Davenport, Iowa – Area young people ages 8-17 will have a chance to take to the skies on Saturday, May 19, 2012, as Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Chapter 75 hosts a Young Eagles Flight Rally at the Davenport Municipal Airport. The rally is part of the EAA Young Eagles Program, created to interest young people in aviation.

Since the program was launched in 1992, Volunteer EAA pilots have flown more than 1.5 million young people who reside in more than 90 countries.

"Free airplane rides are just part of the Flight Rally," said Cinda Beert, spokesperson for the event. "We hope to build one-to-one relationships between pilots and young people, giving a new generation a chance to learn more about the possibilities that exist in the world of aviation." Pilots at the event will also explain more about their airplanes allowing young people to discover how airplanes work and how pilots ensure safety is the prime concern before every flight.

Following the flight, each young person, will receive a certificate making them an official Young Eagle. Their name will then be entered into the "World's Largest Logbook," which is on permanent display at the EAA Air Adventure Museum in Oshkosh, WI. The Logbook is also accessible on the web at www.youngeagles.org.

Along with flight rallies, EAA members also fly Young Eagles on an individual basis. Each pilot volunteers their time and aircraft so the flights can be provided free of charge for interested young people.

Those attending the flight rally on May 19, 2012 are asked come to the Davenport Municipal Airport starting at 8:00AM to register for their flight. Flights will begin at 8:30AM, with registration closing when we meet our maximum of 100 kids.

Additional information about EAA and the EAA Young Eagles program is available on the Internet. Access to EAA's Home Page is available at www.eaa.org. The Young Eagles web page is www.youngeagles.org.

Sawyer Beef is local grown Black Angus beef from Princeton, Iowa. A family farm that is 5 generations strong raising some of the best beef this side of the Mississippi! We now have Grass Fed beef raised on rotational pasture grazing.

  • Sawyer Beef is Beef without routine antibiotics, hormones or preservatives!
  • Sawyer Beef is locally raised on our Quad City area farm.
  • Sawyer Beef is federally inspected for meat sold outside of Iowa and state inspected for meat sold in Iowa.

We have all retail cuts and sides of beef available for purchase at the farm, several farmer's markets and grocery retail locations around the Quad City area.

We now have ¼ Beef Bundles available. Click here to learn more about the Beef Bundles.

Visit us online at www.sawyerbeef.com

Thank you for choosing buy locally and support local farmers and the local economy.


 

As a blue-collar kid in the New Jersey suburbs, Michael Uslan swore an oath: to restore his beloved superhero's true identity as a darkly serious creature of the night, stalking criminals from the shadows.

As executive producer of five provocative Batman feature films - including the highly anticipated "The Dark Knight Rises," being released this summer - Uslan has originated an action-filled psychological movie franchise unlike any other.

For that vision, today (May 9) he will receive CINE's 2012 Trailblazer Award.

"Through his determination to bring his unique understanding of a comic book character to the big screen, he essentially created a new film genre," says CINE Board President Rita Mullin.

"Michael Uslan has been a genuine trailblazer."

Sen. Patrick Leahy - like Uslan, an avid comic book fan - will present the award during CINE's Annual Awards Gala at La Maison Francaise in the French embassy in Washington, D.C.

Uslan says he's proud to be recognized.

"In an industry that is often creatively divided between those who are forward looking, innovative and daring and those who spend their days looking over their shoulders and fearing to take an unproven course, I am so honored and thrilled by CINE's presenting me with its 2012 Trailblazer Award," he says.

Since boyhood, he has been determined to make the world see his idol through his eyes. He recounts the journey in his memoir, The Boy Who Loved Batman (www.theboywholovedbatman.com).

A passionate fan of comic books from a tender age, young Uslan consumed them all - from Archie to Superman.

"My mother may have given birth to me, but my comic books formed me and made me who I am," he says.

By far, his favorite hero - the man who taught him powerful life lessons - was and still is Batman.

"Batman made himself the strongest, the smartest, the best detective. He was the only superhero who didn't have superpowers, so I could aspire to be just like him," Uslan says. "To be Superman, you had to come from Krypton, but Batman's greatest superpower was his humanity."

It was the premiere of the "POW!" "BAM!" 1966 "Batman" TV series that inspired Uslan's youthful vow to rescue the Dark Knight from campy pop cultural mediocrity.

"I was horrified when I realized the world was laughing at Batman," he says. "I swore an oath that I would make it my life's mission to restore his true identity, the one his creators gave him back in 1939. With the help of many, many talented people, I believe I've done that."

Other CINE 2012 award winners include Eileen O'Neill, group president for Discovery Channel and TLC, who will receive the Leadership Award, and composer Marvin Hamlisch, recipient of the first Legends Award.

Past Trailblazer Award winners include Ted Turner, founder of the first 24-hour cable news network, CNN; and comedians The Smothers Brothers, who challenged TV's political boundaries.

CINE is a non-profit organization that serves emerging and established film, video and new media professionals.

About Michael Uslan

Michael Uslan, (www.theuslancompany.com), is the executive producer, along with his partner Benjamin Melniker, of the Batman franchise of motion pictures. In his 36 years in the film and television industry, he has been involved with such projects as "National Treasure," "Constantine," and countless animated projects. His projects have won Oscars, Golden Globes and Emmy Awards. He recently formed a motion picture development and production consulting company called The Uslan Company, LLC.

Bettendorf, IA - Beginning Saturday, May 19, 2012, at the Family Museum, kids will be able to visit the Building Brainstorm exhibition - a design studio where you can explore what it's like to be an architect, designer, and engineer. The exhibit will be on display until September of 2012.

Plan a dream home or a dog house, build a skyscraper model, find the best arrangement of an apartment models' rooms and furniture, construct a structure you can crawl through, and much more. The exhibition introduces children of all ages to the design process, including collaborative problem-solving planning, revisions, and execution.

The studio environment, inspired by the philosophy and aesthetic of mid-century designers Charles and Ray Eames, is filled with architectural plans, photographs, models, and authentic building elements. The show features interactive workbenches and job sites that equip diminutive designers to brainstorm creative solutions for architectural and engineering challenges. Kids will discover the basics of buildings while exploring the process of creating structures that match the needs of the people inside them.

Challenges:

1.       Shape Search Challenge: find basic geometric shapes in complex buildings

2.       Shapes in Buildings Challenge: replicate unusually shaped structures with wood blocks

3.       Inside Shapes Challenge: make your own crawl-through structure to experience curved, angled, and square building shapes from a different perspective

4.       Window House Challenge: experiment with changeable clear, translucent, and opaque panels

5.       Floor Plan Challenge: create the ideal floor plan for a model home, arrange rooms and miniature furniture

6.       Room Design Challenge: create an inspiration board with real samples

7.       Brainstorm Challenge: generate creative designs for imaginary clients (examples: a dog house or a school for skateboarders).

Brainstorm Challenge.jpg: Beatrix Eckert-Chu, 5, and Carmen Milena Lopez, 5, design a home for a unicorn in the "Brainstorm Challenge" area of the Building Brainstorm design and architecture exhibit. Each day, this area presents visitors with a unique "client" for which they design a suitable structure; the girls' challenge was to design a house for an animal. Their unicorn pad features high ceilings so it can fly, but it does not need a kitchen since the animal can eat grass outside.

 

Shapes in Buildings Challenge.jpg: Donovan Bembridge, 10, and Ishmel White, 11, design a memorial for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in the "Shapes in Buildings Challenge" area of the Building Brainstorm design and architecture exhibit. This area encourages children - and adults - to create buildings from the basic geometric shapes found in structures across the globe. The boys' design includes an observation platform and skateboard arenas.

 

Window House Challenge.jpg: The "Window House Challenge" area in the Building Brainstorm exhibit invites kids to test how light and air transform a space by changing out clear, opaque, and translucent panels.

 

Floor Plan Challenge.jpg: The "Floor Plan Challenge" area in the Building Brainstorms exhibit allows kids to create the ideal floor plan for a model home by arranging rooms and miniature furniture.

 

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GAHC Bus Trips

The German American Heritage Center is excited to announce the resumption of our popular bus trips for members and friends!

 

Our first trip is a local one, combining three sites that are close at hand but often unexplored!  Sign up today for a triple-header to the Rock Island Arsenal, celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, the Old Stone Church (German Episcopal Methodist Church) in Muscatine, and ending at the Mississippi River Distilling Company in LeClaire.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

$35 Members / $40 Non-members

 

 

Click on the link below to register or RSVP to Kelly at 563-322-8844.

Register Now!
I can't make it

Your tour guide is Pat Steen.  Pat is active as a tour organizer for corporate, church, and non-profit groups.  We welcome Pat on board with GAHC - please come get to know Pat on this inaugural trip with lots to see close to home.

 

Lunch is not included and no refunds.
Reservations are due by June 12th, 2012! We look forward to seeing you as we explore these interesting locations!
Sincerely,
The Hillcrest Music Fest is coming to Orion June 15th thru June 17th!

The Hillcrest Event Center is the site that the new reality TV show, "American Resort" is being filmed.

Events include Sat. night's Headlining show--- Southern Rock Headliner---JIMMIE VANZANT BAND!!

Fri. night will feature Country Bands, Sat. night---Rock with several bands, including Jimmie VanZant Band, and Sunday features a Father's Day Golf Outing.

Folks from the Quad Cities, Peoria, Rockford, Iowa City, and Madison---mark your calendar for the Hillcrest Music Fest June 15th - June 17th.

. Come out to one of the area's only outside event center-The Hillcrest Event Center and enjoy a country music concert Fri. June 15th and a rockin' good time with rock concert on Sat. night June 16th.  Saturday night's special Legendary Southern Rock headliner- Jimmie VanZant- keeping Southern Rock ALIVE! Come the entire weekend and camp with us with affordable rates for a weekend of fun and music!  (more info about Jimmie VanZant Band-  www.Jimmievanzantband.net- EPK is being sent with this press release)

This Hillcrest Music Fest will feature TWO nights with 7 BANDS at ONE OUTDOOR VENUE, with admission prices tailored so that everyone can come out for a weekend of fun and music.

Friday night's concert will be 5pm-1am with country bands including Wild Oatz, Dirt Road Rockers, Slough Buoys, and Dani Lynn Howe Band for an unforgettable country concert.

Saturday's concert will run from noon til 1am with an entire rockin' day and evening of  rock bands:  Sinners & Saints, Wicked Liz & The Bellyswirls, Meet The Press, Dani Lynn Howe Band, and Headlining Southern Rock Band---The Jimmie VanZant Band! There will also be a Father's Day Golf Outing for you and your father for $40. that covers  9 holes of golf, cart and all you can eat pancake breakfast.

Food and Food vendors will be available all weekend.

The Hillcrest Event Center is located at the Hillcrest Resort- 16262 E. 350th St.-Orion, Il 61273 and is the site that the new reality TV show, "American Resort" is being filmed.  Call (309) 755-6550 for more info including special camping rates for festival!

Tickets are $40. per person, which include admission for BOTH days and FREE TENT CAMPING!  You can't beat that price for a weekend of fun and music!  For an added $40.00, you get a RV site with water and power.   Limited VIP tickets are $100.00 per person which includes VIP parking; Platinum tickets are available for $200. per person-includes food & beverage; sponsor and vendor are available (call for pricing-limited tents are available.) To purchase Hillcrest Music Fest tickets online, please go online to: www.hillcrest-resort.inticketing.com

There aren't any outdoor event centers between Chicago and Des Moines, and the Hillcrest Event Center has worked to make it THE special events venue within a 3-4 hour radius.  The Hillcrest Resort includes a sports bar/restaurant, a 9-Hole Golf course, 68-site campground, and Olympic Size swimming pool-everything for your comfort and relaxation for a great time. Located on the edge of two states (Iowa and Illinois) the Hillcrest Event Center will quickly become your favorite place for events at affordable rates with a comfortable and relaxing setting.

Washington, D.C. - Congressman Dave Loebsack released the following statement after the US Postal Service (USPS) announced that it reversed its decision to close post offices across the country, including many in rural Iowa.

"Rural areas and particularly seniors in Iowa should be pleased with today's announcement," said Loebsack.  "I had strong concerns with the original proposal since it was first announced nearly a year ago, and I have not been shy about making them clear to the Postmaster General.  The closures would have led to job loss and made it harder for rural residents and businesses to obtain services provided at local Post Offices.  While I am pleased the US Postal Service heeded the public's warning about the negative effects it would have caused, I was disappointed that this new proposal will also mean cutbacks in Post Offices' services and hours. I will continue to monitor this situation closely."

Loebsack wrote to the United States Postal Service (USPS) in July when they announced that they would be studying 3,700 Post Offices for closure, including 178 in Iowa. He also submitted comments, along with 81 other lawmakers, to the Postal Regulatory Commission in September stating opposition to the closings.

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WASHINGTON - During an upcoming Senate break, Senator Chuck Grassley will meet with Iowans in Victor, Clinton, Muscatine, West Branch, Eldridge and Maquoketa.

Grassley will speak at the Memorial Day service hosted by the Victor American Legion on Monday, May 28.

On Tuesday, he will tour LyondellBasell and meet with employees in Clinton, address the Muscatine Kiwanis luncheon, tour Acciona Windpower and meet with employees in West Branch, and hold town meetings for residents of Scott and Jackson counties.

"Representative government is a two-way street and depends on dialogue between elected officials and the people we represent," Grassley said.  "I look forward to the events and meetings planned later this month to listen to comments and respond to questions.  I like to have town meetings, and I also appreciate the opportunity to go to workplaces to talk with people who couldn't otherwise get to a town meeting."

Grassley has held at least one meeting with Iowans in every one of the state's 99 counties since 1980, when he was first elected to serve in the U.S. Senate.

Below is more information about the schedule.  Grassley will be available to answer questions from reporters immediately following each event.

 

Monday, May 28

10 a.m.

Speak at the Memorial Day Service hosted by the Victor American Legion

601 3rd Street in Victor

 

Tuesday, May 29

9:30-10:30 a.m.

Tour LyondellBasell and Q&A with employees*

3400 Anamosa Road in Clinton

*the Q&A will be in the Employee Recreation Center accessible by the first entrance to the site, and this is where Grassley will be available to reporters following the event

 

12 noon-1 p.m.

Q&A at the Muscatine Kiwanis Club Luncheon

Button Factory Woodfire Grill

215 West Mississippi Drive in Muscatine

 

2-3 p.m.

Tour Acciona Windpower and Q&A with employees

Acciona Windpower North America

601 Fawcett Drive in West Branch

 

4-5 p.m.

Scott County Town Meeting

Eldridge Community Center

400 South 16th Avenue in Eldridge

 

6-7 p.m.

Jackson County Town Meeting

Hurstville Interpretive Center, Community Room

18670 63rd Street in Maquoketa

 

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SPRINGFIELD, IL (05/09/2012)(readMedia)-- The Illinois National Guard heritage is similar to the state tree, the White Oak. The trunk is stout and strong much like the core of the guard. Branches lead off of one another comparable to the organizational heritage. Units have come and gone throughout the years due to reorganization, similar to limbs that need trimming from time to time. Although visibly removed, units remain forever linked to the trunk or the history. Each leaf is unique, like the Soldiers, Airman and civilians that are a part of the Illinois Guard. Leaves bud, bloom, change color, and shed much like the ebb and flow of enlistments, career changes, and retirements. Acorns are unique to the white oak, just like the deployments that occupy some of the leaves or Soldiers. But what about the part that remains buried and forgotten, yet is the element that nourishes the rest of the tree?

The history of the roots of the Illinois National Guard began with the French. On January 1, 1718, Businessman John Law obtained a charter from the French King that granted him monopoly of French trade in the area known as the Illinois Country. Royal orders dictated that a provision for civil government be arranged for the new province of Illinois. During the summer of 1718, the green officials set out from Louisiana and journeyed to their new home. Among other governing associates, the party included Pierre Duque, Sieur de Boisebriant, Commandant; Captain Diron, Dartaguiette; two Second Lieutenants and a company of 100 Soldiers.

Among the tall grasses of the Illinois prairie, rose the first resemblance of an organized militia, under the French regime. This small unit of French Soldiers had the responsibility of: investigating the number of men capable of bearing arms in each village, determining the amount of powder and lead available, forming companies of militia and arranging a signal system from settlement to settlement. By 1721, Fort De Chartes became the first military structure dedicated to the protection of the community.

As the population of settlements grew, militia companies began popping up among each community, under the tutelage of the French. Looking back on his time in Illinois, the inspector of Troops, Dartaguiette wrote in his diary, "I called together all the inhabitants of this village [Kaskaskia] to whom I said that I had an order from the King to form a company of militia for the purpose of putting them in a position to defend themselves with greater facility against the incursions which the Indians, our enemies, might attempt, so I formed a company, after having selected four of the most worthy among them to put at the head. This company being under arms, I passed it in review the same day." Under the shade of the White Oak, the militia rested, having completed the first drill on May 9, 1723. The first of many hundreds of thousands of drills, the Illinois National Guard will be 289 years old this May, not quite as old as the 500-year life span of the White Oak.

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