Hog Roast fundraiser to support environmental education in Austin

Published 8:29 am Thursday, August 31, 2017

The Izaak Walton League’s Hog Roast Fundraiser begins at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 6, at the Izaak Walton Cabin in Todd Park, Austin.

The menu includes sandwiches with pulled pork cooked by Piggy Blue, all-you-can-eat sweet corn from Honey Tree Farms, coleslaw from SuperFresh Produce, and fresh baked apple crisp from SuperFresh Bakery

Tickets are $12 and are available at the door or SuperFresh Produce before the event.

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Proceeds from the hog roast will benefit the “Wetbugs Program,” an environmental program that takes place at Ellis Middle School and the Hormel Nature Center. Dr. Dean Hanson, an aquatic entomologist from Stillwater, Minn., brings his live wetbugs to the classroom. They include mayflies, stoneflies, caddis flies, hellgrammites, damsel flies and mosquito hawks. This provides students hands-on identification before their field trip to a stream.  The ability of a stream to support these insects will indicate the water quality of that stream.

About 300 seventh grade students at Ellis will be involved in this two day program in September, with Hanson’s presentation being given 11 separate times. This is all part of the curriculum that helps the students understand the biology of a stream and the impact of non-point source and point source pollution.

This year, Austin Chapter 10 will contribute $900 and the Austin Public School District will contribute $400 toward Dr. Hanson’s presentations.