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Last year, Angie Wittmer of rural Vinton earned Second Place with her Iowa State Fair concrete ice cream cone painting. This year, the artists in the Iowa State Fair Concrete Painting Contest painted ribbons; Angie's ribbon featuring an "American Farmer" theme earned second place. "When I saw the actual concrete ribbon, I immediately thought of an ear of corn broken in half, which led me to a theme of 'America Needs Farmers,'' said Angie.

41st ANNUAL HOPPER FAMILY REUNION The descendants of Jesse and Gertie Abernathey Hopper gathered for their 41st annual reunion on Sunday, July 28, 2013 in the fellowship room of the First Christian Church in Vinton. Attending were 50 family members and guests who also shared a delicious potluck luncheon. There are currently 185 living descendants of the above-named couple.

Overalls, handkerchiefs, stringed instruments and many other old-fashioned items were on display this weekend during the annual Hillbilly Days in Brandon. Activities also included softball, horseshoes, a parade, tractor ride and car show. 

Tami Stark said she was surprised, that first August Saturday in 2008, to find out just how much junk was scattered along the Cedar River bed. The River RATS spent a day removing tanks, tires, and other items, even an intact picnic table (mostly likely washed from its original location during that year's flood).  The participants that day did find a few items worth cleaning and keeping, sent much to a recycling center, and also created a pile to send to the landfill.

The deadline for candidates to file for the Sept. 10, school board election passed on Thursday. The slate of candidates for the ballot is now on record at the Benton County Auditor's Office.  In Vinton-Shellburg, Mike Timmermans will run unopposed for re-election in District 1. Sue Gates and Rob Levis, who were elected together in 2009, are seeking re-election.

The 20-year Hawk Bilt history, and how it impacted Vinton, was among the things that nearly 100 people gathered at the Depot in Vinton to celebrate Thursday afternoon. The event included the unveiling of a sign that highlighted much of the history of Hawk-Bilt, and the inventions of Keith Elwick.  "A person needs a lot of luck to get through life and I have had more thany share and the biggest piece of luck -- a huge piece of luck -- had to do with farming and food production, which silos and smokestacks is all about,"  Elwick told the audience.

Today Eastern Iowa Honor Flight accepted a check from the employees of PepsiCo/Quaker Co in the amount of $85,000. This was a fund raising campaign devised and implemented by the Valor Group at Quaker. This group is comprised of veterans who involved all Quaker employees and retirees in the fundraising. PepsiCo/Quaker is the sponsor of the September 10, 2013 flight.

Vinton-Shellsburg will hold a surplus item sale on Monday, August 5, from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm behind the Middle school.  Stop by before or after you register your student for school.  There are lots of student chairs, miscellaneous desks, numerous bookshelves, PC keyboards, file cabinets, & miscellaneous items.  All items sold “As Is” and must be removed the day of the sale.

    On June 11, 2013 the Vinton Shellsburg FFA chapter had four girls go to Kirkwood Community College to participate in Floriculture and four girls go to participate in Horse Judging. In the Floriculture event, members participate in six different areas: floral arrangement, plant ID, math and problem solving, general knowledge, greenhouse production, and pesticides and application, as well as a team event that is done at the end.

From July 10-12, 2013 the Vinton-Shellsburg officer team went camping at Clear Lake for their officer retreat together. During officer retreat the team bonded together in games, ice breaker activities, and working together during sessions. They learned what each other's personalities are and how they can all work with each other. They went over what their most important characteristics in themselves are and made bracelets with beads that had those characteristics.