Patriotic Pooch Parade! Sunday, June 14th 2pm

The German American Heritage Center is happy to announce a fun and free event for Flag Day on Sun. June 14^th! At 2pm we will be holding a Patriotic Pooch Parade! Bring your four legged friends down in their best red, white, and blue attire as we gather for a trot around the neighborhood! Prizes Awarded for Best Costume! Our friends from the Scott Co Humane Society will be bringing a few pals along to talk to us about how you can become a furever home to one of the many animals in need at their shelter.

All pets must be leashed & youth under 14 must have adult supervision.

This event is part of Quad City Museum Week and our exhibition From Wolf to Woof: Dogs of Deutschland on display now through July 26^th!

In case of rain or heat index over 80 degrees- Outdoor parade will be cancelled- A representative from the Humane Society will present on Furever Homes without any animals- indoors.

German American Heritage Center | 563.322.8844 | kelly.lao@gahc.org| gahc.org

Iowa House Hunt Initiative Showcases Homeownership Bonuses and Chance to win $5,000

DAVENPORT - The Iowa Finance Authority, the Iowa Association of Realtors and local lenders and Realtors announced a new initiative today, spurred by strong home sales. The program, IowaHouseHunt.com aims to educate Iowans about all of the bonuses available to them when purchasing a home. One grand prize winner will win a $5,000 gift card.

"Homeownership is alive and well here in Iowa, where our housing market is solid. From January to June 2 this year, 14,620 homes have already been sold across the state," said Iowa Association of Realtors CEO Dave Bert.  "In May the number of sales climbed 5 percent and days on the market dropped 15 days from last year at this time."

The Iowa Finance Authority and the Iowa Association of Realtors have partnered to create the Iowa House Hunt campaign to educate buyers about affordable mortgages, down payment assistance, including a special program for military service members, federal tax credits of up to $2,000 each year, Iowa Title Guaranty and much more.

"Iowa's housing market is strong and we want to ensure all buyers are armed with the knowledge of all of the resources available to them," said Iowa Finance Authority Executive Director Dave Jamison. "I encourage all Iowans to visit IowaHouseHunt.com to review the programs available and enter for a chance to win the grand prize."

The Iowa House Hunt campaign asks any Iowan to visit IowaHouseHunt.com to learn more about these bonuses by watching a series of seven short videos. Each video watched on the IowaHouseHunt.com web site provides a chance to win the grand prize of a $5,000 gift card. Each entrant can win up to seven chances to win! The grand prize winner will be drawn randomly on September 4.

"U.S. Bank Home Mortgage assisted 92 home buyers through Iowa Finance Authority programs last year and our staff looks forward to helping many more Iowans discover the many bonuses available to them this summer," said Rick DeLeon of U.S. Bank Home Mortgage. 

"Now is a great time to buy," said Deanna Seibel with Mel Foster Co. "I'm excited to promote this fun opportunity to my buyers for a chance to win $5,000, which will be useful in any new home."

Grants for renewable energy and conservation will cut energy costs, create jobs, promote energy independence

WASHINGTON, June 10, 2015 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA is investing more than $6.7 million in 544 renewable energy and energy efficiency projects nationwide.

Secretary Vilsack made the announcement during a visit to the Snake River Brewing Company, in Jackson, Wyo. The company received a $13,810 USDA Rural Development Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) grant to install a solar panel to generate energy for the business.

"These grants will help farmers, ranchers and small business owners use more renewable energy, which cuts carbon pollution, reduces our dependence on foreign oil, saves businesses money on their energy bills and creates American jobs," Vilsack said. "All of these are crucial components to developing healthier, more economically vibrant rural communities."

REAP was created by the 2002 Farm Bill and was reauthorized by the 2014 Farm Bill. REAP funding has helped farmers expand renewable energy use in recent years. The new Census of Agriculture shows the number of farms utilizing renewable energy production has doubled in the last five years.

Since 2009, USDA has awarded $545 million to support more than 8,800 REAP projects nationwide. This includes $361 million in grants and loans for almost 2,900 renewable energy systems. For the remaining 5,900 projects, USDA provided $184 million to help rural small businesses and agricultural producers make energy efficiency improvements such as lighting; heating, ventilation and cooling; irrigation; insulation and motor replacements. When fully operational, these projects are estimated to generate and save 7.3 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually - enough to power more than 660,000 homes for a year.

Eligible agricultural producers and rural small businesses may use REAP funds to make energy efficiency improvements or install renewable energy systems, including solar, wind, renewable biomass (including anaerobic digesters), small hydroelectric, ocean energy, hydrogen and geothermal.

The awards list announced today is contingent upon the recipients meeting the terms of the grant agreement.

President Obama's historic investments in rural America have made our rural communities stronger. Under his leadership, these investments in housing, community facilities, businesses and infrastructure have empowered rural America to continue leading the way - strengthening America's economy, small towns and rural communities.

#

Quad Cities - Beyond all the fun exhibits and events happening during the first annual Quad Cities Museum Week, June 13-21, there will also be a new Geocache for everyone to enjoy.

What is geocaching?  Geocaching is a treasure hunt that can be as fun for the hider as it is for the seeker.  Any given treasure, known as a geocache, has specific coordinates of longitude and latitude to which seekers must travel in order to locate the treasure.  Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or GPS-enabled smartphone and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", anywhere in the world.

"By finding some or all of the Quad Cities Museum caches you will learn about the many great museums in the community," says Gretchen Small of the Butterworth Center and Deere-Wiman House.  "A total of 11 museums are participating in the Geocache."

Ms. Small organized the geocache and the project was funded by the William Butterworth Foundation. According to Ms. Small, all the museum caches are located outdoors.

To get started on your treasure hunt during Quad Cities Museum Week, simply go to www.geocaching.com and see if you can collect a wooden nickel from all of the participating museum geocaches.

Participating museums in the Geocache include the Buffalo Bill Cody Homestead, Buffalo Bill Museum, Butterworth Center, Dan Nagle Walnut Grove Pioneer Village, Deere-Wiman House, Family Museum, Figge Art Museum, German American Heritage Center, Iowa 80 Trucking Museum, Putnam Museum and Science Center, and Rock Island County Historical Society.