The Central RED Society is offering a schedule of programs for this fall that are open to the public. Details about each event are available at central.edu/red.

The fall classes begin on Tuesday, August 26th, with Ella Paulson presenting “Life in the Arctic Circle: Nature, Culture and Climate.” Paulson is a Green Iowa Americorps member with Mahaska County Conservation. Dinner begins at 5:30 pm and the program is at 6 pm in the Dave and Ardie Sutphen Common Room in the Graham Annex. Cost for the program is $25 and includes a meal.

Matthew Harvey, board of directors’ president for the Fort Des Moines Museum and Education Center, will give a program on Tuesday, September 9th on the history of Fort Des Moines. Dinner begins at 5:30 pm and the program is at 6 pm in the Graham Annex. Cost for this program is $25 and includes a meal.

On Friday, September 26th, Allison Van Wyngarden will present “The Story of Grace Therapeutic Riding.” Van Wyngarden is the founder, executive director, and an instructor at Grace Therapeutic Riding, and the program begins at 1:30 pm at their facility at 804 195th Avenue in Pella. There is no cost to attend the program and a tour of the facility will take place at the event.

Central professor of biology Russ Benedict will give a two-part program about “The Vanished Landscape: The Prairies of the Midwest” on Thursday, October 2nd. A dinner begins the event at 5:30 pm and the program starts at 6 pm in the Dave and Ardie Sutphen Common Room. Cost for Benedict’s program is $25 and includes the meal. 

At 10 am on Saturday, October 4th, participants are invited to visit the Carlson-Kuyper Field Station in Knoxville, which is Central’s 62-acre nature preserve and outdoor laboratory.

Central Red will also welcome Cyber & Infrastructure Security Agency Cybersecurity Advisor Jim Hoflen on Thursday, Nov. 6. Cyber & Infrastructure Security Agency is a government agency that coordinates critical infrastructure security alerts. Dinner for this event begins at 5:30 pm and the program starts at 6 pm in the Graham Annex. Cost for the program is $25 and includes a meal.

The final program of the semester will feature Greg Higgenbotham, canine handler and secretary of the board for Crisis Canines of the Midlands. Its mission is to facilitate a Crisis Response K9 Team, with a certified therapy dog handled by a first responder trained in critical incident stress management. His program will be on Thursday, December 4th, with dinner at 5:30 pm and a program at 6 pm in the Graham Annex. Cost is $25, and includes a meal.

For questions about these events, contact centralredsociety@gmail.com.