Greetings!     

October 2, 2012
Mussel Field Day on the Minnesota River with Bernard Sietman
Blog post recapping our latest adventure on the Minnesota river by Kylene Olson
 

A group of 16 river enthusiasts gathered at Memorial Park on the Minnesota River in Granite Falls this past Saturday for a Mussel Field Day with Bernard Sietman from the MN Dept. of Natural Resources, one of two specialists in the state of Minnesota that work with freshwater mussels.  His knowledge and passion for mussels is so inspiring.

 

Bernard presented the group with a brief history of mussels. Who knew that freshwater mussels were the most threatened animal in North America.  Minnesota is the home... click here to read more.

 
Click here to view many great photos of the adventure

 

Why are mussels in trouble?
Learn more about the importance of Mussels from the Minnesota DNR

The survival of freshwater mussels is threatened by:

  • dams that fragment river connections and form silt-laden impoundments,
  • stream channelization or ditching, stream dredging, wetland drainage and field tiling that leads to rapid water runoff, bank erosion, and streambed destabilization,
  • commercial harvesting,
  • water pollution, and
  • zebra mussels.
As sentinels of a river's health, Minnesota's native freshwater mussels provide us with an important measure of our society's impacts on rivers. Ignoring our mussel resources could aid not only in their demise, but the continued decline of riverine health. Click here to learn more. 
CURE Sponsored Art Reception & Poetry Readings
Friday, October 4th from 4 PM to 10 PM
  
Featuring the "We Celebreate the River" Project - to read more about this project, click here.
  • 4 PM: Poetry reading by students from the Montevideo Schools under the direction of author and poet Florence Dacey and puppeteer, Margo McCreary
  • 5:30 PM: Florence Dacey will read her poetry 
  • 1 PM to 10 PM: Granite Area Arts Council will host an exhibit in the K.K. Berge Gallery that features a variety of Meander Artists. Visitors to the Gallery will see a representative sample of work from 20 of the 45 artists who are involved in the Meander Arts Crawl. Reception is sponsored by Clean Up the River Environment (CURE).
  • 7 PM: Put on your poodle skirts! PlaceBase Productions will create an original, interactive "walking theater" production in downtown Granite Falls, highlighting the history of Main Street and the community's revered 'Saturday Nights' of the 1940s and 50s. 
  • 8 PM: A twenty-one piece big band, as well as a few other surprises! 
Community Design Workshop with MCAD
Saturday, October 19 & Sunday, October 20

The Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD), in collaboration with CURE, will be hosting a workshop in October. As a part of MCAD's ongoing Greater Minnesota Arts Initiative, they are coordinating a weekend design workshop in southwestern Minnesota called " Activate Vacant Space." It has two objectives: to visually brainstorm ideas for interior and exterior vacant or underutilized spaces in the Upper Minnesota River Valley, and to develop 1-2 projects for implementation this fall.

They will have some case studies and other resources on hand, and will integrate community participants and MCAD faculty and students to have diversity of skills and voices on each team. There are 10 to 12 of us coming out from MCAD. We'd love to have you as part of the process. See example of projects by clicking here.

 

Please email Sarah at [email protected] with the following:

  1. Name and contact information
  2. Any conflicts / commitments on Saturday October 19th and Sunday, October 20th. Project work will be approximately 6 to 8 hours on Saturday and 4 hours on Sunday.
  3. Amount of stipend you request (if any)
For more information, please click here
In the news...
Jobs within our network....
CURE's Events & Adventure's Program
MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Experience the Upper Minnesota River Watershed with guides from our CURE members and board members by paddling, biking, fishing, birding, hiking or all of the above! Click on the link below to learn more about our last summer trip including details on special costs for our CURE members. - Advanced registration required for selected adventures. More events and adventures to be added to our fall schedule!

 

October
November
An event co-sponsored with the 
Granite Area Arts Council featuring 
Florence Dacey, Margo McCreary and 
Marie Olofsdotte on Friday, October 4th 
beginning at 4 PM in the K.K. Berge Building,  
Downtown Granite Falls, MN

Saturday, Oct. 19 and Sunday, Oct. 20
K.K. Berge Building, Downtown Granite Falls
Coming soon!

 

Membership
Want to become a CURE Member? 
Clean Up the River Environment (CURE) is supported in part by your annual membership. Your membership provides funding for our Events and Adventures Program, our kayak and canoe fleet, and projects and campaigns that further our work in Watershed Sustainability, Climate and Energy, Leadership and Community Engagement. Click here to become a CURE member.
Sincerely,

  

The staff at CURE

CURE Logo

117 South 1st Street
Montevideo, Minnesota  56265
320-269-2984
Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

View our videos on YouTube
           
Copyright � 2013. All Rights Reserved.