Keep Iowa Beautiful (KIB) has announced a new partnership to expand KIB’s Hometown Pride program with the East Central Intergovernmental Association (ECIA), the Board of Supervisors of Delaware Counties, Cedar County Economic Development and 14 communities: Edgewood, Manchester, Delhi, Ryan, Dundee, Delaware, Hopkinton, Colesburg,  Greeley, Earlville and Masonville, Mechanicsville, Stanwood, and Tipton. Through the Hometown Pride program, Keep Iowa Beautiful is building strong communities with sustainable futures. 

The Hometown Pride program enhances the economic and cultural vitality of communities by supporting, facilitating, and furthering the implementation of community and county plans and ideas in a coordinated strategy for five years with the assistance of a community coach.  

“Keep Iowa Beautiful is excited to partner with ECIA and leaders in Cedar County and Delaware County,” said Kevin Techau, Executive Director of Keep Iowa Beautiful. “As a result, 14 communities will have the potential to increase their cultural and economic vitality improving them as great places to live, work and raise a family.” 

“We are very excited to  help KIB expand  the Hometown Pride program to  14 communities in Cedar County and Delaware County,”  said   Kelley   Deutmeyer, Executive Director of East Central Intergovernmental Association.    

Marla Quinn and Jennifer Walker  will serve as Hometown Coaches for the participating communities in Cedar County and Delaware County.  Marla Quinn has been with the East Central Intergovernmental Association(ECIA) for 19 years as the Grants and Municipal Coordinator. “Keep Iowa Beautiful offers an exciting opportunity to enhance the appearance of local communities and improve the overall quality of life,” said Marla Quinn.     

Jennifer Walker has been with (ECIA) for 13 years as the Development Coordinator and Consultant. “Each community will have a local committee selected by their mayor,” added Jennifer. “Our goal is to provide long term technical and support assistance to our help our communities grow and thrive.” 

The Hometown Pride program is operating in Clinton, Dubuque, Jackson, Jones Pocahontas and Warren counties  with 51 communities participating.  39 communities in Fremont, Jasper, Louisa and Sac have participated in the Hometown Pride program.  

Keep Iowa Beautiful is announcing the 12th Annual Keep Iowa Beautiful Photography Contest. Iowans have the next six months to grab their cameras, or phones, and enter one or all of the five categories. 

“This is a great way for Iowans to share what they like about Iowa,” said Kevin Techau, Keep Iowa Beautiful Executive Director. “There are five categories to enter your favorite photo of what makes you proud to be an Iowan and captures the beauty and spirit of Iowa,” added Techau. “Again, this year our contest will feature over $2,000 in cash awards.” 

The two-phase contest begins now with entry deadline on December 18, 2021. Each of the five categories will be awarded 1st place: $100, 2nd place: $75, and 3rd place: $50. 

January 17-31, 2022, the five first-place winners will be featured on Keep Iowa Beautiful social media for voting and selecting the Public Favorite Photo. The winner will receive an additional $100. The Robert D. Ray Best of Show Awards, determined by a distinguished panel, will also be announced at that time. The Robert D. Ray Best of Show award amounts are as follows; 1st place: $500, 2nd place: $250 and 3rd place: $100. 

Randi Ray, Robert and Billie Ray’s eldest daughter, has agreed to serve on a panel of judges. “Photography was one of my Dad’s favorite pastimes,” said Randi. “During his 14 years as governor, he and my Mother traveled to many places around the world and he always had a camera around his neck.” Randi added, “Dad was so proud of Iowans and their efforts to make Iowa a great place to live.” 

The five categories are: 

Iowa Landscape: Capture Iowa’s beauty through depictions of Iowa’s landscape, including but not limited to: farm fields, rolling hills, and wooded forests. 

Iowa Water: Feature Iowa’s beautiful water systems with depictions of Iowa rivers, streams, ponds and lakes. 

Iowa Cities: Iowa’s urban centers are hubs of history, culture, and beauty. This category features depictions of Iowa’s cities, street scenes, and urban landmarks. 

Iowans in Action: This category aims to capture the spirit of Iowa through depictions of the people that live, work, and play in Iowa. All means of action that can be captured: biking, running, fishing, hunting and hiking are but a few. 

Iowa Wildlife: Iowa is home to a variety of beautiful critters. This category aims to showcase Iowa’s beauty through depictions of Iowa’s wildlife animals: mammals, fish, birds, bugs and more! 

A $5 fee is required for each photo entered. Contest rules and entry guidelines are on KIB’s website: www.keepiowabeautiful.com/photograph-contest/ 

Note to media; Any of the 2020 winning photos may be used in your stories, websites and TV stations. View them at: https://keepiowabeautiful.org/photography-contest/winners/ 

Please give credit to the photographer.

Diamond Vogel and Keep Iowa Beautiful announced the grant awards for the 2021 Paint Iowa Beautiful program.  The program provides free paint to a wide variety of public service projects throughout Iowa.

“Governor Reynolds will be signing a proclamation designating April as Keep Iowa Beautiful month and we are pleased to do our part by awarding paint to 132 community projects in Iowa,” said Doug Vogel, Vice-President, Marketing, of the Iowa based company.  “The partnership with Keep Iowa Beautiful allows Diamond Vogel to assist and work with many local volunteers that help build communities, making Iowa one of the best states in the nation to live.” 

“The Paint Iowa Beautiful program helps us increase our assistance to neighborhoods and communities in improving the attractiveness and beauty of where we live,” said Kevin Techau, Executive Director of Keep Iowa Beautiful.  “These projects definitely improve the beauty of Iowa, its countryside and its communities.” 

In addition to paint projects, join over 90 communities participating in Keep Iowa Beautiful’s Pick Up Iowa annual program by cleaning up litter and trash along Iowa’s roadsides, neighborhoods, streets, school grounds, parks and streams.  Encourage your community mayor, city council or county supervisors to announce several days or a week as PICK-UP YOUR COMMUNITY.  Pick-Up Iowa is being held through June 30^th, 2021 on any dates that work for your community.  To participate you must register your group/organization at https://www.research.net/r/PickUpIowa_2021_SignUp  Registered participant groups are eligible for a limited supply of free cleanup supplies such as bags, grabbers, safety vests and gloves donated by Keep Iowa Beautiful.

In the 18-year partnership with Keep Iowa Beautiful, Diamond Vogel has awarded over 11,860 gallons of paint for 1,132 community projects in Iowa.

About Diamond Vogel

Diamond Vogel is an Iowa based, family owned company started in 1926 by Andrew Vogel.  It serves 13 states with seven manufacturing facilities and  53 service center outlets providing Architectural Finishes, Industrial and Original Equipment Finishes and Home Decorating Products.  www.diamondvogel.com  

2021 Paint Awards

CITY	ORGANIZATION	TO BE PAINTED	CONTACT
Adair	City of Adair	Chamber Quarters, City Park,  signs	Randi Lehman
Akron	City of Akron	Loess Hills kiosk and Park Gazebo	Daniel Rolfes
Algona	Public Library	4 Meeting Rooms|2 Hallways| Restrms	Sonya Harsha
Amana	Historical Foundation	Hydro Building and Upper South Hotel	Suzanne Conquest
Anamosa	Parks and Rec.	Wapsiana Park & Monroe Shelter	Shelly Carr
Anamosa	Hometown Pride		Lisa McQuillen
Anita	DNR-Lake Anita State Park	Picnic tables and shelters	Kara Duysen
Arthur	Community Center	Community Hall	Kailey Childers
Audubon	County Tourism	Butterfly Wings Mural on main street	Sara Slater
Bedford	Tinker Tots Preschool	Interior of new building project.	Jessica Winquist
Bellevue	Friends of State Park.	Picnic Tables, Shelters, Posts, Markers	Nick Hueneke
Belmond	Build a Better Belmond	Colts Corner Daycare and a public area	Lee Ann Waltzing
Blakesburg	Friends of the Library	Community room with kitchen, and restroom walls	Cheryl Talbert
Boone	City of Boone	New Downtown Building Mural	Greg Piklapp
Brighton	First Church of God	Gymnasium, lower concrete foundation and interior floors	Stanley Meader
Burlington	Art Center	Exterior brick wall	Tammy McCoy
Carlisle	Public Library	Library Exterior	Stacy Goodhue
Carroll County	Carroll County 4-H	various public areas for Carroll County	Kelsey Wiese
Cascade	Chamber of Commerce	mural	Katelyn Wolfe
Casey	Casey Service Club	Building  at 611 McPerson Street	Judi Zimmerline
Cedar Rapids	Czech Village	Historic Ideal Theatre building	Monica Vernon
Cherokee	Public Library	Wall in youth department	Tyler Hahn
Clarence	Main Street	4 Lincoln Highway Logo Crosswalks	Kimberly Eaker
Clarinda	Page County Conservation	Rapp Park-entrance sign and restroom.	John N Schwab
Clarinda	Economic Development Corp.	Three homes in need of painting	Amy McQueen
Clarion	Heartland Museum	County bridge and Pony Truss bridge.	Melanie Maasdam
Clarksville	Visioning Committee	Downtown Mural	Jeff Kolb
Clear Lake	One Vision	General Stores	Jennifer Pinske
Columbus Junction	City of Columbus Junction	Intersections/walkways	Mandy Grimm
Corning	4-H/FFA Fair Assoc.	4-H event center building and barns	Evan Maynes
Correctionville	Chamber of Commerce	Buildings in Downtown Correctionville	Stacy Orndorff
Corydon	LeCompte Memorial Library	Outside of the building	Leona Darrah
Council Bluffs	Habitat for Humanity	Homes throughout Council Bluffs	Kim Smith
Davenport	Dress for Success	exterior building	Tyla Cole
Decorah	ArtHaus	West side of the ArtHaus building	Shannon Durbin
Delmar	City of Delmar	Maintenance Shed	Chris Budde
Denison	Operation paint brush	Homes that need painted in Denison	Colby A. Ellis
Denison	Women in Business	Washington Park	Rachel Desy
Des Moines	Carousel Foundation	Soffits, trim and outside metal doors.	Jackie Cacciatore
DeWitt	Concerned Citizens	Walls of food pantryand thrift store.	Stacy Bloom
Dubuque	Friends of the Mines of Spain	Gazebos, Picnic Tables, Pavilion and Shelters	Jennifer Tigges
Dunkerton	City of Dunkerton	Public Works Building and Library	Daniel Loftus
Eagle Grove	Chamber of Commerce	Downtown storefronts and park facilities.	Sara Middleton
Elk Horn	City of Elk Horn	Pool House	Chelsee Jacobsen
Elkader	Clayton County Conservation	Fairmont Speeder railroad cart in Osborne Park	Molly Scherf
Estherville	City of Estherville	Various homes in town.	Greg Van Langen
Farmington	Pioneer Historical Society	Walls of a one room museum.	Heidi Schutt
Farragut	Hometown Pride Committee	Main Street store front business and public library	Kay Wing
Floyd County	Floyd County Conservation	Learning Center at the Tosanak Recreation Area	Heidi Reams
Fonda	Hometown Pride	North Park Shelter House	Alex Leu
Forest City	Winnebago Historical Society	Heritage Park of North Iowa.	Jim Oulman
Fort Atkinson	City of Fort Atkinson	Veterans Memorial Park	Greg Barta
Fulton	Fulton Community church	exterior of the church	rosie knoebel
Garrison	City of Garrison	Maintenance building, park pavilion and concession stand	Angela Dague
George	City of George	Community Swimming Pool	Loralye Wibben
Glenwood	City of Glenwood	Interior of restrooms in park and rec departments	Angie Winquist
Gowrie	Market on Market	Grocery store building.	Kathy Carlson
Grundy Center	Kling Memorial Library	Library Interior	Lindsey Freese
Havelock	Havelock Homwtown Pride	Picnic area at city park and gazebo at veteran’s park.	amanda tripp
Hawarden	City of Hawarden	Buildings in downtown Hawarden.	Larry Cope
Hubbard	Public Library	Community room and kitchen.	Rachel Thompson
Independence	Heartland Acres Agribition Center	Museum building/barn.	Leanne Harrison, secy.
Ireton	Historical Society	School House.	Jolene De Boer
Janesville	City of Janesville	Park shelter house.	David Beenblossom
Jefferson	Main Street and Chamber	Main Street district building.	Deborah A. Kucerak
Jewell	JADE/Main Street	Main Street business for a mural	Heidi Eckers
Keokuk	City of Keokuk	Park Shelter House, Concession Stands, basketball striping.	Casey Barnes
Kirkville	Kirkville City Council	Park shelter, picnic tables and library.	Mary McCollum
La Porte City	City of La Porte City	Main Street (plaza garage) and shelter	Jane Whittlesey
Lake City	Central School Preservation	Paint several weather damaged areas and playground equipment..	Darcy Maulsby
Larchwood	City of Larchwood	Larchwood Recreation Center	Sandi DeSmet
Laurens	Laurens Hometown Pride	Sportsman’s Pond Bridge and playground Equipment	Hilary Reed
Lawton	City of Lawton	City Hall and Community Center.	Tricia Jernberg
Linden	City of Linden	City Hall and Possibly Park Structures	Mandi Hutchins
Logan	Public Library	Meeting room reading nook & hallway	Jennifer Andregg
Lohrville	City of Lohrville/JJ Hands Library	City maintenance garage and library interior.	Kris Kavanaugh
Long Grove	Long Grove Civic League	Main rental area and kitchen	Pam Fuessel, Secretary
Luana	City of Luana	Inside City Hall	Tammy Humble
Manchester	Delaware County Fair	Storage Containers for Holiday Lights	Jeannie Domeyer
Manning	City of Manning	Various Homes	Kathy Schwaller
Maquoketa	Jackson County Agricultural District	New Offices	Laura Farrell
Maquoketa	Maquoketa Historic Presevation	Light posts in historic district on Pleasant St.	Jennifer Fowler
Marshalltown	Marshall County Arts & Culture Alliance	Grade schools, elementary schools and high school.	Amber Danielson
Martelle	City of Martelle	Community fire hydrants	Diane Fountain
Missouri Valley	Missouri Valley Chamber	20 picnic tables in the Missouri Valley City Park	Jeannie Wortman
Mondamin	City of Mondamin	Library, City Hall & Maintenance Building	Mary Seago
Montezuma	CLG Group	Downtown Historic Square	Abby Hubbard
Montrose	Montrose Riverfront	Historic Mural buildings north sidewall	Greg Ruth
Moravia	Moravia Community Betterment	Fire hydrants, park shelters, benches, interior city hall and Community Center	Marcia Benjamin
Mount Ayr	Town of Mount Ayr	FEMA Safe Shelter, city curb, gutter, and fire hydrants	Brent Wise
Muscatine	City of Muscatine Public Art Advisory Commission	Retaining walls, part of the expanded trails project that connects parks.	Melanie Alexander
Nevada	Nevada Fire Department	Fire hydrants and solid poles for street signs.	Ray Reynolds
New Sharon	City of New Sharon	Picnic Tables for our parks & shelters	Dianna Klinker
Nora Springs	Nora Springs Parks and Recreation	Official City Park Name Signage	Emily Dykstra
Norwalk	Norwalk Parks and Recreation	Aquatics center building, pump house, benches around pool, lifeguard office	Dakota Springer
Norwalk	Norwalk Easter Public Library	The cement floor of the gazebo, which is next to the library	Jodi Henke
Oelwein	City of Oelwein, Park Department	Reidy Park & Levin Park	Joshua Johnson MA
Orient	The Wallace Centers of Iowa	Farmhouse, Gathering Barn kitchen, greenhouse and machine shed	Ann Taylor
Osceola	Osceola Chamber Main Street	Building in Commercial District	Ashleigh Eckels
Oskaloosa	Mahaska County YMCA	Exterior of our Day Camp cabin structure	Morgan Holle
Ottumwa	League of Latin American Citizens Youth Council #601	Downtown Ottumwa–Mural Alley	Patty Galvan Ramos
Panora	Panora Lions Club	Gable ends and facia trim boards	Gary Winter
Pocahontas	Pocahontas Hometown Pride	Shelter House at Elbert Park and Log Cabin at Princess Park	Corinne Peterson
Primghar	City of Primghar	Community Building, Skating Rink, Shelter House, and Park Buildings	Carol Chicoine
Pulaski	City of Pulaski	Historic train depot that was moved to the Pulaski Park	JL Stogdill
Randolph	Hometown Pride	Depot Building, Fire Hydrants, Park Merry Go Round & War Memorial	Diana Milbourn
Red Oak	Red Oak Rotary Club	Playground basketball court and Red Oak Child Development Center	Kara Arts Sherman
Reinbeck	Reinbeck Public Library	Basement stacks, office, and reading areas	Victoria Derr
Riceville	Riceville Community School	One room school house, Saratoga #4	Jennifer Dunn
Rock Rapids	Rock Rapids Mural Society	Benson’s Skating Rink Mural restoration	Sandra Wynia/ President
Rockwell City	Calhoun County Historical Society	Calhoun County Museum	Lori Schaffer
Roland	City of Roland	Outside of the enclosed shelter	Jodi Meredith
Rolfe	Rolfe Hometown Pride	Swimming pool bathhouse (restrooms and dressing rooms building)	Barbara Bennett
Sac City	Sac City Chamber/Main Street	Local homes	Haley Davis
Shelby	City Of Shelby	gazebo, downtown buildings and picnic tables along trail	Michelle Mantell
Sheldon	Sheldon Chamber & Development Corp	Historic Train Depot	Shantel Oostra
Shimek State Forest	Friends of Shimek State Forest Equestrian Trails	Shimek State Forest picnic tables top and benches	Lora P Conrad
Sibley	Sibley Parks & Recreation	Central Park Shelter House	Sara Berndgen
Sidney	Sidney Hometown Pride	Silver Spur Bar & Grill	Jonna Loewe
Sioux Center	Heritage Village	Country School building at Heritage Village	Cheri Hulstein
Sioux Center	Public Library	Library’s Interior needs to be painted.	Heidi Ouwinga
Sioux City	Downtown Partners	Business sidewalks, alleyways within the main block of downtown.	Ragen Cote
Storm Lake	City of Storm Lake	Sunrise Campground office and Shower House	Kim Woltman
Strawberry Point	Strawberry Point Public Library	History Room, pillars and hallway.	Patty Lincoln
Sutherland	Willoway Complex	Kitchen and dining area of Senior Dinner Date Site.	Mark W. Cody
Thornton	City of Thornton	park shelter house, community center walls, city shed, and the city library	Megan Hobscheidt
Tingley	Town Revitalization Committee	Tingley Community Park shelter.	Priscilla Anne Alvik
Truro	Truro Public Library	Library exterior and 2 murals.	Tracee Dembinski
Wapello	Louisa County 4-H	Livestock buildings and fencing.	Samantha Jamison
Webster City	City of Webster City	Jane Young House Porch & Trim	Lindsay Henderson
Wellsburg	Wellsburg Visioning	66 fire hydrants in Wellsburg	Evelyn Haupt
West Branch	Community Development Group	Downtown building.	Nick Shimmin
West Des Moines	Tallgrass Theatre Company	Theatre walls & ceiling.	Jessie Phillips
West Liberty	West Liberty Heritage Foundation	The top gables, eves and doors of the 1897 Rock Island Depot	Scott Brooke

Three high school seniors are receiving Keep Iowa Beautiful $1,000 scholarships toward their studies at an Iowa college or university.  Governor Kim Reynolds will make the presentations at ceremonies at the State Capitol on Tuesday, March 30 at 3:00pm.

ALEXIA CORWIN, Des Moines, Byers Scholarship.  Attending Grinnell College, studying environment microbiology.   Educator Bob Byers dedication to young people and environmental concerns was a driving force encouraging young people to help improve their communities.

MAYA ZIEGENHORN, Letts, Fultz Scholarship.  Attending Iowa State University, studying marketing.  Bill Fultz was a founding KIB Board member and artist.  He started an advertising agency that became the largest agriculture advertising agency in the world.

MONICA LEWANDOWSKI, Urbandale, Schnepf Scholarship.   Attending University of Northern Iowa, studying nonprofit leadership and environmental sustainability.  Gerry Schnepf, founding Executive Director.  His careers spanned 50 years of making Iowa a better place to live, work and raise a family.  

“Keep Iowa Beautiful scholarships are awarded to graduating high school seniors who have a record of community service,” said Kevin Techau, Keep Iowa Beautiful Executive Director, “and a desire to continue to support and contribute to the enhancement of the place they live and work.”

Since the creation of the scholarship program, Keep Iowa Beautiful has awarded $51,000 to 61 students.  There were 71 applications for this years three scholarships. 

The Keep Iowa Beautiful Board of Directors announced the following award winners for 2021.

Governor Kim Reynolds will present the awards at a ceremony at the State Capitol on Tuesday, March 30, at 3:00pm.  The Governor will be signing a proclamation kicking off April as Keep Iowa Beautiful month.

The Keep Iowa Beautiful Corporation Award goes to the CAN SHED-Recycling Center in Cedar Rapids for outstanding service of recycling cans, plastic and glass bottles making Iowa a more attractive place to live.   

The Keep Iowa Beautiful Organization Award to the Pocahontas County Foundation for celebrating 15 years of charitable giving, awarding $1.3 million dollars for over 360 community projects.

The Keep Iowa Beautiful Robert D. Ray Award of Excellence to the Community of Lost Nation and the Hometown Pride Committee with their enthusiasm and engagement of the entire community created a new pocket park, an RV park, initiated holiday social events and regular clean up days.

The Keep Iowa Beautiful Donald F. Lamberti Hometown Pride Vision Award selected Doug Friedli for his excellent work as Hometown Pride Coach for Fremont County providing long-term technical and support assistance to the communities.  The results improved quality of life, increased cultural and economic vitality resulting in more community pride. 

“The Keep Iowa Beautiful award program is designed to recognize exceptional people and organizations that have gone the extra mile to help build stronger Iowa communities,” said Reo Menning, Chair of the KIB Board of Directors.  “A more attractive community improves the economic vitality and cultural climate where we live, work and raise a family.”