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City of Muscatine Press Releases

Bridge lights to dance to the sound of holiday music once again

MUSCATINE, Iowa – Downtown Muscatine is the place to be this weekend with a variety of activities to kick off the holiday season including the Parks & Recreation Candy Cane Hunt, Jingle & Mingle sponsored by Discover Muscatine, and a visit by the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train.

Not least among these events is the Friday premiere of a featured event that quickly became a holiday classic and a must see for Muscatine residents and visitors. Muso Lighting has again partnered with Muscatine Power & Water (MPW) and the City of Muscatine to bring a musical light show featuring Muscatine’s Norbert F. Beckey Bridge.

The final touches are currently being made to the design of this year’s show that will include an introduction, eight songs including several new songs, and a running time of 13 minutes. Last year’s production had a running time of eight minutes and proved to be a huge success.

The 2022 version will premier at 7 p.m. on Friday, December 2, with residents able to tune into 87.9 FM to listen to the special holiday music while watching the light show from the warmth and convenience of their vehicles while parked in Riverside Park. The program will run every day from 5:00 p.m. to 12 a.m. through January 8, 2023.

Jingle and Mingle in Downtown Muscatine Friday

The premier follows the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony that will be held from 5:30-5:45 p.m. at MidwestOne Bank at the corner of Cedar and 2nd Street. Jingle & Mingle (formerly Holiday Stroll) will be held from 5:30-8:00 p.m. along 2nd Street from Mulberry to Pine, and is expected to bring thousands to Downtown Muscatine Friday night. Visit https://pearlcityjingleandmingle.com/ for a complete list of activities.

Hunt for Candy Canes Friday in Riverside Park

The Muscatine Parks and Recreation Candy Cane Hunt will be held at 6 p.m. near Pearl City Station located in Riverside Park. Hunters and spectators will gather outside of the Pearl City Station with two age-group areas (pre-kindergarten through first grade and second through fourth grade girls and boys) set up for the hunt in the green space near the basketball courts.

Children will be able to sweep through the designated areas gathering up the sweet treats that they will be able to keep. The young hunters will receive a prize for each candy cane found. “Special” candy canes will be sprinkled around that can be redeemed at Pearl City Station for a special toy. 

The Candy Cane Hunt will be held in the dark, so bring a flashlight if you wish. LED flashlights will be available from our sponsors if you do not have one.

Please contact the Muscatine Parks and Recreation Department at (563) 263-0241 for more information. 

Holiday Train arrives Saturday night

Riverside Park will also be the place to be Saturday night as the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train makes its first stop in Muscatine after an absence of several years due to the pandemic. The train is anticipated to arrive at 7:30 p.m. Saturday with a 20-minute program from the boxcar stage that will be opposite the downriver boat ramp. (See earlier story). 

The Iowa Avenue railroad crossing will be closed to traffic during the train’s arrival and the performance but the Cedar Street entrance will remain open.

Christmas with the Symphony

For those looking for musical entertainment in, perhaps, a warmer location, the Muscatine Symphony Orchestra will present “Christmas with the Symphony” at 7 p.m. Saturday (Dec. 3) at the First Presbyterian Church, 401 Iowa Avenue, Muscatine. Admission is free but those attending are asked to bring a toy or a canned good donation to the performance. Free books for children will be provided by the Muscatine Literacy Coalition. For more information visit www.muscatinesymphony.org.

Weed Park Festival of Lights opens December 12

The Muscatine Parks and Recreation Department will also be sponsoring the Festival of Lights in Muscatine’s historic Weed Park. Residents and visitors can enjoy a large variety of beautiful displays as the park will be aglow from 5:30-7:30 p.m. starting Monday, December 12. The Festival of Lights concludes on Monday, December 26. 

Viewers may drive through the park to view the spectacle beginning at the Washington Street entrance and proceeding to the Colorado Street exit. Non-perishable goodwill food donations may be dropped in the container at the Washington Street entrance to benefit local food pantries.

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City of Muscatine Press Releases

Public Safety Open House is set for Sunday (Oct. 2)

MUSCATINE, Iowa – A popular event will return to Muscatine this weekend as the Muscatine Fire Department, Muscatine Police Department, Muscatine Sheriff’s Department, and Muscatine County Joint Communications (MUSCOM) join forces to host the 2022 Public Safety Open House. The event will be held from 12-3 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 2, inside and around the Public Safety Building, 312 East 5th Street.

This is a golden opportunity for young and old to visit the Public Safety Building for an enjoyable learning experience that will include demonstrations, discussions, and games. Visitors will be able to meet and interact with Public Safety staff, and learn a little bit more about what they do and the equipment they use.

Visitors will be able explore various fire and emergency apparatus inside the Central Fire Station, and visit a variety of booths to learn more about the Explorers Program and how Hands Only CPR could save a life. A smoke house will be located in the alley behind the fire station that teaches children how to safely exit a house in a smoke-filled atmosphere, and a mini smoke house that will demonstrate how smoke flows.

The Fire Department also plans to have a recruitment booth with video and handouts for fire pits and fire safety, a gear demonstration booth, and a photo booth with Freddie the Fire Truck. Also inside the station will be games for the children including a hose trace where children are blindfolded and have to follow the hose like a firefighter would to exit a building.

A vehicle extrication demonstration will show how the jaws, cutters, spreaders, rams, etc., are used to extricate victims from automobile accidents, a demonstration of the aerial tower truck, and a demonstration on how to use a fire hose to shoot water into a house.

The Muscatine Police Department is planning a variety of static displays of a squad car, armored vehicle, and tactical equipment. Children will not want to miss an opportunity to meet Muscatine’s K-9 officer and learn about the work he does, and parents will not want to miss the opportunity to visit the drug trailer and see some of the warning signs of drug use. You may also want to give the drunk goggles a try.

The Iowa State Police will have a seatbelt impact trailer on hand that is designed to simulate how a seatbelt can save you. The Muscatine Police Tactical Team also plan to demonstrations with the Muscatine Police robot. There will also be games where children can earn prizes.

MUSCOM will have a couple of games set up and some 911 giveaways in the Public Safety Building basement. Anyone interested can also tour MUSCOM as long as they are escorted by a staff member.

The Muscatine County Sheriff’s Department will also have their K-9 officer on hand as well as static displays of squad cars, boats, and other related items in the alley parking lot.

October is fire prevention month and this year’s theme is “Fire Won’t Wait. Plan Your Escape.” 

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is marking the 100th anniversary of Fire Prevention Week, which will be held October 9-15. The Muscatine Fire Department is planning several events during the week to highlight the theme.

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Red Cedar Chamber Music to perform on Mother’s Day at Art Center

MUSCATINE, Iowa – Celebrate Mother’s Day Weekend this year at the Muscatine Art Center with a special performance of Brinton Surprise, a Red Cedar Chamber Music production, at 3 p.m. on Mother’s Day (May 8) in the Muscatine Art Center’s Music Room. The performance is free and open to the public.

 

Red Cedar Chamber Music’s Directors and core ensemble, violinist Miera Kim and cellist Carey Bostian, present the third in a series of programs featuring early silent films and magic lantern slides accompanied by chamber music. The core ensemble is joined by flutist Claudia Anderson and guitarist John Dowdall in accompanying these rare films. Historian Michael Zahs will narrate the program.

 

This is Red Cedar’s third program built on the Brinton Collection. Red Cedar produced Brinton Silent Film Project in 2015, and followed that up a year later with Music and Magic Lanterns. Each project featured multiple commissions, some of which are present in today’s Brinton Surprise program. In all, 10 new works have been commissioned to accompany and enhance the incredible films and slides selected from the collection. In addition to performances in Eastern Iowa, the ensemble has presented in Washington, D.C., Minneapolis, and at the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival in Washington state.

 

Red Cedar group (JPG)BRINTON SURPRISE is a multi-media extravaganza featuring magic lantern slides and early silent films from the Brinton Collection of early entertainment materials. Michael Zahs, who rescued the collection from the garbage heap in 1981 and gifted the entire collection to the University of Iowa Special Collections, was the subject of the 2017 documentary Saving Brinton. Red Cedar will reprise several commissioned works from previous programs and have commissioned three new works to accompany six more films from the collection.

 

Philip Wharton has created a magical score for The Fairy of Springtime, a 1902 French film which features hand-painted color. Michael Kimber has scored Venetian Tragedy, a nine-minute drama with a surprise ending. New to Red Cedar for this project is a duo of French composers, Jean-Francois Charles and Nicolas Sidoroff, who have teamed up to create a major multi-media work (A Méliès Voyage) that explores the life of the great French filmmaker Georges Méliès, known by most from the 2011 film Hugo. 

 

The Brinton Entertaining Company Papers, housed in a dedicated room at UI Special Collections, is over 50 linear feet and includes films, projectors, glass slides, 78 rpm records, wax cylinders, memorabilia from travels, patent applications with drawings, plans for flying machines, posters, and tickets. 

 

“The Brinton Entertaining Company Papers provide inspiration for students, faculty, and the curious alike,” Elizabeth Riordan, lead outreach and instruction librarian for the UI Libraries Special Collections and Archives, said. “The collection’s rare films and film ephemera are enough to make it special, but the story of Frank and Indiana Brinton’s journey across the central swath of the United States showing early film is what makes it remarkable.” 

 

Red Cedar’s founding directors, flutist Jan Boland and guitarist John Dowdall, began their partnership with historian Michael Zahs following Red Cedar’s first Rural Outreach concert at the Ainsworth Opera House in 2001. Over the years, they have collaborated with him on several concert programs featuring Michael’s collection of original civil war letters dating from 1861-1865, as well as two bus trips celebrating Red Cedar’s 10th Anniversary Season. Zahs had been showing some of the films from the Brinton Collection at the opera house since 1998. 

 

While the three had talked about the collection, it was not until Humanities Iowa and the University of Iowa Special Collections partnered with Michael Zahs to preserve, digitize, and develop the collections that the idea of a concert program came about. In August of 2013, Jan, John and Carey traveled to Ainsworth to meet with Michael and the project was officially launched. Accompanying them was Red Cedar’s videographer and filmmaker John Richard, and the idea of a documentary about Michael and the collection took shape. 

 

John Richard teamed up with Andrew Sherburne and Tommy Haines, and began documenting the project and Michael’s other endeavors. The feature length documentary Saving Brinton was premiered in 2018 and in part documents the journey that Zahs and Red Cedar undertook together to highlight the incredible life of Frank Brinton. 

 

This series of concerts is made possible by support from the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, AEGON Transamerica Foundation, the McIntyre Foundation, the Grandon Foundation, Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust, and Hills Bank. Additional support comes from the City of Marion, the Giacoletto Foundation, Farmers State Bank, CRST International, United Fire Group, and the Iowa Arts Council (a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts).

 

Special thanks to Artist Sponsors Juanita Dennert and Don & Irene (Naxera) Hamous.

 

To find out more about Brinton Surprise and all Red Cedar Chamber Music events, visit 

http://www.redcedar.org/performance-schedule/

 

Visitors to the Muscatine Art Center encounter paintings made by artists recognized around the world, fascinating objects connected to Muscatine’s past, beautifully crafted decorative arts, charming period rooms, and a Japanese Garden installed nearly a century ago. Learners of all ages can pique their curiosity through changing exhibitions, classes, and events. The Muscatine Art Center is located at 1314 Mulberry Avenue in Muscatine, Iowa. Hours are Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 10 a.m-5 p.m., Thursday evenings until 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 1-5 p.m.  Admission is free. Donations are appreciated. For more information, visit the Muscatine Art Center website, visit the Art Center page on the City of Muscatine website, or follow the Art Center on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram,  Please contact Katy Loos, Program Coordinator, with any questions about upcoming programs at (563) 263-8282 or email her at kloos@muscatineiowa.gov.

 

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Seasonal job fair Saturday at Muscatine Municipal Golf Course

MUSCATINE, Iowa – Opportunities for seasonal employment take center stage this weekend as the City of Muscatine Parks and Recreation Department hosts a seasonal job fair from 10 a.m.-12 p.m., Saturday (March 12) in the clubhouse at the Muscatine Municipal Golf Course. 

 

The Parks and Recreation Department is actively recruiting dependable, hardworking individuals to fill seasonal positions for the spring and summer of 2022. The Muscatine City Council recently passed an increase in the hourly rate for seasonal workers making this a great opportunity for individuals, including high school and college students, seeking seasonal work.

 

A variety of opportunities are available including Aquatic Center Manager, lifeguards, slide attendants, cashiers, equipment operators, office clerk, Golf Clubhouse supervisors, gas dock attendants, recreation program leaders, seasonal maintenance laborers, groundskeepers and College Search Kickoff program assistants. A complete list of opportunities are  available on the City of Muscatine website at SUMMER POSITIONS. 

 

Make plans to come out to the Muscatine Municipal Golf Course to talk with current staff, review open positions, and fill out an application. Interested persons may also fill out an application ahead of time by downloading a copy from the City of Muscatine website (Seasonal Job Application). 

 

For more information, please contact the Muscatine Parks and Recreation Department at (563) 263-0241.

 

Other opportunities for employment with the City of Muscatine include:

 

  • Maintenance Repairperson – Performs a variety of tasks of skilled and semi-skilled nature requiring the manual use of tools. Click on the link for a complete job description and how to apply. Applications are due by March 18, 2022.
  • Fire Fighter – The Muscatine Fire Department is compiling a list of prospective candidates for the position of firefighter. If you are interested in joining our premier team of firefighter-paramedics, please submit your application to be placed on the current selection list by the May 18 deadline. Click here to view our recruitment video.
  • Substitute Refuse Collector – The Muscatine Transfer Station is accepting applications for individuals to serve as a substitute refuse collector on an as needed basis.  Hours will vary depending on need. Individuals applying should be reliable, physically able to lift 75 pounds and be able to work flexible and early morning hours. The position will remain open until filled.
  • Transit Driver – The Transit Division of the Department of Public Works is looking for a few people who love driving and providing excellent customer service to the community. Click on the link for more information on hours and qualifications. The position will remain open until filled and all applicants are welcomed.

 

For more information, visit the Employment Opportunities section on the City of Muscatine web site. The City of Muscatine is an equal employment affirmative action employer.

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