gift

Loras College

Loras College gets $2.5 million gift

Gift will help more graduates pursue medical fields

Loras College has received a $2.5 million gift commitment from a graduate, officials announced Friday. Loras President Jim Collins said the gift from Dr. Patrick J. Lillis, a 1971 graduate, will advance strength in the health sciences and medical school preparation. The gift helps ensure even more graduates can pursue medical fields, Collins said. Lillis [...]

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Homegrown: December 2011 calendar

Following are gardening and eco-events happening in Eastern Iowa in December 2011: Thurs., Dec. 1, 6:30 p.m., Winter Bird Feeding at Prairiewoods. Do you want to attract beautiful red cardinals, showy woodpeckers and bright goldfinches to your snowy winter lawn? Come to Prairiewoods (120 East Boyson Road in Hiawatha) for Winter Bird Feeding. Join local [...]

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Cornell College gets $5.6 million gift

A gift of $5.6 million from the estate of a Cornell College parent — one of the largest outright gifts in the history of the college — will go toward renovations of the Thomas Commons and endow a scholarship in the name of the donor’s daughter. The gift came from the estate of James Russell, [...]

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UI campus

UI Foundation marks second-best fundraising year

IOWA CITY — A record number of contributors gave the second-highest fundraising total to the University of Iowa and the UI Foundation in Fiscal Year 2011, numbers that have UI officials encouraged about their aggressive fundraising goals for the future. Gifts and commitments made to the UI Foundation and the UI by private donors totaled [...]

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Hiawatha business stuffs gift baskets

By Rebecca Groff, correspondent Name: Linda McConnell Title: Owner Company: Basket Bowtique Address: 758 N. Center Point Road, Hiawatha Phone: (319) 362-2577 Website: www.basketbowtique.com Elevator pitch: Baskets brimming with Iowa products, from caramels and sausage to bath items and beer The concept for Basket Bowtie, owner Linda McConnell said, isn’t so much baskets as “gifting.” [...]

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Sue Merck (right) of Cedar Rapids and Beth Heideman of Waterloo are partners with Kay DeLong and Sandy Emerson both of Cedar Rapids in the ownership of Brambles Eclectic & Unique Gifts, Homes Decor & Antiques in southeast Cedar Rapids. The two are pictured in a reflection of a mirror in the shabby chic room at the shop. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)

Gift shop trying to grit out Second Avenue closing

It’s not often you find a big gift shop in the kitchen and dining hall of an historic church building. It’s not often, as well, that you find a gift shop on a dead-end street. The former was intended by the three owners of Brambles  gift shop, 1200 2nd Ave. SE. The latter was not. The City of Cedar [...]

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Five-year-old Aiden Babka and his Physical Therapist Sarah Bengtson smile as he sits on his new bike donated by money from St. Luke's Health Care Foundation Thursday at St. Luke's Witwer Children's Therapy in Hiawatha. Aiden, who developed cerebral palsy when he was a baby after suffering a stroke, had one request after getting on his new bike for the first time, to "go fast." (Becky Malewitz/The Gazette)

North Liberty boy with special needs gets unique holiday gift

Five-year-old Aiden Babka got a shiny new bike Thursday, just in the nick of time for Christmas. It’s not your average bike – it’s an adaptive bike made especially for the North Liberty boy with special needs. Aiden received his bike as an early Christmas present Thursday at St. Luke’s Witwer Children’s Therapy in Hiawatha. [...]

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Sticks and stones and other gift ideas 8

When it comes to gifts, my tastes are simple. Give me a few tall sticks for my vegetable garden and I’m happy. Bring over a rock for my perennial bed and I’m ecstatic. Non-material is good, too: an hour’s help with weeding, mowing or, at this time of year, shoveling, is worth more than gold. [...]

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Houseplant no-no 1

Linn County Master Gardener, Claire Smith, offers insight into the care of houseplants and some remaining outdoor gardening chores:                  Folks asked a variety of good questions on a radio program I listened to the other day.  One question was about watering house plants with soft water.  That’s a no-no.  Softened water has salt; a [...]

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