Marshalltown, Iowa: A Community I Love

Association of Business and Industry — Wed, 03 Jun 2009

I was born and raised in a nice north-central Iowa community of 3,000. I received a great education and lived in the kind of neighborhood where you could play baseball in the streets and not be threatened by being run over by a car. The neighborhood kids would get together and play “Kick the Can” and I’d spend hours and hours and hours at the local swimming pool.

I went to college in a little larger community that was equally as nice – beautiful campus and quaint college community. Then I moved to Marshalltown, which is now the place I call “home.”

Our community has been dealt its far share of blows in the last several years, none of which I care to rehash here. But despite all of the challenges, there are so many positive and wonderful things happening in Marshalltown that make me proud to call it home!

Here is my list of top ten (in no particular order):

1 – Orpheum Theater revitalization. This historic theater (which one screened movies staring Marshalltown’s own Jean Seberg and Mary Beth Hurt) is in the process of being partially remodeled to its original state and partially updated to include the conveniences of modern technology.

2 – Marshalltown Public Library. The first LEED-designated library in Iowa. It’s so cool!

3 – Emerson Data Center. Marshalltown is home to the back-up data center for Emerson Process Management’s four world-wide data centers.

4 – Emerson Research & Development Lab. This flow test lab will be the only one of its kind in the world once completed. Again, very cool!

5 – Improvements to the Iowa Veterans Home. Click here for complete details on this 4-phase project.

6 – Linn Creek bike trail. I love having access to a trail for biking/walking/running that takes you through wooded areas, along the Iowa River and Linn Creek. It’s an 8+ mile trail that goes from Riverview Park to Grimes Farm, the home of Marshall County Conservation.

7 – Educational opportunities. Not only is Marshalltown home to a bi-lingual elementary school (where students learn in Spanish for half of the day and English for the other half – there is a waiting list for admission), we have a community college, Buena Vista University satellite location and continuing education opportunities from yoga to web design.

8 – Marshalltown Young Professionals. I would be remised if I did not mention MYP. This is such a great organization, providing social and professional development opportunities!

9 – Art & Culture. Marshalltown is home to the Central Iowa Art Association, Marshalltown Community Theatre, Marshall County Arts & Culture Alliance, Marshalltown Community Concert Series and the list goes on. Hanging in the art gallery at the Fisher Community Center is a Degas and there’s a great (but sad) story about the Monet that was stolen from the building. We also have a beautiful historic Main Street, Marshall County courthouse, Marshall County Historical Society, additional galleries and music festivals. I could go…

10 – Everything I’ve left out. There certainly isn’t enough space here to list everything that is wonderful about Marshalltown. Come see for yourself. Stop into the Chamber office and say hello. I’ll take you down to Lillie Mae’s for a piece of hand-dipped chocolates.

Sometimes I think it’s easy for all of us to see the things we’d like to change and forget to think about the wonderful things waiting for us in our own backyards. I encourage you to look at your community with a fresh set of eyes and enjoy what you have.

Hello my name is Lynn and I am a Smartphone-a-holic

Association of Business and Industry — Mon, 02 Mar 2009

It’s nothing new. I’m not the first. But, I whole-heartedly admit, I am addicted to my Smartphone. It’s pretty and green and keeps me connected to the world. I get text messages, email and can connect to the Internet at any given moment. What could possibly be wrong with that?!

I think I first realized I had a serious problem when I left work one fateful night in December. I turned off my computer, shut off my light, got in my car to take the 5-minute commute home (yes, I hit a red light, otherwise it would have been a 3-minute commute), walked in the house and checked my phone to see if I had any email messages. Now in all honesty, what could have possibly happened in those 5 minutes since I shut down Outlook at the office? I did have a message however…from a popular women’s clothing store, telling me about a great offer they were having that weekend. And then another one came in from a magazine I subscribe to…and another and another. I thought to myself, “I should have stayed at work! Look at all of this important stuff that has happened.”

Then a little voice inside of me said, “Lynn, put the phone down. And step away.” I’ll admit, it was hard. I set the phone on the counter and walked away.

Now I haven’t worked my way through the twelve steps process. I’ve admitted I have a problem, but that’s about as far as I’ve gotten. I’m not sure I’m ready to give up on my addiction. In fact just last weekend, a friend sent me an email on Sunday, testing to see if I would reply. And I did. Pretty much immediately.

Smartphones are just another tool we have available to us today, meant to make our lives easier. And they do. There have been a number of times I’m thankful that I have access to my email right at my fingertips. Or the countless times I’ve used my phone to Google something incredibly important while having a conversation with a friend (don’t you hate when you can’t think of the name of a song you just heard?!)

What I have learned about the wonders of Smartphones is that sometimes, you just have to turn them off. Easy to say, hard to do.

Lynn Olberding

Marshalltown, Iowa: A Community I Love

Hello my name is Lynn and I am a Smartphone-a-holic

Hello my name is Lynn and I am a Smartphone-a-holic