Great Citizens doing Great Things!
WCSD Continues to reach the community
Teachers from all levels of the school district circulated through Winterset last Thursday evening creating a teacher parade. Teachers and students were able to see each other and share a smile and wave from a safe distance. Kudos to our teacher and staff and their commitment to staying connected with the students in our community.
WCSD is also featuring members of the 2020 Senior Class on their Facebook and Twitter pages. Check it out to see pictures of this year’s seniors (alongside younger pictures) and write them well-wishes!
Grab-and-go lunches are being served to hundreds of students each Monday, Wednesday & Friday. The Winterset Paw Pantry continues to be open for pick-up during select hours. Teachers are finding wonderfully creative ways to reach their students and keep them occupied and engaged in learning. As a parent with kids currently in Elementary and Middle school, Megan is extremely grateful to the way that our teachers are working so hard to help families through these un-chartered waters.
Community Updates
Virtual Easter Egg Hunt
Now through April 10
Winterset Parks & Recreation and Madison County Realty
In lieu of the annual Egg Hunt a City Park which is organized each year by Winterset Parks & Recreation Department and sponsored by Madison County Realty, a Virtual Egg Hung has been organized! The aim is to get community members outside for fresh air and fun – all while keeping a healthy distance from each other. The picture shows a giant egg in a window of one of our downtown buildings. See if you can find it!
Here are the rules:
1. Create a big Easter Egg. Use poster board, cardboard, wood, paper or any other material you have available. Decorate your egg with paint, markers, crayons, pictures, fabric, wrapping paper, etc. – BE CREATIVE!!
2. Place your egg in a front-facing window, door or on the front steps of your home so egg hunters can see it.
3. Get out and “hunt” for all the other eggs in the community. Post pictures of your creations or of those you see around town in the comments section below by 2 pm on Friday, April 10, for a chance to win prizes.
4. Use #WPRDEggHunt #InItTogether
All Winterset residents and businesses are encouraged to play along to give kids and families something fun to do during this challenging time. Please keep eggs up through Sunday, April 12. You can post pictures on the Facebook Page for this event.
Spirit Week
April 13-17
Winterset Parks & Recreation
Winterset Parks & Recreation Department is really doing a great job of providing fun, community-building activities for us during this strange time. Next week, they’ve organized a Spirit Week! Join in by dressing the theme for each day and posting pictures or videos on the Facebook event page. Come on mom and dad join in the fun by playing along!! If you are brave enough, let your child/children dress you in the theme for the day!!! Include the hash tags #WPRDSpiritWeek #InItTogether when you post on Facebook.
Here is the schedule:
Movie Monday
Dress like your favorite movie character – can’t wait to see whole families dressed up!
Tie-dye Tuesday
Put on your favorite tie-dye or dress in your most colorful outfit.
Wild West Wednesday
Break out the cowboy boots, hat and flannel – if you don’t have some of this be creative and design something from cardboard, paper or material.
Thankful Thursday
Not a dress up day but a day to post pictures and videos of what you are thankful for!
Farm Friday
Dress like a farmer or your favorite farm animal
A Word from Madison County Conservation
YES, all of our parks are open for public use. The Governor’s proclamation yesterday specifically addressed campgrounds, cabins and playgrounds.In addition to the Governor’s proclamation, Madison County Park system has also closed all of our bathrooms. All public and private campgrounds are closed in Iowa, but the State Parks, County Parks and Municipal parks remain open. With that said, in order for us to keep our parks open PLEASE adhere to the physical distancing requirements and group size limitation of 10. ALL of our Madison County Parks are enjoying the busiest use we have ever seen. Not in total numbers, but in the fact that EVERY PARK is seeing public activity – not just our normally high use areas. Also most folks using our parks are enjoying the simple pleasures of passive recreation such as hiking, small picnic lunches and sometimes just “sitting on a log”. We are literally seeing our society re-discover the therapeutic value of nature and the outdoors – something we’ve been preaching for years. Hopefully this is a habit that sticks around long after COVID-19 runs its course.
In case you’re not familiar with some of the ‘lesser known’ of the county parks, here’s a map locating them all. (Click on it for a larger view.) Check out the Madison County Conservation Website for more information about each park.
How YOU Can Help (and who)
Donations appreciated at Care Center North
- Gloves, gowns, hand sanitizer, Clorox wipes and safety-style protective eye wear.
- Homemade masks per CDC guidelines which can be found on Google with patterns.
- Outside entertainment the residents can view or hear through room windows such as singers, musicians, mimes, gymnasts, etc.
- In-room entertainment: VHS, DVD players and movies, remote control cars, Wii and Wii games (as well as xbox, play station, etc), CD players and CD’s, Boomboxes with cassettes
- Adult coloring books with colored pencils or gel pens
- Stationery and plain paper
- Paint-by-number, watercolors with paper, pencils and sketch pads
- Craft items for individual crafts
- Lego kits
- Old magazines
- Hanging flowers or birdhouses on shepherd hooks
- Unwanted electronic tablets-especially for video chat with loved ones (they can connect through WiFi) or unwanted laptops
- Offers to reminisce with residents by video chat; especially for those who do not have family members.
Shopping Bags to Support Friends of the Library
Each month, Hy-Vee selects a local non-profit to receive $1.00 from the $2.50 purchase price of their study, plastic reusable bags. In order to continue to support the necessary and important work that non-profits are doing in our community, their “Bags for a Cause” program will continue, despite the coronavirus outbreak. They have chosen the Friends of the Winterset Public Library as that non-profit for the month of April.
The Friends of the Winterset Public Library organization’s mission is to support the collections and outreach of the Winterset Public Library. Their activities include the purchase of the lot east of the Library so a parking lot could be built, funding the Book Nook shelters between the Library and Monumental Park, the annual Summer Reading Program for children and adults, plus the Friend’s semi-annual Book Sales (see you in the fall, maybe.)
Hy-Vee recognizes non-profit organizations are more important than ever to help strengthen our community. Even though reusable bags from home are currently banned for reuse while shopping at Hy-Vee, red “My Heart” Bags are still available for purchase in the store. If you visit the Winterset Hy-Vee, buying a red “My Heart” Bag supports our local community and the environment. Your “Friends” thank you!
What’s happening with local businesses
Every week (or every few days!), more closures are put in place. Refer to the information put together by the Madison County Chamber of Commerce for the most up-to-date information available regarding local businesses, their hours and offerings.
Stay Safe and Shop Local
They also created this food & dining guide to help Madison County residents. This was updated on March 26th. Remember, information is changing very rapidly these days so it’s always a good idea to call ahead.
Latest Information & Guidelines
This update was shared by the Madison County Public Health Department last week. It may have answers to some questions you’ve been pondering.
Here are links to the Madison County and Iowa Departments of Public Health and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Iowa Department of Public Health
Some things still moving forward!
It kind of feels like the world is standing still right now but there are a few things still seeing progress.
Winterset VFW Facelift
A lot of things are on hold for now, but the crew at the Winterset VFW Post 8142 were able to get started on the facelift of their building recently. It’s looking really spiffy and they’re excited for the day when they can host gatherings again (as are we all!)
2020 Census
Governor Reynolds’ goal is for Iowa to be the top state in the country in census participation. If we achieve that, it will mean more federal funding for our state and new opportunities to help Iowa prosper through the next decade and beyond.
The census equals money for states, cities and communities. More than $675 billion in federal funds will be distributed to the states each year of the next decade, supporting all types of government services. This includes infrastructure, healthcare, social welfare and education.
Census data will be used to redraw district lines to determine representation at the federal, state and local level. Businesses use census data to decide where to locate new facilities.
If you haven’t done it yet, we urge you to take the time to complete your census response. For the first time, people can respond online, by paper or over the phone. Visit 2020census.gov for more information. Thank you for your time and help in making sure #IowaCounts!
WCSD Construction Continues
Construction work is continuing at Winterset High School and Elementary School and major progress has been made on the new gymnasium. The scoreboards are up (video-board coming later), paint has been applied, lights and speakers are installed and the flooring has arrived.
Thank you for reading The Winterset Citizen. All community announcements are provided at no charge, courtesy of the following sponsors:
American State Bank
Anchored Walls
Ben Franklin
Blanchard Family Dentistry
Covered Bridge Realty
Farmers & Merchants State Bank
Farm Bureau FS, Scot Clark
Homefront Real Estate
The Iowa Theater
Johnson Insurance
John Wayne Birthplace Museum
Lowe Chiropractic Clinic
Madison County Health Care System
Madison County Historical Society
McGowen Hurst Clark Smith
Medicap Pharmacy
Midwest Heritage Bank
Montross Pharmacy
Pine Creek Ltd.
State Farm, Charlotte Speer
Union State Bank
Winterset Ballet & Dance Studio
Winterset Optimist Club
Winterset Parks & Recreation Department
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