A benefit for the Friends of Sax-Zim Bog will be held Sunday, Jan. 29, at the Springbrook Nature Center in Fridley. The non-profit Friends group's mission is to preserve, protect, and promote this important birding area.
The event is billed as the Boreal Wings Gala. It runs from 2 to 4 p.m. Featured will be a presentation by the man who in 2016 set the North American Big Year record, Olaf Danielson.
Advance registration can be made at www.saxzim.org. Price is $25, and that includes a one-year membership in the Friends' group. Kids 17 and under are free. Admission at the door will be $30.
There will be hiking, skiing, and snowshoeing on the center's trails. There are inter-active displays in its new building. Appetizers will be served. There will be a silent auction.
An update on Sax-Zim projects will be given at 2:30.
Danielson will talk about his North American Big Year and show photos. You can preview his talk at his blog, www.bigyear2016.com.
Danielson has a Minnesota connection. He lived on Park Point in Duluth in the late 1980s while going to medical school. He grew up the Swedish immigrant community Falun in northern Wisconsin, graduating Grantsburg High School in 1984. He graduated Ripon College, and medical school at the University of Minnesota.
He is now a resident of Milbank, S. D.
