Things to Do MHS presents Curtains The Muscatine High School (MHS) Theater Department will present Curtains! as its spring musical Thursday, April 26 to Saturday, April 28. Curtains! is a murder-mysterycomedy-whodunit, with music by Kander and Ebb. It is based on the book by Rupert Holmes. Performances will be at 7 p.m. in the MHS Auditorium all three days. There will also be a 2 p.m. Saturday show. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors (60+) and students (K-12). Tickets are available at the door day of the show. They are also available for preorder (which gives the buyer reserved seating) using a ticket order form at www.muskiedrama.wordpress.com.
Farmer’s Market opens The Muscatine Farmer’s Market will be open again soon! Opening date is Saturday, May 5 at the parking lot at 3rd and Sycamore, where all Saturday market sessions are from 7:30-11:30 a.m. Tuesday afternoon markets will begin on May 8 at the Muscatine Mall parking lot (far northwest corner) from 2:30-5:30 p.m. Fare ranges from plants to garden-fresh veggies and fruit to baked goods and crafts.
Group creates path to heighten experience of pollinators Picture yourself - on a bike or on foot – meandering through a prairie. Colorful flowers lend their scent to the air, and the pollinators who help them propagate are busy doing their important work. This is the experience that members of the Muscatine Pollinator Project want you to have, right on the bike/pedestrian path. By April 21, there will be a new segment of trail dedicated to their vision. “It’s one thing to see a prairie off in the distance and observe swallowtails (butterflies) swooping, but to see the smaller pollinators like bees and ants, you have to weave your way right through it,” said Ron Knopik, a wildlife refuge specialist with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in Wapello. Knopik is also a member of the Muscatine Pollinator Project along with Dave Cooney. “We hope that by being up close, people get an appreciation for monarchs and other pollinators who are vital to our ecosystem,” Cooney added.
On April 21 (which, not coincidentally, is Earth Day), the group will hold a ribbon-cutting at the entrance of a new one-mile loop of the path that goes around Muscatine’s Recycling Center & Transfer Station, 1000 S. Houser St. Look for more details like time of day on the Muscatine Magazine Facebook page. Along the path, the Pollinator group has done a controlled burn of eight acres then seeded the area with native plants attractive to bees, butterflies and other pollinators. What will be on view for bike riders, walkers and runners is the early development of a prairie. Knopik said the plants take 3 to 5 years to get fully established. He said the mix of plants varies in bloom time, color and height, creating a varied habitat that will foster a range of insects and birds to pollinate. People coming through will also be able to read about what is around them, as signage will be installed in time for the ribbon cutting. Signs will give information on plants, animals and the prehistory and history of the area. The Melon City Bike Club helped fund the trail’s signage, and additional funding is being sought.
Melon City Criterium
Whether you’ll saddle up or just go to watch: Mark your calendar! Bicycle racers and enthusiasts will descend upon Weed Park for the 40th year in a row for the Melon City Criterium on Sunday, May 27. “Muscatine usually gets in excess of 400 riders each year,” said Greg Harper, a member of the Melon City Bike Club and owner of Harper’s Cycling & Fitness, both sponsors of the event. “It’s one of the larger continuous community events here.” Harper said that coordinating with Burlington and the Quad Cities to have their area races on successive days has helped draw biking enthusiasts from around the country. Weed Park is also a draw because its hills present a challenge and its main loop is one mile. Minnesota, Texas, California and Michigan are states that are usually well represented at the event, he said. Sign-ups started on Feb. 14 but will remain open until race day unless the maximum number of riders per race is met. Races include kids, women’s, men’s and professional categories.
16 Muscatine Magazine • Spring 2018
Pre-registration is available on www.usacycling.org. Go to the “events” tab, then “search events.” Under a photo of a bicyclist, it says “Miss our old map-based events search? Click here.” Click on the link, then click on Iowa when the U.S. map pops up. In the list of Iowa events, the “40th Annual Melon City Criterium” requires some scroll-down. Once you’ve clicked on the words, you can register online and print the flyer with the list of events.