Community ed offers Lyme Disease class
“Lyme Disease: You’re Not Alone,” will be held from 6-9 p.m. Monday, May 6 in the Sartell School District Service Center Watab Room. Support and share with each other the struggles that come with this disease and its effect on the body. The dramatic documentary, “Under Our Skin,” that focuses on the epidemic of chronic Lyme disease will be shown. Advanced registration is required. Call 320-253-4036.
Sabres Booster Club hosts spring social
The Sabres All-Sports Booster Club Spring Social will be held from 8-11 p.m. Friday, April 19 at Blackberry Ridge Golf Course, 3125 Clubhouse Road, Sartell. The group wishes to thank the many parents and friends for their continued support of Sartell athletics throughout the years. The event offers free food and fun with a social, silent auction and membership kick-off for the 2013-14 school year.
Community Showcase set April 20 at Kennedy
The first annual Community Showcase, sponsored by the St. Joseph Area Chamber of Commerce, will be held April 20 at Kennedy Community School, 1300 Jade Road, St. Joseph. Free Earth Day fun includes music, family fun, children’s games and school tours. Come support your local businesses.
Motorcycle rider training schedule now available online
Motorcycle rider training courses are available for new and experienced riders April-October. The Office of Traffic Safety is investing federal grants totaling more than $7 million to 317 law enforcement agencies and community partner groups for enforcement and education campaigns. With the rise in the number of rider fatalities in 2012, rider training is a critical and potentially life-saving option. New and experienced riders can benefit from a wide range of affordable training courses to earn a motorcycle license, build and hone crash-avoidance skills, learn bike maintenance and more. Training is available at 30 MnSCU sites across Minnesota. For more information, visit dps.mn.gov.
‘Demand continues to increase, yet donations are drastically down’
“Demand continues to increase, and donations (during March Food Share month) are drastically down” says Karla Rolfzen, social services coordinator at the Salvation Army in St. Cloud. The food and cash donations to the St. Cloud Area Salvation Army during “Food Share,” which are maximized through a matching grant from Second Harvest are way behind last year’s donations. Three weeks into the campaign, the Salvation Army had only collected $3,263 in cash and 23,635 pounds of food product, 22 percent and 26 percent of the total goal respectively. Last year, the totals collected were more than $15,000 in cash and 92,000 lbs of food product. Major Lee Morrison, head of the local Corps added, “We never lose hope. The good people in the St. Cloud area have always supported the Salvation Army, especially when the need is the greatest.”
The food collected during Food Share month is greatly counted on to help support the food pantry, the community lunch program and the shelter meals for the residents at the 64-bed emergency shelter, which houses homeless individuals, families and veterans, all located at the St. Cloud Area Salvation Army Service Center. Last year, the Salvation Army distributed more than 240 tons of food from the food pantry, served 30,000 meals during the community lunches and served 20,000 additional meals for shelter residents.
How to donate:
- Give on line at www.salvationarmynorth.org/stcloud
- Mail a check to The Salvation Army, 400 South US 10, St. Cloud, MN 56304
- Drop a donation off at The Salvation Army office on highway 10, across from Cashwise.
- Drop a donation off at The Salvation Army Thrift Store by Crossroads.
The Stearns County Soil and Water Conservation District is partnering with the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources to locate landowners who are interested in completing a wetland restoration project on their property. Landowners who complete a wetland restoration project will generate wetland credits that can be used to offset wetland impacts resulting from qualifying road improvement and rehabilitation projects in Minnesota. BWSR has $5 million for wetland restoration projects.
There are a couple of options available to landowners. One is where the State of Minnesota pays the landowner a negotiated amount in return for obtaining a permanent easement on the wetland and buffer area. The state would bare the expense to restore the wetlands onsite. The second option is where the State of Minnesota agrees to purchase wetland credits generated from the wetland restoration project completed by the landowner at the landowner’s expense. The wetland credits would be purchased by the state at an agreed-upon price as they are generated. Eligible sites must have restorable wetlands or existing degraded wetlands, and have no legal ownership issues (in foreclosure, ongoing divorce settlement or probate, etc.), have no conflicting easements or legal agreements (mineral rights, wind towers or other), and have wetlands that can be reasonably restored without affecting adjacent lands.
The application period began early March and continues through May 13. Interested landowners should contact Wayne Cymbaluk at the Stearns County SWCD office at 320-251-7800 x 3. The SWCD will help determine if sites are a good fit for the program and work with landowners to complete the application materials for submittal to BWSR.
More information can be found on BWSR’s website: www.bwsr.state.mn.us or by contacting Wetland Bank Coordinator Ken Powell at ken.powell@state.mn.us or 651-215-1703.
World Book Night set April 23
On April 23, 25,000 volunteers will give away half a million free books in more than 6,000 towns and cities across the country.
The free book giveaway is part of World Book Night U.S., an ambitious campaign to give thousands of free, specially printed paperbacks to light or nonreaders across America on one day. Great River Regional Library has recruited more than more than 50 volunteers who will share books at different locations across Central Minnesota such as parks, coffee shops and fitness centers.
Each volunteer will receive 20 copies of one book to give away. The book will be selected from 30 titles provided by WBN to satisfy a variety of interests. It is hoped when volunteers give the same book within a community, readers will share their reactions and become more involved in books and reading. Providing people with materials and services to support lifelong learning and personal enrichment is a goal within the library’s strategic plan.
United Way volunteer opportunities
Catch the Northstar to Twins games
Every Twins home game this season will have bus and rail service. Baseball fans will be able to take the Northstar Link bus from St. Cloud or Becker to Big Lake to connect with the Northstar train, which takes them directly to Target Field in Minneapolis. At the scheduled departure time, or 30 minutes after the last out for specially scheduled trains, fans will be able to board the train to Big Lake and easily transfer to the Northstar Link bus to finish the trip back to Becker or St. Cloud. Separate tickets are needed to ride the Link and the train. Link rides cost $1.75 or less each way. Train fares vary by station. Before games, round-trip train tickets and Northstar Roundtrip Family Passes can be purchased online at www.metrotransit.org/Northstar. Just print your ticket and keep it with you. The Minnesota Twins Northstar Link service is called route 887T; its schedule is available on Link buses and Northstar trains, online at www.CatchTheLink.com, or by calling 877.LINK.010. For information on train schedules and fare options, go to www.metrotransit.org/twins.