Latest news with #CoveredBridgeFestival
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
For homeless Iowans, Jefferson charity turns garbage into grace
JEFFERSON, Iowa — An enemy of every roadside, landfill, and recycling center in Iowa has become a welcome gift to homeless Iowans thanks to a charity in Jefferson. The Midwest Mission, just off the town square, has found a way to give a new life to discarded plastic grocery bags. 'They're going to be in a landfill or blowing across a field soon,' said Alaire Willits of the Midwest Mission. 'We turn them into something useful.' Willits and volunteers at the Mission use a large, homemade loom to weave the bags into durable, waterproof sleeping mats. The mats are then sent to homeless outreach organizations throughout the state. 'They'll take as many as we can give them,' said Danille Curtis, the Mission's public relations director. 'They're waterproof and only weigh about seven pounds.' Nearly a thousand bags and 25 'man hours' go into each mat, but the result is a comfortable (and often colorful) pad that can be easily rolled up and carried. Man, dog rescued from Avon Lake after falling through ice When WHO 13 accompanied volunteers of the Urban Bicycle Food Ministry earlier this month, they handed out over 40 of the mats to homeless Iowans who'd otherwise be sleeping on the ground (often in frigid temperatures.) While the work that goes into weaving each mat is extensive, Willits says Iowans have found a way to make it fun. 'What's happening in many churches,' she said, 'is the women will come in at 9 o'clock on Tuesday morning and sit and talk and weave and cut bags and talk and have some coffee—and they're in mission. Their hands are engaged. And in many churches, this is older women. It's something that they can do.' The Mission takes the left-over plastic bag scraps and delivers them to the Winterset Lions Club, which has them made into park benches for the Covered Bridge Festival by outdoor furniture company, NexTrex. While the Midwest Mission says its supply of grocery bags is currently full, it encourages everyone to recycle their clean, dry plastic grocery bags at recycling receptacles inside area grocery and hardware stores. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Old Bridgeton Mill for sale
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — The Old Bridgeton Mill is a main stop for so many guests during the Covered Bridge Festival, but the owners are making some changes this coming summer. Since 1995, Mike and Karen Roe have had the Bridgeton Mill open seven days a week, from April until December. It is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the state of Indiana. Recently, the Roe's have put the mill up for sale. Mike Roe said the everyday labor has taken its toll on them physically. 'The grinding, handling those heavy bags of grain and flower and cornmeal, it has just gotten to be too much me', Roe said. 'Then my wife runs the bakery, and she also runs the snack shop.' He said he knows he is making the right decision, but it wasn't easy. 'It took me a month or more to actually accept this', Roe said. 'It has been a dream come true.' Although the Roe's do not know who the buyer will be yet, they are hopeful the new owners will carry on the tradition of the mill. Mike has even offered to help them in the process. 'I'm really hoping the news owners will want to carry on', Roe said. 'I will come in, if they want, and help them with the machinery.' The Roe's thank everyone who has worked at, volunteered, or just stopped by to visit the mill, as it has created so many memories for their family. 'It's been a wonderful, wonderful adventure', Roe said. 'We love this place, our family loves this place, but it's time.' Roe said the mill has been open, at least close to, every year since 1823 and although his time is done there, he hopes the families continue to make memories there for years to come. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
