A year in review - Community

2023 brought new events and restored old ones in Union County. The community continues to work hard in building up the city through both events and projects.

Events

In June, Creston held its first Juneteenth celebration. Juneteenth is a federal holiday, celebrated June 19, commemorating the freedom of enslaved African Americans, specifically held on the anniversary of General Order No. 3 in Texas, the last state to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation. This order was brought to Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865.

Amanda McVann and Ashely Downing co-founded the event, hoping to bring more awareness to the holiday.

The celebration kicked off with a service at Salem Lutheran Church, sermon provided by McVann. Following the service, food, music and activities were available at McKinley Park.

“Sadly, being a person of color in Creston has been difficult generationally for a lot of families,” McVann said. “I think being able to show up and show out for an event that celebrates liberation and freedom and the affirmation of life and the value of that life will be a great opportunity for people to celebrate that in Creston, especially during a time of continued great racial tension and division.”

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After years of events being spread around town, 2023 brought July Fourth back to McKinley Park.

In order to keep everything together, KSIB General Manager Chad Rieck moved the KSIB cruise night and car show to Friday, June 30 in McKinley Park. The BBQ Bash and that week’s Friday After Five were also moved to the park.

Saturday saw the Greater 8 and 5K race in the morning and a tractor show and parade in the middle of the day. Party in the Park was supposed to run in the evening, but was rained out. The 10,000 Crestonians parade was still held in the uptown district.

For Reick, the goal was to bring Creston’s Fourth of July celebration back to its glory days.

”That’s what my vision is,” Rieck said in March. “Put all of our stuff into the 24 hours, from the two different deals we’ve done historically, centered around making a push for let’s make the park a little more recognizable, celebrate the park that we have, and let’s make the Fourth of July what Fourth of July should be again.”

The fireworks show was also put on by a new group this year. The Creston Shooters pyrotechnic team spent years creating Creston’s Fourth of July firework show. This year, the Creston Shooters handed the reigns over to Brandon Vonk, owner of Top Notch Fireworks.

Projects

In January, the Gibson Memorial Library Board changed expansion plans from relocating to adding a pavilion in the green space next to the library. The board took inspiration from the pavilion at Clarinda’s Lied Public Library, using a pre-fabricated kit while also utilizing local contractors for electric and concrete work.

As of now, concrete and electric have been completed. Fabrication of the pavilion structure itself is to start in February, with the hopes of holding a grand opening in April.

Former library director Gabriel Chrisman started the project in hopes of bringing more programming to the library, as well as offering another space for the community to use. New director Danielle Dickinson Thaden has since taken over the project.

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In January, Salem Lutheran Church’s Pastor Evan McVann spoke with the Union County Food Coalition about installing a food shelf outside of his church. Since then, Salem Lutheran has worked hard to accomplish this goal, the food shelf officially opened June 1.

The food shelf is named The Long Table, in reference to phrase “when you have more than you need, build a longer table, not a higher fence.”

“It’s reminiscent of the biblical concept called ‘gleaning,’” McVann said. “In ancient Israel, people who were in need of food and couldn’t buy any were allowed to go into the farm fields and pick up crop that was dropped to have for themselves. There’s that sense of leaving behind what you can for those in need.”

Salem Lutheran Church is located at 602 W. Townline St. in Creston. The food shelf is located on the side of the building, accessed via North Sycamore Street.

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Two and a half years after Creston teen Lexi Rounds was killed in a car accident, the memorial dog park constructed in her honor opened its gates.

Waiting on a variety of factors including light installation and grass condition held the park up from opening to four-legged friends, but during Creston’s July Fourth parade, the family announced Lexi’s Puppy Patch, located in McKinley Park, was finally open.

The family raised funds through Facebook, events and grants. They spoke with city council, parks and recreation and dog owners throughout the community to get the project off the ground.

They held a formal ribbon cutting and grand opening on April 29, but dogs were unable to enter the park until July 4.

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In September, Creston senior Quinten Fuller brought a new activity to McKinley park through his Eagle Scout Service Project - bocce ball.

“When I was younger, we used to play bocce ball all the time in the grass and never really had a place to do it” Fuller said. “We went to a park one time and they had kind of a sand court, which, it works, but the sand wasn’t really fun to play on. With the court here, I’d have somewhere to play that wasn’t on grass.”

Bocce ball is designed to be played with two teams of two, but can be adapted to single players or larger teams. The goal is to land four large colored balls, called bocce, closest to a small white ball, called the pallino or jack.

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Preliminary work began in October to build two housekeeping cabins near the campground at Three Mile Lake.

This has been in the books for the county for over a year, with the Union County Board of Supervisors approving the dedication of $720,000 of the county’s remaining American Rescue Plan funds to the project last October. The project has since received $50,000 from other sources, including a $30,000 grant in early October from the South Central Iowa Community Foundation.

Union County Conservation Director Doug Jones presented the proposal to build two housekeeping cabins. The cabins can hold multiple people with individual bedrooms, bathrooms, heating, air conditioning and be open year round. Jones also estimated they would not be ready to use until 2024. The planned location is west of the campground; one facing southwest and the other facing northwest.

Jones has said all lodging revenue at Three Mile Lake averages $160,000 a year. The amount jumped to $230,000 during the pandemic as it forced people to do more outdoor, recreational activities.