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Home My WebLink About~Master - February 2022 Monthly Project Highlights MONTHLY PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS FEBRUARY 2022 Report Compiled by Carly Watson, Principal Clerk, City Manager’s Office 2 CITY MANAGER’S OFFICE Ames Human Relations Commission: The Ames Human Relations Commission celebrated Chinese New Year, also commonly referred to as Lunar New Year or Spring Festival. This event has nearly 2,000 years of history and is predominantly celebrated by Asian and Pacific Islander people of Chinese, Korean, Singaporean, and Vietnamese descent. The Chinese New Year start s more than two weeks of festivities that include feasts, family reunions, and may other local, regional, and national celebrations. Dr. Chunhui Chen, who serves on the Ames Human Relations Commission, accepted the Chinese New Year Proclamation read by Mayor John Haila at the February 8, 2022, City Council meeting with many members of the Ames Chinese community present. This was the first time that Ames has formally recognized the Chinese New Year through the reading of a Proclamation. Also, in celebration of Chinese New Year, the Ames Human Relations Commission put together a six-minute documentary to encourage Ames residents to take time to learn about the traditions of Chinese New Year with the help of many volunteers from the Ames Chinese Lan guage Academy, the Iowa Chinese Student Association, the Iowa Chinese Teachers Association, and other local Chinese groups and associates who see Ames as their home. The documentary can be viewed on YouTube by following this link: https://www.youtube.com/ChineseNewYearAHRC. 3 The Ames Human Relations Commission continued celebrations in February by recognizing Black History Month. Chair Jahmai Fisher and Vice Chair Wayne Clinton gathered together on February 15, 2022, to kick off the series “Sharing Our Stories: Ames’ Black Voices”. This conversational series that will highlight a variety of Black voices and their experiences in Ames, through storytelling, is presented in partnership with Ames Public Library and the Ames Human Relations Commission. At the series premiere, Vice Chair Wayne Clinton told his story of accepting a teaching position at Ames Middle School in the 1960s which led to his 34-year career as a teacher and coach with the Ames Community School District. Claire Hoppe with the Iowa State Daily covered the storytelling in an article that can be viewed by following this link to the Iowa State Daily e-Edition: https://www.iowastatedaily.com/news/sharing-our-own-stories-ames-black-voices. 4 FIRE On February 15th, 16th, 17th, all Fire Department members in cooperation with the Union Pacific Railroad completed a Railroad 101 Course, including a hands-on review of different railcar valves using a custom prop on a trailer. The Railroad 101 course allowed members to understand how to contact Union Pacific during emergencies, understand different features and information about locomotives and railcars, along with how to implement and coordinate a response to a derailment or other emergency. The railcar valve prop contained common valves and features of a railcar allowing members to understand common issues and repairs that can be done in the field. 5 LIBRARY Book Sale: The spring book sale is coming March 10-13 in the Library’s Auditorium! The book sale is one of the Ames Public Library Friends Foundations fundraisers, with all proceeds used to enhance the Library’s collections, programs and services. The Book Sale schedule is: • Thursday, March 10 - 5:30 to 8:30pm - Admission $2 (Free admission and early entry starting at 5 p.m. for donors to the Ames Public Library Friends Foundation at the $20 level and above) • Friday, March 11 - 9am to 6pm - Free admission • Saturday, March 12 - 9am to 6pm - Free admission • Sunday, March 13 - 12 to 5pm - Admission $1, and everything is free! (Auditorium only) Memory Project: Portraits from this year’s Memory Project, created by Ames High School students, are on display in the Library’s entryway now through March 7. After that, they will be delivered to children in Sierra Leone. If you haven’t gotten to see this exhibit yet, don’t miss your opportunity! Staff Training Day: Ames Public Library was closed on Presidents Day for an all-staff training day. Library staff had an interactive Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion workshop with Dr. Adrienne Coleman, which included follow up and built on training with Dr. Coleman from our November staff day. The day also included sessions on our Strategic Plan, an upcoming change to our public catalog interface, library safety procedures, and workgroup -specific training. Library staff don’t have many opportunities to meet as a whole group, so we pack a lot into one day! Winter Reading Challenge: The Library’s Winter Reading Challenge ended February 15 with 587 individuals reading 12,710 days! In addition, many preschool classrooms and childcare groups participated by reading together at least 30 days during the 2-month challenge. Young readers earned a free book to keep and adults received an Ames Public Library mug thanks to the Ames Public Library Friends Foundation. 6 PARKS AND RECREATION Auditorium: The Virtually Anywhere…AND Here concert series continues on Friday nights at the Ames City Auditorium through March 11. You can join us in person or on the livestream at 7:00 p.m. The hip-hop duo The Reminders will be in Ames on March 1, 4 and 5 for a number of workshops and a concert event. There are several public events that people can attend as part of this residency. On March 1 at 7:00 p.m. in the Memorial Union Great Hall, the group will be presenting an interactive TED Talk style workshop in partnership with ISU Lectures revolving around the History of Hip Hop Culture and Its Impact on our World. Then on March 5 at 2:00 p.m., there will be a lyric and songwriting workshop for youth presented at The Ames Public Library Auditorium. The Reminders will also present a concert on March 5 at 7:00 p.m. at the Auditorium. This group promotes a wonderful message of positivity and inclusion, and it will be a really special thing for the Ames community to have them here. Parks and Recreation is also facilitating workshops with YSS, The Boys and Girls Club, Ames High School and the ISU Hip Hop Club as a part of this event. This is truly a wonderful and powerful duo. A big thank you goes out to the Ames Public Library, The Ames Police Foundation, Iowa State Lectures, The Ames Branch of the NAACP and Renewable Energy Group for the financial support to be able to bring The Reminders to Ames. Grant funding from Arts Midwest and The Iowa Arts Council was also received for this program. This is a great show for all ages and tickets and workshop information can be found here: • https://www.facebook.com/events/724078851887849/ • https://www.facebook.com/events/707814523928995/ • https://www.facebook.com/events/469083931590470/ 7 Ice Arena: The Ames/ISU Ice Arena hosted the Mite Jamboree February 4 - 6. There were sixteen teams (8 & under age group) from throughout the state competing. The Central States Collegiate Hockey League (CSCHL) held its Division 1 Tournament at the Ice Arena the weekend of February 25. Five teams from the Midwest participated in the tournament. Wellness: A new six-week session of in-person and virtual Fitness classes began Monday, February 14 with 365 in-person registrations and 84 virtual registrations. Monday, January 31, a new program called Walk With Ease began at the Community Center Gymnasium on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 1:30 p .m. This program is a partnership between Iowa State University, Mary Greeley Medical Center, and Ames Parks and Recreation. Iowa State student health coaches work with adults over the age of 60 and walk in a group or on their own and teach how to safely add physical activity into their day. Walk With Ease is a great community-based program appropriate for most people to maintain and increase their mobility.