Area briefs: Ag and forestry scholarship available for college students – Post Bulletin

LAKE CITY — The Sustainable Agriculture & Forestry Scholarship Endowment Fund is seeking qualified students to apply for a $5,000 scholarship for the upcoming fall season scholarship.

The fund, managed by the Rochester Area Foundation, opened its application portal Jan. 15, and applications will be accepted through March 31.

So far, five scholarships have been awarded since 2015 when the fund was established. The scholarship is designed to provide merit-based financial aid to individuals growing up in Southeast Minnesota and attending school in the five-state Upper Midwest. Those students must be committed to sustainability in the fields of agriculture and forestry, have demonstrated leadership and communication skills, and be interested in pursuing a career in sustainable agriculture and/or forestry.

For more information about the scholarship and the endowment fund, visit www.protectourresources.org.

WABASHA — If bird-watching and America are two of your favorite things, the 2021-2022 winter is shaping up to be a banner season.

The National Eagle Center reports that eagle counts this winter are up 70% from last winter, with a weekly average of bald eagles seen at 368 eagles vs. 217 eagles last winter across the Upper Mississippi region.

Despite the Eagle Center building being closed for remodeling this winter, the Eagle Center is hosting bald eagle and golden eagle tours through the remainder of the winter and through the spring. To find out more about tours, including dates and cost, visit www.nationaleaglecenter.org/eagle-viewing .

AUSTIN — Riverland Community College seeks nominees for its 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award.

The award is given to a former Riverland student who has achieved success and contributed meaningful service in his or her field.

Deadline to nominate for the 2022 award is 4:30 pm March 4. Online nominations to www.riverland.edu/alumni are encouraged.

The Distinguished Alumni recipient will be recognized at the Riverland Community College commencement May 1.

AUSTIN — With a chili cook-off this weekend on the calendar, Paint the Town Pink continues to raise funds for cancer research at the Hormel Institute.

The organization also announced that the 2022 Paint the Town Pink Ambassador will be Cheryl Constancio.

Constancio, an Austin native, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer in 2009, has won her battle against the disease after a year of grueling treatments. She hopes to bring awareness to the research happening at The Hormel Institute and to help others who are going through their own battle with cancer.

“No matter your story, no matter how you get through your journey, we all have the same goal: To kick cancer’s butt. Don’t ever throw in the towel, don’t ever give up,” she said.

Paint the Town Pink has raised more than $2 million to fund cancer research at The Hormel Institute with 100% of those donations going directly to research.

For more information about Paint the Town Pink events, visit pttp.hi.umn.edu .

LEWISTON — Land Stewardship Project will host a series of discussions by cattle producer Alejandro Carrillo.

Carrillo will tell how he has used regenerative grazing to build soil health and bring his ranch back to life. The events will be held Feb. 1 in Willmar, Feb. 2 in St. Charles, Feb. 3 in Mazeppa, and via Zoom on Feb. 4. The cost to attend is $10 per person and children are free.

For more information, contact the Land Stewardship Project by Jan. 28 at (507) 523-3366 or bsognfrank@landstewardshipproject.org, or by visiting landstewardshipproject.org/grazing .