West metro town briefs

Sleep Out fundraiser Interfaith Outreach & Community Partners (IOCP) will begin its 13th annual Sleep Out fundraiser for affordable housing this weekend, with a goal of raising $2 million. The campaign will run through Dec. 23.

Rising foreclosure rates and housing costs are increasing the demand for IOCP's services, said its executive director, LaDonna Hoy. The agency hopes to raise enough funds to help meet the requests of more than 900 families during the next year, she said.

Sleep Out funds are used to meet emergency housing needs of low-income families and individuals and to build affordable housing developments.

A communitywide kickoff event is set for 6-8 p.m. Saturday at Klapprich Park, 300 E. Wayzata Blvd., Wayzata. General Mills and Cargill will host their annual Sleep Outs on Nov. 21 -- General Mills at Klapprich Park and Cargill at its Wayzata headquarters.

And ninth-grader Peter Larson will be back in his cardboard box for the ninth year. Each year the Wayzata High School student spends anywhere from one night to six weeks sleeping in a box on his deck to drum up pledges for IOCP. Last year, Larson raised $50,000. This year he hopes to increase that total to $71,125.

Groundbreaking for new library A groundbreaking for Hennepin County's new Maple Grove Library is scheduled for 2 p.m. next Wednesday, Nov. 19, at the site at 8001 Main St. in Maple Grove.

The new library, scheduled to open in 2010, will feature 40,000 square feet of space, nearly triple that of the existing 15,000-square-foot library at 8351 Elm Creek Blvd.

The Maple Grove Library is one of 41 libraries in the Hennepin County system.

Holiday Bazaar The annual Girl Scout Holiday Bazaar is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Wayzata Bay Center, 927 E. Lake St., Wayzata.

It will feature gifts and crafts made by Girl Scouts in grades 4-12. Scouts will sing during the Bazaar. And troops will donate 10 percent of their profits to the Interfaith Outreach and Community Partners (IOCP) Adopt-A-Family program. Nonperishable food items will be accepted.

For more information, call 763-258-8595.

Holiday boutique The Church of St. Therese in Deephaven will sponsor a holiday boutique Nov. 22-23, at the church, 18323 Minnetonka Blvd. The sale will feature holiday and Christmas, bakery, country store and food items.

'Theotokos' at St. Luke "Theotokos," starring Ruth MacKenzie and the Mila Vocal Ensemble, will retell the Nativity story at St. Luke Presbyterian Church, 3121 Groveland School Road, Minnetonka. It is set for 3 p.m. Dec. 7. Tickets are $20. For reservations call, 952-473-7378

For more information, go to Stlukeweb.org.

Foreclosure prevention workshop A free program on preventing foreclosure and other housing issues will be held on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Richfield Community Center, 7000 Nicollet Av. S.

Information on different types of mortgages, loans and homeowner rights will be available in English and Spanish, and foreclosure prevention counselors as well as lenders will be present.

For more information, call 952-697-1364. The workshop is sponsored by the city of Richfield, the Minnesota Home Ownership Center and Community Action Partnership of Suburban Hennepin.

Located at 8107 Eden Prairie Road, the Dunn Bros franchise is owned by Eden Prairie resident Ann Schuster, who hopes to renew the lease.

The City Council has opened the lease to competition to bring in more revenue from the house.

"My customers really value both the Dunn Bros coffee brand here as well as the way I run the store as a community gathering place, and I'd like to show my appreciation in return," Schuster said.

Big-band series The "Big Band Scene Concert Series," featuring four big-band concerts, will get underway at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 28, with the "Big Band Thanksgiving Swing Dance" at the Bloomington Knights of Columbus Hall, 1114 American Blvd.

The first show, featuring the Bellagala Big Band, will feature the music of Les Brown and His Band of Renown.

Emergency seminar How the area would cope with a disaster will be the subject of a seminar from 10 a.m. until noon on Saturday at the South Lake Minnetonka Public Safety Facility, 24150 Smithtown Road, County Road 19.

The seminar, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Excelsior Fire District, the South Lake Minnetonka Police Department and the South Tonka League of Women Voters.

RSVP today to ruready@ mchsi.com or call Community Service Officers Supervisor Dave Hohertz, community service officers supervisor, at 952-960-1619.

Meals for the needy During a weekend-long event, hundreds of volunteers packaged meals that will end up in the hands of more than 4,000 needy residents. The "Blizzard Box Blitz" brought together 29 Meals on Wheels programs to create "shelf-stable" meals for clients to eat when winter weather prevents volunteers from delivering fresh food to their doors.

Because of corporate sponsorships, a meal packaged as part of the "Blizzard Box Blitz" costs a Meals on Wheels group 75 cents. Typically it might cost $4.50, said Patrick Rowan, executive director of Metro Meals on Wheels, an association of 37 local Meals programs.

Glen Lake open house The new Oaks building has opened at the Glen Lake redevelopment on Excelsior Boulevard in Minnetonka, and six businesses that have relocated there will hold an open house from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday to mark the milestone.

The mixed-use building, with retail on the ground floor and apartments above, is part of a redevelopment being carried out by developer Tom Wartman.