The Figge Art Museum announced last week that it was re-starting its search for an executive director and will employ a national search firm. After Executive Director Linda Downs' resignation in May, the Figge board established a search committee composed of board members, representatives from the City of Davenport, and the local artistic community. The committee reviewed applications from 38 candidates and conducted 10 telephone interviews and seven in-person interviews. In October, the board made offers to two different candidates, but personal circumstances prevented either candidate from accepting the position. Figge Interim Director Tom Gildehaus had said he expected a new director to be in place by Thanksgiving. (See "Great Expectations," River Cities' Reader Issue 606, November 8-14, 2006.) Downs left the Figge after she accepted the position of executive director for the College Art Association, a professional membership association based in New York City. During its first year, the Figge more than doubled its membership, showcased six exhibitions, and expanded educational programs, classes, family activities, and outreach. For more information about the Figge Art Museum, visit (http://www.figgeartmuseum.org).
Trinity Regional Health System has broken ground on a new primary-health-care clinic that will be staffed by members of its residency program at the Terrace Park Campus. The clinic was made possible through a $138,000 donation from the Quad City Osteopathic Foundation. Trinity anticipates that the clinic will open this winter. Officially named the Trinity at Terrace Park Family Practice Clinic, the new residency clinic will serve as the continuity-of-care clinic for the interns and residents of Trinity's osteopathic family-medicine residency program, which has a history dating back to 1958. In addition to ongoing care for acute and chronic illnesses for patients of all ages, the clinic will be equipped to have physicians perform gynecological services and minor procedures such as suturing. Physicians will also perform osteopathic manipulation on patients at the clinic site. Other services at the clinic will include blood draws, urinalysis, and electrocardiograms. X-rays, if needed, will be performed at Trinity at Terrace Park's radiology department within the hospital. Patients presenting to the emergency department at Terrace Park will be offered follow-up care at the residency clinic if they do not have a primary-care doctor.
The Rock Island Beautification Commission is sponsoring its 21st Annual Holiday Lighting Contest for Rock Island residents and businesses that decorate with seasonal lighting displays. To nominate a residential or commercial display, send the name and address of the display to the Rock Island Beautification Commission, Rock Island City Hall, 1528 Third Ave., Rock Island IL 61201, or call (309) 732-2904 with a nomination. Nominations must be received by 5 p.m. on Monday, December 11. Judging will take place on Monday evening, December 18. All displays should be illuminated by 5:30 p.m. There will be awards for the winners in the residential and commercial categories. Winners of the 2004 and 2005 Holiday Lighting Contests are not eligible.
A Great & Lasting Beginning, a newly released book by the Reverend George McDaniel, chronicles the history of St. Ambrose University from its founding in 1882 through the present and commemorates the university's 125th anniversary. McDaniel integrates the history of the Catholic Church and Catholic higher education into the broader social context and community in which St. Ambrose grew. McDaniel is a respected priest and noted historian who first came to St. Ambrose as a student in 1963, completing his degree in history and philosophy in 1966. Ordained in 1970, he received a master's degree in theology from Aquinas Institute of Theology. At the University of Iowa he earned a master's degree and doctorate in American history. McDaniel returned to St. Ambrose to stay in 1974. McDaniel specializes in local history and has won numerous awards for his work. In 1996, the State Historical Society of Iowa awarded him the Thorne-Aldrich Award. The previous year, the Iowa Historical Society recognized his critically acclaimed political biography Smith Wildman Brookhart: Iowa's Renegade Republican with its Benjamin Shambaugh Award as the most significant Iowa history book of the year. McDaniel has served on the board of trustees and as president of the State Historical Society of Iowa and is currently a member of the board of trustees of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library Association. A Great & Lasting Beginning is available at the St. Ambrose bookstore and at the Davenport Borders store, or can be ordered online at (http://www.sau.edu/125).
The Illinois Quad City Chamber of Commerce earlier this month announced the resignation of Vice President Molly Foley. Her last day with the chamber will be Friday, December 29. Foley has been employed by the Illinois Quad City Chamber of Commerce since August 2001. She began her career with the chamber as a membership sales representative and was promoted to director in 2002 and vice president in 2005. As vice president she is responsible for a broad range of functions related to chamber and community-development and operations. Foley will continue her career with Next Generation Consulting (NGC), a market-research firm committed to engaging the next generation. NGC works primarily with companies that want to become great places to work for the next generation, communities that want to attract and keep young professionals, and arts organizations that want to develop younger audiences.
The Metropolitan Airport Authority of Rock Island County, operator of the Quad City International Airport (QCIA), announced that the airport last month enplaned a record number of passengers for October. For the month, 39,882 travelers boarded five airlines and several charter operations. This exceeded October 2005 by 2,748 passengers and the previous October record-holder, 2004, by 626. Total enplanements for all airlines are up 6 percent for the year-to-date. In other airport news, the QCIA recently installed a new flight-information display system featuring updated graphics and monitors at all of the airline counters and throughout the terminal. The upgrade in the system allows the airlines to post delays or cancellations with more detailed information, such as updated flight times and reasons for the delay.
The Friends of the Rock Island Public Library are offering gift certificates good for purchases in the Friends of the Rock Island Public Library Book Sale Room at the 30/31 Branch Library, 3059 30th Street. Gift certificates may be purchased in any amount. The certificates don't expire, and the amount does not have to be used all at once. To purchase a gift certificate, visit the Friends of the Library Book Sale Room at the 30/31 Branch and speak with any volunteer.
