News

By: Co-Reporter, Grace Schminke On Thursday January 12th, the Vinton-Shellsburg FFA Chapter hosted the annual Holiday Lock-In. Members gathered in the Ag Room in preparation of being “locked-in” at 9:00 P.M. After going over the expectations on the night, the fun began. Once the lock-in began members were able to play games of volleyball, basketball, pickleball and much more.

The Salvation Army of Benton County received $15,333.61 this past Christmas season from the Red Kettle Campaign. We are grateful for the willingness of folks to ring the bell! We know some days it was cold, and yet we often hear people say, “I enjoy doing this. It's actually fun!”It is a soft estimate that we had 330 hours of bell ringing from approximately 100 volunteers.

The Vinton City Council will have a couple of discussions tonight. Prior to the regular council meeting, there will be a Work Session at 6:00 p.m. to discuss the North Benton Ambulance Services. The ambulance service is asking the city to consider taking over operations and management of the ambulance service. Currently, the service covers Vinton, five townships, and 50% of three other townships as well as a small portion of a few other townships, and five cities not including Vinton.

Even prior to his graduation from North Tama High School, senior Chris Wagner from Traer enlisted in the United States Army thereby keeping the family tradition alive and well. A fourth-generation military man; his service came after his father’s, who served in Vietnam, his grandfather’s, who served in WWII, and even his great-grandfather’s service in WWI.

After going through a robust interview process, Andrea Townsley will be recommended as the next Tilford Elementary principal. Vinton-Shellsburg Superintendent Kyle Koeppen stated “Mrs. Townsley brings a wealth of elementary specific experience in both teaching and curriculum knowledge. She already has a strong background in our district as she has served as our school improvement consultant for the past several years and is one of the reasons why we have strong academic success.

Fareway recently presented a check for more than $319,000 to the U.S. Marine Corps for their Toys for Tots campaign, which provides toys to children during the holiday season. In addition, more than 75 pallets of toys were collected and donated. Monetary and toy donations were accepted at all 133 Fareway store locations from Friday, November 25 through Saturday, December 24.

By: Co-Reporter, Grace Schminke On December 31st, 7 senior members of the Vinton-Shellsburg FFA Chapter traveled to the Capitol in Des Moines, to represent the chapter at the annual Legislative Symposium. The chapter traveled to Embassy Suites to start out their day. While they were there they were able to listen to guest speakers, Mike Maig, Brent Johnson, Elizabeth Burns, Brenna Bird and Governor Kim Reynolds.

By Katie Sorrell and Alicia HerzogBenton has been funded through the program since 2020 and maintains a large urban farm-turned-community donation garden. The coordinated gleaning efforts benefit seven area food pantries with a goal of donating 15,000 pounds. Garden tours will be provided to food pantry clients.In the midst of record setting food pantry usage throughout the state, Growing Together Mini-Grants will provide fresh produce and nutrition education to pantries in 2023 through Iowa State University Extension and Outreach’s SNAP-Education program.

Benton Community School announced that they have appointed Dr. Bieschke as the next superintendent. In a statement, the school said, "Dr. Bieschke is the current associate superintendent and school business official in Benton CSD, where he is responsible for overall operations of business services, transportation, technology, food service, and buildings and grounds.

Jodie Bevans was a veteran who had served in the United States Air Force for more than six years. Following her military service, she became an LPN and served in the Solon Care Center, then became the Director of Nursing at Rock Ridge Care Center in Shellsburg, and later at Cottage Grove Place. Most importantly, she was a wife, mother and grandmother to 24 grandchildren.