News

During the first Memorial Day ceremony since the installation of the Iwo Jima silhouette at Veterans Park, the audience heard a history lesson about the famous battle of 1945, and the flag raising that inspired one of the iconic photos of World War II. Vinton-Shellsburg Middle School History Teacher Alex Vasquez shared some of the history of the war, telling the audience how the Japanese converted an island full of sulfur mines into a network of tunnels and fortified caves, hoping to cause such severe casualties that the U.

June is dairy month! Celebrate by thanking a dairy farmer or enjoying your favorite dairy products! The Benton County Dairy Princess, Ally Bierschenk, will be around at various events this month. Feel free to stop and visit with her and with our little royals if you see them out and about! On June 4 from 11 to 1 the Benton County Dairy Royalty will be doing a cheese promorion at Fareway.

Tilford Elementary students in Ms. Mindy McClintock's PE classes continued their annual Jump Rope for Heart tradition, raising $4,926.65 for the American Heart Association. Three students, Dylan Long, Miekela Ternus and Klee Kirchner, raised more than $200.  Several students raised more than $100. Those students are pictured with this story.

"Dunk him! Dunk him!" "Dunk Mr. Davis!" The chant could be heard echoing across the playground at Shellsburg Elementary, where the students celebrated Spirit Day, their year-end party. They had spent the last few hours playing a variety of games, from the group parachute activities to kickball to bubbles to a sponge-passing game that left most participants soaked.

It was chilly, windswept day for the First Annual VPRD Touch A Truck, held on Satruday, May 14th at Vinton Shellsburg High School, but the weather didn’t keep all of our excited vehicle explorers away.  The expected attendance from VPRD staff was somewhere from 100-150 people but we amazed that over 400 people attended the event which consisted of vehicles ranging from Emergency Services to the National Guard, Large Agriculture Equipment, Construction vehicles, a Tow Truck and awesome race car.

Winds of up to 65 miles per hour blew through Benton County early this morning, causing damage to trees, but apparently no structural damage, says Benton County Emergency Management Director Scott Hansen. While some Vinton crews were putting up the small flags along the downtown streets, others were removing damaged limbs from streets. County crews also dealt with branches on roadways; a few power lines were also damaged, leaving some residents without electricty for a while.

Virginia Gay Hospital’s project to construct a new building for the Vinton Family Medical Clinic commenced Tuesday with one small sign. Groundbreaking is set for Friday, June 3rd, and will occur after months of fine-tuning the costs with architects and contractors.  “It took longer than I would have liked,” says Mike Reifenstahl, Director of Facilities at Virginia Gay, “but we’re pleased with the costs, the schedule and the team we have.

Every May, Alex Vasquez teaches young people how to march.  The 8th grade history teacher at Vinton-Shellsburg Middle School has been a Civil War re-enactor, and is the descendant of a man who survived being shot in the face during The War Between the States.  This week, the annual tradition continued. Vasquez has been teaching the war over the past few weeks.

Four Benton County residents have been appointed to the Extension Council Nominating Committee, Shannon Feuerbach announced. The committee is charged with nominating candidates for the four vacancies on the council before August 10, 2016. Committee members selected to nominate extension council candidates for the 2016 election are Susie Henkle, 1975 60th St.

Friends of 4-H is a committee that was created by the Benton County Extension Council in June of 2015. Its purpose is to fundraise and provide scholarships for the youth enrolled in Benton County 4-H. It is the Council's hope that the additional monies provided will encourage Benton County 4-H youth to attend summer camps, conferences and programs at the local, state and national levels, Friends of 4-H started off by having pie auctions at the Benton County Fair during the livestock shows.