For Immediate Release: February 8, 2012                                                                                      

For additional information contact:                         

Michelle Spohnheimer                       

Housing & Community Development Director

mspohnheimer@ci.marshalltown.ia.us

641-754-5756 

Subject: City of Marshalltown proudly displays the 2011 All-America City Award finalist quilt
  

Last year the City of Marshalltown was recognized as an All-America City Award finalist.  Each community was asked to submit a quilt square representing something special about their communities. The squares are stitched together into a quilt, which tours the country visiting each finalist town, city, county, or region.

The quilt is due to arrive in Marshalltown today, Wednesday, February 8, 2012.  The quilt will proudly be displayed in City Hall outside of the City Clerk’s office for the next few days before moving on to the next community.

The City of Marshalltown 2011 application focused on three great accomplishments within our community.  First of which is A New Library for a New Century.  The construction and programming efforts of the Marshalltown Public Library serve all members of the community from birth through adulthood.  The Library has found a way to engage youth and adults of all cultures in their various activities.

We also highlighted the Marshalltown Education Partnership (MEP) program.  The MEP program is a collaborative effort between the community college, private industry and philanthropic support which assists first generation college students with scholarship funding if they participate in the program from eighth grade on through graduation.

Our final project featured was the Imagine 7 Big Ideas by 2011 campaign.  This initiative resulted in thousands of ideas narrowed down to the top 7.  Community members of all types participated in the process from making suggestions to serving on the selection committee.  It truly was a community visioning process.

Today we are vying once again for the All-America City Award focused on the campaign for grade level reading – 3^rd grade reading success.  Marshalltown is one of 150 communities participating in this years process focusing our efforts on school readiness, summer learning and reducing absenteeism.  

The press is invited to join the Mayor at 3:30 PM Thursday, February 9th at the City Hall for a brief presentation and hanging of the quilt.

You can learn more about the award program via the All-America City blog at www.allamericacityaward.com.