I like to mention God in this column on occasion. Through my many life experiences, I have come to believe that God uses angels to help us in our times of need.
       I had one such encounter in the mid-90s. I was doing an assignment in college, taking photos at the famous Lamberts Café in Sikeston, Mo., home of the thrown rolls. Not giving it any thought I took off for Dexter, 25 miles away, and ran out of gas. There I was, sitting on the side of the road at ten o’clock at night, with no gas. Before long, a couple fellows showed up in an old junky looking car with no backseat. They offered me a ride to get some gas. With some reluctance, I climbed into the front seat, while the passenger crawled into the back. As we started to drive away, I began to wonder if this was such a good idea ,but it ended up working out. They took me to a convenience store where I bought a gas can and filled it up. They then decided to pull out a car that had driven into the ditch beside the gas station. After they pulled the guy out, I remember the driver saying, “Well, we’ve done our good deed for the day.”
        They took me back to my pickup truck, helped me put the gas in and waited until I got the truck started. Next thing I knew, they were gone.
         To this day, I believe those two men were angels sent from God.
        In the years since, Debbie and I have had several situations where we believe we had encounters with angels.
        On a trip to the Lake of the Ozarks, we were driving south of Jefferson City shortly after midnight (we never leave early for anything). There had hardly been any other cars on the four-lane highway for miles. Then a car came up the entrance ramp and got in front of us, promptly slowing down. And another car came up close behind us, blinding us with their headlights. 
           We both felt as if something strange was going on and became concerned.
        Suddenly, a police car appeared out of nowhere. Both cars quickly exited at the next ramp. And the police car was gone as quickly as it had appeared.
           Another episode happened in 2007. Debbie and I were driving through the Lacey-Keosauqua State Park when our car died. I was able to get a ride into town to find a tow truck and Debbie stayed in the car.
        While she was there, a man approached the car. He was friendly at first, asked through the closed window if Debbie needed help. Debbie didn’t put down the window or open the door. The man kept trying to get her to open the door and she continued to refuse. He got angry and started pounding his fist on the closed window.
            Suddenly, a woman dressed in scrubs pulled up in front of Debbie and exited her car.
            When the man saw her, he ran back to his truck, jumped in a took off. 
            Debbie got out and was talking with the woman when I returned with the tow truck driver. While I was talking to Debbie about what had happened, we turned to talk with the woman and she was gone.
            We were sure glad she had shown up when she had and believe she also was an angel.
            In recent months, I developed a bulging disc in my back. The disc issue was causing me much pain and weakness in my legs, especially my right leg.
           Just prior to mu back surgery, Debbie and I were in Pella for an MRI at the hospital. After lunch, we had planned to stop and pick up groceries, when I mentioned to Debbie that I needed a restroom.
            Knowing there was a nice one with limited walking at the library, we headed there.
        Unfortunately, there were lots of people visiting the library at that time and we had to park some distance away from the front door. And it was raining lightly. 
I got my walker and Debbie and I headed toward the front door.
            Just as we reached the handicap spots, my right leg gave out, and I fell to the ground.
            With Debbie being unable to lift me, we decided to call 911.
            While Debbie was making the call, I saw a gentleman putting some books in the book drop.
            He came over and offered to help.
         About the same time, an older couple appeared in the parking lot. Both were tall and had staffs that were taller than them.
            They offered their help and the gentleman asked Debbie to hold his staff.
            Then both men reached down and picked me up with ease. 
         While they were helping me to the library, the woman told Debbie that everything was going to be alright and that she understood how we felt as she had gone through the same thing a week earlier. 
            We all walked into the library and Debbie and I headed to the restroom.
          When it was time to leave, we were both concerned about how we were going to get back to the car safely.
            I found a chair inside the door and sat down.
            Debbie went looking for our helpers to see if they could help us back to the car. She walked all around the library, but they were all gone. Which was odd as we hadn’t been in the bathroom long.
            Debbie then went out to get the car to bring it closer.
            While she was gone, I said a quick prayer, asking God to send some help.
            Debbie was also praying for someone to help while moving the car.
            About that time, an older gentleman came out of the library carrying his books. He stopped to talk to me and asked if there was anything he could do to help me.
            I told him what had happened and asked if he could help me get to the car.
            He said he could help and took his books to his car, then came back.
            Debbie parked behind the cars in the handicap parking spaces and came back in to get me.
            The man wrapped his arms around me, picking me up out of the chair.
            He kept his arms around me and walked me to the car, helping me to get in. He said he had a severely handicapped wife at home and knew what it was like to struggle.
            After leaving the library, Debbie and I decided that the happenings of that afternoon were encounters with angels. 
            And we’re not sure what we would have done if they hadn’t come to help us.
           I encourage you to ask for help in your time of need, watch for your own encounters with angels and be sure to help others who need a hand.
            Since surgery I’m doing a lot better and getting stronger every day. And for that, I am very thankful. 
Good things are happening, every day and always.

        Sometimes finding a subject to write a newspaper column about can be challenging.
        There are weeks that I just absolutely agonize over finding a subject.
        I’ll roll a dozen a more ideas through my head.
      And other times, I can come up with a column and sit down and put it together with no trouble in 30 minutes.
        This is one of those weeks where I’ve been agonizing, debating and dwelling on a column idea.
        Should it be informational? Should it be a story about my own life? Should it be funny or serious?
       So while pondering ideas for this week’s column, and flipping through the channels on the television, I came across the classic movie, The Wizard of Oz.
          I’m well familiar with this movie as my wife is a serious Wizard of Oz fan and collector.
          She can quote most of the movie word-for-word. 
        I know if I’m struggling for a gift idea for her birthday or Christmas, I can find a Wizard of Oz gift and she’ll be happy.
        We have visited The Wizard of Oz Museum in Wamego, Kansas twice in recent years and are excited to return again as they have added many new displays.
        The Wizard of Oz is one of the movies that in the end, you wonder if Dorothy really went to Oz and met the Scarecrow, Tin Man and the Cowedly Lion and melted the Wicked Witch of the West or was it all just a dream?
         I searched the internet and came across some oddities and facts about the famous movie. Here are a few of them.
        It’s a film that has remained in the pop culture spotlight for so long that it’s hard to believe it was released the same year that World War II broke out in 1939. 
          One of the early major technicolor pictures, the film was a big budget feat and one that won two Oscars and catapulted Judy Garland into the limelight.
         Many people think that The Wizard of Oz film was an original screenplay but it was actually adapted from L. Frank Baum’s children’s book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The original print run was ten thousand copies but by the time it became public domain in 1956, it had sold more than 3 million copies. Following the books roaring success, Baum adapted the story into a stage play and introduced several new characters including a choros line of poppies. The play opened on June 16, 1902 at Chicago’s Grand Opera House. A 1903 New York production became one of the most popular Broadway shows of its time. 
         Because the film was among the earliest to be shot in technicolor, it required large sets with cameras hidden in different corners and elaborate lighting that rendered the set suffocatingly hot.
         “We had enormous banks of lights overhead,” said cinematographer, Harold Rosson, in The Making of the Wizard of Oz. “We borrowed every unused arc light in Hollywood. It was brutally hot. People were always fainting and being carried off the set.”
         People assume Toto was a male dog but she was actually a female Cairn terrier named Terry. And it turns out that The Wizard of Oz wasn’t the pooch’s first big picture. Prior to Oz, she had also appeared in Ready for Love and with Shirley Temple in Bright Eyes. For The Wizard of Oz, her salary was $125 per week, which was more than what many of the human actors received and was roughly ten times what minimum wage was at the time.
         The film including more than 600 actors which meant a lot of costumes. There were nearly 1000 in all and most were highly detailed and elaborate.
         There weren’t hundreds of ruby slippers, but Dorothy’s red shoes, each one made of leather, satin and more than 2000 sequins, were not one of a kind. In fact, there are at least four known pairs, one of which were recently recovered after a brazen theft from a Judy Garland museum in 2005.
        The Wizard of Oz is known for its unforgettable score but a few songs didn’t make the final cut including an original song called The Jitterbug which referenced the popular dance style at the time and was supposed to come as the group was making their way to the witch’s castle.
        MGM hoped the film would be a hit but nobody predicted it would capture imaginations for generations to come.
       “We didn’t know it was a classic,” said Jack Haley. “It was a job and we were getting paid and it was a lot of weeks of steady work.”
        Haley played the Tin Man.
       There’s a lot more out there about The Wizard of Oz and I hope your curiosity about the movie will cause you to dive in and learn more.
        Hope you have a great week and remember that Good Things are Happening, every day and always!

       The last year and a half have been quite the health journey in my life. First, I was diagnosed with colon cancer in March 2025. Then I had a blood clot in my right leg in the summer. And just as that was clearing up, I started experiencing sciatica in my legs along with lower back pain. I was diagnosed with a bulging disc in November. That was followed by a cortisone shot in December and a double cortisone shot in February, neither of which helped at all. 
        Debbie and I opted to switch medical providers. We traveled to Iowa Ortho in Pella where we were able to meet with orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Trevor Schmitz, on March 24. He knew right away what the issue was and after additional x-rays, explained the process of what was needed to get me safely back on my feet again.
My operation took place on April 8 at Mercy Hospital in Des Moines where Dr. Schmitz installed two screws and a small rod in my back and cleaned out the soft tissue that had been pushing on my nerve. 
The surgery was successful. The only pain that I’m currently having is minor pain in my back and around my right knee.
       I’m very thankful to be recovering nicely thanks to the help of Debbie and my family. I even have a temporary ramp installed in my garage that will allow me to get out of the house safely.
         I have also been receiving physical therapy since mid-January and that has been a great help.
        I am now using what they call a log roll to get in and out of the bed. And the in-hospital physical therapy people taught me about BLT. Not bacon, lettuce and tomato but no bending, lifting or twisting. Guess I won’t be dancing for a while.
       I’ve been talking about it for years, but once I get through all of this, I’m going to go fishing. It’s about time for Mr. Parker to catch a big fish!
         In fact, I’d like to catch one big enough to mount on the wall. But it might have to be in the garage.
A trip to the Lake of the Ozarks wouldn’t be bad either. I’d also love to take another trip to Oklahoma to spend time with family. And I would like to finish organizing my post cards.
      It will be good to get back out and visit with the townsfolk and take photos. I couldn’t attend many basketball games and have had to miss events like the pine car derby and some of the community breakfasts. Most of my reporting has been via email, text and telephone. And I’ve missed being able to sit down and visit face-to-face with people and covering events going on in the community. 
        My next goal is to be at my youngest nephew’s graduation party and attend the graduation ceremonies in Montezuma and Brooklyn. I look forward to covering the Memorial Day events, Brooklyn Flag Festival, Fourth of July events in Montezuma and Grinnell and the county fair. 
       I’m also looking forward to being able to walk around at both the Iowa State Fair and the Midwest Old Threshers Reunion in Mt. Pleasant later on this summer. 
        I’m looking forward to enjoying what life has to offer. 
        Remember that Good Things are Happening, every day and always.

       I was taking it easy in the Lazy Boy chair watching American Pickers the other day when I started thinking about my love for old antiques. Unfortunately, I don’t have the funds like Mike and crew have to travel around the country looking for treasures. However, Debbie and I do enjoy visiting antique malls on our travels. Some of our favorite stops are the Brass Armadillo in Des Moines, Antique Iowa in Story City and Heartland Antique Mall in Lebanon, Mo. 
      Last summer we were lucky enough to return for a second time to Artichoke Annies, which is located west of Columbia, Mo. where I found a nice collection of old postcards and Debbie found a Wizard of Oz framed treasure. On the east side of Columbia is another great antique mall. It is called Midway Antiques and takes hours to go through as it is housed in an old horse show arena that became a factory before it was turned into an antique mall.
     We have also enjoyed great antique stores in Kirksville, Mo.; Jenks, Okla.; Ozark, Mo., Joplin, Mo.; East Peoria, Ill. and Hannibal, Mo. 
      I enjoy watching the Pickers and remember watching the first episode that aired in January 2010. At the time, I was iced in at the Quality Inn in Grinnell and couldn’t make it home. I had flipped on the TV, hoping to find something to keep me occupied when I stumbled across Mike and Frank. I thought it was cool that they were from Iowa and that they went around picking treasures.
       I watched the show faithfully after that.
      Debbie and I were able to meet Frank Fritz, who has since passed, at the 2013 Iowa State Fair, where we had our photo taken with him. We saw him again in June 2014 in Savanna, Ill. at his store. We were looking around the store when we were surprised to see him walk through the door. He had a photo taken with some fans, grabbed some signed T-shirts and was off again after acknowledging the rest of us who were in the store. I purchased a Frank Fritz signed Oilzum oil can before we left.
      We have also visited the home base of the Pickers in LeClaire, Iowa three times but have never met Mike or Danielle.
     Collecting antiques is in my blood as my dad loved finding Ma and Pop stores. Often times, these were roadside attractions where he would chew the fat and look for a bargain. He never cared much for the big box type antique stores.
      I first started collecting old cigar boxes. My first one was purchased in Hereford, Texas in June 1989 on a trip to the Grand Canyon with my dad. I paid a quarter for the cigar box. My interests have changed through the years. I now have a really nice collection of old postcards. Most of them are categorized by state or topic. Some of my favorites are WWII military postcards and outhouse postcards. I probably have a week’s worth of work to categorize the others that I have purchased in the last few years. I have several old postcards that were postmarked before my grandmother was born in October 1909.
       Other things that I collect include metal can openers, old tools, saws, seed corn books Pepsi collectables and old games. I also enjoy collecting Gaso pump items and Skelly Oil items because my parents worked there.
        I also have a nice collection of Midwest Old Threshers buttons.
      Our love of antiques is continuing with our nephews. Our oldest nephew has been collecting items for years and now runs an online auction business. I enjoy checking out the items he offers for sale on his auction website. Last fall, I picked up a nice box of antique barber razors from one of his auctions. I plan to enter them in the antique contest in Pioneer Hall at the Iowa State Fair. Our middle nephew and his fiancé often visit antique stores on their travels and call to let us know what they find that might fit into our collections. And even our youngest nephew has enjoyed collecting various items over the years. 
         It’s good to get out, do something you enjoy and spend time with loved ones.
        Have a good week and remember that Good Things are Happening, every day and always.