Week of September 13-17, 2010

Well, it has been a couple of weeks since I posted, so I have already not been able to keep up with my original commitment to do a weekly post! It must be this beautiful early fall weather getting in the way. The weather indeed has been beautiful and the colors are starting to come in with the first signs of red, oranges, and yellows appearing on the trees here at Long Lake. We had around 80-150 Canada geese using the lake for the last two weeks, keeping us company with there loud calls and music they make. It is indeed music, if you have ever heard them talk they are truly beautiful to listen to them. I enjoy hearing them best in those quiet early morning hours or just as dusk is coming on when the air is crisp and calm. Ahh, but I am getting off task.... back to talking about what has been happening here at Long Lake!
LLCC recently hosted the Minnesota Astronomy Society's 2nd annual Northern Nights Star Fest. Participants arrived on Thursday with others arriving on Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate the first two evenings with rain and cloud cover making viewing a washout. However, there were several outstanding guest speakers from the U of M who gave some really good presentations on Astronomy and related topics about our heavenly skies. This helped keep people upbeat and Saturday evening turned out to be a great with everyone getting a great night of viewing in. Everyone enjoyed their time at Long Lake and when not engaged in astronomy, they took advantage of Long Lake and did some hiking, photography, or a canoe trip on the lake. We are looking forward to having the 3rd annual next year, so if you are interested in partaking in this great event make sure to check out our upcoming events on the website in August next year. We will also be hosting more public viewing evenings in the future as well, so stay tuned!
Last week marked our first schools of the year coming in to take part in Long Lake's programs. Aitkin, Hill City, McGregor, and Scandia schools all came to participate and enjoy Long Lake.
I also need to introduce our new group of Seasonal Naturalists to everyone. They started with us back on August 30th and will be here with us through the school year until June. Two of the three Andrea Fierst and Melanie Muske have worked with Long Lake in the past with Moira Hough coming to us for the first time. Andrea and Melanie hail from Minnesota, while Moira joins us from New York. We are excited to have them with us for the year. We also have a new Naturalist joining us on staff this year as well. Erin O'Brien comes to us with a background in Elementary Education and Outdoor Education. We are excited about having her join our staff as well. Don't hesitate to check out their profiles in our staff directory to learn more about them and what they enjoy doing.
In ending, I want to remind everyone we will be having a photography class coming up here at LLCC. Check out the upcoming events calendar on the website for all the details. Until next time, enjoy the outdoors!