Under the Water Tower Lovilia News

March 3, 2011

Community Betterment Committee Meets Mar 11

Filed under: Uncategorized — Susan Beary @ 7:23 pm

I made an error in an earlier article on the blog about this meeting.  It is correctly set for Mar.11, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. at the Lovilia Community Building.

We invite Lovilia residents who would like to help maintain the community building and help with ideas to benefit the town to join us for our meeting and share their ideas.

We applied for money the state sends to all counties that is part of the profits from Iowa casinos.  The local group that decides who gets the money and how much is a foundation in Albia.  We will see how much money if any they gave us and decide which maintenance projects to apply it to got this year.

Shelby Wuebker makes Dean’s List

Shelby Wuebker, daughter of Kevin and Roxanne, was named to the dean’s list at Iowa State University in Ames.  This means a full time student with a B plus or better grade average.  Good work Shelby.  We are proud of you.

Kevin Keegel Opens a Business in Albia

Kevin, son of Jim and the late Donna Keegel, of rural Lovilia has opened a sporting store in Albia called Bluff Creek Archery.

He is offering archery leagues and if interested you can call him at 641-932-2422.  He and C.J. Hughes who works for Lake Miami recently sponsored an ice fishing tournament at Lake Miami.

Drop in and see what he has to offer.  It is great to see these outdoor  activities being offered at our nearby gem, Lake Miami.

Albia Business of the Year Owned by Lovilia Couple

Accent Floral and Gifts is owned by Tom and Carol Chamberlain.

They opened in Lovilia five years ago in what years ago was the Amsberry grocery store building ( which has since then burned to the ground).  They operated a lovely store there for almost a year but decided to move to Albia to reduce the cost of delivering flowers and to serve a larger customer base.

They sell flowers, gifts, greeting cards, Iowa wines, and candy they make on site.  Tom also runs the Gas N Go convenience store and the car wash here in Lovilia.  He also runs a carwash in Albia and Centerville.   Congratulations to both Tom and Carol !

Manser Family House Fire in December

Manser’s home is the home on the South end built by Marvin Franzen.  In December they had a fire in the kitchen that resulted in some smoke and water damage.  They are currently renting another home in Lovilia but hope to return to their home when repair work is finished.  We hope they can do so soon.

City has the 2010 Census Results

Lovilia had 583 residents in the 2000 census.  The 2010 numbers show we lost 45 citizens and now have a total of 538.

Many of them are young people who left town to pursue education and jobs such as my three children.  Our biggest problem in rural Iowa are jobs which provide a living wage for a family.  If you can find an answer for that Lovilia could grow once more.

Another way we could grow is for baby boomers to move home to their hometown.  Several people did that about thirty years ago but none recently.  At that time Catherine Ross and her husband Bob retired from the big city to here and so did her brother and wife, Joe and Elizabeth Carr.  They were a great addition to town.  Catherine along with Eleanora Sofranko coauthored both the Lovilia History book and the St. Peter’s Church History book.  Joe helped me put out a  Lovilia News paper periodically for two years.

So baby boomers come home!!  Why?  We have low cost housing, great building sites, low taxes,  low crime rate , free parking, and low traffic.

We have fire protection , city water,city sewer, gas, electricity, phone service, high speed internet, garbage collection, and cable TV.

We have our own bank, post office, funeral home, two convenience stores, two taverns, music recording studio, and music teacher (guitar, piano, drums,etc.).  We have our headstart school( they can use senior volunteers).  We have a senior citizen meal site where you can have a superb meal and visit with friends on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday if you like.  Or you can drop in occasionally.  We have three churches,  United Methodist, Catholic, and one non-denominational.  We have two tire repair shops that also sell new tires and do some car services and one sells live bait for fisherman going to ponds or Lake Miami.  We are near two of the best recreation lakes in Iowa, Red Rock and Rathbun.

WE are one hour from any culture, shopping, government, etc. at the state Capitol of Des Moines.

We have the best of both worlds.  A beautiful quiet pastoral setting and proximity to anything else you want with just a 60 mile trip.  Save money and enjoy safe friendly country living and move home to Lovilia.  We welcome you.

St. Peter’s Lenten Services

Stations of the Cross will be at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays starting Mar. 15th.

Food pantry donations will be collected as usual at the first weekend mass of each month.

Mar.8, Tuesday there will be a Fat Tuesday Potluck supper in the rectory basement starting at 7pm.  Bring a dish to share and come for fellowship.

Ash Wednesday mass will be at 6pm.

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