At the Meeting for Business on Sunday, 9/14/14, the Meeting decided that, subject to the acceptance of the building at the final walk-through with the architect and builder, Cannon Valley Friends Meeting would schedule its first Meeting for Worship at the new Meetinghouse on Sunday, 9/21/14.

The final walk-through occurred on Tuesday morning, 9/16/14 and the building was accepted.  The builder and architect agreed to complete some finishing touches and fix other things that need to be amended.

In the week leading up to holding our first Meeting for Worship in the new building, members of the Meetinghouse Committee and a number of hearty and generous volunteers from Cannon Valley Friends Meeting worked furiously to prepare the Meetinghouse for our first event there.  The construction stickers and tape were removed, the construction dust was knocked down and swept up, the tiles and toilets were scrubbed, the sinks and water fountains were  cleaned, the floors were mopped and re-mopped, the windows and doors were cleaned, and the dozens of little globs of drywall paste and scuff marks were scraped away (mostly).  

Much work had already been done by CVFM volunteers in the weeks leading up to Sept. 21st to prepare the landscaping and grounds around the Meetinghouse, including digging and planting a rain garden (which successfully diverts and captures rain water to prevent it from entering the city's sewer system), planting shrubs and grass seed, shoveling and sloping dirt away from the foundation, and relocating our temporary sign,   No acknowledgement of efforts is complete without recognizing the thousands of hours of intense effort by members of the Meeting's Development Committee, our Meeting Clerk, and our Treasurer, our architects (Hans Schmidt and Anders Matney), and our builders (Eric Haines of Dutch Creek Construction in Northfield, MN and Cobra Construction in East St. Paul, MN) who guided the design, financing, and construction of the building.  Of course there is still much work to do (installling and staining trim around doors and windows, installing a fence along the walkway outside the kitchen, finishing the floor in the First Day School room, procuring and seting up furnishings, procuring and installing counters and cabinets, to name a few of the remaining tasks), but with the renewed energy that comes from finally having our Meetinghouse, we have no doubts the remaining work will get done. 

On Sunday, 9/21/14, a very special First Gathering and Meeting for Worship was held in the new Meetinghouse.  Everyone present was grateful for the thousands of donations, hours of hard work, and Divine Guidance that has helped build this beautiful Meetinghouse.  As the planned new sign in front of the Meetinghouse will say, "All are Welcome."  

Please consider yourself warmly invited to join us at 512 Washington Street, Northfield.  Meeting for Worship is held every Sunday morning at 10:30 am.

 We are also pleased to offer space in our building for events by members of the community or other organizations.  Our rental rates are very reasonable and are negotiable for non-profit organizations.  For more information, please contact us by clicking on the "Contact Us" link at the lower right-hand corner of our home page.