Cold and rain plagued the 12th Annual Veterans Assembly on November 10, which may have contributed to the lower than average turnout this year.

The weather caused the crew of the Chinook 47D helicopter that was on display to leave before the assembly ever got underway because of an impending thunderstorm.
When Flight Engineer Staff Sergeant Shad Myers took the stage he told the crowd that this was the first time he had been left behind by his own helicopter.

Myers, who has been in the service for 16 years, talked about a 2003 mission in which three of those in his division were killed, near Fallujah. He said that the soldiers built a bar in their honor, at which they sold candy, soda and pizzas.

“It gave us a place to sit down and talk after missions,” Myers said.

The group wanted to purchase a memorial for the fallen soldiers, but the pop and candy sales weren’t enough, so Mike Deutmeyer of Weber Stone donated the majority of the cost for a stone memorial.

Meanwhile, prints of a drawing were made to honor the three men. At the assembly, Myer presented Deutmeyer with one of the prints.
“Freedom does not come cheap–these soldiers paid the ultimate price,” Deutmeyer said.

After Myers presentation, a video of the Hale Bridge Airlift was shown.

Student Council members Jentri Alderdyce and Jared Alderdyce then presented Double Service Awards. The Double Service Award is given to individuals who have worked at the school as well as served in the military.
This year’s recipients were: Dr. James R. Poulter, whose award was accepted by his wife, Joyce, Robert N. Hartwig, award accepted by his son, Randy Hartwig, Joel C. Alderdyce, whose father, Elmer Alderdyce, accepted the award, Paul A. Lewison, Hugh Shaw, Alan D. Tapper, Henry J. (Hank) Biere, dale W. Hackett, John C. Smith, who was unable to attend and Curt Duwe, also unable to attend.

Becky DirksHaugsted, Virgil Martin and Jim Caswell then dedicated a flag that was flown over the capitol building in Washington DC.
The flag will hang in the Veteran’s Hall at the Jones County Courthouse.

DirksHaugsted, Martin and Caswell then presented Veterans Day Assembly organizers Tim Hollett and Sarah Nemmers with certificates of appreciation for all of their work over the years.

Ryan Husmann, who just finished up an Eagle Scout project, giving headstones to six Civil War soldiers addressed the crowd.
He told about his project, how it came about and what was involved.

A moment of silence was observed and Taps was sounded before the guest speaker Rick Boots took the stage.

Boots, who is commander of VFW District 2 told the audience, “Our mission today is to honor the dead by honoring the living.”

Boots gave a history of Armstice Day, which later became Veterans Day, with the idea of honoring very soldier who gave their life on the behalf of America. He added that there are 20 million veterans in the United States.
“What veterans have given our country is beyond our power to repay. Remember those men and women who did not live to be called veterans,” Boots said.

Jean Bliss spoke on behalf of Wounded Warriors a group who donates clothing, toiletries and phone cards to severely wounded soldiers. Half of the donations given at the assembly will go to help this organization.

After the assembly, a lunch was served in the gym at the Lawrence Community Center. The VFW donated $400 for the meal, which was free of charge. Free will donations were accepted at the lunch. Anne Daily provided musical entertainment and a gift certificate was donated by T&D. Everette Custis was the winner of the gift certificate.

The Anamosa Journal-Eureka is happy to announce our third Annual Dining Dollars fundraiser.

Dining Dollars was designed to help senior citizens pay for meals at the Anamosa Senior Center as well as Meals on Wheels. The money is used to help those who have qualified for assistance, but have not yet started receiving it and those who need, but can’t afford the service. Donations can also be designated for specific individuals.

Donations will be accepted until January 1, 2007 and can be dropped off at the newspaper office, or mailed, with the form below.

Checks should be made payable to Jones County Senior Dining and Dining Dollars should be included in the memo.

“Last year $685 was raised, nearly double the 2004 amount. We are hoping to improve on that again this year,” said Anamosa Journal-Eureka Editor Michelle Phillips.

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Business owners, organization leaders and individuals turned out at the Mary Lovell Le Van Renaissance Center in Monticello on November 9 for the annual Jones County Tourism Association (JCTA) dinner.

Guests mingled with one another while they viewed displays from area businesses and museums around Jones County, during social hour before the dinner.

After dinner JCTA Director Joan Marlin took the podium and gave a presentation about the organization, which helped to bring nearly 15 million tourism dollars to the area last year. Marlin told the crowd that the figure is an 8.2% increase over 2004. In addition this money puts $1.1 million in taxes in the county.

Marlin continued by telling everyone that Jones County tourism is responsible for 100 jobs and $1.68 million in payroll.

The face of tourism is changing from tour buses to individuals, said Marlin.

“Individuals have trunks, credit cards and time,” she explained to the group.

Marlin said there are some new tools within JCTA, including decals for members and a calendar of events on the JCTA website.
She said it is important for members to place tourism decals in their windows because that is one of the things travelers look for because they equate it with a quality establishment. Marlin added that the website calendar is great way for those in the county to publicize events.

According to Marlin the JCTA has come a long way, but there is still work to be done to attract people to Jones County. Goals for the coming year include:

• Increase awareness of Jones County as a destination
• Increase the JCTA membership
• Increase attraction/organization participation in Jones County tourism
• Get 100% city per capita participation
• Increase the volunteer base
• Have office open seven days a week

After Marlin gave the crowd an update on the JCTA, guest speaker Tim Boyle, Director of the Cedar Rapids Visitor and Convention Center, addressed the guests.

“We have a whole catalog of items and special orders are only a two-day delivery,” said Don. “We also have a mini-catalog we’ll start passing out in the community.”

The Anamosa store is the second location for Office Machine Consultants. Tom, who is the president of the company, opened his first store in 1982 after working as an office machine salesperson for several years.

“The main reason we came to Anamosa was because Mark Armstrong was selling, he had a strong business, a good core customer base and we wanted to service the Cedar Rapids area as well because we had customers there, but no service,” explained Don. He said he was happy that Kathy Laughbad had decided to stay on with them as the company’s service representative.

About 90 people attended the Grand Opening, which included snacks, prizes, a Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting and of course information about products and services.

“We’re very excited to be in Anamosa and happy with the hospitality. We are looking forward to growing our business here,” Don said.