You can help ‘Raise the Dough’
Eat at House of Pizza from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17 to support the completion of the Huntington Park fitness trail. Girl Scout Troop 783 is hosting a “Raise the Dough” event to raise money for fitness trail equipment as part of its “Healthy Park, Healthy People” project.
Join Cub Scouts Thursday, Sept. 19
Three Sartell Cub Scout packs will hold their sign-up nights on Thursday, Sept. 19: Oak Ridge Elementary at 6 p.m. in the school’s cafeteria; Pine Meadow and St. Francis Elementary at 7 p.m. in the St. Francis Xavier cafeteria. Cub Scouts is a family program for boys in grades 1-5. Oak Ridge Elementary: All new members receive a mini flying disc to use at the Oct. 5 new-member event at Camp Ripley. For more information, visit www.bsacmc.org/playcubscoutgames.html, call 320-251-3930 or stop by at 1191 Scout Drive, Sartell. The local Cub Scout programs are run by Sartell parents and chartered by local Sartell groups.
Sept. 16 talk focuses on faith, bereavement
“Dark Night of the Soul: Tragedy and Suffering in the Life of Faith,” will be presented at 8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 16 in Quadrangle 264 at St. John’s University. Two speakers, Jenell Paris, a Collegeville Institute resident scholar and professor of anthropology at Messiah College, Pennsylvania, and Janel Kragt Bakker, an associate director of the Collegeville Institute, will consider the religious dimensions of loss following stillbirth and neonatal death. Parents’ narratives about the interplay between faith and bereavement segue into a broader discussion about the role of tragedy in the life of faith.
First turkey, deer hunt for disabled at Rockville Park, Nature Preserve
Applications now available
The application deadline is Tuesday, Oct. 1 for the first turkey and deer hunt for people with disabilities in Stearns County’s newest park – Rockville Park and Nature Preserve. Applications can be obtained through the websites of Midwest Outdoors Unlimited www.midwestoutdoorsunlimited.com or the Stearns County Parks Department www.co.stearns.mn.us or by calling the park office 320-255-6172. Applications can also be picked up at the park office located at Quarry Park, 1802 CR 137, Waite Park, MN 56387. Midwest Outdoors Unlimited will select three hunters for each of the hunts (turkey/deer) and supervise the hunts.
The mission of the group is to provide outdoor recreational activities for Disabled American Veterans, individuals and youth in Minnesota. Each disabled hunter will be accompanied by at least one able-bodied person while in the park.
Hunters will be able to use shotguns, bows or crossbows. Hunting will be limited to portable ground blinds. The park will be closed to the general public during each of the five-day hunts.
The turkey hunt is scheduled for Wednesday-Sunday, Oct. 23-27; the deer hunt for Wednesday-Sunday, Nov. 13-17.
The 284-acre Rockville County Park is west of Rockville’s Eagle Park and Stearns CR 139 on Sauk River Road. It includes more than a mile of Sauk River shoreline and natural features such as granite outcroppings and hardwood forests. Completed developments in the park include a bridge, trails, bathrooms, equestrian area and observation deck.
Money available to help homeowners replace septic systems
Funding to assist homeowners in replacing subsurface sewage treatment systems is available from the State of Minnesota. The Stearns County Environmental Services Department can apply for these state grants on behalf of homeowners.
Eligibility for the grant requires the homeowner have low income, the property is homesteaded by the applicant, and the sewage treatment system is found to be an imminent threat to public health and safety, which is a sewage treatment system that is discharging sewage or sewage effluent to the ground surface, drainage system, ditch, storm water drain or directly to surface water, or causes a reoccurring sewage backup into a dwelling or other establishment.
These funds are available for a limited time only. Residents of Stearns County who think they may qualify as low income and have a septic system that is an imminent threat to public health should contact Hank Schreifels or Mark Latterell at the Stearns County Environmental Services Department at 320-656-3613 or 1-800-450-0852. Applications need to be completed and in to Stearns County’s Environmental Services Department by Monday, Sept. 23.
The purpose of these grants is to protect and restore water quality. The source of the funding is the Minnesota Clean Water Fund, one of four funds established by the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment in 2008.
In the last three years, Stearns County’s Environmental Services Department received $900,000 to help low-income homeowners replace their septic system.
United Way sets Sept. 26 as Day of Caring
United Way of Central Minnesota will host a Day of Caring, which is designed to bring people together to volunteer on community projects, Thursday, Sept 26. Projects available are painting, fall clean-up, kid’s activities and Kids Fighting Hunger. This event is intended to create positive changes in our very own communities through the volunteer efforts of local residents. Contact Mary, community volunteer coordinator, at 320- 223-7991 or visit www.unitedwayhelps.org.
Become a role model for children and adolescents
Volunteer to assist staff at Clara’s House to guide, mentor and be a calm role model to children and adolescents with mental-health issues. Volunteers will help foster healthy coping skills, assist in creating a safe and home-like atmosphere and help with office/clerical duties as assigned. Contact the St. Cloud Hospital Volunteer Office at 320-255-5638 or visit www.centracare.com.
