Le Mars Arts Center receives hotel/motel tax funding for 2027 events
The Le Mars Arts Center has announced they were awarded $6,000 from the city’s hotel/motel sales tax to support the American Watercolor Society exhibition and Makers Market in 2027. The funds were approved by the Le Mars city council during their meeting on February 17th.
The two initiatives are designed to attract visitors to Le Mars while strengthening the city’s growing reputation as a cultural destination in northwest Iowa. The exhibition will bring internationally recognized artwork to the region, drawing audiences beyond the local community, while the Makers Market will highlight regional artists and creative entrepreneurs, encouraging visitors to explore downtown businesses, dining, and local attractions.
In a statement, executive director Draven Haefs says the funds will allow the Arts Center to “continue positioning Le Mars as a place where arts and culture
are part of the visitor experience,” and that the two exhibitions will create reasons for people to travel here, spend time in our downtown, and engage with the creative energy that makes this community unique.”
The Arts Center previously hosted the American Watercolor Society in 2020 and 2024.
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Last week of Beat the Blues Challenge
This week is the last week of the Le Mars Public Library’s Beat the Blues Challenge, with a focus on the health benefits of music.
According to the National Institute of Health, sound is an important and profound source in our lives, and that the more we exercise our sound processing in the brain, the better the brain becomes at making sense of sound and the world around us. The library’s DVD collection can help you add more music to your life. At the library, you can find music documentaries such as Ken Burns’ Country music series, Questlove’s Summer of Soul, and The Beatles: Get Back, as well as many musical movie adaptations such as Dear Evan Hanson, Mary Poppins, and Annie.
Participants can stop in the library anytime this week to check out a music DVD, and to receive a punch on their challenge card. Those who collect 4 punches on their card by Friday will receive a free night at the movies on March 16th at the Royal 3 Theater.
For those getting a late start on the Beat the Blues Challenge, you can still work towards the free movie by participating in the Beat the Blues Scavenger hunt. To participate in the hunt, stop by the library and pick up a challenge card and find the Beat the Blues sign at participating businesses in Le Mars before Friday, March 6th.
Full list of participating businesses:
– Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor
– Branded 360
– Habitué
– Piece of Cake
– Sugar-N-Spice Boutique
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Radio host makes it back to Iowa after being stranded in Mexico
A northwest Iowa broadcaster’s return from a vacation in Mexico was delayed for four days due to the wave of violence that swept through Puerto Vallarta after authorities killed the alleged head of a drug cartel, sparking a clash between Mexico’s military and cartel operatives. T.J. Johnson made it back to Spencer at 3 a.m. Thursday morning. He’d been at the Puerto Vallarta airport on Sunday, checked in and ready to board a plane when an emergency alarm went off.
Johnson was vacationing with his aunt and uncle. On Monday afternoon, they were able to return to the condo they’d been renting. He says crossing into U.S. airspace was a big moment.
T.J. Johnson — co-host of the morning show on KMRR FM in Spencer — says the experience won’t deter him from international travel in the future. He and his family are even discussing a return to Puerto Vallarta at some point.
(Story via Radio Iowa)
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