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IOWA’S NEWS LEADER. A HUGE WATER QUALITY PROJECT WRAPPED UP THIS AFTERNOON IN PLEASANTVILLE. THE CITY WORKED WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND THE DNR TO REMOVE MILLIONS OF POUNDS OF SEDIMENT FROM SHADLE PARK POND AND WIDEN ITS BANKS SO THE POND CAN HOLD MORE STORM WATER. BUT AS ����vlog’S BEAU BOWMAN SHOWS US, THE POND HAS A REALLY COOL ORIGIN STORY AND THE FAMILY WHO BUILT IT MORE THAN 100 YEARS AGO IS EXCITED TO SEE THE NEXT GENERATION ENJOY THE WATER FOR YEARS TO COME. THIS WAS A REALLY IMPORTANT AND HUGE PROJECT FOR THE CITY OF PLEASANTVILLE, COSTING HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS, AND THEY REALLY NEEDED TO GET IT DONE IN ORDER TO SAVE THE POND. BUT IN ADDITION TO THAT, IT’S EVEN MORE IMPORTANT TO ONE PARTICULAR FAMILY WHO STILL LIVES JUST RIGHT DOWN THE STREET. THE MASSIVE RENOVATION AT THE SHADLE PARK POND REMOVED 22 MILLION POUNDS OF SEDIMENT THAT SETTLED AT THE BOTTOM, COMING IN FROM STORM RUNOFF AS THE MAIN DRAINAGE POINT FOR THE CITY’S STORM LINES. IT ALSO NEEDED TO BE WIDENED TO ACCOMMODATE MORE WATER RUSHING IN. WE DIDN’T HAVE A LOT OF WAYS TO STOP SILT AND STUFF COMING OFF THE STREETS, SO OUR POND WAS FILLED UP. THE CITY OF PLEASANTVILLE PARTNERED WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF AG AND THE DNR TO HELP FUND THE $428,000 PROJECT, ONE OF THE STATE’S LARGEST URBAN WATER QUALITY PROJECTS TO DATE. BUT IN THE MIDDLE OF CONSTRUCTION, THE CREW WAS STOPPED BY RUBY WARREN FOR A QUICK LESSON IN HISTORY. IT’S BEEN PART OF OUR FAMILY FOR YEARS AND YEARS, WARREN’S GRANDFATHER HAD ORIGINALLY DUG THE POND IN 1920. FOR SOMETHING WE CAN JUST FIND IN OUR FREEZER TODAY, IN THE WINTERTIME. CUT. THE WATER WAS FROZEN AND IT WAS ICE. JAMES WARREN WOULD CUT AND DELIVER BLOCKS OF ICE ALL AROUND THE AREA. 10 POUNDS, 20 POUNDS, 30 POUNDS. AND HIS WIFE KEPT THE LEDGER. THIS IS JANUARY 19TH, 1929, ON A SATURDAY. FINISHED PUTTING UP THE FIRST CUTTING OF ICE. TODAY. IT WAS 13IN THICK AND A VERY GOOD QUALITY. ONCE ICE MAKERS AND FREEZERS KILLED THE ICE DELIVERY INDUSTRY, THE POND WAS USED BY MANY IN THE COMMUNITY TO FISH IN THE SUMMER AND TO SKATE IN THE WINTER. IT’S BECOME A CENTERPIECE IN PLEASANTVILLE, AND RUBY IS JUST HAPPY TO SEE HER GRANDFATHER’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE COMMUNITY KEPT ALIVE. HE WOULD BE REALLY PROUD OF IT THAT IT’S STILL AROUND, AND SOME PEOPLE STILL CALL IT WINNIE’S POND IN PLEASANTVILLE. BE