THURSDAY, NOV. 27, 2025 • VOLUME N0. 124 • ISSUE NO. 10 • 1 SECTION • 8 PAGES
Serving Colfax • Mingo • Baxter • Western Jasper County
TREE-MENDOUSLY ENTERTAINING
Jasper County Historical Museum to have more than 200 trees on display for fifth annual holiday event 1-8 p.m. Saturdays and 1-4 p.m. Sundays. The museum will also be open 1-4 p.m. Christmas Day, allowing families a chance to get out of the house for some fresh air and a relaxing outing to a one-of-a-kind spectacle founded right here in Jasper County. Admission to the Tree-mendous Christmas Experience is free, but free will donations are very much accepted. The funds go directly to the museum. Group options are available by calling ahead at 641-792-9118. In 2023, the Tree-mendous Christmas Experience recorded 1,300 guests. The following year it brought in 1,400 visitors, which organizers were pretty happy with considering there were a number of bad weather days. Visitors in 2024 came from 50 different towns in Iowa and 23 different states.
By Christopher Braunschweig Jasper County Tribune For the past two years, the Tree-mendous Christmas Experience has attracted more than 1,000 people to the Jasper County Historical Museum in Newton, and the dedicated volunteers — who spend countless hours decorating the museum with holiday decorations and hundreds of trees — want to continue that trend. Every Saturday and Sunday from Dec. 6 until Dec. 28, the museum at 1700 S. 15th Ave. W. will open its doors to visitors to see the more than 200 decorated trees on display. Even the exhibits don Christmas decorations! Every nook and cranny is covered in festive trimmings and ornaments. Visitors can visit the museum
Christopher Braunschweig/Jasper County Tribune Larry Hurto gazes at the lighted trees on display at the Tree-mendous Christmas Experience at the Jasper County Historical Museum in Newton.
Opioid settlement committee awards $144K to agencies in Jasper County
Getting creative with giving
Recipients are using funds to help people with substance use disorders
The Jasper County 4-H Festival of Trees is a fun, unique way for kids to give back By Jamee A. Pierson Jasper County Tribune
Metro Creative
By Christopher Braunschweig Jasper County Tribune Four organizations in Jasper County that help individuals with substance use disorders were collectively awarded more than $144,000 by the county’s opi-
oid settlement committee. The board of supervisors approved the appropriations in a 3-0 vote during their Nov. 18 meeting at the courthouse. Becky Pryor, administrator of the Jasper County Health Department, gave a brief presentation
about the organizations and the money they would be receiving. Capstone Behavioral Healthcare was awarded $70,000 for justice-involved substance treatment and $150,000 for a new SETTLEMENT | 3
For almost two decades, the Jasper County 4-H Festival of Trees has called the Jasper County Courthouse home. But the festival’s origins are a little further west at the Jasper County Fairgrounds. Originally hosted by the Jasper County Fair Board in Colfax, the event coincided with Colfax Country Christmas, the yearly holiday celebration in the community. As the years passed, 4-H clubs took over the organization of the festival and in 2006 it moved to the county seat. “It is a good fit, the building is so pretty,” Iowa State University Extension and Outreach County Youth Coordinator Stacey Wilson said. “We do get a lot of compliments and positive
comments on the festival. We like to bring to light that 4-H is not just for farm and rural kids. There is community service involved, life skills involved, record keeping and all kinds of communication skills. This lets the public see all of the citizenship that 4-H clubs and kids do.” While decorating trees to circle the first and second floors of the courthouse might not seem like a community service activity, the 4-H groups have turned it into a community-centered giving opportunity. Each club decorates the trees to reflect a charity or nonprofit it has selected to give back to for the season. “Clubs pick a charity or nonprofit to support then pick items to either put on the tree to decorate with,” Wilson said. GIVING | 3
Supervisors OK hiring of conservation admin assistant/naturalist Talsma voted no, saying the board needs to consider budget constraints By Christopher Braunschweig Jasper County Tribune Jasper County Conservation received majority support from the county board of supervisors on the hiring of a new administrative assistant/naturalist position, which was a point of contention earlier this fall. Supervisor Brandon Talsma voted against the hiring last week, saying he will likely vote against similar resolutions. Including those from the sheriff ’s office and secondary roads, two departments that Talsma said are some of the most important in the county. In a phone interview with Newton
News, Talsma explained his decision to vote no was motivated by upcoming budget constraints and the uncertainties from possible property tax reform laws coming out of the Iowa Legislature. It is a decision upheld by his past statements regarding new hires and new positions. “This upcoming budget year is going to be extremely tight,” he said. “We need to try to find cuts and savings where we can … Over 50 percent of our budget is property taxes and the vast majority of property taxes is going to pay for — not equipment, not programs, not special projects — but wages and benefits.”
CONTACT US
For the past year or so, Talsma said he A delayed appointment to the conserhas been trying to force conversations vation board only exacerbated the backwith department heads to find ways to lash. Robyn Friedman had been awaiting save costs, either through attrition — a her reappointment to the board for some process in which positions are not refilled time, but was ultimately rejected. Instead, after employees leave, thus saving mon- supervisors appointed one of their own to ey — or other creative means like shared the conservation board: Thad Nearmyer. positions. Again, the community lashed out. Talsma suggested conservation and secSupervisors and conservation board Media ondary roads discussShaw the possibility of a members were originally at odds with shared position, similar to the one shared over an empty position. If left unfilled, by other general assistance and veterans conservation argued it could mean fewer affairs. However, this proposal was con- educational programs for students in Jastested by conservation board members per County. Conservation also argued it and caused community wide backlash online for some time. CONSERVATION | 3 est. 1851
est. 1851
Newsroom: 641-792-3121, ext. 7 • Advertising: 641-792-3121, ext. 2 Subscriptions/Delivery: 866-979-1053 • Billing: 641-792-3121, ext. 6
est. 1851