Events & Programs
We are happy to host you for a sustainability tour/visit. School groups, church groups, garden clubs, individuals, etc. are all welcome. Host your staff meeting here and include a pizza lunch or snack of homemade bread & jam. OR just come to hang out, walk the trails and BE. Please call/email to set a time. The labyrinth & trails are self-guided, just call / email to let us know you're coming.
TO SIGN UP: Some classes/activities are limited. PLEASE sign up by contacting us via email, phone (need: your name, phone, email & class/activity), or thru the website (be SURE to indicate class you're signing up for). Schedule subject to change, confirm before coming. Any fees may be paid via cash or check when you come to the class. (we're keeping it simple with no corporate fees on payments and such).
ABOUT FEES: Most classes/activities are offered on a "SLIDING FEE SCALE" of $5 - $50. YOU determine based on your resources (some classes do have a "supplies" fee which are noted in addition to class fee.)
StoryWalk Along Forrest Ridge Trail
Self-Guided & Open most days
The StoryWalk is along the Forrest Ridge Trail for adventurers to join reading One Dog Canoe by Mary Casanova (Minnesota author)
Play Nature Bingo while also out walking & exploring. (Bingo cards in the tote in Gazebo Welcome Center. Return cards to tote when done playing)
Labyrinth & Trails
The Labyrinth in the woods and trails around the grounds are available for walking / meditating. Trails are no longer than one mile. We are also near trails into the Foothills State Forest. Be sure to dress properly, trails may be wet and/or have fallen brush/trees across paths in the Foothills.
* Forrest Ridge Trail (StoryWalk trail)
* Meadow Creek Trail * Twin Creek Trail
* Balsam Pond Trail * Labyrinth
Daycare groups, home-school groups, families, school groups, library groups and all ages are welcome to participate. Want a special activity experience? Let us know and we can set that up as a teacher-guided experience.
Project was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT and developed in collaboration with the Vermont Bicycle & Pedestrian Coalition and the Kellogg Hubbard Library.
Feel free to come snowshoe the trails in the winter months.
SLIDING FEE: $5-35 plus your carving knife & hatchet/axe
Mora carving knives #106 long blade & #120 short blade
Wood Carving - Shrink Pot
Saturday, January 24 1-5pm
Instructor: Mike Austad
Mike returns this year to share his skill and knowledge of making Shrink Pots. This method is thousands of years old and pre-dates the beginning of coopering (making wood barrels). The trick is using greenwood for ease of carving out the chunk of wood and taking advantage of the characteristic of wood shrinking as it dries.
There are basic techniques for creating the pot from a branch and then many variations for decorating the pot with unique designs carved into the wood surface whether you leave the bark on or remove it.
BRING: a hatchet/small axe and a long blade carving knife (Mora #106 long blade approx. $30-35). Protective gloves are helpful though not required. Wood provided along with specialty tools for this project.
POTLUCK & PONDERINGS
2ND Fridays: Feb. 13, Mar. 14
5:30-8pm
Join in sharing good food, friendships, and intriguing dialogue around the fireplace focused on one question drawn from a jar. This is a time of slowing down, enjoying abundant food, listening to each other in a safe space and building community through building relationships.
Everyone has a chance to add a question to the jar. Questions are varied. Maybe its related to a social issue, or what you're reading these days, or how you see a certain issue, or what you dream about. Examples of past questions:
What are your current ponderings? What occupies your thoughts?
What are the benefits / downfalls of global trade?
How did you first become aware of sustainability?
Share an experience when you felt a true sense of community and what created that feeling.
It's a time to reflect in silence, jot down notes, and then take turns sharing around the circle each person getting a few minutes to share OR you can "pass". We all listen, no interruptions, no questions, just ... listen. We go around again with more reflections or asking a clarifying question of someone from their sharing. And lastly we open it up for further discussion.
SLIDING FEE SCALE - YOU determine the value to you based on your resources to "give back". $50-100.00, (scholarship support available)
Coming a distance? Need an overnight? Rent a room.
SUSTAINABLE LIVING IN UNCERTAIN TIMES
February 21, 28, March 7 & 14
(take individually or all four)
Saturdays, 2-4pm (snacks provided)
Guided by Doug Weiss
In uncertain times, providing for one’s needs in a sustainable manner takes on a sense of urgency. Explore foundational issues such as: complexity, systems thinking, net energy, and food sovereignty, as well as applications including sustainable living at home, conservation of energy, food security, regenerative agriculture, sustainable community structures and social networks. These topics will be discussed in the context of life in North Central MN.
Join us around the fireplace, grapple with current state of affairs, reflect on what is and how we got here, become aware of your actions and what you can do differently, and dialogue about what could be. Share your thoughts, questions & experiences.
"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete”
Buckminster Fuller
Polycrisis / Metacrisis
FEE: Sliding Fee $5-15 /session
OR $15-45 for all four.
Coming a distance? Need an overnight? Rent a room. Give us a call to make arrangements.
TRANSFORMATION GAME
January session to be re-scheduled
OR CALL TO SCHEDULE DATES for your group
10am-4pm each day (lunch included)
Facilitated by Barb Mann
Maximum of 4 participants/players
Examples of personal game focus:
* What steps can I take in my relationship(s) sot that I feel greater satisfaction and happiness?
* I desire to release those personality blocks that keep me from being joyful, creative and harmonious.
* I intend to gain a greater understanding and awareness, and move through my pattern of wanting to "fix" others.
* I intend to know and clear the obstacles that keep me from full and creative service to the planet.
The Transformation Game is a joyful way of understanding and transforming the way you play your life. It's about looking at your life and the kinds of experiences you create, seeing how you react to them, and how you can use these insights for your own growth. Through the Game you can become more aware of your personal strengths and learn important lessons that can deepen your understanding of how you operate on the Physical, Emotional, Mental, and Spiritual levels. By providing new perspectives on current life issues, the Game helps you clarify old beliefs and attitudes and transform reaction patterns. It triggers your creativity and lets you realize your full power and potential.
You play with a particular focus or intention (see examples at left) and this guides your entire experience.
This is not a competitive game. It is not therapy or counseling (those of you with those skills, be mindful in playing). The other players can be helpful in bringing different perspectives to light as you decipher information you receive in playing the game per your focus/intention, as you also serve in that capacity for the other players. It IS meant to be FUN! In the midst of that fun, there may be tears and resistance along with the laughter. It's not about judgment, or right/wrong, good/bad. It is an opportunity to reflect and learn about yourself as you live your life/dream.
FEE: Reciprocity - YOU determine the value to you based on your resources to "give back".
Coming a distance? Need an overnight? There are options.
Here's what past players are saying:
"I have been lucky enough to play the Transformation game twice and both times were life-changing experiences. The game has a light-hearted way of assisting the player to travel deep into their psyche and spirit to provide profound self truths and awareness." (Kris K 2019 & 2021)
"Barb is an exceptional guide through the Transformation Game. The game itself brought awareness to patterns and engaged my thought process to expand what was possible in my everyday life."
(Tanya H, 2019)
"The Transformation Game deepened the trust I have in my inner knowing and gave me numerous tools to build, rebuild, reimagine my place in the world. It’s like a Google Earth for Your interior landscape – a tool that gives you a new perspective every time you use it. " (Jenny H, 2021)
"The transformation game was very enjoyable to play. It explores different areas of life. Some examples are physical, spiritual, and emotional. As I played, I received many insights into each of them. It showed what areas were personally more challenging than others. The game seemed to take on a life of its own, which is hard to describe. It is also interesting to watch the process for the other players. Hope to play it again. Definitely a worthwhile experience!" (Joan I. 2019)
Broom Making 101
Sunday, March 1, 1-5pm
Instructor: Mark Smith
Mark joins us again for teaching this popular skill with simple materials. Broom making is old using Broom Corn which is actually sorghum and not a corn plant at all. It can grow 9' plus and one harvests the top tassel portion of the plant.
Participants will use broom corn and twine to create one, possibly two, whisk brooms using different techniques and designs. You'll learn to use a foot brake (spool of twine), wrapping techniques and knotting techniques.
Mark Smith is a newcomer to the small cadre of broom makers in the US. He was introduced to the craft of broom tying at the North House Folk School in Grand Marais four years ago where he acquired the basic knowledge for assembling utilitarian whisk brooms, novelty brooms, hearth brooms and traditional kitchen sweepers. He also had an opportunity to participate in a class with Master broomsquire Marlow Gates at the John C Campbell Folk School in North Carolina. Smith’s years of hobby woodworking along with a bit of an artistic eye added to creating unique handles and sticks upon which to base the broom design.
SLIDING FEE: $5-50 (includes supplies)