Eagle festival showcases LeClaire, ‘magnificent birds’

LECLAIRE – A new festival brought crowds of people to this community to celebrate eagles, nature and works of art carved in ice. It also gave people a chance to look over the stores and sites offered in LeClaire. All those features were offered during the first LeClaire Eagle Festival held Saturday and Sunday, Jan. […]

LECLAIRE – A new festival brought crowds of people to this community to celebrate eagles, nature and works of art carved in ice. It also gave people a chance to look over the stores and sites offered in LeClaire. All those features were offered during the first LeClaire Eagle Festival held Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 21-22. “I think it went great,” LeClaire Tourism Manager Cindy Bruhn said during Sunday’s festivities in the Celebration Center, 229 N. Cody Road. “This is a good way for people to discover LeClaire with these events. … We want people to know LeClaire is open.” She added the festival was a great way to showcase the many businesses and other attractions in the community. Many of the festival events took place at or near the Mississippi River Distilling Co. in downtown.  For instance, on Saturday artist Rob Storm attracted crowds of visitors just outside the distillery as he created ice sculptures of animals – including a pelican. Those ice sculptures were then put on display outside several LeClaire businesses.

The other stars of the weekend celebration were on display Sunday during several presentations inside the Celebration Center. The events included: a display and educational program on eagles presented by the St. Louis-based World Bird Sanctuary; author Brian “Fox” Ellis telling stories on eagles; photographer Ty Smedes showing his nature and eagle photos; a presentation by Living Lands & Waters; and eagle watching from the roof of the center. “I liked seeing all the up-close education they presented,” Heather Dalhoff, of Davenport, said after watching eagles during the World Bird Sanctuary presentation. “I also liked seeing all those magnificent birds.” Ms. Dalhoff attended the festival with her son Haden, 7, who also enjoyed the show. “I liked the big birds, and what mom just said,” he added.

During the eagle show, World Bird Sanctuary officials showed off three eagles: a golden eagle named “Midas,” a wedge-tailed eagle named “Duncan,” and a bald eagle named “McGwire.” In addition to showing the eagles, officials with World Bird Sanctuary gave information about the birds. Paige Schneider, a naturalist/trainer with the organization, said Duncan’s talon strength is about 1,000 pounds per square inch. That is about 10 times greater than an adult human’s strength. During the presentation, several children held a device to measure their hand strength. That device showed their strength between 10 and 20 pounds. “My biggest hope is that these presentations will get people to pay attention to nature,” said Ms. Schneider, explaining that she hopes people pay attention to the bird populations around them and take action if they notice those populations going down. “It’s not governments. It’s not scientists. It’s regular people who make a difference in helping birds.”

In addition to focusing on the birds, the festival included presentations from Living Lands & Waters. Megan Shanafelt used the festival to talk about the Bison Bridge project. That project centers on Iowa and Illinois Departments of Transportation’s plans to eventually replace the Interstate 80 bridge over the Mississippi River. Living Lands & Waters is proposing a Bison Bridge project to reuse the current bridge to create a safe, multi-use facility that is accessible by wildlife, pedestrians and cyclists. Ms. Shanafelt said the festival also is a great time to get people involved with the organization. “When we come to events like this, where there are tons of people, we like to tell them about volunteering opportunities,” she added. The eagle festival sponsors included: Riverboat Twilight, Holiday Inn Express; Bobby Ray Bunch – Ruhl & Ruhl; Mississippi River Distilling Co. Celebration Center; Ty Smedes Nature Photography; Fox Tales International; Bela; Happy Joe’s Pizza & Ice Cream; the LeClaire Chamber of Commerce; First Central State Bank; Antique Archaeology; Living Lands & Waters; Wide River Winery; and Blackhawk Bank & Trust.  Also, the festival was helped by a $10,000 tourism grant that helped boost the advertising budget, as well as the sponsorship match by The Twilight in LeClaire.  The city has received a state tourism grant – from the Iowa Tourism Office and Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) two of the past three years. The state program funds tourism-related marketing initiatives, meetings and events to both local and the state economies. Awards range from $2,500 to $10,000 and require a 25% match.