West metro town briefs: Country-western dance coming to Bloomington Armory

A 50+ country-western dinner and dance will be held Friday, June 26, at the Bloomington Armory, 3300 W. 98th St. Tickets are $15 and must be purchased by June 19 at Creekside Community Center, 9801 Penn Av. S.The evening kicks off with line-dance lessons from 6 to 7 p.m., followed by dinner and then live music by the Saddle Sores from 7 to 9:30 p.m.

Carver County Parks, Chaska Parks and Recreation and Victoria Parks are once again hosting Bike Konnect, an 8-mile family bike ride.

This year's event will be held Saturday, June 20, with the ride beginning in Victoria and ending at the Chaska Community Center. More information is available at chaskacommunitycenter.com or ci.victoria.mn.us.

Last year's event received an award of excellence from the Minnesota Recreation and Park Association.

The 35th annual Art on the Lake will take place in Excelsior this week.

The festival features local artists, musicians and food vendors. It takes place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, June 13 and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, June 14 at the Commons park.

More details are available at excelsior-lakeminnetonkachamber.com.

Reservations are required for the 5:30 p.m. fish fry. (A spaghetti alternative is available.) Tickets for the dinner are $12 for adults, $6 for kids ages 6 to 12. To buy tickets for the dinner, contact the church office at 952-935-1753 or gethsemane@glconline.org.

Reservations are not required for the 7 p.m. forum, entitled "Eyewitness to Global Warming." Steger, a native Minnesotan and polar explorer, will talk about environmental changes he has seen in Arctic regions over four decades. He will share photographs, satellite imagery and videos that document deterioration in the polar ice caps.

For information, go to www.glconline.org.

Blue Water Theatre Company will present the Broadway musical "The Drowsy Chaperone" at 7 p.m. June 11-13 at Eisenhower Community Center, 1001 Hwy. 7, Hopkins.

The cast features more than 40 teen actors from a dozen area schools.

Tickets are $16 for adults and $11 for students. They can be purchased in advance at www.bluewatertheatre.com or at the door beginning one hour before each performance. Seating is reserved.

For more information, go to www.bluewatertheatre.com, call 952-855-9147 or e-mail charlie.leonard@bluewatertheatre.com.

The University of Minnesota prostate cancer support group will meet from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, June 11, at Hope Lodge, 2500 University Av. SE, Minneapolis. This session will be an open discussion at which participants can discuss their experiences with prostate cancer to help each other learn, support and connect.

Family and friends are welcome to attend. There is no charge, free parking is available behind the Lodge or on adjacent streets, and light refreshments will be served. For more information, call 612-388-3588.

The Plymouth Fire Service is looking to hire paid-on-call firefighters and will hold a recruitment open house from 9 a.m. to noon June 13 at Fire Station III, 3300 Dunkirk Lane.

For more information, go to plymouthmn.gov/become-firefighter or call 763-509-5120.

Plymouth will hold a free kids concert featuring the group Sticks and Tones at 11 a.m. Wednesday, June 10, at Parkers Lake Park, at County Road 6 and Niagara Lanew.

The event is sponsored by Abbott Northwestern-WestHealth and TCF Bank.

Free high-speed Wi-Fi is now available on all 32 Plymouth Metrolink express service buses.

The new feature follows the launch of a free mobile app with real-time bus tracking, a route planner and push notifications of rider alerts (go to plymouthmn.gov/metrolinkapp for more details).

The free event will be held at Cooper High School, 8230 47th Av. N., New Hope.

The district describes the fair as a chance "to explore numerous career pathways and learn more about various postsecondary options available to further an education or advance in a career."

Local community and technical colleges will provide information, and staff will be available to help families fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

Summit Academy OIC, a nonprofit vocational and educational training center, will also be on hand, holding hourly information sessions.

To register for one of those, call 763-504-8027.