Announcing the Winners of the 14th Annual Keep Iowa Beautiful Photo Contest

Thank you to all of the talented photographers who entered the Keep Iowa Beautiful 14th Annual Photography Contest!

This was an incredibly competitive contest, with over 600 photos submitted, capturing Iowa’s beauty across our great state.

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: "Sunset at Gray's Lake," Terry Holdren of Cumming

Second Place: "Market Night in Downtown Webster City, Iowa," Kent Bailey of Webster City

Third Place: "Iowa City Fireworks," Jesse Streinz of West Branch

Honorable Mention: “Springtime at Kinnick," Jacob Hannon of Iowa City

Iowa Landscapes: 

First Place: “A Misty Sunrise at Hitchcock," Buck Christensen of Council Bluffs

Second Place: “Iowa Landscape," Adam Orgler of Johnston

Third Place: “Fields of Gold," Craig McPeck of Omaha

Honorable Mention: “Springtime Storm," Heather Johnson of Ankeny

Iowa Water: 

First Place: “Majestic Sunrise," William Beardsley of Estherville

Second Place: “Red Boat on Briggs Woods Lake," Kent Bailey of Webster City

Third Place: “Boy Scout Island Reflected at Sunrise," Buck Christensen of Council Bluffs

Honorable Mention: "Connecting the City," Silas Hanneman of Altoona

Iowa Wildlife: 

First Place: “Sleepy Barred Owl," Eric Burson of Des Moines

Second Place: “The Space Between," Grant Webster of Indianola

Third Place: “Sunset Buck," Eric Williamson of Des Moines

Honorable Mention: “Shy Raccoon," Adam Orgler of Johnston

Iowans in Action: 

First Place: “Exiting the Mines," Brandt Culbertson of Dubuque

Second Place: “Bringing in the Harvest," Sharon Scarff of Wayland

Third Place: “Flying Clowns," Andy Repp of Ankeny

Honorable Mention: "A Devilish Dance in the Iowa Sky," Chris Ewan of Ames

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: “A Misty Sunrise at Hitchcock," Buck Christensen of Council Bluffs

Second Place: “Majestic Sunrise," William Beardsley of Estherville

Third Place: “Sleepy Barred Owl," Eric Burson of Des Moines

Social Media Favorite winner:

“Majestic Sunrise," William Beardsley of Estherville

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

Iowa Cities 1st Place

"Sunset at Gray's Lake," Terry Holdren of Cumming

Iowa Landscapes 1st Place and Robert D. Ray Best of Show 1st Place

“A Misty Sunrise at Hitchcock," Buck Christensen of Council Bluffs

Iowa Water 1st Place, Robert D. Ray Best of Show 2nd Place, and Social Media Favorite Winner

“Majestic Sunrise," William Beardsley of Estherville

Iowa Wildlife 1st Place and Robert D. Ray Best of Show 3rd Place

“Sleepy Barred Owl," Eric Burson of Des Moines

Iowans in Action 1st Place

“Exiting the Mines," Brandt Culbertson of Dubuque

Can't get enough of these beautiful photos? Check out the full list of winners on the Keep Iowa Beautiful website!

On February 14th, the Keep Iowa Beautiful Board of Directors held their annual planning meeting. In the meeting, the Board voted to renew 3-year terms for Geri Huser, Mike Richardson, and Nate Westre.

The Keep Iowa Beautiful Board of Directors also held elections for Officers for 2024. Congratulations to Doug Shull (pictured on the right) on being elected as Board Chair, Mike Richardson for being re-elected as Vice Chair, and Liesl Seabert for being re-elected as Secretary.

The Board is also thrilled to welcome three new board members: Lee Bissmeyer, Brittany Morales, and Loretta Sieman. 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!

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 29!

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 disposable 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: https://www.iowagrocers.com/build-with-bags-grant-application.html

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.