By Jan Gammon, LHHB Coordinator Prairie Rivers of Iowa
It certainly has been a busy summer! We started the summer by creating interpretive panels for Lion’s Club Tree Park to tell the story of a girder salvaged from the old overpass over the Lincoln Highway. Kimball Olson, DOT’s aesthetic bridge designer, wrote the text about his design for the new overpass and how it contrasts with the old overpass. The Greene County Engineer will create the bases for these signs and do the installation.
Three smaller signs were created to put around an original concrete marker that will be installed at the east entrance of Jefferson. The panels cover the Lincoln Highway connection with Boy Scouts, naming of the Highway, and the importance of the Highway.
Hunter Davis, from Coralville, completed his Eagle Scout project at the Tama Lincoln Highway Bridge Park. He installed an original marker and wrote the text for the interpretive panel, including thanks to the many groups and individuals that helped him with the project.“
The Byway applied for a Historic Resource Development Program grant from the Iowa State Preservation Office for restoration/ repair of the Lincoln Highway Bridge in Tama and received $50,000 to be put towards that project. The City of Tama is about $8,000 shy of the quoted price, so if you would like to make
a personal donation, it can be sent to: City of Tama, 305 Siegel St. Tama, Iowa 52339 and indicate it is for the LH Bridge project.
The Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway and Prairie Rivers of Iowa manned the Iowa Byways booth at the Iowa State Fair for 4 of the 11 days of the fair. The booth was located under the east end of the grandstand. It was hot, but we had lots of people stop by the booth and pick up information. We gave out 323 LH Informational Guides, 191 Recreation and Camping Guides, and 516 of our new “Adventures along the Lincoln Highway” booklet. This kids’ activity booklet has information about the Lincoln Highway, games, puzzles, and a “passport” section
for kids to stamp their books and get a small prize from the Byway. We have 15 locations across Iowa that are participating in this program.
The attractions are: Felix Adler Children’s Discovery Center, Bloomsbury Farm, Linn County Conservation (Wickiup Learning Center), Belle Plaine Area Museum, Let’s Play Bounce, Perfect Games, Seven Oaks, Spinning Wheels, Lucky Pig, ILHA Greene County Museum, Carroll County Conservation (Swan Lake), Donna Reed Museum, Harrison County Historical Village and Welcome Center, Loess Hills Lavender Farm, and Union Pacific Railroad Museum.
We tried to find a sample of kid-friendly attractions from across the Lincoln Highway route and with different areas of interest.
Another grant that was successful is to do work in the oil room atYoungville.We were not given the full amount requested, but funds should go a long way towards new concrete, re-installing the original door, and doing some painting. It was hoped that the garage in the back could be straightened as part of this project, but that might prove to be a project unto itself.
We have several other grants and projects in the works and will share them with you as they progress.
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