N. 36th St. north of Gateway Dr. will be closed until June 9, 2012 weather permitting. Detour signs will be posted. The closure is due to work by J.R. Simplot Co.

Contact: Kevin Dean, Public Information Center, 701-746-4636

Temporary Lane Closures on 32nd Ave. S.

The City of Grand Forks would like to alert drivers that temporary lane closures will occur on 32nd Avenue South this week. Through traffic will continue as paving repairs are completed on this street. The work is scheduled to continue until mid-June, weather permitting.

Contact: Kevin Dean, Public Information Officer, 701-746-4636

Family Day at the Museum

The last Saturday of each month will be Family Day at the North Dakota Museum of Art. A wide variety of activities are planned for all ages. Parents are encouraged to join their children for two creative hours of fun!

All ages are welcome. Each Family Day event is free and open to the public. No registration is necessary. All materials provided. There will be various art stations for children and families to choose from.

Grand Forks Public Library News

In honor of Memorial Day, the Grand Forks Public Library will be taking donations all the month of May for “Soldier’s Angels”.

Soldiers’ Angels is a volunteer-led nonprofit with hundreds of thousands of volunteers providing aid and comfort to the men and women of the United States Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, veterans and their families.

Soldiers’ Angels’ programs include first responder packs, general support and laptop computers to wounded soldiers receiving treatment at American military hospitals; care packages, letters, and support to deployed soldiers; items shipped for deployed soldiers or to children in the war zone; and memorial trees for the families of soldiers who have died in the service of their country. For more information please contact the library at 701-772-8116 ext. 12 or www.gflibrary.com. You can also contact Soldier’s Angels at www.soldiersangels.org. (This will be a month long activity)

The Grand Forks Public Library Children’s Department will be collecting items for CVIC (Community Violence Intervention Center). CVIC’s programs work together toward building a violence-free community – one in which every child grows up in a nurturing environment, and where homes, schools and streets are safe.

A list of suggested items to donate will be posted in the GFPL Children’s Department. For more information please contact the Grand Forks Public Library Children’s Department at 701-772-8116 ext. 13 or visit CVIC at cviconline.org. (This is a month long activity)

UND receives self-defense training sponsorship from Red River Valley Motorcyclists

Thanks to a generous contribution by the Red River Valley Motorcyclists (RRVM) to the University of North Dakota, more women will be better prepared to protect themselves if needed.

Thursday, May 17, the RRVM contributed a sponsorship worth about $3,000 to the Osher Life Long Learning Institute at UND (OLLI@UND), through a partnership with the UND Women’s Center. The money will be used to help offset registration fees for OLLI’s IMPACT self-defense class, offered through the Women’s Center.

IMPACT (International Movement Promoting Assault Contravention Training) teaches women how to successfully knock out an assailant of any size.

“It will teach you to defend yourself no matter what limitations you have,” said Connie Hodgson, coordinator of OLLI@UND. The class includes a specially trained “mugger,” who dons customized padding so women can practice full force tactics.

Jane Peterson, a graduate of IMPACT and a RRVM member explained the importance of the class.

“Taking this class is one of my greatest personal achievements and I credit it for saving my life,” she said. “One of the greatest gifts it gave me was heightened awareness — and that’s huge. It’s your first line of self-defense.”

The RRVM raised the donation through their annual motorcycle show and live auction held at the Alerus Center. This year’s theme was dedicated to volunteer fire and rescue, and personal safety.

Kay Mendick, the director of the UND Women’s center and certified IMPACT instructor, has been teaching the class since 2000.

“Size or age of the woman doesn’t matter, any woman can take this class,” said Mendick. “It gives women more information, and more information is power.”

OLLI@UND offers the IMPACT class three times a year, facilitated through the Women’s Center and open to all women age 18 and older. They also offer IMPACT to UND students who can take the class for college credit.

In order to avoid giving women a false sense of security, the IMPACT class is designed to reflect real life situations as closely as possible. Hodgson said this is extremely important in preparing women to defend themselves.

“It has to be as real as possible,” Hodgson said. “This is about fighting for your life.”

She also stressed the constant struggle to get women to realize how necessary this class is.

“Most don’t think an attack would happen to them,” she said.

The RRVM are hoping more women will attend IMPACT since their contribution will work toward making it more affordable. OLLI@UND and the Women’s center encourage all women to sign up “and bring your mom, sister, aunt, daughter and girlfriends.”

Hodgson assures everyone will learn something they’ll never forget: “I can’t say enough about this program. It’s worth every penny. Every time I start talking about it I get goose bumps. It’s lifesaving.”

David L. Dodds, Media Relations/Writer & Editor, Office of University Relations.