Each autumn thousands of ruby-throated hummingbirds migrate to their winter home in Mexico and Central America via the Minnesota River Valley.

In August they arrive in the small community of Henderson, just 40 miles south of Minneapolis, and the surrounding gardens and fields. At the Henderson Hummingbird Hurrah, Aug. 27-29, folks will have an opportunity to see these tiny birds up close, according to a press release.

By Mark W. Olson

By Unsie Zuege

Emerson and Thoreau are back.

They return to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum for three weeks beginning Thursday, Aug. 19 through Sunday Sept. 5. There, using the bucolic fields and gardens and trees as backdrops, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau reflect on their love of nature, writing, and their friendship in an original play called “Nature.”

The Chaska Cubs got to the state amateur baseball tournament after winning a three-game series and prevailing in a double-elimination tournament.

But teams have one shot one they reach state.

Chaska's season came to an end on Saturday night at Willmar with a 6-3 loss to Rochester.

By Forrest Adams

With an influx of federal funding ($132 million) in March 2009, the state’s 35-year-old weatherization assistance program has grown tenfold, according to the Minnesota Department of Commerce.

Consequently, so did 32 weatherization assistance programs run by community service organizations across the state, among them the one run by the CAP Agency. A total of $1.5 million, to be used for providing weatherization assistance to low-income individuals, was allocated to the CAP Agency in spring 2009.

By Mollee Francisco

A traditional pow wow, called a wacipi, is a gathering of friendship.

The city of Chaska and the Jonathan Association will play host to such a gathering this Saturday – apparently only the second since the city was founded more than 150 years ago.

“In the time before the Europeans, a pow wow was a gathering of relatives and friends in order to get reacquainted,” said organizer Walt Ripplinger.

Ripplinger hopes to bring that same spirit to this pow wow.

The Minnesota Renaissance Festival kicks off its 40th year with the Scottish, during its Highland Fling weekend, Aug. 21 and 22.

The annual Minnesota Renaissance Festival runs weekends and Labor Day, Aug. 21 – Oct. 3 and Friday, Oct. 1 from 9 a.m. – 7 p.m., rain or shine, according to a Renaissance Festival press release.

Family Fun Day at Baylor Regional Park, in western Carver County, is Saturday, Aug. 21, according to a press release from Carver County Parks.

Activities include the Morning Mischief Program, with a Pop Can Casting Reel, from 10-11 a.m. in Visitor Center and free paddle boat use from noon to 4 p.m.

SouthWest Transit will be bringing local residents to and from the Minnesota State Fair, which runs from Thursday, Aug. 26 to Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 6.

“This service is one of the great ways for people to find out more about the service that SouthWest Transit provides,” stated Len Simich, president and CEO of transit agency, in a press release. “Each year we hear from people that have taken the bus about how clean and comfortable the buses are and how kind and courteous the drivers are to the passengers.”