The November election is quickly approaching, and the Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce is giving you an opportunity to hear from one of the most highly contested races. Citizens are invited to attend the forum on Tuesday, October 18 at 6:30 pm in the Social Hall at Iowa Wesleyan University. The forum that evening will include candidates Mike Heaton (D) and Jeff Shipley (R) who are vying for to represent District 87 in the Iowa State House of Representatives.

“This is a very important race for our community, and we want to give citizens the opportunity to learn more about those candidates before they go to the polls” said Kristi Perry, Mount Pleasant Area Chamber Alliance.

The Chamber has also invited candidates that are running unopposed to join them that evening if they would like. If you have any questions about the Candidates Forum, please contact Kristi Perry at 319-385-3101 or email kristi@mpiowa.org.

The Mount Pleasant Area Chamber Alliance exists to improve the quality of life for Henry County residents through economic growth. The Chamber consists of 345 businesses, organizations, and individual members. The Mount Pleasant Area Chamber Alliance encompasses the Mount Pleasant Area Chamber of Commerce, Mount Pleasant Area Development Commission, and Henry County Tourism.

Mount Pleasant, IA – October 14, 2022 — Iowa Wesleyan University students were presented with a 2022 Viddy Award on October 12, 2022, for a video documentary created for World Water Day. Viddy recognizes excellence in how video is created, produced, and delivered. The Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals administers and judges the Viddy Awards.

In the Spring of 2022, several Iowa Wesleyan students across the Psychology and Digital Media Design programs worked together to create a documentary titled “The Water Project.” This project won a 2022 Gold Viddy Award in the Long Form Student Production category.

The Water Project began with several students in the Positive Psychology course led by Dr. Cyndi Walljasper, Professor of Psychology and Chair of Faculty, each living on only two and a half gallons of water per day. The experiment required that they use a limited amount of water for everything from drinking, cooking, bathing, and washing clothes and dishes. Throughout this three-day experiment, students documented their thoughts and experiences via video logs, compiled by Digital Media Design students, along with pre-and post-project interviews and a discussion of why the water project was important.

In regards to the creation of the water project experiment, Dr. Walljasper noted, “Thinking about how many people around the world do not have access to clean water, we came up with the idea a couple of years ago to do the water project. For this project, students had to go for three days with two and a half gallons of water to use each day from a jug and they had to carry it around all day. They had to reflect on that, which helped them appreciate water in new ways.”

Assistant Professor of Digital Media and Art Roy Manfredi added, “Sometimes in Digital Media, we tend to focus on entertainment. When Dr. Walljasper brought this experiment to me, it was more of a way of bringing awareness to a specific topic. The whole idea was to take the subject we were given, increase awareness of it, and make something in a digestible format. One of the best parts of this project is that even my students, who weren’t part of this experiment, could empathize with the students who were.”

The students from both programs were invited to a screening of “The Water Project” documentary on Wednesday, where they were presented with the Gold Viddy Award. Congratulations to each student who participated in this award-winning documentary.

To view The Water Project documentary go to: https://youtu.be/TmSsblEWEGM

Iowa Wesleyan University: As Southeast Iowa’s regional comprehensive University, Iowa Wesleyan University is a transformational learning community whose passion is to educate, empower and inspire students to lead meaningful lives and careers.

The Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra (SEISO) presents the first of their Masterworks Series concerts this season, Towering Footprints, on October 22nd at 7:30 PM at Burlington’s Capitol Theater and October 23rd at 2:00 PM at Ottumwa’s Bridge View Center and 6:30 PM at Iowa
Wesleyan’s Chapel Auditorium in Mt. Pleasant. This concert combines a masterpiece with the undiscovered and includes several works by female composers. Prokofiev’s 5th Symphony is the centerpiece of this concert and requires a large orchestra with extra instruments. American composer Joan Tower’s Sixth Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman is an invigorating opening to the concert. Finishing the first half are Eric Whitacre’s ballad to fall entitled October and a rediscovered work by the French female composer Mel Bonis as the
Suite in the form of Waltzes. Eric Whitacre’s October will be conducted by newly appointed SESIO fellowship recipient Jilly
Clark. “I’m thrilled with the variety of this program and I think anyone that comes is really going toenjoy it. We combine some well-known composers with some that will be unfamiliar,” said Robert McConnell, Music Director of the SEISO. “I think many people are surprised at how easy it is to enjoy our concerts and how different they are from what they expected.” Tickets to the Masterworks Series concerts in Burlington, Ottumwa and Mt. Pleasant may be purchased at the door or on our website www.seiso.us. Adult tickets are $20. Children/student
tickets (aged 0-22) are free. There is no reserved seating. Make the most of your concert experience by attending the ‘Prelude.’ Music Director Robert McConnell will be on hand 45 minutes before each performance to talk about the programmed
music in depth. ‘Prelude’ is supported through a grant from the Charles W. Rand Memorial Lecture Fund in Burlington and is offered free of charge to all audience members. If you have questions, please contact the SEISO Office at seiso@iw.edu. More information is
available on the SEISO web site at www.seiso.us

The annual Southeastern Community College Foundation (SCCF) Great Tastes event is scheduled for Friday, November 11, at the Catfish Bend Convention & Event Center in Burlington. Registration begins at 5:30 p.m. with the silent auction starting at 6 p.m. Guests will enjoy a wide variety of wines, beer, ales, and spirits. A broad array of appetizers and desserts will be served throughout the night. Executive Director for Institutional Advancement Val Giannettino appreciates the generous support that the community offers to students each year. “The gift of an education changes our students’ lives for the long-term,” she says. “We love hosting this event so friends can get together for a fun night with the added bonus of raising a lot of money for a great cause.” Net proceeds support SCC Foundation Board scholarships, instructional program mini-grants, and SCC Foundation initiatives. Charity auctioneers from Fraise Auction & Realty Company will auction off items donated by employees, alumni, and friends of SCC. Items include gourmet dinners, boat rides, home decorating and baking items, event tickets, and many other specialty items. Individual tickets are $50 each in advance or $60 at the door. A few sponsor tables for eight are still available for $500. Buy tickets, reserve sponsor tables, or make donations online at bit.ly/SCCIAGreatTastes. Attendees may also purchase tickets directly from the SCC Foundation. For more information, contact Giannettino at (319) 208-5065 or vgiannettino@scciowa.edu or Reta Krieger at (319) 208-5066 or rkrieger@scciowa.edu.

Henry County Engineers Office announces culvert repair work in the west bound lane of Salem Road (J-20), west of Lexington Avenue. Beginning Thursday, October 13^th flaggers will be used during the workday only, expect delays and use caution. Project will take 2 to 3 workdays. Questions can be answered at 319 385-0762.

Over 50 people attended a town hall meeting held Tuesday in Swedesburg. They brought their questions about two possible wind energy projects proposed for northern Henry County. RWE Renewables and Liberty Power both develop, own and operate wind farms in the US and Canada. One question was why Henry County and why just in the northern half.  Both companies said there is access to transmission lines, the open fields offer few obstructions and the wind speeds are fast enough.

Company reps went thru the process and time line for their projects which, again are very similar. RWE is early in the first stage…..making contact with landowners but feel confident already that there is strong interest.  Supposedly, 50 landowners have already signed on. Liberty Power has not yet started making those connections. Because these are early stages the companies can only estimate the number of turbines, possibly 50 to 60.

The timelines are lengthy. Wind and environmental studies won’t be done until 2023 and construction wouldn’t start until about 2025. Both companies see this as a 35 to 50 year project. Attendees expressed concerns about what happens after 35 years.  They were told there are plans and funds for decommissioning the turbines if they are no longer needed and landowners would not be responsible or left with a useless turbine on their property. The land would also be returned to what it was before the turbine was built. The necessary access road could remain or be eliminated. There were still questions about whether or not contracts would still be honored if the companies change ownership or go out of business. There wasn’t a direct answer for that question.

Answers to other questions…land values are not affected one way or the other, there would be about 300 temporary jobs and then six to 10 long term jobs. About 135 million dollars could be generated in tax revenue. A total of 2.2 million dollars per year could be distributed in payments to landowners. The generated electricity would likely be used in Henry County. Sound and vibrations are minimal and mostly unnoticed.  The blades won’t throw ice because the turbine would be shut down the minute any build up is detected by sensors.  The turbines would also be shut down if necessary when aerial crop dusting is taking place.

The Henry County Supervisors hosted the meeting for information purposes only so everyone could ask questions and receive the same answers at the same time. Many said after the meeting there is a lot to think about and it seemed that most still hadn’t made up there minds about having a wind turbine on their land.