If you haven’t met her as yet, or read about her last week in the Austin Daily Herald article, I would like to mention that we have a new staff member on board at the Austin CVB.

Heidi Murray assumed the role of Tourism Coordinator recently, and we are happy to welcome her and her family to Austin. Heidi was born in Austin, attended college in Florida and had been working in North Mankato. She and her husband, and little girl, will soon be re-locating to our beautiful Austin.

Thursday, the Austin Page Turners will host the top event of the planning year. It’s our tenth year. Since 2002, this group of community members have been leading the charge in planning an annual citywide reading event.

A Minnesota author is chosen each year, whose work has broad appeal and brings the community together for a great literary discussion. The annual event culminates with the author actually coming to Austin for a series of activities, including a free presentation at the Austin Public Library that is open to everyone. The author chosen for this year’s events is Kao Kalia Yang, author of “The Latehomecomer.”

Calendar of Events

(subject to change)

Monday

• Book discussion led by Sharon Hyland and Sue Grove at the Coffee House on Main in Austin, 3 p.m.

• Book discussion led by Terry Dilley and Doug Parr, Coffee House on Main in Austin, 7 p.m.

Thursday.

• Lunch with the author for 10 lucky winners at Riverland Community College, 11:30 a.m. to Noon.

• Discussion with the author at RCC, Room N123, Austin, Public welcome, noon to 12:45 p.m.

• Small group discussion with the author in Christgau Hall with the students at the Austin High School. Public welcome, 1:15 to 2 p.m.

• Celebration in honor of the 10th anniversary of the Austin Page Turners citywide reading events. Cake and coffee served in the library. The public is welcome, 6:15 to 7 p.m.

• Presentation by author Kao Kalia Yang, with questions and book signing to follow. Books available for purchase. The public is welcome, 7 to 9 p.m.

Austin Page Turners is sponsored by: American Association of University Women (AAUW), Austin Public Library, Austin Public Schools, Friends of the Austin Public Library, Holiday Inn of Austin, Riverland Community College.

All events are free and open to the public, unless otherwise indicated.

Tickets will soon go on sale for our next Cooking Tips & Trends, session, scheduled for May 14. The Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau is hosting our “Cooking Tips & Trends” class once again in partnership with the Hormel Historic Home and Austin Community Education. Together, we have developed this exciting, fun, new cooking class for everyone.

These classes are a wonderful way to make use of the excellent kitchen facilities at the new Hormel Historic Home banquet hall and conference center. We’ve created a “food network” type experience that is geared to cooks and aspiring cooks of all ages. Nothing will be too complicated or involved, and we feature locally known chefs that focus on ease of preparation, while also including information on fun entertaining and decorating ideas. We have a special theme with each class. ou can purchase your tickets at the Community Education office.

For the full listing of all upcoming activities in and around Austin, please check out our calendar of events on our website www.austincvb.com.

You can call us for events and information at 437-4563. Let us know what is happening with your group or organization, so we can help promote it to our visitors.

Happy Easter.