The Mount Pleasant Chamber Alliance showcased five small businesses this week during National Small Business Week, recognizing the important contributions of America’s entrepreneurs and small business owners. The final winner was announced Friday during a special celebration luncheon. After all five were highlighted, it was announced that Smith Plumbing, Heating and Cooling was the winner. Owners Jason and Debbie Smith were there to accept the award. The week was filled with open houses and ribbon cuttings for each of the nominees that also included Airport Road Vineyard/Crossfit Teo, Big Dog Tattoos & Piercing, Jason Smith Plumbing, Heating and Cooling, Little Mexico and Zeglen Construction. Former recipients helped choose the finalists from submitted applications that came from customers, friends and employees. The final scoring was done by judges from outside the state who didn’t know the nominees. Judges comments about Jason and Debbie’s company said they were impressed by the outstanding customer service, the list of organizations the Smith’s support and their volunteer hours. “Iowa Nice” is the phrase used to describe the business. The same five questions were asked of each applicant….why did you want to start your own business, what are you involved with in your community and what set’s your business apart. There are 210 Chamber members that have 20 or less employees.
KILJ Mother of the Year!
The 2021 KILJ Mother of the Year is Paula Hoenig! Congratulations Paula and thank you to her daughter Darcie Woodruff for submitting the winning letter about her mom. First runner-up is Cara Bunnell and second runner-up is Elaine Walters. Paula wins a $200 gift certificate to the Drake Restaurant in Burlington. Cara receives a $100 certificate to the Drake and Elaine a $50 certificate. KILJ thanks the Drake for partnering with the station for this annual promotion and we thank everyone who submitted letters describing why their mom should be Mother of the Year. They were all wonderful!
Michael S. “Mike” Messer
Michael S. “Mike” Messer, 69, of Mt. Pleasant passed away on Wednesday, May 5, 2021, at his home in Mt. Pleasant.
Graveside services will be held on Monday, May 10, 2021, at 1:30 p.m. at the Chapel of White Oak Cemetery with Reverend Kenneth Messer officiating. Burial will follow in the White Oak Cemetery. Memorials may be directed to the St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in his memory. Those wishing to attend the graveside service may meet at the Murphy Funeral Home in Mt. Pleasant at 1p.m. to leave for the service.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.murphyfuneralandmonuments.com
Murphy Funeral Home of Mt. Pleasant is caring for his arrangements.
Lorene “Enie” Booten”
Lorene “Enie” Booton, age 83, of Arnolds Park, Iowa, passed away May 4 in Mount Pleasant. A memorial service will be held May 8 at 3:30 pm at the Good News Community Church in Okobogi, Iowa. Visitation will take place May 8 from 2 pm until the time of the service, also at the church. Burial will be in Lakeview Gardens in Okobogi. The family strongly encourages those in attendance wear a mask. In lieu of flowers memorials given to the family will be donated to Enie’s favorite charities. Turner Jenness Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Khay and Keith Baccam
MP School District Site and Policy Committee Meetings on Friday
Mount Pleasant Community School District
FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING
Mt. Pleasant CSD – Central Office
1010 East Washington Street
Mt. Pleasant, IA 52641
The Mount Pleasant Board of Education FINANCE COMMITTEE will meet at 2:30pm on Friday, May 7, 2021, to review/discuss:
- Contractual Tentative Agreement with Mount Pleasant Education Association for 2021-2022
- FY22 Non-Certified/Administrator Personnel Compensation Packages
- Review Younghouse Family Services School Based Services Contract 2021-2022
- Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds (ESSER)
- Difficult-to-Fill Certified Positions
- School Board Elections November 2021
POLICY COMMITTEE MEETING
Mt. Pleasant Community High School Media Center
2104 South Grand Avenue
Mt. Pleasant, IA 52641
The Mount Pleasant Board of Education POLICY COMMITTEE will meet at 4:10pm on Friday, May 7, 2021 to review/discuss:
- Review Return to Learn Plan
- Review 2nd Reading of School Board Policy 600 Series
- Board Policy 602.9 Special Education
- Board Policy 604.5 Special Education, Instruction, Graduation of Special Education Students
- Review iJAG Memorandum of Understanding for 2021-2022
- Review Proposed Change to 2021-2022 School Calendar
- School Board Elections November 2021
Mount Pleasant Street Closure
Starting Monday May 10th Kinney & Sons will be closing Taft St. Adams St. to Lincoln St. in Mount Pleasant to start the removal for the PCC Pavement replacement. The Coffee Depot Drive Up window traffic will need to exit East onto Lincoln St. then travel North on Lincoln during the construction on Taft. North Lincoln Street traffic from 100’ South of Cedar Lane to the Railroad Tracks will be one way traffic North bound only. There will be truck traffic to the Momentus Golf loading dock at the South end of their building that will have to back down Lincoln from Cedar Lane to get to the loading dock. This traffic is not very frequent but drivers exiting the Coffee Depot should be cautious exiting onto Lincoln St. The Iowa Wesleyan Wrestling Building at the NW Corner of Taft & North Lincoln should enter and exit onto Lincoln St. from their East driveway.
Libertyville Savings Bank Supports Agribusiness Program at Iowa Wesleyan
Mount Pleasant, IA – May 6, 2021 —Libertyville Savings Bank, with offices in Libertyville, Fairfield, Eldon, Keosauqua, Keota, and Douds, recently made a significant donation to Iowa Wesleyan University to support students majoring in Agribusiness.
Earnings from the endowment and additional annual donations will ensure the availability of $2,500 annually for graduates Cardinal CSD (Eldon), Fairfield CSD, Keota CSD, Pekin CSD (Packwood), and Van Buren County CSD (Keosauqua).
“We are very excited to have this new, local opportunity for our area graduating high school seniors to pursue careers in agriculture. The Libertyville Savings Bank has been an agricultural bank since it was established in 1901. We’re celebrating 120 years this year and will continue to focus on and support our farming community,” said Libertyville Savings Bank CEO, Jill D. Burnett.
The Agribusiness program, established at IW in Fall 2020, will provide students with an agriculture background and sound business principles so they can return home after graduation and work in agriculture-related businesses that support the local farms or run their family farm business. The curriculum combines business and new agriculture courses, such as Precision Farming Systems and Entrepreneurship in Agriculture. Students will also be required to complete a six-credit internship as a means of gaining real-world experience.
“Iowa Wesleyan’s participation in online education and its location in one of the nation’s prominently ag-focused states make this a great fit for Southeast Iowa and our students,” said IW President Chris Plunkett. “The future of agriculture is bright, and it makes sense for Wesleyan to be a part of leadership development in the Ag sector. We look forward to our first full year of the program starting in August.”
Agribusiness is one component of IW’s recently announced alliance with Southeastern Community College and will establish articulation agreements with other community college programs. Information on the Iowa Wesleyan Agribusiness program is available at https://www.iw.edu/agribusiness/.
Libertyville Savings Bank was established in 1901 in Libertyville, Iowa. For more than 120 years, the Bank has continued to grow and now has office locations in six communities in Southeast Iowa. Libertyville Savings Bank is 100% family-owned and operated, with the third generation of the Stump family currently involved in the daily operations. LSB prides itself on being a great place to work and has been voted a Top Workplace for seven years running by The Des Moines Register! The Stump family’s rural heritage is evident in the Bank, which is consistently a top agricultural lender in Southeast Iowa.