Along Our Way
What a way to end a summer! We Offenburgers were the guests on a late-summer weekend at the lake house of our friends Joe and Cindy Connolly. The Connollys live in Council Bluffs and commute many weekends to their get-away place on a private lake just south of Columbus, Nebraska. It was a real “kick-back” weekend with lots of sunshine, fun boating, good food and plenty of time to read.
[TO SEE THESE PHOTOS & OTHERS IN LARGER FORMAT, AND TO READ A BRIEF STORY, CLICK HERE.]
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A conversation
LIVING WITH CANCER
with the Offenburgers
Chuck Offenburger was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins follicular lymphoma cancer on July 10, 2009, had six months of chemotherapy & is now doing well in a “maintenance” program. Carla Offenburger underwent surgery on April 26, 2010, for removal of a jaw tumor which was found to contain adenoid cystic carcinoma cancer. She underwent six weeks of follow-up radiation in June and July, and continues under close medical observation. We post updates frequently here, including brief insights from Chuck, Carla and at least one of you readers.
“Carla, if you were standing here I’d hug you. This is such a ton of stress and scheduling for anyone but then add that you are recouping yourself and it is nearly overwhelming. Yet here you are forging ahead.”
FOR THE LATEST UPDATE, CLICK HERE.
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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
Carla’s sister & brother-in-law Chris and Tony Woods, of Des Moines, were at the farm on Sunday, August 22, helping Carla do the lawn mowing and other yard work that we’ve struggled to keep up with lately, with all our medical appointments. The Woodses brought along their 18-month-old granddaughter Ari, who was a delight watching all the action from the porch with Chuck, catching up on her reading and then getting a moment on the lawn tractor seat!
Click here for larger format
Earlier photos in this series
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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!
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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
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Farm Photos, 2006 - 2008
Our Iowa News Digest
Along Our Way
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| Along Our Way The colorful 12th annual WHO Radio Great Iowa Tractor made a lunch stop in Jefferson on Monday, June 23, with about 500 tractors rolling through Jefferson to the Greene County Fairgrounds.
The three-day ride was based at the Boone County Fairgrounds this summer, with daily loops out of Boone to other communities in the area, ending early Wednesday afternoon, June 25. They expected to cover a total of about 200 miles on the rides.
The tractors ranged from antiques to brand new, with all makes and models imaginable, most of them lovingly cared for by owners who are real tractor buffs.
''A lot of these old tractors look better today than when they were brand new,'' said Norman Schutte, of Newton, one of the drivers.
Hosts of the tractor ride are the farm broadcasters Mark Pearson and Ken Root from station WHO in Des Moines.
They often refer to their WHO tractor ride as ''the granddaddy of 'em all,'' as several other organized tractor rides have started up around Iowa. Another large one is sponsored by WHO's sister station WMT, which serves the easter part of the state from Cedar Rapids. 
East Lincolnway in downtown Jefferson was lined with buckets of flowers for the arrival of the tractor riders, and many people watched the arrival from chairs on the courthouse lawn.
A vintage John Deere tractor was on the point of the compact line-up of tractors at the Greene County Fairgrounds, where the participants met the public for lunch.
Norman Schutte, of Newton, Iowa, a participant on the tractor ride, is shown here taking a cell phone call from his wife.
A small Allis Chalmers tractor.
A vintage Oliver tractor on the WHO radio tractor ride has a rather unusual invitation for spectators.
You've got to love 1950s vintage Ford tractors like these.
Mark Pearson (left) and Ken Root (center), hosts of WHO radio's ''Big Show'' midday farm program, are shown interviewing tractor driver Herb Lobberecht, of Eddyville, at the Greene County Fairgrounds.
WHO's Mark Pearson kept an unlighted cigar in his hand while he was doing his radio interviews during the tractor ride's stop at the Greene County Fairgrounds. He is also host of Iowa Public Television's nationally-syndicated ''Market to Market'' show, and he also farms near East Peru in southern Iowa and works as a stockbroker, too. The man's busy! ''Mark has been battling tobacco addiction, but he's doing it in a strange way,'' said his broadcast partner Ken Root. ''He was using Skoal, but he wanted to get off that, so he gave it up for $2 cigars. I saw him light that cigar later on Monday, but around the office, he just chews on them. Really gnarls them around in his mouth, you know?''Send your comments to carla@Offenburger.com or chuck@Offenburger.com Along Our Way Archives
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