Community Education - Rochester, Minnesota

Prepare for an Adorable Addition to Your Plant Family! Join us for a two-part hand-building class where you'll craft an irresistibly cute owl pot to add to your collection. In the first session on July 17th, you'll shape and mold clay into your whimsical owl creation. Then, in the second session on July 24th, you'll bring your owl to life with colorful glazing. Once fired, your owl pot will be ready for pickup, ready to bring charm and character to your indoor garden.

Have fun creating with paper, scissors, and glue! We will use an assortment of my personally collected vintage and contemporary paper ephemera to design a unique composition on two 5x7 inch Bristol paper. Experience with cutting with scissors and gluing and a curious creative mind are the only requirements. Feel free to bring from-home newspapers, colorful magazine clippings, and old photographs to incorporate into your work. $5 nominal supply fee in cash only. To be collected during class.

Craft Your own Adorable Plant Buddy! In this workshop, you'll get your hands dirty as you hand-build and design a unique, cheerful planter for your favorite houseplant. Let your creativity bloom as you sculpt and shape clay into a charming home for your green companion.

Have you ever caught sight of your reflection in a window or mirror to see that your head leads the way? Or noticed that your shoulders and upper back are too rounded forward? You’ll learn simple techniques to improve posture and stand straighter. We’ll do exercises to help flatten the upper back, un-round shoulders and flatten your midsection. We’ll talk about how to reduce the risk of osteoporosis and related injuries and how to re-gain bone mass. We’ll discuss the latest research findings on nutrition and talk about the importance of minerals and trace minerals for bone health; foods that help and/or harm your bones and more. Wear loose, comfortable clothing. You will need a resistance band or tube for some of the exercises. This class will be held online. You will receive an email 2 days prior to the class date with directions on how to join the class.

Ever caught your own reflection to see that your head hangs too far forward, or your shoulders are too rounded, or you slump too much? You will learn how to correct common posture problems and learn an ‘Instant Alignment Technique’ that will have you standing straighter immediately. We’ll discuss easy to implement tips when at a computer, in a car or working out. There are many benefits to improving posture. And, the good news is no matter how long you may have had poor posture, it is never too late to make improvements. Your clothes will fit better, too! You’ll need a resistance band for some exercises. This class will be held online. Scroll to the bottom of the 2 day Course Reminder email with your instructions.

Make your own punched tin lantern. Use a traditional punching pattern or design your own. Pierced tin lanterns like this were common in Europe and the Americas from the 14th to the 19th centuries. They protect candles from the wind on shipboard and in barnyards, and the piercings provide charming twinkling light patterns. In this class students will cut pattern pieces from tinplate, punch the pieces with the pattern of their choice, and fold, join and solder to complete lanterns. Class Fee to be collected at time of class by Tunnel Mill Crafts: $275 which includes room and board, instructor fees and supplies.

Students will learn the basics of the sgraffito during this class. For the sgraffito technique, we will cover leather hard pots with underglaze and carve away portions of the underglaze to reveal the clay beneath. A leather hard pot will be provided. You will paint the pot black and carve it. After it is bisque-fired, it will be dipped in clear glaze and fired again.

Get together with friends and paint this delightful spring flower scene using acrylic paints. Enjoy a glass of wine or a non-alcoholic beverage while working on your painting. This class is open to 18+. Wine only served to 21+ with ID.

Spring is an exciting time of year to observe bird life. Our area serves as a home to those summer residents that will raise their young here in addition to providing a resting place for spring migrants as they travel to areas farther north. We should see a variety of warblers, sparrows, and thrushes as well as those reliable year round residents: cardinals, jays, and woodpeckers, just to name a few. Bring binoculars if you have them. Cosponsored with Zumbro Valley Audubon Society and Oxbow Park. RAIN DATE IS SUNDAY, MAY 19.

Stop counting the reps. Start training to the beat. STRONG Nation® combines body weight, muscle conditioning, cardio and plyometric training moves synced to original music that has been specifically designed to match every single move. Every squat, every lunge, every burpee is driven by the music, helping you make it to that last rep, and maybe even five more. In each class you'll burn calories while toning arms, legs, abs and glutes. Plyometric or explosive moves like high knees, burpees, and jumping jacks are interchanged with isometric moves like lunges, squats, and kickboxing. STRONG Nation™ instructors change up the music and moves frequently to make sure you’re always challenged to the max.

Have you admired these beautiful animals from a distance and wondered what it would be like to meet them? Then this class is for you! You will be warmly welcomed to our beautiful alpaca farm, currently home to 27 Huacaya (wuh-KAI-ya) alpacas. You will learn about this beautiful, curious animal which we raise for their incredibly soft fiber. This fiber is processed into soft and luxurious yarn which is sold in our store. This hands-on experience includes interaction with the animals, feeding and if you are lucky, alpaca kisses! You will have the opportunity to walk an alpaca on a 1/2-mile trail on the farm. There will be many opportunities for selfies with the alpacas. Following the alpaca visit, you will enter the farm store where you will learn more about alpaca fiber, processing, and products. The farm store offers a wonderful selection of yarn, alpaca socks, hats, scarves and many gift items for purchase. Location: Homestead Arts Farm, Pine Island-51085 165th Ave-PineIsland, MN 55963

Are you curious about the type of trees you have in your yard or the trees that grow in our region? Perhaps you are simply interested in trees. If so, here is just the opportunity for you. Join John as he hikes the trails of Oxbow Park and learn about the various species of trees that inhabit southeastern Minnesota. A brief slide presentation on the utilization of tree flowers as one of the keys to identification will precede the trip outdoors. Cosponsored with Zumbro Valley Audubon Society and Oxbow Park. RAIN DATE IS SUNDAY, JUNE 9.

Join me as we taste four wines exploring wine grapes that are grown at high elevations all over the world. These growing conditions make for some unique wines. Wine only served to 21+ with ID.

Are you finding no matter how well you watch what you eat or how much you exercise that weight is not budging? Your inability to lose weight probably has more to do with hormone levels than anything else. Until any imbalances are corrected, trying to lose weight will be like shoveling sand against the tide. We’ll discuss concrete solutions (not tricks, not using your will power) for controlling appetite and cravings, simple things you can do every day to boost your metabolism, major sources of hormone mimicking chemicals and how to get rid of them, what HRT or birth control pills have to do with weight gain, how to have your hormone levels checked reliably, what steps need to be taken to safely break the vicious cycle of hormone related weight gain, and how to begin to lose weight again. This class will be held online. You will receive an email 2 days prior to the class date with directions on how to join the class.

Don’t miss your last chance to thrill to the inspiring true story of one woman’s remarkable journey from teenage songwriter to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. From the string of pop classics she wrote for the biggest acts in music to her own life-changing, chart-busting success with Tapestry, Beautiful takes you back to where it all began – and takes you on the ride of a lifetime. Featuring over two dozen pop classics, including “You’ve Got a Friend,” “One Fine Day,” “Up on the Roof,” “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” and “Natural Woman,” this crowd-pleasing international phenomenon is filled with the songs you remember – and a story you’ll never forget. * Fee includes coach transportation, theatre ticket, and lunch (choice of seven entrees). * 9:30 AM Depart RCTC Sports Center Parking lot for weekday trip; Depart Northrop Parking lot for the Saturday trip. * 5:30 PM Approximate return * No refunds after Feb 1 (For March and April Trips) * No refunds after June 26 (For August and September Trips) * Fee: $115