Bloomington

VFW sponsors scholarship contests

Bloomington middle and high school students are invited to participate in the VFW's 2013-14 Patriots Pen and Voice of Democracy scholarship contests.

The Patriots Pen contest seeks middle school students to write a 300- to 400-word essay on the theme "What I Would Tell America's Founding Fathers." The national winner will receive a $10,000 U.S. savings bond and a trip to Washington, D.C.

The Voice of Democracy contest challenges high school students to voice their opinions in three- to five-minute audio essays on the theme "Is Our Constitution Still Relevant?"

The state winner will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington to compete for a $30,000 scholarship.

The deadline to enter is Nov. 1. Additional information is at www.vfw.org/Community/Programs.

Minnetonka

St. David's Center holds fall festival

Celebrate the great outdoors at Get Out and Grow!, a free fall festival at St. David's Center on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., presented by the Mosaic Co.

Located on the St. David's Center campus at 3395 Plymouth Road in Minnetonka, the Fall Festival takes place in and near the center's 2.5 acres of DNR-certified School Forest.

Activities will include horse-drawn wagon rides with Cedar River Horse Logging; furry creatures and creepy-crawly lizards in the Minnesota Zoo Zoomobile (10 a.m.–noon); Woodstock, the fuzzy chicken from the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum (11 a.m.-1 p.m.); Putt Putt for Clean Water with the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District; casting practice with Jasper Guide Services and Fish Camp; rock wall climbing with Three Rivers Park District, and dancing to music from Kidsdance.

New this year is the Mosaic Wetland Trailway Treasure Hunt, a self-guided discovery activity, accessible for wheelchairs, which will encourage children and families to explore nature as they walk, run, roll or stroll through the School Forest and Minnetonka Trail System from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

For more information, go to www.stdavidscenter.org/fallfestival.

Kim McGuire