My dad could chew the fat with the best of them.
         No one was a stranger to him.
       He loved to talk and had the uncanny ability to find folks to visit with who grew up in his neck of the woods east of Tulsa.
          It was the sticks to me near the Verdigris River.
         I went with my dad several times to visit the good ole folks of his boyhood days. I always found a comfy chair and quickly fell asleep while my dad visited.
         He’d nudge me from my slumber and off we’d go to another neighbor’s place.
        It kind of bothered me some when I was younger that he’d talk to anyone. A lot has changed for me since those days. Time has a way of changing one’s perspective in life.
        Dad and I took some good trips together in the late 1980s and early 1990s to Northeastern Oklahoma, Western Kansas and the Grand Canyon. We also enjoyed going fishing. My dad loved to fish below the dam at Oologah Lake northeast of Tulsa.
          And once I moved to Iowa, my dad and mom enjoyed traveling here to visit me a couple times a year.
In 2003, we took a trip to Rochester, Minn., with stops at the Little Brown Church, the World’s Smallest Church in Festina, the Bily Clock Museum in Spillville and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Park and Museum in Burr Oak.
       We also stopped at the Mayo Clinic where I took a photo of my mom in front of the hospital sign. In 1948, when my mom was age 12, she fell sick. My grandparents were poor and didn’t have a car. My grandpa made a bed on the plow and carried my mom to see the doctor using his tractor.
       The doctor told my grandparents that he wanted to try one medicine. If it didn’t cure my mom, he wanted to carry her to the Mayo Clinic.
       My grandparents said they couldn’t afford that. The doctor said he’d cover the bill.
      He gave my mom a shot of penicillin and it cured her and there was no need to make the trip to the Mayo.
We also visited the Spam Museum in Austin, Minn., before heading south along Highway 169 to Ames and then across Highway 30 toward home.
        My dad always wore a ball camp, usually advertising Gaso Pump, except on Sunday mornings.
       He spent nearly 40-years of his life working at Gaso Pump Mfg., a company in west Tulsa that built large pumps used to move crude oil through pipelines after it was out of the well.
       When not wearing a hat, he’d spread some hair grease on his head and always had a comb nearby.
      When he wore his Sunday best, he’d wrap his billfold and comb in paper towels to keep the grease from work from getting on his clothes.
       Nowadays, like my dad, I’ll visit with most anyone. No one is a stranger to me.
        I’m a firm believer that strangers are only friends yet to be made.
        I love to visit and I appreciate my beautiful bride, Debbie, tolerating my need to talk to people. 
        And that was the case this past weekend.
       Debbie and I traveled to the Ankeny Kirkendall Public Library on Saturday afternoon where we joined 60 some other authors at the Ankeny Author’s Fair.
        This is the first year the library had hosted the event since 2019.
      I spent a good part of the day going around meeting other authors, catching up with old friends and visiting with folks. People live some of the most interesting lives.
        I met fellow who had a fictional book based on 9-11. It was a story about the exchange of a large amount of bonds at a business in one of the twin towers.
       After the planes crashed into the buildings, the bonds and the person handling the transfer disappeared and all was consider lost in the tower’s rubble. That was until one of the bonds was cashed 10 years later in Switzerland.
        Another author wrote a novel about a person found murdered in the city park. The only identification on them was a bulletin from a local church.
       I also visited with a couple ladies from the Blue Ribbon Foundation who were there selling Iowa State Fair Cookbooks and another fellow who was a long-time postal employee turned bus driver and author. We enjoyed visiting for a few minutes to catch up.
       We were also able to book a second author to speak at our writers’ conference, which will be held on Sept. 21 in Montezuma, and were able to tell many others authors about our event.
      There were so many interesting people in attendance and I’m sure I could pull a few newspaper stories out of the event, if only they were local.
        I leave you with this. Enjoy life and never forget where you came from.
       Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day.

          Being a community journalist and having covered numerous youth activities, county fairs and school events, I’m often reminded about the importance of student and youth organizations such as 4-H and FFA.
          I have witnessed first-hand and written many stories about young people in both organizations and how they have helped them become better students and find purpose in life.
        I have taken hundreds of photos of youngsters in both organizations and their winning pigs, cattle, sheep, goats, rabbits, horses, chickens and dogs.
           These kids work hard and put in a lot of hours to become the best.
         One year I did a story on 4-H’er who participated in a 4-H feeder calf project where, after the fair, she raised her calf to market size.
          And earlier this year, I attended a work-related training session led by this same young lady, who is now married and has three children.
      And in November 2002, I was able to attend the FFA National Convention in Louisville, Ky., where I covered Montezuma, who had four teams there that year.
       And through the years, I have had the wonderful opportunity to be a 4-H photography judge. I enjoy helping young people be better at what they enjoy.
        I was not in 4-H or FFA, but did participate in Cub Scouts, Webelos and Boy Scouts through my school days in my native state of Oklahoma.
        I attended Boy Scout summer camp during the second week of June from 1972 – 1976 (sixth grade – 10th grade) at Camp Garland near Locust Grove, Okla., a small community about 50 miles east of Tulsa.
        I only attained a second class rank in Boy Scouts, but did garner more than a dozen merit badges.
      I don’t remember the year, but do remember the experience. I was working on hiking merit badge and had to join other Boy Scouts on a five-mile hike and overnight campout.
      My hiking boots didn’t fit too well and by the end of the hike both of my feet were covered with blisters. And to top that, we had to build a makeshift camp. Several Boy Scouts in my group stretched and tied a piece of tent canvas between several trees. A thunderstorm with rain and high winds rolled through that evening and knocked down our tent and soaked all of our sleeping bags. It took a day to dry out my sleeping bag.
       Another time, a morning storm blew through camp knocking down trees and I slept right through it all. I always put large rocks under my trunk to keep everything dry.
       Another year, my campmate had a broken arm. He got his cast wet and it stunk up our tent.
      Camp was a great experience as I enjoyed shooting 22 rifles at the range, participating in archery, making new friends, swimming in the pool and participating in camp activities.
     My first year of camp my parents gave me $3 spending money. I only spent $2 and when I gave my parents back the $1, they were surprised and let me keep it. Three dollars in 1972 was a lot of money.
You can’t even buy a daily newspaper today for $3.
      Another organization I took part in was Royal Ambassadors or RA as it was called. It was a Christian-based organization based on the Boy Scout model for young boys who attended Southern Baptist Churches. The girls had their own organization and it was called GAs. My mom was a GA leader for lower elementary age youngsters for 25 years. 
       Mr. Bruce Irvin, a prominent Tulsa architect and long-time member of the First Baptist Church, where my family attended, was the leader of the RAs.
       Each fall, Mr. Irvin, and a host of volunteers and all the RAs took a bus to the John Zink Ranch northwest of Tulsa where we hiked the rugged terrain, held a Bible study and ate hobo-style dinners. The meal consisted of hamburger meat, potatoes, carrots and onions mixed together and cooked in foil paper over hot coals. We topped it off with an apple with the core cut out and filled with red hots, which was also heated over the hot coals.
        The Zink Ranch featured a western town with a store where we all got to purchase candy and treats. 
        I also camped at the Zink Ranch with my Boy Scout troop.
       One year, some of the Scouts decided to go snipe hunting. They lured me and a friend from the camp and asked us to hold a paper sack open on the ground and use a flashlight to lure the critters our way.
       The onery rascals would walk down the road aways and yell and make all kinds of noise. “The snipe are heading your way,” one of them would say.
        After a bit, my friend and I figured out that there was no such thing as a snipe. So, we left and went back to camp and found solace in our tent.
        A bit later here came the rest of the Scouts wondering where we had gone.
        We were sound asleep.
       I’m thankful for the opportunities life has given me and the opportunity to tell stories and take photos of area youth and their many successes.
        Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day.

       As we wrapped up the first Montezuma Area Business Fair on Saturday, April 6 at the Montezuma Schools, a young boy and son of one of our vendors, handed me a jar of maple syrup and thanked us for letting his family sell their projects.
         It was a kind gesture and much appreciated. Others also shared kind words and one gentleman stopped at our table and thanked us for keeping the business show going.
        Another one of our vendors, an Ames-based author, credited Debbie and me for publishing his first book. He now has six books.
        “The story in this book won first place in your writing contest and led to me publishing it,” he said while pointing to the book.
        He seemed so grateful to be there and was happy to reconnect with us after several years.
      It was a long and tiring week for Debbie and I and our oldest nephew, Gavin. Together, we hosted the show.
       We couldn’t have done the business fair without the help of our other two nephews, Peyton and Sawyer; family members, Carole and Jan and family friend, Abree. They helped carry in supplies, set up and take down tables and chairs, mark out the spots and put down painters tape, run the raffle table and many other things.
     I also want to thank the Montezuma Schools custodian staff for their assistance, activity director and school facilitator, Tim Burgess, and Paul Hawkins, transportation and maintenance supervisor, for allowing us to use the school and for their support.
        Also thanks to Doug and Stacy Helm and to Doug and Deb VerMeer for loaning us tables for the show. 
      In February, we decided to put this show together after learning that the former Montezuma Business Boosters had joined forces with the Montezuma Community Development and that there would be no business show this year, which was typically held in late March.
       As Debbie and our nephew, Gavin, were talking about the business show, I said, “Why don’t we have our own show?”
        They agreed and it grew from there.
       The first order of business was securing the school for the show and getting the word out to vendors and the public. There were several hours spent creating and putting up flyers in businesses, libraries and stores in Montezuma, Brooklyn, Grinnell and other places.
     Time was also spent collecting raffle items for the show. There are so many generous people across Poweshiek County who made the raffle and the business show possible.
      Debbie kept vendors updated, gathered information on the businesses and posted vendor spotlights on our website and coordinated the show layout. We had a total of 43 vendors and area organizations who participated in the show.
     This show was a first for us and the first for our nephew, Gavin, who was marketing his goat meat business, Boer Certified, for the first time. He graduates from Iowa State in May and he has already hit the ground running. We are proud of him and all our nephews and family.
       We are talking about doing this show again next Spring. We love promoting the Montezuma community and all it has to offer.
     We have our writers’ conference in the fall, our montejournal.com website, our books and now the business fair. Things are looking great.
        In wrapping this up, there is one thing about life that I have learned.
       It’s easy to stand on the sidelines and find fault and complain about what could have or should have been done. So and so said this and you should have done this are common complaints. There are always things that can be done differently or better.
        The key is stepping out and doing something, even if it is new or out of your comfort zone.
       I would much rather look at the positives in life and learn and grow from there. That’s how you make a difference in this world and your community, all while building positive relationships along the way.
       And with that said, my hat goes off to the Iowa Lady Hawkeyes. What a fantastic season and one for the record books. What Caitlin Clark and the Hawkeye players have done to bring attention to our state and the game of basketball is a story that will be told for years.
       Thank you ladies!
       And thank you to Montezuma for supporting our business vendor show.
       Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day.

            Anytime we get a chance to see the OU Sooners softball team play is a good time.
       And the Sooners didn’t disappoint on our recent trip to Lawrence, Kan. Thursday through Saturday, March 28-30, winning all three games in the series, 6-1, 17-0 and 7-3.
        We attended the first two of the three game series as we needed to head home for a Saturday evening family Easter meal with time to visit and catch up.
      We’d been planning this trip for sometime as Debbie had been checking since Christmas to see when single game tickets went on sale.
        They did on Feb. 20 and Debbie bought our tickets within the first hour. It didn’t take too long for all three games to be sold out. 
        This was our fifth trip to see the Sooners play softball in recent years and our first time in Lawrence. The other four were at Iowa State University, a bit closer to home.
        We left Montezuma a bit later than planned and arrived at the ball diamond at the end of the third inning. It was OK as Debbie found the game on-line and we listened to OU announcer Chris Plank call the plays as we headed to the stadium. Chris does shoutouts of fans listening on air during the third inning of each game and Debbie sends our names in for most games via Twitter. So, we got to hear our names on the way to the game.
      Due to a toll road on I-70 just west of Kansas City to Topeka, we decided to take the backway from Kearney, Mo. across to Lawrence. It was a 60-mile stretch through winding two-lane roads, small towns, roundabouts and traffic lights.
       We did enjoy the scenery and saw some beautiful homes with big porches, fenced in pastures and scenic views.
     We hadn’t been at the game too long when a young lady offered us her seats. She directed us to the security person who guided us to a couple seats several rows from home plate. That was a nice gesture on her part.
      We had general admission tickets and could have found a seat, but decided to stand for a bit after arriving at the stadium late. The lady must have thought we had standing room only tickets and was being nice.
       There are some nice people in this world and we appreciated her kindness.
      At the Friday game, two older gentleman who were Kansas fans were seated behind us. They were not too happy with OU smoking Kansas, 17-0 in five innings. 
    They were amazed at how many OU fans were at the game and they expressed displeasure with the Jayhawk pitching staff. The stadium was probably 2/3 OU fans to 1/3 KU fans.
       The two fellows made a number of other negative comments about the game before leaving in the fourth inning. It was fun listening to what they had to say.
     Later after the game, we saw the OU team signing autographs for young softball players and fans and meeting with family who were at the game. It was fun watching the young fans carefully carrying their newly signed softballs on the way to the parking lot while the team loaded the bus to head to the hotel.
      We enjoyed supper Friday night at Burgers by Biggs a few miles from our hotel. They had good food and good prices. If you find yourself in Lawrence, check the place out. And our hotel was a couple blocks from the stadium on Rock Chalk Drive. KU Soccer and tennis also has complexes in the area along with a recreation center.
       Lawrence, which is on the far western edge of Kansas City, is a lively college town with a vibrant and busy downtown.
       I found an antique mall I wanted to visit on Friday located in the heart of downtown, only to discover that parking was a nightmare. I drove three blocks and didn’t see any open spaces. And the parking spots all have meters. It reminds me of my growing up days in Tulsa and also in Columbia, Mo., while in college. Both towns have parking meters. We ended up skipping the antique mall.
      After lunch at Sonic, we drove through the KU campus and saw Allen Fieldhouse where the Jayhawks play basketball. It was a beautiful campus and town.
     Our trip included stops at antique stores in Platte City on I-29 and Lathrop, Mo. just off I-35 north of Kearney on the way home. I bought a few postcards and an old cigar box and Debbie found a few goodies from her growing up days.
      It’s nice to get away, even for a couple days, and time was well spent with each other. I hope you take time this spring, summer or fall to spend time with your family and enjoy the many blessings life has to offer.
        Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day.