Lemonade Concert, Art Fair is June 23
The 43rd annual Lemonade Concert and Art Fair, sponsored by St. Cloud State University, is scheduled from 11 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Sunday, June 23, with nearly 200 art vendors, a St. Cloud Symphony concert, eight music acts and food.
In its 43rd year, the fair welcomes new and returning musical groups to the World Commons Stage:
11 a.m. — Jazz.Combo, Central Minnesota’s youth band, which plays jazz and big-band classics
Noon – St. Paul-based Hot Date, which features Nora O’Brien and Eric Carranza with a cast of side musicians
1 p.m. — Pantown Project, a folk-indie duo from St. Cloud
2 p.m. — Adam Hammer and Dave Cofell’s Folk ‘n’ Blues Show, a St. Cloud-area duo
3 p.m. — Five Good Reasons, a multi-genre, five-voice a capella group
4 p.m. — Paige Gielen, a 13-year-old singer/songwriter from Albany
5 p.m. — Juan Kuffner, an accordionist, fiddler and singer with roots in southeast Louisiana
Veteran multi-instrumentalist Paul Imholte of St. Cloud will roam the fairgrounds from 11 a.m.-7 p.m.
Mayor Dave Kleis will honor recipients of the Rock-On Awards during the 6:30 p.m. Granite City Days opening ceremony. The award recognizes St. Cloud individuals, organizations and businesses that have demonstrated outstanding civic participation, leadership and achievements.
The symphony’s 7:30 p.m. concert includes, among other performances, three patriotic works, two show tunes and “Comedians’ Galop” from Dmitry Kabalevsky’s “The Comedians.” Brian DeMaris, the artistic director of the Arizona State University Lyric Opera Theatre, will be the guest conductor.
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PAKRAT bus on the move
The District 742 Local Education and Activities Foundation will begin its Summer PAKRAT Literacy Program on Tuesday, June 21.
The PAKRAT Summer Roll and Read Program expanded to all elementary school attendance areas last summer with the help of a $15,000 gift from the St. Cloud Rotary Club, an additional $10,000 grant from LEAF and support from District 742. The St. Cloud Kiwanis Club has also contributed funding in support of this literacy effort.
Building off the successful pilot of the Talahi Read and Roll program, LEAF purchased a bus dedicated to providing a reading opportunity for students during the summer months when many students lack access to quality reading materials. With the generous donations from Rotary and other groups and individuals, thousands of books have been added to the Summer PAKRAT collection.
During the summer of 2015, 2,318 children checked out 4,475 books from the PAKRAT Roll and Read Bus.
The bus makes weekly stops at locations within “school clusters” so all students have access to the bus and to quality reading materials. Stops include the three Boys and Girls Club locations and the schools that house summer Kidstop programs. Students from any school in District 742 can visit any the stops on any of these days and students of any age are invited.
Check out the full story at the LEAF web page (leaf742.org). Anyone who has quality children’s books to contribute to this summer PAKRAT program, contact Sara Martini at sara.martini@isd742.org or call the LEAF executive director at 320-253-5780.
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St. Cloud VA to host telehealth demonstration
The St. Cloud VA will be hosting a telehealth demonstration to improve access to care for veterans from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursday, June 21 outside Building 48 on the St. Cloud VA campus. The demonstration will be housed in a van that will be parked at the northeast door of Building 48. Due to limited parking at the demonstration site, veterans are encouraged to use the interior corridor.
Telehealth is the use of information and telecommunication technologies that allows the VA to change the locations where health services are provided.
“The St. Cloud VA is a leader in the use of telehealth because it’s beneficial for our Veterans,” said Joann Houge, the telehealth program coordinator. “Using telehealth technologies allows us to improve access to health-care services and specialties and, in many cases, decreases travel time for veterans.”
Houge said it’s important for veterans to become familiar with telehealth technologies.
“From the patient’s perspective, these technologies are easy to use, can provide the same results more efficiently and are the wave of the future,” Houge said.
Demonstrations will be given on all current telehealth equipment and services and also include the newest technologies available.
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Sartell Bike Rodeo to promote bike safety
The Sartell Bike Rodeo will take place at the Sartell Middle School on Monday, June 20 from 6-8 p.m. Bike safety checks will be conducted by Revolution Cycle and Ski along with free helmet fitting by Project Brain Safe. There will also be an opportunity to participate in an obstacle course and short trail ride with the Sartell Police Department.
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Garage sale to raise funds for marching band
A garage sale will be held at 108 Sixth Ave. N.W. in St. Joseph to raise funds for the Solar Sound Marching Band, previously knows as the St. Cloud All-City Marching Band. The sale will be held on from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday, June 17 and from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, June 18.
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Sauk Rapids residents may experience low water pressure
As a result of the Benton County CSAH 3 (Second Street Up The Hill) construction project, residents along Summit Avenue N. to Seventh Avenue and from Third Street to 11th Street N. will experience low water pressure. The low water pressure should return to normal in roughly six weeks, when the utility work for this construction project is complete. Please contact Craig Nelson, utilities director, at 320-258-5318 with any questions or concerns.
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Humorist to headline summer writing workshop
The two-credit Mississippi River Creative Writing Workshop (ENG 445-545) will be held from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Thursday, June 20-23 in the 51 Building of St. Cloud State University. Community members can register as non-degree-seeking students. The class can be repeated for credit. Award-winning humorist Julie Schumacher is one of five writers presenting at this workshop.
The workshop focuses on fiction writing, nonfiction writing and poetry. No writing experience or prerequisites are required. Students will participate in writing exercises and interact informally with the writers.
Schumacher earned the 2015 Thurber Prize for American Humor, named for humorist James Thurber (1894-1961), whose short stories, books and cartoons were critically acclaimed and popularly praised.
An English professor at the University of Minnesota, Schumacher is the author of five novels for young adult readers, a collection of short stories and two novels for adult readers. Thanks to her novel “Dear Committee Members” (2014), Schumacher is the first woman to win the Thurber Prize.
Her first novel, The Body Is Water, was an ALA Notable Book of the Year and a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award. Her short stories and essays have been published in periodicals such as the Atlantic, New York Times, Ms. and the Wall Street Journal.
Also presenting are published writers Philip Bryant, English professor at Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter; Joel Hoekstra, Minneapolis-based freelance nonfiction writer-editor; Rachael Hanel, mass-media instructor and former newspaper reporter and copy editor; Jennifer Willoughby, Minneapolis poet; and Shannon Olson, SCSU English professor and director of creative writing.
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Veteran ID card now acceptable for same-day registration
Veteran ID cards have now been added to the list of acceptable photo identification documents Minnesotans can now use for same-day voter registration, which, like all other photo identification documents that do not contain an address, must be combined with an authorized proof of residence.
The addition of the Veteran ID card is expected to benefit more than 115,000 Minnesotans and was enacted via an administrative rule-making process.
“We should be doing everything we can to make it as easy as possible for the men and women who have served our country to vote and that’s what we’re doing today,” Secretary of State Steve Simon said. “In many cases, a Veteran Identification Card may be the only form of current identification veterans may have in their possession and now they will be allowed to use it when registering to vote on Election Day.”
Currently, 32 states (including Minnesota) and the District of Columbia accept the Veteran ID card as a form of either primary or secondary identification for voting.
Veteran ID cards are issued by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to veterans who are enrolled in the VA health-care system. The cards contain a photo of the individual and the individual’s full name. They are used to access health benefits through the VA.
