The exquisitely decorated ZCBJ Hall in Clutier pictured on Friday, Dec. 13, ahead of the annual Deck the Hall event that was postponed to tonight, Friday, Dec. 20, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. due to last weekend’s ice storm. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

CLUTIER – While the ice storm that covered much of Iowa in slick roads and thick fog last weekend was not as bad as had been predicted for Tama County, several area holiday events scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 14, including Clutier ZCBJ Lodge’s annual ‘Deck the Hall’ event were postponed in the interest of safety.

Beginning late Friday evening and lasting through Saturday night, widespread periods of light freezing rain and freezing drizzle fell across the state with the heaviest icing centered around Benton, Iowa, Linn, and Johnson counties in eastern Iowa. According to the National Weather Service, flat ice accumulations – ice thickness on a flat surface – between 3/10 and 7/10 of an inch were widespread in and around those areas.

At the Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids, 0.68 inches of flat ice was observed, while multiple jackknifed trucks were reported on I-80. At one point during the storm, 30% of customers in several southeast Iowa counties were reportedly without power.

In Tama County, 56 Grundy County Rural Electric Cooperative (REC) and 14 T.I.P. Rural Electric Cooperative (REC) customers were without power on Sunday afternoon, per the Times-Republican newspaper. According to Chief Deputy Joe Quandt with the Tama County Sheriff’s Office, there were eight calls for service relating to the ice storm wherein deputies responded to either vehicle crashes or vehicles in the ditch.

Santa delayed

Clutier ZCBJ Lodge #104 president Kathleen Brundage smiles while standing in the fully-decorated ZCBJ Hall on Friday, Dec. 13. Brundage along with her daughter Michelle Brundage and son-in-law Tom Krueger spent countless hours this month readying the Hall for the annual family-friendly, holiday event. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

Late Friday afternoon inside Clutier’s ZCBJ Hall ahead of the storm, Lodge president Kathleen Brundage along with her daughter and son-in-law, Michelle Brundage and Tom Krueger were busy finalizing plans and decorations for the annual Deck the Hall event which had been scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 14, beginning at 11 a.m. For the past several years the Lodge has sponsored the free holiday celebration for area families with the Brundage-Krueger trio putting in countless hours to make the Hall look as festive as possible. So many decorated trees shimmered in the 122-year-old Hall on Friday evening during the newspaper’s sneak peek, the space could easily have been mistaken for the set of a Hallmark Christmas movie.

On Saturday morning as ice began to coat area roads, Kathleen made the decision to postpone the event with Michelle writing on Facebook, “Due to weather, Santa is delayed.”

Deck the Hall was thankfully rescheduled to tonight, Friday, Dec. 20, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Both Santa and the Grinch are still set to make an appearance in the Hall along with cookies, hot chocolate, gift bags, and door prizes. Any donations received during the free event will support the Lodge’s effort to replace the building’s deteriorating siding.

Elsewhere in the county on Saturday, the Wieting Theatre’s Ugly Sweater Sing-Along which had been slated to start at 5 p.m. was also postponed with the event rescheduled to this Saturday, Dec. 21, in Toledo. Times remain unchanged – soup supper at 5 p.m. and sing-a-long at 6 p.m.

In the storm’s wake on Monday, the fog finally broke in Tama County around noon allowing the sun to shine. And while many area school districts including Union and North Tama had elected to delay school by two hours that morning due to the dense fog advisory and resulting dicey roads, the forecast for this weekend shows no incoming bad weather – leaving plenty of time for those last-minute sojourns to see Santa.

A chair waits for Santa near the ZCBJ Hall stage in Clutier on Friday, Dec. 13. In years past, the late Delane ‘Dempsey’ Cizek of Toledo dressed up in the head elf’s suit to visit with area children. This year, Dempsey’s son plans to take over the role. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER