West Metro town briefs

Minnetonka residents can meet city staff and learn more about the city at the Minnetonka Fire Department and City Open House next Tuesday.

The family event will take place from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at the Minnetonka Civic Center campus. At the conclusion, there'll be fireworks at 8 p.m. at the outdoor amphitheater.

There'll be fire truck rides, department tours and free hot dogs, cookies, pop and lemonade. For more details, go to www.eminnetonka.com.

The Plymouth Fire Department will hold its annual open house from noon-3 p.m. Oct. 12 at Fire Station III, 3300 Dunkirk Lane.

The event includes a live kitchen grease fire demonstration, State Patrol rollover simulator, fire truck tour, free food from local restaurants and free pumpkins.

Children will be eligible to enter a drawing to win a free fire truck ride to Honey & Mackie's ice cream shop if they bring a drawing of their home fire escape plan, a colored fire safety poster or a nonperishable food item for donation.

For more information, call the Plymouth Fire Department at 763-509-5120.

The competition, aiming to promote fire prevention during October, which is National Fire Prevention Month, is open to fourth- and fifth-grade students who attend school in Plymouth. This year's theme is "Prevent Kitchen Fires."

Entries will be accepted until 4:30 p.m. Oct. 21 at the Public Safety building attached to City Hall, 3400 Plymouth Blvd. Poster entries must be 12-by-18 inches with the child's name, age, grade, school, teacher's name, home telephone number and parents' names on the back of the poster.

The grand prize winner gets $25 and a ride on a fire truck to school. One winner also will be selected from each school that participates; those winners will get a $15 award.

It's time to reserve a table for the Oct. 26 Fall Boutique, where craftspeople can sell their handmade goods.

Rentals cost $17 for a 3-foot-square card table, and sellers can reserve up to two tables. Manufactured items, used goods and food cannot be sold.

For more information, call 612-861-9363 or go to http://tinyurl.com/kzn3eoz.

Hold Your Horses, a nonprofit organization that offers equine-assisted occupational therapy in a private barn setting, is holding a fundraiser Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. at Pergola Farm, 6824 Watertown Road.

Family tickets are $20 and include lunch between noon and 2 p.m., entertainment by cowboy singer, storyteller and trick roper Pop Wagner; face painting, hay rides, a petting zoo, kids' art activities and a chance to meet six therapy horses.

For more information or to contribute, go to www.holdyourhorses.org and click on "Hay There!"

On Saturday, a group of climate scientists will explain the new report on climate change from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change by conference call to several west metro locations.

Information is available at www.citi zensclimatelobby-mn.org or by calling Chuck Prentice at 612-965-8284.

The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum is offering classes on the art of growing apples and pumpkins.

"Grow and Maintain Your Own Apple Trees" will be offered Saturday, Oct. 12, from 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Class members will take a tour of the orchard, where the first Honeycrisp tree still produces fruit, and learn how to plant and care for trees.

Then on Oct. 18, "Beyond the Great Pumpkin!" will be offered from 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. The class will explore the pumpkin patches of the arboretum and learn about squashes and gourds, tracing their roots back to the earliest plants cultivated here.

Cost of each class is $40 for members and $55 for nonmembers. Register at www.arboretum.umn.edu/gardening classes.aspx or by calling 952-443-1422.

No appointment is necessary. Children more than six months old and adults can receive shots. Pertussis, or whooping cough, vaccine also will be available for children.

The Bloomington Public Health Department will administer the vaccines.

The League of Women Voters Golden Valley is hosting a forum for candidates for the three City Council seats up for election Nov. 5.

The forum is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9, at the Golden Valley City Hall council chambers, 7800 Golden Valley Rd.

There are nine candidates running for two four-year seats and two candidates running for a two-year seat.

Running in a special election for the two-year term are Steven Schmidgall and John Giese.