Briefs: Carpenter St. Croix Valley Nature Center hosts birding festival

Bird lovers are invited to the Earth Day Birding Festival on Saturday at Carpenter St. Croix Valley Nature Center.

The event from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. will feature a variety of classes, including Introduction to Birding and Raptors 101. There will also be bird-banding demonstrations and opportunities to go on guided birding field trips in the Hastings area.

Registration is required. The event costs $5 per person or $15 per person with a boxed lunch. Call 651-437-4359 to register in advance. Participants can also register between 7 a.m. and noon on Saturday at the nature center, 12805 St. Croix Trail S., Hastings.

For more information, including a schedule of activities at the festival, go to www.carpenternaturecenter.org.

Learn about and discuss foreign policy topics through Great Decisions workshops at the Galaxie Library this month.

The Great Decisions series provides a nonpartisan forum for discussion of American policy issues and features a presenter with expertise on the topic. The group will tackle sectarianism in the Middle East on April 14 and Syria's refugee crisis on April 28. Both sessions run from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the library, 14955 Galaxie Av., Apple Valley.

Participants are encouraged, but not required, to read the Great Decisions briefing book before attending the events. The book is available at the library.

The deadline for residents to register for the citywide garage sale is April 24.

People who register their sales will be included on a map provided to shoppers and given a registration number and coordinating signs to put in their yards during the sale. The sale is May 15 and 16; people can choose to participate on just one of the days.

Register at City Hall, 100 Civic Center Parkway, or online at www.burnsville.org/garagesale. Registration is $20 per household.

Eagan residents who want to purchase a tree from the city have until Friday to place an order — unless the supply runs out before then.

There are eight varieties of trees available this year: oak, elm, maple, birch, honey locust, crabapple, Haralson apple and Black Hills spruce. Residents can purchase up to two trees. Orders can be placed through the city website, www.cityofeagan.com, or at the city's Central Maintenance Facility, 3501 Coachman Point, before 4:30 p.m. Friday. Trees, with prices starting at $25, are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Senior Adults Learning Together (SALT) is hosting a spring series of enrichment classes for seniors at Church of the Risen Savior in Burnsville.

The events featuring lectures and live music will be held April 20, April 27, May 4 and May 11. Participants pick two one-hour lectures to attend each day. The first lectures begin at 9:30 a.m., and there is an optional lunch at 11:45 a.m. at the church, 1501 E. County Road 42, Burnsville.

Topics offered this spring include organ donation, the history of Lake Minnetonka, a discussion of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro, and the Minnesota economy. For more information, go to www.risensavior.org/salt or request a brochure by calling Marianne at 952-431-5222.

Each Monday event costs $5. Lunch is an additional $9. Advance registration is suggested but not required.

Rosemount officials recently recognized Danielle Waage and Ryan Slipka as the police officer and the firefighter of the year for 2014.

Slipka has been a Rosemount firefighter for almost five years and was recently selected to be president of the Rosemount Firefighters' Relief Association. He has been a mentor to probationary firefighters and assisted with fire prevention training at local schools and through tours at Fire Station No. 1.