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TARGETING HUNGER
QUICK NEWS Creston Food Crawl
HUSH program helps distribute more than 10,000 pounds of deer meat to local families in need ■
By JAKE WADDINGHAM CNA staff reporter
jwaddingham@crestonnews.com
Despite the program’s name, HUSH is not something the Iowa Department of Natural Resources want area hunters to keep quiet about this hunting season. HUSH — Help Us Stop Hunger — is a combined effort to provide quality red meat to those in need and help control the deer population in the state. This is the 11th year for the program. “HUSH is a simple process from the hunter’s standpoint,” said Iowa DNR HUSH coordinator Jim Coffey. “It is a program that our deer hunters have asked for and the Food Bank of Iowa is just thrilled with it.” Hunters must take a buck or doe legally, tag it, then transport it to one of 88 participating meat lockers in Iowa. Once the locker approves the deer, all the hunter has to do is sign a HUSH card, allowing the processor to connect with the Food Bank of Iowa to combat
CNA file photo
Two bucks make their way along the fence in a field at Green Valley Lake north of Creston.
hunger. The closest participating lockers are Corning Meat Processing and Zeb’s Smokehouse in Bedford. “We normally end up with about 300 donations, last year we were in the 200s,” said Dave Walter, the owner of Corning Meat Processing. “It has been a great experience. Since it began in 2004, we have been near the top in number of donations and pounds.” Last hunting season, 5,281 deer were donated to HUSH, generating about 880,000 meals for Iowa families in need. While the total donations were down last year, Coffey
said it is consistent with the decline of the total deer herd in the state. But even though the total deer herd may be smaller, overpopulation is still occurring in rural parts of the state.
Making donations
Hunters who wish to use the meat for personal use are still contributing to HUSH in an indirect manner. Each tag has a $1 charge to help fund the program. “That is the beauty of the HUSH program,” Coffey said. “There is a local connection and it is distributed right back into the community.” The locker receives $75 for each processed deer and the Food Bank of Iowa gets $5 ad-
ministrative cost for each deer distributed. The $1 charge to each tag helps cover the expense. Walter said it takes about 15 minutes to prep a deer that has been donated to HUSH. Corning Meat Processing is connected with the Presbyterian church in Creston and the MATURA office in Corning to help get the meat to those in need. Last year more than 10,000 pounds of red meat were distributed. “It blew my mind the number of people that needed it (the meat),” Walter said. Matt Carr, 22, hunts in Ringgold, Union and Adair counties during bow and late muzzleloader season. He has donated to HUSH an estimated 15 times since he started hunting. “I like deer hunting, but we don’t eat a lot of deer (meat),” Carr said. “It gives me a place to take the meat to help feed less fortunate families and it helps take more does out of the herd.” Coffey said hunters should contact the locker where plan they to donate. Most of the time the only requirement is to field dress the kill, but accepting the meat is at the locker’s Please see HUSH, Page 2
The inaugural uptown Creston Food Crawl is slated 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday. The event will include samples of culinary delights, live music and a chance to meet local farmers and growers. “This is a family friendly event,” said Alexi Groumoutis, local foods coordinator for the Southern Iowa Local Food Council. “It’s my goal to introduce the community to local farmers and also implement local foods into institutions. It’s taking a step beyond going to the farmers’ market. We want businesses to use locally-sourced Groumoutis foods.” Five businesses are participating in the event. They include: Creston Chamber of Commerce, Upper Crust Bakery, making sweet potato créme brule with walnuts, A&G Pizza Steakhouse with spinach alfredo pizza, Adams Street Espresso with hot apple cider or pumpkin frappucino and Elm’s Club with cheese steak sliders with green peppers and onions. Tickets are $10, and are available now at any participating business. For more information, contact Groumoutis at 515-447-3952.
Government shutdown
WASHINGTON — Washington is deadlocked as it enters the 14th day of a partial government shutdown. The crisis has already led to furloughs of 350,000 federal workers, canceled military training missions and slowed economic growth. NBC reports multiple talks be- Obama tween Republican congressional leaders and President Barack Obama took place over the past two weeks, and negotiations are now focused on Senate leadership from both sides of the aisle. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell launched last-ditch negotiations over the weekend to end the spending and debt stalemate, but they may not be able to reach an agreement that can pass both the House and Senate.
Dream Big contest voting update
CNA photo by JAKE WADDINGHAM
Fall colors: The trees around Green Valley Lake north of Creston are slowly changing to fall colors. The 2013 fall foliage outlook predicts Iowa colors will be average this year.
Three Creston businesses are participating in the Dream Big, Grow Here grant competition. Those business are: Upper Crust Culinary Creations, She-Nae’s Rescued and Renewed and Leslie’s Dance Emporium (Defy Gravity). Voting began last week. In this contest, the top five vote-getters at the end of the voting period (Oct. 21) in the south-central Iowa competition will be invited to compete in a pitchoff event — slated Nov. 12 at Lakeside Casino — for a chance at winning $5,000 toward their dream. The winner of the regional
Business 1) Afton Fitness Center 2) Podium Ink 3) Upper Crust Culinary Creations 4) Play Posse 5) She-Nae’s 6) Sew and Sew 7) Speed Moto Company 8) Leslie’s Dance (Defy Gravity) 9) Country Cabins 10) Alley Diesel Performance 11) Showstock Planet
City Afton Mount Ayr Creston Mount Ayr Creston Lamoni Lamoni Creston Chariton Corydon Woodburn
Votes 1,390 960 515 439 296 276 239 181 180 59 13
• To vote, go to www.dreambiggrowhere.com. Voting is allowed once each day. Voting ends Oct. 21.
contest will then advance to a state competition slated for spring 2014 where winners will have a chance to win an additional $10,000.
To vote, go to www. dreambiggrowhere.com Voting is allowed once each day. Voting ends Oct. 21.
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Volume 130 No. 88 Copyright 2013
Contact us 2013
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Contents
Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Deaths. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Heloise Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Local . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-8
Tuesday weather High 50 Low 40 Full weather report, 3A