Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May. It was formerly known as Decoration Day.  This is a day we commemorate men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice while serving their country.  Memorial Day was first enacted to honor  soldiers of the American Civil War.  Go to http://www.usmemorialday.org/ for more info on this holiday.  Be sure to support your local observances to honor our veterans.  Keosauqua will be honoring 9 veterans on Monday, May 31st at 10:00 a.m. in the City Park.

Van Buren Telephone Company would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of our graduating seniors.    Arie Pencovici was quoted   “Graduation is only a concept.  In real life you graduate every day.  Graduation is a process that goes on  until the last day of your life.  If you can grasp that, you’ll make a difference. “   The tassel is worth the hassle!!  Good luck in your future endeavors.  Wherever you go, go with all your heart.  ~Confucius

Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms out there.    Here are a couple of sites to give you some ideas and insights for Mother’s Day.

http://holidays.kaboose.com/mothers-day/

http://www.dayformothers.com/interesting-facts.html

Or give Mom a new wireless phone from Van Buren Wireless.  Check out our Mother’s Day Sale

The new anti-texting law was passed by the Iowa Legislature and signed into law by the Governor. 

The new law will ban all drivers from reading, writing or sending text messages or email while operating a motor vehicle.

In addition novice drivers, mostly between the ages of 14-17 will be prohibited from using a cell phone while operating a motor vehicle.

A person ticketed under the new law will face a fine of $100, although there would be a grace period on the fine from July 1st, 2010 - June 30th, 2011.

To read the details of the new law please visit House File 2456 .

A Don’t Text & Drive Site is now on facebook.

Van Buren Telephone Company would like to congratulate Peggy Lee of Birmingham, our “What do you like most about Spring?” contest  drawing winner.    We enjoyed hearing from our customers and thank all of you who took the time to comment or sign up for our email notice.

                                                              April 16th is the last day to enter for a Free MP3 Player.  Just go to the March 26th post and comment on “What do you love most about Spring?”  You will be automatically entered in a random drawing for a Coby MP3 4GB player.  Don’t miss your chance to win!!!

April 7th Van Buren Telephone and INS joined together to offer our customers training on “Working with Digital Photos” and “Social Networking”.  Dave Sherlock from INS was the trainer and offered great tips for all of those attending on the topics.  If you missed the classes the handouts are available for Digital Photos and Social Networking.

Thank you to all who attended and good luck with your photos and facebook adventures!!

Need some ideas to help keep the kids busy over the Easter holiday.  Kaboose site has some great suggestions for your family.  Mom can get help for that Easter dinner at allrecipes.com  and tasteofhome.com  Take the kids to a local Easter egg hunt. Enjoy the blessings of this Easter season.

On April 19th, we’ll be giving a way a FREE Coby 4 GB Flash MP3 Player with FM and Color Display to one lucky Van Buren Telephone customer.

So how do you win? Just post what you love most about Spring in the comments section of this post. Comments will be closed as of midnight on Friday, April 16th. The winner will be chosen randomly from all commenters on Monday, April 19th and the winner will be announced Monday morning!

To comment, just click on the number next to to the word “comments” right under the title of this post.  Type in your comment, and then “submit.” Don’t forget to include your name and e-mail address so we know who to give the prize to if you win! If your comment doesn’t show up right away, don’t worry. All comments have to be approved (to avoid spammers) before they are posted, which may take a little extra time.

If you don’t want to comment, we’ll also put you in the drawing if you sign-up to receive our e-mail updates by April 16th. Just enter your e-mail address in the right side bar of the home page, and click submit. Everytime we add a new article to the site, you’ll receive it in your inbox!

Please feel free to comment on any posts that we put up. The more interaction and conversation we can have with our customers, the better. Good luck!

Spring is finally here and that means it’s time to start those warm weather projects!  But before you build that fence,  plant a tree, or do any other digging projects remember to contact Iowa One Call.  Just call 811 or visit the iowa one call website 48 hours in advance to have all of your utilities properly marked.  It’s a free service and it’s the law.