Lilly Belle/Audubon Ark tour - May of 2002

Rocks and Water: Understanding Minnesota's Limestone Country
Four Opportunities to Attend
Tuesday, May 14; Eagle Bluff Environmental Center, Lanesboro
Wednesday, May 15 & Thursday, May 16; VFW, Zumbrota
Tuesday, May 21; Blue Earth County Library, Mankato
Wednesday, May 22 & Thursday, May 23; Dakota County Conservation and Extension Center, Farmington
Contact: Melanie Miland; MPCA, Rochester Region Information Officer
507/285-7151 (direct line); 1-800-657-3864 (toll-free)
melanie.miland@pca.state.mn.us

Mississippi River Citizen Commission
May 14, 10:00 AM
US Fish and Wildlife Service conference room,
Exchange Building, 51 East Fourth, Winona, Minnesota
Contact Robin A. Grawe, Secretary, 678 Sioux St. Winona, MN 55987, 507-454-4141
Agenda
Last meeting minutes, 4/16/02

Greening our Neighborhood/ Saving our Planet: Matthews Park Community Center
Saturday, May 11
2318 29th Av. S., Minneapolis, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Workshop topics include landscaping with native plants, natural lawn care, composting, environmental building and remodeling. Call 612-722-2853.

Grand Excursion May Meetings
Thursday, May 16th, 2002
Greetings Grand Excursion 2004 Enthusiast!
We invite you to connect or re-connect with the regional Grand Excursion 2004 plans on Thursday, May 16th, 2002 during a variety of regional meetings and events in the Twin Cities. We encourage you to attend one or more of these meetings to learn what progress is taking shape and how you, your city or organization can participate. Please contact the person associated with each meeting below to reserve your seat. We look forward to seeing you there!

All meetings below will be held on Thursday, May 16th, 2002: Please RSVP your attendance by Friday, May 10th.

10-11:30 a.m. -- Regional Commemorate Advisory Committee Meeting
Saint Paul Convention & Visitors Bureau Large Conference Room
175 West Kellogg Blvd., Suite 502, St. Paul, MN 55102
This group is helping to shape how the Grand Excursion 2004 will encourage community legacy projects - tangible, visible gifts to the future of that community that permanently improves the relationship with the river. To commemorate these gifts, a system of historical markers are being developed.
To attend or receive more information, contact: Mark VanderSchaaf, Program Director - Educate and Commemorate at 651/265-4935 or mvanderschaaf@stpaulcvb.org. Free of charge.

10-11:30 a.m. -- Regional Celebrate Advisory Committee Meeting
RiverCentre Board Room
175 West Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55102
This group is assisting in the planning of the Grand Flotilla set for June 25-July 5, 2004 to include large paddle boats, pleasure craft, trains and commercial vessels. Over 58,000 ticket opportunities will be created for this once-in-a-lifetime river event stretching from the Quad Cities to the Twin Cities.
To attend or receive more information, contact: Betsy Hussey, Celebration Program Manager at 513/381-6700 or bhussey@S1mc.com. Free of charge.

11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. -- Regional Grand Excursion 2004 Lunch
RiverCentre Rooms 7 & 8
175 West Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55102
Learn more about the "State of the Grand Excursion 2004" during this lunch. New staff, Board members, supporters and planners will be there to meet you and get you up to speed on recent progress.
To attend or receive more information, contact: Clara Littig, Quad Cities Regional Coordinator at 309/736-3678 or tahoeclara@aol.com. $15 per person.

1 - 2:30 p.m. -- Regional Educate Advisory Committee Meeting
Saint Paul Convention & Visitors Bureau Large Conference Room
175 West Kellogg Blvd., Suite 502, St. Paul, MN 55102
This group is working on producing a one-hour documentary about the upper Mississippi and Bluff Country as well as River Exploration Trunks for school age children. An educational web site about the Grand Excursion and the river is also in the plans.
To attend or receive more information, contact: Mark VanderSchaaf, Program Director - Educate and Commemorate at 651/265-4935 or mvanderschaaf@stpaulcvb.org. Free of charge.

For more information about the Grand Excursion 2004, visit http://www.GrandExcursion.com.
Char Mason
on behalf of Grand Excursion, Inc.
char@charmason.com

TPL Stegner Circle: William Least Heat Moonreading
May 23
Science Museum of Minnesota at 7:15 p.m.
The Trust for Public Land (TPL) and Ruminator Books invite the public to a special Stegner Circle reading and book signing with best-selling author William Least Heat-Moon, at the Coffee and cookies will be provided. This event is open to the public and free of charge.

William Least Heat-Moon’s most recent book, "River-Horse," chronicles the author’s unprecedented cross-continental journey from the Atlantic to the Pacific via American rivers. A New York Times bestseller, River-Horse explores our nation from its waterways. Heat-Moon's previous work includes Blue Highways, selected by Time magazine as one of the five best nonfiction books of 1983 and by the New York Times as one of the notable books of the year after it spent forty-two weeks on the Times Bestseller list. Heat-Moon has also written PrairyErth, the American Library Association's Best Work of Nonfiction for 1991. His magazine articles have appeared in The Atlantic, Time, Esquire, and National Geographic.