Clinton County Hometown Pride Coach and Community Recognized in the Clinton Herald

Francis Boggus, Clinton County Hometown Pride's coach, was recently interviewed by the Clinton Herald newspaper in honor of the great projects the community has completed recently.

Among these projects is a new statue memorializing Duke Slater, planned to be erected across from Clinton High School this spring. the group has created several other incredible projects, including the Clinton County Walk of Fame, a banner program honoring the hometown heroes of Camanche expanded into Clinton, and a digital sign in Camanche’s Central Park, and a new fundraising initiative for a community splash pad.

Boggus is a planning professional with more than 12 years as a board-based community specialist at the local, state, and national level. He has experience in community development and engagement; grant writing and management; board development and training; community visioning, fundraising, project implementation; and heritage tourism development. Boggus has served as the Clinton County coach for over five years.

Keep Iowa Beautiful Welcomes New Executive Director, Andy Frantz

The Keep Iowa Beautiful Board of Directors has appointed Andrew J. Frantz as the new Executive Director of Keep Iowa Beautiful. He began his duties on November 1, 2022.

“The board is very pleased to have Andy join Keep Iowa Beautiful, boosting our efforts to make Iowa’s communities better places to live, work and raise a family,” said Reo Menning, Chair of the KIB Board of Directors. “Andy has a long history in providing outstanding leadership, strong management, organizational development and revenue growth.”

“I look forward to working with the Keep Iowa Beautiful team of dedicated Board members, staff and coaches as KIB continues to improve the cultural and economic vitality of our Iowa communities,” said Andy Frantz. “Programs like Hometown Pride and Paint Iowa Beautiful provide foundational and innovative resources to help communities thrive.” 

After a long career with Principal Financial Group as Assistance Vice President, Frantz joined Frantz Community Investors, a family-owned commercial real estate development company. Most recently he collaborated with his brothers, forming a new commercial real estate entity focused on restoration of historic hotels.

Frantz lives in Pleasant Hill. He enjoys sports of any kind, exercise, outdoor activities and spending time with his family and friends.

Andy can be reached at afrantz@keepiowabeautiful.org.

Keep Iowa Beautiful Scholarships Now Open!

Applications are now open for Keep Iowa Beautiful’s scholarship program. Keep Iowa Beautiful will award three $1,000 scholarships to Iowa high school seniors in 2023 who plan to enroll in an Iowa college or university. 

The scholarships are in honor of three pioneers in Keep Iowa Beautiful’s 22-year history:



Bob Byers--Educator. Through Bob’s leadership, KIB’s Litter-Free School Campus program was started in NW Iowa. His dedication to young people and environmental concerns was a driving force encouraging young people to help improve their community.

William Fultz—Keep Iowa Beautiful Founding Board Member and artist. Bill started an advertising agency that became the largest agricultural advertising agency in the world.

Gerald Schnepf—Keep Iowa Beautiful Founding Executive Director. Gerry’s career spanned 50 years of making Iowa a better place to live, work and raise a family.

The Byers scholarship is supporting high school students who plan to enroll and study environmental science, community development, landscape architecture or architecture (historical emphasis) or community planning and sustainability.

The Schnepf scholarship will be awarded to a senior who has a record of community service and a desire to continue to support and contribute to the enhancement of the place they live and work.  College programs could include community & regional planning and volunteer management.

The Fultz scholarship will be awarded to a senior planning on studying communications, public relations and/or marketing.  

“Keep Iowa Beautiful strives to foster positive values in younger generations, instilling the importance of caring for your community. Throughout our programming, especially through Hometown Pride, we encourage respect for home, neighborhood, community and state,” said Andy Frantz, Keep Iowa Beautiful Executive Director, “Awarding scholarships to youth who intend to continue caring for their Iowan communities during their collegiate lives helps us foster this passion while giving back to those who call this state home.”

Since the founding of the scholarship program, Keep Iowa Beautiful has awarded $54,000 to 64 students. Applications are due February 10, 2023 with notification in March.

For more information or to apply online go to:

https://keepiowabeautiful.org/grants-awards/scholarship/    

Pick Up Iowa events are happening all over the state! Read about a few communities below! 

Don't Forget- The 13th Annual Keep Iowa Beautiful Photo Contest is Open!

Iowans have the next six months to grab their cameras, or phones, and enter one or all of the five categories.  

The two-phase contest begins now with entry deadline on December 17, 2022. Each of the five categories will be awarded 1st place: $100, 2nd place: $75, and 3rd place: $50.  

January 15-29, 2023, the five first-place winners will be featured on Keep Iowa Beautiful social media for voting and selecting the Public Favorite Photo.  The winner will receive an additional $100.  The Robert D. Ray Best of Show Awards, determined by a distinguished panel, will also be announced at that time.  The Robert D. Ray Best of Show award amounts are as follows; 1st place: $500, 2nd place: $250 and 3rd place: $100.

The five categories are:

Iowa Landscape

Capture Iowa’s beauty through depictions of Iowa’s landscape, including but not limited to: farm fields, rolling hills, and wooded forests.

Iowa Water 

Feature Iowa’s beautiful water systems with depictions of Iowa rivers, streams, ponds and lakes.

Iowa Cities

Iowa’s urban centers are hubs of history, culture, and beauty. This category features depictions of Iowa’s cities, street scenes, and urban landmarks.

Iowans in Action

This category aims to capture the spirit of Iowa through depictions of the people that live, work, and play in Iowa.  All means of action that can be captured: biking, running, fishing, hunting and hiking are but a few. 

Iowa Wildlife

Iowa is home to a variety of beautiful critters. This category aims to showcase Iowa’s beauty through depictions of Iowa’s wildlife animals: mammals, fish, birds, bugs and more!

A $5 fee is required for each photo entered.  Contest rules and entry guidelines are on KIB’s website: www.keepiowabeautiful.com/photograph-contest/

Iowa Cities 1st Place: Sharon Scarff of Wayland

Iowa Wildlife 1st Place: William Beardsley of Estherville

Iowa Water 1st Place: Scott Hoag of De Witt

Governor Reynolds Declares November 15 Iowa Recycles Day

As part of a nationwide push to encourage more sustainable living, Governor Kim Reynolds signed a proclamation today declaring Tuesday, November 15 Iowa Recycles Day.

In her proclamation, the governor noted that reducing, reusing, and recycling waste is important to “ensure a cleaner, greener state for future generations.”  Building on that theme, she wrote “on this day we renew our commitment to making environmentally conscious changes in our lives so that our children and grandchildren can live that better, cleaner future.”

With the proclamation, Iowa joins other states across the country encouraging sustainability initiatives in honor of America Recycles Day, which is also on November 15. This is the only day nationally recognized to celebrating and promoting recycling in the country.

Governor Reynolds further recognized the Iowa Recycling Association and Keep Iowa Beautiful for playing leading roles in promoting the protection of Iowa’s natural resources and quality of life. Both groups applauded the governor for promoting recycling statewide.

“The Iowa Recycling Association strives to advance effective recycling by sharing resources, education, and advocacy opportunities,” said Iowa Recycling Association President Elizabeth Mackenzie. “Iowa Recycles Day moves us closer to achieving our vision where every material in the state can be reused or recycled and is put to its best use!”

“Keep Iowa Beautiful is excited to join a nationwide recycling program,” said Keep Iowa Beautiful Executive Director Andy Frantz. “Iowa Recycling Day is an opportunity to continue our commitment to clean, strong communities across the state,” he added. “Through programs such as Hometown Pride, our commitment to assist communities as they tackle challenges related to littering, recycling, and beautification remains a top priority.  We are thrilled to join Iowa Recycling Association’s call to end littering, build recycling programs, reduce waste, educate the public on sustainability issues, and make Iowa’s communities better to live.”

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.