Manitowoc library, LUV to host talk on gender identity, LGBTQ+ and race. Plus, more news in weekly dose.
Correction: This story has been updated from an earlier version to correct the day of Manitowoc Public Library's "Intersectionality" program.
MANITOWOC - Manitowoc Public Library on Thursday will host an online discussion on the issue of identity.
Titled “Intersectionality: Engaging Greater Conversations,” the discussion will be hosted by the library and members of Lakeshore’s United Visionaries and will air from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday on the library’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.
The discussion will explore the difficult conversations many underrepresented communities face with people who are unaware of issues impacting racial, ethnic, queer identities or the intersection of identity, the library said in a news release.
Also this month, the library is hosting its Libraries Build Strong Communities campaign in which people can get raffle tickets when they present a receipt for a purchase made at any business in Manitowoc County dated in September, check out library items, or get or renew a library card. A drawing will be held the first week of October in which six tickets will be drawn and receive $100 in Chamber Bucks.
The library is at 707 Quay St. More information is online at manitowoclibrary.org or call 920-686-3000.
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► Register now! ‘Enchanted Forest’ set at Woodland Dunes Oct. 1: An “Enchanted Forest” will be coming to life with fun surprises on a candle-lit path Oct. 1 at Woodland Dunes Nature Center, 3000 Hawthorne Ave., Two Rivers.
“‘Enchanted Forest’ is one of my favorite events at Woodland Dunes,” said Jessica Johnsrud, education coordinator for Woodland Dunes, in a news release. “The kids are excited to show their family around and they’re excited to dress in costume. It has a nice community feel to it.”
The event will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Oct. 1. Families and attendees will walk along a candlelit trail and meet costumed animals that will role-play their importance and how humans benefit from them.
All activities will take place outside. People are advised to wear warm clothing. This is an educational evening, not a scary one, Woodland Dunes said.
Self-guided tours to meet nature’s celebrities will begin at 5:10 p.m. and then leave every 10 minutes after that.
Registration is required and time slots for the night hikes fill quickly. Call 920-793-4007 or email jessicaj@woodlanddunes.org to register. Cost is $5 per person for members and $6 per person for non-members. Children 3 and younger are admitted free.
► Historical Society offers free tickets for Smithsonian Museum Day Sept. 17: Manitowoc County Historical Society, 924 Pinecrest Road in Manitowoc, will open its doors free of charge to all Museum Day ticket-holders from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Sept. 17 as part of Smithsonian magazine’s 18th annual Museum Day, an initiative in which participating museums across the United States open their doors for free to those who download a branded ticket.
The annual event allows museums, zoos and cultural centers from all 50 states to emulate the spirit of the Smithsonian Institution’s Washington, D.C.-based facilities, which offer free admission every day.
Those wishing to attend and participate in Museum Day 2022 can visit Smithsonianmag.com/museumday to learn more and download a Museum Day ticket.
Each Museum Day ticket grants the ticket-holder and one guest free access to any participating museum on Sept. 17. One ticket is permitted per email address.
A list of participating museums can be found at Smithsonianmag.com/museumday/search.
► Friends of Mariners Trail accepting photo contest submissions: Submissions are being accepted through Sept. 30 for the Friends of Mariners Trail’s annual photo contest.
People can choose up to five of their best photos of the trail to submit online at marinerstrail.net.
Photos of all seasons are needed, the organization said.
The contest is open to anyone.
Winners will be featured in the Friends of Mariners Trail’s 2023 calendar.
The non-profit FOMT was formed in 2003 and serves as an advocate for the trail, which is a 6-mile paved pathway along Lake Michigan’s shoreline, linking Manitowoc and Two Rivers.
► Join fall chimney swift count: You are invited to a free evening concert in nature.
The performers are the chimney swifts, and they will be chittering and twittering above chimneys in the evening sky before they roost for the night this fall.
These birds are getting ready to migrate south, all the way to the Amazon, and when they do, they become communal.
This is where the show begins. Some sites may consist of a half dozen swifts or so, but the larger sites can host hundreds or even thousands of swifts.
The statewide Wisconsin Chimney Swift Working Group is asking bird-watchers and local community members to help count swifts entering chimneys at dusk from mid-August through September, depending on where you are in the state. This is part of a continent-wide program called A Swift Night Out, held to raise awareness about this declining bird species.
How you can help: Anyone can go out just prior to dusk and watch swifts “drop” into chimneys as they roost for the night. All you have to do is count birds as they enter. Note the condition of the chimney you are monitoring as well.
Last year, the WCSWG created a partnership with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to preserve swift chimneys in need of repair through a cost-share program. The Vernon County Historical Society was able to restore a chimney at the Vernon County Historical Museum in Viroqua, which hosts hundreds of swifts. If you know of a chimney that needs repair and currently hosts swifts, contact the working group at helpchimneyswifts@gmail.com.
Identification: Chimney swifts have slender bodies with long, curved wings and short, stubby tails. They look like a flying cigar or boomerang. They fly rapidly with nearly constant wing beats, often twisting from side to side. They also give a distinctive, high chittering call while in flight. They are the only bird that will drop into chimneys to roost for the night.
How to count them: Because chimney swifts congregate in communal roosts before migrating in late summer/fall, it’s easy to count them. Here’s how:
Look for tall brick chimneys that are uncapped.
Watch to see where swifts are feeding and congregating.
Pick a night to monitor through September.
Observe the roost starting about 20 minutes before sunset until 10 minutes after the last swift enters the chimney.
Count (or estimate) the number of swifts as they enter the chimney. It’s useful to count in groups of five or 10 when they enter quickly in large numbers.
Enter your data on eBird, if possible, and add #swiftwi in the species comment section. This helps researchers quickly track swift activity in Wisconsin.
More information: For more about chimney swifts and how to help protect them in the state, go to wiswifts.org. Contact Nancy Nabak at Woodland Dunes at nancyn@woodlanddunes.org or 920-793-4007 for more about the local count.
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This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Manitowoc racism, LGBTQ+, gender identity talk hosted by library, LUV
