Announcing the Winners of the 13th Annual Keep Iowa Beautiful Photo Contest

Thank you to all of the talented photographers who entered the Keep Iowa Beautiful 13th Annual Photography Contest!

This was an incredibly competitive contest, with over 600 photos submitted, capturing Iowa’s beauty from river to river. 

A panel of judges has determined the first, second, and third prize winners in each category. To view the winning photos for yourself, check out our website!

Iowa Cities: 

First Place: “Elkader Iowa at Sunrise From Lovers Leap Park”, Brian Gibbs of Elkader

Second Place: “City of Dubuque in fall from Mississippi River Dock”, Janet Abrahamson of Centerville

Third Place: “Shattering Silence and the beautiful Des Moines skyline”, Adam McHenry of Windsor Heights

Honorable Mention: “Iowa State Capitol”, Steve Dunn of Des Moines

Iowa Landscapes: 

First Place: “Early Morning Fog”, Drue Powers of Red Oak

Second Place: “Frosty Farmstead”, Brian Gibbs of Elkader

Third Place: “Farms and rolling hills of Western Iowa”, Todd Cogdill of Ankeny

Honorable Mention: “A Rural Farmland Sunrise”, Arthur Davis of Bay Minette

Iowa Water: 

First Place: “Malanaphy Springs”, Dave Austin of Ankeny

Second Place: “Sunrise Through the Trees”, William Beardsley of Estherville

Third Place: “Cedar River”, Mark Gromko of Iowa City

Honorable Mention: "River Rally Refection", Scott Hoag of De Witt

Iowa Wildlife: 

First Place: “The Squad”, Jesse Streinz of Iowa City

Second Place: “Young Buck in the Sunset”, Benjamin Neff of Beaman

Third Place: “Bison”, Silas Hanneman of Altoona

Honorable Mention: “Canvasback Eruption”, William Beardsley of Estherville

Iowans in Action: 

First Place: “Solo Harvest”, Anji Bennett of Iowa City

Second Place: “Fishermen at Dusk”, William Beardsley of Estherville

Third Place: “Old Glory at Sunrise on Ragbrai”, Brian Gibbs of Elkader

Honorable Mention: "Color the Wind Kite Festival", Mark Iwig of Johnston

Additionally, Keep Iowa Beautiful is proud to announce the winners of the Robert D. Ray Best of Show contest and the Social Media Favorite award.

The Robert D. Ray Best of Show winners:

First Place: “The Squad”, Jesse Streinz of Iowa City

Second Place: “Early Morning Fog”, Drue Powers of Red Oak

Third Place: “Elkader Iowa at Sunrise From Lovers Leap Park”, Brian Gibbs of Elkader

Social Media Favorite winner:

“Elkader Iowa at Sunrise From Lovers Leap Park”, Brian Gibbs of Elkader

Congratulations to our winners! Check out the first-place winners below!

13th Annual Iowa Cities 1st Place, Robert D. Ray Best of Show 3rd Place, and Social Media Favorite: Brian Gibbs of Elkader

13th Annual Iowa Wildlife 1st Place and Robert D. Ray Best of Show 1st Place: Jesse Streinz of West Branch

13th Annual Iowans in Action 1st Place: Anti Bennet of Lake View

13th Annual Iowa Landscapes 1st Place and Robert D. Ray Best of Show 2nd Place: Drue Powers of Red Oak

13th Annual Iowa Water 1st Place: Dave Austin of Ankeny

On February 8th, the Keep Iowa Beautiful Board of Directors held their annual planning meeting. In this meeting, the Board voted to renew 3-year terms for Reo Menning (Chair) and Tom Hanafan (Member).

The Keep Iowa Beautiful Board of Directors also held elections for Officers for 2023. Congratulations to Reo Menning (pictured on the right) on being re-elected as Board Chair, Mike Richardson for being re-elected as Vice Chair, and Doug Shull for being re-elected as Treasurer. Additionally, the Board congratulates Liesl Seabert for being newly elected as Secretary.

The Board would also like to thank three longstanding members of Keep Iowa Beautiful for their service to the board as they end their terms- Scott Smith, Jeffrey Badger, and Steve Falck.

Information on current Keep Iowa Beautiful Board Members can be found here: https://keepiowabeautiful.org/about-us/board/

Hometown Pride Updates

Check out some of the great work happening in our Hometown Pride Communities!

Video provided by WOI-TV

Have you submitted your application for the Iowa Grocery Industry Association’s Build With Bags Grant Program? You still have time - The application deadline is March 30!

The primary goal of Build with Bags is to tackle an environmental concern that has been receiving a great deal of attention – the use of plastic (and to some degree) shopping bags. To address this issue, the Build with Bags program has defined four primary goals:

1. Reduce the consumption of plastic bags,
2. Encourage the use of reusable bags,
3. Increase the amount of plastic bags recycled, and
4. Establish a grant program to aid parks and schools in purchasing products made of recycled plastic bags

By providing a monetary incentive for communities to develop their plastic bag recycling efforts, and directing grant awards to purchase products made of recycled plastic bags for their schools and parks, the fund both decreases plastic in landfills or as litter and increases demand for recycled plastic products.

The Build with Bags program is a cooperative effort of the Iowa Grocery Industry Association, Keep Iowa Beautiful, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Metro Waste Authority, and Plastic Recycling of Iowa Falls.

To learn more and apply, visit the Iowa Grocery Industry Association’s website: 

Derelict Building Grant Program Applications Open

Don't forget! FY23 applications for the Iowa DNR's Derelict Building Grant are TONIGHT, Friday, February 24, 2023, for applicants seeking funding assistance with conducting asbestos inspections, asbestos abatement, structural engineering analysis, phase I and phase II site assessments, building deconstruction, and building renovation expenses.

IN 2022, The DNR Derelict Building Grant Program awarded grants to nine small, rural Iowa communities to help deconstruct or renovate abandoned structures, remove asbestos, and limit construction and demolition materials going to the landfill.

The DNR Derelict Building Grant Program was instituted by statute to help rural communities with populations of 5,000 or fewer remove environmental hazards, improve community appearance, and minimize costs by recycling and reusing building materials through deconstruction or renovation of abandoned, derelict buildings.

DBGP funding is awarded annually on a competitive basis with cash matches required. 

To learn more and start your community’s application click here.

Social Media Submissions

Keep Iowa Beautiful wants to share your community’s good news!

Are you proud of a completed project in your town? Do you want to show off a new mural in your downtown? Did you host a fun, exciting event for your community? We want to know about it!

Click on the button below to share short descriptions of events, projects, or news from your town! You can include pictures and captions as well. Keep Iowa Beautiful will share your post on our social media!

You Can Stop Litter!

You can help reduce litter in Iowa! 

When you see litter happening on Iowa’s roadways, call 1-888-NOLITTR (1-888-665-4887) to report littering from a vehicle.  

Please provide as much detail about the incident as possible: 

• License plate number  
• Time and specific location (street & city) 
• What was thrown from the vehicle 
• A vehicle description (color, make and model) 

Reported offenders will receive a warning letter from Keep Iowa Beautiful drawing attention to their offense. This sends the message that people, like you, are watching.