Weekend in Winterset • October 10

Tonight!

It’s the Great Pumpkin

Thursday • October 10 • 7:00pm
MC Master Gardeners at the Winterset Public Library

The Madison County Master Gardeners invite you to an evening of learning about growing enormous pumpkins!!  Speaker Dan  Boelman has been totally obsessed with growing giant pumpkins since 1994, and was the 1st Place blue ribbon winner of the Iowa State Fair’s giant pumpkin weigh-off in 2017, and has placed 3rd at the Iowa State Fair weigh-off twice. He’s also placed in the Top 10 at the annual Anamosa Pumpkinfest weigh-off in eastern Iowa.

Whether you want to grow a 300 pounder to put on your porch for Halloween, or if shooting for the World Record is your goal, at this presentation you will learn everything you will need to know to get started. This learning experience is free and open to the public.


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This Weekend

The Wild Robot

October 11 & 12, 7:00pm • October 13, 2:00pm
The Iowa Theater

This epic adventure from DreamWorks studios, follows the journey of a robot—ROZZUM unit 7134, “Roz” for short—that is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island and must learn to adapt to the harsh surroundings, gradually building relationships with the animals on the island and becoming the adoptive parent of an orphaned gosling. Rated PG, 1hr 42 min – a perfect film to take the kids to!


Covered Bridge Festival

Here it is…the BIG ONE! Thousands of volunteer and planning hours lead up to this weekend each year and it looks like we’re going to have some great weather in which to enjoy it! If you want the WHOLE lineup, visit www.ExploreMadisonCounty.com, but here are a few of my recommendations and highlights!

ENTERTAINMENT

The stage, located on the corner of 1st Ave and W Jefferson by F&M Bank, will be hopping from 9am-5pm on Sunday and 9am-2pm on Sunday. You’ll be able to catch local favorites and CBF regulars like the Tutor 3 (9:30 Sat), Liv McNair (11:30 Sat), The Benge Family (12:30 Sat) and David Hargrove (9:00 Sun), and some regional talent like Day’s Live Music (11:30 Sat), The Bird Hunters (3:30 Sat), Chris Powell (12:00 Sun), and Emma Butterworth (1:00 Sun).

ACTIVITIES

Again, these are just some highlights…not the complete list. See the link above!

Saturday, 6-11am – Firefighters Association Pancake Breakfast
Saturday, 9am – Winterset Rotary 5K Race
Saturday, 10am – Junior Spelling Bee
Saturday, 10-3 – Covered Bridge Tours ($15)

Sunday, 6-11am – Firefighters Association Pancake Breakfast
Sunday, 8-3 – Car Show
Sunday, 10-12 – Covered Bridge Tours ($15)
Sunday, 3pm – Parade

KID ZONE

This year’s kid zone will be located on W Jefferson between 1st & 2nd Avenue. Activities will include face painting, rock painting, chalk art, cross-cut saws, and cornhole/bags with visits from Blank Park Zoo, Ronald McDonald House and the Wildwood Hills Ranch chuckwagon.

PASSPORT TO THE PASS/MADISON COUNT HISTORICAL COMPLEX

Both days of the festival, (10am-4pm), the past will come alive at the Madison County Historical Complex with activities including blacksmith demonstrations, horse-drawn wagon rides around the complex, penny candy at the Field Mercantile, historical Bevington mansion tours, as well as museum tours. PLUS…

Saturday, 4pm – Civil War Skirmish
Saturday, 6:45 – Free s’more and popcorn
Saturday, 7:15 – Nighttime Civil War cannon firing

AND…

Of course, you could literally spend hours visiting all the vendor booths on the square. There are ~90 arts & crafts vendors, Farmer’s Market Vendors, 30+ Food Vendors (yumm!), wine and beer, and demonstrators of heritage skills like sewing (at the Iowa Quilt Museum) loom weaving, wood turning, chain saw carving, and ‘learn how to lasso’.

The moral of the story is: it’s going to be another wonderful festival celebrating our amazing community! Admission cost is $3 per person or $5 for two and kids 11 & under are free!


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Next Week

Serial Killers

Tuesday • October 15 • 6:00pm
Winterset Public Library

Halloween makes us think about spooky creatures that shuffle in the dark. And not just ghosts and spirits. lLong before Jack the Ripper was called the “first modern serial killer,” there were humans who committed multiple murders. These criminals commit brutal crimes that fascinate and repulse us. The public often sees them as phantoms who strike in blackest night at random targets, then disappear like smoke without leaving a clue. 

The Ripper’s Children: Inside the World of Modern Serial Killers is a nonfiction book that examines how their murderous drives may originate. Can serial murderers control their killing sprees? Are the causes social, genetic, or biochemical? The Ripper’s Children sheds light on the blackest corner of the human mind. This book may cause you to take a closer look at your relatives, friends, and neighbors.

At this free program at the Winterset Public Library, join author Ilene Devlin to explore what may cause people to become serial killers. The knowledge might save your life! But you’ll probably want a buddy to walk to your car with when it’s over!


Vertigo

Wednesday • October 16 • 7:00pm
Way Back Wednesday at The Iowa Theater

The Iowa is presenting some of their favorite Alfred Hitchcock titles this month!

Hitchcock’s romantic story of obsession, manipulation and fear. A detective is forced to retire after his fear of heights causes the death of a fellow officer and the girl he was hired to follow. He sees a double of the girl, causing him to transform her image onto the dead girl’s body. This leads into a cycle of madness and lies. 1958, PG, 2 hr 9 min


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After School Art

Thursdays in October • 3:30 – 5:00pm
Winterset Art Center

The theme for October at ‘After School Art’ is art in Nature. This ‘drop-in’ program is recommended for grades K-5. Cost is $5 at the door.


Sunflowers & Blue Skies Painting Class

Thursday • October 17 • 6:00pm
Winterset Public Library


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Coming Soon

The Enchanted Bookshop

Friday • October 25 • 7:00pm
Saturday • October 26 • 2:00 & 7:00pm
Sunday • October 27 • 2:00pm
The Winterset Stage at The Iowa Theater

During the day, A Likely Story may look like any other used bookstore. But at night, it’s a place where magic happens. That’s when the characters inside the books come alive! Join is for this ‘larger than life’ play featuring your favorite storybook characters; and your favorite community actors!

The Winterset Stage will open their next play later this month. The Enchanted Bookshop is being presented with sponsorship support from Quest Haven Books. There are four opportunities to see this family-friendly show that lasts just one hour. At the Saturday matinee, youth tickets are just five dollars thanks to support from the Winterset Rotary Club and the Ferst Readers program.

If you purchase tickets to the evening performances on Friday or Saturday, you can also sign up for a storybook carriage ride around Winterset!

Meet the Characters

Saturday • October 19 • 10am-Noon
Winterset Library & Quest Haven Books

In advance of the show, you can meet some of the storybook characters at either Quest Haven Books or the Winterset Public Library (or both!)

At Quest Haven you can meet and greet plus do a little book browsing of your own and even purchase a super soda or a limited-edition character cookie from She Bakes. At the library, the characters will be reading stories!


Haunted Harvest Festival

Saturday • October 26 • 5:00-8:00pm
Pammel Park with Madison County Conservation

The whole family can enjoy carnival games, campsite decorating, trick-or-treating, and more at the Madison County Conservation Board’s Haunted Harvest Festival. Cost is $5/person or $25/family (5 or more). This is a family-friendly event and all age are welcome. Any kids under age 3 are FREE.


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Madison County Community Choir

Sundays • Starting October 27 • 6:00-7:30pm
Concert on Saturday, December 14
Madison County Music Co, 123 W Jefferson

The Madison County Community Choir will start rehearsals for their holiday concert at the end of this month, and all adult and advanced high school singers are welcome. The ensemble rehearses on Sunday evenings from 6:00 – 7:30 at Madison County Music Co. The group will perform a selection of holiday pieces—including the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah—in a concert on December 14th, along with the Madison County Youth Choirs.

For more information, contact Megan Barrett at: MadisonCountyMusicCo@gmail.com or just go to the first rehearsal on October 27th.


Register for Pickleball League

Registration is now open for Winterset Parks & Recreation Adult Indoor Pickleball League! There are men’s, women’s, and coed leagues and registration is just $30. You can also register for more than one league; they will meet at different time. Register here: https://tinyurl.com/46e6px5s


Register for Basketball

Youth basketball sign up is open now, too. Youth Basketball is for boys and girls 1st-6th grade; Pee Wee Basketball is for boys and girls 3 year old through kindergarten. Register here: https://tinyurl.com/mv5t855f


It’s a GREAT day to be a Winterset Citizen—
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American State Bank
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John Wayne Birthplace Museum
Madison County Health Care System
Madison County Historical Society
Madison County Music Co.
McGowen Hurst Clark Smith
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Midwest Heritage Bank
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Winterset Ballet & Dance Studio
Winterset Optimist Club
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