Hey folks don’t give up – winter is about over. I’ve seen some robins this week and a lot of geese are pairing up. Craig is busy getting baby calves on the farm. All good signs that spring is coming! It has been a hard winter with near record snowfall and a blizzard this month. We had about 15 motorists stranded here in Gladbrook the last of February when the roads were blocked. You couldn’t get to Waterloo on any road from Hwy 14 to D21 at Dysart. It is great to have people here in town who came to the rescue of these stranded travelers. Casey’s was quick to bring them pizza and donuts that night and brought food again the next morning. Mark and Linda Lowry along with others were there with bedding, cots, sleeping bags and other things to make the strangers comfortable. Naturally, there was plenty of food brought in also. Thanks to all of you for your help and showing that Gladbrook is a very caring town. With all the snow we have had here in Gladbrook, both Mark Lowry and Scott Humphrey have put in a lot of overtime in getting our streets clean – usually before most of us are up and going. I know that most of the time these guys are up and going at 4:00AM and continue until the job is done – sometimes late in the evening. Thank them when you see them. Also when it comes to snow removal Scott Schmidt and David Schmitz are out in good time to get the snow hauled off the streets. These guys go the extra mile in getting the streets done right and are always willing to help where they are needed. Thank you guys for your services! Naturally, with all the extra snow this winter it is hard on the street budget. We didn’t get our streets oiled and sealed last summer so we do have that money left for street repairs. This is scheduled for July 1 this year. Your city council and Jackie have been working on the next year’s budget and it is now finished. There are no new surprises. Jackie has done an excellent job in leading the council on this large task. I want to congratulate the Gladbrook American Legion and Auxiliary on the 100th birthday. This is a very large accomplishment. First, thank you all who are members and gave your time to serve and protect our country and our people. Also for all the different services you have done for Gladbrook to make it a better place to live and raise our families. I hope you are around for many more years! Thank you! Jo and I were gone for a couple of weeks and it is always great to get home to Gladbrook and see that everything is going good. It was fun to get in 80 to 90 degree heat but it’s great to get home away from the Florida traffic where you might be stuck in a traffic jam and then next trying to keep up with the traffic flow going 75 to 80mph. It is also nice to see all the cars in town on Friday and Saturday nights thanks to the theatre, bowling alley and Spanky’s. Keep up the good work! Finally on March 28 Beth and the Public Library will be hosting a program at the library on the prisoner of war camps in Iowa given by Linda Betsinger McCann. Linda was at the library last fall and gave a talk on Prohibition in Eastern Iowa. She is a very interesting speaker and has written several books on Eastern Iowa history.

Keith Sash, Mayor