Greetings Van Horne Area Residents!

The weather has decided to go from winter directly to summer, I guess no spring this year. We went from furnaces directly to air conditioners. Hopefully by the time you read this we are a lot closer to having the crops all planted, kind of been a challenge this year so far.

Our water main replacement project has also been delayed by the weather, although they are getting close to completion. The city apologizes to the residents that have had there water turned off during this messy project, but hopefully that part is about done until they hook up individual houses.

I don’t know if you have noticed but the past winter did more damage than to just rural roads, the city streets took a hit also. We will try to fix up as many as we can this summer but will not be able financially to fix them all. We already had the streets where the new water mains were installed for repair so that left us a short budget for the rest of the streets. Hopefully next year. 

We will also have to do a $350,000 upgrade to our sewer plant. We have to install a disinfection system to our existing plant mandated by the DNR in 2020.  Every time you turn around we have another major expense to pay for. We do try to control how we spend our citizen’s money, but with mandates, we have to do them.

We have kind of put our housing project on the back burner for a year or two until we have financing available, unless we have a contractor that wants to come in and do the project. I do want to relate an incident that I observed a couple weeks ago. I was walking along the street shortly after school was out for the day and  observed a resident that had five or six kids raking old leaves and helping to clean up his newly purchased property. I stopped to talk to him and I asked him if they were all his kids, and he said no, that they were kids walking by and he asked them if they wanted to make some money by helping him. They were all raking and pulling weeds, they were about done and he asked them what he owed them, and one kid said he didn’t owe them anything. That is about the time I left, so don’t know if they were paid or not, but it sure made me feel fortunate to live in a small community. I think a lot of times the kids in town get a bad rap for the actions of a few, but this made me know that we have some very nice kids living in Van Horne.

The Legion is going to have there Monday tenderloin and chicken supper in May, then they will take June and July off then restart in August. 

I am just going to mention a few events again that are coming up with no dates, they are located in the newsletter. Garage sales, Relay for life and the park dance. Superintendent Zittergruen’s retirement party at the community room  June 13 from 4 to 7 p.m. Good luck in retirement. We also would like to schedule the installation of the new park equipment in the park in the next couple of weeks and will need volunteers. We will try to put it on the sign a couple of days in advance.

Your thought for the month from Beverly Sills! You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try.

Thanks and have a great rest of the month. Your Mayor Marty Junge.

Dates On Deck

May 20 Legion Tenderloin & Chicken sandwich supper at 5:30 p.m. at the Legion Hall

May 28 Senior Citizen Luncheon at the CC

June 1 City Wide Garage Sales

June 7 ACS Relay for Life at BC Sport Complex from 6-10 .m.

June 8 Patrice Strellner Annual Park Dance from 5 – Midnight at the City Park

June 10 City Council meeting at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall

June 13 Gary Zittergruen Retirement at CC from 4-7 p.m.

June 15 St Andrew’s Vacation Bible School 9-3

POPPIES – Van Horne Legion Auxiliary will be placing donation boxes with Poppies at local businesses in May. Please consider supporting our veterans with your dollars or spare change.

GARAGE SALE – Van Horne Citywide Garage Sales are scheduled for Saturday, June 1, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Now is the time to start Spring cleaning and sorting! Sign Ups are at the Telephone Co. and Chelsea Bank.

RELAY FOR LIFE – Plans are underway for the ACS Relay for Life to be held June 7 from 6-10 p.m. at the Benton Community School Athletic Complex. There are several ways to participate: be a team member, purchase a luminaria, or make a donation. Come out and support family and friends who have battled or are now battling cancer.

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL: St Andrews Lutheran Church will be holding Vacation Bible School on Saturday June 15th from 9:00 – 3:00 Ages 3 – 5th grade are invited. We’ll discover God’s “Miraculous Mission” with Bible stories, music and crafts. To register please call church office at 319-228-8325

LIONS NEWS: All can and bottle donations given to the Van Horne Lions from now through Spring will be given toward the new Playground Equipment at the City Park.

LEGION SANDWICH FRY: The Van Horne Legion is planning to do tenderloin and chicken sandwich and on the third Monday of May month, starting at 5:30 p.m. Come have a great meal and support a worthy cause.

LIBRARY NEWS

FROM THE DIRECTOR: Summer Reading Program coming up fast, don’t forget to register and get the details. Stop by and sign up!!

NEW MATERIALS

Adult Fiction: THE EIGHT SISTER by Robert Dugoni, THE CORNWALLS ARE GONE by James Patterson, THE LAST SECOND by Catherine Coulter, THE TINDERBOX by Beverly Lewis, DEEP HARBOR by Fern Michaels, WILD CARD by Stuart Woods, DARK TRIBUTE by Iris Johansen, A GAME OF THRONES (book 1 replaced) by George R.R. Martin, REDEMPTION by David Baldacci, THE 13-MINUTE MURDER by James Patterson, NEON PREY by John Sandford

Adult Fiction Large Print: THE WOMEN IN THE CASTLE by Jessica Shattuck, AUSCHWITZ LULLABY by Mario Escobar, ONE THING I KNOW by Kara Isaac, THE VICTORY GARDEN by Rhys Bowen, THE PERFECT ALIBI by Phillip Margolin, THE PERSIAN GAMBLE by Joel Rosenberg, OF FIRE AND LIONS by Mesu Andrews, THE OVERNIGHT KIDNAPPER by Andrea Camilleri, THE VANISHING MAN by Charles Finch, SOMEONE KNOWS by Lisa Scottoline, MIRACLE AT ST. ANDREWS by James Patterson, YOU WERE ALWAYS MINE by Nicole Baart

Children’s: LITTLE YELLOW TRUCK by Eve Bunting, A KITE FOR MOON by Jane Yolen, FELIPE AND CLAUDETTE by Mark Teague, A PIGLET NAMED MERCY by Kate DiCamillo, IF YOU GIVE A PIG A PANCAKE by Laura Numeroff, ROAD TRIP: TIP AND TUCKER by Ann Ingalls, I USED TO BE FAMOUS by Tara Luebbe, VACATION FOR DEXTER by Lindsay Ward, RAPPY AND HIS FAVORITE THINGS by Dan Gutman, I CAN ONLY DRAW WORMS by Will Mabbitt, ANOTHER by Christian Robinson, SEARCHING FOR STINKODON by Megan McDonald, THE PEACE DRAGON by Linda Ragsdale, WAKE UP, COLOR PUP by Taia Morley, TURKEY’S EGGCELLENT EASTER by Wendi Silvano, MOTOR MOUSE by Cynthia Rylant

YA: THE FIELD GUIDE TO THE NORTH AMERICAN TEENAGER by Ben Philippe, 96 WORDS FOR LOVE by Rachel Roy, ALEX RIDER: ARK ANGEL by Anthony Horowitz

DVDS: The Mule, Bumblebee, Aquaman and Paw Patrol: Ultimate Rescue

DONATED DVD’S NOW IN: Love and Honor, Love and Basketball, Smoke Screen, Saving Sarah Cain, The Librarian, K-Pax, Hush, Carriers, Black Beauty, Elizabeth the Golden Age: Woman Warrior Queen

Juvenile Fiction: TO NIGHT OWL FROM DOGFISH by Holly Goldberg Sloan, FLASHBACK FOUR: THE HAMILTON-BURR DUEL

SNEAK PEEK: City Hall will be taking Credit and Debit cards soon.