FIVE ISLAND LIFE
Loving this little Five Island Life.
Welcome to the Five Island Life Foundation
Small Town. Big Future.
Five Island Life is membership based, privately funded emerging non profit in Emmetsburg Iowa. And we have a big mission to accomplish:
"Create a vibrant, connected, and growth driven community through the 5 pillars of small business support + recruitment, downtown development, community events, recreation, and art + culture."
Our 2025 Goals:
Establish the Five Island Life Volunteer Corp (info coming soon!)
Host six community events:
Three Music & Market in the Park (Schedule of Events)
3 To be announced!
Provide small business coaching & consulting to new and existing community businesses.
Connect businesses with opportunities to expand into Emmetsburg.
Bring together innovative leaders to create Five Island Life’s non profit board. Want to be a part of shaping Emmetsburg's future? Join us! Email Kelly at fiveislandlife@gmail.com if you are interested in learning more!
Meet the Board
Kelly Higgins Bay
Founder, Interim Director
Angie Wallace Lappe
Founding Board Member, 2024
Kelly is a 1999 EHS alumni. After swearing she'd NEVER return to such a small town (famous last words), she couldn't get back home fast enough after the birth of her oldest kiddo.
Kelly started practicing massage in Emmetsburg in 2010, ultimately expanding the business into an eight team massage therapy practice and retail store, Five Island Spa Co.
The business closed in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic, but her passion for small businesses and community development remained.
In 2023, Kelly re-established Five Island Life, an organization originally started in 2018 with two business partners.
While the faces of Five Island Life have changed, the mission remains much the same: bringing our community together and celebrating the people, natural resources, and small businesses that make our little slice of Iowa so special.
Angie moved to Emmetsburg in 1978 when her parents purchased the Culligan business. She happily grew up in Emmetsburg, attending 5th grade in “the Annex” at West Elementary (now a parking lot!), getting her first job selling tickets and concessions at the Riviera Theatre, and attending Iowa Lakes Community College for a year before transferring to UNI.
Angie and her husband Todd (an Algona Bulldog, but we won’t hold that against him), live in Indianola, Iowa, but both agree that NW Iowa will always be home. In 2016, the couple purchased their Five Island Lake property and love sharing lake life with their daughters, sons in law, and six grandchildren; along with spending time with their parents who still live in the area.
When asked what inspired her to join Five Island Life’s board, Angie states, “The early marketing and promoting for Five Island Life was happening when we first bought our property. I loved that someone saw the potential for what Emmetsburg could be with the lake being a big part of it. I was like “Yes! This could go somewhere!”
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