The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa • Page 115

1 C3 tw3 fcsk AT April .10, 1W7, Section wss mmm SCHOOLS SPORTS BUSINESS HOW TO REACH US mm mm vstDesMomesWmdsor Hei yghtsCliveWauIee Finishing the Boston Marathon was only a start for Sandy Rupnow. Heirlooms By Design in Valley Junction will help you turn boxes of family photos into a treasured scrapbook. Some Windsor Elementary School Students got a ride in a limousine and pizza for being the top fund-raisers in their school. By phone: Call editor N.uicy Clark at 284-8039. For delivery or circulation, call 288311.

By fax: Call 286-250-t. Attention: Around Town. By mail: Dos Moines Register, P.O. Box 957, Des Moines, 503at. Deadlines: Information must be received one week in advance of publication and mast contain a name and telephone number of a contact person for verification my A '-ML I I fv IV A 0 West Des Moines frefighters say goodbye to their former chief tion run by the railroad, McFarland said.

"Back then, there were just a handful of volunteer firemen, and they were notified by the city bell, not pagers," McFarland said. Nelson was appointed chief of a newly incorporated fire department in 1948. He served in that role until 1972. Firefighters say his tenure was marked by his progressive and that we should set a good example. He said it was a privilege to be a firefighter, not a right "He was just so proud of the city and the fire department Nelson was buried April 19 at Resthaven Cemetery.

About 20 fire trucks led the way from fire station No. 2 to the burial site. "He was really good for morale," McFarland said. "The guys loved having him around. Well miss him." "He was about 20 years ahead of his time as far as fireCghting was concerned," McFarland said.

"He had the department wearing oxygen tanks back before most people knew what they were." Nelson took firefighting seriously, both on the scene and off. "I remember him chewing out a firefighter because his front yard was unkempt," fire marshal Kent Eubank said. "He said that as firefighters, citizens looked up to us years old." Nelson died April 16 at Mercy Hospital Medical Center following a short battle with Lou Gehrig's disease. He was 85. Shorty was a permanent fixture in the department "He was active right up to the end," said Cliff McFarland, chief of training.

"He served as chaplain, brought coffee and doughnuts to every Ore and spent hours around the station doing minor repairs and cleaning equipment "He wasn't able to still fight fires, but he did everything else. Whenever we had a fire, he was there." Born in Muscatine, Nelson moved to what was then called Valley Junction in 1920. He worked for years as a switchman for the Rock Island Railroad. He began his career with the fire department in 1932, back when it was a volunteer organiza By ANDREW 0. BLECHMAN Kkgistkr Staff Writkr WEST DES MOINES The West Des Moines fire department recently said goodbye to its longest-serving member, the legendary Lloyd "Shorty Nelson, "He was on the department for 65 years," said fire chief Randy Bracken.

"There isn't even anyone on the department who is 65 i km ii Nelson Died at 85 i. Waukee makes plans for bridge in park "The cheapest Fve found outside of the Children's Center costs more than $200 a week. I might have to go on welfare because I can't afford day care for my kids. Tammy Mickle By JULIA JOHNSTON Register Correspondent Parents ute Mb A close dv plans -care center TTic VaBcy Children's Center provides care for 89 children, but it will shut down in June. WAUKEE Waukee has received a $1,500 Project Mainstreet grant to help place a donated covered bridge over a creek in the city's Centennial Park.

The grant, sponsored by KCCI-TV and Casey's General Stores, will help pay for lighting, paint and land- scaping for the bridge. An additional $500 to $700 may be needed to bilitate the faded red pedestrian bridge, according to Robyn Heath, city councilwoman. The project began about a year ago when Arloene and Marvin Terry's property on Highway 6 west of 142nd Street was purchased by the Department of Transportation for widening Iowa Highway 6. The Terrys donated the 52-foot by 6-foot bridge that Marvin Terry and his sons David and Brian had built in 1975 across a creek on their property. The lumber came from buildings Marvin Terry dismantled on a farm that stood where Clocktower Square in West Des Moines is now.

With so much lumber, Terry decided to build a bridge. "It was just a whim," he said. 1 Many people were interested in purchasing the bridge when the Terrys could not move it to their new Waukee home. "We kind of miss it, but a lot of people will get to enjoy it," Marvin Terry said. Waukee's economic development committee, after brainstorming ideas for installation and other costs, decided it was perfect to submit for a Project Mainstreet grant, said Cheryl Humphrey, committee member and owner of Pin Oak I tiyh By ANDREW D.

BLECHMAN ItoiisTKR Staff Writkr WEST DES MOINES The planned closing of a child-care facility in West Des Moines has left a number of parents angry and concerned about how to provide care for their chil dren. The Valley Children's Center, which is run by Children and Families of Iowa at 733 Eighth is expected to close June 6 because of a lack of funding. Children and Families of Iowa also plans to close two other facilities in the area. The non-profit facility cares for 89 chil welfare because I can't afford day care for my kids." Not only does Mickle want to avoid welfare, she has been enamored with the Valley Children's Center. "We like it," she said.

"I feel good dropping my children off here on my way to work. I know that they are well cared for and I don't have to worry about them." Crystal Sullivan said the facility is like a home to her three children. "The staff is wonderful," Sullivan said. "They're like our extended family." Sullivan said it would be good business for the county to keep the facility afloat. "I think taxpayers would rather keep the facility open than pay for our welfare checks," Sullivan said.

"Personally, I'd rather work. If I go on welfare, it's all my children will see. That's not right, and it's not what we parents want. All we want is for our day-care center to stay open so we can keep on working." Jill Danley, another parent, said the only way some families will be able to afford child-care will be for parents to get second jobs. "Second jobs mean less time with the kids," Danley said.

"It's a breakdown of the family unit." Parents said they will continue fighting to keep the center open. "We'll raise money, volunteer at the center whatever it takes," Sullivan said. West Des Moines councilwoman Loretta Sieman said she hopes to get Polk County, the West Des Moines school district and several pliilanthropists involved. "We have an obligation to the families," Sieman said. "We need to see if there is anything we can do.

I'd like the council to join forces with Des Moines and make sure these children have a place to go." dren and accepts children from families that receive state aid and help from the United Way. But officials of the child-care center say the state doesn't adequately subsidize the centers. Many parents maintain that they can't afford to take their children anywhere else. "I'm a single a parent who is raising three young daughters," said Brian Broughton of West Des Moines, tin not making enough to afford day care on my own, and I don't want to go on welfare." Gallery Pottery. "It kind of integrated old and new people in the community," she said.

Harold Bissell Construction of Waukee donated labor and equipment to move the bridge. The Waukee Jaycees have dug footings and will help with other labor, said Diane Felt, acting secretary of the Jaycees. Heath, who serves on a community betterment committee that works to get volunteer groups together for projects, said- "(The bridge) came from somebody who considered themselves part of Waukee. It creates a sense of community and shows how much we can accomplish when we work together." Broughton pays $98 a week for Valley (l 0l? -A' i I 'tinjini r- -m 'h 1 watf -j, 4i w- Uf-J -r -W- 1 tU' "i- jrl I I tr w. f- -r iMwfir Children's Center to care for his Tammy Mickle knows the feeling.

She also is a single parent with three children, and she pays just $60 a week for child care. "The cheapest I've found outside of the HILL NKlliKRCAI.tTlIK Members of the Waukee Jaycees look at a sign for a covered bridge in the town's Centennial Park. Shown left to right are Ross Huney, Mike Felt and Brian Wright Children's Center costs more than $200 a week," Mickle said "I might have to go on 9m urn maM lLVf UUFTTE rGY'LISE is a revolutionary remote control system that's so simple, all you lift is a finger. Just point the sleek remote control toward the infrared eye in the headrail and press the up or down button to raise or lower the shade. Touch the button again to stop the shade.

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