Meet the Shaping Volga Leadership Team!

We have lived in Volga since 1998 when we returned to farm with family. Since then, we have loved raising a family here and appreciate the people, the beauty, and calling Volga our home.

To date, all four of our kids have shown an interest in returning to this community, and we would love to be a part of helping Volga grow in opportunities for them! 

Our oldest son Cole and his wife are both agronomists in the process of returning to the area to continue farming. Our daughter Ciera is currently in grad school to become a physical therapist. Nick is at Kirkwood working on receiving his diesel ag degree in hopes of bringing that skill back to the farming community. Derek is in high school at Central Community Schools, another perk to living in this area, and he serves as a Jr. firefighter for our community along with his Dad and brothers.

We have enjoyed helping to serve this community that has given us so much and we look forward to being a part of helping to support Volga with the memories of the past, growing in the present, and working towards a great future!

Hi!  I’m George Duff. Born and raised in Volga, I graduated from Central. Upon being discharged from the Army, I remained in Colorado Springs for another five years. I then moved to California where I met my wife, Ann. I spent the next 31 years owning and operating Duff Plumbing.  Closing the business and selling our home, Ann and I packed up and retired to Volga in 2013….and here we are!!  Since then, our two daughters have followed us and have established their own homes in Volga.
 

I remember Volga as a vibrant and thriving town. People would come to town on Friday or Saturday nighst to shop, get a haircut, or hang out at the locker (Volga City Opera House basement)!!
 

We will make the hidden gem of Northeast Iowa, Volga City, a popular destination again!!

My grandparents moved to Volga when I was around eight years old. They were long-term members of the Volga Community during my childhood and early adulthood. 

As I look back at the large amount of time I spent in the Volga community with them, I remember the great neighbors who always had an open door (usually with a homemade snack), Pete’s goldfish pond, orange pushups from the basement store at the Opera House, along with bicycle rides around town with my friends who lived in this wonderful community.  

The Volga Middle School (part of Central CSD) was open, and I had the pleasure of attending the school for three years.  There were many businesses and areas for kids to experience the joy of living in the community.

While I spent time in Volga, I grew up on a dairy farm on Chicken Ridge, between Elkader and Volga.  I remember when it was considered a long-distance phone call to dial the Volga community, so our family utilized CB radios for most conversations held with my grandparents.  

Fast forward to today, my grandparents are buried in town, and the community still has many great offerings.  After living in the Cedar Rapids area for fifteen years, my husband, Nick, and I returned to live in rural Volga in 2006. We have raised our four children with strong ties to the community and community service.  

I currently serve as the Director of Business/Finance at the Postville Community School District.  I enjoy spending time with our children and their families.  Nick and I are members of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Volga, and I serve on the Volga EMS crew.We are proud to partner with a variety of local organizations to provide the best possible support to our clients. From food banks to healthcare providers, our partners help us extend our reach and impact in the community.

I was born and raised in Volga during a time when there were no concerns about abductions or people wanting to hurt us. We played in the river all summer and rode our bikes around town and had spirited softball games daily. In school, I was on the basketball and softball teams, and I played in the band. I graduated from Central Community in Elkader and went on to college at the University of Northern Iowa. Between my junior and senior year of college, I spent a year attending the University of Lausanne in Switzerland.

Following college, most of the years of my career were spent working in San Francisco and New York City. In San Francisco, I worked at the headquarters of Wells Fargo in the position of Vice President of Human Resources for their largest subsidiary company. For the last many years in San Francisco, I was Director of Compensation and Benefits for Crowley Maritime Corporation. Then I moved to New York City where I finished my career serving as the Director of Administration and Budgets for the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).

When I was ready to retire, I wanted to move back to Volga to be with my family and to return Home. I was able to purchase the house that my grandfather lived in when I was a child. When I arrived, the flood of 1999 had happened and shortly after I moved in, the houses that were flooded were knocked down and burned. I watched this Armageddon as it left a barren, scarred landscape where all those houses had been. I vowed that I would do whatever I could to help bring back the Volga I knew and loved as a child.

My first volunteer assignment was to Chair the community’s Visioning Committee. Through a grant, we were given professional help to find ways to beautify the areas of town left scarred by the flood. The result was that we raised funds, built, and landscaped the waterfall town sign at the entrance of Volga City. Over several years, our Visioning Committee also planted hundreds of trees and raised funds to put up as many picket fences as possible along Washington Street. 

Shortly after settling in, I started serving on the City Council and have now been a council member for nearly 20 years. During this time, I have served on various committees and boards in the community, the county and Northeast Iowa. I worked with Senator Ernst to get our post office reopened.

A few years ago, I agreed to Chair a committee to build a new library for Volga. The current library is simply too small and unable to accommodate the needed programming and the numbers of people coming to participate in these programs. We have raised the necessary funding and are currently in construction at the new location and I'm very happy to say that the library has move into its new home, which used to be Moore & Follon Hardware.

I enjoy being back home in Volga City and will continue to do whatever I can to make it a great place to live.