Members of the Grinnell Fire Department check out the scene of an semi truck and train accident in the 3800 block of 50th Street east of Grinnell on Tuesday, Sept. 1. This location is near Sam Berman and Son in Poweshiek County. The semi-truck driver, Marvin Scharff, 64, of Dixon, Iowa had to be extricated from the semi cab and was flown to a Des Moines area hospital to receive medical treatment. His condition is not known at the time of this release. Photo by Duane McClue.

       A crash between a westbound Iowa Interstate Railroad engine and a semi-tractor/trailer east of Grinnell landed the truck driver in a Des Moines area hospital.
    The Poweshiek County Communications Center received a 911 call at approximately 1627 hours on Tuesday, Sept. 1 regarding a semi versus train accident in the 3800 block of 50th Street.
This location is just east of the City of Grinnell near Sam Berman and Son in Poweshiek County. Emergency personnel were dispatched immediately and upon arrival they located a semi-tractor/trailer on the south side of the railroad tracks that had been struck by a westbound Iowa Interstate Railroad engine.
      The driver, Marvin Scharff, 64, of Dixon, Iowa had to be extricated from the semi cab and was flown to a Des Moines area hospital to receive medical treatment. His condition is not known at the time of this release.
     The Grinnell Fire Department, Poweshiek County Emergency Management, Poweshiek County Sheriff's Office, Grinnell Police Department and the Iowa State Patrol all responded and assisted at the accident scene. The Iowa State Patrol is handling the accident investigation and it is still active at this time.

       Rhylee Rodgers of Searsboro is shown with her Grand Champion 4-H Market Steer that she showcased at the 2026 Iowa State Fair. The steer sold for $55,000 in the 4-H Sale of Champions. Rodgers is the first 4-H’er at the Iowa State Fair to have three animals in the 4-H Sale of Champions. Photo by Danielle Linde’s. ​

​J.O. Parker
 
        Hard work and perseverance in the showring has paid off in a big way for a Searsboro teen.
Rhylee Rodgers, 16, not only showcased the 4-H Grand Champion Market Steer at the 2026 Iowa State Fair, she brought home top honors with her 4-H Grand Champion Market Pig and 4-H Reserve Grand Champion Market Pig.
       This was Rodgers’ first trip to the 4-H Sale of Champions held this year on Saturday, Aug. 22. Her winning steer raised $55,000 with her grand champion pig earning $19,000 and her reserve grand champion pig netting $14,000.
       And she is the first 4-H’er in Iowa State Fair history to bring three winning animals to the 4-H Sale of Champions.
      Rodgers, a junior at Lynnville-Sully High School, said she plans to use some of her winnings for college.
      Rodgers is the daughter of Wade and Kaylene Rodgers. She has two siblings, Shay, 14, who got reserve champion market pig honors at this year Poweshiek County Fair, and Layton, 10. 
       Rodgers is a member of the Sheridan 4-H Club.
     Rodgers has been showing steers since age 5 and showing pigs for six years. Last year, her market pig earned fourth place honors and her first year showing at the Iowa State Fair, she earned third place honors with her market pig.
       “This is my first time exhibiting a grand champion animal,” she said. “This is by far the best I have done.”
        This year, she brought two steers and four pigs (three barrows and one gilt) to the state fair.
       When ask what the secret to her success was this year, Rodgers says it’s the relationship she builds with her animals.
      “I get up at 5 a.m. to rinse my steers and brush and dry them,” she said. “I do that once to twice a day. After I get done with my steers, I will walk my pigs and feed them.”
        Most days she finishes her morning chores at 9:30 a.m.
       During school days, Rodgers gets up at 6 a.m. as she only has piglets and not as much work is needed.
        “I enjoy working with them,” Rogers said of her animals. “Yes, it can be a lot of work
but it is very peaceful.”
       Rodgers said the support from her family and the people who helped her find and purchase the winning animals have been keys to her success.
   Her grand champion market pig was purchased from Caleb Boden at CB Livestock in Clearbrook, Va. Her reserve grand champion market pig was purchased from Scott and Levi Stauffer with S&K Show pigs in Arlington, Ohio
       Her winning steer was raised by Rodgers Cattle Company of Searsboro, a business owned by her parents.
      Rodgers has two more steer shows this fall. She will travel to Kansas City in October and Louisville in November.
        Her future plans are to work in appraising or the real estate field.

        Rhylee Rodges of Searsboro is shown with her Grand Champion 4-H Market pig at the 2026 Iowa State Fair. The champion market pig brought $19,000 in the 4-H Sale of Champions. Rodgers is the first 4-H’er at the Iowa State Fair to have three animals in the 4-H Sale of Champions. Submitted photo.

​        Rhylee Rodgers guides her Reserve Grand Champion Market pig through the showring at the 2026 Iowa State Fair. The champion market pig brought $14,000 in the 4-H Sale of Champions. Rodgers is the first 4-H’er at the Iowa State Fair to have three animals in the 4-H Sale of Champions. Submitted photo.

​       Rylee Mauss and her horse, Splash of Fancy, center, was named a 2026 Iowa State Fair Cowgirl Queen Contest runner up. She is joined by her family, from left: (bottom left) Colin Kelley and Megan Mauss; (Top left) Brooke and Spencer Mauss; parents, Dan and Nicole Mauss, right of the horse; and friend, Cole Hotchkin, on far right. Submitted photo.

​J.O. Parker
 
      A Grinnell teen is all smiles these days after being named one of the five runner ups in the Iowa State Fair Cowgirl Queen Contest.
      Rylee Mauss, 17, the daughter of Dan and Nicole Mauss, is a senior at Grinnell High School.
      The competition was held on Friday, Aug. 14.
      Mauss was among 57 cowgirls in the senior division seeking the cowgirl queen title this year.
Lola Svec was named the Cowgirl Queen for 2026. 
     This was Mauss’ second year to seek the queen title. She competed in 2025, and was called back by judges, but didn’t place.
       "The event includes multiple cuts because there are so many participants,” she said.
       Competitors are judged on western horsemanship, showmanship and riding skill.
       Mauss competed on her horse, Splash of Fancy.
       When asked about competing this year, Mauss said she is very happy with the outcome.
       “It was a goal this year,” she said.
       Mauss plans to compete in the contest in 2027. She is allowed to compete through age 26.
     “I plan to keep doing the cowgirl contest until I win or age out,” she said. “I have plenty of years to keep going.”
      Mauss has been showing horses for five to six years and has won a number of top honors at the Poweshiek County Fair. She showed in the FFA and open shows at this year’s state fair, winning several ribbons.
      “We had a lot of fun in the FFA and open shows this year,” said Mauss. “I earned a lot blue and purple ribbons in those shows. I got a couple seconds in some of my classes including bareback pleasure and showmanship.”
        When not studying, Mauss enjoys working with her horses.
     As for the future, Mauss’ plans are to learn medical coding and take some courses to do equine message therapy. When she graduates high school in May 2027, she will have earned an AA Degree in Liberal Arts along with her diploma.
        “As for now, I want to stay close to home and be with my horses and family,” she said.

​        The community of Searsboro, population 129, in southwest Poweshiek County is celebrating 150-years with a parade and other festivities on Saturday, Sept. 12. The parade gets underway at 2 p.m., followed by a car show, carnival games, water games, basketball, food, a dance and fireworks.

By J.O. Parker

       Kim Thon Shutts recently stopped to see her dear friend, Kennetha Smith Criswell.
Shutts and her husband, Rick, had downsized and moved to New Sharon from Searsboro earlier this year and she stopped to catch up on the latest happenings.
       As the two ladies sat in the living room visiting and sipping on a cups of coffee, Criswell, who had moved to New Sharon about 10 years ago, started talking about the upcoming Searsboro 150th town celebration and that triggered memories from back in the day.
      “We had two gas stations, two restaurants and two grocery stores,” recalled Criswell. “One time we had a motel and a bank and a produce store were farmers brought in their cream and eggs. We had movies outdoors in the summertime and outdoor dances.”
       Shutts said after her dad passed away, her mom, Jean Thon, and her sister-in-law, Barbara Meredith, opened up a grocery store and café known as BJs.
      “What was really cool was the train engineers would stop and eat lunch at BJs,” recalled Shutts. “My grandfather, Jim Guthrie, owned one of the gas stations.”
       “My brother-in-law had a pizza place in Searsboro and people came from all over to eat there,” noted Criswell. “His pizza was awesome. And Tuesdays were Taco Night and guests could enjoy softshell tacos.”
         The ladies recalled the big co-op in town and Macy’s Lumber where people came for lumber, cement and coal to heat their homes.
          Criswell said she remembers the town depot and that she’d sometimes take the doodlebug to Grinnell with her mom.
        And Shutts mentioned that in the 1970s, there was hangout for the kids called the Pink Panther.
        “Our teacher, Linda Vogt, painted panthers on the wall,” she said. “The building is still there.”
Criswell said as a kid, she delivered the Des Moines evening Tribune in town and the Register on Sundays.
           “A lot people had outhouses and I had to use them on my paper route,” Criswell said with a chuckle.
        She remembers the 500 card club in town, saying “there were 12 of us that belonged to that.”
        “My great grandfather, Robert Gregson, was sheriff in the Poweshiek County years ago,” recalled Criswell.
         Criswell was born in Grand Prairie, Texas and raised in Searsboro where she graduated from the high school with the Class of 1960.
          There were eight graduates in that class, the last at the school before it consolidated with Lynnville-Sully in 1961. The school building remained in use as a junior high through the early 1980s, but in the more than 40 years since, the building has fallen in disarray.
        “I remember the marble staircases on both ends of the old two story building with the kitchen and gym in the basement, “ she said of the school on the north edge of town.
       When Criswell was in high school at Searsboro, the only sports available were baseball, softball and basketball.
          “We didn’t have a football team,” she remembers.
          “ I loved school,” she went on to say “We were free spirits.”
         “I went to seventh and eighth grade there in Searsboro and graduated from Lynnville Sully in 1977,” said Shutts. “It was a great schoolhouse. It’s just sad that it has died out. Just changing times. They call that progress.”
Searsboro 150th Celebration
         The Searsboro 150th Celebration is slated for Saturday, Sept. 12. The parade gets underway at 2 p.m. with staging of floats by the old schoolhouse.
        Other activities from 3 – 7 p.m. include: water games at the fire station, carnival games on the basketball court, bounce houses at the Searsboro Telephone Building and a Car Show on Railroad Street.
       Food trucks will also be available from 3 – 7 p.m., including Fire on Wheels Pizza, Katie’s Donuts, Paparoni’s, Road Trip Coffee and Suikerspin Cotton Candy. And from 2 – 10 p.m., Old Fashioned spirits will be available.
        At 4 p.m. the fire station is hosting a cornhole tournament. A Street Dance with Paul Michael Davis Band, on Main Street gets underway at 7 p.m., followed by fireworks from 9 – 10 p.m.
More Searsboro memories
     Criswell had three boys with her late husband, Jerry, who originally hailed from Malcom where he graduated high school in 1958. The couple met and were married at the Friends Church in Searsboro in 1961.
       Jerry died at 1970 at age of 30 due to a heart condition while the family lived in Ruthven near Spencer in Northwest Iowa.
     He coached basketball and taught physical education at Ruthven and was preparing to assume the spring track coaching program before passing away. And prior to Ruthven, Jerry coached and taught at Twin Cedars in Bussey for three years.
       At the time of his death, the couple had three children, Greg, Jeff and Tim, who were all under age 10 at the time of their dad’s passing.
        After Jerry passed away, Criswell returned to Searsboro and worked at Grinnell Mutual for 35 years before retiring.
         Greg is a 1981 graduate of Lynnville-Sully and Jeff graduated in 1982. Tim graduated in 1986 and has enjoyed a long career in sales. The two oldest boys attended and graduated from Graceland in Lamoni. 
        Greg taught physical education and coached girls’ basketball at Montezuma in the 1990s. He then went on to earn his masters at UNI and served as principal with the Winterset Community Schools. Jeff had a long career as an offensive lineman in the NFL. He played eight years for the New York Jets and four years with the Kansas City Chief before retiring.
      Some years ago, there were signs on the north and south entrances to Searsboro announcing that the town was home to Jeff Criswell, a member of the Kansas City Chiefs.
       “I don’t know what happened to those signs,” said Criswell.
       Criswell has six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
      Shutts, who has two children and eight grandchildren, recalls spending the summer months with her friends playing hide and seek.
     “The railroad tracks and the school were the borders and downtown was base,” recalled Shutts. “Sometimes, we would hide in the elevator until our parents found out and forbid us to do that again.”
        During the winter months, the town kids utilized the hills on the edge of town for sledding.
       “At the time, there was a lot of kids in town and it was great sledding with all the them and sometimes the adults would join us,” said Shutts. “When I became an adult, I still sledded down the hill, only with my kids. A few years later, I had the privilege to sled with my grandchildren.”
         She also remembers all the town Christmas gatherings in Searsboro.
       “We had luminaries that we put out and we served hamburgers, soups and held a bake sale,” recalled Criswell. “And Santa Claus showed up, too.”
Criswell said every year the Searsboro alumni still get together.
        “A couple years ago, we had about 50 of us, some in their 90s,” Criswell said of the reunion. “They (the alumni) still come for luncheons at Seeland Park in Grinnell.”
       Shutts said she and her husband have been members of the fire department and that she and the now late, Diana McVay, where the first women in the county to join a fire department in 1983.
      Shutts and her husband have both sat on the Searsboro City Council and have held the mayor’s position at different times.
         “When you are from a small community, you have to take you civic duty turn,” said Shutts.
       “Searboro was a great place to grow up and raise my kids,” she added. “And my heart will always belong to the town.”

​     The Cody Family of Grinnell, owners of Back Forty Honey, are shown at the Iowa Honey Producers Association both at the state fair. From left is Isabel, 13, Andy, Rachel, 16, who won a blue ribbon for “The Best of Iowa Honey” class this year and Angie. The Best of Iowa Honey class is judged on by taste.

By J.O. Parker
 
       Back Forty Honey in Grinnell is the recipient of a number of top ribbons and honors from this year’s Iowa State Fair.
       The awards were presented by the Iowa Honey Producers Association (IHPA) in connection with the state fair.
         The IHPA has a booth on the second floor of the Agriculture Building.
The business, which is located south of Grinnell, is owned and operated by Andy and Angie Cody and their two daughters, Isabel, 13, and Rachel, 16.
         The “Best of Honey in Iowa” class went to Rachel this year. The class is judged only on taste.
In addition, Andy brought home 15 ribbons including five first places, four second places and two third places for the company’s honey products.
         This includes observation hives on display at the Iowa State Fair, dipped wax candles, round comb honey and chunk honey (the comb honey in liquid), Amber extracted honey, square comb honey and a couple beekeeping photos.
         In addition, Back Forty Honey is positioned to win the IHPA Sweepstakes honor in 2026 for a third straight year, having won it in 2024 – 2025. The IHPA will announce the winner at its fall conference. 
How it all started
       The Cody family got into beekeeping thanks in part to a co-worker of Andy’s at Jeld-Wen. Andy worked in corporate management at the time at the Grinnell location. He has also spent time with the company in Oregon and central California.
      “A friend and co-worker, Steve Hardeman, at Jeld-Wen asked about putting bees on our timbered 40 acre property and I decided to join him,” said Andy. “We had six colonies that first year and Back Forty Honey was what we called the first harvest.”
          And the business kept growing from there.
By 2019, the business had grown to 40 – 60 hives.
         In 2019, with 20-years of service at Jeld-Wen, Andy left his full-time job to concentrate on the bee keeping business and to raise his girls.
Then 2020 hit and Andy said the role of stay-at-home dad took on a new meaning.
“Actually, I enjoyed the shut down and being at home with the kids,” he said.
           Today, the business oversees more than 240 hives, most all in the Grinnell area.
        And according to Andy, the business is expected to produce 20,000 pounds of honey in 2026.
         “I always come up a couple hundred pounds short of what I thought I’d produce because my family eats it all,” he said with a chuckle.
          When asked how the honey producing process works, Andy said after the bees produce the honey, he gathers the boxes of honeycomb in late-July through September and brings them home.
       “The honey is sealed in the comb and we uncap the comb and place them in a honey extractor where the honey is spun out of the comb,” said Andy. “From there, the now liquid honey moves to large settling tanks where any remaining wax or debris settles out of the honey. The honey then goes into 5-gallon buckets (available on Facebook Marketplace), or barrels for longer term storage or to a bottling tank to fill the retail size bottles.”
          The business offers 2 ounce and 12 ounce bears, 16 ounce glass or plastic bottles, 24 and 32 ounce squeeze bottles and 80 ounce (5 pound) jugs, and 5-gallon (60 pound) buckets. The business also offers cut comb and some beeswax products.
            “We only sell the buckets directly to the consumer,” he said.
             Andy said his biggest customer is Van Wijk Winery in Sully.
         “They actually won best of show (at the state fair this year) for their Blackberry Mead (honey wine),” he said.
            The winery buys honey from both Back Forty Honey and Eberts Honey in Lynnville. The two companies work together to provide honey products in the area.
          “They (Eberts) operate at a different scale than I do and we help each other out,” said Andy. “I send my colonies to California in the winter with Eberts to pollinate the almond groves when they bloom in February.”
Where to purchase Back Forty Honey
        The honey is available at several locations including Freedom Firearms in rural Grinnell, Pioneer Bookshop in Grinnell, Brooklyn Grocery in Brooklyn, Nancy’s Canned Creations in Newton, Three Sisters in Montezuma and the Grinnell and Newton Hy-Vees. Grinnell Farm to Table also offers our full product line-up, both on their bi-weekly on-line market and during Saturday afternoon store hours.
          For more information, Back Forty Honey can be reached at: [email protected].

​      A close up of Rachel’s “The Best of Iowa Honey” that she won a blue ribbon on at the Iowa State Fair. The class is judged only on taste.

     The Cody Family of Grinnell brought home a large number of ribbons from the Iowa Honeybee Producers Association at the 2026 Iowa State Fair. Daughter Rachel, 16, won a blue ribbon for “The Best of Iowa Honey” class.