Austin Park Forever Actioneers 2010
Our Mission Statement
Austin Park Forever Actioneers' mission is to help rebuild and preserve Austin Park to meet the greater expectations of ourselves and to better provide a future for campers, picnickers and boaters alike. To allow yesterday to come to tomorrow with the aide of the community and beyond.
The Actioneers
(Those of us that are taking action!!)
Austin Park is located 2 miles west of Keosauqua, Iowa on Rte J40. Just across the Des Moines River(Pittsburg side) turn right and then follow signs another 2 miles to Austin Park.
7-5-2010
Well the weather has finally caught us and our efforts won't be washed away. I posted some new pictures of the park today.The date in the pictures is wrong. I changed the batteries in the camera but forgot to check the date stamp. Also if you have not heard, Canoe Van Buren is canceled, so we will not be serving dinner to the participants.
6-13-2010
Hello all! It's been a very wet year so far. Kyle Osborne is mowing the park now. He is doing a wonderful job! We are going to meet this Thursday 6-17-2010 at 6:30 pm at Austin Park to discuss what is going on within our group. We need volunteers July 10,2010 to help serve food for Canoe Van Buren at Austin Park for their dinner stop.
4-24-2010
Thanks to Kelly, Morgan, Cheyenne and Chance Schmitter for doing a wonderful job picking up Austin Park on 4-17-2010 so it could be mowed.
2-13-2010
On 1-23-2010 the river flooded Austin Park almost to the road. It was late when the river rose and the ice jammed and it flooded into Austin Park. We went back on the 24th and took some pictures and the water went down and deposited ice mainly from the entrance and to the south in the park. Some pictures are in the gallery.
12-13-2009
Just to update everyone on what we have been trying to do at Austin Park recently. SIEC is going to reduce the cost of getting service restored to Austin Park by $500. We are still unsure of the actual cost. Depends on the transformer size and poles and wire and such. Trying to get Keosauqua Light and Power to donate wire ,boxes and outlets for the camper hookups. Randy Wiley has said he will donate his time to wire and will do some trenching at a reduced cost. Stan Whitten has said he'd help Randy. Tim Tedrow will do some trenching also. VBCCB has been very interested about Austin Park. They have some new ideas too.
On another note the Bald Eagles have arrived. It is awesome to watch them as they watch you. They are such a majestic creature.If you have some time drive on down to Austin Park and watch them along the river while on your way.
Thank You to Kyle Osborne for getting the rest of the park mowed. It looks really AWESOME!!
11-12-2009
Austin Park Forever will not have a meeting Monday 11-16-2009.
11-10-2009
We met with the VBCCB and gave them our prioritized list. Had a very good response from them. They are going to check on some specifics and we our to follow up on some of the things we are doing and meet again next month. Looking at now as the time to totally remake Austin Park.
We are getting more responses for Board of Directors for Austin Park Forever. We are going to start processing those applications. If you are interested in being on this Board give a call to (641)680-2685 for an application.
11-2-2009
Austin Park Forever held their meeting at First Street Grille in Keosauqua . Topics discussed were 1) Taking applications for Board of Directors
2)Prioritized list of task group wants to achieve at Austin Park to present to VBCCB.3)Set the third Thursday of the month at 6:30pm as regular meeting night.
Here is the list of winners from our drawing we had:Nathaniel Hervey,cooler, Jim Dick.Bonaparte Retreat,Peg Bearbower,Wal-Mart gift card,Dee Chapius,star,Allen Grose, Pizza Hut certificate, Mike Hoskins,Circle B travel mug, Ron Canby,McDonald's value meal,Mindy McClaran,bird feeder, Regan Boyd,Austin Park Forever t-shirt, Marty Barker,star,Dennis Syfert,cowboy hat,Pat Lanman,Circle B travel mug, Evelyn Ruby, Bonaparte Retreat meal,Kim Blair, First Street Grille certificate,Chelby Miller, Village Cafe certificate,Josh Baker,cowboy hat, Angie Heiserman,star, Mike Cline,Circle B travel mug, Dan Cline Sportsman lodge sweat shirt, Kevin Heisel Dog Town t-shirt, Mike Nelson,Hy Vee gift card, Cheryl Lynn Vitan Express Yourself, Cheri Claman, Express Yourself, Terry Eckwall ,Avon jewelery, Ryan Heiserman, Jet Stop Party pak, Jason Helterbran, Sportsman Lodge sweat shirt,Brandy Fenton, Lunch Box certificate, Keith Morris, Avon jewelry, Gary Lee, Riverbend Pizza certificate, Kevin Hervey,Village Cafe certificate, Herb Conrad,Express Yourself, Jeanne Erickson, Misty's certificate, Renne Letts, Jet Stop Party pak, Lloyd Balmer, Vet's Club certificate,congratulations to all the winners and thank you for your donations.
Austin Park Forever Actioneers will be accepting donations. In exchange for a $15 donation you can receive a t-shirt and/or a $20 donation a sweat shirt. Either one will have Austin Park Forever on it. Contact Rob Schmitter at (641)680-2685 if you want to receive a shirt. You may also receive a shirt from Village Super Center, Village Cafe or The Vet's Club.
10-23-2009
Austin Park Forever has opened an account at Community First Bank in Keosauqua, Iowa 52565 for any donations, or mail to:
Austin Park Forever
c/o Robert Schmitter
18060 Lark Ave
Keosauqua,Iowa 52565
10-13-2009
Austin Park's grass needs a good mowing,if anyone is interested in volunteering their mower and time get with us.
Fred Filson (641)919-4221
Rob Schmitter (641)680-2685
10-12-2009
Austin Park Forever had a good turn out despite the cold and miserable weather. Sunday was actually a better day than Saturday. Hope everyone got to see our float in the parade Saturday. We had an awesome time getting it ready. Thanks to Randy Phillips for lending us his wagon and Bob Norman for lending us his canoe, except it was just to darn big for all we had on the float so we left it off, maybe another time. Bob would like to sell the canoe if anyone is interested. A big Thank You to Brenda McDowell for drawing our signs on the float. We appreciate all the donations from everyone, the money will be used at Austin Park to get it fixed back up..
Austin Park Forever would like to congratulate all the winners in the prize give away. We would also like to thank all the businesses that donated the prizes Dollar General, Bonaparte Retreat, Wal-Mart, Village Super Center, Pizza Hut, Circle B,McDonald's, Orscheln's, TSC, First Street Grille, Village Cafe, Hy-Vee, Express Yourself , Jet Stop, Lunch Box, Riverbend, Misty's, Southern Comfort Sportsman Lodge, Mt. Sterling, Burger King and Charlotte Weaver. We also thank The Vets Club for their donation and sponsoring us. Without any of their help none of this would have been possible.
A few other Thank You's go to Dixie Schmitter, Nicci Giberson, Stephanie Newcomb, Cheryl Simons, Lonnie Borton and Fred, Janice, Shelby and Shayla Filson and Kelly, Morgan ,Cheyenne and Chance Schmitter for helping with our booth.
Until next time Thank You!!
9-30-2009
Fred and I went back to Austin Park and did more work there. Fred moved some dirt so water flowed out better and also filled in some ruts that were in the grass area. I(Rob) brush cut south of the main park with my tractor and brush cutter. THAT really helps Austin Park's appearance. You can see the river now!!
9-29-2009
Last night I tuned up my mower and WOW what a difference that made. I was able to mow at regular height and my mower just ate right through the grass at Austin Park. Mowed until dark. I have almost mowed all of the grass west of the drive. Looking pretty good
9-27-2009
Took my lawn mower to Austin Park to see what I could do and I was surprised as to the job it was doing. I had to raise my deck to the highest position to keep the motor from bogging down and dying. But it was doing a decent job. There is a lot of grass we need to either rake up or if some of you would like to run a lawn sweeper over it that would be great. But, then again you need to bring your own and volunteer it and your time.
9-26-2009
Another great day for Austin Park. The picture above shows some of the helpers Saturday. Thank you to all who helped out volunteering there valuable time and doing a wonderful job trimming trees, hauling branches, picking up trash and weed eating. You should be proud of a job well done. Now we need to get some lawn mowers in to do some finish mowing. View the gallery to see some photos of the progress.
9-25-2009
Well after the rain we got back to Austin Park to do some more cleaning. We met with Jim Settles today about some trees and he gave us the OK to do some trimming and cutting down of some trees. Fred and I worked on that until dark. A another HUGE thank you to Sam House for bringing his sickle mower and cutting the weeds on the river bank. That will help us tomorrow to focus else where on other tasks. Speaking of which hope to see you there.
It's starting to look like a park again.
9-20-2009
We got some more mowing done with the brush cutter today. Still lots to do yet. If you would like to bring your lawnmower the 26th please call Fred or myself(Rob)(our numbers are at the bottom of the page)so we can schedule you. We also got more of the big limbs moved to the brush pile and filled in some ruts too. I will post some more pictures of the work later.
9-17-2009 We finally got started chopping those weeds at Austin Park. A HUGE Thank You to Unkrich Ag Farms and to Dustin Unkrich that made quick work for us today. Really AWESOME!!
A huge THANK YOU to everyone that has shown their support and for showing up at the meetings!!!
Van Buren County Conservation's insurance company has some rules and guidelines for us to follow.
1)No one under 18 should be involved in the volunteer activities.
2)The volunteers should be supervised at all times by a competent VBCCB employee.Safe work practices must be observed at all times.
3) Volunteers should provide their own equipment and should be competent and trained in the use of that equipment. Volunteers should not loan their power equipment to others during volunteer time. Proper personal protective equipment must be used at all times.
4) Volunteers should always recognize the dangers of power equipment and should work a safe distance from those operations. Please do not allow volunteers to work on their own too far from the rest of the group. Teams of 2 or 3(provided they are recognizing safe distance requirements while using power equipment) should be encouraged.
5) A cell phone or two-way radio should be on site.
6) In case of personal injury or park damage contact Van Buren Conservation Board Director immediately.
Contacts for Austin Park Forever:
Fred Filson (641)919-4221
Rob Schmitter (641)680-2685
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