Monarch Festival – Festival de la Monarca 2016

This year’s Monarch Festival will occur on Sat., Sept. 10, from 10am to 4pm. The Festival celebrates the monarch butterfly’s amazing 2300-mile migration from Minnesota to Mexico with music, food, dance, hands-on art, native plant sales, and plenty of opportunities to get up-close with monarch butterflies, learn about their habitats, and what you can do to make a difference.

The Monarch Festival takes place near the Nokomis Naturescape Garden, a certified Monarch Waystation, featuring native plants that monarchs need to lay eggs, host caterpillars and get nectar. The festival features several vendors with native plants for sale so participants can grow a monarch habitat at home.

Festival participants can listen to great music, dance up a storm, make a milkweed seed bomb, enjoy great food, get up-close with monarch caterpillars and butterflies, get their hands dirty and make some art, tag and release a monarch butterfly, play games and much more.

Visit the Minneapolis Monarch Festival website at www.monarchfestival.org for the full line-up of Monarch Festival music, food, art, activities, and native plant sale information. These activities are all free and open to the public. No registration is required.

The Festival will be held just east of the Lake Nokomis Community Center in the area bounded by E. Minnehaha Pkwy., Woodlawn Blvd., and E. Nokomis Pkwy.

The festival is co-hosted by the Nokomis East Neighborhood Association and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.

Free energy efficiency visits

The City is offering free home visits from energy-saving experts to income-qualified Minneapolis residents (including renters). Join more than 9,000 households that have already benefited from the program. Home Energy Squad visits bring energy efficiency experts to participants’ homes to install energy-saving materials and make recommendations on energy-saving upgrades. Minneapolis households over the income limit for the free visits can still receive the visit for $70.

The City of Minneapolis offers free visits to qualified households with an income less than $48,100 for one person, $54,950 for two people, $61,850 for three people, or up to $90,650 for eight people. If the Home Energy Squad recommends insulation or air sealing, income-qualified residents also have special access to zero percent financing to complete that work. Homeowners can call 612-335-5874 to confirm eligibility and schedule a visit. Funds are limited.

Home Energy Squad is provided by CenterPoint Energy and Xcel Energy in partnership with the City of Minneapolis and delivered by the Center for Energy and Environment (CEE), a Minneapolis nonprofit.

To schedule a Home Energy Squad visit, call 612-335-5874 or visit the City’s website.

Free Range Orchestra

The Lake Nokomis Free Range Orchestra and Choir is open to community members of all ages and backgrounds who would like to help create an original, outdoor, spatial sound score for the pathway installation that leads into the Minneapolis Monarch Festival on Sat., Sept. 10. All abilities welcome!

Musicians and singers will combine set material with improvisational approaches under the direction of music director and composer James Everest. Participants are asked to preregister and bring their instrument or voice to this outdoor workshop and rehearsal. NOTE: Dress Rehearsal is Fri., Sept. 9, 6-8pm, also at the park.

Music director and composer James Everest has been creating and directing large-scale, immersive site-specific performance installations for over 20 years, as well as performing in bands such as Roma di Luna, Lateduster, Vicious Vicious, The Sensational Joint Chiefs, and Sans Le Systeme. For over ten years he was the lead collaborator and music director for Catalyst Dance and launched the iNMiGRATiON installation performance series in 2015.

Register for this event by visiting http://monarchfestival.org/activities/monarch-magic.

Childcare program

Affordable, quality school-age childcare. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board offers Rec Plus for children in Kindergarten-6th grades at neighborhood recreation centers. Rec Plus enables children to experience the positive benefits of a balanced recreation program and provides a safe environment that promotes healthy physical and social development.

Rec Plus operates before and after school and on school release days, depending on the site. The program offers children opportunities to get exercise, make new friends, gain confidence and have fun. Activities include games and sports, arts and crafts, homework help, field trips and nutritious snacks.

Contact Keewaydin Park Rec Center at 612-370-4956 for availability and registration information. Full-time and part-time spots are available. Space is limited per site. Rec Plus follows the Minneapolis Public Schools schedule.

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Upcoming NENA Events

• Tues., Aug. 30 and Sept. 6, 6-8pm, Nokomis Naturescape Garden—Group Gardening—all are welcome, at Nokomis Naturescape on Lake Nokomis at 50th St. and Nokomis Pkwy.

• Wed., Sept. 7, 6:30-8:30pm, NENA Housing, Commercial and Streetscape Committee, NENA office, 4313 E. 54th St.

• Thur., Sept. 8, 7-8pm, NENA Executive Committee Meeting, NENA office, 4313 E. 54th St.

• Sat., Sept. 10, 10am-4pm, Minneapolis Monarch Festival, Lake Nokomis Park, 2401 E Minnehaha Pkwy.

• Wed., Sept. 14, 6-7pm, NENA Green Initiatives Committee Meeting, NENA office, 4313 E. 54th St.

• Tues., Sept. 13, 6:30-7:30pm, NEBA Board Meeting, McDonald’s Liquor Store, 5010 S. 34th Ave.

• Thur., Sept. 22, 7-9pm, NENA Board of Directors Meeting, NENA office, 4313 E. 54th St.