News

CriVen Llamas of Rogersville, Mo. captured Best of Show honors in the 2015 Iowa State Fair Llama show held August 22. The winning llama was selected from Grand Champion females and males in the Light Wool, Medium Wool, Heavy Wool, Silky Wool, Suri Wool, Non-Breeder and Miniature divisions. Additional results below: COSTUME Junior Costume -- 7-11 Years Old 1) Rustic Ridge Llamas, Winterset 2) Raven Dilley, Eldora Intermediate Costume -- 12-15 Years Old 1) Trisha Tjarks, Alden Senior Costume -- 16-18 Years Old 1) Rustic Ridge Llamas, Winterset Advanced Costume 1) Bethany Arnold, Hampton 2) Bushwhacker Llamas, Nevada, Mo.

Rosemary Thompson of Gilman exhibited both the Grand Champion Bull and the Champion Iowa Bull in the Shorthorn Cattle Show judged August 22 at the 2015 Iowa State Fair. Braden Gabrielson of Belmond took home the Grand Champion Female and Champion Iowa Female Banners. Landon Bolin of Dunlap exhibited the Reserve Champion Female and Mitchell Family Shorthorns of Waverly earned the Reserve Champion Bull banner.

For the second year in a row, Scott Anderson of Brandon earned the Grand Master honor at the Pyrotechnics Guild International competion.  He won last year's event in Mason City. This year, he earned the top honor from the international fireworks organization after winning or placing well in several categories with his homemade displays.

Megan Rickels went home from her last meeting as a member of the Vinton-Shellsburg School board, where her husband and sons had made her favorite meal.  It was one of several expressions of thanks that Rickels and fellow board member Angela Hazen received as they left the board after serving two terms. Each chose not to seek re-election.

When Vinton residents cast ballots for the November city elections, they will also have an opportunity to create a new telecommunications utility for the city; one that could offer telephone, internet, and cable TV as the communities of Independence and Cedar Falls have done. Kurt Karr, a member of the iVinton Committee, explained to council members what a yes vote would and would not do.

Maidrites & Music, the concert featuring musicians from several states who play with Vinton resident Todd Frank almost every September, raised money for the Garrison Library building project on Saturday night.  More than 60 people filled the Farmers Mercantile Hall, the building that for decades housed the Mercantile general store, Volunteers wearing red "Garrison Rockets" t-shirts served the meal before the performers took turns playing guitars, violins and other instruments and singing.

An important, but often-overlooked part of railroad life and railroad history came to life for a few hours in Vinton on Saturday, when nearly 50 railroad enthusiasts brought their track maintenance vehicles to the Vinton depot before taking a tour along the tracks between Cedar Rapids and Waterloo. The maintenance cars are about the size of golf carts, and are powered by 1- or 2-cylinder gasoline engines and equipped with train-style metal wheels.

For the second straight year, nearly 300 volunteers representing several churches and other organizations and families, have gathered at the Vinton Skate Center to help feed the hungry, locally and around the globe. Vinton Feeds the World organizer Marta Bauer, a member of Bethelehem Lutheran Church, said that a total of 278 volunteers helped package 36,072 meals.

The board of the Vinton-Shellsburg Fine Arts Century Club would like to extend an invitation to current members of the Vinton-Shellsburg Fine Arts Century Club and to prospective members of Vinton and surrounding communities to attend the annual meeting of the Vinton-Shellsburg Fine Arts Century Club on Monday, September 14. The meeting will take place in the Media Center at the Vinton-Shellsburg High School at 7:00 P.

Because of a beloved local tour guide, those who love European music have played a piano in a historic castle and a pipe organ in a European cathedral. Area residents walked where their Old World ancestors lived, and return with suitcases full of souvenirs, cameras full of unique photos and a lifetime of memories.   Nearly 100 groups of 30 to 48 people have gathered at the home of Oliver and Inge Schminke to discuss their upcoming journey.