Our annual winter open house is a great way to get out of the house and into nature, meet new friends and celebrate the amazing land and night sky in the St Croix Valley.

In the evening, enjoy a short walk to a small campfire with s’mores, hot drinks, desserts and music at the Education Center and a peak at the stars through the Joseph J. Casby Observatory’s eight foot long, 10″ TMB Apochromatic Refracting Telescope. PLEASE NOTE: Due to extremely wet conditions we are asking folks able to walk up the driveway to park in the lower lot, closest to the entrance. Please leave the upper lot for those who are not as agile. Thank you.

Schedule for the Day

11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Trails Open to the public at the Belwin Outdoor Science Center
Location: 1553 Stagecoach Trail S., Afton MN 55001 – Follow parking signs.

6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Open House at the Belwin Outdoor Science Center
Program at 7:00 p.m. Speakers: Tamsie Ringler, landscape and community artist, and Belwin Artist in Residence, and Merle Hiltner, Minnesota Astronomical Society member and committee member of the Joseph J. Casby Observatory located near belwin’s Education Center

Tamsie Ringler
“The earth is a form in space ­ a sphere of life in the vastness of the
universe. We can begin to understand its rarity when we look at the other
planets in our own solar system and consider the countless light years to
any other solar system thought capable of sustaining life. The earth is our
only home and its biodiversity our family, we must conserve it.”

Tamsie Ringler is a landscape and community artist who teaches sculpture at
the University of Minnesota. Her work can be viewed at www.tamsie.com

Merle Hiltner
“I have been a MAS member since 2005. Served on the board as a Board Member at Large and as Vice President.  I am currently on the Joseph J Casby Observatory Committee and Facility Director at the Eagle Lake Observatory as well as serve on the MAS website Web Team.

“My day job is Architectural CAD drafting and design.  With this background I was the designer of the JJ Casby Observatory as well as several other of the MAS buildings.  I also lead construction on the observatory at Belwin as well as the Sylvia A Casby Observatory and HotSpot Classroom at the MAS Eagle Lake Observatory in Baylor Regional Park.”