OFFICIAL
NEWSPAPER FOR
, \
AND
NORWALK COMMUNITY
SCHOOL DISTRICT
Vol. 41 No. 46 Norwalk, Iowa 50211
12121.2 MIXED ADC 500
SMALL TOWNf:'APERS
5026 CALIFORNIA AVE SW
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981-0406 Thursday, April 8, 2010
Nicki Cortum is VEISHEA Co-chair
USPS No. 395-120 Phone
Clean-Up Days in May
i
Iowa Junior Miss 2009 Nadia Hiebowits, left, and Iowa
Junior Miss 2010 Paige Curtis, right. Photo submitted.
Paige CurtTd Named ........
Iowa Junior Miss 2010
Paige Curtis, Norwalk, was named Iowa Junior Miss
2010 during the annual Iowa Junior Miss program held
Saturday, March 13, in Ottumwa. She is the daughter of
Brent and Kim Curtis.
Iowa Junior Miss is a scholarship program for senior
girls in high school. They are judged on self-expression,
interview, talent, fitness and scholastics.
Curtis placed in self-expression, fitness and talent,
which earned her the top spot and scholarship money
for college. She will go on to the national program this
June and represent Iowa at America's Junior Miss in
Mobile, AL.
Chamber Plans
The 10th Annual
RUNorwalk, sponsored by
the Norwalk Area Cham-
ber of Commerce, City
State Bank and Anytime
Fitness, will be held Satur-
day, May 8, starting at the
Norwalk High School
Track at 8:30 a.m. The
event includes an 8K Run,
5K Walk and a free Kids
Fun Run. Chip timing is
used for the main event.
Cash and other prizes will
be awarded.
Registration forms are
available at the Norwalk
Chamber office, 1017 Main
St., or online at www.nor
walkchamber.org or at
www.GetMeRegistered.com.
For credit card orders, call
the Chamber office at 981-
0619.
Pre-registration and en-
try fees due by Friday,
April 30, which includes a
free T-shirt, are as follows:
ages 12-65, $20 per person;
ages 5-11, $15 per person;
ages 4 and under, free with
no T-shirt, and ages 66 and
2010 RUNorwalk
over, free with no T-shirt.
After April 30, registra-
tion is ages 5 - 65, $25 with
no guarantee of a T-shirt.
Race Day registration is
from 7 to 8 a.m. at the
Norwalk High School
Track.
Race Packets may be
picked up Friday, May 7 at
the Norwalk Chamber of
Commerce office from
8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. or at the
registration booth on Race
Day.
Norwalk Family Den-
tistry is sponsoring the
Kids' 8 and Under Fun
Run after the main race.
The annual Norwalk City-Wide Clean-Up Days be-
gin Saturday, May 1. The service is provided for City of
Norwalk residential garbage customers only. All items
must be placed at the curb before 7 a.m. Monday, May
3.
Saturday, May 1, Hazardous Household Waste and
Tire Drop-off will take place from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the
Cherry Street garage, corner of Cherry Street and North
Avenue.
Mayor's
Moment
By Mayor Doug Pierce j
The Council and I had our first quarterly Town Hall
Meeting Thursday, March 25. I appreciate those of you
who attended and openly discussed your issues with
us. As I stated when I was campaigning for Mayor, I
would have "Town Hall Meetings" to provide transpar-
ency tothe issues voted on or facing the city. We all felt
that this event was very successful and beneficial in that
it did allow interaction between the elected officials and
the citizens of Norwalk.
What I have assessed in my first three months as
Mayor is that Norwalk is a "city in transition." We are
feeling the growing pains that all communities sur-
rounding Des Moines are feeling, but we are a 85% resi-
dential and 15% commercial city and that does not pro-
vide the same tax revenues as say Clive, for example,
who is 60% commercial and 40% residential. If you
didn't already know it, commercial properties are taxed
at 100% on their assessed value, whereas, residential
properties are currently taxed at only 47% of assessed
value. Therefore, since Norwalk does not have a high
percentage of commercial properties, our tax revenues
are generated, for the most part, from less than half of
the assessed property values in Norwalk.
Upon the completion of the 2010 census, we are an-
ticipating that Norwalk will have a population at or near
10,000 residents. Chris Nosbisch, Community Develop-
ment Director, has told the Council and Staff that once
a community reaches a point where 10,000 folks live
within a two mile radius of a community, it generates a
lot of interest for commercial entities to strongly con-
sider locating there. Because we are on the cusp of that
10,000 number, it is imperative that the leadership of
the City be focused on the future and provide the plan-
ning, direction, policies and guidance to attract and se-
cure quality commercial businesses to help alleviate the
tax burden on the residential property owners. I can tell
you that is exactly the focus of this Mayor, Council and
Staff as we lead this in "city in transition!"
No registration is required Fundraiser for Norwalk
for this event and prizes
will be awarded. Area Food Pantry
Chamber members also Norwalk Christian Church, 701 Main St., will host
have the opportunity to an indoor FUNdraiser sale from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Satur-
donate as follows: $350 - day, April 24, in the Fellowship Hall just prior to the
your company's name/ city-wide clean-up days and garage sales. The public is
logo on the back of the race invited. All proceeds will go to the Norwalk Area Food-
T-shirt, on a mile marker Pantry.
sign along the race route Area residents are invited to clear their clutter and
and on the Thank You help feed the hungry at the same time. Admission to
the sale is to bring three canned/boxed food items to
Concluded p. 2
Concluded p. 4
Nicki Cortum of
Norwalk and a former
Warren County 4-H'er has
taken on an important new
role at Iowa State Univer-
sity as VEISHEA general
co-chair. Achieving high
goals are nothing new for
4-H members and Cortum
is no exception. Cortum,
an Iowa State senior, is no
stranger to preparation
and hard work. |
Cortum served on the
VEISHEA committee her Nicki Cortum
first and second years at
Iowa State and worked asshe held an internship co- i ]
the office manager in 2009. ordinating the Madison
!
This year she went straight County Fair, which cel-
to the top - general co-ebrates all the great things
chair. "The more I got in- 4-H members have done
volved and learned about
VEISHEA, the more pas-
sionate I be'came about see-
ing it continue to be a val-
ued tradition at Iowa
State," said Cortum.
Cortum credits many of
her leadership skills today
back to her North River
Limelighter's club involve-
ment. 4-H is the youth de-
velopment program of
Iowa State University Ex-
tension dedicated to ad-
vancing the leadership,
citizenship, communica-
tion and life skills of Iowa's
youth. She is not alone; re-
search from ISU Extension
shows that 72 percent of 4-
H members improved
their leadership skills,
among others.
"I think all the presen-
tations I gave, project goals
and reports I wrote and all
the judges I talked to about
my projects definitely
made me a strong commu-
nicator, which has helped
me be successful at many
things I've done," said
Cortum. "Participating in
4-H gave me a sense of
work ethic and taught me
what it means to finish a
project you start," said
Cortum. "That also taught
me problem-solving skills
and responsibility."
Responsibility is in no
shortage with Cortum.
Along with her co-chair,
Hallie Satre, she is in
charge of seeing that 2010
VEISHEA showcases all
that Iowa State has to of-
fer. Again, Cortum credits
4-H as helping prepare her
for this task. In the past,
over a year.
In 2010. VEISHEA will
celebrate Iowa State by us-
ing Today's Vision,
Tomorrow's Tradition for the
week of April 12-18. Dur-
ing this week the Iowa
State campus will host col-
lege showcases, entertain-
ment, parades and much
more.
Cortum encourages
other 4-H members to use
the skills they have learned
and remain involved.
"Take advantage of all the
opportunities you have to
learn something new or
practice what you have
learned," advises Cortum.
"I know that sometimes
giving a presentation
doesn't seem like much
fun, but these really are
skills you~ will use in the
future." Also, don't be
afraid to set your goals
high and pursue what you
love to do," said Cortum.
"If you are passionate
about a goal and are will-
ing to work hard to accom-
plish it, anything is pos-
sible."
Cortum has proved her
statement through dedica-
tion to what she is passion-
ate about and is confident
that her 4-H background
will continue to serve her
in the future. "Being a gen-
eral co-chair has been a re-
warding and valuable ex-
perience that I know will
continue to serve me well
in the future," said
Cortum.
VEISHEA is an annual
i'
Concluded p. 10
