The log cabin restoration committee made some good progress in 2009, and are looking forward to making plans for 2010 workdays. With the help of volunteers and Minnesota New Country School students, tasks completed this year included cleaning out the interior of the cabin and jacking up the sagging corner to original height.

We held three volunteer workdays in the summer, where we dug out the interior of the cabin, which had built up with over a foot of horse manure during the years it was used as a barn. The volunteers also helped jack up the sagging corner to original height, remove rotted logs, straighten walls, remove rotted siding, and re-build window framing.

In early autumn we had a workday with Jim Wartman and students from the Minnesota New Country School. The students boarded up all of the openings for winter, secured the doors, and helped straighten the east cabin wall. It was a beautiful day to work on the cabin, and the workday was documented by an MNCS student for the Henderson Independent newspaper. Thanks to MNCS for their continued support of projects at the Ney Center!!

We had intended to put temporary roofing on before winter came, but fall was a busy time for all of us and that project will have to wait until late winter or spring. If anyone is interested in getting bundled up and doing carpentry in February, let me know!!

With 2010 comes the next phase of the restoration project: log repair and replacement. The Ney Center is getting log material donated to do the repairs, and we will have workdays dedicated to replacing entire rotted logs, and repairing other logs with minor rotted areas with matching wood. Rest assured, the techniques we use will ensure the repairs will blend in with the cabin, and the replacement material is coming from other cabins of that vintage with similar texture and wood species.

After the log repair is done, we can put chinking in the cabin, put doors and windows in, and re-build the staircase so people can see the sleeping loft upstairs. We have been doing all the work so far with volunteer labor and materials, meaning the cabin will take another 2-3 years to finish (with almost no expense to the Ney Center).

However, we are always accepting donations to the cabin project, and would welcome anyone to help us secure funding for the remainder of this project. Please contact Josh Reinitz at (612) 756-3971 if you want to get involved or are interested in funding a portion of the project.

Thank you!!

Click here to print flyer to order tickets.

Click here for driving directions.

You are invited to the Ney Nature Center’s 2nd annual Spring Fling Benefit Dinner and Silent Auction. The evening will begin with appetizers at 5pm, dinner will be served at 6pm and silent auction closing and raffle drawing will take place after our guest speakers presentation.

Sean Bloomfield and Colton Witte have graciously agreed to be our guest speakers. Sean and Colton gained media attention in 2008 as they canoed their way from Chaska, MN to Hudson Bay, Canada.

Sean is a freshman at Minnesota State University, Mankato. He first began canoeing when at the age of 7 on a trip to the Boundary Waters with his parents. Since then he has been going to the BWCA yearly. Sean was a goalie on the Chaska High School hockey team and this year was a goalie for the MSU Club Hockey team. He enjoys the outdoors and spending time with friends.

Colton is also a freshman at Minnesota State University, Mankato. He first went to the Boundary Waters in first grade with his father and Sean’s family and has also been going every year since. Colton played lacrosse for Chaska High School and enjoys spending time with friends, being in the outdoors, and shooting pictures.

On the menu is your choice of 3 delicious dishes: Tilapia Baked with Butter and Lemon Pepper Seasoning, Spiced Apple Pork Loin, or Vegetarian Lasagna all served with Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Asparagus with a Hollandaise Sauce, and Assorted Cheese Cakes.

Silent Auction and Raffle Ticket will be for sale from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm.
Special Raffle Items include: a Wooden Rocking Horse, Ceder Chest, and other items all hand crafted by Orville Heitkamp.

This event will be held at Kingsway Retirement Living in Belle Plaine, driving directions can be found at . Space is limited so purchase your tickets soon; Reservations are due by Friday April 10th.

Tickets cost: $30.00 – NEEF Members; $35.00 – Non-NEEF Members.

For additional information, call/email Becky Pollack at the Ney Nature Center,
~ 507-248-3474, neynaturecenter@frontiernet.net

If you are unable to attend, we will gratefully accept your tax-deductible monetary donations.

His illustrated lecture will include information compiled from Thoreau’s Notes on the Journey West, and from the letters of Horace Mann Jr. The entire journey from Massachusetts to Minnesota will be discussed, but emphasis will be placed on his month in Minnesota, with added emphasis on the Minnesota River excursion.
Following the presentation, get on board our newly custom-built hay wagon for a ride to the Ney Homestead where volunteers will be giving guided tours of the buildings and grounds, including the Ney Family’s log cabin, stage coach stop, summer kitchen, scenic overlook, and hired man’s house. The Ney Family as Territorial Pioneers, homesteaded this site before Minnesota officially became a state in 1858.
This event is free to all. Donations are appreciated.

Thoreau’s Minnesota Journey
An Illustrated Lecture
by Dale R. Schwie

In May of 1861, Henry David Thoreau left his home town of Concord, Massachusetts on what was to be the longest journey of his life; a trip to Minnesota where he would spend one month exploring and botanizing around St. Anthony, Minneapolis, Lakes Calhoun and Harriet, St. Paul, and Red Wing.
Also included was a steamboat excursion up the Minnesota River to witness the annual government payment to the Indians at the Lower Sioux Agency. Although the trip on the Minnesota River occupied just over four days of Thoreau’s time in Minnesota, it is significant for the historical information and descriptions of the river that are found in his notes and correspondence, and in the letters of his traveling companion, Horace Mann Jr.
In addition to these, a newspaper article by a correspondent for the State Atlas and a personal account by a British tourist include different observations, from serious to humorous, regarding the activities on board the crowded steamboat. The trip on the Minnesota River included a brief stop at Henderson to take on more passengers and deliver supplies. Henderson is mentioned in Thoreau’s notes with a reference to the Big Woods and a brief description of the town is included in Mann’s letter to his mother.
No doubt, if Thoreau would have had the opportunity, he would have taken the time to explore the Big Woods, as he had recently delivered a speech and written an article on the succession of forest trees; a subject of great interest to him during that time.
He would be pleased to know that today, on a hill overlooking the Henderson boat landing area, is the Ney Nature Center which includes remnants of the Big Woods, a pond, and the hired man’s house; just a foot longer than Thoreau’s 10’x15’ house at Walden Pond. The Minnesota River, Ney Nature Center, the Big Woods, a pond, and a small house; Thoreau would certainly approve!

About Dale Schwie – Since retiring after a career in photography, Dale Schwie has been pursuing his long-standing vocational interest in the author Henry David Thoreau. Dale is currently serving on the Board of Directors of the Concord, Massachusetts based Thoreau Society. Dale and his wife, Kay, residents of Richfield, Minn., are members of the Ney Nature Center and look forward to future programs and hikes throughout the Center. Dale is particularly interested in helping with the restoration of the Hired Man’s House.

Students who have completed K – 6th grade are invited to join the NNC for this great opportunity to explore, learn, and experience nature and some history associated with the Ney Nature Center and surrounding area. During the four days of camp you will be hiking, observing, studying and enjoying what nature has to offer through the use of maps, map making and other geographical activities.