The second annual cross-country skiing and snowshoeing event on groomed trails at the Bob and Ingrid Sonnenberg Tree Farm in New York Mills will take place on Feb. 13. This event is a cooperative event of the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center, the Minnesota Forest Resources Partnership, and the Sonnenberg Farm. Folks should gather at 10:30 a.m. at the parking area on the farm. The ski/snowshoe event will get started at 11 a.m. For folks who don't ski or snowshoe but who wish to hear the presentation on the ash borer, there is a roadway to the warming house that you may drive to.
To get to the farm, go north from New York Mills on County 67 and turn left on 395th Street (395th street is only a very short 1/3 of a mile north of town). After you turn left onto 395th Street, Sonnenberg's place is the first place on the right. Follow the signs.
After skiing and snowshoeing, participants can use the Sonnenberg warming cabin to warm up. At noon, lunch (homemade soup, artisan bread, coffee, and Finnish desserts) will be served. Immediately following, at 1 p.m., Val Cervenka, entomologist with the Minnesota DNR, will give a talk about the emerald ash borer and what that pest portends for the ash forests of Minnesota. This talk will be of interest to city officials, forest owners, and to everyone who enjoys Minnesota's forest lands. Cervenka has been the forest entomologist for the State of Minnesota since 2007. In her entomological experience she has been involved in forest, forensic, livestock and vegetable crop entomology. She has expertise in insect damage identification with more than 20 years of experience.
