Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
H-M-S Students of the Month: Students of the Month for November at Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Elementary pictured front row, from left to right: Kallen Block (TK), Kylah Vander Lee (KB), Myla Steinkamp (KA) and Evan Elgersma (1B). Back row: Nik Mason (2C), Emmett Wingert (2A), Enrique Brown Martinez (2B), Dustin Rolfes (3A), Hoyt Ahrenstorff (3B) and Carter Clancy (4A). Not pictured: Weslie Conaway.
CC/E Star Students: Star Students at Clay Central/Everly Elementary were recently announced for the month of November. Star Students are Mavericks that come to school ready to learn, are kind and respectful to others, and responsible throughout their school day. Students chosen for this honor included, from left to right: Emily Trierweiler (3), Isabella Lewis (2), Kaeley Benson (6), Serenity Moriston (5), Ariel Kluender (K), Jazelle Francis-Davis (1) and Derek Johnson (4).
Donated deer hides benefit disabled veterans
Hunters donated nearly 4,000 deer hides to Elks Lodges across Iowa last year, which was a slight decrease from the 2020-2021 season. The deer hides are used by the Veterans Leather Program to make professionally-crafted leather gloves for veterans in wheelchairs and also turned into leather used for therapy programs for recovering veterans.
The Veterans Leather Program relies on the charity of hunters to donate their deer hides. Hunters willing to donate their hides are encouraged to contact the local Elks Lodge for drop off locations or visit http://www.elks.org/lodges to find the nearest lodge. The therapeutic kits and gloves are distributed at no cost to the veterans.
Contact Lisa Widick at 208-360-6294 or [email protected] for more information.
Clay County Fair & Events Center receives int'l recognition
The World's Greatest County Fair lived up to its billing by winning nine awards during the International Association of Fairs and Expositions (IAFE) 2021 Virtual Awards Show held last month.
"These awards are all due to the hard work of our board of directors, staff, sponsors and partners, and volunteers," said Fair & Events Center CEO Jeremy Parsons. "It is an honor to receive this recognition from our peers in the fair industry."
The IAFE awards program allows member fairs to enter competitions based on competitive exhibits, agriculture, sponsorship, non-fair events, and communications. After submission, entries are judged based upon predetermined criteria set forth by IAFE committees. Judges include industry professionals both within and outside of the IAFE membership. For the awards program, the member fairs are split into five divisions based on attendance. The Clay County Fair competes in Division 3, which is limited to fairs across the globe with an attendance of 250,000-500,000.
Awards won by the Fair & Events Center were as follows:
• Agriculture Individual Photo: Equine, Second Place (photo by Judy Hemphill);
• Agriculture Individual Photo: Rodeo, Second Place (photo by Jim Steffens);
• Video Promo, Third Place (:30 second TV commercial developed by Caliber Creative);
• Double-sided, Multi-page, or Folded Promotional Ad, First Place (Fair poster/brochure developed by Caliber Creative);
• Overall Best Marketing Campaign, Third Place (developed by Caliber Creative);
• Unique event created to utilize the facility during the pandemic, First Place (Spencer YMCA Ice Cream Spooktacular);
• Item to Promote Facility: Newsprint Ad, Second Place (created in-house);
• Item to Promote Facility: Single Brochure or Flyer, First Place (non-Fair event rental brochure created in-house);
• Printed Material Specific to Rental, First Place (wedding brochure created in-house).
Area housing agency awarded nearly $400K
The Iowa Finance Authority awarded more than $9 million in grants to 27 housing trust funds to support local housing initiatives. Grant awards are made available through the Local Housing Trust Fund program and are expected to assist more than 2,100 families.
Funding was awarded to 27 trust funds throughout the state. Northwest Iowa Regional Housing Trust Fund, Inc., which serves eight area counties including Clay and O'Brien, received $390,062.
Grant funds will be used for initiatives such as preserving aging housing stock, subsidizing local rental and down payment assistance programs, providing low-interest loans or grants to assist Iowans with home rehabilitation, financing construction of new single-family housing for low-income Iowans, and supporting housing for persons with disabilities and homeless assistance programs.
The State Housing Trust Fund was created by the Iowa Legislature in 2003 to help ensure decent, safe and affordable housing for Iowans through two programs.
The Local Housing Trust Fund Program receives at least 60 percent of the SHTF allocation to provide grants for organizations certified by the Iowa Finance Authority as a Local Housing Trust Fund. The remaining funding goes to the Project-Based Housing Program, which aids in the development of affordable single-family and multifamily housing.
