Bridge Transport - Phase 2 Begins

I can't believe that it has been two months since the last posting. The bridge, since that time, has been extracted from the water, using heat and force and really big equipment. I learned a lot about choking, and hand signals, and persistance. This was no easy task.

The actual extraction took 3 out of 4 weeks. The first week, the guy in the water in the picture, Nels Raynor, owner of BACH Structural and Ornamental Steel, was in the water for hours without a wet suit. The water got colder and the wet suit was purchased. This is part of the eyebar that got twisted under the bridge.

We determined that she did not go down as gracefully as I might have wished. I had envisioned her floating off and gently hitting a tree/bank and settling down as the waters subsided. No, it was more like she fell to her knees and the force of the water kept pushing her backside on by.

No worries, he's seen worse. I admit to being pretty dismayed when he used the words "it's a mangled mess".

Now she has been transported to Michigan, weeks were spent laying her out, and itemizing the parts, how much we have left to support our continued existence on the historic register and access to funding through the State Historic Preservation Office. Still waiting.

Have applied for other public and private domain grants and charitable giving and will continue that process through December. More news tomorrow as we get ready to launch "Working Bridges".

The Big Bridge Lift

Six months later than planned and underwater, the Skunk River Bridge (McIntyre) started to come out of the water this week. WOW. Sunday saw Bill Bushong with a dozer clearing the trail to the bridge and filling in the holes. Monday saw Bill Bushong filling in the cuts on the road with rock and continuing to clear the area around the bridge extraction. Nels Raynor from BACH Ornamental and Structural Steel, arrived with his welding box and trailering equipment and one worker to find that the SKYTRACK just couldn't make it back to the bridge. It sunk to it's hubs. Then Bill called Charlie Sheets of Sheets Excavating and soon enough Charlie and Luis Mendoza were on hand to haul that SKYTRAK out of there, replacing it with a huge excavator with a hook on the bucket. And that was that. Over those 4 days, Nels was able to pull a lot of stuff out of that river, including IRON. There are a lot of trees with rootballs that got tangled in the safety cable and the lateral bracing rods to create a mangled mess.

But perseverance furthers and although we are not done yet, it was not for lack of trying. Nels and Shane will be back next week to finish the job, hopeful that while it is a bit colder the river will be a bit lower and the rest of the top channel can be pulled out of the water.

More is always being revealed. The craftsman's record on this Bridge in a Box was told by Marlin Ingalls from Univ. Of Iowa. As an archaeologist and Iowa history buff we learned that this creek is 500,000 years old and that the top 8' of ground is just stuff that was silted in. In this already disturbed site the top 4' of silting in from the last years is very soft.

This morning, after playing guard duty for the weekend, a deer darted across the heron's pond, not very deep that pond. It was a great way to start the day.

Go HAWKS!

New Hope

It's always nice when despair and not knowing are replaced by a path forward. That path has been created by the Michigan bridge lovers. I called Vern Mesler on the day that the I found that our bridge had been swept downstream. Even though Vern had told me that they could fix the bridge, even if it was in the water, it was a sobering reality.

Then the guys from BACH Steel came to visit, and within days had made two site visits, and established a quote for removal of the bridge from the river and shipping to Michigan for repair. At one point I had thought that we could do the work in Iowa, but coming up to speed with all of the equipment, the shop and the extraordinary skills of these guys would be nearly impossible. Might be possible for me to help and learn some of these skills so that we Iowans can start to compete in historic bridge preservation.

I am currently in Michigan, checking out BACH Steel references, visiting Vern's Historic Bridge Park and on my way back checking out the Wabash & Erie Canal Park that another group has not only restored a bridge but built canal boats. We can do this. I have been convinced and the vision of a newly restored Skunk River Bridge is etched in my mind. Once one has a vision one can move forward.

from the Grinnell Herald Register 8/9/2010

Current plans suggest McDowell
bowstring bridge may be restored in place

August 9, 2010 (retyped as there is no on-line paper)

The McDowell Bridge, the iron bowstring in the Millgrove Access Wildlife Area, has withstood nature’s 2010 onslaught thus far, continuing to span the North Skunk River in southwestern Poweshiek County. The county and The North Skunk River Greenbelt Association (NSRGA) are negotiating terms under which NSRGA can move forward with proposed restoration of the bridge, damaged last year by an ice jam. NSRGA is also researching what the bridge needs and who can perform the tasks and has scheduled a fundraiser for Saturday, Aug 28, to generate donations to fund restoration.

Julie Bowers, executive director of NSRGA, says the organization has received opinions from several engineers that the bridge may not need to be lifted from its piers and set on dry ground as originally planned while work to restore it is performed. She names Mark Latsch of Spicer Engineering, Saginaw, Mich., and Justin Clausen of Peterson Contractors, Inc. (PCI) of Reinbeck as offering the opinion that the bridge can be restored in place. Vern Mesler, a steel fabricator and expert in historic metals, also from Michigan, held a workshop in restoration of 19th century metal in late June nd also suggested the bridge could be restored in place.

Bowes says NSRGA’s current thinking is that the restoration work could be performed in late fall or early winter when the river is low and the ground firm. The organization is working with engineers to define a scope of work so workers with the requisite qualifications can be found for the project. She notes that PCI, the company that was going to lift the bridge to dry land for restoration, remains interested in bidding on future projects, depending on the scope of work. She adds that Mesler, an expert in old metals, is devising techniques to use on the McDowell bridge’s urgent needs, which include pack rust and riveting.

“It’s different steel than what we’d use today, “ says Poweshiek County Engineer Lyle Brehm of the challenge of restoring the McDowell Bridge. “The steel would have been made under different quality controls that we have today. Restoring it will be an uphill battle, not impossible but uphill.”

“It exposes the people working on the bridge to more danger when the bridge is left in place,” he observes of the current plan not to lift the bridge to nearby ground. “Otherwise you could set it on the ground and work onit at ground level. It will be harder to brace it if it remains in place. And, if things fall apart on you all of a sudden, it falls farther than if the bridge was on the ground. It’s not impossible to do, but it does create additional complications.”

“Julie should be saluted for having the tenacity to continue on with the project,” Brehm says of Bowers.

The Poweshiek County Board of Supervisors and NSRGA discussed drafts of possible leases granting permission for NSRGA to work on county land at several supervisor meetings in July. Bowers expects to be returning to the supervisors soon with another draft. NSRGA’s board met on Aug. 5 to vote on the latest draft. The board consists of R.V. Bowes, president,; Bill Bushong, vice president; Lamoyne Gaard, county representative; Diane Eakins, secretary; and Gary Gibson, treasurer.

“My job as county attorney is to insure that we have a lease that will protect the county from liability for what happens during the restoration and repair of the bridge,” explains Michael Mahaffey, Poweshiek County attorney and involved in the negotiations with NSRGA. “The county is not a cross-purposes with NSRGA but, as is the case with any lease, the details have to be worked out.

“it is my position that a lease protects the county but also reflects the true natures of what is happening which is that NSRGA is going to be using public ground and have its agents working on public ground during this period of time,” Mahaffey points out. “As the landlord Poweshiek County needs to make sure that the tenant has liability insurance during the period of the tenancy. If they didn’t have liability insurance and somebody was working out there, there could be some liability on the part of Poweshiek County if there was any kind of unfortunate accident.

“The company that will be working on the restoration and its employees wll assume a certain risk in doing this job,” Mahaffey adds. “The company also needs to be able to show us that they’ve got insurance that will cover their actions during the period of repair and restoration. “

“As to the bridge itself we’re going to sell the bridge to NSRGA during the period of time that the work is being done on the bridge,” Mahaffey continues. “When the work is completed, they’re going to sell it back to us,:

Mahaffey makes the distinction that the bridge in law is personal property while the land around and under it is real property, leading to the lease for the land and sale for a dollar of the bridge.

Bowers plans to appear at this week’s Poweshiek County Conservation Board meeting Aug. 10 to ask the board to make a commitment to allocate resources to the bridge once it is restored.

NSRGA has announced a fund raising event known as Bridge Fest 2010 to be held at John and Gary’s Game Time from noon to midnight on Saturday, Aug. 28. Bowers expects number of musicians will play during the event, including David Zollo and the Body Electric from the Iowa City area, Gordy Sumner from Grinnell also known as Crossroads; CPR of Marshalltown, Supposable Thumbs with Chris Sutliff and other Grinnellians; Flannel which features Ryan Bernemann originally from Grinnell and Scott Cochran; and Thankful Dirt composed of Darren and Molly Matthews from Des Moines. Tickets to the event will cost $15, available at Game Time and The Music Shop, and NSRGA also plans to have an art fair, a flea market, a dunk tank, bake sale and heavy metals recycling along with tee-shirts and cookbooks for sale.

August

Plans go forth for the Bridge Fest 2010. Plans go forth for the engineers scope of work. Two more documents for a purchase of a bridge and the lease of the land have been created and are in the legal eagles hands and the agenda for tomorrows meeting has been created.

Flooding around the bridge again yesterday as I escorted a rep from Silo's and Smokestacks to the area. We couldn't get down there, and I think I scared her with my fast driving on back roads but we ended up at Wagaman Mill. They had been damaged by a log banging through the iron fence into the door and Garnet was happy I called. The rep suggested making them sister's to river fun raising and I spoke with Garnet again about that this morning.

Progress is furthering.!)

Wow,

Another month passed with frustrations mounting regarding the County's granting of access to us to fix the bridge.

It looks like it may not need a lift after all. Working on the scope now and maybe by Thursday we will be able to move forward.

The middle of June - Almostfo

It has been a few busy weeks here in Iowa. Planning for Vern's Historic Metals Workshop goes forward. We have a few people that say they will sign up. If we get 10 that would be great. Just last night a college student was very interested, so we will see. The good thing is that we have very nearly covered the costs of the workshop with the music on Tuesday nights at Lonnski's. And that money is being matched to a grant from Brownell's Inc. in Montezuma. They see a community effort and reward it. Yeah for our team.

Our transition from the umbrella of GPCF should be finished by June 15. Things take so long, it can be quite frustrating. But waiting and being patient allows for others to catch up and hopefully have time to commit to the team.

The bridge lift is still scheduled for early July, when water flows go down. If we get the SHPO grant, the engineering will commence immediately and because we will have our legal stuff complete by then, we should be able to go forward with some restoration.

Grants Delivered

You know there is just something about hand delivery to the right person on the day the application is due. But it took every ounce of intent to get this application done correctly, and I'm glad that I took the time to go back over the guide just to make sure that I had done the math right. And, I had not. Had to go back and do it all over again, and I still don't know that I did it spot on. I found one date mistake and one extra period when I reread the entire thing, after delivery of course. I couldn't have found that one if I had tried before printing. The search for perfection goes on. Making sure that I have the PepsiRefresh grant ready to go so that can be sent in directly on June 1. Grinnell responds pretty well to online surveys and we all have a lot of circles of friends that I know will help. One never knows. You just have to show up, that is one of the lessons of the Grateful Dead. You can't have that kind of fun unless you show up.

Now the waiting game, for GMRC, for SHPO, for Music, Fun and Food....

I was just enlightened on the politics of YES. Here is what I learned, the County said yes, because why not. No one expected us to make this happen and yet here we are happening! and then the powers that be wanting to be in power start going, "oh, but wait"!. sorry, not waiting....you should have taken me seriously long before this.

Mid May - Reallly?

We are now our own official non-profit with a bank account to accept donations. Woo Hoo. It takes a long time to get most things done around here. I'm not quite sure why, business doesn't move this slowly, perhaps it should.

Anyway, life goes on. Requested 7000 from GMRC to fund the music that funds the funds for the fundraisers. Should know on that sometime next week. Putting in the HDRP grant on Wednesday, a full 5 days before it is due on the 17th. that is good too.

I have Vern's Historic Metals Seminar outline and am just looking for the welding lab to do the work in. Anybody close to Grinnell a welder? Give me a call.

June 29 & 30
8am - 5 pm
$150 for 16 hours
$75 if you will be a volunteer
lunch provided

Nothing is easy, ever. Don't forget.

So, rather than getting a quick resolution from the County Attorney, the DNR Director has now said that it is not safe for the bridge to go back in the same place. I don't know what his safety issues are, and it is not his project anymore, so cost should not be his issue. I just think he doesn't really want us out there.

So what to do. I've called in the big guns at the State Historical Preservation Office and we will see what needs to be done. I will be going there next week for a meeting with the Director. She also encouraged me to break down the grant writing process and deal with the bridge lift with the matching funds that we currently have in place. Pretty cool and a good idea.

Getting ready to put our needs out on the Pepsi Refresh grant site, so all you watchers will have to go and vote for that.

Going Forward

My job has been defined to looking and writing for grants, getting all of the details settled for the big bridge lift, creating the event for Vern and creating the music scene with benefits including increased awareness and eventual monies for the bridge.

To that end our last event grossed $281 less band expense (100). Not bad for #2. Word of mouth, a bit of guerilla advertising, facebook have all been great tools for getting the word out. It doesn't hurt that these musicians are some of the most talented. I helped subsidize the first raffle to establish the value and now we are on to the 2nd - a year's worth of haircuts from MickeyPat's in Grinnell. This is $120 value - raffle tickets are on sale now.

The event brought more musicians to the table and they knew others. It seems like we have the potential to have great fun with this - planning through the end of June with Vern's Seminar being the culmination of this run. Next fall - September through November - more Tuesdays? IT's been discussed.

midApril closing in

Time to figure out how to raise the last funds for the big bridge lift. Any ideas. Bakesales, bunny hops, egg rolls, kayaks, canoes. More, big donations would be great. Who has $1000 for us?

How to Raise Money in a Storm

Put it off to next week. Hail, wind, rain and power failure put a stop to the Lonnski's Pub & Deli benefit for the Skunk River Bridge. David Zollo had just finished his first set and the night was over. not much money raised, but a rain date has been established for May 4th. Almost Acoustic Tuesdays advertised in the Datebook Section of the Des Moines Register so that is good. Andrew Fleming is next.
Still working for the lift of the bridge, rain doesn't help. We'll see ya in the spring. Off to grant writing in a big way.

Friday - again

Poster is in good shape and hanging from walls all over town, hoping for a really good turn out, estimating bringing in $500 per show, that is my goal anyway. Need to create the Seminar handout so we can start getting sign ups, figure out what photos will go in the slide show, have receipts that can be filled out for any major donations, get the raffle together, have a table set up near the door that captures people's attention, maybe a free cookie or slice of pumpkin roll. Bake sale. So profit centers are a percentage of the take on that night which works out to us taking all the beer money, a wash and it should work out great. Raffle should bring in $100, plus the 100 from the bar take and 100 from donation at 20 people at 5 per, and half of the tips, less the artist rate. And then, the bigger donations for the bridge lift and to support Vern. I hope this works as a fundraiser...

Then engineer suggested that we do the following work while the bridge is stil over the water and until it gets lifted. Should I pursue with Peterson Contractors?


- The transverse outrigger support member under the bridge is hanging
down ready to catch debris. We should attempt to pull it up or
partially remove it so it doesn't hang down.

- Some of the stiffening (x-bracing and top strut) between the arches
will add stability to these eccentrically loaded members due to the
deformations.

- There may be other areas we could reinforce or ideas to catch debris
before it hits the bridge that could be considered.

Deadfall Abounds

None of the trees that have fallen are big enough to cross the river. That is a bummer, because that was always one of the best parts of going to the river. I'm not sure if we helped a few but who needed the bridge if you could shimmy across.

The recent floods undermined both of the areas that we thought would be problematic, the first on the west and north side of the bridge, where one tree went down parallel to the bridge, then the group on the north and east side of the bridge, right at the problematic curve, that whole group went down with the tops of the trees catching on the first deadfall but all pointing downstream.

I post a picture.

Moving to the old phone company building in Montezuma to see up offices for the NSRGA, should be a bit easier. Because I did not get the Wall Award I will open the lunchwagon back up to supplement my income. I'm thinking breakfasts and lunch, maybe bakery stuff.
More will be revealed on that notion.

Working

After our board meeting the other day it was determined that rather than try to get the bridge fixed in my father's lifetime we are going into slowdown mode. So here it is. The bridge gets lifted when it gets lifted. We pay for that. We write grants to get it fixed and we raise the money $by$ until we have enough and then we fix the bridge.

I need someone to give us $150,000 and that bridge will be fixed by Fall. Who's down.

Call me.

WAKE OF THE FLOOD

Out at bridge yesterday. It is amazing how quickly the top layer of dirt dries out after flooding, and what the effect of the flooding was on the dirt that was their and now is not. Pretty cool. I'm posting pictures.

GPCF is not willing to work with us as we write for grants, so NSRGA will forge ahead on its own. Meeting next Tuesday to figure out what that path will be.

On to the next.

Talked with Justin at PCI today. They will begin to pull out their equipment and will return when and if possible.
Time to switch into next phase of planning without the bridge being off the piers. More fun to have.

Still don't know how bridge fares!

Grant Ferguson says that ole bridge ain't goin' nowhwere. I'll take him at his word as he has lived next to the N. Skunk River his entire life. He is not entirely delighted that we are working on the bridge, for him it would be better if it were gone and he would not have to see people down there. But, he was gracious to let me take photos from his land that gave me the view to the bridge approach. THE NEAR END WAS STILL VISIBLE.

Vern says he can fix it even if it falls in the water. I hope so.

We need to start planning the next phase - and I'm changing my mind somewhat that the river can lag behind here. I've found the cut, I can see where the land is scarred fromed where the current comes across. Perhaps this is just keeping the bridge safe with less water flow but you can see that it is full to the banks and has spread out. Called Justin to see if a rip rap jetty could be more useful now. Haven't heard back from him yet.

Worked my way around to the other side of the river and had some fun exploring an abandoned farm site. Berkeley of course had to go upstairs. Thinks he is a cat! I found an old window, that was cool.

Had Dick out at the river yesterday, after his doctor's appointment. Good thing neither of us could get down the road. Heard from Marilyn Jordan (McFarland) Taylor after asking her to get in touch with my parents. She had been in London but was more than happy to give her best regards to Dick and Doris. She said that she had told Rick she was ready to work with us riverkeepers so I will send a letter to her today.

I also want to contact the Friends and start to plan the fundraising events for the next several months. This means we need to finish up with the lingering details regarding non profit status so that we can get to the important part of working this project.

Want to help, please donate to NSRGA, PO Box 344, Grinnell, IOWA 50112

First Phase Failure to Lift Off

I know that one must play the hand one is dealt, but after working so hard, it is difficult to accept responsibility that the show is, maybe not over, but delayed and certainly at risk.

The flood has come, here are the pictures. I met the neighbor/farmer today, Grant F., who allowed me onto his property to take this photo.

Raining Today

And the river will rise, and continue to rise. But, I found where it wants to channelize. I've never really hiked on that side of the bridge before and low and behold...

The Narrow Window of Opportunity

Passed us by. Wow, I tried so hard to bring everything together in a timely fashion. I don't think that people realized how critical it was to have all of our pieces of paper signed off on before the window open and closed.

As it is, we got to the bridge, but we can't go forward with the lift because the river rose with snow melt and now rain.

Adds to the drama I guess, but when I was out there yesterday it seemed to me that the bridge was leaning more and more. I will go back today just to see if I can make it down there.

Have a film crew coming in to do oral histories of the area, tape some live music that can be interwoven with this grassroots efforts.

More will be revealed.

TO THE BOARD OF NSRGA

CONGRATULATIONS! As of 9:05 yesterday the Board of Supervisors of
Poweshiek County signed the contract with Peterson Contractors and
NSRGA. As of next week and 30 days later, a bill will be due for
$45,000. The Board asked for the Right of Consent that I had drafted
and that they had approved with County Attorney approval last Monday,
and I told them that they would have to draft that doument to give
NSRGA the right to be on property. They will take that under
advisement and I will call the auditor today to see if we need an
appointment on Monday. Justin of PCI granted me the permission to be
on site, but that doesn't get the RV down there to provide the ongoing
site supervision that the Supervisors would like.

As of 10:30 am, PCI was moving dirt and very quickly had arrived at
the bridge. They were continuing to create a pad for one crane and the
causeway for the other crane, one of which is a 100,000 tons. They
plan to use one crane to walk the near end and one crane to swing the
far end of the bridge into place. It isn't terribly muddy, one doesn't
sink but it is slippery. I was able to get my work boots dirty on the
walk down the two lane dirt road. Justin believes that the actual
bridge lift will take place on Wednesday, but that is dependent on the
weather and how much rain comes in. Their bid did not include rock,
Lamoyne, maybe that is where Poweshiek County could come in and
actually rock the road for better access for us once the heavy
equipment has been moved out. PCI is great and very professional. I
had an email from Spicer's with a BIG High 5 from Vern and Mark that
we were actually able to secure the bridge for they had a plan to come
out and stabilize it before flooding, this step was the most important
part of anything that we are currently doing. It is pretty great to
see the work actually taking shape, but it is more wide open than we
have ever seen it. I have informed the local press of this schedule
and will try to get in contact with regional press outlets.

I have taken a ton of photographs, but there is no video camera
available for moving pictures. I plan to ask the college today if that
service might be available to an alumn to check out some equipment
from the AV lab. The outfit from Denver has declined our offer for a
documentary as they have started another project. Because of that I
have utilized my connections to find some Iowa filmmakers (they have
time now), and a Burlington company has responded. They, at my request
and expense of $200 per day, will come to Grinnell and the Bridge for
two days next week. I am borrowing money from my daughter to pay for
the actual filming, raw footage is all I have requested and am
anticipating a tax return to pay her back. They will film the bridge
lift and begin to gather some oral histories. I am hoping that friends
of mine "Thankful Dirt" and "Shame Train", an awesome duo from Des
Moines and rockband from IC, both with Berneman ties to Grinnell, will
come out and be filmed to start the musical side of the fundraising
efforts, first out at Milgrove then at Lonnskis to continue to spread
the word and to let the FRIENDS OF THE SKUNK RIVER BRIDGE participate
in the bridge's success. Just gathering content as we go along. The
South Skunk Blues Society has indicated a willingness to help their
river counterpart to the North with another larger event. I will start
to gather names of people that would like to be interviewed and
filmed with bridge stories now, starting with Dick, of course. Bill,
Rick, Pam? FRIENDS.

Last night, I was the featured guest (little did I know) in New Sharon
at the Historic Preservation Annual Meeting. It was a great experience
and they were an attentive audience. Larry and Stephanie were also
present and Steve Hardeman was responsible for us knowing about this
event. As Mahaska county has torn down a lot of bowstrings in the last
few years they have interest in this one. They were delighted to know
about the status of the bridge and had many ideas for fundraising
(canoe and kayak races!), interesting anecdotes about that area,
newspaper references from the 1800s and postcards of bowstrings that
Vern would definitely love. Chuck Quillen, Steve Hardeman's uncle,
mule and chuckwagon driver and old iron worker was very interested in
being down at the bridge for a lift, so I think maybe a bleacher idea
is not a bad one, keep people out of the way but able to be
comfortable and out of the mud. That is just some scaffolding and
2x10's, Bill???? It was interesting to see how a non-profit with
members works, with a 2 year cycle of changing board of directors, the
formal reading and approval of minutes and treasurer's report, I
learned a lot.

I was very disappointed that we did not receive the $5000 from the
college for start up expenses that would have allowed us to purchase a
new computer to run the AutoCad software I was donated, or a better
camera. They paid out 73,000 dollars and really like this one local to
Grinnell. We should know how Pow County Alliance in the next week.

MidFebruary

Passed two more holidays on the road, then starting the long drive east early next week. Have PCI talking with the National Guard, am polishing the Wall Alumni Service Award Application, it really does take a village to get rid of the typos and the grammatical corrections. Also, the understanding. These folks don't really know about the project but they want to read it. There questions allow me to fix the draft as well.

THANKS to everybody that helped with this grantwriting process. I am truly grateful.

The Norcross Wildlife Fund will be next. And the auction.

So far I've been asking everyone I see for a donation. The list is getting very fun - 4 leather wallets and tool sets - the Winslows
5 days in Sea Ranch California - tour the vineyards on either side for a week off
1 North Rose Botanicals organic body nurturing products
3 Cindy Bowers Fulton painted panels
1 Melissa Rossi Cuisiniere - food basket - gathered from Bay Area ethnic groceries stores

Moving Forward

It is not so easy to work on the road as I thought. The first four weeks were easy in Colorado, and now I've settled into California to get some real work done.

Have a contac with the Iowa National Guard and details are moving forward whether they can lift us or not. This would be the biggest lift of 120', the last was 100' for a bowstring so we have to strip off some extra weight for sure.

Budgets today, filling in the blanks as more info comes in. The Wall Award finish and polish is in the works, with all of the edits that I have to make.

and lunch at Bottega, Michael Chiarello's place in Yountville, one of my favorite chefs. Now if I could work there next year, that would be awesome. The car is in the shop after hitting a boulder so that will be great to have the groaning stop.

Super Monday

Back on track today, got knocked around a little last week, but I've settled back into the task at hand, which is getting all of the pieces together so that we can move forward.

Back to the Wall Award and getting that application prepared to be sent in next week.

Rabbit, Rabbit

I spent the weekend traveling through New Mexico, south and west into Arizona. I've stopped to make sure that all of the grants that we can get in today, get in today.

We are so new, it truly is amazing that anything happens. Magically, it seems, things come around. I spoke with the Iowa National Guard last week about lifting our bridge with a helicoptor, and they will get back to me soon. It would be a training exercise for them, and, as such, would not be a budget breaker. Yippee. Moving forward.

Vern called yesterday. The end of June is a great time for he and his wife to come to Iowa and perform a 3-day hands on seminar at the bridge for working with all of the iron. His syllabus looks tough, but there is no test at the end. We'll give you a blue book for notes. Vern's seminar is the grant that is going in today. Should be good.

I am still looking for a venue for the Auction/Gala. The Community Center doesn't allow alcohol or food, so that wouldn't be fun. Any ideas out there? Fair Grounds. In the meantime I continue to look for items for auction. Maybe we go online for that matter, open it up to our friends in other places. Just asked my Cousin Cindy for the first donation.

Grant Applications and Deadlines

First grant has been applied for. Second and third on Monday. Wooo.

Met with a film crew today. Also talked with a great Grinnellian Agent.

Lot's to think about with this bridge project. Will people even come out to play there? Let me know your thoughts.

Sundays are for Sunday Morning

Have been building databases and budgets for the last couple of days. I have samples of the grants out for proofing, ideas, preliminary oks to submit. And this week is for submission. The first must go out tomorrow for printing, 2 for the Feb 1, another for a couple of weeks after.

It is time to move to the grassroots fundraising and organizing a capital campaign. The press release will have a lot of information, an address for the plea for money from the GPCF, a Skunk River Sunday in California, and then an auction gala in March back in Grinnell. At this point a Skunk River Skip Day may just have to happen in early May. Everybody needs a break.

I've got the quote for the move of the bridge in hand. We still need money for the move, as well as money to fund the Scope of Work. By the time the restoration process is ready, any money that we have gathered can be utilized for matching grants. Then we have to move it back. It is a lot to ask of locals, perseverance does further.

Tuesdays are for Garlic Noodles

and printing all sorts of preliminary documents for the grant writing process. It has been several days of editing, adding images, then taking them out because you can't send that file size over most emails. Funny gmail took it.

I have to remember how to image photos now. It's something I've done a lot in the past, just need to settle down and do it.

Once the first versions of the long and short grants are finished, it will be time to make sure that all of the details are in order for each package. How many, etc. Still can't finalize the budget until I get numbers from PCI, hoping all of those pesky last 5% details can be finished in the next few days, so that I can print these packages.

Will send a copy without images, after editing, to my references for the Wall Alumni Service Award. The deadline for that is 2/17 but it only seemed fair to be able to give the references a pretty good idea about what I am doing and plan to do for the future. The FUN stuff, for sure. Never know, but you have to go through the steps, to get where you want to go. I do understand that, sometimes, I just want those steps to be handled more quickly, the two-step, if you will. All good things in all good time.

Planning to leave hear and head way south, although not as far as Mexico, I still need to get a new passport. Plan to continue my walking, acclimating to Manitou Springs has been great, I've been on a 3-week hiatus, in a relatively warm spell. Found out how to look for quartz on the hill.

More later.

databases are my forte

I've been building the budget into the funders/builders databases. Very cool. I can take the amounts, categorize them to the correct account category, tie that in with the funders requirements and go about cobbling together the funds to make this bridge restoration happen.

I've decided that Skunk River Sunday should be in the collective conciousness as a thing, so I'm going to Wikipedia soon. Anyone have a good definition. And I'm going to have a SRS in California real soon. Start spreading the fun!

Mine is

Gathering of people that takes place in a spot that none of them regulary go to, everyone brings something whether it is a dish to share, a full cooler with a variety of beverages, places to go for walks. We usually go to an 1883 bowstring arch bridge, beside the Skunk River, in the fall, when it is quiet and people can go about being people.

Manitou Springs has been good for grant writing. I have copies out for proofing, our first deadline is the 27th of January.

Grant Writing

I sent off a preliminary grant proposal to a trusted "funder" this morning. Looking forward to hearing what he has to say. It's been interesting to write the generic history, then to look at each Grant, see how it would fit. Now I am in the midst of creating a database that will make this look easy. I did this type of work for the travel industry, finetuning information for a particular recipient.

Testing it with the Wall Community Service Award. Will send that off to Kevin Crim later this week for editing. Have to email all of my references as well, to make sure that they know what I am doing, as well as what I am asking for. Tomorrow, should be my goal to get those off, it is due towards the end of the month.

The work for the bridge goes on...and it is all backed up.

Communications

I continue to spend a lot of time on the phone, talking with people. Put our engineer and contractor together today, finished preliminary grant proposal (generic version) and saw an interpretive center at Cheyenne Canyon in Colorado Springs, a city park. Very nice, just recently placed on historic register because of a small stone bridge.

Cork Peterson is set to have his company give us a design/build estimate on moving the bridge.

Larissa Mottl, Grinnell College Biology Professor and Station Manager for CONARD will serve as an expert for prairie and wetlands and is a welcome addition to our team.

Jonathan Buffalo of Meskwaki Nation will ask around for any stories about our area and suggested talking with SHPO's Cyndi McDonald regarding summer camps for Sac/Fox.

Vern Mesler, delighted that we are moving forward, thinks that talking or going to see Kitty Henderson in Austin and seeing his bridge renovation in San Antonio, also talking with Eric Deloney in Santa Fe would be a good use of my research time away from Iowa.

Mark Latsch, from Michigan to serve as engineer of record on bridge project and has been put in touch with Justin Clausen from PCI.

Steve Ruddock from FileMaker is going to give us Foundation pricing for software.

Anyone want to see the proposal, don't hestitate to call.

Happy New Year

Great news. We are filing our paperwork for N. Skunk River Greenbelt Association today. A LLC and a 501(3)(C). We are also beginning our relationship with Greater Poweshiek Community Foundation and the Ahrens Foundation.

Anybody out there read about Senator Grassley's earmark for an historical bridge in Poweshiek County? We are investigating this news and waiting for the Senator's office to call back.

In the meantime, Rick is setting up the corporate bylaws and I am starting the official grantwriting process. Have asked Dan McCain of the Wabash & Erie Canal group for his input on how he writes grants. He has done a lot of them in the last ten years.