Fitness Fever is back for the month of February, featuring some great outdoor activity locations across Polk County again this year. Polk County Public Health, the Polk County Wellness Coalition, and community partners and volunteers are excited to highlight this year’s outdoor family activities and the variety of active living choices available in the area. Outdoor family activities across Polk County will be offered every Sunday in February and are free for the entire region.
The month’s events kick off on Sunday, February 5, at the Sandhills in Fertile for the Agassiz Environmental Learning Center’s (AELC) Winter Fest! Come out for a variety of free activities at the AELC, located about one mile west of Fertile, off Highway 32, near the Fertile Golf Course at 400 Summit Ave SW in Fertile; signs will be posted on the day. “Once they get there, there’s lots of parking available,” Agassiz Learning Center Executive Director Wayne Goeken explained. “The Nature Center itself then will have lots of refreshments that people can partake of. There will be cocoa and coffee, and then we’ll have some campfires going, where people can roast some marshmallows, and hot dogs will be available out there.” From 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., people can enjoy cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, schmoosh races, snow games, and various activity stations! “One of the featured activities is the horse-drawn wagon rides, which runs from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., and starts right at the Nature Center and loops around the campground we have out there. Other activities we will have available are 12 miles of cross-country ski trails and three to four miles of snowshoe trails. We have snowshoes and skis, and for that day, we’ll make all of our equipment available, free of charge, to the public,” Goeken explained. “All of the refreshments are free too, and we’ll have a bucket for free-will donations for anybody who sees fit to help us with that.” All of the ski and snowshoe trails will have guides, and experts will guide tours around the trails and give some nature observations found along the trails as a part of their Giving Hearts Day theme of “Accessible Nature” to improve the accessibility of nature to people.
The Fest will also have door prizes available for people to win every hour during the Fest. “We’ll have door prize drawings on the hour. We’ll have coat bags, T-shirts, and explorer discovery kits for kids when they’re journaling and exploring nature,” Goeken explained. “We have a number of items such as those that will be door prize drawings that will be drawn on the hours.” The first drawing will be held at 1:30 p.m., then at 2:00 p.m., and every hour afterward until the end of the Fest. Some of the activity stations include winter safety stations with the Polk County Public Health to teach people how to survive in the winter. Things they will teach include how to prepare a winter survival kit if they’re driving and how to dress properly if they are going out on their snowmobiles, snowshoeing, or cross-country skiing. Other stations will be inside the Nature Center, which people can use to warm up from the cold weather between activities.
If you have any questions about the Winter Fest, you can contact Stacy Erickson or Lisa Liden at (218) 945-3136 or cityoffertile@gmail.com with questions. This is the first of four events in the February Fitness Fever, with events scheduled every Sunday during February.
The next event will be sledding in Crookston Central Park on Sunday, February 12, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. On February 19, the Crookston Sports Center, Fosston Outdoor Skating Rink located at the Softball Complex on the Northeast end of town, and the East Grand Forks Civic Center will have a free Ice-Skating Day. The Crookston Sports Center will be open from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m., Fosston’s will be open from noon to 8:30 p.m., and East Grand Fork’s will be open from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. The final event will be at the University of Minnesota Crookston Wellness Center for a day of Pickleball with the Crookston Pickleball Club. Children and adults of all ages and skill levels are welcome and encouraged to attend these free fitness events. Connecting to the outdoors and remaining active improves physical health, mental well-being, and social connectedness. Also, it is recommended to dress in layers for all outdoor activities!
