(DES MOINES) - The Iowa Tourism Office and nine Convention and Visitors Bureaus have partnered with the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division (ABD) to provide rolling billboards that encourage travel in Iowa.

Nine ABD trucks have been wrapped with images from Ames, Burlington, Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City/Coralville, Newton, Okoboji, Sioux City and Waterloo. Each truck also carries graphics promoting Iowa travel in general.

"Traveling takes many forms - watching your son or daughter play in a soccer tournament out-of-town, visiting friends and family or just getting away from it all," said Governor Terry Branstad. "You don't have to go far to make a lasting memory with your family and there's plenty to do right here in Iowa."

The Iowa Tourism Office images feature Maquoketa Caves in Maquoketa, Arnolds Park Amusement Park in Okoboji, the Loess Hills in Western Iowa and Sky Tours Ziplines in Dubuque.

Ames uses a whimsical type treatment to express the fun of exploring the community along with the tagline "When in Ames." View the truck.

Burlington's truck features the Bees minor league baseball team, Fun City Waterpark, the restored Capitol theater, gaming at Catfish Bend Casino and a relaxing family picnic. View the truck.

Cedar Falls, named a Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists, showcases one of their bike trails. View the truck.

Cedar Rapids highlights the NewBo City Market, National Czech and Slovak Museum & Library, Theatre Cedar Rapids and Brucemore. View the truck.

Des Moines encourages travelers to "Catch Unexpected Moments" and includes Iowa Cubs baseball, the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park, the State Capitol and waterpark fun. View the truck.

Iowa City and Coralville have teamed up with North Liberty for "three times the fun." The truck promotes festivals, theater and Iowa Hawkeye football. View the truck.

Newton's truck includes the Iowa Speedway, Maytag Blue Cheese, biking and sculptures. View the truck.

Sioux City showcases outdoor adventures at Stone State Park, Saturday in the Park, the Orpheum Theatre and the indoor rock wall. View the truck.

Waterloo encourages visitors to "Dig Deeper" and explore the Iowa Veterans Museum, John Deere factory, festivals and Lost Island Water Park.  View the truck.

Tourism in Iowa generates more than $7 billion in expenditures, employs 63,400 people statewide and generates $328 million in state taxes. The Iowa Tourism Office is part of the Iowa Economic Development Authority.

New book provides snippets of the hard and good times living in Iowa during the Great Depression and War years

EAST LYME, Conn. - You've Got to Start Young: A Memoir (published by iUniverse) written by author Steven E. Hulme tells his memories growing up in Iowa during the 1930s, 1940s and into the 1950s.

Born on a rented farm, the author relates some happy, sad, funny and scary events from his childhood which includes his life on the farm, his house burning down, the move into town, his remarkable school life, his adolescent years and so many adventures along the way.

This book provides a glimpse into life before the TV, computers, cell phones, Facebook, and Twitter. It shares to readers a collection of snippets about the hard times and the good times of growing up in Iowa as a Depression baby and as a child during World War II.

You've Got to Start Young: A Memoir lets readers walk down memory lane as the author vividly recalls what it was like living during the Great Depression era as well as the War years.

About the Author

Steven E. Hulme was born in 1934 in Iowa City, Iowa- his family lived on a farm in the midst of the Great Depression. A graduate of the University of Iowa and the General Theological Seminary, he served as an Episcopal priest for thirty-nine years in Iowa and Connecticut. Currently he is executive director of the Karen (of Burma) Emergency Relief Fund Inc.

Articles, letters and op-ed pieces by the author have appeared in the New London Day, the Hartford Courant, the Post Road Review, the Lyme Times, the Vintage Voice and the Episcopalian. He and his wife, Mary, live in East Lyme, Connecticut. They have two grown children.

iUniverse, an Author Solutions, Inc. self-publishing imprint, is the leading book marketing, editorial services, and supported self-publishing provider. iUniverse has a strategic alliance with Indigo Books & Music, Inc. in Canada, and titles accepted into the iUniverse Rising Star program are featured in a special collection on BarnesandNoble.com. iUniverse recognizes excellence in book publishing through the Star, Reader's Choice, Rising Star and Editor's Choice designations?self-publishing's only such awards program. Headquartered in Bloomington, Indiana, iUniverse also operates offices in Indianapolis. For more information or to publish a book, please visit iuniverse.com or call 1-800-AUTHORS. For the latest, follow @iuniversebooks on Twitter.

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Bowling Green, O. - Bowling Green State University celebrated its 276th graduation in three ceremonies in the Stroh Center on Friday, May 3, and Saturday, May 4. The total number of diplomas being awarded was 2,092, including 380 degrees granted through the Graduate College.

Alexa Harris of Moline was among those receiving their Bachelor of Science in Education degrees.

Quad Cities Chapter No. 2 News

The Chapter will meet on July 11, 7:00 p.m. at the Hickory Gardens, 3311 Hickory Grove Road in Davenport.  Key item is plans for the For-Get-Me-Not Drive this fall.  Tentative dates are September 13 and 14.  We have set those dates with Wal-Mart.  Members who can work a two hour shift should contact Commander Paul Janecek at 563-386-3533.  At our July meeting we will have sign up sheeting with proposed working shift printed on them.

Future meetings: No meeting in August.  There will be a regular meeting September 12; October 10; November 14; and no meeting December.  We will give a schedule for 2014 in our November Newsletter.

DAV Auxiliary

We CAN NOT URGE DAV AND DAVA MEMBERS ENOUGH to find an Auxiliary member or member candidate to come to our next meeting.  Call Mrs. Janecek at 563-386-3533 or Beverly Cherryholmes at 563-332-5161. Auxiliary meeting will be same time as Chapter meeting.

AMVET'S POST 144 - MEETING INFORMATION

PLACE:  Hickory Gardens     DATE:  June 24 2013   TIME:  5:00 P.M.

Come to enjoy the fellowship, good food, and a productive meeting.  We will have information about out Picnic (inside not outside).  Because of the storm, I did not attend the June 24th meeting.  I would have told you that our indoor picnic has been scheduled for September 15 at Biaggi's Ristoranti Italiano @ 5195 Utica Ridge Road in Davenport, Iowa.  The time is 5:00 p.m.  You MUST make reservations or you may not have a seat at the table!!!

HOW HAVE WE ALLOWED GOVERNMENT TO VIOLATE OUR 4TH AMENDMENT?

When we vote we put our faith and trust in those we elect to office.  Today, we know that some of these people disregard the "Oath" they take and violated your rights under the 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  The revelations by a whistleblower and some of the media has exposed spying upon a vast number of citizens of this country is most alarming.  For those who have read Orwell's 1984 it has come to pass.  We are not safe from the spying of our Government in the safety of our own home.  An abuse of power greater than anything we have known in the History of the United States.   I can tell you I am concerned and you should be also.  We must demand Congressional investigations be conducted.  The Speaker of the U.S House of Representatives has indicated that if all of this spying is true that people need to go to jail.  The leaders of this spying need to be put in jail!  Elected officials who have been involved need to be removed from office.

Every veteran needs to write the Speaker and ask him to do what he said.  We need to call our two Senators and Congressmen to start action.  I believe we have a legal right to be safe in our homes.  Amendment IV (1791) James Madison wrote the following:  "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, house, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be search and the persons or things to be seized."  Madison said it then and it means the same today!