How the donut man from Bunkers Dunkers in Jefferson helped land RAGBRAI XXXVI for an overnight stop here!
The route for the 2008 RAGBRAI -- that's the Des Moines Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa -- includes our Greene County seat of Jefferson as an overnight stop on Monday, July 21. An estimated 15,000 to 20,000 people will be in Jefferson that night. Read the amazing story here about a chance encounter three years ago in Florida, where our vacationing local donut king Randy Bunkers warmly greeted a stranger who was wearing a RAGBRAI T-shirt. The fellow happened to be RAGBRAI director T.J. Juskiewicz -- and now, hurrah! RAGBRAI is coming our way! [READ MORE]

Our hometown of
Cooper may look
pretty sleepy but
there's a whole lot
happening here!
There’s the annual Cooper Prom (for all ages), concerts, basketball, suppers, ice cream socials and people coming through all the time on the Raccoon River Valley Trail. Here is the story on the little community in Greene County, Iowa, that is now home for the Offenburgers. [READ MORE]

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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 Offenburger got the lawn work season started Sunday, April 20. We saw rhubarb and lilac bushes budding, but the bad news is that we realized we must have the three ugliest trees in Greene County.
Click here for larger format

Earlier photos in this series

Our Iowa News Digest

Recent items of interest in our perhaps peculiar view

STARRING IN AUDUBON AS “ELVIS”

Audubon, March 31, 2008 -- Some of the most popular music concerts held in Iowa never get reviewed in the local or state newspapers or other media. Yet, they are generally performed in auditoriums packed by especially devoted fans. We refer, of course, to the local elementary school's periodic musicals. The one that started us thinking about this was held last Thursday, March 27, in the southwest Iowa town of Audubon, where music teacher Tami Meiners' fifth and sixth grade students starred in show titled, “Cinemagic.” You need to look at only one photo to know how much fun it was.

ONE EXCITING TRAIL BRIDGE!

Council Bluffs, March 31, 2008 -- Our bicycling friends Joe and Cindy Connolly of Council Bluffs are our official observers of progress on one of the most exciting cycling-related developments ever -- construction of the trail bridge across the Missouri River between Omaha and the Bluffs. The Connollys were out this past weekend, and sent back this photo of the construction project.

SECOND BEST BARBER IN IOWA?

Ames, February 18, 2008 -- Publisher Roy Reiman and Editor Jerry Wiebel of the new ''Our Iowa'' magazine may be on to something. As a promotional gimmick this winter, they asked their readers to nominate local barbers for a contest to determine the ''Best Barber in Iowa.'' Ten finalists were picked from throughout the state -- each won $200 -- and they all came together for a barbering competition on Saturday, February 16, in one of the handsome buildings in Reiman Gardens adjacent to Jack Trice Stadium on the Iowa State University campus here. Yes, publisher Reiman and his wife Bobbi were the lead donors funding the gorgeous and elaborate gardens at ISU.

The biggest surprise to us was that our personal guru Sam The Barber Kauffman, who cuts hair in the shop that has long served as our ''sample precinct'' in Audubon in southwest Iowa, finished only second. Word is that the winner, Kitty Snakenberg of Miss Kitty's Barber Shop in the southeast Iowa town of Ollie, out-talked him! The fact that anybody could out-talk Sam Kauffman is astonishing everybody back home in Audubon.

Maybe Kauffman's grandson Matt Kauffman, 28, of Granger, was most surprised at the outcome. ''Grandpa!'' this former champion wrestler said, ''you got beat by a girl!''

Snakenberg won another $500 for her championship.

The second biggest surprise to us was that all the finalists brought along big cheering sections, so big that at one point, more than 200 people were jammed into the building to witness the hair-cutting competition. If this kind of event can draw that many people to Ames on a cold Saturday morning in February, it seems to me that ''Our Iowa'' magazine could turn this into a major event at the Iowa State Fair.

Their first run at it, in Ames, was sure nicely done, complete with a barber shop quartet performming and WHO Radio's regular morning team of Van Harden and Bonnie Lucas on hand to report results to listeners across the state. -- CHO

BRR! IT'S ANOTHER BIKE SEASON

Perry, February 2, 2008 -- We Offenburgers joined the happy crowd on Saturday for the 31st ''BRR'' festival sponsored by the Perry Chamber of Commerce. The event, which features the 23-mile round-trp ''Bicycle Ride to Rippey'' is sponsored by the Perry Chamber of Commerce, and is the traditional opening event of another cycling year in Iowa. It was a delightful day, as Iowa winter days go, with a high temperature of 33 degrees, just a bit of snow blowing around at midday but otherwise the roads were dry and safe.

IN LITTLE YALE, THEY ARE GAMERS

Yale, January 21, 2008 -- There are more good things happening in this west central Iowa community of 287 people than you'd find in most towns 10 times its size. We've told you before how West Des Moines native Sarah Brewster is renovating the 118-year-old, long-deserted Windsor Hotel into a fine new inn. The City of Yale is doing a total renovation on the classic 75-year-old round gymnasium for concerts, theater, basketball and other gatherings. And you can't beat the food and fun at Just Ethel's cafe & bar. Well now, there's more in this town that has long been a favorite of those of us who are regulars on the Raccoon River Valley Trail. In a partnership, the City of Yale and the Yale Community Club are now running a Sunday evening bingo game -- with all proceeds going toward building a new community center building downtown.

We sat in for the third week of Yale bingo on January 20. The two of us spent a grand total of $29, had three hours of fun, ate delicioius loose-meat sandwiches and more for supper, and enjoyed seeing a lot of friends from around the Yale area. No, we didn't win in bingo, but it was fun trying.

Yale Mayor Steve Stanton was the ''caller'' for the bingo game, so I asked him if you have to go to training to run a good bingo game.

''Well, almost,'' he said. ''There's a lot to learn, that's for sure.''

A $1 MILLION DAY FOR OUR TRAIL

Cooper, January 14, 2008 -- Now in mid-winter, it may look pretty quiet, even eerie, out on the Raccoon River Valley Trail, as these recent photos along it show. The paved trail runs 56 miles from Jefferson on the north, through Greene, Guthrie and Dallas Counties before connecting into the Des Moines metro trails. But the RRVT had its own ''Super Tuesday'' last week, with more than $1 million grants for it being announced on the same day. For the details, you can go to the full story by clicking here.


Looking south, near the trailhead in Panora, just south of Iowa Highway 44.


A guardrail seems to point the way as the trail passes through tiny Herndon, in northern Guthrie County.


Looking north toward the small town of Cooper, in southern Greene County.

In short form, the new grants mean than a new 33-mile-long ''North Loop'' will be added to the RRVT, making it one of the longest paved recreational trails in the U.S. Construction will begin during 2008, and may be completed during 2009. Meanwhile, the number of trail users is expected to begin climbing immediately from the estimated 100,000 per year now. All that is expected to trigger new interest by investors to build businesses catering to the trail users and new trailside homes, too. It's going to be a great new era of outdoor recreation in west central Iowa! -- CHO

BEST PIE & BEST MALTS ANYWHERE

Shenandoah, December 11, 2007 -- As many of you know, I do a radio chat on Friday mornings at 9:35 a.m. with Chuck Morris and Don Hansen, co-hosts on the aptly-named ''Chuck & Don Show'' on station KMA in my hometown here. You can dial it in at 960 on the AM dial, or on the Internet site www.kma960.com. So one Friday morning in the fall, I was talking about how I'd just been back to Shenandoah for a visit on a Saturday, and it'd been such a great day because I'd been able to have two of my favorite food items, available only there in my hometown -- a piece of Mary Peterson's lemon coconut pie at The Sanctuary restaurant and a chocolate malt at the soda fountain in George Jay Drug Company. I went on to tell how if you are a Shenandoahan, you can be a long way from home, maybe even on the other side of the world, and you'll think about Mary's pie or the Jay malts, and it's like a hook is set in some special spot in your brain. The next time you are anywhere close to Shenandoah, you find yourself making a beeline to The Sanctuary and then Jay's soda fountain. I don't know how much a piece of the lemon coconut pie or the Jay malt costs, and actually, I don't even care. I will pay whatever it is.


Chuck Offenburger holds a picture-perfect lemon coconut pie made by Mary Peterson at The Sanctuary in Chuck's hometown of Shenandoah in southwest Iowa.

The Sanctuary's owner Lucy Clark had the KMA staff lift my comments about the pie from the recording made of the ''Chuck & Don Show,'' and she now buys on-air ads that have me doing the testimonial. I'm telling you, there's not another product I'd be any prouder to be a spokesperson for than Mary Peterson's lemon coconut pie! As you can now hear me saying on the air, it is the best pie I've had in 60 years of pie eating. This pie and Jay's malts are genuine tourist attractions for Shenandoah, or should be. Get yourself there and try them for yourself, and I will wager that you will return again and again for more. The reason this comes to mind now is that I was back in Shenandoah this past Saturday for the 58th annual Wassail Bowl, a grand Christmas gathering of the men in the area. I had ordered up a whole lemon coconut pie from Clark at The Sanctuary, and picked it up to-go after my holiday event, since the roads were icing up and I wanted to start my drive back to Simple Serenity Farm. I began thinking about how, if I were unable to make it home, I'd be well-fixed if I had to barter my way into some shelter along the way! But I made it to the farm just fine, and am now in extremely good graces with my wife Carla Offenburger and with a neighbor Doug Lawton, with whom I shared some of the the lemon coconut pie Saturday night.


Carla Offenburger and our pal Doug Lawton prepare to dig into slices of the lemon coconut pie. The top crust is a perfectly-browned layer of coconut, covering an inside that is almost like a firm lemon pudding with coconut mixed into it.

It's wonderful just stopping in at The Sanctuary. Clark bought the building, which was once a Christian Science Church, has enlarged it twice and yet has preserved the traditional lines and stained glass. She now operates as fine a dining spot as you could find in Omaha or Des Moines, with gourmet coffees and teas, excellent sandwiches, fine entrees and killer desserts -- some almost as good as Mary Peterson's lemon coconut pie. Clark has now started a series of occasional dinners, prepared fresh in The Sanctuary's kitchen by local people who have cooking expertise and want to share it with the public. The dinners have been real hits. City Attorney Bob Norris was the guest chef Saturday night, and invited me to stay on for his meal, which sounded like it was going to be delightful. But with icy roads ahead of me -- and with Mary's lemon coconut pie in my hands -- home sounded too good. So I will have to return for a Sanctuary dinner on another trip. -- CHO

SOME ADVICE FOR HILLARY CLINTON

Perry, Nov. 26, 2007 -- A half-dozen thoughts occurred to me after witnessing a presidential campaign stop here Sunday by Senator Hillary Clinton, the New York Democrat and former first lady.

First, I was sitting there among the crowd of 500 at Perry High School thinking about how, of all the leaders in this race in both parties, the Clinton campaign seems by far the most impressive, best organized and probably best funded. But then I read reporter Abby Simons’ story in Monday’s Des Moines Register and see that Clinton was an hour late to her next stop after Perry – in the town of Nevada 65 miles to the east. She apologized to the crowd there, “saying she lost track of time in Perry,” Simons reported. How can that happen?

Second, Hillary Clinton seems the most conservative among the Democratic front runners, which might be a problem for her in the Iowa Caucuses, and possibly in some primaries, but would make her more electable in the general election. When she talks about fiscal responsibility in government, border security measures “even to building barriers,” her support of much more generous programs for veterans – I had to remind myself that I was listening to a Democrat.


Senator Hillary Clinton brought her Democratic presidential campaign to the high school commons in our neighboring town of Perry on Sunday, November 25. About 500 filled the room, which was set up with huge American flags on three sides of the stage.

Third, I think her Secret Service protectors are doing a nice job of making her as accessible to the public as she is. When she spent 20 or 30 minutes after her Perry presentation shaking hands and chitchatting with the crowd, the Secret Service agents were right behind her, and watching every move in the crowd, just as they need to be. But I sure didn’t see any rough treatment or shakedowns. In fact, I saw a couple of the agents smile once or twice.

Fourth, and this may seem odd to say, but I think the biggest factors working against Clinton in her bid to become the U.S. first female president are her age, her experience and how familiar nearly every American is with her and her husband, former President Bill Clinton. They are 60 and 61, which is not really old, of course. There are a lot of cool people around who are 60-something. But Senator Clinton’s most serious challenger among the Democratic candidates, Senator Barack Obama, 46, makes a compelling argument that this is a good time for a generational change in American politics. As David Yepsen reported in his Sunday Des Moines Register column: “Obama’s uptick appears to result from a growing number of Iowa Democrats who are opting for a candidate offering a ‘new direction and new ideas.’ Some 55 percent seek that in a candidate, up from 49 percent in July. Only 33 percent prefer a candidate with strength and experience, down from 39 percent in July. Obama wins the new-direction voters; Clinton the strength-and-experience ones.” All that said, if I were advising Senator Clinton, I’d tell her that it is indeed time for her to be trotting out a family member in support of her candidacy. I’m not talking about the former president, I’m talking about their 27-year-old daughter Chelsea Clinton, who works in financial services in New York City. While Hillary Clinton has a real advantage connecting with women of middle age and above, her daughter could connect her mom with America’s young voters, female and male. Chelsea has made only one or two public appearances for her mother’s campaign so far, and has not spoken publicly for her. I think a lot of younger voters – and some of us older ones, too – would love hearing what she has to say.


Senator Clinton is shown here chatting with Gary Overla, chairperson of the social studies department at Perry High School. That is Carla Offenburger, next in line to meet her.

Fifth, I do believe Clinton is the first presidential candidate I have heard from either party who did not ever refer to her audience as “guys” or “you guys,” when there are almost always more women in the audiences than men. We are so tired of hearing that, and so tired of hearing lame excuses about the candidates intending to be “non-gender specific” when they use it, that this is almost reason enough to caucus for Clinton. We don’t think you can get much more gender specific than “guys.” Hurrah for Clinton for avoiding it.

Sixth, and finally here, just five weeks before the caucuses, where in the heck are my Republican candidates? I haven’t seen a Republican presidential candidate in Greene County for at least two months. Maybe that’s because we’re close enough to super-conservative western Iowa that we are being taken for granted. But I think Republican leaders should be aware – there are mass defections among GOP regulars this fall. Somebody better be out here soon wooing people back home. -- CHO

THE FIRST SNOW OF THIS WINTER

Cooper, Nov. 22, 2007 -- We set a weather record in Iowa in October, the first time since record keeping began that month had been completely snowless across the state. And it was beginning to look like we might have a snowless November, too. But it began snowing here in west central Iowa at mid-morning Wednesday, November 21, and gave us a good dusting by mid-afternoon.


The farmhouse after the first snowfall of this winter, on November 21, 2007.

And so we awaken today, on Thanksgiving, and one of the things we can be thankful for is that Iowa looks just about like it's supposed to look this time of year -- with a little snow cover. It's cold, too, with a dawn temperature of 27 degrees and a predicted high of 35. We will now file our request for the rest of this winter of 2007 and 2008: Days just about this cold, one good paralyzing blizzard that will stop everything for two or three days at some point when we are all too damned busy, and three or four pretty snows of four to six inches. Give us that, O Lord, and we will be very happy Iowans. But on further reflection, whatever you give us, O Lord, we'll be happy with it. Life is good. -- CHO

STORM LAKE'S BEAUTIFUL ''RED SEA''

Storm Lake, Nov. 14, '07 -- One of the most striking symbols for a town in Iowa has become even neater looking this fall, with the native grasses having reached maturity around Storm Lake's gateway lighthouse. The 65-foot-tall lighthouse was completed in 2001 at the intersection of U.S. Highway 71 and Iowa Highway 7 on the east edge of the town of 10,000 in northwest Iowa. The gateway area is a a triangular-shaped piece of land that includes about four acres, fitting like a wedge between the highways and a railroad line. To make the site even more attractive, Storm Lakers moved in load after load of field stones around the base of the lighthouse, creating the look of a rugged shoreline. Then they planted the native grasses that, at different times of each year, will look like a sea of green, or faded-blue or red, waving in the wind around the lighthouse. And the site is lighted at night, too.


The native grasses have now reached maturity around Storm Lake's distinctive lighthouse gateway to the city. This time of year, the lighthouse seems to be surrounded by a kind of Red Sea!

Our Storm Lake friend Dick Hakes, who was president of the Chamber of Commerce about the time the lighthouse project was conceived, spearheaded what became a $100,000-plus project mostly paid for with private donations, in-kind contributions and ''discounts from friendly contractors,'' Hakes said in a note this week. In addition, there is a $30,000 endowment fund to cover maintenance in future years. Hakes was at the site one early morning this week and ''took this photo of the native grasses -- little bluestem -- around the lighthouse, which look terrific this fall with a rich red/rust color. After about six years, our native grasses are beginning to take shape. Besides this fine stand of little bluestem, we have successfully planted buffalo grass, sideoats gramma and native wildflowers. Native grasses take a lot of patience, but they eventually prove to be pretty hardy, especially in the rocky soil we have to deal with in this particular tract of land which was once roadbed.'' The land had belonged to the Connell family of Storm Lake, which donated it to the City of Storm Lake for creation of a gateway to the community. The city government then deeded it to the Chamber of Commerce when it undertook the project. It is a very effective welcoming symbol. Frequently when you drive by it, you'll see visitors pulled on to the roads' shoulders, taking photos of the lighthouse and the ''sea'' around it. -- CHO

FR. HEMANN'S COOL MUSIC MINISTRY

Jefferson, Oct., 2007 -- We have been watching and listening to the musical and ministerial career of Father David Hemann develop in northwest Iowa over the past two decades, and he has now reached a level where people around the nation are indeed coming his way. The 48-year-old Hemann was in Jefferson Sunday evening, October 21, to do 90 minutes of music and meditation with about 150 people who turned out for a Faith Festival of our Greene County Catholic churches. A good number of people of other faiths were also in the audience at the parish center of St. Joseph Catholic Church. Maybe most remarkable, the crowd included all ages and he seemed to captivate everybody in the hall -- adults and kids alike.


Father David Hemann, a rising star in Catholic music from northwest Iowa, is shown here performing the evening of October 21 in the parish hall of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Jefferson.

He came with good news, having just returned from the 2007 “Unity Awards” national competition of the United Catholic Music & Video Association in Phoenix, where his new song “Walk on Water” was named “Praise & Worship Song of the Year.” That competition is the Catholic equivalent of the well-known “Dove” awards for Protestant musicians.

Hemann is now pastor of Sacred Heart parish in Ida Grove and Our Lady of Good Counsel parish in Holstein. He has recorded five CDs of original music in recent years, performing on guitar, drums and vocals. His latest CD, “Gathered Wisdom,” includes the award-winning song and others that he says reflect the lessons he’s learned in his 22 years in the priesthood.


Father Hemann signs a CD for Aubrey Heupel, 5, of Jefferson while her father Dave Heupel watches. Father Hemann conducted the marriage of Dave and Kristen Heupel, both of whom are teachers in the Jefferson-Scranton Community Schools.

“I come from a devout Catholic and intensely musical family in Fort Dodge,” Hemann said. “One of the things I’ve learned in 22 years as a priest is that with talk, you can reach people’s minds, but if you use music, too, you can touch their hearts.”

He said writing and performing his music is also his own favorite form of prayer. “This is what I do when I have my own prayer time – I sing,” he told the crowd Sunday evening. “I don’t write these songs to entertain people, although I’m glad they do. I write them to praise the Lord.”

He is a graduate of St. Edmond Catholic High School in Fort Dodge, Loras College in Dubuque and seminary in Rome, and he played a wide variety of music on his way to the priesthood. That included playing three years with a touring rock ’n’ roll band before he started college. “That band was named ‘Ramblin’,” he said, “kind of like my homilies now.”


The crowd for Father Hemann's performance included a number of people from other churches as well as Catholics. Shown with him after his concert are Jefferson's United Methodist pastors Rev. Bill and Rev. Sheri Daylong.

His musical style ranges widely – folk, Irish, monastic, a touch of rock and even classical. For his next CD, he is planning “to put the Psalms of David to classical guitar music, backed by harp and cello.” Plus, he’s got a gift of gab that makes his concerts as fun as they are spiritual.

He has often used his musical ability in his pastoral assignments, which besides Ida Grove and Holstein, have included parishes in Carroll, Storm Lake, Boone, Sioux City, Hospers, Sanborn and Hartley. And he has performed in concerts all across the Sioux City Diocese and beyond.

You can learn more about Father Hemann, and order his CDs, on the Internet site www.fatherdavid.net.


Father Hemann signs another CD, this one for St. Joseph parish member Jean Fountain.

WINDSHIELD SCRAPING TIME AGAIN

Cooper, October 11, 2007 -- As we move on through this beautiful autumn, let the record (and this photo) show that on this morning, windshield scraping was required for the first time this season.


Thursday, October 11, brought us the first necessary windshield scraping as our weather begins to change.

That also means the annual debate has started in our house -- just when can we turn on the heat? Carla Offenburger always argues that we should be able to make it until November without using the furnace. I don't like being chilly, and I don't think we've ever made it to November without turning on the heat. When the overnight temperatures began dipping into the 30s this week, it was indeed chilly in the early mornings and evenings. But the truth is, we had our air conditioning on this past weekend, and there surely is some rule that you can't start your furnace in the same week you have used your air conditioner. So we cleaned out the fire place, brought in some logs and have started burning fires in the evening, and that makes autumn all the more enjoyable. -- CHO

COOPER'S FIRST TEAM IN DECADES!

Cooper, October 3, 2007 -- Every town ought to have a team of its own to cheer for, you know? And here in Cooper (pop. 30), we haven't had a local line-up for decades. Well, now we do. Some of the younger crowd that has been attending our annual Cooper Proms were recently putting together a mixed volleyball roster to play in the Jefferson Volleyball League. One of them, Matt Schutt, is an Honorary Mayor of Cooper, for all the ideas and work he has contributed to help make the Cooper Proms successful. He asked if the Committee for a Super Cooper might want to sponsor this volleyball team, which has adapted the nickname ''Cooper Prom Crashers.'' We said yes in a flash, and we also provided our stylish Cooper T-shirts as team uniforms. The teams play on Sunday nights at the Greene County Community Center in Jefferson, with the season extending through the winter.


The ''Cooper Prom Crashers,'' playing this fall and winter in the Jefferson Volleyball League, are sponsored by the Committee for a Super Cooper. Team members are (front, from left) Amy Van Der Meer, Shanlyn Doll, Amy Doran, Adam Doll, (and in back) Kyle Kinne, Kyle Hansen, Liz Hailey and J. Matthew Schutt.

One of these Sunday nights, we intend to rally the Super Cooper Committee and others from the town to attend our team's game -- maybe even tailgate outside the community center in Jefferson before and after the match. What can Schutt tell us about our team? ''Amy Van Der Meer is the coach/manager,'' he reports. ''Since she is pregnant, she plays a limited amount on the floor, but she is always there to cheer us on.'' So, are the Cooper Prom Crashers any good? ''Our team plays with alot of spirit and camaraderie,'' Schutt continued. ''We are certainly in the top half of the standings. We'll see how we play as the season goes along.'' -- CHO

WHO KNEW? ''CORN''-LESS HUSKERS!

Lincoln, Nebraska, October 2, 2007 -- Going to a University of Nebraska home football game for the first time in more than 35 years is a jaw-dropping experience. Thanks to our good friends Joe and Cindy Connolly, of Council Bluffs, my wife Carla and I were among the 84,703 in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln on Saturday, watching the Nebraska Huskers come from behind and beat the Iowa State Cyclones 35-17. It was a great day to stroll the picturesque campus, which is located on the northwest corner of the business district in Nebraska's capital city. We had a pre-game meal of ''Runza'' sandwiches -- the ground beef in a pastry shell that seems to be the soul food of the state. We took our seats on the club level, which is the upper deck, of the renovated west side of the stadium and had a great time as the pageantry and football game unfolded below and around us. The ardent Nebraska fans were part of the fun. Honestly, we did not run into a single jerk -- and we were obviously not fans of the home team since we were among the very few people in the stadium not wearing red.

CHRISTIE VILSACK @ SAM'S BARBER SHOP

Audubon, September 18, 2007 -- We wish we could've been here, but we were out of state when former Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack made a business trip here on Wednesday, September 12, to visit our ''sample precinct,'' Sam's Barber Shop in this southwest Iowa town.

She was doing her business, that is, not getting a haircut. These days Vilsack's business is promoting the presidential campaign of U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton, the New York Democrat.

Vilsack, who for three years was a regular columnist for us here at Offenburger.com, knew from reading recent stories from Sam's Barber Shop that owner Sam Kauffman and his wife Lois, both Democrats, are so far uncommitted in the presidential race.

So when she was making a western Iowa swing, she called the Kauffmans and asked if she could meet them and make her pitch for Clinton.


The lobbyists' section at Sam's Barber Shop in Audubon on a recent day included (left to right) former Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack, a key supporter in the state of U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign; Lois Kauffman, who is wife of the barber and First Lady of Audubon, since he's the mayor, and longtime Audubon County Democratic activist Dorothy Kerkhoff. (Photos by Kathleen Parris)


Rev. Wayne Gubbels, pastor of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Audubon, was getting his hair cut by Sam The Barber Kaufffman on the day when Christie Vilsack stopped in the barber shop seeking the support of Sam and Lois Kauffman for the presidential campaign of Senator Hillary Clinton.


Sam and Lois Kauffman (left and center) with Christie Vilsack in the Audubon barber shop.

About a dozen people gathered in the shop, for about an hour of chitchat and Vilsack's enthusiastic talk on why they all should vote for her candidate.

''She gave a stirring appeal, I'll tell you that,'' said Sam The Barber.

But did she swing him over?

''Well, I'm still uncommitted for now,'' he said a few days later. ''It's just too early for me to make a decision. Frankly, I could go with any of the first four or five Democrats in the race.''

Both Christie Vilsack and her husband, former Governor Tom Vilsack, are campaigning enthusiastically across the state for Clinton. -- CHO

REHABILITATING BARACK OBAMA

Guthrie Center, September 5, 2007 -- One of our jobs as Iowans, we know, is that God has appointed us to groom, sometimes rehabilitate and sometimes eliminate candidates for the U.S. presidency, and those candidates are thick as our grasshoppers right now. Barack Obama, the 46-year-old U.S. Senator from Illinois who is seeking the Democratic nomination, brought his campaign to our neighboring town of Guthrie Center on September 4. I'd estimate that a crowd of more than 300 turned out to listen to him speak and then answer questions for an hour, after an earlier stop in Waukee and a later one in Carroll. It was a quintessential Iowa campaign event here, the crowd sitting in lawn chairs or school chairs in the shade of big trees along one side of the high school's football practice field, the pep band and cheerleaders welcoming the candidate, cornfields rising behind him. And it was a good time to assess how Obama is doing.


Guthrie Center Schools Superintendent Steve Smith introducing U.S. Senator Barack Obama to the crowd in Guthrie Center Tuesday evening.


Obama spoke from a trailer, with the crowd in lawn chairs and school chairs on the practice football field at Guthrie Center High School.


Obama mixes with the crowd after his speech in Guthrie Center, visiting here with Guthrie High School student Dylan Dinkla, who told the presidential candidate he plans to go into physical therapy. That's Carla Offenburger, in brown, on the left of the candidate. She said she told Obama she appreciated his calm manner on the campaign trail, ''that he's talking to us instead of yelling at us all the time.'' (This photo by Luann Waldo, of the Bayard News Gazette and Scranton Journal.)

Carla Offenburger, our house Democrat, is officially undecided in this race, with the choices she mentions most often being U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton of New York and Obama.

She says she appreciates Obama ''putting aside division and rancor,'' to use his own words in his speech here. ''He's not yelling at us all the time,'' Carla says, making it even plainer. Clinton seems to scream more, especially if she is in front of a big crowd, which she often is, especially if her husband former President Bill Clinton is tagging along. Another top contender, former U.S. Senator John Edwards, of North Carolina, still often seems angry to us when he speaks, and that's a turn-off, too.

A few other things are also very appealing about Obama. Most importantly, his young age and his race would send a great message to the world that this country has heeded his call ''to turn the page and write a new chapter in American history.'' I believe the world would embrace him, in dramatic contrast to what has happened in the presidency of George W. Bush.

His positions and rationale against the war, for universal healthcare, for student-centered primary and secondary education, for increased accessibility to college education, and for energy independence -- they're all good. His kiss-up to organized labor isn't for me, but that's probably the Republican in me reacting to the traditional Democratic pandering.

A really good thing about Obama -- you might not think it as important as the other things we've mentioned here but on the other hand it just might be -- is that he has apparently quit smoking cigarettes during this campaign. That's great.

But in Guthrie Center, we saw a glaring shortcoming in him -- the next step he must take in his personal rehabilitation. He just has to stop calling girls and women ''guys.'' Three times during his hour-long appearance here, he did it. He referred to the all-female Guthrie Center High School cheerleaders as ''you guys'' in thanking them for a welcoming cheer. He called two middle-aged women, chums from girlhood who had a serious question about healthcare, ''you guys.'' He used ''guys'' again when he was shaking hands with a group of women when he was mixing with the crowd after he spoke and took questions.

I was relieved that Carla Offenburger didn't stick her finger in his eye over this, because she is the more ardent of the two of us on this issue, and she indeed got close enough, and he does have Secret Service protection, you know.

O.K., yes, we Offenburgers certainly know that ''everybody does it,'' this using ''guys'' and ''you guys'' when talking to girls and women. Many protest that they are using it as ''a term of endearment'' and in a ''gender-neutral way.''

People, let's be clear: ''Guys'' are guys.'' Do you ever use ''gals'' as a term of endearment or in a gender-neutral way to address boys or men?

It's especially wrong to use ''guys'' when you are talking to girls and women. It is demeaning toward them. Especially if you are a presidential candidate. Especially if you are a presidential candidate who has a wife and two young daughters. It makes people wonder whether you really are ready for prime time. -- CHO

POGGENSEE'S VIEW LUNAR ECLIPSE

Ida Grove, Aug. 28, 2007 -- We had a lunar eclipse in the pre-dawn hours on Tuesday. We remember thinking about it, as we were drifting off to sleep on a full-moon Monday night -- it was so bright outside at midnight we thought we could probably take a non-flash photo out there. We fell back to sleep, but here in Ida Grove, photographer Don Poggensee was just getting up. Poggensee is not one to miss something as rare as a lunar eclipse. He filed his photo report a few hours later, and the photos follow here. The eclipse, he write, ''started at 3:56 a.m. and continued until about 5 a.m. The moon turned to a red color as the earth blocked the sunlight hitting the moon. Neat to see once again.''








For those interested in photography, Poggensee sends along the following explanation of how he did it. ''On shooting the moon, remember that the moon has no light of its own, as the light we see from it is reflected sunlight,'' he wrote. ''You can normally just meter the light and shoot. With the full moon, it is very bright and I usually under-expose two stops of light. As the Earth blocks the sunlight with an eclipse, and the moon is very dark, you need additional light, so you need to over-expose it, maybe by the same two stops of light. These images were shot with a Canon 600-mm lens on a full-sensor digital Canon 5-D body. With a digital camera, you can look at each exposure, and add or subtract light to get the proper exposure.'' -- CHO

A BIG STEP FORWARD ON OUR TRAIL

Panora, August 20, 2007 -- The five-mile section of the Raccoon River Valley Trail from just north of Linden into the heart of Panora was officially re-opened Saturday, August 18, with a brand new concrete surface. A crowd of more than 30 people turned out for the ribbon-cutting, and 20 or more of them then celebrated with a bike ride to Linden and back led by the local bike club, the Raccoon Valley Riders.

''Getting this trail resurfaced is an important step for our lifestyle and our economy in Guthrie County,'' said Joe Hanner, director of the Guthrie County Conservation Board, told the crowd. ''What's made it possible is great partnerships.''

The new surface is at about the midpoint of the 56-mile, 18-year-old trail that runs from Jefferson on the north to the Des Moines metro area on the southeast, where it connects into the capital city's extensive trail system.


Joe Hanner, director of the Guthrie County Conservation Board, speaks at the re-opening of the Raccoon River Valley Trail between Panora and Linden on Saturday, August 18, after the concrete resurfacing project was completed. Behind him are Luann Waldo of the Bayard-Bagley News Gazette and Scott Gonzales of the Guthrie County Vedette in Panora and the Guthrie Center Times.

The $407,977 resurfacing project was completed earlier this week by the paving company Knife River Midwest LLC, of Decorah in northeast Iowa, and then Hanner and his conservation board staff re-installed benches and signage before the Saturday re-opening. The work had required the trail to be closed since early July.

Of that amount, $175,000 came from a State of Iowa Recreational Trails Grant administered by the Iowa Department of Transportation, and Hanner said it finally was secured after several years of unsuccessful applications. State officials have been reluctant to award grants for trail maintenance or resurfacing, because there is still so much demand for development of new trails around the state.

''What finally made the difference, I think, was the local partnerships we were able to form,'' he said. ''First, the Guthrie County Board of Supervisors came up with a special appropriation of $100,000 for this project, and that was a huge step by them, an amazing step.''

The conservation board then tapped the ''REAP'' funds all conservation boards receive from the state, a reserve fund and its affiliated Prairie Woodland Conservation Foundation for about $125,000 in funding. Panora's local Raccoon River Valley Trail Committee successfully solicited more than $40,000 in donations from individuals and businesses in Guthrie County, and the Guthrie County Community Foundation also awarded a substantial grant for the project. In addition, many Guthrie Countians joined with the officers and board of the Raccoon River Valley Trail Association in talking to state officials about the need for the resurfacing project. Their message was that on a per capita basis, Guthrie County has probably made a bigger commitment to the maintenance and resurfacing of their portion of the RRVT than any other counties in the state have made on their own trails.


Part of the crowd listening at the ceremony in Panora celebrating completion of five miles of resurfacing on the Raccoon River Valley Trail.

''I'm sure that the local support we had was a big factor in us finally getting the state trails grant,'' Hanner said. ''It showed there was lots of local interest and support, and that means a lot when the DOT is making its decisions on trail funding.''

When it came time Saturday for the ceremonial cutting of a red ribbon strung across the trail in Panora, Hanner handed a scissors to Jeff Bump, a member of the Guthrie County Conservation Board, to do the honors. Others invited forward to take part were Karen Hawley of the Prairie Woodland Conservation Foundation; Orville Terry of Panora's local RRVT Committee; Guthrie County Engineer Kris Katzman, who did all the engineering on the resurfacing, and Chuck Offenburger, of Cooper, secretary of the RRVT Association. Hanner also thanked Panora Mayor Steve Baker for the City of Panora support of the project.

The ceremony was held adjacent to the trailside P.J.'s Drive-In restaurant, which is owned by Paul Wendl, a major trail supporter since its opening in 1989. Wendl provided free ice cream to all present.


Bicyclists try out the new surface in a ride from Panora to Linden, following the reopening of that section of the Raccoon River Valley Trail. The local bike club, the Raccoon Valley Riders, led the cyclists on the cruise.

Hanner closed the ceremony reminding everybody that as big an accomplishment as the resurfacing of the five miles of the RRVT south of Panora has been, fundraising is just now starting to resurface the five miles going north from Panora to Yale. That section is now the oldest section of asphalt on the whole trail and is in poor condition.

He noted that Panora-to-Yale section of trail will be an important one, as it will connect to the new ''North Loop'' of the RRVT. That will run east from Herndon, which is located north of Yale on the current RRVT, on through the communities of Jamaica and Dawson enroute to Perry. It will then go southeast through Minburn and Dallas Center before reconnecting with the RRVT on the northwest corner of Waukee. The right-of-way that will become the ''North Loop'' is being purchased from the Union Pacific Railroad by the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, and negotiations are expected to be completed this late summer or early fall. Mike Wallace, director of the Conservation Board in Dallas County, where most of that loop will be located, said work on it will begin as soon as the purchase is finalized. It could take two years to complete the hard-surfacing of that loop, depending on funding.

''So, we're not done,'' Hanner said. ''That's the reality of trail projects. You never, ever get totally done with trail projects.''
-- CHO

WE ALL GOT BUZZED IN RURAL IOWA

Cooper, August 20, 2007 -- We can look back on the past couple of weeks of this August as a time when nearly all of us who live in the Iowa countryside got buzzed. Tiny aphids have threatened the soybean crop, so farmers and commercial growers had aerial sprayers out treating many of the fields.


Spray planes have been at war in Iowa the last two weeks with tiny aphids which have attacked the soybean fields. Photographer Don Poggensee saw this plane working on fields in Ida County. Hot temperatures and light winds have made for good spraying conditions.


Of course, to do effective spraying, the pilots have to fly their planes at what seem like frightenly low levels. And when we on the ground find ourselves with our hearts in our stomachs just watching their aerial derring-do, what must it be like for them up there? -- CHO

CRUCIAL WEEK FOR JOHN EDWARDS

Jefferson, Aug. 14, 2007 -- It seems almost preposterous to say this, but this very week -- which is four or five months before the Iowa Political Caucuses and a year and two months before the presidential election of 2008 -- could be a crucial one in the political life of John Edwards. The 54-year-old Edwards is a very recognizable figure across America after his race in 2004. But he is also remembered as one of the candidates who were walloped in that year's Democratic presidential primaries by Senator John Kerry, of Massachusetts, who became the nominee. The Democratic team of Kerry and Edwards then suffered a close and disappointing loss to President George W. Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney.

MY TOP JOB EVER IN JOURNALISM

Adair, July 22, 2007 -- It occurred to me Saturday afternoon that the position I was holding down here was the highest one I've ever held in journalism. I was the umpire, the only one, let's call it umpire-in-chief, in the annual softball game between the newsroom teams from the Des Moines Register and the Omaha World-Herald. Squaring off in front of me were some of the most influential journalists in the Midwest -- reporters, editors, columnists, photogaphers, designers and others. And for 90 minutes, they had to heed my every call, ''strike,'' ''ball,'' ''out'' and ''safe.'' Omaha won this co-ed game that is called the ''Wild West Shoot Out,'' 10-8 in 11 innings, which was two more innings than any of us expected. Before the game started, I noticed that the World-Herald seemed to have a younger roster, and I mentioned that to Jerry Perkins, the farm editor of the Register who, at 59, was the oldest player on the field. ''Yeah,'' Perkins said, ''but cunning and experience count for something, don't they?'' I thought about that again right after Perkins' first at-bat, when he slammed a line drive down the third baseline for a clean hit, but caught his toe as he started to run to first and sprawled in the base path, tearing skin off both knees. Always the gamer, he pulled himself up and limped on to first base. And two innings later, he made a diving catch of a line drive at third base, scrambled to the bag, and doubled-off a runner who had started toward home plate, having assumed Perkins would never catch the ball. Meanwhile, World-Herald readers will not be surprised that the newspaper's new feature columnist Robert Nelson, is just as opinionated when he's sitting in a dugout as he is in his columns. I should also note that the Omaha team showed up in brown T-shirts that I thought looked like what UPS drivers might wear on casual Fridays. Perkins, cunning as ever, had a better description: ''They look like Hitler Youth out there.'' The taunting is all good natured, though, and this annual game provides an opportunity for the staffs of the two major newspapers in the two states to get to know each other. The games have been held intermittently over the past 25 years or more, and at different times were held in Anita, Avoca and Atlantic. The governors of the respective states were the starting pitchers the first time the game was held, Bob Ray for the Register and Charlie Thone for the World-Herald. The mayors of Omaha and Des Moines pitched against each other in another year, and so did the head men's basketball coaches from Drake and Creighton Universities. The Lions Club in Adair has offered to give the game a good home in more recent years, and they've done a nice job of providing a concession stand, groomed diamond and other amenities. Proceeds from the concessions are used to upgrade the facilities of the Adair Boys & Girls Club. On Saturday, the concession stand did a tremendous business because the game was played as part of the Jesse James & Chuckwagon Days local celebration. A sand volleyball tournament was being held adjacent to the softball game, and there was a good crowd drifting back and forth and watching both competitions. It was a fine time in journalism. -- CHO

JAMAICA'S QUASQUICENTENNIAL

Jamaica, July 16, 2007 -- This little town of 237 people in west central Iowa got a major infusion of fun during its Quasquicentennial celebration last weekend from its namesake nation in the Caribbean Sea. Tamara Christie, who represents the island of Jamaica's Tourist Board in the Midwest of the U.S., attended as a representative of her country -- and came with gifts. She brought enough T-shirts for everybody in the town of Jamaica, with the island's new tourism slogan: ''Once you go, you know.'' And she also brought enough Jamaican coffee to make it and serve it free to all the early arrivals to the celebration on Saturday morning. There is only a slight connection between the names of the Caribbean island and the small town in Iowa. ''Our town of Jamaica was originally named 'Van Ness,' according to the story we've always heard here,'' said Tommie Jo Scheuermann, owner and operator of ToJo's of Jamaica restaurant and bar. ''Early on, our mayor supposedly didn't like the name 'Van Ness,' and so he took out a world map, blindfolded himself and said he would throw a dart at the map. He said, 'Wherever this dart lands, that's what we'll name this town,' and it landed on the island of Jamaica. I swear, that's what we've always heard.'' The name Van Ness, by the way, became the name of a main east-west street in the town, and that is still the street's name. So anyway, the various plays on the Jamaican connection were a terrific addition to a big line-up of Quasquicentennial events that included a huge Saturday parade, a performance in the afternoon by the legendary ''Farmall Promenade'' dancing tractors from Nemaha in northwest Iowa, and a big street dance Saturday night. Everybody's favorite parade entry? It was undoubtedly Paul Messerschmidt, ''the Gooseman'' from Modale in western Iowa, and his trained geese waddling along the entire route. Additional details are in the photo captions below.


Here are two real Jamaicans at the Quasquicentennial celebration of Jamaica, Iowa, on Saturday, July 14, 2007. At left is Tamara Christie, a native of the island nation of Jamaica in the Caribbean Sea, who now represents the Jamaica Tourist Board in the Midwest. At right is Caleb Meinecke, 10, of Jamaica, Iowa. He's wearing a new T-shirt with the island of Jamaica's slogan, ''Once you go, you know.'' Christie gave these T-shirts to all 237 residents of Iowa's Jamaica. She also served free Jamaican coffee and Iowa pastries to the crowd Saturday morning. ''Tourism is very good in Jamaica now,'' said Christie, who offices in Kansas City and spent two days in the Iowa town. ''There are lots of new, big hotels and major resorts opening, and we have vastly improved our roads and other infrastructure.'' She noted the island, which has a population ''of about four million,'' attracts ''300 to 500 people from Iowa per month.''


The most popular entry in the Jamaica Quasquicentennial parade was Paul Messerschmidt, of Modale, Iowa, and his trained geese wearing patriotic costumes. Messerschmidt, who is known now as ''the Gooseman,'' was with the geese at birth and hand-raised them. As a result, he said, ''they are imprinted,'' meaning they think of him as their father, and will follow him wherever he leads them. In Jamaica, they walked the whole parade route of about three-fourths of a mile, had a good drink of water afterward, then waddled together to a park to meet the kids.

BRIDGE TO BICYCLING'S FUTURE

Council Bluffs, July 12, 2007 -- Our bicycling friends Joe and Cindy Connolly said Tuesday, July 20, was ''an important day in Council Bluffs cycling'' when the first steel beams went up on a $22 million bridge for cyclists and pedestrians over the Missouri River, between their hometown and Omaha. They sent along three photos, one of the first steel work on the Iowa shore, the next of work on one of the towering pylons in the river that will support the bridge and the third one an artist's conception of what the bridge will look like when it is completed in late summer 2008. The bridge rises gradually from Council Bluffs, makes a couple of gentle bends as it reaches a height of more than 100 feet above the water, then will spiral down to the shoreline on the east edge of downtown Omaha. Its total length is to be 2,221 feet, and the two main pylons supporting it above the river will stretch to a height of 225 feet. You can read an earlier story about the bridge here in ''Our Iowa News Digest'' by scrolling back to the date of August 28, 2006, and there are additional photos there. But see the new photos below here.


The first steel beams went up July 10 for the bike/pedestrian bridge over the Missouri River between Council Bluffs and Omaha. This initial steelwork is happening on the Iowa side of the river. (Photo by Joe & Cindy Connolly)


Work has also started on one of the new bridge's major pylons in the Missouri River, this one being built about 50 yards off the Iowa shore. In this photo taken on July 10, the pylon is about one-third of its final height. (Photo by Joe & Cindy Connolly)


Here is an artist's depiction of what the completed bike/pedestrian bridge will look like if viewed from the north looking down-river, with Council Bluffs on the left and Omaha on the right. Officials are hoping for completion in late summer 2008.
--

A BICYCLE RIDE IN SOME BIG HEAT

Perry, July 9, 2007 -- The City of Perry, its parks & rec department and other partners hosted the ninth annual ''Hiawatha Classic'' bicycle ride on Saturday, July 7, in challenging conditions for cyclists. Temperatures were in the 90s by midday and there was a stiff wind from the south-southwest. But still, about 75 tried the 40-mile ride which looped south from Perry, then northwest to Yale, northeast to Dawson and Rippey, then back into Perry. The ride raises money for new trails in Perry and the area. One of those will be the new 33-mile-long ''north loop'' of the currently 56-mile Raccoon River Valley Trail. That will connect Perry to Minburn, Dallas Center and the RRVT at Waukee to the southeast, and the loop will connect Perry to Dawson, Jamaica and the RRVT at Herndon to the west. The east-west portion of that loop has long been informally referred to as the ''Hiawatha Trail,'' from the old zephyrs called ''Hiawatha'' that the Milwaukee Road railroad used to operate on that stretch of railbed. Perry City Administrator Butch Niebuhr told the cyclists on Saturday that the acquisition of the north loop's right-of-way from the Union Pacific Railroad should be completed by this September. Work on the new trail is expected to start soon after the transaction is finalized. The Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation is negotiating to buy the right-of-way, and is expected eventually to sell or transfer ownership to the Dallas County Conservation Board. So, eventually, there will be a 72-mile loop on the Raccoon River Valley Trail, with total mileage of 89. Needless to say, it's an exciting and promising time for trail users and for communities along the RRVT. Two photos from Saturday's ''Hiawatha Classic'' follow here.


Now that's how to start a bicycle ride! Chuck Scheib is shown here lighting the fuse of his cannon to start the 9th annual ''Hiawatha Classic'' bike ride, which was held Saturday, July 7, in Perry. People refer to Scheib and his gun as ''the Dawson Artillery,'' since he formerly lived in the town of Dawson before moving to Perry in recent years. He puts some gun powder in the barrel, tamps it full of shredded newspaper, touches the fuse with his cigar and ka-BOOM! ''I use it to start the 'BRR' ride during the winter here in Perry, the Hiawatha Classic ride during the summer and for other special events when somebody wants a cannon shot,'' he said. ''And sometimes I just fire it when I feel like it.''

YALE'S QUASQUICENTENNIAL

Yale, July 6, 2007 -- Thousands of people shoehorned themselves into this west central Iowa town of 287 on July 3 and 4 for a celebration that included not only Yale's traditional 4th of July blast but also its Quasquicentennial. The big news -- the 117-year-old Yale hotel was wearing a new coat of primer paint, demonstrating to visitors that the much-anticipated renovation is underway. There was also an open house at the 75-year-old round gym, so alumni and visitors could see the progress being made on the renovation of that little classic. There was a huge parade on the morning of the 4th. And that evening, the fireworks display had ''three times more fireworks than we've ever had before,'' said Mayor Steve Stanton. And it looked like he was not exaggerating when the sky filled with color, roars and crackles for just over 25 minutes. Our group has learned a secret about the Yale fireworks that most Yale residents probably don't know. The fireworks are lighted at the ballpark on the west edge of the town, and that's where most of the people congregate. But the town is only a half-mile wide and long, and it's pancake flat around Yale, so you can see the fireworks from miles away. However, we've learned that if we sit four blocks east, in the general area of downtown, we can hear the fireworks twice. The sound of them quickly sweeps east across town from the park, bounces off the huge concrete grain elevator silos on the east edge of town, and then sweeps back west. It's delightful! In the photos below, you will see some of the fun during Yale's celebration.


Steve and Patty Stanton, the mayor and first lady of the town of Yale, are shown here ready to ride in the Quasquicentennial parade in a 1954 Cadillac convertible driven by Ray Middleton.


The old Yale hotel, under renovation now, is shown here wearing its new coat of white primer paint that owner Sarah Brewster and her parents Ron and Joyce Brewster got done before the celebration. ''The people of Yale have been so supportive of us on this project, we wanted to get the hotel looking a little nicer in time for the celebration,'' Sarah Brewster said. ''We wanted to show them that we're making progress.''


The color guard from the Raccoon River Riders saddle club.


Tina Lair, 8, of the Yale Saddle Club, had striking costuming for both her horse and herself.


The American Legion ''Corn Kings'' band from the town of Jamaica is an organization more than 50 years old -- and still having fun playing from the roof of their colorful jalopy.


Jason Kirtley, of Yale, shows off a 3-year-old ''hypo'' boa constrictor he carried in the parade. He operates Raccoon River Reptiles in Yale, selling snakes and other reptiles via the Internet.


Beth Rasmussen, of Jefferson, is shown here helping her family's display of eight John Deere tractors started on the Yale parade route. The eight tractors are stair-stepped in size, down to the three immediately in front of Beth -- a pedal toy tractor, a 1/16th scale model and a 1/64th scale matchbox-sized tractor -- all Deeres! They're all linked by specially made hitches so they can be pulled by the lead tractor, a 1949 ''B'' that''s been in the family since it was new.


At the front end of the chain of John Deere tractors is Marvin Rasmussen, of Jefferson. He is shown here with daughter Miriam Rasmussen, who just graduated from high school and helps get the tractors to parades and link them up with the hitches. ''You see a lot of antique tractors in parades, and that's neat,'' Marvin said, ''but I wanted something a little different. So I started collecting the different sizes and this summer have started putting them together.'' Note his T-shirt.


Brothers William and Marcus Valentine, 9 and 7, rode the float of the Committee for a Super Cooper and lobbed candy to kids along the parade route.


As an extra little salute to our neighboring town of Yale, the Committee for a Super Cooper included a Yale University banner on our Cooper float. It has the last line of one of the university's famous anthems.


Piloting the Cooper community float in the Yale parade were young Claire Teusch and Carla Offenburger, who is president of the Committee for a Super Cooper.


A ''Garden Tractor Pull'' attracted competitors of all ages, like little Devin Bode, age 5, of Altoona, shown here driving his ''Orange Peeler.'' He is a third generation tractor puller. In the background is Yale's old round gym.

WE PINCH-HITTERS ON WHO RADIO

Des Moines, July 2, 2007 -- Jan Mickelson, the conservative host of the ''Mickelson in the Morning'' radio talkshow on station WHO in Des Moines, is on vacation this week. He puts out so much gas that it is taking seven of us to replace him. The show airs from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at 1040 on the AM dial, and is also available on the Internet at www.whoradio.com.

Leading off among the pinch-hitters today, July 2, were the ''WHO Radio Wise Guys,'' the tech-savvy Dan Adams, Ross Peterson and Brian Gongol who host a Saturday afternoon chat show on WHO on information technology topics.

The guest hosts for the rest of this week:

Tuesday, July 3 -- David Yepsen, the influential political columnist for the Des Moines Register.

Wednesday, July 4 -- U.S. Congressman Steve King, the conservative Republican from Kiron in western Iowa.

Thursday, July 5 -- Uh, me, Chuck Offenburger. I'll have several guests, including in the 10 o'clock hour, Gary and Janet Thompson, of Ames. As many of you know, I am finishing up the biography of Thompson, one of Iowa's greatest sports heroes and for 34 years a commentator on telecasts of college basketball. Fifty years ago this summer, Thompson was saluted after completing his playing career at Iowa State as an All American in both basketball and baseball. He recently has been named to Iowa State's ''All-Century Basketball Team,'' picked in conjunction with the upcoming 100th season of men's basketball at the university, and he has also just been named one of the 150 most notable alumni of ISU, a group recognized as ISU starts its Sesquicentennial celebration. We'll be telling some great stories about Thompson's life as a Roland Rocket, Iowa State Cyclone, broadcaster and successful Ames businessman. And you'll be able to phone us with your questions.

Friday, July 6 -- Ed Fallon, a good liberal Democrat from Des Moines who previously served in the Iowa Legislature and was an unsuccessful candidate for governor last year.

It should be a fun week of listening. -- CHO

CHURDAN'S QUASQUICENTENNIAL

Churdan, July 2, 2007 -- This town of 418 has always seemed to be an especially fun spot in Greene County. And it was especially so over this past weekend, June 30-July 1, when it celebrated its Quasquicentennial in perfect weather. More than 400 people attended an ice cream social Friday night. More than 500 came through the Public Library to view a display of wedding dresses from over the decades. More than 700 attended the all-school reunion banquet Saturday night. The big parade Saturday morning must've had 2,000 or more along the streets. The ''Farmall Promenade'' dancing tractors from Nemaha had a huge crowd Saturday afternoon. There was some unanticipated fun, or nervousness, when the unearthing of the Centennial time capsule didn't go as planned -- they couldn't find it! Eventually they did, as is explained in the photo captions below, and it contained a historical mementos, freshly-minted 1982 coins, and jars of corn and soybeans from back then. Now, check the photos below for more of the fun.


It's amazing how memories fade over 25 years, especially on such a matter as ''just where did we bury the Centennial time capsule?'' and ''was it right under the marker, or to one side of it?'' When our neighboring town of Churdan celebrated its Quasquicentennial June 29-July 1, it took more than five hours of digging on Friday evening and then Saturday afternoon to find the capsule with mementos that had been buried in 1982. People consulted photos published in old newspapers at the time of the burial. They asked old timers what they could recall. And they dug in a half-dozen spots in an area the size of a free throw lane on a basketball court. Finally, it was found about 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, just before the all-school reunion was beginning. It turned out it was buried right where it was first thought to be, just deeper than the workers had gone on their first attempt there. Our town of Cooper had gone through the same frantic mystery in 2006 when we spent hours trying to find our Centennial time capsule. It, too, was a little deeper than anybody had guessed it would be.


One of the most fun entries in Churdan's big Quasquicentennial parade was a pick-up truck full of Fitzpatricks, thanking the community for being their home for so many generations. The clan is currently headed by Ruth Fitzpatrick, who still lives on the home farm two miles south of Churdan. There she and her late husband Richard raised 11 children.


Paul Fitzpatrick, 40, is the youngest of the 11 Fitzpatrick children, and he's shown here with his wife Val beside a sign on the side of their extended family's ''float.'' Paul and Val live in Carroll, Iowa.


The Committee for a Super Cooper had its community float in the Churdan parade. Shown with it here are Super Cooper members (back) Lynda Holtz, Beni Wardikun, Doug Lawton and Harold Nash, and (front) Marj Peckumn, Barbara Nash and Chuck Offenburger. The theme of the float is ''Who knew...?'' that little Cooper has all the businesses, organizations and events listed on the signs.


Marj Peckumn, of the Super Cooper group, wore sandwich boards congratulating Churdan on its 125th, and walked alongside the Cooper float. The group also threw candy to kids and a dozen or more special ''Cooper, Iowa'' T-shirts to adults. --

A MAN AND HIS FINE HOT ROD

Jefferson, June 25, 2007 -- Jerry Deluhery, who lives here, turns a lot of heads this time of year when he gets out his 1923 Ford ''T Bucket'' hot rod, as he did recently for the Quasquicentennial parade in the nearby town of Bagley. The bright red body, the open passenger section, the open engine and all the chrome captured our attention at first. But then, as the second photo here shows, there's one detail that is especially fun!


Jerry Deluhery, of Jefferson, is shown here ready for the Bagley Quasquicentennial parade in his 1923 ''T-bucket'' hot rod coupe.


Check this close-up view of the chrome radiator cap ornament on Deluhery's hot rod. ''I'm real proud of that ornament,'' he said. ''I made it myself.'' --

SPENCER CHURCH'S SUMMER SIGN

Spencer, June 12, 2007 -- Photographer Don Poggensee was traveling through Spencer in northwest Iowa the other day when a sign at Grace United Methodist Church there caught his attention.


Sonshine at the Methodist Church in Spencer.

Good advice for the summer season, we thought. -- CHO

PUTTING COACHES IN THEIR PLACES

Cooper, May 29, 2007 -- Hurrah for Troy Dannen, the executive director of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union, and the IGHSAU board! Last week they produced the best sports news of recent times in Iowa when they ruled that high school girls' basketball coaches will no longer be allowed to stand up throughout their ball games, shouting directions, ranting and raving. Too many high school coaches, modeling themselves of course after the college and professional coaches they see on television, have become terrible about this. It reached an intolerable level in Iowa girls' basketball during the state tournament in March, when Des Moines Roosevelt's Tig Johnson and Spirit Lake's B.J. Mayer exhibited coaching behavior that should have resulted in both being suspended, if not fired. They may both be nice guys -- indeed some people say that Johnson is shy and soft-spoken off the court -- but on the sidelines both appeared to be tyrannical, pathetic and maybe even abusive. In his monthly column for May on the IGHSAU's site on the Internet, Dannen sounded this alarm: ''The sideline concerns are not limited to comments or actions toward officials. The treatment of players, both verbally and physically, by several of the coaches in this year’s tournament causes us great concern. The Athletic Union doesn’t have authority to discipline a coach for the manner in which he/she treats students. That authority lies solely with the administration of the school that employs the coach. Coaching is solely about education. At no time is education about berating and intimidating. The trend of some coaches to grab players, swear at them and personally berate them in game situations will be addressed promptly with school administrators, and also used as an example for what coaching is not about when we hold our annual June licensure workshop for new coaches.'' So the IGHSAU board invoked a new ''seatbelt rule,'' as they're calling it, that basketball coaches must be seated during the game action, and their behavior when they are standing during timeouts is going to be monitored more closely. Like we said, hurrah! Fans of high school sports in Iowa know that about 20 years ago, the Iowa High School Athletic Association, which sanctions boys' sports, imposed the same rule on their basketball coaches. It had become a problem much earlier in boys' sports than it did in girls' sports. The boys' basketball coaches all refer to it, still to this day, as ''the Saggau rule'' because its leading advocate was Bernie Saggau, then the executive director of the IHSAA. And the boys' coaches have hated the Saggau rule. They want to be up directing and controlling the game, just like they see the big time college and pro coaches doing. But the reason ''the Saggau rule'' and the IGHSAU's new ''seatbelt rule'' are so good is that they are big steps toward taking these games away from the adults and giving them back to the kids. I believe that most of a good high school coach's work -- like 90 percent of it -- should be happening during practice sessions, not during games. On game night, that coach should be enjoying the play as much as the spectators do. But how many coaches today, especially those who are stomping around on the sidelines, appear to be enjoying any of what's happening? They generally appear to be so consumed by anger, gloating and/or self-pity that, deep down, they can't be having a good time. Their young athletes, of course, pick up on thoe antics and start mimmicking them. So, it was a gutty, necessary step that Dannen and the IGHSAU board took, confronting the problem. Now, can we suggest a next step? This would be back in the bailiwick of the IHSAA, involving their sport of football. Let's outlaw the practice of coaches sending in plays from the sideline, or signaling plays and formations to their players on the field. Let's give high school football back to the high school kids. Let the quarterbacks call their own game on offense, and let the defensive captains call the formations when they are on the field. Coaches are so important in the lives of our kids. But again, I think they should be doing most of their coaching, counseling and mentoring during practices, and then letting the kids play the games. It will be more fun for all of us -- the players, fans and even the coaches. -- CHO

E. WAYNE COOLEY'S SHOWMANSHIP

Des Moines, May 29, 2007 -- Des Moines will have a new professional basketball team next season, one playing in the National Basketball Association's ''Development League,'' which is the NBA's equivalent of good minor league baseball. The Des Moines team, which is not yet named, will play its home games in the new Wells Fargo Arena, which can seat 16,110 for basketball. That's a lot of seats to try to fill, of course. Officials of the team recently came up with a neat idea to help draw crowds -- schedule top Iowa high school basketball teams to play a game before the pro game, with one ticket for both games. At a recent press conference, Jerry Crawford, the prominent Des Moines attorney who is co-founder of the team and one of its investors, announced that the idea has the backing and pledged participation of both the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union and the Iowa High School Athletic Association. So sometimes the first game of the doubleheader will feature girls' teams, sometimes boys' teams. The high school match-ups will generally be between teams from across the state that ordinarily don't play each other, from the small schools as well as the big schools. It's a really good idea, actually, one that will add huge measures of interest and fun to the D-League team's home games. And it will let the Iowa kids have a game experience in Wells Fargo, which they otherwise don't get unless their teams make the state tournament. So, anyway, when Crawford and the others featured at the press conference took questions from the media, one of the reporters asked, ''So, where did this idea come from?'' We loved Crawford's answer. ''This idea started 50 years ago with E. Wayne Cooley,'' he said, mentioning the man who ran the IGHSAU for 49 years before his retirement in the fall of 2002. Cooley turned the girls' state basketball tournaments into entertainment extravaganzas, featuring stage bands, singers, drill teams, dancers and more. His thought: Feature the whole high school experience, not just basketball, and the more kids you put down there on that big floor, the more parents, brothers, sisters and grandparents are buying tickets to sit up there in the arena seats. Added Crawford: ''Both our Girls Union and the IHSAA have done great jobs in involving their whole schools in their events. The more people, the better.'' It works in Class A basketball in Iowa, and it works in the NBA, too! -- CHO

KEILLOR'S IOWA STATE FAIR RAVE

Cooper, May 29, 2007 -- We just came across an amazing tribute to the Iowa State Fair from Garrison Keillor, the host of the long-running ''A Prairie Home Companion'' on public radio. You may remember that Keillor played the Iowa fair last summer, and one of his fans ''Eli H.'' of Omaha recalled that in a recent ''Post to the Host'' on the radio show's site on the Internet www.prairiehome.org. Keillor's response to Eli began this way: ''The Iowa State Fair was perfection itself and it was fun to walk around and see it. I suddenly felt disloyal to Minnesota but Iowa's struck me as nearly perfect.'' I immediately alerted the marketing people at the Iowa State Fair, suggesting Keillor's quote is one we should see on billboards all over the state. They were interested, for sure. Meanwhile, for you Internet browsers, that Prairie Home site is a very good one. If you just can't get enough of Keillor on his weekly radio shows, then you can read a good deal of his work on the site, including correspondence between him and his listeners, and a fine-reading column he writes nearly weekly. He calls it ''The Old Scout'' and you have to look hard to find it, deep down the right side of the home page. It's well worth your search. -- CHO

A BALL GAME FOR MOTHER'S DAY?

Des Moines, May 14 -- There are moments in life so good that you indeed need to pinch yourself to make sure they are real. That's how it was for me Sunday afternoon -- Mother's Day. My mother-in-law Sue Burt had told the family that what she really wanted on the special day was for as many of us as possible to go to an Iowa Cubs baseball game with her. So we did, of course! We saw a delightful slugfest, with the I-Cubs winning 17-7 over the Sacramento River Cats. Ma Burt, as we call her, is a very loyal baseball fan, buying sesason tickets for the I-Cubs, who are the AAA minor league affiliate of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs. Her daughers in Des Moines, Chris Woods and Tammie Amsbaugh, also have season tickets, so they all do a lot of baseball. And you loyal readers may remember that Sue Burt, over a five year period, attended games at every one of the major league ball parks around the nation.


Veteran baseball fan Sue Burt, of Des Moines, asked us in the family for a Mother's Day gift of attending the Iowa Cubs' baseball game with her Sunday afternoon, May 13, at Principal Park. Note the scorecard, which she almost always keeps during ball games.

My wife Carla and I are also fans, especially of the Chicago Cubs, but we don't get to Principal Park in Des Moines as much as we'd like for I-Cubs games. But we sure did on Mother's Day. What a special place the stadium is, at the confluence of the Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers. When you look beyond the centerfield wall, you have to be impressed with the view of the Iowa State Capitol and its gold domes. When you look just to the northwest of the stadium, there is the impressive Des Moines skyline.


This view is from rightfield to leftfield at Principal Park, with the downtown Des Moines skyline in the distance.

Plus, there are so many neat touches inside the stadium that it's worth a walk before, during or after a game just to see them all. Brand new are the elevated bleachers in right centerfield, where you can volunteer to help work the manually-operated inning-by-inning scoreboard. To the side of the bleachers is a new fountain, which was a huge hit with the kids in the heat of Sunday afternoon. And of course, that fountain will tie right into the new Principal Riverwalk, when it is completed along both banks of the Des Moines River through the downtown area. Meanwhile, down in the ''tunnel'' under the grandstand, there is one of those self-contained, climb-around playgrounds that you sometimes see now in public parks, except this one is much bigger than most. It has tube slides, swings, rope-climbs, mini-ladders and more fun fixtures on which kids can play-away a whole lot of idle energy.


A new fountain on the edge of the rightfield bleachers proved a big hit with kids at the game, which was played on a warm and windy afternoon.

But I think my favorite little feature is that on the scoreboard, the teams are not listed by name, or by ''Visitors'' and ''Home.'' Rather, they are listed as ''Out-of-Towners'' and ''Local Boys.'' There are probably a lot of young professional baseball players today who come into the stadium, see that and think it's about as corny as things can get. They're right. But it's also a nice tie to the deep roots of the grand old game, to times when there was indeed deep pride in the local ball club.


Sue Burt and one daughter Carla Offenburger are shown at the entrance to the new bleachers, which are elevated above the wall in right and centerfield, below the big electronic scoreboard.

You do wonder how the I-Cubs might be affected by this summer's gasoline prices soaring above $3 per gallon. But two thoughts on that from our Sunday afternoon at the ball park: One, a whole lot of people rode bicycles to this game, in a special promotion, and actually that is easy to do for day games, since Principal Park has great rec trails leading right to it. Two, while gasoline is indeed expensive now, if my calculations are correct, beer at the stadium is about four times as expensive. Now, for my conclusions here: 1) I'm glad I ride a bicycle. 2) I'm really glad that I don't drink beer, and not just because of the cost. 3) My mother-in-law is cooler than your mother-in-law, unless you are either John Amsbaugh or Tony Woods. -- CHO

ANOTHER UNINVITED GUEST HERE

Cooper, May 14, 2007 -- Three years of country living have taught us that you just never know what you are going to see meandering across your patch of prairie. Friday lunchtime, it was a furry rodent scampering over the front lawn, stopping every 15 feet or so, sitting up about 15 to 18 inches tall, then scampering some more. Its furry tail was wagging. The farm cats didn't give it a second look. Lassie the deaf collie that doesn't see so well, either, was napping. So we grabbed the camera, took a couple of photos out the front picture window and e-mailed them to our primary source for all things wild and natural, Dan Towers, our Greene County Conservation director.


We at first did not know what this animal was, as it meandered across our front yard at lunch time. But it was clear, it was as curious about our place as we were about it.


''It's a woodchuck, also called a groundhog,'' Towers reported back. ''They're strictly vegetarians and harmless. I think they're neat animals and like having them around. They give the Jack Russell Terriers something to spar with. Their downside is they like to burrow under buildings, and sometimes cause foundation problems.'' Oh. Towers may like having these around, but I am not taking this as good news. I've noticed a burrow in the barn, and I recall the Gettler brothers, when they were doing the construction work on our farmhouse, said they saw a woodchuck running out of the barn. I also recall hearing on public radio once that woodchucks sometimes live in the same burrows for several generations, which may raise a legitimate question about just who the uninvited guest is here. -- CHO

ANOTHER ''POMEROY SATURDAY''

Pomeroy, May 9, 2007 -- This northwest Iowa town of 700 people is turning itself into a haven of artists, musicians, entrepreneurs, food & coffee lovers and good-natured loafers, and they have now started coordinating special activities on the second Saturdays of each month. Leonard Olson, who has become nationally known for the kaleidoscopes he is making in Pomeroy, is one of the organizers, and he gives us this preview of the next ''Second Saturday'' here.

Please join us in Pomeroy this Saturday, May 12. To repeat what we have at the Kaleidoscope Factory: ''Tie-Dye Roger'' is going to be here. It's a different format this year. Just like always, he'll be leading tie-dye workshops. This year, instead of paying him, you donate to the Calhoun County Foundation instead. The CCF recently awarded over $51,000 in grants for projects such as playground equipment in Farnhamville, computer monitors in the Lake City Library and a tox-alert system for the EMS building in Lohrville. Roger says, ''Bring your own T-shirt or bandana or other small item to dye. It needs to be 100 percent cotton to work best, and pre-washed to remove factory stuff like stain resistors. I will supply dye, rubberbands, gloves and fun.''

From 9 a.m. to 12 noon on Saturday, the Public Library will be hosting Jerod Ulicki. He's a very talented classical guitarist from Fort Dodge and was my guest artist in December of 2005.

The Hungry Horse Gallery will have a display of vintage schoolbooks. At Antiques and More out on Iowa Highway 4, Elsie will have a display of a 1950s wedding dress and accessories. Also plan to visit Abbejas Glass Art with their stained glass and etched stone and glass, along with painted rural scenes on glass. Liz Meyer's Americana Folk Art Studio will also be open. The Historical Museum has its new roof, and they'll be having an open house with cookies and drinks to thank everyone for their support.

While you're at the Hungry Horse, take a peek in back and check out the progress on ''The College of Leonard.'' I'm shooting for an opening date in June, with Regina Smith teaching flameworked beads as the first class series. More on that to come.

Hope to see you this weekend. -- Leonard Olson

THE WELL-DRESSED BICYCLIST

Cooper, May 9, 2007 -- Oh, how good it feels to get back on our bicycles and take late afternoon and evening rides on our Raccoon River Valley Trail, a 56-mile-long hard-surfaced rec trail here in west central Iowa. This is the 18th season for the trail, which keeps getting better all the time, with additional amenities being added in towns along the way. RRVT users this season will begin seeing the first of our new specially-designed signs that will welcome them to communities, give mileage distances and more. In addition, the RRVT Association has just started offering a handsome line of special trail users' apparel, with the RRVT logos. You can read more, and order the clothing items online, by going to the Internet site www.raccoonrivervalleytrail.org. Meantime, get on your bikes! -- CHO

YES, THAT'S A CROCK, FOR SURE

Churdan, May 7, 2007 -- This town of 418 people is celebrating its Quasquicentennial June 29-July 1, and a fun part of it is that one of our favorite Greene County characters, Lawrence Geisler, is costuming up and doing portrayals of the person the town is named after, Joseph Churdan. He was an Englishman who came to the U.S. when he was 27 years old in 1851. He bought land in this area, saw the population start growing with the arrival of early settlers and then the railroad, was the first postmaster, died in 1908 at age 84 and is buried in the local cemetery. Geisler is a real talent who had a long career as an English teacher at Marshalltown High School, and came back to his hometown of Churdan for retirement. He always has a good story to share. For example, I've thought his recitation of the poem ''Casey at the Bat,'' which I have heard him do, should be an annual observation of professional baseball's opening day, to be delivered in the courthouse rotunda in Jefferson. So anyway, Geisler does a wonderful job portraying Churdan. He points out, however, that the pioneer actually pronounced his last name ''SHUR-den,'' not ''Chur-DAN,'' as everyone calls the town today. He blames that on railroad conductors who would call out the name of the town as the trains were approaching: ''Chur-DAAAAAANNNN!'' So, in the middle of Geisler's portrayal of the historic character, when he tells the story about the confusion over the name, he pauses, looks up at the audience and says, ''Isn't that a crock to have a town named after you, and then the people mispronounce it for the next 125 years?'' -- CHO

YOU'VE GOT TO LOVE THIS DOG

Cooper, May 7, 2007 -- Our collie Lassie, who landed here at our farm as a stray two years ago, is old and her teeth are worn. She's also deaf, does not see too well, has a knot on her forehead (although it is not cancerous) and suffers from arthritis in her hips. But honestly, we have rarely seen an animal that seems to value life more than Lassie does, so we have done our best to keep her going. She responds with amazing loyalty. I mean, the ol' girl makes her rounds on the perimeter of our property twice a day, ever on guard. But we noticed recently (don't ask how) that she now has tapeworms, so my wife Carla called Jefferson Veterinary Clinic and asked what we should do. They said, not surprisingly, that they'd recommend tapeworm medicine, and we could pick it up. When I stopped by the clinic to do so, it gave me a bit of a pause when I saw that the two pills, which Lassie was to take together, would cost $27. But then I thought of Ol' Faithful out there walking our perimeter, twice a day, no matter the weather, and agreed to the cost. However, I did ask Dr. Mark Peters how long the pills would be good for, in terms of eliminating the tapewords. ''Until she eats her next rabbit carcass,'' the doc said. I laughed, took the medicine and that evening hid the pills in Lassie's dogfood. She gobbled them right down. So the next afternoon, I walked out front to stretch in the infrequent sunshine we've had around here lately. There to greet me was Lassie -- with a half-eaten hen pheasant in her mouth.


The day after we gave our old collie Lassie $27 worth of tapeworm medicine, which our veterinarian Dr. Mark Peters had said would be good ''until she eats her next rabbit carcass,'' the dog meandered up to us with a hen pheasant in her mouth. We think in this photo she looks like she is feeling a little guilty about it.

I couldn't help but laugh. I called Carla at work and told her. She told me to take the pheasant away from Lassie, and I responded that since I make a living using my fingers and hands to type, there's no way I was going to try to take a half-eaten pheasant away from a large collie, even an old impaired collie. Mother Nature can take her course. After all, there are worse things than tapeworms. I can't say exactly what things would be worse, right at this moment, but I'm sure there are some. -- CHO

RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY!

Cooper, April 26, 2007 -- Iowa farmers got a great start on corn planting, April 18-21, with some reports holding that 10 percent of this year's total crop was put in the ground. But on Sunday, April 22, it started raining, and it rained four consecutive days -- with more than six inches falling in our area around Cooper in west central Iowa. The result? There were a lot of planted fields that looked like this one, late on April 25 when this photo was taken.


That is not a lake, it's a planted cornfield! More than six inches of rain in four days swamped many farm fields in southern Greene County.

The wet conditions prompted a lot of farmers to start talking about 1993, when it started raining in mid-April and never seemed to stop until fall. Iowa made global news then for the flooding that then-Governor Terry Branstad called ''the worst natural