☕📰Here Comes October

Good morning Ankeny! Someone told me so many hotel rooms have glass bathroom walls and no doors these days to discourage room sharing (and therefore make more money) and now I’m mad. But not as mad as Sadie Lowell. She built an entire website (bringbackdoors.com) dedicated to hotel bathroom doors.

In today’s digest:

Lets get started.

— Chase & Chance

Ankeny's portion of the High Trestle Trail is about to get another upgrade. City council approved a $162k contract with Howrey Construction to build Phase 2 of the High Trestle Trail Experience Park just south of Uptown. Once construction wraps, it will add a nearly 900 foot flowline trail, a paved path built with small rolling hills, along with playground nodes, a rain garden, and some new landscaping.

This has been a long time coming. The whole idea traces back to a 2020 master plan for turning Ankeny's end of the High Trestle Trail into a destination, not just a stretch you pass through. Phase 1 delivered on that with the Glow Trail, the illuminated path that opened near Uptown in 2025. This is the follow through.

There is no official start date yet, as the city still hasn’t given the green light. But there is a hard deadline, as the whole project has to be done by December 18. Given that timeline, do’ot be surprised if crews show up sooner than later. We will keep an eye out! (more)

🎁 Golden Ridge Lighting is giving one lucky homeowner $1,000 toward a professional Christmas light installation! They specialize in creating custom, professionally installed Christmas displays. You can skip the ladders, tangled lights, and hours of work and just enjoy the finished product.

Everyone who enters the giveaway will receive $150 OFF their Christmas light installation if they don’t win. That means there’s something in it for everyone. Good luck! 🎄✨ Just a few weeks left to enter!

Ankeny's win over Sioux City East last Friday night did more than keep the Hawks unbeaten, it took down one of the hottest teams in the state. The Black Raiders came in 4-0, ranked in the state's top 10, and had outscored their first four opponents by a combined 164-20 prior to this week. This win vaulted Ankeny from #12 to #4 in the latest state rankings, a serious jump for a team that has plenty more to prove. At 5-0, the Hawks are now one of just a handful of Class 5A teams left without a loss. Keep in mind they started the season unranked.

With that being said, they don’t have time to celebrate. No. 5 Johnston makes the short trip to Ankeny this Friday, in what will be a top five showdown between two of the hottest teams in the state. Two unbeaten seasons on the line, in front of (what should be!) a packed house. (more)

Centennial grad & redshirt freshman Braeden Jackson is having the kind of fall that gets talked about back home. The Hawkeye running back returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown against #18 Michigan, tying the game at 7-7 in the first quarter of what became an instant classic, ending in a 20-19 win for #17 Iowa at the Big House. It’s tied for the seventh longest kick return in program history, and it was the first kickoff return touchdown Michigan has allowed since 2019. Iowa has since climbed to #14 in the AP poll, while Michigan fell out of the rankings entirely. (more)

Jackson finished with 138 all purpose yards on the day, and Iowa needed every one of them, considering the game ended with a walk off touchdown as time expired. The Ankeny kid is showing out.

The Big Ten agrees with us too. Jackson was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week for that performance, one of just 13 FBS players with a kickoff return touchdown this season. Iowa is now one of four schools nationally with both a punt and kickoff return touchdown in 2026, a feat the Hawkeyes have pulled off three years running. It’s fitting that our updates on him come from a site called Hawk Fanatic, the perfect counterpart to our friends at Ankeny Fanatic. Apparently you need a certain level of fanaticism to cover this team properly. (more)

DJ Trivia @ Yankee Clipper - Put your knowledge to the test at DJ Trivia. Great music, fun questions, and prizes up for grabs for the team that brings their A game! 8-9:30pm

Outdoor Yoga @ Town Square Park - Roll out your mat and join us for a free 45-minute Slow Flow yoga class. It’s beginner-friendly, all levels welcome, just bring a mat! Final one of the year! 5:30pm

DJ Bingo @ The Other Place - Ditch the numbers and vibe to the music. Song clips replace the calls, prizes are on the line, and a good time is guaranteed! 7pm

Social Run @ Fitness Sports - Lace up and meet the crew at Fitness Sports for a free social run with routes of 2, 4, or 6 miles (all paces, all ages, all abilities welcome)! 6:15-7pm 

Karaoke Thursday @ The Cabaret - Come sing your heart out. Whether you're a shower singer or a stage hog, all are welcome. 8pm

Truckin Trivia @ Firetrucker Brewery - Put your knowledge to the test over a cold one! 7pm

Outdoor Cinema: Frankenweenie @ Porch Light Coffeehouse - Grab a blanket and settle into the Porch Light Coffeehouse & Uptown Garage Brewing Co. Backyard for a Friday night outdoor movie series featuring spooky favorites from the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. Chairs and blankets welcome, no outside alcohol please. 7:30pm

Light The Night @ DMACC - A powerful evening walk honoring, celebrating, and remembering those touched by blood cancer, with festivities. The opening ceremony and walk beginning at 7:45PM, and fireworks closing out the night around 8:30PM! Registration is free, kids 12 and under don't need to register, and every dollar raised funds life-saving blood cancer research around the world. 6-9pm

Thanks for reading today’s Digest. If you found something useful, please share it with someone who gave you a bunch of diapers when your kid was born. Bless those kinds of people.

Stay classy, Ankeny.