By Kevin D. Nelson
Austin Parks and Recreation

The kick-off for the 10th annual Paint the Town Pink was held at Business After Hours at The Hormel Institute on Tuesday, Jan. 14. There are many other “pink” events which you may enjoy. An overview can be found at the Hormel Institute website at www.hi.umn.edu/pttp/. Events listed there presently include the following:

Today: Hoot and Ole’s Hotdish Feed to benefit Dutchtown Jumper’s plunge team, noon

Jan. 25: Fishing for a Cure at East Side Lake, noon

Jan. 27: Tip Night at Perkins, 4 p.m.

Feb. 1: Plunging for Pink at East Side Lake, 12:30 p.m.

Feb. 6: St. Mark’s Living Bake Sale and Luncheon, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Feb. 8: Paint the Rink Pink Hockey Game at Riverside. Get your tickets early, 7:05 p.m.

Feb. 9: Smashing Cancer Demo Derby at Mower County Fairgrounds, 1 p.m.

What you may not know is that all the dollars raised during this Paint the Town Pink campaign are used as seed dollars to receive larger grants benefiting research working to find cures for not only breast cancer, but other cancers as well.

Waiting for Cross Country Skiing?

We finally have the snow needed for cross country skiing at the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center. Trail grooming was done on Thursday, Jan. 16, prior to the storm this weekend. Additional trail grooming will be completed early next week.

Monday, Jan. 20, is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. City offices, which includes the Jay C. Hormel Interpretive Center, will be closed. No ski rentals will be available on Monday.

Riverside Arena game schedule

The Austin Bruins are home tonight, hosting the Minot Minotauros. The puck drops at 7:05 p.m.

Conditions were good to very good at the outdoor rinks and sledding hill as of Friday. Please make certain to check snow and/or ice conditions and that the warming house is open and available prior to dropping off kids at these sites.

Packer Arena public skate dates:

• 7-8:30 p.m. today
• 2-3:30 p.m. Monday
• 7:15-8:15 p.m. Wednesday
• Stick Time: 4-5 p.m., Monday

These are also posted on our Facebook page. Having a birthday party or getting your friends and family together? Rent the arena. Call our office at 507-433-1881 to inquire about available times.

Nature center

Saturday, Jan. 25, you are welcome to join the Friends of the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center for their annual meeting at 1:30 p.m. in the Ruby Rupner Auditorium.

Online

Did you know that there are several websites that list activities happening in Austin? Discover Austin: www.austinmn.com; Austin Area Chamber: www.austincoc.com; Austin Arts Center: www.austinareaarts.org.  If you want to check out Park and Rec, the Nature Center, or the Austin Public Library go to www.ci.austin.mn.us, the City of Austin, and click “Departments.”

Looking for work

As we roll into late January, we’re already planning for summer hiring. Park and Rec will have many part-time job opportunities for ages high school and older. Openings will include park maintenance, municipal pool lifeguarding, swim lesson instruction, and concession vending/admissions sales, flower watering and flower care, gardening, coaching, and officiating. You can check our city web page at www.ci.austin.mn.us as well for employment openings, as we’ll have them listed there soon.