Are you signed up for Park and Recreation Youth Basketball?

You have until Monday to register online at www.cityofapr.maxgalaxy.net or follow the link on the city of Austin’s website at www.ci.austin.mn.us, City Department, Park and Rec -— online registration.

The program starts on Oct. 23 and offers skills on Tuesdays and games on Thursdays for the second to sixth-grade participants who want to learn the game or work on their skills.  The K-1 participants will practice skills and be introduced to a game setting as the program progresses.  The cost is $28 and meets 10 times at Banfield Elementary School in the wood or carpet gym.

Did you know we offer curling?

There will be an open house at Packer Arena from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 7.

Come out and give it a try or just warm up for the league which will start the next week on Nov. 14.  The league will run on Wednesday’s for six weeks at a cost of $90 per player.

Deadline to sign up for the curling league is 4 p.m. on Nov. 14. We encourage teams of four to sign up; however, individuals may also register and teams will be made each night league meets.

What you should bring to curl:  carry a clean pair of rubber soled shoes to keep the ice clean, layer up as it is cold in the arena, but you will warm up, loose fitting pants as you need to stretch, and don’t forget your gloves.

Don’t let cabin fever get you down.  Get a team together for the adult volleyball leagues.

The team deadline is 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 7, and you must register in our office.

The team fee is $185 plus an $8 per player fee with a roster limit of 12 players.  Teams play at Ellis Middle School. Women play on Wednesday evening and co-ed play Friday evening.  League begins Wednesday, Jan. 2, and Friday, Jan. 4, for 10 weeks.

For more information, call our office at 507-433-1881.

There will also be Adult Flag Football offered and played in the Wescott Dome beginning Wednesday, Jan. 2, and running for eight weeks.  Deadline to register your team is 5 p.m. on Dec. 21 in our office.  The team fee is $477; players must be 18 years of age by July 1 of 2018 with a minimum of seven players needed and roster limit of 20 players.  Games times will be 6:15 p.m. or 7:15 p.m.

For the young baseball enthusiasts, Dome Baseball will begin on Monday, Jan. 7, for those 7 to 9 years old and Tuesday, Jan. 8, for those 10 to 12 years old. This pitching machine league is designed for skill development and live game experience.

Deadline to register online is Dec. 31, 2018. go to http://cityofapr.maxgalaxy.net or follow the link on the city of Austin’s website at www.ci.austin.mn.us .

Nature center

Join the Friends of the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center for their Thanksgiving Feast Fundraiser at 5-9 p.m. on Oct. 27.

The event will take place at the Austin Holiday Inn in the Conference Center at 1701 Fourth St. NW.  Tickets can be purchased for $40 online at www.hormelnaturecenter.org. You may also call 507-433-6928 to reserve tickets. It is a fun evening which starts off with a social hour, a delicious meal, music and entertainment, raffles and games, and a silent and live auction.

Better yet, join the Friends of the Hormel Nature Center and you will receive a $5 coupon at the feast to use towards raffles, games or auction items. All proceeds go to the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center Operations Fund, which supports interns, staffing, and programs throughout the year.

Pruning trees

For those of you with oak trees, the best time to prune them is during the “safe months” from November to March to minimize the risk for oak wilt.

Oak wilt fungus spreads through the roots, grafting to another oak which can be as much as 50 feet away.  The picnic beetle is also a way to infect a wounded oak, or freshly pruned oak.  The picnic beetle is not attached specifically to oaks and cannot wound a tree but they will visit fresh wounds and transfer the fungus.

If an oak must be pruned during the high-risk time of April — June or in low risk from July to October, you must treat the fresh cut immediately with a nontoxic tree wound dressing or a latex spray paint.

Symptoms begin near the trees top and progresses down with leaves turning a bronze to reddish-brown beginning with the tip and margins of the leaf.   Oak Anthracnose is sometimes confused with Oak Wilt but usually only occurs in the lower crowns of trees.  The other lookalikes are bur oak blight and the two-lined chestnut borer.

For more information check out the University of MN DNR site at  www.dnr.state.mn.us/treecare/forest_health/oakwilt/index.html.  If you suspect Oak Wilt you may call our office at 433-1881.

Riverside Arena

Riverside Arena Public Skates:

•6:30-8 p.m., Oct. 13

•5:15-7 p.m., Oct. 20

•2-4  p.m., Oct. 21

We add times as different opportunities arise, so check our Facebook page as we will update this calendar as they happen.

How about renting Riverside Arena for your special event?  Call our office to check on availability.

The Austin Bruins next home game is 11 a.m. on Wednesday. Puck drops at 11 a.m. Oct.27 hosting Chippewa Steel. Puck drops at 7:05 p.m.