A Message from Mary Stefanski

Friends and Volunteers, I hope this message finds you in good health and spirits. In my last message I said we were moving and we are now officially at 102 Walnut Street. Unfortunately, the open house/party will need to wait as none of us have been allowed to work on-site to unpack boxes or put things away. The office looks a little like a scene from a horror movie with boxes strewn about and animal taxidermy mounts perched randomly in a dark, lifeless space. On the other-hand, our old offices at 51 East 4th are eerily vacant.

We had A LOT of left over items from the move (office furniture and supplies, books, binoculars, posters, etc) which have been donated to the Friends of the Refuge Headwaters. They have worked with Darr Auctions and Realty of Rushford, MN to offer these items for public sale. With the COVID-19 restrictions still in place, there will not be a viewing day to personally inspect the items but you can view the photos and bid on them at https://www.darrauctions.com/cgi-bin/mmdetails.cgi?darr5. The auction starts ending at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21, so get your bidding number early. If you are interested in items but have specific questions, feel free to email me or call my desk phone and leave a message (507-494-6229) and I will answer them as best I can.

There will also not be a Friends meeting again this month, hopefully the May meeting (May 28) will occur, even if it is by conference call.

I hope you can get out and enjoy some fresh spring air, watch the newly arriving birds at your feeder, or even take a drive to the refuge with binoculars to see what’s changing out there. The flood waters are receding so all of our boat landings should be open by the end of today.

Take care of yourself and stay strong.

Mary Stefanski
Winona District Manager
Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge