Photo: From left to right: Kyle Koeppen representing the Vinton Shellsburg Community School District, Cyanna Boggess representing Vinton Unlimited, Deb Wilberg representing Farmers Savings Bank & Trust and Anne Williams representing the Vinton Area Ministerial Association. Absent: Tami Stark representing Vinton City Council. ---One hundred percent of your tax-deductiblecontributions are used for the betterment of the Vinton community.

By Layla Lynch,  East Unit Park RangerYou may have heard the term “GIS”, but have you wondered what it really entails? Maybe you have wondered how the maps you use at county and state parks are created. Is someone guessing where a boat ramp or shelter is and just posting a symbol on a map image, or is that person going out to the areas and documenting the exact location through satellite points? Let’s dig into GIS and see how we use it at Benton County Conservation!GIS, or Geographic Information Systems, is a technology that is used to create, manage, analyze, and map different types of data such as streets, buildings, vegetation, bodies of water, or any other points of interest.

After an incredible 38-year career at Virginia Gay Hospital (VGH), Monica Stark is retiring on March 17, 2025—exactly 38 years to the day after she first joined the VGH team on St. Patrick’s Day in 1987.Monica began her career at VGH after completing her training at Schoitz Hospital in Waterloo, Iowa. As only the second full-time employee in the X-Ray Department, she played a crucial role in providing essential imaging services, assisting with EKGs, and managing with just one day of radiologist coverage per week.

Pictured: Top Row Left to Right: Brody Waters, Cooper McClintock, Ben McGowan, Ben Buhr, Andrew Allsup, Jameson Demuth, Cole Birker, Jonah Meyer. 2nd Row: Lily Ann Hesson, Kara Rollinger, Megan Schlitter, Eleanor Moen, Levi Lutz, Leif Allen, Steven Rogers, Andrew Pingenot. 3rd Row: Nora Grovert, Jenna Grovert, Bri Dulin, Madeline Pingenot, Carlie Clark, Sophia Newton, Will McKenna, Juliana Luis, Jazmyn Dods.