This year marks the 50th year of the Kalona Fall Festival.  What a wonderful community event that allows us to showcase not only our history through the Historical Village but what Kalona has to offer today.  The board along with the director Nancy Roth and volunteers have worked hard to make this year a wonderful event.  I’d encourage you to come down and enjoy some wonderful food and entertainment and take a tour through the buildings and grounds and see first-hand the changes that have been taking place. 

On Friday, September 23, the Historical Village will be providing fireworks display for the community in honor of the 50th Fall Festival Anniversary.  The Richmond Shooters will begin the show at between 9:00 and 9:10 p.m.

Saturday the 24 at 2:00 p.m. at the Fall Festival on the stage the city will be presenting this year’s Community Awards to five very deserving recipients.  This is an exciting way to honor those individuals and business that have a positive impact on our community.

This week if you drive by the student-built home project at 721 6th Street you are likely to see a for sale sign in the yard.  Students, volunteers, local businesses and staff have worked hard since June to bring this project to completion.  There have been two major goals with the project.  Student participation in the trades and rehabilitation of a home with the goal of providing an affordable path to home ownership for an income qualified individual or family. 

We were successful in our first goal in rehabilitation and now we will work with our listing agent Kalona Realty, Inc. in helping us achieve our second goal.  Those interested in the home and income qualifications can go to kalonarealty.com or cityofkalona.com.  The home will list at $ 180,000 and through a grant from the East Central Iowa Housing Trust Fund we are able to offer $25,000 of down payment assistance for qualified income eligible buyers.   

The home is early 1900’s and has been remodeled to include 3 bed / 2 bath.  Improvements include the new kitchen with new Whirlpool appliances, laundry room with new front load whirlpool washer and dryer, both bathrooms were redone, addition of central air, two car garage, new concrete driveway, sidewalks and landscaping. 

We have seen so many positives from our collaborative efforts with our school districts, local businesses that were willing to give of their time and resources to the students that helped bring this project to reality.  Plans are in the works with the hopes of finding a new project for the Summer of ‘23.  Should you want to see pictures of the project from start to finish you can go to the city of Kalona website and beginning Thursday the 15th we will have a slide show to show the “before and afters”.

After we get through Fall Festival, we will be doing some concrete work downtown.  This will include the intersection of B and 6th that was not included in the 2010 streetscape project.  We will remove and replace with concrete and provide an ADA accessibility to the sidewalks on the east side of the intersection.  As well we will be doing a remove and replace of concrete curb and gutter and sidewalks in front of the city owned building that houses the Kalona Post Office. 

This fall we are excited to be able to offer curb side leaf pick up to the residents of Kalona.  We did a small run in the spring but anticipate a busy fall with the program.  As we get closer to the pick-up dates, we will work to communicate numerous ways to the public through social media, message board on 5th street, Kalona website, water bills and through The News.  Please keep an eye out for dates, time as well as the rules and regulations for the program.

Both Friday and Saturday of the Fall Festival as you enter the grounds through the visitors center you will see a booth by the City of Kalona, Washington County Conservation and our design partners MSA.  The goal of this booth is to outline and garner public input into trails, community connectivity and current and future parks amenities.  Please stop by as you pass through the visitors center and take a look and offer up your thoughts to the group.