Iowa Dec. 2011

December in Iowa of 2011 may well go down in the record books as unusually mild. This picture off my lakeside deck shows the mere dusting of snow received just 3 days before Christmas!! It was almost all melted by noon!

The beautiful "trees" can be seen in an Omaha mall and the Nativity scene is in my home. I thought the two house plants really added a "realistic" touch. I hadn't used them in that location before and am glad I made that change this year. Also, if one didn't know, the 3 wise men really didn't see Baby Jesus in the stable but about 2 years later in a home in Bethlehem. (Matthew 2:11). They had a long way to travel and over the most desolate area of land which is part of the reason.

Christmas in L.V., 2011

What a difference a year makes!! Last year at this time our first "Candle walk" and special Christmas events were cancelled due to a terrible blizzard. This year was totally different with sunshine and much milder temps. Lots of goodies were available for purchase at the local American Legion Bldg. along with this special visitor. The traditional horse pulled wagon rides were "braved" by many despite the rather chilly breeze. Since I had company from out of town coming to my home in the evening I didn't get to the other events but heard that about 25 young people did take the the candle walk from the museum to main street and a lot of fun was had by those who attended the bingo later in the evening. Lots of great prizes were won. I will have to make a better attempt to attend that next year.

Snow Fun at the Library

Our first snowy day of the season excited a few of our library "locals"! Between checking out their Facebook news and playing some Wii games, these energetic girls decided to make a minature snowman on the library's front lawn. As a reward they were treated to popcorn. Today's snow is the gentle, pretty kind one wishes would fall on Christmas Eve! Will have to wait and see what actually happens on that day this year.

A frosty, icy Nov. Morn

Took these pictures this late November morning to show the early morning frost on my deck and the division of ice and water on the lake. With the below freezing temps. rising again into the 40s the ice will again probably turn to water. Our unusually mild November afternoons (despite some rather chilly winds at times) have enabled me to continue saving money on electricity as I haven't had to turn on a crawl space heater that I use to keep pipes from freezing once our winter weather settles in for good. Sunny days have also added to the pleasant days of November 2011. Thanksgiving Day itself was a real record heat breaker in Omaha where I was on that day this year - they reached into the 70s!!!!

Lake View's 2011 Tourism "Party"

Hooray for our small Iowa town!! We received the Iowa 2011 Community Tourism of the Year Award! A special celebration party was open to all on Thursday the 10th with lots and lots of food and drink! Pictured here are some of the key people who had a part in organizing the event as well as providing the information to the state of Iowa regarding all the wonderful year round events this small Iowa town provided for both residents and visitors! For more information on all of our events check out the town's website http://www.lakeview-ia.com/ or lvcity@iowatelecom.net.

Library Open House

After a year from our major renovation project when absolutely EVERYTHING was removed to do foundation repair work, the Lake View Public Library held its open house this week to showcase all the work that was done and to honor all those who contributed both financially and physically in this project. Newly appointed President of the Friends of the Library, Lorraine Peterson provided both the beautiful window display of fall items but she also provided the table decor and goodies for the open house. She is seen here with board treasurer, Karen Van Meveren, who was president of the library board of trustees during the year of all the renovation work. It was a rough year to be president but she did a great job.

Halloween at the Library

Our first ever "spook room" at the library was a huge success this year. Once the lights were out and we had jack-o-lanterns and candles all lit, it really did take on a spooky feeling. We will definitely want to decorate again next year as it brought in over 60 children not counting the parents that came with them. Hopefully word will now spread and next year we will have more (the downtown businesses had over 200 ).

Two of my able assistants did their part and dressed out for the occasion and helped pass out goodies. Volunteer patrons also contributed by loaning some of the "spooky" decor items which, along with all the cobwebs and Halloween visitors, made for a fun event.

Spooky Library Room

Spook Trail time in Lake View. Between 4:30 and 6:00 p.m. on Monday, October 31, trick or treaters will be roaming the streets of the down town where most if not all businesses will dole out Halloween treats. Since beginning the library's "after school hour" the library meeting room has been acquiring all kinds of creepy decor leading up to this final October event. Beginning with the creation of a life size scarecrow, bats & skeletons hanging around, spiders weaving their webs all over the room and pumpkins&jack-o-lantern art showing up all over, this room is ready for "masked visitors" of all shapes and sizes come Monday, the 31st. Some added items include a skeleton head that blinks and another skeleton that sings a silly tune. Black candles will be lit along with a special votive candle that along with the hanging black entrance bat will create those typically frightening sounds one associates with Halloween.

Do wish everyone a safe and pleasant Halloween!

October "after school hour" projects

The Monday "after school hour" I initiated this year has really been a successful endeavor. Pictured here are scenes from our "skeleton day" and "spider day". You will also notice the life size scarecrow the students made during our "scarecrow day". Our visiting live "skeleton" in one picture helped pass out unique skeleton shaped candy on a pretzel stick that his mother so graciously made for the students. A team competition was held on Skeleton Day to see which team could assemble skeletal bones the quickest. One of the special spider activities was the making of cake roll "spiders" using pretzels for legs and red hots for eyes. We also played the game Twister. With the help of a library volunteer, our meeting room is getting spookier each week. Pictures of this room will be forthcoming as we complete our October Halloween themes before going into a November theme.

The Pumpkin Patch at Valles, Ne.

I had the opportunity to visit this excellent Halloween extravaganza recently. It is an extensively decorated pumpkin patch along with a large gift shop and numerous areas of family fun as seen in some of these pictures. I was there to specifically to see and hear my friend's grandson who plays in the teenage band called Crimson Dawn. That is a great band group I might add. I would like to have them be one Lake View's Stone Pier Concert performers for some time in the future.

Sept. 2011 Cabin coffee event

Another great turnout for our "Coffee at the Cabin" event. Close to 20 people, including more men than usual enjoyed a perfect weather morning to fellowship outside the 'ole log cabin. Coffee, juice and delicious pastries were available as well. The next one is scheduled for Wednesday, October 26 at the usual 9:00 a.m. time. If the weather should be cold enough, we enjoy eating and visiting inside near the working fireplace. Anyone is welcome.

Halloween in September - 2011

The annual "Halloween in September" at our local Camp Crescent Campground is set to be open in all its glitz and glimmer tonight. Although a camper's event, many local children along with curious adults will "trick or treat" throughout the campground this evening. The pictures shown here are just a few of the "haunting scenes" participants have set up. Once it becomes dark, there will be lots of lights and TREATS!! A special thanks to all those who take the time to make this a special September event in small town Iowa.

"Scarecrow" After school event

Scarecrows was the theme for our 2nd After school Hour event. Didn't have as many children as our "gingerbread" event last week but that was probably because it wasn't advertised the same. Now that word will be getting out that this will be a weekly event I expect the numbers to increase. Those that did attend this week had a great time again "competing" at some Wii sport games, participating in a story/poem about a scarecrow who needed to make "scary faces" to scare away the crows, AND the stuffing of our own life-size scarecrow! It is still standing in our meeting room and actually does cause one to "jump" when not expecting to see it standing there.

Next week's theme will be centered around football season with bats, spiders, apples/pumpkins to be upcoming themes. This weekly event is for K-4th grade students and includes popcorn, drink, prizes and other edible goodies.