On Saturday, February 12 at 1:00 PM, many will be welcome to attend the unveiling of Solway Elementary School’s new School Forest sign, which will represent the establishment of their new school forest. The forest is located next to the Beltrami County Horse Camp.

Since last year’s fall festival had a such great turn out, the school decided to host a winter carnival this year. Bemidji Mayor Jorge Prince says that 250 people have already pre-registered for this event, which has the mayor himself very excited.

Prince says that he will be attending this event along with Beltrami County Administrator,Tom Barry, who helped in administrating this project since the beginning.

Barry said that this project was 40 years in the making, and that he worked very hard with the county board to receive permission to dedicate roughly 20 acres of forest property to the school itself.

The faculty and staff at Solway School strongly believes that learning about nature and their surrounding environment is important. This school forest will provide students with the opportunity to learn about forestry, the ecosystem, and much more.

This is a free will donation event. Visitors can expect to stay warm with a fire, sip on some hot cocoa, and enjoy some winter activities such as sledding.

By — Emma Hudziak