The End of an Ice Age

Not to point out the obvious, but the big thaw has arrived.  Now get ready for the mud!

If you haven’t seen it yet, head over to the alley directly south of the court house and check out the massive ice dams in the process of calving off the top and sides of the two buildings on either side of the alley. Make sure you say behind the barricades!

Your Best of Fairfield Winners Receive Their Awards

Individuals who won our readers poll received their mugs last week. Each mug has enough capacity to keep these winners caffeinated (or hydrated) for a full day of continued greatness. Their name and award titles are printed on the mug for all to see at those water cooler gatherings. Pictured below is your biggest winner (with over 2,000 votes), Mayor Ed Malloy, receiving his mug from Mark Cohen at Revelations (your Best Restaurant Winner).

We’re still in the process of getting out our window stickers to the venues that won the readers poll. Congratulations to your Best of Fairfield Winners!

Francis Thicke Opens Campaign Office

Dan Walker offered to let Francis Thicke, candidate for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture use his front office space as his campaign headquarters. It’s an excellent site: in the Walker Group office on the square and with a lot of front window space. Francis explains that he’s, “trying to not clutter the front window too much right now because they are going to be starting some plants in that window space.”

Along with the new office space Francis has a new campaign manager. Rob Hubler, a 40-year veteran of managing political campaigns, started with the campaign about two weeks ago. Rob Hubler was the 2008 candidate for U.S. Congress in Iowa’s fifth district. This week the campaign team is growing with the addition of Keith Dinsmore, a veteran campaign media specialist. Keith has connections with press across Iowa and will be organizing Francis Thicke’s state-wide media work.

“In the next few weeks I will be traveling to a number of Democratic Party county conventions to speak to audiences about my campaign platform. I also have upcoming appearances at Grinnell College and Iowa State University. I do have one out-of-state event planned for next month, to speak at a national organic farming policy conference in Washington, D.C.”

“We have a local event planned for Fairfield on Saturday, March 27: Blues musician Bill Lupkin will be performing at Morning Star Studio as a fundraiser for our campaign.”

Francis Thicke is holding a film screening fundraiser for his candidacy for Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture.

The producers of the award-winning documentary film King Corn have released a sequel: Big River. Both Big River and an abbreviated version of King Corn will be shown Friday, February 19, starting at 7:30 p.m. on the 10-foot movie screen in Morning Star Studio’s ballroom, upstairs at 51 1/2 South Court Street on the east side of the Fairfield Town Square.

In King Corn college friends Ian and Curt plant one acre of Iowa corn and follow their harvested corn into the food system. What they find raises troubling questions about how we eat, how we farm, and the stuff we’re really made of.

In the Big River sequel, Ian and Curt track the trail of fertilizers and chemicals used to produce their acre of corn and discover how farm runoff travels through waterways to eventually reach the Gulf of Mexico, where that pollution causes an aquatic dead zone.

Friday night’s event will begin at 7:30 with a 50-minute version of King Corn, followed by the 30-minute film Big River. After the films Francis will spend a few minutes outlining his vision for a sustainable agriculture and food system in Iowa and will ask you to share your thoughts as well.

A minimum $5 donation is requested for the evening. Additional contributions are welcome.

More information on Francis Thicke’s campaign for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture can be found at www.thickeforagriculture.com.

King Corn Trailer:

Big River Trailer: