Briefs: Winter photography class at arboretum

Winter photography class at arboretum"Winter Night, Winter Light: Photographing Winter Wonders" will be offered as a class from 1-6 p.m. Saturday at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, 3675 Arboretum Drive in Chanhassen.

Photographer John Pennoyer will lead the class in discussions of everything from the correct exposure to use in winter light to the proper way to dress and protect your equipment while shooting in the Minnesota cold. Participants will spend time shooting photos in the winter environment at the arboretum.

Participants should bring their own camera along with its owner's manual and a small flashlight. They should dress appropriately for being outdoors for an extended period.

Cost of the class is $60 for arboretum members and $70 for non-members. To register, go to www.arboretum.umn.edu/learn.aspx or call 952-443-1422.

For more information on Pennoyer and his work, go to www.impressionsofnature.net.

Volunteers needed for annual bird countVolunteers are invited to join in the Audubon Christmas Bird Count from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Lowry Nature Center in Carver Park Reserve in Victoria.

Beginners and expert birders alike are needed for this annual nationwide census of birds. To attend, call Lowry at 763-694-7650 to sign up for a time and specific section of the park.

For more information go to www.threeriversparks.org/events/A/audubon-christmas-bird-count.aspx.

400 sites for recycling Christmas lightsFour-hundred sites around the state are accepting old Christmas lights for recycling between now and Jan. 31 through the Recycle Your Holiday program.

Last year the effort took in 100,000 pounds of lights in Minnesota. It employs more than 200 workers with developmental disabilities at vocational centers around the state. The workers remove every bulb of every strand of lights.

For more information on the program and a dropoff site near you, go to www.recycle minnesota.org.

Snowmobile trails have changedChanges to the routes of snowmobile trails in Shakopee mean that snowmobilers need to check a new map before setting out this winter, the city said. A link to the new map appears on the city's website at www.ci.shakopee.mn.us/trails.cfm.

The club, which helps maintain more than 200 miles of trails in Scott County, meets at 7:30 p.m. on the second Wednesday of each month in the Presidents Room on the third floor of Canterbury Park.

Drop-off trash no longer acceptedThe Brooklyn Park Drop-Off Facility will no longer accept trash from residents beginning in January.

The space currently used for residential dropoff will be leased to a company that will separate metals and plastics for recycling out of trash that's brought in by haulers.

The center will still accept electronics, mattresses, appliances, recyclables, automotive waste and hazardous household wastes, as well a organic waste.

The company, Rational Energies, will pay the county nearly $1 million a year for the lease and share revenue from the sale of recyclables. The county figures it will save another $1.1 million a year in disposal costs.