Welcome Back!

School Starts!

We had a great start to the new school year.  The weather has been cool and everyone seems excited to get going.  Yesterday, it was fun to see everyone in their new school clothes as they came ready to start the new year.  Working in education is an awesome experience.  Every year we get to have a new first day and fresh start for the year.  We have an opportunity to reflect on what we did the previous year and make improvements for the upcoming year.  Our teachers are great at looking for ways to make things better for each group of students that come through our doors.  Be sure to check this out the next time you're in the elementary/middle school building:

Construction Update

Tonight is our first home football game.  The Chickasaws will be hosting the Falcons of Aplington-Parkersburg.  Hopefully, the rain stays away so we have a great game.  As mentioned in other places, parking will be tight, so thanks for your patience as we work through this year.  A few notes about parking.  If parking on the east side of the lot on the grass, please angle park or pull straight in.  This allows us to get many more cars parked there compared to everyone parallel parking.  In addition, we have lines drawn in the lot to aid in parking.  The line is the center with cars parked on each side.  The one confusing spot is near the drainage intake on the western side of the lot in the middle.  The drain is really in the middle of the drive, so please don't triple park next to it and block the car ahead of you in.  

This week some cement was poured in the upper parking lot for some additional parking, but that won't be strong enough to hold vehicles until later next week.  Below is a map to aid in parking.  We will have golf carts running tonight to help in transporting people around the facilities.  Of course, handicapped parking will continue to be provided at the stadium.  

If you've driven by lately, you may have noticed quite a bit of activity going on right now.  They are working to get as much steel erected as possible before the wall panels start arriving on September 24th.  They are doing this to get ahead and also to make more room in the area so there is plenty of room for the equipment to move when erecting the panels.  I will try to get the drone out this weekend to take some pictures to post for next week.  When the wall panels start to arrive, things will happen quickly.  The wall panels will come by semi-truck and one panel will come on each truck.  They will unload the panel directly from the truck and place it in place on the building.  There is a sample part of a panel on the back parking lot near the corner of the construction fence.  You can see the color of the brick and how the panels are made. 

They will be starting on the Ag/Industrial Tech building the week after homecoming.  We asked them to delay that a little so we had as much parking as possible for the homecoming festivities.  Our contractor, Cresco Builders, has been great to work with when things like this come up. 

Finally, if you've walked the path behind the CWC or been down the road, you probably noticed we had quite a bit of work done on the 13 acres we own there.  We had three practice athletic fields graded and installed and ready for seeding.  At the last board meeting, the board approved having it seeded yet this fall with an athletic field mix and some oats to reduce erosion.  We are excited to get moving on this part of the project and should start seeing results fairly quickly.  In the Northeast Corner of that property there is three acres of land that is very wet.  We plan to seed that to a Pollinator mix to enhance the area.  That will be planted later in the fall.  Good things are happening.  Be sure to follow the district on Facebook and check back to our blog as we will continue to update as changes continue to happen. 

Final Thoughts

It's an exciting time to be a part of the New Hampton Community.  We have the school project going on, but there are so many other things happening to improve our town.  Take time to look around and see all the great things that are happening.  The upgrades to the swimming pool, the Tribe Trail, new houses being built, new building out at New Hampton Transfer and Storage, a new Dollar General Store, the new Hugeback Johnson Funeral Home, the new Hacker Nelson offices, the new Edward D. Jones office, and others I'm sure I'm forgetting.  In addition, have you noticed the new promotions and activities the downtown businesses are putting together.  Our local businesses support our schools and many other causes and activities in our community.  They deserve our support, loyalty, and patronage for all they do.  Awesome things are happening and if you haven't been involved or noticed please take time to get involved and look around.  You won't be disappointed and some of you may be surprised on some of the things you may have missed.  New Hampton is an awesome community that is seeing a huge resurgence of positive things going on.  There is no other place I would rather be than right here!  I hope to see you tonight at the game.  Go Chickasaws!