Offenburger.com

Along Our Way

We've continued our early July tradition of having our pal Doug Lawton, a farmer northeast of Cooper, Iowa, go into one of his ''average looking'' cornfields. We want to see just how far the corn of today stretches above the old ''knee-high by the 4th of July'' standard for a good crop. As you can see here, in these photos shot the morning of July 2, the corn is looking good!
[TO SEE THE PHOTOS IN LARGER FORMAT & GET ADDITIONAL DETAILS, CLICK HERE]

Our Partners & Patrons
Iowa Hall of Pride
netINS, Inc.
Butler House on Grand B&B
Sam's Barber Shop
Douglas T. Bates III, Attorney
KMA Radio's ''Chuck & Don Show''
Barack Obama story & coloring book
The Monks of New Melleray Abbey

Chuck Offenburger's
new book on sports
legend Gary Thompson
gets excellent reviews

FOR INFORMATION ON WHERE & HOW TO BUY THE BOOK, CLICK HERE!

''GARY THOMPSON: All-American'' is the new, 352-page biography of one of the state’s genuine sports icons. From 1950-’53 Gary Thompson led the Roland Rockets to high school sports glory in basketball and baseball, giant-killers from one of Iowa’s small schools. Then he led the Cyclones at Iowa State from 1953-’57, becoming the college’s first two-sport All-American. He’s had major success in broadcasting and business, from his home base in Ames. And he and his wife Janet have a family as solid as they come. “I’m the luckiest guy around,” Thompson says.

TO READ CHUCK OFFENBURGER'S COLUMN ABOUT THE BOOK AND THE ''BOOK LAUNCHING'' HELD EARLY IN DECEMBER, CLICK HERE.

TO READ DES MOINES REGISTER SPORTSWRITER RICK BROWN'S REVIEW OF THE BOOK, CLICK HERE.

TO READ CEDAR RAPIDS GAZETTE SPORTS COLUMNIST JIM ECKER'S REVIEW OF THE BOOK, CLICK HERE.

TO READ AMES DAILY TRIBUNE SPORTSWRITER DICK KELLY'S STORY ABOUT THE BOOK, CLICK HERE.

TO READ DOUG BURNS' STORY ABOUT THE BOOK IN THE CARROLL DAILY TIMES HERALD, CLICK HERE.

TO READ ANDY GOODELL'S STORY ABOUT THE BOOK IN THE OSKALOOSA HERALD, CLICK HERE.

WANT TO SEE AND HEAR THE OLD ROLAND HIGH SCHOOL FIGHT SONG PERFORMED? CLICK HERE!

FOR INFORMATION ON WHERE & HOW TO BUY THE BOOK, CLICK HERE!

FOR PHOTOS FROM OUR BOOK LAUNCHING EVENTS, CLICK HERE!

SEE BOB MODERSOHN'S PHOTOS OF OUR BOOK CHAT AND SIGNING AT BEAVERDALE BOOKS IN DES MOINES!

What’s the deal with the
black & white saddle shoes?

Click here for the story of our farm in Greene County, Iowa.

Here's looking at life
at Simple Serenity Farm

When we talk about being ''on-line'' at our place, we might be referring to work on our computers, or we might just be talking laundry! On warm, windy days, Carla Offenburger loves hanging out some of the laundry to dry in the fresh air -- especially the bed sheets.
Click here for larger format

Earlier photos in this series

POGGENSEE'S POSTCARDS

It was "Watermelon Days"
June 26-27 in the northwest
Iowa town of Quimby, and
photographer Don Poggensee
was there for the main event!
Pictures by Iowa photographer Don Poggensee

COMING UP IN IOWA

We recommend the following, if you want to experience this state at its best!

Now thru July 16: ''Celebration Iowa'' singers and jazz band have started their 2009 statewide tour. They play the town square in Jefferson on July 16. For the full tour schedule and other details, click here.

July 18-25: The 37th RAGBRAI will have 10,000-plus bicyclists riding from Council Bluffs to Burlington. Details, click here.

August 13-23: Iowa State Fair, Des Moines. Details, click here.

August 22 & 23: It's the third ''Heart of the Lincoln Highway'' Quilt Show in Jefferson, with 300-plus quilts filling both the Community Center and adjacent Middle School gym. Exhibits, classes, workshops. Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admissin $5, kids 10 & under free, great lunch available. All proceeds to local hospital foundation. For details, Carla Offenburger at (515) 386-0102.

August 27-29: Celebration of the 50th anniversary of one of the most unique historical events in Iowa's past, the 1959 visit of Soviet Union Premier Nikita Khrushchev to Des Moines and to our small neighboring town of Coon Rapids. The Coon Rapids portion of the commemoration happens on Saturday, August 29. For details, click here.

THE CONTINUOUS
IOWA CAUCUS

O.K., so maybe it's none of our business. But what do we think of our little Olympic heroine Shawn Johnson skipping her senior year at Valley High School in West Des Moines, and taking ''on-line'' courses so that she can persue her busy life of stardom?

[SEE PAST RESULTS]

The 109-mile Mickelson Trail in South Dakota is a scenic bicycling adventure of tough climbs & glorious downhills
The George S. Mickelson Trail, running 109 miles through the Black Hills in western South Dakota, provided this summer's recreational trail adventure for Iowa bicycling pals Chuck & Carla Offenburger of Cooper and Joe & Cindy Connolly of Council Bluffs. They shared the trail with other cyclists, horse riders, walkers, cattle, deer, groundhogs and one big ol' rattlesnake. You can experience it with them here, in a brief story and 23 colorful photographs.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS

*Out in Greene County, Iowa*
When the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings, Brothers & Sisters, all is well! All is well! By CHUCK OFFENBURGER June 25, 2009 DES MOINES, IOWA The renowned choir gave a stunning concert in Des Moines Monday night, June 22. A high-ranking church official talked about how Iowa is “sacred ground” still today for church members. That’s because many Iowa settlers helped the Mormons when their trek to the West came across the state beginning in 1846, and also because during that trek, the great hymn “Come, Come, Ye Saints” was written in a camp just southwest of the town of Seymour. When the choir sang that song at the concert here, it was a powerful connection of faith, music and history. [READ MORE]

*My View from the Porch*
When you load and unload your vehicle 14 times in 3-plus days, you are a little too busy By CARLA OFFENBURGER June 8, 2009 COOPER, IOWA Coordinating a golf tournament and a bicycle ride on back-to-back days, then throw in a recycling trip, and a big Sunday at church, and wow! No wonder a two-hour nap on Saturday and an hour-nap on Sunday were “musts.” That “Trails & Trills” bike ride, by the way, got rained out but we’ll be rescheduling it later in the summer, which means another round of loading and unloading down the way! [READ MORE]

*What's Carla Reading?*
Our reviewer finds the “best summertime read of 2009” on a good tip from one of her readers By CARLA OFFENBURGER June 8, 2009 COOPER, IOWA It’s “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. It had been on the New York Times Best Seller list for some time, but it wasn’t until Kristin Gerhke, a fourth grade teacher in Eldora, Iowa, recommended it that our reviewer decided she better give it a look. Then she couldn’t put it down. It’s a World War II-based novel, set in the Guernsey Islands between France & England, great reading now just after the 65th anniversary of D-Day. [READ MORE]

*Guest Columns*
		Student intern, hosted at farm by O’burgers, lived free but had to make several dinners
By RYAN RUGGLES July 3, 2009 COOPER, IOWA Ryan Ruggles, a senior pharmacy student at Drake University was interning at the Greene County Medical Center in Jefferson. Pharmacists there asked hospital staff to consider giving the young fellow a place to stay for a month. Carla and Chuck Offenburger said yes, and were especially pleased to learn the guy could really cook! [READ MORE]

*Our Iowa News Digest*
Recent items of interest in our perhaps peculiar view TOP REPUBLICAN COMES TO TOWN - May 21, 2009, Jefferson ROLL ON, YOU STEADY BEASTS! - Cooper, May 20, 2009 LET'S HEAR IT FOR RHUBARB! - Cooper, May 19, 2009 A FAMILY'S DOZEN BAPTISMS - Thurman, May 17, 2009 ''OFFICIAL CAR'' OF HIS WEBSITE - Cooper, April 30, 2009 THE CHORUS OF THE CRITTERS - Cooper, April 28, 2009 [READ MORE]

Say what?
Our letters-to-the-editor: Reactions to what you've read here
at Offenburger.com & elsewhere, and a place to tell us what
else is on your mind.

“I never once heard one negative report from our BCLUW team about Coach Thomas' Aplington-Parkersburg team beating us or having poor sportsmanship.
”

Messages are posted now from Kathryn Strother... Gary Schmidt... Rich Osborne... Roger Revell... Jack Lashier...
[CLICK HERE TO READ THEM]

Featured Partner & Patron

The Monks of New Melleray Abbey & their new Trappist Caskets

The best spot in the whole state of Iowa.

6500 Melleray Circle
Peosta, Iowa 52068
(563) 588-2319
melleray@mwci.net
www.newmelleray.org
www.trappistcaskets.com

It’s been nearly 20 years ago since Chuck Offenburger first wandered into New Melleray Abbey, a 152-year-old Catholic monastery 12 miles southwest of Dubuque. He struck up a friendship with one of the Trappist monks, Father Jim O’Connor, and they’ve been in regular contact ever since.

When Offenburger compiled his “Top 12 Spots in Iowa” for the Des Moines Register and The Iowan Magazine, listing the places people should visit to really experience the state, he ranked the abbey as No. 1 – not only for its serene beauty but also for its abundant spirituality and role in Iowa’s early history. Family, friends and college classes have followed Chuck and Carla Offenburger in for visits. “We’ve sent people of all faiths, and people of no faith, to New Melleray and every one of them has come away feeling there’s something very profound and moving about it,” Chuck has written.

You can arrange stays in the Guest House. The monks observe seven prayer times daily, beginning at 3:30 a.m. and ending about 8 p.m. Visitors are free to set their own schedules. Many people do retreats there. Some just read, pray and meditate. Others ask for spiritual guidance from one of the priests or brothers.

The monks, who’ve always been farmers, have now started making “honest wooden caskets” for those who are concerned about the opulence and costs of typical funerals today. Prices range from the $575 plain pine box to the $1,385 “premium” walnut shaped casket. The wood comes from the New Melleray forest, the logs are milled into boards in the abbey’s sawmill and the monks build the caskets in their woodshop. “Our Trappist philosophy towards labor calls for us to work quietly with our hands while applying simple integrity to our workmanship,” their brochure explains. You can also buy their wood cremation urns, as well as various-sized stools, benches and kneelers, beginning at $40.

Needless to say, Chuck Offenburger has already reserved his own Trappist Casket, although he hopes not to use it soon.

Brother Felix Leja, who heads New Melleray’s new Trappist Caskets venture, and the monastery’s Abbot, Father Brendan Freeman, with one of the monks’ fine pieces of work.