It’s official, the Muscatine community has won the state sponsored “It’s in the Water” contest. The Iowa Finance Authority (IFA) notified Muscatine Power and Water October 14th that its video entry had garnered nearly 9,000 votes to take first place and win a custom water tower graphic wrap. The next step is to meet with the IFA and artist, Laura Palmer to begin the design process.

“The whole community really won this,” said Erika Cox, Director of Customer and Technology Experience, “MP&W may have organized the effort, but from start to finish, local individuals and groups drove this project. They starred in the video alongside our great water resources and put us over the top in the voting.” 

Cox commented that the effort was sort of like a community craft project —hundreds of hands, each contributing a square to one award-winning quilt. The video scenes themselves were mostly shot by individuals on their cellphones and later assembled by MP&W into the final entry.

“In hindsight, the effort to build the video, as well as the effort to get everyone in town to vote for it, was a confirmation of the community spirit we were trying to get across.  I think we proved that the intangible thing that’s ‘in the water’ in Muscatine is in fact, pride. Everyone working together for community betterment is a great testament to that.”

The voting window was open from 8am October 1 through 5pm October 11 with twenty-four towns vying for first place. In the final week, Muscatine was locked in a three-way battle with Arnold’s Park and Colfax jockeying for position, but when the voting window closed at 5pm Friday, Muscatine showed 8,987, with Arnold’s Park in second at 6,671.

MP&W was quick to recognize the efforts of other local organizations in using their social media networks to spread the word and boost the vote throughout the contest, calling out the efforts of the Greater Muscatine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, City of Muscatine, Convention & Visitor Bureau, Muscatine County Conservation Board, Muscatine Community Schools, National Pearl Button Museum, Keep Muscatine Beautiful and more.

They specifically wanted to thank media partners, Discover Muscatine, Voice of Muscatine (radio & print), the Muscatine Journal, plus media personalities Tony Tone, Marcia Lense and Denise Hnytka for their coverage and support, and of course, the hundreds of individuals who voted daily.

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