MOLINE, IL - WQPT, Quad Cities PBS, has been awarded $30,000 from the Illinois Arts Council for the creation of a new documentary "Letters Home to Hero Street." The film will deal with correspondence from Hero Street soldiers to their families as they fought and died in World War II and the Korean conflict.

"We are so pleased to receive the grant because it allows us to create a documentary on a topic that is near and dear to our community," said WQPT General Manager Mary Pruess.

The project is being conducted in cooperation with Fourth Wall Films, headed by Kelly and Tammy Rundle.

"I am excited to be working with the Rundles. We have aired all of their documentaries and they always create compelling films that are beautiful and well researched," said Director of Local Content Lora Adams.

The documentary will be completed by the end of the year and will air on WQPT in early 2015.

WQPT, Quad Cities PBS, is a media service of Western Illinois University in Moline, Illinois.

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On Monday, June 23, 2014 at 09:00, the Scott County Sheriff's Office will hold a Swearing In Ceremony at the Sheriff's Office on second floor of the Scott County Courthouse. Due to a deputy sheriff vacancy, Travis Bulman has been hired as the newest deputy sheriff of Scott County.

Travis Bulman was born in Waukon, Iowa and graduated from Clarke Community High School in Osceola, Iowa. Travis received his Associates degree from Kirkwood Community College in 2013, joined the Scott County Reserves in October, 2012 and was sworn in as a reserve deputy in June of 2013. Travis said he has wanted to get into law enforcement since he can remember, as his grandfather was a police officer for the City of Waukon and his great grandfather served as Sheriff of Allamakee County and was killed in the line of duty.

Travis enjoys softball, basketball, golf and snowboarding. Travis has been married to his wife Emily since 2007 and they have two dogs.

Watch any of the popular wedding reality shows - Say Yes to the Dress, My Big Fat American Gyspy Wedding, Four Weddings - and the common denominator is money.

"The focus has always been on saving, borrowing or budgeting so that the bride can have her 'perfect' wedding," says Eric Gulbrandson, a wedding photographer and author of the new book, "Dream Wedding Secrets: The All Important G.S.F," (www.dreamweddingsecrets.com),

"But weddings now cost more than ever for the guests - the average cost jumped 75 percent over the past two years!"

Wedding guests now spend an average $592 per wedding on clothing, gifts, transportation, hotels, etc., up from $339 in 2012, according to a just-published American Express survey.

"If you want people to actually attend, you have to make sure it's the perfect wedding for them, too," says Gulbrandson, whose book is a compilation of tips for doing just that based on interviews with hundreds of wedding guests.

Gulbrandson shares four must-haves for achieving a high G.S.F - Guest Satisfaction Factor:

•  Have plenty of food and drink.

If you have to choose between paying for more food versus paying for better food, go for quantity. Nobody will mind if the food's not stellar, but they will if you run out!

Taste and presentation are important, but having enough food and drink and having it available throughout the event is more important, Gulbrandson says.

"I had one woman who said that, toward the end of one reception, the caterers brought out a nacho bar.  She said, 'It was cheap ... and perfect!' " he says.

•  Have details that show appreciation.

"One woman I interviewed talked about being greeted by trays of hors d'oeuvres and champagne as soon as they arrived for the wedding, and how it made the guests feel appreciated," Gulbrandson says.

"Another went to a wedding in a foreign country. The bride and groom had a welcome bag  filled with helpful items, like a survival translation dictionary, insect repellant and maps of the local area in the hotel rooms for their guests as they arrived."

When people take the time and expense to attend your wedding, details that show how much you appreciate that go over very well, Gulbrandson says.

•  Have on hand whatever's necessary to make people comfortable while they wait.

One couple Gulbrandson interviewed talked about arriving at the reception venue following the wedding and waiting for more than two hours for the bride and groom. Not only was there no food or drink available while they waited, there was no entertainment or information about when the wedding party would arrive.

"When they finally did arrive, it was clear they'd all been out drinking and joyriding in their limo," Gulbrandson says. "Many of their guests had left!"

Some delays are unavoidable: Photos taken after the wedding, for instance, can delay the reception.

"Make sure food and drink is available for those waiting, and entertainment," Gulbrandson says. "It could be an acoustic musician or a disc jockey, and slide shows of the bride and groom growing up."

•  Have entertainment that almost everyone can enjoy.

Usually, the choice is between a live band or a DJ. Since DJs can usually provide more musical variety than a band, they stand a better chance of giving all of your guests a good time.

"A DJ can play music that appeals to different generations and different styles of music," Gulbrandson says. "One compromise, if you'd really like a band, is to have live music for an hour or two, then switch to the DJ - although that's not the most economical choice!"

Gulbrandson also recommends taking the time to choose your own music rather than giving the DJ carte blanche. Be sure to choose songs from a variety of genres and styles. If there are some wedding standards you dislike, create a "do not play" list for the DJ.

About Eric Gulbrandson

Eric Gulbrandson is a longtime wedding photographer who began compiling interviews for "Dream Wedding Secrets: The All-Important G.S.F," (www.dreamweddingsecrets.com), in 2009. As a wedding photographer, he heard many happy guests - and many unhappy ones - and realized that most publications offering wedding advice focused on making the bride and wedding more beautiful, or saving money. He interviewed hundreds of guests and includes more than 200 of their quotes about essential Guest Satisfaction Factors.

Paddling the Lower Mississippi River

Instead of trombones and tubas, lightning flashed, thunder boomed and rain fell. Lots of rain.

"That's part of the adventure, you have to accept what Mother Nature throws at you," said Ruskey, shrugging off the storm. "That becomes part of the stories that come off the river with you."

Ruskey, 50, owns Quapaw Canoe Co. in Clarksdale, Miss., which made the handsome cypress strip canoe, dubbed "the Grasshopper," that the travelers arrived in. The "voyageur canoe" is similar to the big boats paddled by early explorers and pioneers.

Ruskey also is director of the Lower Mississippi River Foundation, which he founded in 2011. The foundation's mission is to spread the word about the beauty of floating the stretch of the Mississippi from its confluence with the Missouri north of St. Louis to the Gulf of Mexico.

Over the last two years, Ruskey has gathered information for his Rivergator, a paddler's guide to the Lower Mississippi; it's available free online at RiverGator.org. The website currently has stories, photos, maps and information on the stretch from Caruthersville to Vicksburg, Miss.

"Most people only experience the Mississippi from a bridge, which always goes over an industrial area that is not attractive," Ruskey said. "And the locals will tell you, 'Don't get on the river; it's ugly.'

"People just don't think of the Mississippi as a place to go and enjoy the outdoors. But the fishermen know. It's like a greatly held secret."
Ruskey and his crew now have traveled the Mississippi from St. Louis to Baton Rouge, La., a total of almost 1,000 miles. Along the way, they've accumulated data on camping spots, points of interest and potential obstacles, all of which will be posted online by Oct. 15. In 2015, they'll add 235 miles through New Orleans to the Gulf of Mexico to complete their Lower Mississippi Water Trail.

"We want to share the wild aspects of the Lower Mississippi River for paddlers," Ruskey said.
"Primarily this is for advanced paddlers in expedition-style canoes or sea kayaks. Those are made for long-distance travel and are capable in all the challenges the Mississippi presents - waves, winds, long crossings, quick crossings in between towboats."

Their argument, that much of the Lower Mississippi is wild and scenic, was evident in the 307-mile stretch from St. Louis to Caruthersville, Ruskey said.

"For about half the way, all you see is big trees, big bluffs, big islands thriving with wildlife and the big river that ties them all together," he said.

"The bluffs below St. Louis were just spectacular, particularly around Herculaneum and Crystal City," he added. "In the back chutes, behind the islands, we saw deer, coyotes, bald eagles, numerous songbirds. At Osborne Chute, below Crystal City, we saw three eagles feasting on a gar. Sunrise on the limestone cliffs at Trail of Tears State Park was beautiful."

Paddlers will share the river with towboats and barges, but Ruskey said that was not a problem.

"The towboats are slow-moving and very predictable," he said. "Normally, on any stretch of the river, you'll see them about an hour before they actually pass. That gives any perceptive paddler time to predict where they'll go, and how to maneuver around them."

Getting more paddlers out on the Lower Mississippi will have a beneficial impact by making more people conscious of the landscape of the river's flood plain, Ruskey said.

"Not only do paddlers clean up places they camp, but they also become impassioned users of the river," he said. "That leads to more public land along the river and better decisions about its use."

As far as the occasional thunderstorm, that is just part of life on the Mississippi, Ruskey said.

"You might be slightly uncomfortable, like getting mud between your toes or sunburn," he said. "But these are things that make you remember the experience and what wilderness is all about."

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