Old-time weekends

Old-time weekends are back on in 2021 Old-time weekends are back on in 2021

Organizers are planning to resume their old-time weekends in 2021 after shutting down last summer for COVID-19. The threshing shows and old machinery are featured at Heritage Hill, Hanley Falls and Atwater while the Forest City Stockade will have their summer rendezvous. Be sure and check their websites or Facebook pages for current information closer to the event.

HERITAGE HILL

The Minnesota Valley Antique Farm Power and Machinery Association will have their annual show June 18-19. The tractor feature is a Farmall M owned by Sam Ashling. Minnesota Chapter 15 International Harvester Collectors will be on site and there will be a tractor drive on June 17. Heritage Hill show site is four miles east of Montevideo on the corner of Minnesota Highway 7 and Chippewa County Road 7. Website is www.heritagehill.us/ and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ heritagehillshow

HANLEY FALL

The Good Old Days & Threshing Show will be Aug. 7-8 on the grounds of the Minnesota Machinery Museum in Hanley Falls. This year it is featuring International Havestor. Website is www.mnmachinerymuseum.com/ and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ Minnesotas-Machinery-Museum

FOREST CITY

The Stockade Rendezvous will be Aug. 21-22. The Forest City Stockade is a reminder of how life was like back in 1862. You can tour historic buildings, which also show the progress of Forest City in the form of new construction. The Stockade familyfriendly event allows you to step back in time and enjoy friendly people, delicious food, and many pioneer activities. Website is www.forestcitystockade.org/index.html and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Forest-CityStockade

ATWATER

Threshing Days will be Sept. 11-12 at the site on the east side of Atwater. Minneapolis Moline are the featured machines this year. Website is www.atwaterthreshingdays.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ Atwater-Threshing-Days

Nature areas are off the beaten path Nature areas are off the beaten path

West central Minnesota abounds with natural areas that showcase the region’s lakes, prairies and examples of native plant and animal life.

Among those worth a visit:

The 600-acre Ordway Prairie Preserve is one of the largest native prairie tracts in the state.

The glacial till prairie is made up of meadows, wetlands and woods. It is home to a variety of plant and animal life, including the rare Hill’s thistle and the Poweshiek skipper butterfly.

The prairie, acquired by the Nature Conservancy in the 1970s, is located off Minnesota Highway 104 north of Sunburg. It can be reached via a rest area on the Lake Johanna Hill.

Lund Prairie, covering 110 acres, is one of the region’s most recent additions to the Nature Conservancy. About half of this preserve is untouched native prairie. It contains more than 200 different species of native grasses and flowers.

Lund Prairie is 25 miles west of Willmar on Minnesota Highway 40.

Granite outcrops and wetlands are interspersed with prairie at the 40-acre Prairie Smoke Nature Center in Upper Sioux Agency State Park, south of Granite Falls. The area has been restored with native plants.

Regal Meadow is a 185-acre preserve exemplifying the region’s native mix of prairie, forest and wetlands. Hikers may be able to spot a rare lady-slipper, the state flower, in marshy areas of the meadow.

Owned by the Nature Conservancy, the Regal Meadow is located on 160th Street Northeast, two miles north of Hawick.

The 2,000-acre Chippewa Prairie Nature Preserve is a rich site for plant and bird diversity and is well known for grassland birds. The prairie chicken has been reintroduced here. The land has never been tilled and has hundreds of species of native natural grasses and wildflowers. An old ox-cart trail provides a 2-mile trail for hikers and bird watchers.

Cooperatively owned and managed by the Nature Conservancy and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the preserve is four miles northwest of Milan along the upper Lac qui Parle Lake. Continued on page 61

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Continued from page 60

Swedes Forest is seven miles south of Sacred Heart on Renville County Road 9 and 1½ miles west on a gravel road.

It contains granite outcrops and the rare five-lined skink, which lives in open, sunny bedrock exposures near oak habitat.

Blue Devil Valley is on the south edge of Granite Falls. Follow Minnesota Highway 23 south for half a mile, then go west on County Road 39 a few hundred yards.

This nature area is home to one of the state’s largest known populations of the five-lined skink. Prairie plants such as the brittle cactus, little bluestem, harebell and pasque flower are found among the granite outcrops and scattered burr oak.

Gneiss outcrop is located southeast of Granite Falls. Follow U.S. Highway 212 east for 1.5 miles to County Road 40, then continue south one mile. Gneiss outcrops comprised of the most ancient rock in the world, some 3.6 billion years old, dominate the landscape and surround a natural lake.

These rugged outcrops are also home to some of the state’s most unique plant communities. The rare Great Plains prickly pear and brittle cactus endure the desertlike environment of the rocks. Rare plants like the Carolina foxtail, little barley and mousetail sprout in shallow depressions among the outcrops.

Bruce Hitman Heron Rookery is a short ride from Brooten to Lake Johanna. Follow Stearns County Road 8 three miles west and then go three miles south on County Road 37.

The rookery is one of the state’s largest and most diverse nesting sites for water bird colonies. Large numbers of great blue herons, great egrets, doublecrested cormorants and black-crowned night herons nest here. Rare bird species — among them the little blue heron, snowy egret, yellow-crowned night heron and cattle egret — also have been spotted visiting or nesting at the site. Green-backed herons are also known to nest here.

Note: The island is closed from April 1 to July 15 to protect the nesting colonies.