A Year Like None Other

KALONA INSIDE WELLMAN Summer sports RIVERSIDE schedules REAL LONE TREE Page 3 ESTATE PARADE SEE PAGES 14- 15 Lebkc['(.De$(* A7BED7"M7I>?D=JED9EKDJO"?EM7+((*-J>KHI:7O"@KD;''"(&(& '$(+ Negotiations continue on northern ambulance BY JAMES JENNINGS The News Talks to house a full-time ambulance crew in the northern tier of Washington County are continuing despite River- side dropping out of the dis- cussion. Kalona City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh said Mon- day that the cities of Kalona and Wellman are still trying to strike a deal with the newly formed Washington County Ambulance Department. “The cities of Kalona and Wellman are continuing to col- laborate with Jeremy Peck and his staff at Washington County Ambulance to help position an ambulance in northern Wash- ington County,” Schlabaugh JIM JOHNSON/THE NEWS said. “These discussions have Above, Mid-Prairie held all- been ongoing and have includ- school parades on March 30 ed city staff, elected officials and members of our volunteer and April 1 for teachers, staff, EMS groups.” students and parents to show On June 1, the Riverside support for one another. , Above, City Council voted 3-2 to break Cana and Jayla Rediger ride in off negotiations, balking at the the back of a pickup with Busy $125,000 price tag to station the Bear and their mom, high school crew in Riverside. guidance counselor Melissa Re- Although the crew would diger, who is facing away from have been based in Riverside, the camera during the April 1 it would still be required to re- parade that wound through the streets of Wellman and West SEE AMBULANCE | PAGE 9 Chester. Left, Mid-Prairie West Elementary Principal Bill Poock points at some students during the March 30 parade in Kalona. Mid-Prairie mulls ‘return to learn’ plan BY JAMES JENNINGS A YEAR LIKE NONE OTHER The News ated consistency and stability more school, and then needing WELLMAN Administrators reflect on a wild because of the ever-changing to be even more creative and Mid-Prairie school admin- nature of the information we resourceful to make it work to istrators have begun work on were receiving.” finish the year with continu- the state-mandated “return to and crazy 2019-20 school year Crawford said, “The chal- ous learning.” learn” program that must be lenges were how much in- All three administrators submitted by July 1. BY JAMES JENNINGS Crawford said. “No one has formation and expectations expressed their pride for how At Monday’s school board The News been trained to do any of this changed on an almost daily all of their staffs pitched in and meeting, administrators up- and everyone jumped in and basis. From the Governor’s of- adapted. When students left school on dated the board on discussions didn’t complain – just worked fice to the Department of Edu- “I am extremely proud of the afternoon of Friday, March they have had. hard for their students.” cation – something was said the way the Mid-Prairie staff “We’ve been meeting week- 13, they were looking forward School districts had to one day and then the next day – and community responded,” ly on the return to learn plan,” to a week off for spring break. quickly put together new learn- expectations changed and that Schneider said. “I saw some Superintendent Mark Schnei- No one knew that it would be ing plans in the face of rapidly required all of us to redo all the teachers do some truly amaz- der said. “It is due July 1, al- the last day of in-person school changing guidelines from the work from the previous day.” ing and creative things. Para- most two full months before for the rest of the school year. state. Hillcrest Academy Princi- professionals, secretaries and school starts, and obviously When the COVID-19 pan- “The most difficult aspect pal Dwight Gingerich said that school nurses pitched in and conditions can change a lot be- demic forced the closure of of the whole situation, espe- the experience from the previ- helped at a moment’s notice.” tween July 1 and Aug. 25. school buildings for the rest cially at the beginning, was the ous school year, when school Crawford said, “Meeting all “We’re talking about a lot of of the year, school administra- ever-changing nature of the was canceled for nearly half of of the challenges over Zoom things because since we don’t tors were forced to scramble – guidance we were receiving,” February due to snow, ice and and building leadership skills know what we’re preparing for, at times improvising – to deliv- Mid-Prairie Superintendent sub-zero temperatures, helped in this environment is kudos we’ve got to prepare for it all.” er instruction from a distance. Mark Schneider said. “I totally guide decisions this year. to both schools. No one was in He added that everything is “No one could have pre- understand that there were so “That seemed incredible, their comfort zone and yet – just in the brainstorming stage dicted this situation, and I felt many unknowns to deal with, and we had to find creative everyone helped, encouraged, right now. our staff – both staffs – hit the but at times it seemed things ways to make up the time brainstormed and put in extra As part of the plan, schools ground running and really would change daily, sometimes missed,” Gingerich said. “Per- hours to make sure students will submit plans for how they paved a way for our students to even hourly. haps that got us somewhat will deliver instruction in the learn at home,” Highland and “At first it was hard to build ready for this year, which ob- fall. Lone Tree Superintendent Ken processes and policies that cre- viously had us missing even SEE SCHOOL YEAR | PAGE 9 SEE PLAN | PAGE 6 Historical Village welcomes back visitors BY KALEN MCCAIN could see some new stuff.” had quilts in it, so we wanted The News The former “crazy quilt to jazz it up and actually have KALONA room,” which previously dis- people have an understanding played asymmetrical and un- of why they live the way they After spending several usually made quilts, has been do,” Jan Ferry, a volunteer at months closed due to COV- refurbished. It now displays a the Historical Village, said. ID-19, the Kalona Historical variety of quilts from the 1930s “That’s the No. 1 thing people Village reopened June 1 with and ’40s alongside a history of are looking for.” new exhibits and procedures to bridal wear from the same pe- The main exhibit area now keep visitors safe. riod. displays a “history of thread,” Staff spent the months of Another admission-only featuring a spinning wheel and downtime renovating several room that formerly displayed antique sewing machine along- exhibits so the village could re- Amish quilts is now filled with side a wide variety of spool turn with new and interesting a much greater variety of cabinets alongside an impres- displays. Amish showpieces. Roth said sive display of pattern glass “We’re excited to get some the staff wanted to add context made in Iowa. KALEN MCCAIN/THE NEWS things changed,” Managing Di- to the exhibit so that visitors A handful of health safety rector Nancy Roth said. “We’ve could better understand the Grace Tully works in the Loom House at the Kalona Historical Village moved around exhibits and got culture. next to the glass box she would speak to visitors through during some new exhibits just so they “Typically, the room just SEE VILLAGE | PAGE 9 tours. PAGE 2 | THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2020 NEWS THE NEWS Love of gardening blossoms into a book BY KALEN MCCAIN categories of garden history, The News techniques and photography, KALONA Cody’s personal supply of garden literature is 700 books Beth Cody has fallen in love strong. Despite the vast knowl- with gardens. edge within that collection, Her mother, a botanist, Cody said she noticed a sizable sowed the seeds of understand- gap missing from the material. ing early on, but Cody had nei- “In all of these garden histo- ther space nor interest to plant ry books, they have these beau- her own gardens until moving tiful pictures of gardens but to the countryside between never was there any pictures Kalona and Iowa City 12 years of Iowa gardens,” she said. “I ago. thought, ‘Well, surely there Before her passion grew, must be some, it must just be however, Cody was initially in- because we were overlooked, terested in the artistic appeal not that there weren’t any,’ so of gardening books rather than I started looking around.” the activity itself. Garden pho- Her instincts were right. tography is a genre of its own, Despite its lack of national with immense artistic talent spotlight, the state has an in- required both to plant in a vi- timate history with the art of sually interesting way, and to cultivation, featuring a pleth- capture that beauty in a photo- ora of ornamental and func- graph. tional designs, plus the unique “I started reading garden phenomenon of radio stations books and thought, ‘Oh, that’s owned by seed companies. kind of cool, I better actually do After five years of extensive KALEN MCCAIN/THE NEWS some gardening,’” Cody said. research and editing, Cody self- Beth Cody stands with 1,000 copies of her new book, “Iowa Gardens of the Past.” “It was the opposite of normal published her own book, “Iowa people who want to garden and Gardens of the Past.” The 320- copies from overseas.” landmark gardens have faded State Historical Library in then buy books.” page book about the history of Although it’s a substantial into memory, a few historical Iowa City and a variety of pub- Since that initial spark gardening in Iowa covers both part of her life, gardening is gardens exist today, such as lic domain sources, as well as of interest, Cody has built a famous and obscure gardeners not all of it.

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