Et Cetera

  Eastern Iowa Honor Flight got an unexpected shot in the arm. Mr. Myron Wilson of Cedar Rapids donated $50,000, that's right fifty thousand dollars. He did a direct transfer from his IRA to Honor Flight which will allow him to exclude the money from income. He stated he was so impressed with the dedication of the Honor Flight board who are all volunteers and are not paid except for the privilege of seeing WWII Veterans tears of joy when they are taken on an Honor Flight.

  Dr. Nancy Erickson, vice president for academic affairs at Iowa Wesleyan College, Mount Pleasant, has announced the names of students who have qualified for the 2011 spring semester Dean's List. To qualify for the Dean's List, a student must attain a grade point average of 3.50 or better on a 4.00 scale with 12 credit hours or more and no incomplete grades at the time the list is declared.

  By:  Alex Johnson   A team of AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps) members assisted Miracles in Motion therapeutic equestrian center on two consecutive Saturdays, June 11 and June 18, in Swisher. The NCCC team helped do maintenance work and clean up the facility. The team is great at doing maintenance work thanks to their experience working at the ASPIRE Therapeutic Riding Facility.

Tonight my daughter (Aubree, 4 years old) and I went to Wal-Mart and bought $80.17 worth of razors, toilet paper, Advil, Bayer, Air Wick Room Deodorizers...etc...after coupons our total was only $13.92! These huge savings were courtesy of the residents' and families at Windsor Manor.  Over the past several weeks, I’ve had cascades of coupons pouring into my mail box on a regular basis.

  By: Phil Schaefer and Gaby Nieves   Party in the Park is rapidly approaching! AmeriCorps NCCC team Maple 4 will be helping out with many of the kids games Thursday night and will be largely apart of festivities Friday night and Saturday.   Maple 4 has been busy helping the VPRD get the park ready for all the events.

   Northwestern College announces that Rebecca Scheil, daughter of Wade & Kathleen Scheil of Vinton, graduated from Northwestern on Saturday, May 14, 2011 with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education. Founded in 1902, Northwestern College is a private Christian liberal arts college in St. Paul, Minn. offering more than 50 bachelor's degree majors, two master's degrees and several associate degree and certificate programs.

  The Simon Estes Iowa Educational Foundation recently announced that Catherine Steinfadt of Atkins, Connor Roth of Luzerne and Nathaniel Webber of Vinton were named Simon Estes Scholars from Benton County for 2011.  Catherine graduated from Benton Community High School and will be attending Iowa State University majoring in Animal Biology; Connor Roth graduated from Belle Plaine High School and will be attending Coe College majoring in History and Nathaniel Webber graduated from Vinton-Shellsburg High School and will be attending University of Northern Iowa majoring Music Education.

Lost cat in Norway, has one ear that is bent over, it is a spayed female, gray/black, around 10 years old. Please call the animal shelter at 319-472-4623 if you have any information. Thank you.

       Krista Jo Vogel of Atkins was named to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Deans' List/Honor Roll for the spring semester of the 2010-11 academic year. Vogel is a senior news and editorial major in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. To be named to the Dean's List of the College of Journalism requires a GPA of at least 3.

  By: Casey Kearney and Shane Eazor   AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) team Cedar 6 was called away from a Cedar Rapids community development project to assist in flood recovery efforts in Williston, North Dakota. Williston along with many other towns in North Dakota has been experiencing a record high water table which caused water to flood the basements of many residents.