News

During Saturday's snowstorm, UnityPoint St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids welcomed their first baby of 2022. The first baby to arrive was Elaina Laura born to Aaric and Morgan Rust of Norway. She weighed in at 7 pounds 8 ounces. She was born at 9:47 a.m. according to the hospital. Welcome to Benton County, and Congratulations mom and dad!

Carter Pottebaum has officially accepted the 50 yard challenge! The 7 year old Vinton boy is completing this challenge as part of a movement by a non-profit called Raising Men Lawn Care Service. Carter has shoveled at 4 houses so far but he can also do other jobs. He can rake leaves, mow, remove trash, and even cleans off trampolines! His mom Jasmin said about Carter, "He has such a good heart and LOVES To help others! After he completes the 50 yards he gets to meet the owner of the nonprofit and earns a lawnmower, leafblower and weed eater.

Some area residents have noticed something different about garbage and recycling collection in Vinton. It used to take two trips to collect the trash on days that both garbage and recycling are put out to be picked up. The first round would collect the trash, and the second round collected the recycling...or visa versa.Several residents have noticed that both the garbage and recycling are being collected into one truck and were concerned that both were going to the landfill.

The Vinton-Shellsburg FFA Chapter welcomed Iowa FFA State Officer, Avery Hanaway, and District Officer, John Moellers to a chapter visit on December 17, 2021. While at the high school, Avery and John led interactive workshops for the agriculture education classes. They also talked with the agricultural education instructor, Gabrielle Power about the future of the Vinton-Shellsburg FFA Chapter.

I can't believe that we are about to enter into 2022 already! It seems like just a few weeks ago that we wrapped up 2020!They say that time flies when you're having fun, and apparently, we've been having a ton of fun!There will be no email going out tomorrow, but you know the drill, it's not like this website EVER shuts down, there will just be one less perk tomorrow.

Updated:Vinton Parks & Recreation Department and Vinton Unlimited partnered up for the 2021 Deck the House Contest! Funded by the HOT Grant, we were able to offer increased prizes this year! We want to thank everyone who registered for the competition this year and recognize the winners for each category. A special shoutout to Mike & Cindy Elwick who placed first in the Elegant Category and decided to donate their winnings to be disbursed amongst everyone who signed up this year that did not place.

The GRAND PRIZE winner of the Holiday Lights Punch Card drawing is . . . KRISTI ELWICK! Congratulation, Kristi! Kristi's prize is valued at almost $800! Thank you to the following local businesses that helped make this all possible: Arnold Motor Supply, Benton County Historical Society, Cameron’s Clothing, Echo Vision-US Cellular, Ervin Motor Company, Flower’s by Nature’s Corner, Henkle Creek Mercantile, John’s Qwik Stop, LaGrange Pharmacy, Michael & Dowd, Old Hospital Pub, Palace Theater, Pourville Art Studio & Gallery, Three D Kitchens/The Niche/Brickside Brew & Chew, Tootsies Ice Cream, Viking Plaza, Viking Sewing Center, & Vinton Unlimited.

Following Christmas and opening the gifts that were safely tucked under the tree, moms and dads know that you have about 24 hours before you might here, "I'm bored, there's nothing to do!" Vinton Parks and Recreation comes to the rescue every year with a Winter Carnival to break up the week off. This year they even arranged a snowstorm to entertain the children after their fun at the Skate Center.

The Holiday Lights Punch Card Winner for week #5 is Bruce Bergen! To date the winners have been: Barbara Greenlee, Kellee Jurgens, Chantz Wright, Carrie Powers, and Bruce Bergen.

One of the most painful parts of life is the death of someone close to us. Usually, it happens through illness or an accident, but sometimes it's brought on because life was for some reason just too hard to deal with. When that happens, families are left with the pain of not knowing the whys and always asking themselves if they could have prevented the actions that took away their loved ones.