DES MOINES, IA (06/02/2014)(readMedia)-- Hit, run, score! Summer is near, and the Iowa State Fair Blue Ribbon Foundation needs your help to find this year's Iowan of the Day All-Star team lineup. These exceptional all-stars will be honored at the 2014 Iowa State Fair August 7-17. All-stars are those who step up to the plate as a captain in their community and go the extra innings to help those around them.

Iowan of the Day nominations should be based on acts of relentless community involvement, leadership and an outstanding sense of Iowa pride. All nominees must currently live in Iowa. Other materials such as testimonials, photos or newspaper articles that demonstrate the greatness of your nominee are welcomed. Each Iowan of the Day winner will receive his or her own day of recognition at the 2014 Iowa State Fair.

This day of honor includes an introduction on the Anne & Bill Riley Stage, VIP parking, gate admission, use of the Iowan of the Day golf cart and Grandstand show tickets for the evening of their award day. In addition, all winners will receive $200 in cash, accommodations at the Des Moines Downtown Marriott Hotel the night before their day of recognition, and a one-year subscription to The Iowan & Iowa Gardening magazine.

Help us recognize the people that are worthy and deserving of this all-star award. Nomination forms can be downloaded online at www.blueribbonfoundation.org/iotd or by calling the Blue Ribbon Foundation at 1-800-450-3732. All nominations are due by July 1, 2014.

The Blue Ribbon Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization. Since its inception in 1993, the Foundation has generated more than $100 million for renovations and improvements to the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

###

Art Gumbo Dubuque will not be accepting applications for the annual summer funding cycle. The event scheduled for June has been cancelled. The independent crowd-funding initiative was launched in 2010 and has raised nearly $12,000 in seed money to fund 24 arts-related projects. Art Gumbo winners have included Tim Olson's "A City at Work," Bell Tower Theatre, Outside The Line's Art Gallery's "The Great Draw," and artist Gene Tully's sculpture installation in the Historic Millwork District.

Co-founder and director Paula Neuhaus plans to use the time off from the summer event to work on plans to re-launch the project in September as Smart Gumbo; a crowd-funding source for smart ideas that propose to impact our economy, increase a healthy environment, and enhance our cultural vibrancy. Smart Gumbo plans to accept applications from all projects that propose to make Dubuque a smart and thriving place to live, work, and play.

"Art Gumbo has offered the arts community an alternative funding source for three years and has funded some incredible projects," Neuhaus said, "In our fourth year we're excited to welcome proposals from a variety of disciplines. As the cultural landscape of Dubuque continues to evolve, Smart Gumbo will be there to provide funding to all facets of innovative projects that impact our community."

The inaugural Smart Gumbo is schedule for Thursday, September 18, 6-8 p.m. at Dubuque Area Arts Collective, 902 Main Street with soup and bread provided by Dubuque Food Co-Op.

For more details or to donate time or services to Art Gumbo/Smart Gumbo visit artgumbodubuque.blogspot.com or contact Paula Neuhaus at art.gumbo.dbq@gmail.com.

Pleasant Valley Trap Team Succeeds at State Competitions

The Iowa High School and Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) State Trap Championships took place on May 30th - June 1st, at the Iowa State Trapshooting Association (ISTA) Homegrounds in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

In its first year of competition, the Pleasant Valley Trap Team sent 15 Student athletes from Pleasant Valley Junior High and Pleasant Valley High School who participated along with over 1400 others from across the state of Iowa.

Results are as follows:

• Iowa High School State Trap Championship, May 30th - PV Squad 1 consisting of Kyle Berst, John Jones, Tommy Cassatt, Roland Bettis-Vicary, Sam Bailey placed 81st (out of 232 teams) with a score of 419. Brenden Robinson shot 25 straight for the first time this season. Megan Wirtjes and Seth Moffitt also stepped up and shot personal best scores.
  
  
• SCTP Trap Championships - High School, June 1st: Squad 1 consisting of Brenden Robinson, John Jones, Roland Bettis-Vicary, Tommy Cassatt, Sam Bailey took 3rd Place in the State for the Junior Varsity division with a score of 450. Brenden Robinson shot 25 straight AGAIN! Megan Wirtjes tied for 7th for the JV girls with a score of 84/100. Tommy Cassatt tied for 19th with a score of 94/100. (Imagine being in 19th place and only missing 6 out of 100 birds! Tough competition...) Seth Moffitt stepped up again and got an 81.
  
  
• SCTP Trap Championships - Intermediate/ Junior High, June 1^st: The Pleasant Valley Junior High Intermediate-Advanced shooters consisting of Braxton Childers, Brent Alman, Ethan Hornbuckle, Max O'Brien, Arthur Braden stepped up and took 2nd Place  (in the state) with a score of 437 for the squad. Brent Alman was in 8th place with a score of 94. Ethan Hornbuckle took 11th place with a score of 92. Cameron Johns and Nate Pilger also participated and had personal best scores.
  
  In the season-long league competition for the state of Iowa, Brent Alman took 1st place,  Arthur Braden took 2nd place, Braxton Childers took 4th place after a shoot-off and Max O'Brien took 7th place after a shoot-off.

Coaches are head coach Mr. Shannon Martin and Assistant Coaches Marcia Auliff, Chris Cournoyer, Darin Oberhart, Brian Alman, Tom Corchado, Jeff Christner, Damien Dassie, Bryan Murphy, and Rodney Childers.

The Pleasant Valley Trap Shooting team formed in the Fall of 2013 when student Megan Wirtjes applied to the school to start the club after noticing that PV students that wanted to participate had to go to Davenport or North Scott to be on a team. The purpose is to give the students at Pleasant Valley another extra-curricular activity and represent their school in a positive manner.

Trap shooting is a fast growing sport that not only gives kids a fun time and another sport to compete in, it teaches the kids a lot about ethics and the great responsibility that comes with handling a firearm. It is an Olympic Sport and a life-long sport that can be shared across generations.

Pleasant Valley School Board member and Assistant Coach, Chris Cournoyer sees it as "another hook" to get kids involved in school activities and feel like they are part of the PV community. Cournoyer said, "In addition to learning gun safety and shooting skills, trap shooting involves focus, patience, teamwork, perseverance and a working knowledge of physics and math to hit a moving target. Its harder than it looks and I'm so proud of these kids and the coaches that put in the countless hours to achieve this level of success in the first year of competition. Our team has a very bright future."

For more information about our team, visit www.pvtrapteam.org

# # #

LORETTO, PA (06/02/2014)(readMedia)-- Kimberly Steele from Moline, IL, received a Master of Health Science degree at the 163rd Commencement exercises held at Saint Francis University in Loretto, PA, on Sunday, May 10, 2014.

This year approximately 750 students earned degrees from Saint Francis University; this figure includes both undergraduate and graduate degrees.

As the oldest Franciscan institution of higher learning in the United States, Saint Francis University in Loretto, PA, offers higher education based on Catholic values and teachings, inspired by the examples set by the institution's patron, St. Francis of Assisi. The mission of the university is to promote a mind for excellence, a spirit for peace and justice, and a heart for service. For more information visit: http://www.francis.edu.