Pella

Mar. 24 7pm $30

Jordan Smith

Presented by Bruce & Sandra Heerema

Charitable Trust

April 21 7pm $30

The Boys In The Band: Alabama

Tribute

Presented by Pella Corporation

May 4, 5, 6

Reluctant Pioneer, Matt Barber Experience, Flying Pans Steel Band, Davis Folkerts: Barton

Theatre Organ Concert, Historic Photo Tour, Martini Huis

At Hometown Centers for Hearing, we are committed to providing excellent care for adults with hearing loss. We understand that every patient is unique - that is why we offer individualized care so all of our patients receive specialized treatment to help them hear well again.

We recommend that every individual, especially those age 55+, consider getting annual hearing tests as part of their overall wellness program. If you or a loved one are experiencing hearing loss, call us today!

Cantu said. “Personally, I love birds. Kids usually ask me my favorite animal and I usually can’t pick, but it would probably be a bird. I think there’s something about watching them and being out in nature and hiking and exploring and catching a glimpse of a flash of color in the trees or in the grass. Or even hearing the birds’ songs come back.”

After a long winter, Iowans like Cantu welcome the sweet songs of the local birds come springtime. The naturalist is looking forward to the Goldfinches returning to her bird feeder come early spring when they’re still “patchy, scruffy little things.” By the end of March they will have grown into their vibrantly colored feathers and will be singing their sweet tunes.

“It’s almost like a nature’s clock when the birds are changing color and singing and getting ready for the nesting season,” Cantu said. “I just think it’s exciting for people. There are also some more rare birds to spot. Some of the birders, I think, look forward to the challenge to be out at the right location at the right time of day at the right time of year.”

In Jasper County, the Bobolink is just one of those rare birds found in tall grasses. Cantu said there have been sightings near the South Skunk River area, the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge and the Uhlenhopp Arboretum. Saw-Whet Owls, a very tiny species of owl, are also rare around these parts. Barn owls, too, are tough to find in the county, but they’ve been spotted by local bird watchers

Northern Harriers, Henslow’s Sparrows and Grasshopper Sparrows are fairly rare, too, but Cantu said they’re found at the Jacob Krumm Nature Preserve.

“You could go to any of our county parks this time of year in the spring and be able to find a lot of cool things,” Cantu said. “Spring is a really exciting time anyway because people are out and enjoying the weather. You will never know what else you’ll find. There are going to be all kinds of things happening at a park as you’re hiking along.”

While many bird watchers will resort to camera equipment and binoculars to see their winged friends, it truly costs nothing to take part in the activity. Even something as simple as watching the bird feeder at home is a good way to start out and get to know birds’ calls and habits and personalities. But of course the best places to bird watch are in our own parks in Jasper County.

To help the bird watching communities, Jasper County has birding trails. While there are some designated parking areas, there are not established walking trails. So conservation says these areas can cater more to a birder wishing to experience the wilder side of Iowa. To learn more where these birding trails reside, contact conservation at 641-792-9780.

— Christopher Braunschweig

We moved into Prairie Escape with Myo Massage Therapy and Shades of You, by Lori. Over the next year we added Keslea West, Transcend, Skin.Body.Soul, Kira Norman Tootsie’s Pedi Salon and Nicole Bandstra, Vital Massage. We also added yoga classes with hOMestead holistic yoga and other community events and private events in our Community Room.

Things were rolling right along and the Center was bustling with commerce, connections and conversations. Then, March 2020 happened and two-and-a-half months of shutdown ensued, muddling our way through a complete stop to the world and the ways we were living in it. We re-opened June 1 and our rise back to a more normal way to day-to-day operations was slow and had its own ups and downs. We saw Nicole with Vital Massage relocate and Tootsie’s closed down. We wished them well and the Center continued on.

How has it evolved and changed? Prairie Escape has definitely been an evolving entity-but isn’t that just part of life? I think that is an inevitable variable that everyone has learned to live with over the past few years is that we have to be able to navigate the rockiest of terrain.

In February 2022 we added an Infrared Sauna and sessions and packages for that. We have offered different workshops for meditation and yoga, art and Yomassage events, Sound Baths and have hosted community luncheons and private parties. We are always open to adding more classes and workshops for yoga, meditation, wellness services, nutrition, education and as a community resource to all.

In August 2022, Boost Massage Therapy (Tabbatha Miller) and Myo Massage Therapy (Kirsten Weiland) both dissolved their independent massage businesses and established the partnership, Effective Wellness. We are growing and have now onboarded an additional LMT, with more offerings and we look to add to that again soon. As the world and our lives has evolved, so have we. We wanted to grow our businesses into something larger and combined efforts to do so. It’s been a great partnership so far.

We are currently home to six businesses: Shades of You, by Lori, Lori Cummings — offering salon hair services, waxing and more; Transcend Skin.Body.Soul, Keslea West — offering facials, massage therapy,

Reiki, sound healing, waxing, ancestral healing and more; Dreamstorm Energy, Lindi Greve — offering Reiki services; Effective Wellness, Tabbatha Miller and Kirsten Weiland, Owners, Amanda Miller-LMT team member — Offering massage therapy services, Kinesiology Taping, cupping, assisted stretching, sauna upgrades and more; hOMestead holistic yoga, Janna Hansen-Nolin — offering Gentle, Restorative and Yin style yoga classes in person and via Zoom; and yoga instructor Zach Johnson — offering a variety of yoga classes.

Our friend Amy, with Max’s Coffee has also joined us. She rolls in on Wednesdays when Coffee & Carnations takes a much deserved day off. It’s fun to see the pups and their people pop up. The bike trail is about a block south of our building, and that will be great. We hope to see her back sometime this spring.

We are currently planning a Mental Health Resource Night and we host a Pop Up Vendor Market monthly in collaboration with Twice Blessed just across the street from us. Tabbatha and I also created a Jasper County Massage Therapy Professionals Facebook group for LMTs who live in or work in Jasper County. This is designed to be a supportive share space for massage therapists in our county to ask questions, share job information, be a referral network and more. We also are working on a few things that we are keeping under wraps for now-but more great things to come.

What all have you been involved in throughout the communities? I have been involved in the Prairie City Economic Development Commission, Prairie City Hometown Pride, Prairie City Business Association and the Prairie City Farmers’ Market. I attended the

Idea Spin group in Newton a few years back and that began some great connections into Newton and other rural areas within Jasper County.

I am currently on the FemCity DSM Board, and am focusing on growing the businesses and spending time with my family.

Why are you passionate about Prairie City and the PCM community? This community has supported me and my family and it has been a blessing to be a part of it. The people make a great community and we have that. Prairie City has a lot of great history and has wonderful potential moving forward, as well. The opening of the Red Rock Prairie Trail is going to be a great connection to Mitchellville and soon to Des Moines. It has the opportunity for great growth and having the connection to the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge with its hills. We are lucky to have such a beautiful asset so near.

I am excited for more community connections between Monroe and also with Colfax to be able to grow the rural communities together.

Why do you feel it is important to be and stay involved? If you want to live in a thriving community and have a great place to work, educate and raise a family-you have to be a part of that community. Get your hands on something, in something. Show support for others, especially those within your industry, keep trying to do good and be open to new things.

Being involved can create so many connections and by one person simply knowing another person that can connect others to each other is a wonderful way to live.