Coca-Cola Days 2018 will be held September 28th and 29th in Downtown Atlantic. The event is the second largest collectors’ show in the United States and includes a tailgate barbecue open to the public, a Show Swap & Sell, “On the Road with Coca-Cola Raffle” and many more activities for all ages.

Coca Cola Days 2018 T-shirt

This year’s feature theme is, “On the Road with Coca-Cola”. T-Shirts for the 2018 Coca-Cola Days Celebration are now available for $16 at the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce, 102 Chestnut Street, from 8 AM – 5 PM, Monday – Friday. T-shirts can be shipped for an additional fee.

For more information on Coca-Cola Days or a full list of activities, please visit www.cocacoladays.com, call the Atlantic Area Chamber of Commerce at 712-243-3017 or email chamber@atlanticiowa.com. 2018 Coca-Cola Days brochures are also available at the Chamber or local merchants.

As Iowans prepare to decorate the graves of their loved ones this Memorial Day, some cities are struggling with cemeteries that are running out of space. Iowa State University’s Carlton Basmajian is one of the few planners who studies cemetery use. “One thing that we’ve noticed just as I’ve working on this stuff as researcher for several years — is that a lot of communities don’t talk about it,” Basmajian says. “So the problem in a lot of places is running out of space. I mean, not every place of course, but that’s kind of the typical problem.” He’s an associate professor of community and regional planning, and says city leaders are the only ones who avoid the subject.

Basmajian says the public doesn’t really bring the issue of cemetery space up, so it is less visible than you might expect. Basmajian says part of the issue is the general discomfort people sometimes have with talking about death. But he says the issue of creating more cemetery space goes deeper than that. “It’s also a tricky land-use issue because you are talking about creating the case of a cemetery at least — whether it be for a full body burial or for scattering cremains or whatever — you’re talking about creating a relatively permanent use in the community. And depending on the circumstances, that would be land that would otherwise be valuable for development,” according to Basmajian. For rapidly expanding areas, giving up prime development ground to expand a cemetery isn’t an easy sell.

“So it’s kind of a double edge, I think there’s the creepiness factor, but there’s also the issue of allocating land to something that’s not going to be especially profitable for a very long time,” Basmajian says. Many cities have found their cemeteries that used to be on the edge of town are now surrounded by development and there is no room for expansion. That’s a concern for keeping those operations running. “‘With cemeteries the major generator of revenue is the cost of selling land and burying people. And if you don’t have land to sell…if the burial plots are all full, then you’ve run into kind of a financial issue too,” according to Basmajian. “You have this big plot of land that’s got to be managed, it’s got all this infrastructure in it which is fragile out in the weather all the time. And you don’t really have an easy revenue source to keep it up.”

He says most communities haven’t built a cemetery since the 1950s, so there’s been more than half a century of no expansion and no planning. Basmajian says as the baby boomers grow older, this is going to be a major issue in the next 30 years.

(Radio Iowa)

“To put a positive spin on it, we’re considering it “a blessing in disguise”. That’s how Danish Windmill Manager Lisa Steen Riggs described getting the news that there was significant wood rot in the sheer beams of the Mill’s cap frame.  Just ten days ago, the reconstruction phase of the Mill’s major restoration project began with historic millwright, Ben Hassett, returning to Elk Horn to install the new wind shaft and brake wheel on the 1848 Danish Windmill. Over the next several days, the turret and cap frame were to be re-roofed while Hassett returned to his Kentucky workshop to bring back the new 67’ long new sails for the Mill.

The horizontal beams are apart of the cap frame that supports the Cap. The black and white picture is of the cap frame from 40 years ago.

Unfortunately, during the roof replacement, once the sheathing and flashing was removed, significant deterioration was discovered in the principal structural members of the cap frame, known as sheers. The sheer beams run from the front of the Mill supporting the weather beam (which carries the weight of the sails and gearing), to the rear of the Mill where the sheers extend outside and support the wind shaft and drive train.

Because they carry the entirety of the weight of the sails, fantail and roof structure, the severity of the deterioration will involve the removal of the cap from the structure. “During the initial inspection, I thought that the areas could be epoxy consolidated and structural steel added to help reinforce the damaged areas,” said millwright Hassett. “Upon implementation of the repairs, it became obvious that the rot in the beams is significantly more extensive than initially thought. As the decayed sections were removed, more than 50% of the beams are missing at the critical load bearing areas. Unfortunately the intended repairs were not possible, as there was not enough area and section of beam left to reinforce and we’ll need to remove the cap from the structure.”

“Given the age and complexity of the Windmill, we anticipated there could be some unexpected complications such as this,” said Riggs. “It’s disappointing that the sails won’t be up for Tivoli Fest this weekend, but we are so fortunate that the structural damage was uncovered during the re-roofing before the new sails were installed.”  The old cap frame will be removed once replacement timbers have been located. After the structural integrity of the cap is restored, the new wings will be installed. The Mill is launching a financial appeal for this new phase of the restoration project and welcomes tax deductible donations of any amount. The Mill is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

(Press Release)