Whether it’s Westfair or Shelby Fun Days, you’re going to have a fun weekend in Pott. Co! 
I just want to say that if you can make it to Shelby Fun Days, they will appreciate it as they are in the process of making their sesquicentennial happen next year and they need all the support they can get!  They have a lot of great events happening and all the proceeds will pay for next year’s 150th! 

They’ve got a 3-point shoot-out contest for you ballers.  They have a cornhole tourney for you baggers.  They have water fights for you throwers and kids’ games, bouncy houses, and concessions including cotton candy! 

Your evening options involve Newt’s. They are hosting a country band indoors on Friday night and a rock band street dance on Saturday night!  And if you’re really lucky, you might see the Shelby Chicken! Lol.

It sounds like it’s going to be a beautiful weekend to take in all the fun. 

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Westfair.  As a loyal alum, I will always cheer on 4-Hers.  You can take in the cattle show on Saturday, do free pony rides both days, ride the rides, and my favorite part, on Sunday, they do the Southwest Iowa Shoot-out.  Basically, all the grand champions in all the species from each of the surrounding county fairs come to show against the other champions and they name a champion overall.  It’s the best of the best, the Top Gun of livestock in the area, so to speak!
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Either way, you can’t go wrong!  Some good summer fun in the sun!  Happy Weekend! #SupportLocal #PottCounty #SeeIowa #SmallTownLifeIsTheBestLife

It’s one of those weekends that nobody warns you about, the kind where you have so many options, you don’t know what to do!  And you want to do them all!  And maybe, if you’re an overachiever type, you can!

The weekend kicks off early on Thursday with the Pottawattamie County Fair in Avoca.  This once-a-year event has been happening for over 100 years.  Yes, it’s going to be a hot one, but that’s the most impressive part, all these 4-H kids will be there anyway and they will be showing what they’ve learned, their skills, and a work ethic foreign to some populations.  I will proudly say I was a 4-Her and will tell you that if you need faith in the next generation, be in Avoca.  Thursday night is Family Night.  If you have a little prince or princess who wants to be the contest, dress them up and bring them!  It’s also a chance to see all the awards given, participate in the Food Truck Night, Share the Fun entertainment, and see families from Walnut, Avoca, Hancock, Shelby, Oakland, Carson, and Macedonia unite.  Oh, and if you made a Pinterest project lately, be sure to enter it in the Open Class Exhibit Building between 8am and 5pm.  Friday brings the hog show and the sheep and goat shows.  It’s a tough competition every year.  The ATV/Snowmobile Races are Friday night.  There won’t be any snow for sure, but If you haven’t seen them before, it’s definitely something to see!  Saturday brings the cattle show, Art in the Park, and the first ever cornhole tournament!  Sunday is the county-wide potluck and we’re guessing we’ll see a few visitors of the RAGBRAI variety show up for the tractor pull!  But if I can encourage anything, I would ask if you own a business that you come to the Premium Auction on Monday.  4-Hers are our future!  Come support them, and even if you can’t be the high bidder, they need bidders to get a high bidder.  It’s the best tax write-off you’ll make.

I also have to give a shout-out to Silos in Treynor.  What a great (and possibly brave) event they are hosting this weekend!  Saturday night is Kids Night – all kids under the age of 10 are encouraged to come to a dance party complete with a DJ just for them!  All those littles who usually feel left out will have a night just for them starting at 6pm! 

And speaking of dance parties, the grand re-opening of the Back Forty is also Saturday night for a little older crowd!  The Back Forty will have drink specials, have a street festival, and the Lucky Se7en Band playing.  Welcome the Back 40 back to ‘Donia from 8 to midnight!

Of course, we can’t mention the weekend without mentioning RAGBRAI!  Sunday is the big day in rural Pottawattamie!  Bike it, stand on the road and cheer, participate in the events in one or all the towns, or help at a food stand – whatever your preference, it will be an experience you won’t forget.  It’s truly an Iowa highlight and our very own Underwood, McClelland, Neola, Minden, Avoca, and Walnut get to be a part of it!  If you missed all the details in my blog earlier this week, go here.

Really, you can’t go wrong with any of these events!  It is officially the dog days of summer and however you chose to hydrate and participate, you won’t be sorry you did!  We are so lucky to have options and communities that come together to make events like these happen.  #SupportLocal #PottCounty #SmallTownLifeIsTheBestLife
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Live big this weekend, everybody!

Let’s talk RAGBRAI in Pott. County, ladies and gentlemen!  It’s going right through our back-door and whether you want to ride a piece, be the locals they party with, cheer for the bikers, or serve up some food for an organization fundraiser, we have the scoop on the local towns’ offerings!
If you don’t know already, bikers will start in Council Bluffs with the opening ceremonies on Saturday night and then the masses will ride through Underwood, an optional route through McClelland, Neola, Minden, Avoca, and Walnut all in Pott Co. before hitting Atlantic on Sunday evening.  Each year, the ride has more bikers and more fans and more parties. 

As locals, it’s our job to not only make them feel welcome, but why not join in the festivities ourselves?  It’s a day to celebrate in whatever form you prefer, but let’s give them some Iowa-Nice they won’t forget!

All the towns have fun stuff planned and something just a little unexpected!  Take your pick or hit them all!

Underwood will be having Sasquatch, the Jack Link’s mascot, welcoming people to town and guests can take selfies with Sasquatch and the Friends of Underwood group!  The firemen will be offering pancakes and sausage at the Fire Hall and UMBA will have a beer garden and band to get those Sunday morning juices going!  The route will be 3rd Street to 1st Ave. to 2nd Street and back to Railroad Highway to Neola with 8 vendors along the way!
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Neola is the next stop and they are ready to feed you!  The Neola Fire Department will serve breakfast burritos.  The Neola Betterment Corporation will have iced coffees and smoothies.  Lions Club will be selling homemade pie and breakfast pizza.  Theisens’ Cleaning will be selling “refreshments.”  Michele’s will have chicken sandwiches and parfaits while Burrito Envy will have burritos, tacos, burrito bowls, with chips and salsa, too.  However, Neola is also offering some unique entertainment with the live band, Finding Dixie, and the DJ Wine on Wheels!  Plus, if you haven’t heard of Milkweed Matters, the organization will be there giving out seedballs for bikers to throw on their route for the purpose of encouraging butterflies and other pollinators. 

Minden follows Neola.  Minden has rented a giant tent with tables, chairs, and plenty of shade for everyone traveling through!  The Fire Hall will be selling water and t-shirts (never know what they might be!).  Minden Meat Market will be doing walking tacos, hot dogs, cheeseburgers, and smoked cheddar bacon burgers (yum!) on the main drag.  Minden Bowl will be your stop for beer and tenderloins, and the church ladies will be ready with some homemade yummies, too!

Avoca is named the official “lunch” stop and will have 30 vendors.  They will also have waterslides and free pool admission along with a beer garden provided by the golf course and a live band will be playing at The Exchange.  Bikers are also encouraged to stop in at The Sweet Vale of Avoca Museum and the East Pottawattamie County Fair.  The fair will be having their poultry, rabbit, cat, and dog show, as well as a tractor pull in the afternoon.  Avoca will also be hosting a town-wide scavenger hunt.  If you find all the signs around town with letters on them, unscramble the word, take selfies at each of the locations and post to the City of Avoca Facebook page and like the page, you will be entered in the drawing for an Avoca Vacation Package!  If you have questions about that or anything else, an Information Booth will also be located at the corner of Wool and Elm Streets.  It will be a “wheelie sweet time” for everyone!

Finally, Walnut will be the last Pott. Co. stop of the day and they want everybody to “Go Nuts in Walnut!”  You gotta love it when they go big with their theme. Lol.  They will be hosting Nut Pong where you’ll grab a nut bucket and play pong.  If you have the most nuts in the bucket, you win a prize!  They will also have a Nut Dig, too.  Find the real nut in the fake ones to win. If games aren’t your thing, but selfies are, the oversized penny farthing (a high-wheeled bicycle) will be available for pics and a local celeb will be milling as Uncle Sam on stilts.  The bicycle will be located at the corner of Antique City Drive and Highland St.  They also want to encourage people to have a root beer float at the Walnut Historical Museum, as well as check out all their cool shops, as Walnut was named Iowa’s Antique City in 1985!  B Restored & Mabel’s Old Fashion Rose will be serving wine and Glenn’s, the local bar with a Clydesdale horse mural, will also be open. Marne Elk Horn Communications will have WiFi stations set up and a beer garden with DJ, Jam Time DJ Productions, will be presented by the Walnut Community Center Foundation as a fundraiser for the old school being converted into a community center.  And if that isn’t enough, they will be selling t-shirts with the Walnut RAGBRAI logo on them for $14 and, the popular “bike nuts” better known as handmade stress balls shaped as walnuts and connected with a chain to display proudly on your bike or that rear-view mirror (a mere $8).  OH, and yes, they will have food, too! Lol. Grilled burgers and hot dogs and pulled pork will be sold by the Walnut Optimist Club and a local church will be selling homemade pie and ice cream.

Truly, a good time is meant to be had!  Like I said - ride, watch, volunteer, drink, play, whatever you want – just show up! They’ll be happy to see you!  #SupportLocal #PottCounty #SeeIowa #RAGBRAI
 
 

Pack your week with Pottawattamie County events!  We can keep you busy all week this week starting today! 

Tonight, you can head to Underwood for their Monday Market which has a theme of Take and Make Crafts plus a watermelon feed!  It runs from 6 to 7:30pm.

On Wednesday, take the kids to Oakland for Art in the Park at the Nishna Heritage Museum at 10:30am sponsored by Riverside Links.  For $5, they get to do a fun Andy-Warhol-inspired activity! 
Also, on Wednesday, catch the Farmer’s Market in Avoca from 5 to 7pm.  They’ve got food trucks, produce, and home and health products for sale!

If you like live music, check out Music in the Park in Crescent on Thursday starting at 7pm.  They will have a free blues concert for all in Veteran’s Park! Lou Deluca and the Delta 88s will be playing.

If you’re looking for more adult options, be sure to check out Wings and Wine-a-Ritas at Breezy Hills Vineyard in Minden at 6pm on Friday night.  Wings and wine make a mighty fine night!

Saturday brings a couple of options depending on your mood.  We’ve got two vastly different options but equally cool!  Either hit Spa Night meant to be a night of women, wine, & wellness at Prairie Crossing Winery and co-hosted by Blair Chiropractic in Treynor from 6:30 to 9:30pm or grab the motorcycle and join the Carson Rodeo Poker Run!  It starts at the Bar’N and Grill in Carson.  Sign-up is from 11am to 1pm and is a fundraiser for the always amazing Carson Rodeo which was damaged pretty badly by the spring floods.  I’m sure they’d love a few extra participants this year!

Of course, if you love your rounds of golf on the weekend, you can play the Oakland-Riverside Golf Course City Tourney (if you are a local resident), but you have to get your pre-lims in by Saturday night to play in the course tournament on Sunday.

And, as always, don’t forget to support those local kids and catch a baseball or softball game at Tri-Center, Treynor, Underwood, Riverside, or AHSTW!
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Make your plans!  Live the dream!  #SmallTownLifeIsTheBestLife #SupportLocal #SeeIowa #PottCounty

How can you make it a 4th of July you won’t forget?  Make it a Pottawattamie County Independence Day!  You can make it a 3-in-1 day by hitting Underwood, Oakland, and Avoca.  All are holding their annual 4th of July festivities with Avoca expanding it to a weekend event due to their sesquicentennial.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to celebrate the small town way – here’s your chance! 

All the happenings start on the 3rd with Oakland’s Annual Trivia Night held by the PEO to raise money for scholarships and Avoca will be having their opening ceremonies for the 150th with all the elected officials.  Catch parades in all 3 towns on the 4th, have pancakes for breakfast in Underwood or Oakland, do a 5k in Underwood complete with a Bloody Mary Recovery Tent, check out the car show in Oakland with a live band playing, or put your basketball skills to the test with the 3 on 3 tournament in Avoca! And, of course, you can end the day with fireworks in all 3 towns, plus, rumor has it, you can find a whole lot in McClelland, too!

There are truly so many options, I am simply attaching all the flyers for you to pick your favorites and if you have questions, by all means, let me know!
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The options are endless, but whatever you pick, you won’t be sorry!  There’s nothing better than fun, sun, and Pott. Co. entertainment!  A lot of volunteers and towns make these events happen and all they want is for you to show up, have a fabulous time, take lots of pictures, and plan to be back next year!  #SupportLocal #PottCounty #SeeIowa