Kevin Maynard was as busy as a Christmas elf last Friday afternoon, as he distributed sugar cookies in the area to help promote the 35th-annual Festival of Trees. In fact, the Quad City Arts executive director dressed as an elf to deliver the Olde Towne Bakery treats (topped with the Festival logo) to his home-based co-workers and other Festival supporters. Among Maynard’s cookie run was for Kelly Oberhardt of KONE Spares (a team of the local KONE company), who covered the cost of her cookies and she matched donations of her team – raising a total of about $500 for Festival of Trees. “Things... Read More

Despite federal health officials urging people to stay home, millions of people will fly during Thanksgiving week, including many through the Quad City International Airport, Moline. More than 1 million air travelers passed through security checkpoints at U.S. airports Nov. 20 and 22 for only the second and third time since the pandemic began, according to the Transportation Security Administration. Sunday was the single-busiest day at airport checkpoints since March. Saturday, the travel numbers neared a million, bringing the three-day total to more than 3 million passengers. The surge in... Read More

In the wake of the Covid pandemic, Quad-Cities students need more help than ever before to succeed in school – and life, and United Way Quad Cities has teamed with local colleges to fill the need. They are providing the new QC Tutor Connection to area K-12 students. “Parents are struggling with keeping their kids are on track and need some assistance with home-based learning,” said Rene Gellerman, president/CEO of United Way Quad Cities. “We’re being proactive in reimaging how we ensure all our kids succeed in school. Education has been and will continue to be the best investment in the... Read More

Saturday In The Arts is a weekly look at a personality, place, trend or topic of interest to the Quad-Cities. It runs every Saturday morning on your site for fun, free, local entertainment and features, QuadCities.com. After Covid claimed Davenport Central High School’s planned spring 2020 musical, “Anything Goes,” drama director Thea IntVeld took that “anything goes” attitude when planning for the fall semester. For the murder mystery “Clue,” she not only thought outside of the box. IntVeld thought outside the school, and their gorgeous Performing Arts Center, which opened in 2017.... Read More

The Putnam Museum (1717 W. 12th St., Davenport) is playing around in its newest exhibit, as it explores the role of play and toys through culture and time in society. From antiquity and from around the world, guests will see toys that reflect societal norms and other sociological trends. “Play: The Story of Toys” is an original Putnam exhibit, set to open Saturday, Nov. 21, on the main west gallery upstairs. The exhibit will be included with general admission and remain open through August 2021 at the Putnam, a Smithsonian Affiliate museum. “Our latest exhibit features items from the Putnam’s... Read More

Rock Island author Michael McCarty will hold a Covid-safe book signing (masks required) this Sunday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Igor’s Bistro, 3055 38th St., Rock Island. The 50-ish author’s latest is “Frankenstein’s Mistress: Tales of Love & Monsters,” published by Grinning Skull Press ($15 paperback). This collection of horror and science fiction stories includes a sequel to Mary Shelley’s classic “Frankenstein” – with Victor Frankenstein, the monster, and a blind fortune teller named Rose Blackthorn. In other tales, even the apocalypse won’t stop Leonard Cartwright from... Read More

At Quad City Arts in Rock Island, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, as the 35th anniversary of Festival of Trees will look different this year, but the holiday magic will continue in a whole new way. Kaleigh Trammell is in her second year of coordinating Festival of Trees at Quad City Arts, and while the focus for the first time will be online and on TV, there also will be a gift shop and window displays at the Rock Island Gallery from Nov. 21 to 29. “It has been a challenge,” she said recently. “When we made this decision, we were trying to look ahead to what November was going... Read More

Many cities nationwide are grappling with systemic issues of racial equity, justice and inclusion — and the Quad-Cities made a major step Thursday in its own multi-pronged effort. Led by United Way Quad Cities, over 300 people participated in the Zoom event, Courageous Conversations: Equity in Action. It included a community report from United Way’s Oct. 15 Equity Summit, addressing key issues, strategies and priorities identified during last month’s small-group conversations. Thursday also  introduced United Way’s Equity Investment Panel, which will oversee distribution of up to $200,000... Read More

Tiphanie Cannon, owner of Oh So Sweet by Tiphanie in downtown Davenport, was the perfect pick to be a main speaker Wednesday morning for the Quad Cities Chamber AMp Up meeting (held virtually). She’s not only found creative ways to cope and thrive during the Covid-19 pandemic, Cannon has shown enormous heart by making hundreds of lunches this week for overworked medical staff at UnityPoint Health – Trinity and Genesis hospitals. Originally planned as an “Adopt a Nurse” program, she asks customers to spend $10 per employee, for Oh So Sweet to make and deliver individually boxed lunches consisting... Read More

A maid’s song in Jacob Bancks’s new opera “Karkinos” has painfully relevant lyrics – “Slowly, slowly, what is your hurry? Little by little the bird builds a nest. Patience obtains all things. Sooner or later a seedling will climb. Wait, and all that has life will flourish in time.” Patience is certainly what we all need in the Covid era, as the premiere of “Karkinos” – a collaboration between the Quad City Symphony Orchestra and Living Proof Exhibit – again has been delayed, until February 2022. The opera, penned by Bancks (an Augustana associate professor of music), was first... Read More