As the 3rd quarter of 2016 began the Mt. Pleasant Area Chamber Alliance learned its’ executive vice president, Travis Kraus would resign. The Alliance would hire Christy Ray to replace Krause, who moved on to a position in Iowa City.
The 2016 Henry County Fair Queen contest was held July 15. Kirsten Smith, the daughter of Debbie and Jason Smith was crowned queen and would represent Henry County at the Iowa State Fair. Also, last night before the Queen was crowned KILJ presented two young people with the annual Brownfield Ag Youth Award. Thanks to the Brownfield Ag Network and Farm Bureau Becca Strothman of New London and Neil Davis of Winfield each received a special belt buckle award and a HyVee gift card for their 4H club.
Secretary Of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and his wife Christy came home to Mt. Pleasant July 16 for the re-dedication of the Ed King Memorial Fountain originally dedicated in 1988. The fountain was named in memory of the Mt. Pleasant mayor who was shot and killed while presiding over a city council meeting nearly 20 years ago. During the winter months the fountain received a face lift at Robinson Iron, where it was built. The Secretary described the Central Park center piece as the heart of Mt. Pleasant and a symbol of the community.
July 18 the Mt. Pleasant School Board met in regular session. It was the new superintendent’s first regular monthly meeting with the whole board. John Henriksen began his duties July 1. Supt. Henriksen reported to the board his first couple weeks with the district had been a whirlwind start mostly due to moving the district office last week. The Mt. Pleasant School district offices were moved July 14 to rented space at the corner of Washington and Grand.
Earlier in the year the Mt. Union City Council voted to move forward with dissolution of the city however, in the third quarter Henry County Auditor Shelly Barber received a petition asking for the Mt.Union un-incorporation be put to a city vote. The required number of signatures was obtained but the petition was not turned in on time in order to have an August 2 vote. Since the petitioners didn’t meet the deadline for an August 2 ballot, the vote would have to be included on the November ballot.
US Senator Chuck Grassley spent quite a bit of time in Southeast Iowa at the end of July, with visits to Washington, Ft. Madison, Burlington and Mt. Pleasant. While in Mt. Pleasant July 28 the Senator toured Hearth and Home Technologies in Mt. Pleasant before attending the Annual Henry County Republican Hog Roast where he was the keynote speaker. Grassley including some campaigning in his stops. The long time Senator was running for re-election.
August 10 Dr. Christopher Peters a thorasic surgeon from Coralville, spoke at the local noon Rotary Club meeting. Peters was running against Congressman Dave Loebsack in the second congressional district. Peters political affiliation has been Libertarian but he was running as a Republican
During August activity increased on the IWU campus as students arrived for the new school year. About 85 football players reported for practice, at least 30 more than the year before and almost 250 other new students were expected. August 25 the community was invited to celebrate the start of the new school year and IWU 175th Anniversary with Rock Around the campus instead of Rock Around the Block. The summer chamber event featuring a dj and the Mt. Pleasant High School was a hit.
August 22 on the Z’s Quick Break Facebook page, owner Randy Stroud said plans fell thru to sell the convenience store at the corner of Washington and Adams Streets in Mt. Pleasant where it has been located for the last 30 years. Stroud said after much consideration, he had decided to close the doors on this Mount Pleasant legacy.
During the third quarter Winfield officially launched a fundraising campaign for a new swimming pool. The Winfield Community Development Group is leading the campaign to raise one million dollars to replace the current pool owned by Twin Lakes Country Club. Twin Lakes had agreed to turn the land over to the city. In the future it will be a municipal pool instead of privately owned and operated by Twin Lakes. Fundraising is taking several paths….private donations, fundraising events, city contribution, county contribution and grant applications.
As the 2016 Old Threshers Harvest Parade prepared to roll down Washington Street, Threshers CEO Terry McWilliams was wondering what he was going to do about his Sunday night country music show. McWilliams was informed that Sunday night’s entertainer Tracy Lawrence had to cancel due to the death of his father. However, the booking agent for Old Threshers got busy and provided the association with a list of performers to choose from. McWilliams said Clay Walker stood out as another greater country music artist that would bring a good show to the KILJ stage. Walker went on instead of Lawrence that Sunday. The annual event saw ideal weather for visitors and attendance was up over the last several years.
Construction of a new library in Donnellson got underway in September. This will be the first time the library has a home that wasn’t something else. It started in a doctors office in 1935, was once located in a feed store and then a bank. The ground breaking for the new building was held during the Donnellson autumn festival September 17.
At the September meeting the New London School Board selected a general contractor for the upcoming facility improvements. The contract was awarded to Todd Hackett Construction of Muscatine. Hackett had the low bid of two million, 20 thousand dollars to oversee the improvements that include new roof on portions of the school buildings, sewer and water fixes and basically a new sports complex.
September 21 US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack made an unexpected stop in Mt. Pleasant Saturday. Vilsack was not on the program for the Henry County Democrats Annual Harvest Rally but he was in Burlington and Muscatine for Saturday events and made a quick detour thru his adopted hometown. Sec Vilsack shared the highlights of his comments to the crowd gathered in the Old Threshers museum, saying he truly believed the upcoming election would be the most important election of a lifetime
September 28 the Mt. Pleasant City Council met for the first time in it’s new home. September 20 and 20st city operations were moved to the Mt. Pleasant library civic center. The second floor meeting room would now double as the council chambers. City administrator Brent Schleisman thanked everyone who assisted in moving city operations to the new location. He said it went better than expected and operational systems were down less than 24 hours. The old city hall would go up for auction October 27 and would be purchased by Dr. Fred and Deb Savage.
September 29 A shared passion for history led Jeff Meyer and John Hendrickson to collaborate on a book about Mt. Pleasant. The community turned out September 29 for a book signing with the new authors, purchasing “Mt. Pleasant” the newest addition to Arcadia Publishing’s popular “Images of America” series. The book features more than 200 vintage images highlighting Mt. Pleasant’s rich history.
September 30 Homecoming celebrations on the IWU campus included the ribbon cutting for renovations at the Chadwick Library. Thanks to a very generous bequest from Mt. Pleasant Educator and IWU alum Don Young the 50 year old library was updated creating a modern collaborative space for students and the community.
At the end of September the Healthy Henry County Communities Board was notified that Executive Director Travis Johnson was resigning his position. He also resigned as the Henry County Community Health Director. Johnson’s last day would be October 21.