plaque on this old Northfield bank makes no mention of Jesse
James, but our gracious tourists did not say anything about that at the time. |
