March 29

Senior Connection hosts presidential museums talk

Steve Hennes will speak on presidential libraries/museums during the Sartell Senior Connection meeting at 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 9 in the Sartell Senior Center, 212 3rd Ave. N., Sartell. Recently Hennes and his wife visited the Eisenhower Museum in Abiline, Kan. Come and learn first-hand about history while he shares photos and stories of all his tours to presidential libraries/museums. Refreshments will be served.

Jean Matzke award goes to MN Street Market

The Millstream Arts Festival Board of Directors held its annual meeting on March 13 and voted to award the 2012 Jean Matzke Art Award to the Minnesota Street Market Art Co-op. The Art Co-op Committee will receive a check for $500 to use toward building a hub for local artists to display and sell their work and to hold community art classes and workshops. The award was established in 2009 in memory of Jean Matzke, co-founder of Millstream Arts Festival. Past recipients of the award are Kennedy Elementary to help expand their art program and the Local Blend for their contribution toward bringing local art and live music to downtown St. Joseph.

Bunny winners announced

The winners for the Newsleaders’ Bunny Promotion are as follows: Once Upon a Child, Mary Jo Long, Dassel; Jacob Anderson, Sartell; Wenner Co. – Cold Spring, Duane Rieland, Richmond; Verizon, Savanna Hansen, Royalton; Local Blend, Debbie Emery, St. Joseph; Casey’s, John Nornberg, St. Joseph; Subway – St. Joseph, Claire Blaskowski, St. Joseph; Avon State Bank, Roger Jeffers, Avon, Sue Mosiman, St. Anna; McDonald’s – St. Joseph, Nick Clark, St. Joseph; Movies Etc., Joe Baggenstoss, St. Joseph; Russell Eyecare and Associates, Mary Moening, St. Joseph; and St. Joseph Meat Market, Mary Moening, St. Joseph.

Nazi hunter Rosenbaum to speak April 8

Eli Rosenbaum, the Nazi Hunter and executive officer for the U.S. Department of Justice, will deliver a speech at 7 p.m. Monday, April 8 at the Adath Jeshurun Congregation (Synagogue), 10500 Hillside Lane W., Minnetonka. Rosenbaum has invited two soldiers, Larry Tillemans from Sartell and Gerry Boe from Crosslake, as his guests. Tillemans has received the U.S. Army “Medal for Excellence” for his more than 450 Holocaust presentations of the war crime trials at Nuremberg and Dachau. Tillemans was a Third Army clerk typist for the trials.

SSEF grant apps due April 3

Sartell-St. Stephen Education Foundation grant applications are due April 3. Grant information for the 2013-14 school year is available on our website. SSEF is proud to be able to support leading-edge programs and ideas in the Sartell-St. Stephen School District because of amazing support and donations from community, families and businesses.  Last year, SSEF supported more than $25,000 in programs and is aiming to surpass that based on another record-breaking campaign. For more information, visit our website at www.ssef.net

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 April through October. For more information, visit dps.mn.gov.

Reading and math support

St. Cloud Area Schools District 742 needs volunteers to assist students with their reading fluency and comprehension as well as their basic math skills. Volunteers should know basic math as well as have experience with reading. Volunteers will have the opportunity to gain experience working with English Language Learners while developing unique relationships with youth. Volunteers will complete volunteer application, criminal background check and volunteer in education orientation. Contact Sonia Dickrell, volunteer coordinator, at 320-529-6500.

Speedy, transport and escort pool

St. Cloud Hospital is looking for STEP force volunteers, which means speedy, transport and escort pool. STEP Force volunteers transport and escort patients, families and visitors throughout the facility. Volunteers will transport patients, deliver flowers and mail, and assist with other deliveries. Volunteers will get plenty of exercise and make a difference in the lives of patients and families. Contact the St. Cloud Hospital Volunteer Services at 320-255-5638.

Readers for the blind

Looking for an opportunity to help the blind or print disables receive local news? Become a volunteer with Central Minnesota Audio Newspapers and read newspapers over a closed radio network which is part of the Radio Talking Book Network. Read one or two evenings a month. Schedule is flexible. A one-year commitment is desired. Volunteers must pass an oral reading test. Contact Rita Woeste, Central Minnesota Audio Newspapers, at 320-293-2273.

Llama Llama Read-A-Rama seeks volunteers for April

Llama Llama Read-A-Rama, a St. Cloud Area community initiative to encourage reading with children starting at birth, seeks volunteers for Thursday and Friday, April 11-12.. The United Way of Central Minnesota Success By 6 is working with community partners to move this important message forward. Volunteers can read to children and assist with projects in preschools, Head Start Reach Up Inc. and Boys and Girls Clubs. All readers are encouraged to talk about their work/daily life as part of their volunteer experience so children hear about the importance of reading in everyday activity. Contact Mary Krippner, United Way volunteer coordinator, at 320-223-7991.

Donate furniture

Community Furniture Program is in need of slightly used beds, dressers, and table and chairs. Many people do not have the basic essential furnishings needed for day-to-day living; 40 percent of those people are children. The Community Furniture Program in St. Cloud is a non-profit organization that provides gently used furniture to those who are living without beds and other basic furnishings. Pick-up service is available and tax-deduction receipts given. No child should have to sleep on the floor, donate today. Contact the Community Furniture Program at 320-656-9004.

For more information, call United Way at 320-252-0227 or www.unitedwayhelps.org.

St. Cloud Hospital offers nursing alumni scholarship

A St. Cloud Hospital Nursing Alumni Scholarship is being offered to a graduate or a family member of a graduate of the St. Cloud Hospital School of Nursing, who is seeking a specialty degree within the field of nursing. To be eligible for consideration, an applicant must be: enrolled in an undergraduate or technical program in the nursing field; have maintained a grade-point average of at least 3.0; and demonstrated involvement in alumni association, community and/or school activities. Each applicant must complete an application form, attach a current transcript, provide a typed essay that outlines the applicant’s career goals and factors that led them to choose a health-care career and two letters of reference.  The application deadline is May 13. For more information, call 320-240-2810 or visit http://www.centracare.com/foundation/nursing_alumni_scholarship.html.