• The Field Regina Northrop Neighbor-hood Group will be celebrating its 25th Silver Anniversary with a colorful parade of VIPs, decorated cars and bikes, and lots more that will travel from 42nd Street to the McRae Park grounds on Saturday, June 7, starting at 10 a.m.
The Celebration at McRae Park will start at 11:30 and go until 3. There will be music and dance performances on stage, pony rides, face painting and various games for kids. The new FRNNG arts initiative will showcase neighborhood artists. Vendors will be on hand for food and beverages. There will be prizes and giveaways as well as a free commemorative booklet highlighting FRNNG’s history of the past 25 years.
• The Nokomis East Neighborhood Association has announced that Home Improvement Loans are back! NENA has funding available for Home Improvement Loans through its administrator, the Center for Energy and Environment. The program offers low interest loans for eligible home improvements and city code violations. For more information on the improvement loans, please call 612-335-5830. You may also pick up an application at the NENA office, 3000 E. 50th St.
• NENA’s annual habitat workshop will be offered on Saturday, May 31, 9:30-11 a.m. at the Nokomis Community Center, 2401 E. Minnehaha Pkwy.
The workshop will show how you can make a difference in saving monarch butterflies and other pollinator populations devastated by habitat loss. Monarch butterflies need milkweed to reproduce. They are the only plants that monarch caterpillars eat, so increasing the availability of milkweed is critical to the survival of the monarch migration, as well as the Minnesota monarch population. Small urban gardens can make a big difference in making up for the loss of rural habitat.
The workshop discussion will include the Monarch butterfly life cycle, migration and required habitat needs; the best native plants for monarchs; and how to plan your garden.
The class is presented by Vicki Joy Bonk, a NENA volunteer who has served as the Nokomis Naturescape park stewardship leader for 15 years.
A “Garden-to-Go” kit is included in the registration cost of $25. It has a selection of native plants (milkweed, nectar and shelter) and instructions for starting your own monarch garden.
To register call the NENA office 612-724-5652.
Attendance is free if you do not need the kit.
