Twenty-three area museums and historical sites have announced the establishment of Quad City Museum Week to be held the last week of September. The event is meant to coincide with the 2006 Association of Midwest Museums conference being held in the Quad Cities September 26 through 29. The Quad Cities Museum Coalition, working together to encourage visitation at the partner venues located throughout the greater Quad Cities region, chose the last week in September to celebrate the hosting of this major conference and to highlight the wealth of educational and entertaining programs offered to the community by the coalition partners. Coalition partners have been working with elected officials to proclaim the last week of September an annual celebration of museums in the Quad Cities. Proclamations have been or will be made in Rock Island and Scott counties, and the cities of Rock Island, Moline, Bettendorf, and Davenport. Current activities of the Quad City Museum Coalition include hosting the 2006 AMM conference, Fun for Free Weekend in partnership with Modern Woodmen of America, Triple Ticket Membership, and Quad Cities Pass program in partnership with Riverboat Development Authority.
The first Lower Wapsipinicon River Cleanup Project, a canoeing- and camping-based river-cleanup event, took place August 25 through 27. Twenty-five volunteers removed 5.8 tons of trash from 22 miles of the Wapsipinicon River from Walnut Grove Park in Toronto, Iowa, to Allen's Grove Park north of Donahue, Iowa. The program provided free canoes, free camping, and low-cost meals, as well as a free night hike led by a Clinton County Conservation Board naturalist. The Lower Wapsipinicon River Cleanup Project is a grassroots organization with a twofold purpose: to remove trash from the river and dispose of it in an environmentally responsible manner; and to educate the public about the environment and the importance of caring for natural resources. They will be cleaning up a different section of the Lower Wapsipinicon each year in late August. For further information, or to get on a mailing list for next year, please write to LWRCP, PO Box 333, Long Grove IA 52756, or visit (http://showcase.netins.net/web/kjr/cleanup.html).
The Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) has announced the start of its 2006 Iowa Weatherization Challenge. This program is designed to help Iowans reduce their energy usage and lower their heating bills. The IUB is working with local community organizations across Iowa to recruit volunteers and solicit donations to help educate Iowans about energy efficiency and to help weatherize homes for low-income, elderly, or disabled Iowans. Matching grants of up to $500 will be provided to assist qualified community groups from across Iowa in their efforts. At least $10,000, collected through civil penalties against telecommunication providers for unauthorized charges, will be available for these grants. The grants will be for weatherization projects to be completed by November 30. A grant application form is available at (http://www.state.ia.us/iub).
Following a recent $750,000 education grant from the State of Iowa, the St. Ambrose University (SAU) Teacher Education Program - in collaboration with SAU math, biology, chemistry and physics departments - has been awarded a grant of nearly $500,000. The grant is intended to alleviate a significant shortage of secondary-school math and science teachers in both urban and rural districts in eastern Iowa and western Illinois. Working in partnership with the Bettendorf, Davenport, Moline, and Muscatine school districts, St. Ambrose will administer the National Science Foundation Robert Noyce Scholarship Program by recruiting and training secondary math and science teachers for local high-need schools, and encouraging talented science, technology, engineering, and mathematics majors and professionals to become teachers. Scholarship recipients will be chosen based on academic merit with consideration for financial need and diversity. Each scholarship recipient agrees to teach two years in an identified high-need school for each year of scholarship support received. Once in the classroom, the teachers also receive ongoing faculty and cohort support from the university. The goal is to graduate an additional 22 to 28 secondary science and/or math teachers by 2010, an 86-percent increase over the number of St. Ambrose graduates who majored in science or math with secondary-school certification in the past five years. This is the seventh National Science Foundation grant awarded St. Ambrose since 1993.
The Quad Cities Cruisers celebrated their 25th season by donating $5,000 to five local charities. The money was raised during the 2006 Car Show/Cruise. For more information, look at (http://www.quadcitiescruisers.org).
Trinity VNHA Pathway Hospice is sponsoring "Name Your Hospice Star" as part of its 25th-anniversary celebration serving families in the greater Quad Cities area. The program is in recognition of the compassionate work of all of the hospice-team members - staff and volunteers - since the program began in 1981 and for those for whom they cared. If you or someone you know has been touched by a Trinity VNHA Pathway Hospice representative, you can name a star after him or her. Stars can be purchased and named with a charitable gift to Trinity VNHA Pathway Hospice of $50 for one star, $200 for five stars, $500 for 15 stars, or $1,000 to recognize the entire hospice program. Hospice Stars also can be named in memory of a friend or relative or in honor of a surviving family member. Proceeds from the "Name Your Hospice Star" campaign will help Trinity VNHA Pathway Hospice enhance care for patients and families. All star donors will receive two complimentary tickets to "Let the Stars Come Out Tonight." For more information or to name stars after someone, call (309) 779-2232 or visit (http://www.trinityqc.com/foundation).
