Call it a Valentine's Day card to the Quad Cities. Call it corporate altruism. Call it your right of residency as a Quad Citian. Call it what you will. These are the facts: starting February 12, 2015 if you live in the Quad Cities area, you have access to a free one-year membership to Daytrotter.??

Daytrotter was founded in Rock Island, IL in 2006 by Sean Moeller as a way to showcase and uplift the Quad Cities as a cultural entity. An innovative mixture of recording studio, music blog and tech start-up; Daytrotter has welcomed past Grammy Winners (Bon Iver, Vampire Weekend, Wilco, Macy Gray), indie music staples (Dr. Dog, Dawes, Mumford & Sons) and some of today's most exciting artists (Madi Diaz, Phox, Jacco Gardner) to downtown Rock Island to record a unique spin on their music. The sessions are then released on the website daytrotter.com for worldwide consumption.??

Heralded by the New York Times ("A site that invites originality"), Wired Magazine ("...a favorite destination for music fans...") and Rolling Stone ("Rock Island may not be an island, but it certainly rocks.") the promotion, DT for the QC, gives Quad Citians access to full membership to the website for free.??Moeller, describes the give-away as spreading the love, "I just want to send a Valentine to the entire QCA." He says, "I thought it would be nice to plant a big, wet kiss on every resident and get them pumping the sweet jams that we record right here in my favorite river cities, my home turf."

DT for the QC will be aided in part by a partnership with The Network: Young Professionals of the Quad Cities. Director of the Network, Aiden Landman, sees the opportunity as yet another cultural shift in the Quad Cities. Landman says, "When we talk about things cool and creative, companies like Daytrotter and entrepreneurs like Sean Moeller, these are the things we should be lifting up." He added, "With Daytrotter and his amazingly successful Moeller Mondays concert series, Sean pushes the cultural needle here. The musicians he brings in, they stop at our cafes, shop at our record stores and small businesses, they play in our theatres and clubs. They experience the Quad Cities. It is something to be celebrated."??

To sign up for a free one-year membership, QC residents are asked to send an email to daytrotterpromo@gmail.com.

Rock Island, IL: Rock Island Library children's programs for the latter half of February will let families read, pop, build and catapult their way through the doldrums of winter. Free programs include

Bluestem Book Club, 5:30 pm, Monday, Feb. 16, Rock Island Main Library: Activities and book discussion for children in grades 3-5 on three books on this year's nominee list: Frindle by Andrew Clements, The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate, and Wonderstruck, by Brian Selznick. The Bluestem Book Awards are presented to books chosen by students in Grades 3 to 5 from a list of nominees collected by the Illinois School Library Media Association.

Make-it Play-it Take-it Days: 4:00 pm, Wednesdays, Feb. 18 and 25, Main Library: The library offers free science and art based after-school activities in the Main Library children's room twice a month. This month's activities include "POP Science" on Feb. 18 and "Catapults" on Feb. 25. Suggested ages are 3rd-6th grades.

LEGO-brand brick building: 4:00 pm, Wednesdays, Feb. 18at the 30/31 Branch and Feb. 25 at Southwest Branch. Kids from pre-K to 6th grades use their imaginations to build creations with LEGO bricks.

Blizzard Bash: 3:00 pm, Saturday, Feb. 21, Main Library. Beat the winter "nothing to do" blahs with a blast of indoor activities that make winter fun. Family activities include indoor snowball fights, obstacle course, snow crafts and "snow" many books. The event celebrates the library's Pop Open a Good Book winter reading campaign for all ages, which concludes Feb. 28.

Toddler Tales: 10:30 am, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, at the 30/31 Branch, Southwest Branch, and Main Library, respectively. Stories, songs and fun for children ages birth to five. Upcoming story and activity theme include toys (week of Feb. 16) and friendship (week of Feb. 23.)

Read with Rover and Pajama Storytime, Monday, Feb. 23, Southwest Branch. Kids get a chance to practice reading aloud with a certified therapy dog at 5:30 pm, immediately followed by a pajama storytime at 6:30 pm for ages birth to five with stories about friendship.

Rock Island Libraries include the Main Branch at 401 19th Street, the 30/31 Branch at 3059 30th Street, and the Southwest Branch at 9010 Ridgewood Road.

For more upcoming library events, visit library locations or the website at www.rockislandlibrary.org, follow Rock Island Library on Facebook or Twitter or call 309-732-READ (7323).

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Calendar of library programs: http://rockislandlibrary.evanced.info/signup/eventcalendar.aspx

Feb. 24, 2015 Scott County Extension Council Meeting, Scott County Extension Office, 7 pm-9 pm

March 4, 2015 Ornamental and Turf Applicators, Scott County Extension Office, 9:00 am-11:30 am

March 12, 2015 Master Gardener 2015 Webinar Series: Supporting Local Food Systems, Scott County Extension Office, 6:30 pm-8:30 pm

March 20, 2015 Pesticide Applicator Testing, Scott County Extension Office, 10:00 am-2:00pm

March 24, 2015 Certified Handlers, Scott County Extension Office, 9:00 am-11:30 am

Visit our events calendar at our web site: http://dbs.extension.iastate.edu/calendar/

Area hay and forage producers are invited to attend the 32nd^t Annual Eastern Iowa Hay Producers Association (EIHPA) Annual Meeting and Conference on Thursday, March 19, 2015 at Buzzy's in Welton. Registration will begin at 10:00 a.m. with the program scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m.

This year's conference will focus on forage rotation and cover crops. Dr. Matt Liebman, ISU Professor of Agronomy, will speak on forages as part of a crop rotation. Liebman's research focuses on diversified cropping systems, weed ecology and management, and the use of native perennial species for soil and water conservation and biofuel production, including crop rotations, cover crops, green manures, intercrops, reconstructed prairies, conservation strips, animal manures, composts, and insects and rodents. Mark Carlton, ISU Extension Field Agronomist, will speak on utilizing cover crops as a forage. He will be followed by a panel of producers who are using cover crops as a forage source for their livestock operation. Following lunch and a brief annual meeting to elect officers and directors, will be regional updates from Virgil Schmitt, ISU Extension Field Agronomist, and Denise Schwab, ISU Extension Beef Specialist. Specific regional topics to be addressed include information on the newly released low lignin alfalfa and concerns about molds and mycotoxins in corn stover.

Registration for the conference is $30 and includes a membership to EIHPA and meal. Tickets can be purchased at the door. Certified crop advisor credits have been applied for. This conference is sponsored by EIHPA, Iowa State University Extension & Outreach, and the Iowa Beef Center.

The Eastern Iowa Hay Producers Association provides educational workshops and field days for forage producers in Jackson, Jones, Clinton, Cedar, Scott and Muscatine counties. However, forage producers from other counties are also welcome to participate. For more information contact Denise Schwab at dschwab@iastate.edu or Kevin Brown at brofarm@windstream.net or 563-872-4475.

 

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