Ellsworth, IA

70 People enjoyed a meal catered by Hickory Park of Ames and cookies from Subway in Ellsworth. 50 meals were made for people to take home. Left over meat was donated to be served as sandwiches at Ellsworth Bingo. Leftover cookies were taken to some of the shut-ins in our community.
The circle continues to be drawn wider in our community as some of the participants were there for the first time.
The Noon Meals on Wheels Program was announced as the first project to be started in our community as a result of the Horizons Project.
Brainstorming was done to gather ideas for events that can be done yet this summer to gather us as community…to help us know each other better as we work together as Ellsworth Citizens In Action (Ellsworth CIA) toward shared goals partnered with established organizations to better our community. Many ideas came as a result of this session and citizens left hopeful of action.

Sweet Chocolate and Vanilla Ice Cream Cones!! 130 ice cream cones were eaten on Thursday June 12th! It was a great evening on main street…the first night it had NOT rained in a long time. “Let’s do this again!” was heard over and over. Flyers were given out that invited people to The Community Supper on Tuesday, June 24. The weather was nice on the weekend also, when we joined in the events of Jewell Jubilee in the neighboring community.

After the success of Dump Your Junk held in 2007, many citizens are requesting that we continue this project on an annual basis. The original plans had been that this was an activity that would be done every other year. With some heavy rains in early in June, many homes had problems with water in their basements. This has created even more conversation about doing this project again this year rather than waiting for another year. Dump Your Junk was a way for people to come together to work on a project, a way to clean up the community, and a way to help those in poverty who do not have the resources to get rid of larger junk items.

Ellsworth community members are being asked to donate their pop cans to help support community events through the Ellsworth Community Club. A member of the community donated a gravity feed wagon and cattle panels were also donated. These were repaired and painted by other Community Club members. It was then set up for people to donate their cans. In less than one month over $100 has been generated by this collection trailer.

The Ellsworth Community Club has held Ellsworth Extravaganza Celebration the same weekend as the Ellsworth Alumni Dinner. This year it was decided to hold Ellsworth Extravaganza a different weekend separate from the Alumni Reunion.

Activities for the weekend included community meals, a parade, games in the park, a talent show, and a community worship service.

The Friday night meal was sponsored by the Community Club, with the Saturday noon meal sponsored by the three churches in the community working together. The proceeds from the Saturday meal were donated by the three churches to the Horizons project in the community.

The games in the park were run by a variety of organizations. Included in the games were: a Goldfish Race sponsored by the Cub Scouts, a Fish Pond sponsored by an 8th grade choir, a Duck Pond sponsored by the Fire Department, a Bingo Game sponsored by a Church Youth Group, a Ring Toss Game sponsored by the Park Board, and a Sucker Pull sponsored by the Brownies/Girl Scouts.

The Community Worship Service was held in the Community Center with all three churches in town participating in the service.

Many of the activities for the weekend were expanded over the past years. Other groups in the community were utilized in carrying out some of the weekend activities.

A City of Ellsworth Property Maintenance Code Complaint Form was signed by 15 concerned citizens of Ellsworth and presented to City Hall. This complaint was based on Chapter 145 of the City Code - Dangerous Buildings and Section 145.03 - Unsafe Buildings. Community members are concerned with a building on Main Street which they believe is unsafe.

Working with the Ellsworth Park Board a request was submitted to the Hamilton County Foundation for a $1,500 grant for improving our park facilities in Ellsworth. This $1500 would be matched by Ellsworth Bingo. The Ellsworth Park Board was awarded $1000 by the Hamilton County Foundation on March 25 at the Hamilton County Foundation Grant Award Ceremony. The remaining $500 needed for this project was taken out of the Park Board budget. This grant along with the remaining $2000 was used to improve the city park facilities for our Ellsworth citizens

The community of Ellsworth will soon have a website up and running. The hope is to have many people, businesses and organizations giving information to the webmaster to keep the website interesting and current. This is an opportunity to tap into our citizen resources and expertise.

Horizons in Ellsworth has communicated with the Hamilton County Seed director about the steps to take to work toward getting another restuarant along the I-35 corridor at Ellsworth. We will continue to partner with “Seed” throughout the projects of Horizons in our community

In an effort to help clean up the community of Ellsworth, about 40 Ellsworth citizens gathered together for a few hours one evening in June to pick up old appliances, furniture, computers, televisions, tires, and other large junk items

Residents called to purchase tags for appliance items and tires, with other items picked up for free. These items were to be set out on the curb in front of their homes. Anyone needing help getting an item out of their home could call and a few people would help remove these items earlier in the day.

As citizens began gathering to work, there was a heavy thunderstorm and most of the people got wet. The rain didn’t dampen the spirit of our workers though. The weather cleared at 6 p.m., our starting time. As we started through the streets of Ellsworth, we actually picked up additional workers who wanted to join in the fun. All through the streets of the town that night you could hear the equipment sounds accompanied by the conversation and laughter of community members having fun working together.

Funds were provided by various organizations to help individuals who could not afford to purchase the appliance and tire fees. Local businesses partnered in this project by providing employees, trucks and trailers, skid loaders, a garbage truck, and a golf cart.

Sixty-eight appliances, 8.46 tons of junked items, and 29 tires were picked up and delivered to the county landfill. A local individual picked up metal items, which were not included in the weight total.

Citizens who helped “Dump Your Junk”, as well as community members who got rid of their junk, are exited about making this an annual event in Ellsworth. In fact, many people who didn’t help with the project in 2007 are looking forward to joining in and helping “Dump Your Junk” in 2008.