Arts briefs: Beer tasting set at Hay Lake Museum

The Washington County Historical Society's seventh annual Beer Tasting fundraiser takes place from 4 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 21, at the Hay Lake Museum south of Scandia at 14020 195th St. N., Marine on St. Croix.

Cost of the event is $15 per person. You must be 21 or older to attend the tasting.

The beer tasting will feature samples from Lift Bridge Brewery, Still-H20, St. Croix Brewing Co., Surly Brewing Co., Joseph Wolf Brewing Co., Summit Brewing Co., The Traveler Beer Co., Stevens Point Brewing, Redneck Juice, Central Waters Brewing Co., Sierra Nevada, Bent Brewstillery and Tin Whiskers. The event will also feature a silent auction and raffle.

The Scandia-Marine Lions Club will be selling food, there will be a presentation on microbrewing and the St. Croix Base Ball Club will take on the Rum River Rovers next door to the museum at the park. Admission (matching 1860s rules of base ball) is free, and the game will begin at 2:15 p.m.

For more information, contact WCHS at 651-439-5956 or the Hay Lake Museum Complex manager, Dustyn Dubuque, at 651-433-4014.

Organizers of Stillwater Log Jam have completed the festival's music lineup.

• Friday, July 18, 4:30 to 5:15 p.m., Crimson Horizon (Battle of the Bands); 5:45 to 6:30 p.m., Ruben; 7 to 8 p.m., Galactic Cowboy Orchestra; 8:30 to 10 p.m., Sonny Knight and the Lakers.

• Sunday, July 20, 4 to 4:30 p.m., Blue Hazard; 5 to 6 p.m., Okee Dokee Brothers.

A band with strong St. Croix River ties will return to its roots for a three-hour cruise and concert on June 19 aboard the Grand Duchess out of Hudson, Wis., in a program presented by the St. Croix River Association.

Horseshoes and Hand Grenades plays what it calls "progressive high-energy old-time folk music." The five-piece group hails from Stevens Point, Wis., but has long enjoyed playing the St. Croix area. Banjo player Russell Pedersen spent several summers as a seasonal National Park Service ranger on the river.

The river factors into several songs by Horseshoes and Hand Grenades. Pedersen says he wrote "River Rat" over the course of a few years while working on the St. Croix. The instrumental number "5-Foot Sturgeon" is about a sturgeon he almost caught on the St. Croix, and "St. Croix Hills" is "not so much about the river but thoughts, feelings, and memories I've made in the river valley."

Tickets are $50, with proceeds going to support the St. Croix River Association's mission to protect, restore and celebrate the river. It runs from 6 to 9:30 p.m. and will include a two-hour set of music by the band as well as appetizers and a cash bar.

The summer solstice will be celebrated from 5 p.m. to sunset on Saturday, June 21, at the Franconia Sculpture Park, 29836 St. Croix Trail, Shafer.

The longest day of the year will be celebrated with dinner with the park's artists-in-residence ($10 donation for the homemade meal), tall tales and s'mores around the bonfire, poetry readings, merriment and music spun by DJ ESP, aka Woody McBride.

For information, call 651-257-6668 or e-mail info@franconia.org to RSVP.

A program on the summer night sky, "Starlight Starbright!" will be offered at 9 p.m. on Saturday, June 21, at William O'Brien State Park, 16821 O'Brien Trail N., Marine on St. Croix.

Amateur astronomer Kenny Bahmer will take participants on a tour of the night sky. It will start indoors with a program on the evening skies and then head outside for viewing through a telescope. If it is cloudy, only the indoor program will be held. Participants should meet at the visitor center. For more information, call 651-433-0500.

After a short talk on the evening skies, the astronomers will take you outside to view celestial sights through telescopes. If it is cloudy, there will be an indoor presentation. Participants should meet at the visitor center. For more information, call 651-436-5391.

Auditions for "The Dixie Swim Club" take place from 7 to 10 p.m. on both Monday, June 16 and Wednesday, June 18 at the Lakeshore Players Theatre, 4820 Stewart Av., White Bear Lake. Callbacks will be at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 21.

Those auditioning should bring a completed audition form and headshot, and be prepared to read from the script.

"The Dixie Swim Club" is a touching comedy about friendships that last forever. Five Southern women, whose friendships began many years ago on their college swim team, meet at the same beach cottage on North Carolina's Outer Banks free from husbands, kids and jobs to catch up, laugh and meddle in each other's lives for a weekend.

For more information and the audition form, go to www.lakeshoreplayers.com/.

Afton businesses will feature live music, free wine tasting, food and drink specials, prize drawings, spa specials.

For more details, go to: www.facebook.com/ultimategirlsnightout.