Villisca Fifth Graders explore the OREGON TRAIL Southwest Iowa schools are fortunate to have Deb Karwal and Anderson Conservation
The day was warm and everyone was quite tired by the end. Some of the highlights were: the fur trader, the wagon ride, and fiddler, and eating the deer jerkey that had been prepared for us. Another highlight was making button strings, an old game that some of the students became experts with by the end of the day. Deb does a great job organizing and running the Oregon Trail each year. The Villisca students enjoyed the day and learned a lot about all the hardships traveling to Oregon. photo and information from Donna Williams |
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LION'S CLUB Annual Bike Rodeo May 2008
bike rodeo photos by Johnny Houser |
Alumni Decade Pages 1930s,
1940s, 1950s
Villisca
now has a web site of its own -
villisca.com
This quote is attributed to Bill Gates - in considering Villisca economic development - it has a story in it "We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. Don't let yourself be lulled into inaction." ~~Bill Gates
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GETTING
READY FOR VILLISCA'S Looking for books authored by Villiscans or people with ties to Villisca There will be at least one and perhaps more book signings during the Sesquicentennial weekend. It would be great to have a display of books authored by Villiscans and those with Villisca ties. If you have or know of such publications, please get the word to the planning committee. If you have a current publication that would would like to do a book signing for, again, please contact the planning committee.For more information, contact Donna Robinson at donnarob@netins.net or at 712-826-2865 or 826-4902. History Fair There will be a History Fair held in the high school gym where individuals, families, groups and organizations will be invited to put up displays with memorabilia, collections, remembrances. There will be no charge to have a display at the History Fair and there will be no charge to attend the Fair. For more information or to reserve space, contact Donna Robinson at donnarob@netins.net or at 712-826-2865 or 826-4902. Book of Remembrance There will also be a remembrance "book" where those who want to share just a memory or two rather than having a full display. People are invited to create memory pages sized 8 ½ x 11 for the remembrance book. The pages will not be returned so please do not include on these pages material you want returned. These pages can be sent to Roxanna Sieber, 103 North Second Avenue, Villisca, IA 50864. People with ideas and energy It is NOT too late to become involved and to bring your talents and skills to the table to make this a memorable celebration. For more information, contact Donna Robinson at donnarob@netins.net or at 712-826-2865 or 826-4902. Here's just one idea Your contribution might be something like the idea that follows:
It doesn't need to be this way. An Industrial Study of Southwest Iowa by ISU is being released and the story for southwest Iowa is not a good one when looked at through the lens of this study. What it does say is, we have a job to do to communicate the assets of the area and to aggressively work to bring population back. From my point of view, the case is not difficult to make. But, we do need to make the case. We need to highlight the wonderful lifestyle we live here. And we need to tell the story of why we are a great place to own a business and a great place to work. It is the responsibility of each of us to help get the word out. To read the industry study, click here for Part A and here for Part B. They are in PDF format. Representatives from ISU will go through the information in more detail at a meeting April 17 from 12-2 at the Pizza Ranch in Atlantic, IA. Bankers, business and community leaders are encouraged to attend. |
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New
format, great photos, interesting news. ©Copyright 2003, XPublishing. All Rights Reserved. |
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The
Villisca fourth grade class traveled to Oregon on the Oregon Trail
on Monday, May 5. Deb Karwal of Anderson Conservation organized the
annual Oregon Trail trip with 12 different groups from eight different
schools. Our class started at the trading post, and each student was
able to purchase arrow head necklaces, dolls, flowers, gold nuggets,
feathers, buffalo fur, or arrowheads. After trading, we began our
long trek through and conservation area visiting different history
characters telling us about the various hardships on the Oregon Trail.
We talked with quilters and makers of cloth, survivors telling us
about cholera and other diseases, map makers, traders, Indians, pioneers
preparing foods on the trail, a fiddler, fur trappers, and a seller
of medicines on the trail. All the students were able to sign Register
Cliff with their names as well as see the names of all those that
traveled before us. Arriving in Oregon City, we visited an 1800 camp,
a tipi, and had a wagon ride. 
Fun
in the California sun. I pulled this photo off my niece's blog - while
out on a family outting, they stopped at this little jumping area
and not only did the children enjoy it - so did my nephew, her husband
as seen here. 
So
why am I putting this on this website. Well, ideas come from everywhere.
I'm thinking something like this would be fun in Villisca and feel
assured there is someone around who could make one just from looking
at the photos. I think the biggest challenge would be what safe ground
covering to put down on the ground - but probably someone has the
easy solution for that as well. I'm thinking something made from recycled
tires. Sarah's blog address is