Did you know we offer curling?

There will be an open house at Packer Arena from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 7.

Come out and give it a try or just warm up for the league, which will start the next week on Nov. 14.  The league will run on Wednesdays for six weeks at a cost of $90 per player.

Deadline to sign up for the curling league is 4 p.m. on Nov. 14. We encourage teams of four to sign up; however, individuals may also register and teams will be made each night league meets.

What you should bring to curl:  carry a clean pair of rubber soled shoes to keep the ice clean, layer up as it is cold in the arena, but you will warm up, loose fitting pants as you need to stretch, and don’t forget your gloves.

Don’t let cabin fever get you down.  Get a team together for the adult volleyball leagues.

The team deadline is 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 7, and you must register in our office.

The team fee is $185 plus an $8 per player fee with a roster limit of 12 players.  Teams play at Ellis Middle School. Women play on Wednesday evening and co-ed play Friday evening.  League begins Wednesday, Jan. 2, and Friday, Jan. 4, for 10 weeks.

For more information, call our office at 507-433-1881.

There will also be Adult Flag Football offered and played in the Wescott Dome beginning Wednesday, Jan. 2, and running for eight weeks.  Deadline to register your team is 5 p.m. on Dec. 21 in our office.  The team fee is $477; players must be 18 years of age by July 1 of 2018 with a minimum of seven players needed and roster limit of 20 players.  Game times will be 6:15 p.m. or 7:15 p.m.

For the young baseball enthusiasts, Dome Baseball will begin on Monday, Jan. 7, for those 7 to 9 years old and Tuesday, Jan. 8, for those 10 to 12 years old. This pitching machine league is designed for skill development and live game experience.

Deadline to register online is Dec. 31, 2018. Go to http://cityofapr.maxgalaxy.net or follow the link on the city of Austin’s website at www.ci.austin.mn.us.

Volleyball clinic

Hey girls in grades seven and eight, sign up for the Riverland volleyball clinics.

On Sundays from 1:30-3 p.m. starting Dec. 2 participants will learn and practice passing and serving.

On Dec. 9, learn and practice setting and on Dec. 16, learn and practice hitting.

You can sign up for all three for $40 or pick the ones you want for $15 per session.

Email helen.jahr@riverland.edu or call her at 507-279-1266 and she can answer your questions.

Pruning trees

For those of you with oak trees, the best time to prune them is during the “safe months” from November to March to minimize the risk for oak wilt.

Oak wilt fungus spreads through the roots, grafting to another oak which can be as much as 50 feet away.  The picnic beetle is also a way to infect a wounded oak or freshly pruned oak.  The picnic beetle is not attached specifically to oaks and cannot wound a tree but they will visit fresh wounds and transfer the fungus.

If an oak must be pruned during the high-risk time of April to June or in low risk from July to October, you must treat the fresh cut immediately with a nontoxic tree wound dressing or a latex spray paint.

Symptoms begin near the trees top and progresses down with leaves, turning a bronze to reddish-brown beginning with the tip and margins of the leaf.   Oak Anthracnose is sometimes confused with oak wilt, but usually only occurs in the lower crowns of trees.  The other lookalikes are bur oak blight and the two-lined chestnut borer.

For more information, check out the University of MN DNR site at  www.dnr.state.mn.us/treecare/forest_health/oakwilt/index.html.  If you suspect Oak Wilt you may call our office at 433-1881.

Riverside Arena

Did you know that Austin’s Riverside Figure Skating Club will let a participant try it three times for free?  Go to their Facebook page, email rfscaustin@gmail.com or call 507-273-2023 to ask questions on when and where.

The Austin Bruin’s next home game is tonight against the Chippewa Steel. Puck drops at 7:05 p.m.

Packer Arena

Public Skate will now be at Packer Arena:

•1:30-3:30 p.m., Nov. 3

•2:45-5 p.m., Nov. 10

•1:15-3:30 p.m., Nov. 17

•1-3 p.m., Nov. 24

•7-9 p.m. Nov. 9 and 16

•3:30-5 p.m., Nov. 23

•4-6 p.m., Nov. 22

Stick Time will be 5:15-6:45 p.m. on Nov. 9 and 16.

We add times as different opportunities arise, so check our Facebook page as we will update this calendar as they happen.