News

The Van Horne City Council passed an ordinance on Monday, June 9, 2014 that is aimed at reducing underage drinking and substance use. The vote makes Van Horne the second city in Benton County to adopt this ordinance, which already exists in unincorporated areas of Benton County The ordinance known as Social Host, fines adults who knowingly allow youth to use their property for alcohol consumption or drug use.

The Chicago Spazmatics and the local band Strait Run, along with Upstage (featuring Lori Ferguson) will bring help celebrate the 1980s during the 2014 version of Party in the Park. This year's event theme is: 80s Rewind.  The three-day event contains all of the traditions: Thursday night at the courthouse lawn (following the Kiddie Parade and free hot dogs at Farmers Savings Bank; Friday and Saturday entertainment, the Riverside's Got Talent show on Saturday, along with a variety of other games and activities all three days.

Two hundred and thirty-five years after legendary Capt. John Paul Jones captured a 50-gun British warship while trying to keep his own converted merchant vessel from sinking, a Vinton history major joined the Navy in its efforts to find and preserve the lost Bonhomme Richard. Katherine Dick, a 2011 Vinton-Shellsburg graduate and Luther College senior-to-be, spent her Washington Semester as an intern with the Underwater Archeology Branch of the Naval History and Heritage Command.

The Cooling Dancers of Vinton had a highly successful weekend competing June 12-13 in Wisconsin Dells, WI at the “Midwest Starz” Nationals.  Qualifying regional area routines from 52 studios competed at the four day event.  The Cooling Dancers competed in Small Group division (4 to 9 dancers,) Large Group (10-18 dancers,) and Line (20-39 dancers) categories.

I compiled a unique map today.  It shows our rural gravel road -- 24th Avenue Drive -- between Highway 150 (the area long-time residents know as Hummel's Curve) and our house.  On that map there are seven black numbers. Each one represents a place within that 3.5-mile stretch of gravel where one of my kids wrecked -- or nearly wrecked -- a car.

Learn safe, research-based methods for food preservation during a workshop on Monday, July 7, 2014 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm at the Old School Produce Company (811 D Ave, Old West School Building, Vinton).The program is offered by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach of Benton County in partnership with Old School Produce Company.Rachel Wall, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach nutrition and health specialist will lead the workshop.

Father’s day weekend was a good one for the Junge Model T’s Granny Basketball team at the Senior Olympics in Des Moines. Saturday morning started with Granny games in pool play, the Model T’s, Classic Chassis and CarX formed the car pool division. In the first game the Model T’s played Classic Chassis, winning 51-27. Leading the scoring was Kathy Sankey with 19 points and Colette Cook with 12.

Annette Merchant of Vinton is running a half Marathon for the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society in Des Moines this fall, and invited area residents to a fund-raising car wash on Saturday, June 14. The event raised more than $700 for the Society.  Merchant thanked her family for helping and all of the people who came to donate, share some food and have their cars washed for her cause.

Celebration Park officially opened on Saturday, with a ribbon cutting ceremony at the riverside block where nine home were destroyed during the flood of 2008.  Vinton Parks and Recreation Director Duane Randall, along with the VPRD Board members, joined several donors in cutting the ribbon.  A large check attached to the wall of the picnic shelter announced that $375,000 in contributions from local residents, businesses and organizations helped make the park a reality.

The annual Science Discovery Camp sponsored by the Benton County ISU Extension Service is under way, with week-long sessions planned in various cities within the county. Last week, the first Vinton session took place. Participants took home an ant farm, learned the different ways that wasps make nests, and designed their own insects out of leaves, grass and bark.