Beautification Babes salute Hinton with Tribute Trail idea

TIM GALLAGHER
Mon October 06 2014
Posted Oct 6, 2014
6,357

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, folks in Holstein, Iowa, should take a bow. Or, receive a salute from those in Hinton.

Holstein's Avenue of Flags has Kelly Nashleanas, of Hinton, stopping on U.S. Highway 20 as she drives to Ames. Her destination at Iowa State University can wait, she decides.

"My grandpa was a prisoner of war in World War II," Nashleanas says. "I've had a brother, U.S. Army Maj. James O'Keefe, do three tours of duty (in Iraq and Afghanistan) and now we have a son, Benjamin Nashleanas, in the Iowa National Guard."

Nashleanas takes her time to examine 369 U.S. flags waving in the breeze at Holstein, part of a project hatched and executed two years ago by Eagle Scout candidate Michael Perrett, with plenty of assistance from community members and those with Dessel-Schmidt American Legion Post 225 in Holstein.

Nashleanas thinks of Hinton, wondering if this can happen along Highway 75 in the Plymouth County town of 928.

Nashleanas doesn't wonder long. She's one of the gals who call themselves the Beautification Babes of Hinton. I caught up with these Babes four years ago as they opened Michael's Miracle Park, a $125,000 treasure they helped build and named as a tribute to Hinton's Michael Miller.

The handicapped-accessible park is a real asset for young and old alike in Hinton, a city where folks stay active with athletic fields, a new elementary school, Deer Run Golf Course and more.

People in Hinton do much of their moving -- biking, running, walking -- without the benefit of sidewalks.

So, Nashleanas returns from Holstein and seeks her "Babes" for creative help. Over a meal at Minerva's they hatch Hinton's Tribute Trail, an avenue of U.S. flags along an expanded recreational trail running west of and parallel to U.S. Highway 75 in Hinton.

Tribute Trail has already earned resolutions of support from the Hinton City Council and the Plymouth County Board of Supervisors. The Beautification Babes, a 501c3 charitable entity, will soon submit three grant applications.

Fundraisers are being planned as an account for Tribute Trail opens at Pinnacle Bank in Hinton.

How much money is needed? Nashleanas predicts the cost could approach or exceed $100,000, she's not sure. She doesn't want Hinton residents to be intimidated by a dollar figure.

Those wishing to honor a veteran may donate $175 to the cause. That money will purchase a flag, a pole, a marker identifying said veteran and a solar lamp to illuminate Old Glory. The veteran need not be from Hinton or Plymouth County.