Home Care In Steamboat Rock, IA

If you go: What: The Nadas acoustic duo When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3 Where: Chief Theater, 813 Lincoln Ave. Tickets: $15

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS – There’s no magic formula. Guidelines and roadmaps – those wouldn’t help either.

When it comes to keeping a band together for 25 years, there’s no saying what could happen.

But for Jason Walsmith, who started the group with Mike Butterworth in 1995, it takes saying “yes.”

“One thing we did early on that I think grows out of that place where a lot of bands never get past is we really said ‘yes’ to everything,” said Walsmith, a member of the Nadas, a folk rock group hailing from Des Moines, Iowa. “Nothing was beneath us, and we weren’t too good for any venue.”

Recently inducted into the Iowa Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, the indie folk rock group was described as “The Best College Band You’ve Never Heard Of” by Playboy Magazine, and this weekend, they plan to take listeners on a road trip full of stories from their travels and years of touring the country.

Back in town, The Nadas will bring their show to the Chief Theater stage at 7 p.m. Saturday.

“When someone asks me what kind of music The Nadas play, I generally respond with they are an all American rock ’n’ roll band that makes you want to drink whiskey,” said a booking agent with B. Smith Presents. “Their songs are generally true life experience stories that make you want to laugh at times. A lot of them related to what you have experienced in your life ,and they just put the experiences into songs.”

As the last song on their newly released album “One Louder” reminisces, “I remember clearly having to make a choice: tell stories with a camera or with my voice, but I played guitar and I stayed up late – that was 1998.” The song is named “I’m Still Here.”

“I think if people stopped listening and stopped caring I would still be making music, but it’s that energy, that fuel that keeps us out there in the public doing this,” Walsmith said.

When the group started at Iowa State University, the band was a no name and was merely a way to pass the time between studying and life as a college.

“We were playing anywhere we could,” Walsmith said. “Anything from sports bars, cafés, shops, malls, nursing homes, even a golf course.

“We never had a record deal or anything,” he said. “We kept doing what we were doing, and now, we have this really great, supportive fan base that’s stuck with us and kept us going since the beginning.”

Recording and releasing albums has forced the group to get creative.

“People say the industry has evolved,” Walsmith said. “I think it’s evolved 10 different times. At first it was record an album on tape and now you can record a song on your phone and within five minutes have it on iTunes. We didn’t have to rely on traditional marketing of a record through record companies because everyone who was a fan was paying attention all along and then telling their friends about it. ”

At the band’s 10^th anniversary, Walsmith said he was blown away and thought that alone was a good run. Now, here they are 25 years later. Still making records and selling out shows across the country.

“It’s wild to think back about the past 25 years,” he said. “But it’s always been about the music. So many fans fall victim thinking they should be further along than they are, but in reality at the most basic level, you really just have to do it for the joy of music.”

A woman and her teenage son had to call 911 last week after their kayaks became ensnared in a tangle of downed trees on the Iowa River, a spot that the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Hardin County Conservation are now warning the public to avoid if they’re planning to float or paddle the river.

Katherine Taylor and her 19-year-old son, Arthur Taylor, who have homes in Hampton and Des Moines, set out Friday to paddle 23 miles of the Iowa River, from just below the Iowa Falls dam, to Steamboat Rock. But about six miles from their destination, the pair ran into trouble.

Two trees have fallen across the river downstream from the Hardin City access point, just south of 170th Street near Sylvan Hill. The trees have created an obstruction that’s unnavigable, as Taylor and her son discovered. And, contributing to the danger, the banks of the river there are steep, making it impossible to portage around the obstruction. Katherine said by the time they realized it was impassable, she was able to steer clear of the trees, but it was too late for her son. As he was trying to make his way across the river to her, he got stuck in the trees. She tried to free him by tethering his kayak to hers.

“In the process of freeing him up, he tipped sideways and got pulled under,” Katherine said. When he surfaced, she was able to talk him through pulling himself up onto the trees, but she couldn't help him beyond that. He was exhausted and afraid. And Katherine's kayak had gotten stuck. “By some grace, I was able to have enough cell phone signal to make three calls.” Taylor called 911, she called her wife and she called a friend who works for the DNR.

Steamboat Rock First Responders got the page at about 5:20 p.m. Friday. Chief Scott Williams said he didn’t go on the call, but he spoke with firefighters who were there. The firefighters and a deputy from the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office made their way down to the river via a deer path. They established a rescue rope and got in the water to reach Arthur and put the rope and a safety vest around him.

“He was so afraid, he couldn’t move,” Williams said. “One firefighter said when he got to the tree, the current wasn’t bad, but any time he wanted to do something, it pulled him under. He said he felt uncomfortable doing what needed to be done.”

Katherine Taylor, who’s a seasoned kayaker, having paddled rivers and lakes in the U.S. and Canada, said she talked to her son about water safety before they set off on Friday.

“I started getting the ‘Yeah, Mom, I know, I know,’” she said. “I told him he needed to listen to me because Mom knows best. We talked about keeping life jackets on all the time, even when things are calm, and staying together and watching for hazards.”

Katherine said she was able to retrieve one of the kayaks with the help of a friend who works for the DNR, but the second kayak is still hung up on the trees.

Hardin County Conservation Director Wes Wiese said signs will be posted on upstream access points to warn boaters of the hazard, and the Iowa DNR has updated its online interactive paddling map to identify the obstruction. Wiese said it’s unclear how or when the trees might be cleared.

The world needs pipes. Whether for moving water through a faucet or for flushing waste down the toilet, underground pipes make the modern world move. When a world needs pipes, a world needs people who know pipes. People who can make sure that the toilets flush and that the waste goes wherever it is that waste goes. Paul Williams is one of those people.

“Basically, if it happens underground in the water or sewer industry, we do it. We pipe burst, we do hydro-excavation, pipe fusion, directional boring,” Williams said. “If it’s underground infrastructure, we do it.”

Although born in Northern California, Williams found his passion for the business in Alaska. “This was just something I got into, kind of on accident,” Williams said. “I always enjoyed working with water. When I ended up in Alaska, I got into the water industry there and sewer just kind of went along with it.”

After honing his craft up in the Last Frontier, Williams moved to Iowa 25 years ago. Somewhere around a decade after that, Williams Underground Services was born in Steamboat Rock and is now headquartered in Ackley.

“Smaller towns like Ackley, Steamboat Rock and Eldora don’t have enough people or equipment. We cater to them to ensure that when they have a water main break, a sewer issue or something like that, we can help them out,” Williams said. “We do a lot of work in Hubbard, Parkersburg, Aplington, it doesn’t matter. We kind of try to stay in this four-county area (Grundy, Butler, Franklin, Hardin). We’ve gone a bit farther than that a few times, but we’ve got all of the work we need in that smaller area.”

Williams Underground Services HQ lies on the westernmost edge of Ackley. HQ itself is a 6,000-square-foot shop, housing pieces of machinery big and small, all placed there to serve one purpose - getting the job done as quickly as possible.

“We started out with very little and I see things to make the jobs easier and more efficient. If I can make a job easier and more efficient, that’s a good thing and I will spend the money to make sure I have that equipment,” Williams said. “I’m always looking around for ways to make jobs more efficient because it’s good for the customer and the contractor. The less time I need to spend somewhere, whether it be a customer’s home or with the city, the better.”

Working underground is dirty by definition. When Williams has to fix a water pipe, he has to dig down into the dirt to reach the pipe, that’s a dirty job by any measure. Sometimes, though, what lies in the pipes beneath the dirt is even dirtier than dirt itself.

“The sewer work is definitely the dirtiest part of this job. You can look at it a couple of ways, but the most unappealing is definitely sewer. I’ve done things where I’ve had to stand in sewer lagoons up to my chest, things of that nature,” Williams said. “Sometimes we’ll get a basement that’s been backed up and no one’s been in it for a week. They’ll go off the bottom step and be ankle-deep in sewage. Those are not nice jobs.”

In a line of work that can have a to-do list of excavating tons of dirt, jumping down into big holes to work with pipes, or pumping sewage out of a residential basement, you’d think the office duties would be an escape. Not for Williams.

“Paperwork is my nemesis,” Williams quipped. “I don’t like it, but I gotta get it done. I can get the work done, but then I have to get the bills out so I can pay my employees and pay my bills.”

Williams is a perfectionist and that quality has kept his phone ringing all these years. He has many loyal customers, whether they be towns or neighbors. One of the walls in his office is adorned with thank you cards, which Williams says is his favorite part of the job.

“Seeing people send us (thank you notes) means the world. It’s really great when I send a bill to a homeowner or a property owner and they take the time to open my bill, look through it, agree that everything we did was great, write the check and then write a thank you note,” Williams said. “I never get rid of them, it’s a reminder of the fact that we’re doing it right.”

Four years ago, when Steve Gast ran for his first term as mayor of Maxwell, it was because nobody else wanted the job.

“Nobody had turned in papers, so I went out and got signatures,” he said. “I thought it was wrong that nobody wanted to get signatures and become mayor.”

So, he got the signatures, got elected and has made it successfully through two, two-year terms. He ran unopposed this past November and was elected to his third term, which just started.

The 69-year-old Gast is a retired technology and planning professional. His most recent job was with the Iowa Department of Transportation, where he was director of technology until his retirement in 2010. Prior to that job, he was GIS manager with Polk County and before that, director of planning for Polk County. He had served in a number of positions during his career, mostly planning jobs in Polk County and the Des Moines metropolitan area, he said.

Gast is a native of the Eldora/Steamboat Rock area. “I’m probably related to every person in Steamboat Rock,” he commented. He graduated from Eldora High School and then went into the Air Force for four years during Viet Nam. He didn’t serve in Viet Nam, he said, but the Viet Nam-era veteran was instead stationed in Japan, Korea and the Pacific Islands during the war.

When he returned, he headed to college at Central in Pella, where he majored in mathematics and geography, “which was as close to planning as they came in those days.” It was in college where he met his wife, Joelyn, whom he is still married to today. “She was younger than me,” he said, but she had seniority in school. She was a senior when he was a freshman. “I had the pleasure of going to school as an older student, which really worked out well for me.” Gast confides that right out of high school, he isn’t sure he’d have had the maturity to do as well in college as he did four years later, following his time of military service.

The Gasts were living in Des Moines in their early married years, and when visiting Steve’s parents back home, they often drove through Maxwell, which they thought looked like a nice little community. “So when we had school-aged kids, we moved to Maxwell,” he said. That was back in 1984.

All four of the Gast children graduated from Collins-Maxwell High School. Two of their daughters still live close by, one in the rural Maxwell area and one in Elkhart, and all four of their grandchildren live close by too, which means some of the Gasts’ free time is spent going to grandchildren’s school and sports activities.

About his job as mayor, Gast said it wasn’t unknown to him, since he had served on the City Council back in the ’90s.

“What I think is important (in governing a small community) is making sure you have as much transparency as possible… making sure the finances are done correctly,” he said. “If you have your financial house in order, that makes it easier if a developer does come to town, to encourage them to come here.”

Gast said there was a housing developer working with the city back in the ’90s, and they have another developer looking at a small 20-lot development right now. “In order for him to be successful, the city has to have certain things in place and authorizations (in place) to foster development.”

The city has been working recently on updating its urban renewal plan and its urban revitalization plan, which are required for the city to offer tax increment financing (TIF) and tax abatement. Capital improvements is another area of focus.

“It’s really a lot of little things you need to do (in city government) to be sure you’re well-organized,” Gast said, and he acknowledges that his background in planning can be helpful to him as mayor, along with his background in technology. Being involved in computers and technology work, he said, “I know when we can make some things easier and what to avoid.”

Maxwell has a lot of great things going for it, Gast said. He feels the community members are supportive of each other. He notes that the summer Old Settlers celebration is still going well and is organized and put on by citizens. He’s excited about businesses that are expanding or doing well. “PALS added more food options and a game room, even ice cream for the summertime,” he said. And he mentioned the implement store recently changed ownership. “That somebody decided to buy it and continue running it is great.”

When it comes to the challenges that Maxwell faces, Gast said the town needs more development and re-development in order to maintain its position and income. A lot of funding is dispersed among towns based on their percentage of population, he explained. “So if we stay the same, the percent of revenue declines (due to a growth in many metro areas).” He said the challenge of growth for Maxwell is that the community “grows appropriately… It doesn’t mean we do every idea, because our resources are limited.” Gast believes it’s about finding the right opportunities.

Serving the community with him, Gast said, is an excellent council and a solid city staff. The council members as of this month are Susie Livesay, Nicole Hudson and Doug Miller, along with newcomers Charles Robertson and Alex Golly. “Alex, Charles and Nicole are younger; Doug is older like myself; and Susie is just the right age,” he said with a smile. But in all seriousness, he said, the council has a good split of different ages and of men and women. “Everybody on the council has deep roots in the community. They are known,” he said.

Staff members include City Clerk Deb Hayes, who has been with the city almost 10 years; Dee Gibbs, assistant city clerk; Tony Ness, public works supervisor; Doug Wierson, assistant public works employee; Crystal Clair, head librarian and library assistant, Anna Baldwin.

If he was to describe the town of Maxwell, Gast said, it’s a pleasant, quiet, residential community that is centrally located to a number of bigger towns that people work in. Obviously, he believes it’s a great place to raise a family, because he moved there with his.

When he’s not busy with following grandkids’ activities, Gast said he loves to stay busy doing volunteer work, especially for the American Legion and VFW, and with the Old Settlers committee.

He believes as mayor, his number-one job for the town is to provide support and be a good listener. When people have a problem, you listen and help them if you can, or explain to them why you can’t help them, he said. And he’ll keep doing just that for the next two years. Then, when he’s 71, Gast said he most likely won’t run again. “I want to have everything organized and in place to hand over to another person, who can then do as they see fit.”

Thursday, April 20, 5 p.m.

Bally's Quad Cities, 777 Bally Boulevard, Rock Island IL

Hosted by Davenport's River Action and named in honor of Henry W. Farnam, the chief builder of the Chicago & Rock Island Railroad, the Quad Cities' Farnam Dinners are annual tributes to historically significant citizens and events, and this year's celebration – taking place at Bally's Quad Cities on April 20 – will salute the 1856 Mississippi River Rail Bridge and the future of high-speed rail in the Midwest.

Among this year's guest speakers at the 17th Annual Henry Farnam Dinner is William (Bill) Ashton, founder of Ashton Engineering, who will discuss the design and engineering of the 1856 railroad bridge from Rock Island to Davenport. Following in the footsteps of his father, Frank W. Ashton (Chief Engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the Rock Island Arsenal) and his uncle Edward L. “Ned” Ashton (Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Iowa), Bill Ashton has become a highly respected ambassador for the field of engineering, most recently as president of Ashton Engineering, Inc. A Davenport native, Ashton earned two degrees (BS 1962, MS 1963 in Civil Engineering) at the University of Iowa, and after graduation, he returned to the Quad Cities, serving as Chief of the Structural Design Section of the Rock Island Corps of Engineers. In 1970, he was responsible for the 2,600 foot Milwaukee Railroad bridge over the Iowa Saylorville Reservoir, earning him the recognition of Quad City Engineer of the Year. He also oversaw engineering of the Iowa River bridge on U.S. Highway 20 near Steamboat Rock, Iowa - one of the first sites chosen in the U.S. to use steel superstructure spans with welded plate girder beams. His work has extended to locks and dams, and rivers and harbors throughout the U.S., as well as international locations such as Nairobi, India, and Ghana where his water projects have brought life to parched communities.

Ashton received the U.S. Department of the Army Meritorious Civilian Service Award in 1974 and the Department of the Army Certificate of Appreciation from the Chief of Engineering in 1978. He has given his expertise back to his profession as a member of the Iowa Engineering Society Engineering Education Committee. To his community, he has served as a Junior Achievement lecturer and project advisor, member of the Board of Directors of the Scott County (IA) Board of Human Resources, Commissioner for the Scott County Veterans Affairs, Ducks Unlimited, Waterfowl USA, and Friends of Vander Veer Park. Ashton has also been a recognized leader in Rotary International and the Rotary Club of Davenport, serving as a board member and president. With that organization, he led fellow Rotarians on a service trip to India to assist with a National Immunization Day against polio. He also has taken Rotarians to Guatemala for Adopt a Village in Guatemala, where he used his extensive engineering background to design rainwater capture systems.

Also among the speakers at this year's Farnam Dinner is Richard Harnish, Executive Director of the High Speed Rail Alliance, an organization he helped found in 1993. Harnish will discuss efforts to integrate rail and transit networks connected by 200-plus mph high-speed lines. By connecting cities, towns and airports, the high-speed trains will dramatically expand economic opportunities and slash carbon emissions. A native of the Chicago area, Harnish has been the HSRA’s executive director since 2001. His perspectives on trains and transportation policy have appeared in Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Politico, Governing, the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Magazine, and many other publications, in addition to various NPR programs.

Additionally, Harnish has achieved notable successes and progress in HSRA’s three focus areas of advocacy, education, and research, and his work is informed by his strong commitment to researching and learning from global best practices. He has ridden high-speed trains – often in the context of leading small groups – in Belgium, China, England, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, and Turkey, and he draws on a global network of colleagues with expertise in trains and transportation policy.

The 17th Annual Henry Farnam Dinner will take place at Bally's Quad Cities on April 20, with displays and cocktails beginning at 5 p.m., dinner served at 6:15 p.m., and the program itself starting at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $50 or $450 for a table of 10, and more information and reservations are available by calling (563)322-2969 or visiting RiverAction.org.