Fund-raising
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From
the Project's inception, fund-raising was the the key to making
the America's River Dream become reality. In the years since,
thousands of people, organizations, and companies have donated
their money, time, labor, and talents toward making that dream
come true. Countless volunteer hours have be chalked up to
scores of fund-raising events, festivals, and presentations.
From a $2.00 beer purchased at Taste of Dubuque to $40 Million
Dollars from Vision Iowa, the project has creatively put every
fund raising concept into motion; and with a $188 million
dollar price tag, they needed to! While funding efforts continue
and support is needed now as much as ever, the project has
raised enough funding to move ahead.
Below,
we are highlighting just a few of the innumerable public fund-raising
efforts that have taken place in our community to support
the America's River Project. It would be nearly impossible
to list them all, but 365 was lucky enough to take an active
role in a few and we bring you the highlights of those events
here. We sincerely hope that you take time to get out and
support these events as they reoccur this year working to
bring us ever closer to the dream.
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You
can Make a Difference!
Take
this opportunity to put your two cents worth (or more)
in the America's River Project. Click below to...
Make
a Donation!
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Taste
of Dubuque
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Taste
of Dubuque is the party to beat all parties.
It is a day-long celebration of food, music
and good times and it all happens on the grounds
of the America's River Project. As a huge
fund-raiser and awareness raiser for the project,
it is the event at which the groundbreaking
for the America's River Project took place.
It grows in size and scope annually. In 2001,
it had to move to make way for construction
to begin on the River Discovery Center. Perhaps
a blessing in disguise, the event may not
have fit in the usual space in the year 2001.
Despite intense heat, Dubuquers and visitors
showed up in force. |
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Taste
of Dubuque Photo
Archive!
Dubuque365.com was there
all day and we have the pictures and the
tan lines to prove it.
Click the image above to visit 365's huge
photo gallery of The Taste of Dubuque 2001.
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Tri-States
Largest Chili Cook-Off
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The
Tri-States Largest Chili Cook-Off
is one of those pre-existing
events that switched its fund-raising
focus to the America's River
Project in recent years. A nationally
sanctioned chili cooking competition,
the cook-off is also a fall celebration
in historic Cable Car Square
in downtown Dubuque, featuring
live music, dancing, a variety
of foods, tons of kids' games,
cold beer, and of course hundreds
of gallons of five alarm chili.
In its tenth year, the event
is now run annually by Jan Feltes
and is held the first Sarurday
in October at the corner of Fourth
and Bluff Streets in Dontown
Dubuque. Click any image below
to browse a collection of images
from last years' event. |
"Sugar"
Ray knows more than BBQ, that's for sure! |
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America's
River Walk
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The
America's River Walk was one of the first fund-raising
efforts on behalf of the America's River Project. Project
organizers were joined by many local supporters of the
project to not only raise funds for the most ambitious
project in the history of Dubuque, but also to bring awareness
to the project while it was still in its infancy. |
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Summer's
Last Blast
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Started
in 2000 as a muti-day send-off to summer by Music &
More Promotions - a group of young, local, live music
enthusiasts, the Blast raised an astonishing $10,000 plus
for America's River in its first year. The following year
the event was tied to an America's River pin promotion
that gave pin buyers discounts around the tri-states on
a range of goods from gas to concert tickets. The pin
promotion culminated at Summer's Last Blast 2001 where
a beautiful speedboat was given away to a lucky pin owner
while the crowd rocked to hitmakers Nine Days and local
favorites like Middle-town, The Uninvited, and many more.
The Blast featured Wang Chung the previous year. Watch
for another great event from Music and More when this
summer winds to a close. |
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Vision
Iowa
The most important single contribution
to the America's River Project, the one that really
put it over the top, was the funding received from the
Vision
Iowa Program, an ambitious community improvement
fund launched by Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack. Dubuque
was the first city to receive Vision Iowa funds and
set the bar for future cities to strive to match. As
active participants in the Vision Iowa campaign, we
at Dubuque365.com were able to see the immense manhours
that went into the detailed and perfectly planned America's
River application and presentation. We commend the Dubuque
County Historical Society staff, Jerry Enzler, and Teri
Goodman in particular for their steadfast dedication
to reaching their goal. The Dubuque Vision Iowa team
was a model group of citizens which many other Iowa
cities tried later to emmulate.
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Named
Contributions
Many individuals and organizations donated
large enough sums of money to the America's River Project to
have their names attached to specific portions of the project.
With many large and wealthy corporations eager to participate,
it was the dedication of smaller civic groups such as the Jaycees,
Rotary, and the Knights of Colombus who reached beyond themselves
to make donations and pledges that would tax the bulk of their
incomes for years to come, that made an impact. This impact
was felt not only in the cash needed to finish the project,
but also in the clout needed to legitamize the project in the
eyes of state, national, and world-wide funders. Their promise
is a symbol of our community's belief in the importance of this
project for generations to come. |
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