Photojournalist and author Dave LaBelle, left, checks out the Iowa State Fair photo book while J.O. and Debbie Parker look on during the 2023 All-Iowa Writers’ Conference held on Saturday, Sept. 16 in Montezuma. The Parkers, who host the writing conference, donated the State Fair and Midwest Old Threshers Reunion books they published to LaBelle. J.O. first learned of LaBelle and his work as a student in the 1990s at the University of Missouri-Columbia. It was the spring of 2010.
I stepped into the house after a long day at the Poweshiek County CR and Debbie, who was seated in the living room, said, “I want to hold a writers’ conference.” “And I want to invited Donald Harstad to speak,” she added. Harstad of Elkader is a 26-year veteran sheriff’s deputy in Clayton County turned author. He wrote his first novel, “Eleven Days” in the late 1990s, which became a New York Times Bestseller. He went on to write several other novels including: “A Long December,” “Code 61,” “The Big Thaw,” “Known Dead,” and November Rain.” I didn’t know anything about hosting a writers’ conference, so I was a bit leery at first, but encouraged Debbie to reach out to Harstad. She found an email and wrote him that evening. He wrote back at 3 a.m. and said he’d love to come speak at our first conference. Shirley Damsgaard was there that first year as was Tamera Jones, Alan Loots, Mike Manno and others. We’ve had a crime lab employee speak at our conference one year, and a Grinnell Police officer spoke of police duties and dealing with crime. Our third year, we had Larry Weeks with Brownells come and talk about gun identification. He said some authors write about crime and don’t know a thing about guns. It was an educational presentation. We’ve had nationally known authors, editors, illustrators, historical fiction, romance, crime, Christian and children’s authors. There are far too many to name. And one year we received a grant to bring national best seller Laura McHugh to Montezuma. We also enjoyed a presentation by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby, an agriculture journalist and author of a number of Iowa books, including “The Lincoln Highway in Iowa,” “Classic Restaurants of Des Moines” and “Iowa Agriculture: A History of Farming, Family and Food. The first nine years we held the conference in the Montezuma School, Memorial Hall and Community Hope Church before moving it to Grinnell for one year in 2019. Then Covid hit and the writers’ conference came to a grinding halt for three years. But thanks to Debbie’s persistence, we brought it back this year. She spends from four to six months finding authors to speak each year. She receives a lot more “no’s” than “yeses.” And what a great lineup we had this year for the conference held on Saturday, Sept. 16 at Community Hope Church. They included Crystal Ferry, aka Stella Bixby of Montezuma, Laura Snider, a lawyer an author; Iowa State University Professor Kevin Kimle and his wife, Patti, who gave a moving narrative on the Underground Railroad in connection with their book, “The Only Free Road.” Also speaking was Joseph LaValley, who has seven books based on fictional newspaper editor Tony Harrington. And Adrianne Finlay, an English professor at the University of Northern Iowa spoke about the writing process and shared about her books. And lastly, a royal treat was Dave LaBelle, who calls Dyersville home. LaBelle is one of my favorite photographers and is the author of “The Great Picture Hunt,” and The Great Picture Hunt 2,” “I don’t want to know all the technical stuff..I just want to shoot pictures,” and “Lessons in Death and Life” His most recent book, “Bridges and Angles: The story of Ruth,” is a novel based on his mother, who was swept away in California flood in the 1960s when LaBelle was a senior in high school. I first learned about LaBelle as a photojournalism student at the University of Missouri. I have followed his work for years and have all of his books. When I learned that he had moved to Iowa, I reached out to LaBelle earlier this summer via Facebook and he agreed to come speak. I was on Cloud 9 all day as I shared my story with him and donated our books on the Iowa State Fair and the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion. LaBelle spent his time not only telling his life story, but talking about how words and pictures go hand-in-hand. He closed his presentation by encouraging the conference attendees to find their purpose in life and make the best of what is in front of them. We all have dreams and purpose. Today is the day to make a step to see those dreams come to pass. Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always.
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I don’t know what made me think about it, but somehow my mind strayed to back in the day when my folks and I would visit the bright red painted Country Store in East Tulsa.
You could buy about anything country there from clothing to seeds, plants, trees, garden tools and much more. They catered mostly to farmers (or city slickers trying their hand at farming) and those living in the rural setting. And there were actual people who worked there and knew the business and helped customers. There were no self-checkouts or bag your own items. Stores like that are few and far between these days. Most have been replaced with large box stores that sell lumber, paint, seed and toilet seats. Around Poweshiek County, Halls Feed and Seed in Brooklyn would come close in service and sales to what I remember at the Country Store. It’s not as big, but it’s packed with about anything you need for country living. The last I knew, the Country Store, which celebrated 50-years in business in 2005, closed its doors in 2007. A quick search of the Internet didn’t net much on the long-time business. My parents and another family from the First Baptist Church in downtown Tulsa joined forces in the late 1960s and planted a huge garden on a spot of land in East Tulsa, a mile or two from the Country Store. They grew everything including watermelon, cantaloupe, corn, green beans, tomatoes, lettuce, okra (a southern favorite), peas, onions and much more. My parents bought a roto-tiller from Montgomery Ward, another business that has bit the dust, in the late 60s. My dad loaded it in his 1967 Chevrolet C-10 pickup after work at the factory and hauled it to the farm to till the earth. I remember sitting in my dad’s truck and listening to the AM push button radio. I didn’t listen long as I was afraid I would run the battery down. On hot summer days, the other family’s two boys, Mark and Gary, and I would spend time roaming the area and shooting off bottle rockets and firecrackers on the Fourth of July. One year, we got a load of gypsum used for fertilizer. The boys used their craftiness to carve out two monsters in boxes with the gypsum. I thought it was cool. And it was on the road next to the garden that I first drove my dad’s pickup. He’d push in the clutch and I would shift the gears and steer the truck. I grew up one half-mile from Route 66. In fact, I walked or rode my bicycle one block on Route 66 when delivering the morning Tulsa World newspapers each day. My mom and I started throwing the Tulsa World on Sept. 1, 1972. That first day, she had to leave me to go home and get my dad off to work. Later on, he learned to get ready to pack his lunch and leave for work on his own. Sounds familiar as Debbie gets me going in the mornings and packs my lunch. I threw newspapers with my mom for almost five years, quitting on July 31, 1977, just a month before my senior year in high school. I used the money I made to buy school clothes and at least five bicycles, three of which were Schwinn Stingrays. My dad also helped with the newspaper business and we were once featured in one of the Tulsa papers about the family who throws papers together, stays together. My dad and mom always grew a small garden at my boyhood home each summer. My dad loved wilted lettuce salads and fresh onions from the garden. My mom would heat up the bacon grease and pour it over the lettuce. My dad also mowed yards around our neighborhood, a business that he took over from my grandfather on my mom’s side of the family. I took the yard business over from my dad and mowed many yards in the neighborhood in the 1980s. Living on my block was in some ways like living in a small town. We knew all our neighbors and would check in them. I always enjoyed visiting with the Belknaps on the north and playing dominos with Mr. Bell, as I called him. I got my first camera, an Argus Twin-Lens Reflex camera, from the neighbors to the south, the Watsons. It was their son’s camera and I still have it to this day. And it still works. I’m thankful that my parents were involved in my life and that of my brother. We had a close net family who ate together, did things together, worked together and prayed together. They both grew up in the sticks in the country and they knew the value of hard work and doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. I will always be thankful for their impact on my life, for carrying me to church, teaching me the Good Book, loving me and providing lots of memories. Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always. Debbie and I welcomed home a new puppy during the Labor Day weekend.
His name is Boomer and he is a Great Pyrenees Border Collie mix that we purchased from a breeder in Fayette, Mo., Mark and Rosemarie Adams. I first met Rosemarie 20-years ago at the Missouri Photo Workshop held in Louisiana, Mo., a town of 3,000 plus along the Mississippi River. We’ve been Facebook friends for a number year and I have sent her a message or two, but it wasn’t until late June this year that I saw post on her Facebook page offering Boomer and four other puppies from the same liter. We reached out to Rosemarie and got the ball rolling on welcoming Boomer into our home. We came up with the name and shared it with Rosemarie and she started using it when calling the little fellow. We happen to have a cat named Sooner, so we know own Boomer Sooner. Rosemarie and her husband, Mark, who recently retired after a 35-year career as a crane operator, had wanted to attend the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion in Mount Pleasant. So the couple made the three plus hour journey from Fayette to Mount Pleasant to bring Boomer to us. We met them at the Mount Pleasant Wal-Mart. Boomer is such a loveable fur ball and we are glad to have him in our lives. Debbie and I along with our family have been attending the Old Threshers Reunion since 2007, the year that we started working on our second Iowa photobook, “Family Reunion: Midwest Old Threshers,” which was released in August 2008. We worked with the now late Lennis Moore, the CEO of the Old Threshers and Terry McWilliams, who is the current CEO, along with the Old Threshers Board to make the book project possible. They paid for one-half of the printing on the book and in exchange, we gave the Old Threshers 1,000 books to sell. It was a win-win situation for all parties involved. There’s always plenty to see and enjoy at the Old Threshers. It’s a nice way to end the summer and head into the fall. I enjoy antiquing and bought several items this year including a framed print of a farmer hand-picking corn that was being tossed into a horse-drawn wagon. It is unique piece of artwork that reminds me of the time my dad and his brother, Uncle Charley, hand-picked 40-acres of corn after the Verdigris River east of Tulsa got out of its banks, not once, but twice in 1948. The Verdigris is a tributary to the Arkansas River that runs on the west side of Tulsa. “The river knocked the stalks down, but not the ears of corn,” my dad told me. The brothers earned enough money from the sale of that corn for their dad to purchase a used tractor and harrow. Somewhere in my parents things I have the receipt from when that tractor was bought at a dealer in Broken Arrow, Okla. We also checked out the many vendors at Old Threshers. I would like to purchase a new flag pole, but the good ones have hefty price tags. We also rode the electric trolley and steam train, attended the family-friendly dancing girls show at the Old Threshers Saloon and watched a shootout at the train depot, all in the North Village. And a trip to the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion would not be complete without a visit to the First United Methodist Church food tent on the grounds. They have some of the best fried chicken and the state fair award-winning meatloaf, which is the creation of Melinda Huisinga of Mount Pleasant and formerly of Des Moines. Melinda won a blue ribbon with her meatloaf at the state fair in 2017 in a food contest that Debbie and I sponsor through our company, Our Front Porch Books. Life can keep us busy as there are always things to do. If your life seems out of sorts, take time to reflect on the positives, spend time around positive people, maybe get back to a church and change things that are pulling you down and wasting time and not lifting you up. Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always. Jim Good, a good friend and former roommate back in the day in Tulsa, knew a thing or two about building a fast car. He did machine work on engines and also built his own engines.
He could set the points on cars using the cyclophane wrapper from a package of cigarettes. He would slide the wrapper between the points (for those who know what points are in a distributor) and turn the screw and set it. In the early 1980s, Jim owned a 1970 Oldsmobile W-31 that came with a one-piece fiberglass front end. I was thinking it was a 442 Oldsmobile, but Jim said it was a rarer car than that. Anyway, when Jim bought it, it had a 350 Oldsmobile engine. “It was pretty fast that way, but it had been driven hard and didn’t have the best oil pressure,” Jim said via social media. “So, I built a high performance 455 for it.” The car had a 3.91 rear end gear, which made it accelerate hard. Jim said the previous owner had installed the fiberglass front end, but gave him all the original parts so it could still be restored to original down the road. “It was definitely a fast car,” said Jim. “The exhaust exited in front of the back tires so it was loud when I got it.” Jim said the car had the bare minimum exhaust that would pass state inspection, a requirement for vehicles in Oklahoma. “I could get a third gear scratch when I was getting on the freeway,” recalled Jim. “It was a little spooky to get a scratch and go a little sideways at that speed.” I loved riding in that car. It was loud and fast. I remember one weekday night, Jim wanted to take the Olds for a spin and blow the cobs out, he said and that’s what we did. We ended up on the Crosstown Expressway in Tulsa (an expressway that goes around downtown Tulsa) and I was hanging on for dear life. We had to be going more than 100 mph. I mentioned something about the cops and Jim said, “They are on the other side and wouldn’t get us.” Jim ended up selling the Olds when he decided to go back to school. “I couldn’t afford it as a college student,” said Jim. “I couldn’t really afford it when I was living with you and just barely getting my rent paid every month.” “You and your parents were very patient with me and helped me through a rough time financially,” he added. I don’t remember any of that, but enjoyed having Jim around. He loved God and we went to church together. That was more important than the rent. I got to thinking about Jim’s Oldsmobile 442 W-31 and my second cousin’s Studebaker Lark while strolling around taking photos and interviewing folks at the 50th Grinnell Show & Shine Car Show on Saturday, Aug. 26. It was a great show with a record-breaking 279 vehicles on display. There were lots of people to visit with and learn about their cars. I met a fellow, Jay De Young, from New Sharon who has a rare 1914 Apperson Jackrabbit Touring Car that was made in Kokomo, Ind. It had been in his family since his dad’s great uncle purchased it new from the Shee Company in the Ottumwa/Oskaloosa area. When the great uncle passed away in the early 1930s, his two daughters took ownership of the Apperson. It survived the World War II scrap heap and Jay and his brother, Lee, who lives in Chicago, inherited the car from their father some years later. The car won the most original trophy at the Grinnell show. That is quite a story behind the car and I enjoyed visiting with Jay. Maybe down the road, I can get a chance to write a longer story for a magazine article. There were a lot of old and new cars at the Grinnell Show & Shine. I don’t remember seeing any Studebakers at this year’s show. They were a good car back in the day. I had cousin from the Chicago suburb of Wheaton who moved to Tulsa to attend welding school in the early 1980s after graduating high school. He had a Studebaker Lark that was in a state of rebuild. It wasn’t as fast as the Oldsmobile, but it was a nice vehicle with a piece of beef under the hood. I enjoy cruising through town with the windows down and one arm propped on the window ledge. The first car I purchased was a 1977 Chevrolet Monto Carlo with the long front end. I bought it used in 1980 and ended up rebuilding the engine in 1981. It barely had any power. After tearing the engine apart, I discovered it had a bent piston rod and that more than half the values were burnt. The thrust bearing on the end of the crankshaft was shot. I had to replace the pistons and add a used crankshaft in the engine and torque convertor in the transmission. A friend of mine, Scott, helped me rebuild the engine. I put too big of a carburetor and the wrong cam shaft, but it was still a nice running car that I enjoyed driving for several years. I ended up selling the Monte Carlo and a 1984 Chevrolet Cavalier that I bought new to help pave the way to go back to school at the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1992. A lot has changed since those days and it’s been a great ride filled with lots of memories that keep getting better as the days roll along. Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always. Debbie and I were in the Des Moines Register Building on the Grand Concourse late last week looking at Iowa State Fair souvenirs when a couple said they saw our display in the ISF Museum across from Pioneer Hall.
“I thought that was you,” the lady said as her husband drew near. We visited for a moment, made our purchases and Debbie and I headed toward the camper. It was 20-years ago in 2003 that Debbie and I met at the Iowa State Fair Campground while I was doing a story on state fair campers from the Montezuma area for the Montezuma Republican newspaper. This year, we were futured in the Ralph H. Deets Historical Museum at the fairgrounds in a special display on state fair attendees who found love at the fair. There were five couples featured in the display. We visited the museum and display twice during our stay in Des Moines. The first time at the museum, I was visiting with one of the attendees and shared a story about the time I left my lights on in my S-10 pickup and ran the battery down. It was 2002, the year before I met Debbie. I had just put a new battery in my truck a week earlier. I walked to the on-site car repair at the parking lot and asked about getting a jump. “That will be $15,” the fellow said. I opened my billfold only to discover that all I had was $5. So, I walked to my truck, got in and bowed my head, asking God to send me help. I sat the truck with the windows down for about 15-minutes. Then a family came walking behind my truck headed to their vehicle across the aisle. It just happened that their vehicle was backed into the parking spot. I got out and approached them, asking if they could give me a battery jump. “Do you have jumper cables?” the fellow asked. “Sure do,” I said. The man and his two boys pushed my truck out into the lane and across where their van was at. They hooked me up and I was back on the road again in a couple minutes. I offered them my $5 and they told me to keep it. I will never forget that experience. Anyway, on Sunday, the last day of the fair, we revisited the museum. As we stood there looking at the love display, Debbie said, “Look at all we have done.” It is amazing how God brought us together, two complete strangers from two different states and more than 500 miles, and what we have accomplished in our nearly 19-years of marriage. And it was nice to be recognized on the grand stage at the Iowa State Fair. It was also nice to spend time with family at the fair. And as always, I entered antiques in the Pioneer Hall. I didn’t fare as well this year as I have in past years. There is always next year. My favorites things at the state fair, outside of eating at Beattie’s Watermelon Stand, is people watching and visiting with folks. It’s fun to watch people open up and share more about their lives. I’m pretty much an open book, so I feel comfortable talking to total strangers. My ability to talk with others has helped me a lot in the journalism world. My dad was like that. It used to drive me crazy how he could stop and visit with a total stranger. He had the uncanny ability to meet people who had a connection to his growing up days in the sticks east of Tulsa, Okla., my hometown. Overall, it was a nice fair. We didn’t spend as many days on the fairgrounds as we have in the past. We did attend two of our oldest nephew’s goat shows and watched a portion of the Cowboy Action Shooting the first Friday of the fair. I enjoyed grilling out at the campground on my new grill. I also spent a couple hours walking around the campground the first weekend, visiting with folks and taking photos of camper yard ornaments and decorations. I started the camper yard ornament project last year and I still have a good portion of the campground to cover next year. There is a mixture of everything from political signs to welcome to our camper and more. It’s a city on wheels. I hope you enjoyed a day or two at the state fair. Next up is the Old Threshers Reunion in Mount Pleasant. I enjoy seeing the steam engines, learning about farming history from back in the day and antique hunting. I leave you with this, if you don’t go inside a door, you’ll will never know the opportunities that await. Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always. Every now and then I come across a story that pulls at my heartstrings. That was the case the other day when I was talking on the telephone to a friend, Rosemarie, and her husband, Mark, who live northwest of Columbia, Mo.
I first met Rosemarie 20-years ago at the Missouri Photo Workshop. The workshop brings together photographers of all skill levels to a different small Missouri town each year where they work with editors from the National Geographic and major newspapers to hone their camera skills. That year the workshop was in Louisiana, Mo., south of Hannibal. Rosemarie and Mark raise sheep, turkeys, and chickens and they also raise and sell livestock guardian dogs on their farm. The dogs are used to watch over and care for livestock such as sheep and goats. A couple years ago, there was one particular female puppy that was outstanding. In raising these animals, Rosemarie said she puts a dab of different colors of paint on each puppy. The purpose is both to keep track of each pup’s personality, and to see whether they might become a trustworthy guardian dog or simply a companion. This outstanding puppy was painted with a dab of turquoise paint, and appropriately named “Turquoise.” Rosemarie became quite fond of the puppy, and decided to keep her for breeding. When the litter of pups were 12 weeks old, Rosemarie received a phone call from a family who lived two hours away who said they were on the way to purchase a puppy and were only 10-minutes from their farm. “I like to interview the families first to see if they would be a good fit for one of my pups,” Rosemarie recalled. “That wouldn’t be the case in this situation.” The family showed up and the mother, her two young boys and a girl about age 15 got out of the vehicle. The man stayed in the vehicle and told Rosemarie he didn’t care what they got, he “just wanted somethin’ to keep the ‘coons outta the yard.” The children looked at all the pups and the girl pointed to Turquoise. “I want that puppy,” she said. “She’s not for sale,” replied Rosemarie. “I don’t care, I want that puppy,” the young girl said. “I don’t know what caused me to have a moment of weakness, but I sold Turquoise to them,” said Rosemarie. “ She told them that if the puppy didn’t work out, to give her a call and she’d come get her. Rosemarie, who adores all of her animals, said she didn’t have a good feeling about selling Turquoise to this family, but Mark insisted since their dog food bill was quite large with feeding 10 hungry pups plus their own guardian dogs. “I really regretted the decision I’d made, and often with tears I prayed for Turquoise and wondered about her new probably very difficult life. “I tried to contact the mom to check on Turquoise, but she gave no feedback except to say they had named the pup “Whiskey.” Just nine months later, when Turquoise was almost a year old, out of the blue Rosemarie received a text message that read, “We don’t want this dog! My kids don’t like her and she’s causing trouble. If you don’t want her back I’ll do something else with her.” Rosemarie commented that she shuttered to think what “something else” might be. She replied to the text message that she would meet the mom that afternoon to retrieve the dog, and she and Mark happily headed to Columbia to do so. As they met the family and opened the cage door, Turquoise pulled away and peed all over herself. She looked rough, and had obviously been abused. “I was sick and determined then and there that Turquoise would never again leave our farm,” said Rosemarie. She’d received no additional veterinary checkups and at nearly a year old had not even had her rabies shot. Several weeks after Turquoise’s homecoming, when she’d had veterinary care and had begun to heal and trust again, a friend from the Kansas City area called. She and her husband had an organic dairy farm and also raised turkeys. The friend was asking if Rosemarie might have an older puppy that she could give her parents in Illinois. Her mother had ovarian cancer and wasn’t expected to live much longer—leaving her father alone to grieve. She wanted a dog that could help her dad during this time and be a companion for him when her mom passed away. Mark and Rosemarie knew they took good care of the current guardian dog they had. The friend said she would promise that Turquoise would be well cared for and deeply cherished if allowed to become her father’s companion. “I wasn’t planning to sell her, but I felt that this was where Turquoise needed to go,” she said. Rosemarie said that shy though Turquoise was, when the friend came for the dog, Turquoise jumped in her car and off they went— as it was meant to be. “I knew I had done the right thing,” recalled Rosemarie. “God had worked it all out.” The friend took Turquoise to Illinois to meet her new family. As her mother was still living at the time she was able to meet Turquoise and told the daughter that remarkably it is the turquoise-colored ribbon that represents ovarian cancer. This was truly a match made in Heaven. In a recent checkup the dog, who is now named “Bella,” has become a wonderful companion for this man after the passing of his wife. Rosemarie recently received a photo of the two sitting next to each other—each with their own dinner plate watching TV together. A happy ending for Turquoise and all involved. We all make choices and decisions in life and sometimes, like in the case of Turquoise, they don’t work out at first. But God is ever faithful and has the ability to turn what was meant for harm into something good in the end. Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always. I spent the 50th edition of RAGBRAI as a volunteer photographer during the ride’s visit to Grinnell on Thursday, July 27.
The heat and humidity were muggy and miserably uncomfortable. There was a nice breeze and some cloud cover on occasion and that made the day a touch more bearable. It reminded me of my growing up days in Oklahoma when summer temperatures were well into the 90s most days. Our house wasn’t air conditioned until the late 1960s when my folks bought a 400 BTW Frigidaire window unit. That AC was as big as Mack semitruck. The temperature had to reach 92 before Mom would fire up the air conditioner, and it ran most days. We used box fans to circulate the cold air through the house. At night, the air conditioner was turned off and all the windows were opened. The attic fan, a common fixture in Southern homes, was turned on. By morning, I was usually wrapped up in a blanket. At RAGBRAI, I found a bench on the southwest corner of Fourth and Broad Street across from Grinnell’s Merchants’ National Bank, commonly referred to the “Jewel of the Prairie,” where I met some of the most interesting people. Folks from all over the United States, and probably the world, came through Grinnell and they all had a story to share. Everyone I talked with, I asked where they were from and how many times they had ridden RAGBRAI. I was surprised at the number of first-timers. I met a plant-based vegan, a retired lawyer who was on the ride with his brother, a retired judge. There was a father and son duo from Marquette, Iowa who was with a group of bicyclists called, “Team No Rules.” This was the father’s 28th RAGBRAI and the son’s 20th ride and the first in eight years. The father still lives in Marquette, but the son, a U of Iowa grad, now calls Los Angeles home. Some of the bicyclists’ articles of clothing adorned with unique and fun items. I met a lot of first time riders and some were passing through Grinnell for the first time, too. Many were appreciative of the town folk’s hospitality and event organization. “This is the best stop over town,” said Ryan Clark, who was on his first RAGBRAI. “Grinnell is easy to get through and there are lots of choices.” The event was starting to wind down around 2:30 p.m., even though bicyclists were still rolling into town. It was just after 8 a.m. when I met my first bicyclists of the day. One man said he left Des Moines at 5 a.m. I’m glad he didn’t hit a deer on his early morning ride. I wanted to stay past 3 p.m., but my body was telling me it was time to find the comfort of my lazy chair at home. I had hoped to stay for Whiplash, the Grinnell-based rock band that has been playing together since the mid-1980s, but it was time to go home. This was the fourth RAGBRAI I have been involved with as a journalist since coming to Iowa. My first was when the ride rolled through Montezuma in 2001 and a second time in 2006, which was a lunch stop. I was not involved when RAGBRAI rolled through Montezuma in 2018. I can still hear Harold Wheeler’s booming voice, “Welcome to Montezuma.” The biggest hit was the hot coffee that greeted riders that first year. And it was 2011 the last time RAGBRAI rolled through Grinnell. That year, Grinnell was an overnight stop. The town square looked like the Grand Concourse at the Iowa State Fair with people everywhere. There’s a lot of work, planning and organizing that goes into hosting RAGBRAI. Thanks to the chamber and all who were involved in the Grinnell stop. Everyone did a great job! In my thoughts, RAGBRAI is an Iowa institution. You’d never find me riding RAGBRAI, but it gave me a chance to meet and mingle with lots of good people. It would be nice to know what positive things the pass-through towns will do with the money they made from RAGBRAI. Come on back, Poweshiek County is a great place to call home! Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always. Many have asked about Debbie’s third book, “Attempting Redemption,” in the Hope Series. Well, it’s here and Debbie (along with me) are hosting a book signing event at Star Lanes in Montezuma from 5 – 7 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 3.
We both appreciate Jake and Alicia Thompson for opening the bowling alley for the event. We hope to see you there. I believe the grill will be open for food and drinks. We will have all of our books there for sale and look forward to visiting with all who stop by to check out or purchase a book or books. I remember when we set out to do our first book, “Family Tradition – An ABC Photo Album of the Iowa State Fair,” published in 2006. Neither of us had published a book, so it was a learning experience. It was 2005 and our first goal was to get permission to do the book. We set up an appointment with the former state fair director, Gary Slater, to share our idea. Slater, a University of Missouri-Columbia graduate, the same college I attended, listened to our idea. His word of caution was that many have tried to do books on the fair and never got them off the ground. He had to talk with the fair board and later got us in touch with the director of the marketing department to get us set up with what we needed to do the book. The idea to do an ABC book was born out of a similar book I had from a photojournalist friend in South Dakota. Trying to find photos for every letter of the alphabet was a challenging undertaking. There is so much that goes on at the fair and sometimes being at the right place at the right time was key to getting a story-telling photo. The fair itself is a public event, but some things on the fairgrounds are private. The two Blue Ribbon characters that roam the fairgrounds and the state fair logo are owned by the fair. So, you can’t take a photos of them and publish them without the fair’s permission. We spent the next year putting the book together and having it printed at Sutherland Printing in Montezuma. We didn’t have a home computer, so Debbie and I would take the book and photos on a disk to the Montezuma Republican and work on it at night. When word spread about the book, Barnes and Noble in West Des Moines called us and we hand delivered a box of 50 books days before the fair started. We later had a book signing at the same Barnes and Noble. We went on to do our second book, “Family Reunion – Midwest Old Threshers,” in 2008. We worked with the folks at the Old Threshers and they partnered with us on the project, making it possible to publish the book. In exchange, they received a thousand books. I took the photos and Debbie did all the interviews in 2007. As with our state fair book, we spent a year putting it together. The OT book was three times as big as our state fair book. Again, Sutherland Printing in Montezuma printed the book for us and did a great job. It was a lot of work and a lot of fun! Our family has attended the Old Threshers every year since 2007 and enjoy it. Maybe someday, we can do another book on the Old Threshers. Down the road, Debbie has a novella called “Mister Christmas,” slated for release in October this year and she is working to also published book four in the Hope Series, “Accidental Reveal,” this fall. My future goal is to do a book on riverboat life on the Mississippi River. I hope to spend some time going down the river on a barge and taking photos and doing interviews. My now late grandparents on my mom’s side of the family worked on the river boats in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They would take a bus from Tulsa to St. Louis, where someone would pick them up and take them to the river boat. They spent one month on and one month off. Another project, probably for when I retire, is writing a fictional book on what life was like on a threshing crew in the early 1900s. It is good to dream and keep them on the bulletin board of your heart and mind. Take a step and keep trying. Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always. I just wrapped up covering the 2023 Poweshiek County Fair, July 8 and July 11 – 16, in Grinnell. This is my 24th year to cover the Poweshiek County Fair and 27th county fair overall since moving to Iowa in December 1997.
I take great pride in knowing that my streak of covering swine shows continues onward. I have photographed a lot of hogs, pigs or swine, as they are called, having never missed a year. Even during the three-year stretch that I wasn’t working for a newspaper, I still attended and covered the Poweshiek County 4-H and FFA Swine Show and the rest of the fair. I have also enjoyed a lot of pork chops, ham sandwiches and bacon and probably have eaten some of the pigs I have taken photos of through the years. I have attended the Poweshiek County Fair long enough that I am now taking photos of kids of kids I photographed when I first arrived at the Montezuma Republican on July 20, 2000. I had just covered the Iowa County Fair the previous week and two days after arriving in Montezuma, I found myself covering the Poweshiek County Fair. I didn’t know a soul. Had it not been for a Montezuma family, I would have been totally lost. I take great pride in covering and supporting the 4-H and FFA programs in Poweshiek County. This includes covering the county fair and various events at area schools throughout the school year. Anything I can do to support these local youth programs is time well spent. It has led to me receiving the FFA Blue and Gold Award and the Friend of 4-H Award some years ago. I also have great respect for 4-H leaders and FFA advisors who spend hours helping young people get ready to show an animal, create a project or participate in a state or national contest. Thanks also goes to all the parents and family members who spend hours helping their children with their projects. Seeing them shine, no matter how they placed, is something to celebrate. Having grown up in the big city, I wasn’t involved in agriculture. My grandparents on my mom’s side of the family had an old milk cow. My mom loved the opportunity to bring home a gallon or two of fresh cow milk when visiting. She had a churn and sometimes would make fresh butter. I wouldn’t drink raw milk if I had to. I have always preferred milk from the store. I remember having the opportunity, if you call it that, of plucking chickens. My grandpa would tie the chickens to a board stretched across the corner of the fence and chop of their heads. It was my job to take a freshly killed chicken and dunk it into a pot of hot water, then pull the feathers off the dead critter. I sure did enjoy that experience – not! In the late 1960s, my folks joined forces with another family from the First Baptist Church in Tulsa and they grew a huge garden on a spot of land in East Tulsa. When I was about age 7, my dad and the other family drove to the Arkansas River to get a load of gypsum mineral to fertilize the garden. I got out of the truck and made a few steps before I started sinking. I thought I was in quicksand as my dad reached out and snatched me to safety. He had to go back and retrieve my shoe that got stuck in the gypsum. My parents bought a rototiller from Montgomery Wards in the late 1960s and would carry it to the farm to plow around the plants. They grew tomatoes, onions, potatoes, okra, corn, green beans, cucumbers, squash, cantaloupes, watermelons and more. In the years that followed, my folks had a garden at my boyhood home in Tulsa. My dad enjoyed eating wilted salads with onions fresh from the garden. After my parents moved to their farm south of Tulsa in the early 1980s, they bought a Jersey cow so they could have fresh milk. That old cow lived for years and produced many gallons of milk and lots of butter. My dad also owned about 40 head of cattle that he ran on their 20-acres and the adjoining 40-acre farm to the west. When people would ask my dad how many cattle he owned, he always said, “Under 100” with a chuckle. After moving to their farm, they grew a number of gardens and my mom did lots of canning. They also had chickens and enjoyed the bounty of eggs that they produced. There are lots of great memories just like the ones I am making at the county fair with my many friends. Thank you to all those who support my work at the county fair and across the county. It is much appreciated. Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always. I’m so proud of my wife, Debbie, and love her very much.
This year marks 20-years since we first met at the Iowa State Fair. In September, we will celebrate our 19th wedding anniversary. And we just learned last week that our “love story” on how we met at the state fair is possibly going to be featured in the Iowa State Fair Museum across the road from Pioneer Hall. It all came about last year while visiting the museum where we saw a poster or display requesting state fair love stories. We filled out a form and left it with the museum curator. We had forgotten about it until the other day when I mentioned it to Debbie, as we had not heard anything. A couple days later, we received an email asking us to send in a short paragraph of how we met along with a photo. We are still in the running to be featured at the fair museum. I remember the first time I attended the Iowa State Fair in 1998. I was fairly new to Iowa and had heard about the great fair. At that time, all the trams met next to the agriculture building. Those who climb that hill these days to hitch a ride to the campground or Pioneer Hall know all too well how nice it was back in the day. I ended up on the wrong tram and landed in the fair campground. I didn’t have my hand stamped (a must anytime you go on the state fairgrounds) as I thought the tram was headed to the parking lot. I was wrong and ended up in the campground and was the last rider on the tram at the gate. I thought I was going to have to pay to get into the fair a second time to get out of the fair to go home. Thankfully the gate keeper let me through. Making my way down the hill, I ended up hitching a ride with two police officers on a golf cart after asking for directions. I was hanging on for dear life as we zoomed through people and cart traffic on the grand concourse headed to one of the gates. And one of the police officers must have been having troubles at home as he was talking awful about his family with the other officer. I don’t remember a thing he said, but can’t forget the experience. Five years later in 2003, I met Debbie in the campground while doing a newspaper photo story on state fair campers. I was walking along one of the camper rows filled with lots of Montezuma families and there she was standing by her family camper. The rest is history. At the time, I was actually thinking about wrapping up my time in Iowa in the newspaper business and heading south to my native Oklahoma for a job. God had something different in mind and all is good 25 plus years later. And thinking about good, Debbie is ready to release her third book, “Attempting Redemption,” in the Hope Series. Unlike her first two books, “The Auctioneer” and “Moving On,” she did all the work on this book, including the cover design. We had two area people help with editing and appreciate their services. We will be making a book order this week and plan to host a book signing sometime later in the month. We will announce it on Facebook and our website at Our Front Porch Books. She also has written a novella entitled, “Mister Christmas,” that she plans to release in the fall. The book is about folks in an Iowa town who almost don’t have a Christmas celebration. And she has written and is editing book four in the Hope Series, (Accidental Reveal), with a goal to release it in the fall. And thinking about books and authors, we are bringing back the All-Iowa Writers’ Conference this year after a three-year hiatus due to Covid. Debbie has been working hard on the line-up of speakers and so far we have four authors booked. The conference is Sept. 16 and is currently slated to be held at the Brooklyn Ruritan Building. And I am hoping to offer a short writing course this fall. I will share more details when possible. It is exciting times in the book and writing world at the Parker house. I can’t forget to mention that it is almost county fair time in Poweshiek County. I will be there the entire fair taking photos of all the award-winning youngsters and their prized animals. It’s a lot of work, but a lot of fun. This is my 24th year to cover the Poweshiek County Fair. I’ve taken a lot of hog and other animal photos through the years and love every minute of it. I hope to see you there. Come on out to the county fair and sit a spell and let’s visit. Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always. |
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