We would like to extend welcomes to some of the new people in positions of leadership in Mount Vernon – Jessie Thurn as director of Mount Vernon-Lisbon Community Development Group, Rev. Erika Uthe at Seeds of Faith Lutheran Church and Matthew Leeman as Mount Vernon Community School District’s new superintendent.
Each of these individuals brings with them years of experience to their positions. For Thurn, she and her husband have made Mount Vernon home. She’s been assistant manager at Bauman’s for a number of years, as well as helped with the Friends of the Palisades Kepler State Park activities. As CDG director Lisa White commented, that ongoing working relationship with people in the Mount Vernon and Lisbon community only helps this new director, as she’s not starting from ground zero with some individuals.
The same can be said of Uthe. The pastor has served with the Southeastern Iowa Synod and at numerous congregations as part of that work, but her home congregation has always been Seeds of Faith Lutheran Church. Stepping from a member to leading a congregation is different, but knowing a lot of the people you serve only helps you start focusing on the priorities of all individuals. Area churches United Methodist Church of Mount Vernon, Seeds of Faith Lutheran Church of Lisbon and First Presbyterian Church of Mount Vernon just concluded a joint vacation Bible school program for the summer, collaborating between the three congregations.
Leeman has 20 years of education experience, having served as an associate superintendent for the Clear Creek-Amana school district, and was one of the three candidates to interview for the position back in January. He has been tuned into issues impacting the school district in the last few months of Dr. Greg Batenhorst’s tenure as superintendent, and will be ready to take closer looks at the district’s finances. When he was interviewing, he noted he was looking at this job because of what his family will gain being a part of this district as well.
Stepping into these important roles in our community, from guiding the schools and education locally, guiding volunteers and business leaders for the betterment of both our communities and guiding the faith lives of individuals is important work, and we look forward to what they and the leasers at the helms of these organizations do.
Shoutout to Lincoln Wine Bar Pizza
As well, a huge shout out to Lincoln Wine Bar Pizza for recently being named by the New York Times as one of the best pizza places in the United States. “There is too much Iowa on the wood-fired pies: local morels and asparagus in the spring and summer, Iowa pepperoni and hot honey all year long. The ‘barn chives’ come from the old pumpkin farm where the owner Jesse Sauerbrei’s father lives,” from the New York Times review. “Pizza is a really great way to get people to try new things,” Sauerbrei said.