​When I was in second grade at Lanier Elementary School in my hometown of Tulsa, a scenic painting I did was selected by the art teacher for display in the school hallway.
It was a painting of a green pasture with a white picket fence and curvy road. I don’t remember if I painted a horse in the pasture or not. It was displayed above the hallway lockers next to the entryway into the gymnasium/auditorium. Every student who walked by that area had a chance to see my painting and those of the other students. I was so proud!
I never realized at that time that that painting would be a precursor to a career in journalism and photography. At a young age, I was already seeing lines and angles and planting a seed to greater accomplishments.
Writing was never easy for me. I struggled in English and most often did poorly on grammar tests. To attend and graduate from one of the top-notch journalism programs in the nation is a story I love to tell. Yes, I have made lots of mistakes. Probably the worse was the time I put the name of the wrong dead person in the paper. Ask me about it if you are curious.
Something deep in my heart gave me the drive to be better, to try harder, to work through obstacles and challenge myself to achieve good things. Everywhere I went, I had people pushing and believing in me. 
I returned to community college in my late 20s to study photography. That led to me continuing my educational pursuits and earning an Associate of Applied Science in Graphic Technology (photography) in May 1991. I applied and was accepted into the University of Missouri-Columbia in my early 30s where I worked my way through school, first as a casual clerk at the U.S. Post Office Mail Facility at the Columbia Airport. I then spent more than four year emptying trash cans, cleaning toilets and mopping floors in various MU campus buildings at night while attending school during the day. I graduated in December 1997 with a degree in Agricultural Journalism.
One of my photojournalism teachers helped me land my first job in North English at the Record newspaper. In July 2000, I landed in Montezuma and met my wife, Debbie, three years later. What wonderful experiences life has afforded me.
Making a positive impact on others something I enjoy doing and being ajournalist and photographer has given me that opportunity.
Since 2012, I have been judging 4-H photography at county fairs. I’ve judged every year but 2014, having judged at fairs in Washington, Keokuk, Linn, Mahaska, Marion, Iowa, Benton and Warren counties and also at the Iowa State Fair in 2019. I’ve also judged open class projects in Poweshiek and Iowa counties a number of times.
And new this year, I will be judging photography for the first time virtually.
I signed up earlier this year to judge at the Linn County Fair in Central City. I judged there last year and was impressed with the facilities and process. Plus, they had the best snacks for judges of any fair I have judged.
Well, this year, the Linn County Fair was cancelled, but thanks to the good folks there, they decided to offer 4-H’ers the opportunity to have their projects judged virtually.
I chimed in to a Zoom meeting last Wednesday and learned the details of how the process will go. I will judge the photo, type my comments on a provided form and send it back through email. It’s something new and will be a learning process.
I was visiting with a friend a few weeks ago and he asked me how I judge photography. I told him about the rule of thirds and using the intersecting points to place the subject, which gives the photograph depth. Another good tip is keeping the horizon line offset. You don’t want it right in the middle of the photograph. That is a common problem in sunset and beach photos. All you have to do is move the camera up or down to change the horizon.
Keeping the background simple and uncluttered, using lines to draw the eye, watching for objects growing out of people’s heads, framing the subject and using natural light are all good tips for taking great photos. Keep it simple. You don’t want the viewers eyes to roam all over the photograph trying to figure out why you took the photo.
Learning is never a missed-opportunity, no matter your age, ability, background, skill set or life upbringing. Never quit trying, never quit learning, never quit moving forward.
Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always.

   Postponements, delays and cancelations in this Corona pandemic world are words that we are all hearing a lot of these days.
    I still can’t believe the Iowa State Fair has been canceled. No state fair camping and no new food on a stick in 2020. I’m sure glad I didn’t waste the money on a 2020 Iowa State Fair T-shirt.
   And to top that, Frito Lay has discontinued making taco-flavored Doritos. It’s one of my favorite chips. Talk about taking one to the gut! Man, this nonsense has got to stop.
    It was about six or so weeks ago when I first noticed that area grocery stores quit carrying the taco-flavored Doritos. Fareway, Hy-Vee, Walmart and even Super Valu in Montezuma no longer had them. I even put a plea on Facebook looking for the taco-flavored delights. I was offered several options of where I could find them, but none panned out.
   With no luck on my search, I went online and had a chat with the good folks at Frito Lay. They confirmed that it was true. There are no more taco-flavored Doritos. I was told they have been discontinued temporarily.        
In the chip world, that could be years!
   Frito Lay was glad to visit with me and even sent me a coupon for a free bag of chips of my choice worth $4.29. I appreciated it, but still, it’s too bad it can’t be my taco-flavored Doritos.
    I first started eating taco-flavored Doritos as a kid in the 1970s. I’d slipped through my neighbor’s backyard and head the block from my boyhood home to Dixon’s neighborhood grocery store and gas station. It was on the corner of 15th and Gary.
   There was nothing better than a .49 cent bag of taco-flavored Doritos and a cold 16 ounce bottle of Pepsi Cola. And Dixon’s had plenty.
   Frito-Lay first developed the taco-flavored Doritos in 1967. They were the second chip in the Doritos line, coming on the heels of the toasted corn Doritos, which debuted in 1964. 
    Nacho cheese-flavored Doritos followed in 1972. Today, there are more kinds of Doritos than toilet paper at the grocery store. They include: Blazin’ Buffalo and Ranch, Jacked (Ranch Dipped Hot Wings flavored), 1st Degree Burn Doritos, Blazin’ Jalapeno Doritos, Flamin’ Hot Nacho Doritos, Flamin’ Hot Limon Doritos, Spicy Nacho Doritos, Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos, Fiery Habenero Doritos, Blaze Doritos and to cool you down, Cool Ranch Doritos. And I can’t forget about the original - Nacho Cheese Doritos. I don’t know if all these flavors are still available, but it seems the chip section at the grocery store is overrun with hot and spicy chips of some kind or another. I just want my taco-flavored Doritos.
   As disappointed as I am about taco-flavored Doritos being temporarily discontinued, life goes on. Change is part of life.
   Life is also filled with new opportunities to be a blessing to others and make a difference in this world.
The best kind of climate change in this world is to respect others, give more than you take and do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
   Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always.

    A few years ago, I had stopped at my insurance agent’s office in Grinnell to ask a question about my policy. I don’t recall if the agent was in, but the receptionist, Phyllis, was in and was always willing to help me.
   Phyllis and I started talking and I mentioned something about my upbringing in Tulsa and attending Will Rogers High School. Will Rogers, who was born to a prominent Cherokee Nation family in Indian Territory (Oklahoma), was an American stage and film actor, vaudeville performer, cowboy, humorist, newspaper columnist and social commentator. He was known as “Oklahoma’s Favorite Son.”
    Phyllis told me she had something I might be interested in. The next time I stopped in, she handed me the book, “Will Rogers Ambassador of Good Will Prince of Wit and Wisdom,” by P.J. O’Brien. It was first published in 1935.
    Tucked inside was a letter written on Nov. 26, 1955 by the late Edith Weston Kendall of Grinnell. Edith was a long-time secretary for superintendent of buildings and grounds at Grinnell College. She also spent a brief time working for a lawyer in Grinnell.
   According to Phyllis, Edith was a neighbor to her mother. Phyllis said her mother was gifted the book and letter along with some other items after Edith passed away. The box of goodies made its way to Phyllis some years later.
    The letter was addressed to the First Person Editor at the Readers Digest. In November 1955, Reader Digest offered to pay $2,500 for first person stories accepted for publication. Edith saw the advertisement and wanted to share the first person story of the time she, her mother and sister took the train from Grinnell to Des Moines to see Will Rogers at the Hoyt Sherman Place on Oct. 27, 1925.
    After seeing Will Rogers in person, the trio made its way to the train station for the trip back to Grinnell. Soon, Will Rogers arrived at the station to board a train to St. Paul. Sitting together, Edith, her mother and sister decided to step out of their comfort zone and talk to Will Rogers, who was seated nearby.

​Following is a section of Edith’s letter about that experience:
“I can remember the intense feeling of satisfaction I had, later, when I remember that I had worn my new Lord & Taylor brown velvet hat, and my new brown coat with its beaver collar and cuffs,” wrote Edith. “Will Rogers tapped on one of those fur cuffs to emphasize the various points that he made during our conversation. No one was ever more gracious or kindly in his reception of the overtures of three obviously nervous ladies, doing what was, for them, an unheard of thing. I suppose he recognized the deep sincerity of our interest in him, and the genuine regard in which he was held by this mother and her two daughters. We told him we had come to the city for the express purpose of seeing him – that it was the first time in 13 years our fragile mother had made the trip and she told him she would have made it for no lesser cause. He was pleased by this, asked where we lived, and said, “I came through there today. How far do you have to go after you reach your station? I hope not too far, on this stormy night.” We told him our home was only a few blocks from the station and it would be very easy getting home. He explained to us that his desire to make the concert tour, stemmed from the fact that he “wanted to meet people like us” – that the people of the middle-west were his real audience, particularly the small town people – that he felt that in a big city he was regarded as an “entertainer” by people absorbed in themselves and in their own hurried lives and concerns, whereas the people in the smaller places realized him as a person as well as a celebrity. As an instance, he cited the fact that while he was eating supper at the Savory Hotel, the Governor (John Hammill) was eating at another table, recognized him, and come over to sit with him. He said “where else would it have happened?” 
“After we had talked for some time, my mother feared we might be boring him, and told him that we must not take up any more of his time. He told us he would see us again before he left, and went over to the candy counter. His train for St. Paul was standing on the track, as was also our “local.” He remained so long at the candy counter that one of the group of singers came back into the depot and said, “Will, they are holding the train for you.” He said, “just a minute.” In another minute or two, he came back to us with three big boxes of candy, wrapped separately, tossed one at each of us, shook hands again all around, assuring us that he had been so happy to meet us, and departed from our lives.”
Edith wrote that after Will Rogers had boarded his train, he had asked the conductor to make sure they had safely boarded the train to Grinnell.
It’s such a wonderful story and look back at history with a connection to my upbringing. I don’t know if Edith’s story was ever published in the Readers Digest, but it would be fun to do some research.
When I returned to Tulsa two years ago for my class reunion, Debbie and I stopped at the Will Rogers Memorial in Claremore, Okla., where Will and his wife, Betty, and three of their four children are buried, and we were able to leave a copy of Edith’s letter with the museum curator.
            I never knew Edith, but I am so blessed to have met Phyllis and thankful for her kind gift.
Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always.

     Do you know who the late R.D. Hull is?
     Most don’t know him, but even those who don’t fish, have heard of Zebco.
     I never had a chance to meet R.D., I got to tour his unique mansion in rural Catoosa, a growing community east of my hometown of Tulsa.
    I was a kid, maybe 10 years of age. My dad loved visiting and fishing. Any chance he got to see the good folks in the Verdigris River Bottoms or Oak Grove area, also east of Tulsa, he didn’t miss.
    On this particular trip, we stopped at the Archie and Nelda Brown home along Highway 33 east of Catoosa.    
   My dad grew up in the sticks with Archie and had fond memories of that time. Archie and Nelda had a couple boys who were older than me.
    I don’t remember a lot about Archie as he passed away when I was a kid. I do remember Nelda. She lived in a modest brick house along old Highway 33. Today, old Highway 33 is called Highway 412 and it is a direct route from Tulsa to Siloam Springs, Ark.
    We used to take Highway 33 to Locust Grove, Okla., where I went to Boy Scout Camp from 1972-1976. My dad had folks with family ties sprinkled all over Eastern Oklahoma and any trip in that direction always included a time of visiting.
    Back in the day, the Browns owned a DX station and convenience store on Highway 33, just east of their home. We’d stop there and get a cold Pepsi and some snacks anytime we were in the area visiting or fishing on the Verdigris.
   Anyway, on this visiting trip, the Brown boys started talking about the Hull mansion, which was under construction at the time. I recall the Brown boys were helping build the home and they offered my folks and me a chance to see inside.
    The home featured a round swimming pool right in the middle. In fact, the entire house was round. Hull had the home designed to resemble a fishing reel. The home, which is still standing, features five bedrooms, seven bathrooms, the indoor pool, a master suite and a kitchen with a large round island. The most unique feature of the home are the more then 20 continuous, curved, load-bearing beams.
     According to a Hull family member, the beams were built in Missouri and were 120-feet long. They were so big that they had to cut them in half, load them on trucks, and deliver to the home site where they were reassembled.
    Hull, whose official name was Jasper R. Dell Hull, was a watchmaker from Rotan, Texas in the western part of that state. He invented a backlash-free fishing reel in the late 1940s.
    “After struggling to find a company to manufacture and to market the invention, Hull finally approached the Zero Hour Bomb Company (Zebco) of Tulsa for assistance,” noted an article about the company on the Oklahoma Historical Society website. “In business since 1932 manufacturing electric time bombs used in fracturing oil-well formations, the Zero Hour Bomb Company was experiencing the difficulties common to a single-product company in the shrinking market. They partnered with Hull and produced their first reel, called the Standard, in May 1949. Soon afterward, through regional marketing under the name Zebco the product became so popular that in January 1956 the company changed its name (from Zero Hour Bomb Company) to Zebco and ceased to produce oil-field related materials.”
    The company was later purchased by Brunswick Corporation, later selling to the W.C. Bradley Company. Hull stayed with the company in the firm’s production department and went on to design 26 reels and receive 35 patents before his May 1977 retirement and death in December of that year. 
     I use to visit the Zebco headquarters on occasion. They had a fishing store and I remember trading in old broken reels for repaired or new reels. They would take any brand. The company has since closed and the rod and reels are now made overseas. 
    About every rod and reel my dad owned was a Zebco brand. One of my dad’s favorite reels was the Zebco 33. I remember many fishing trips and can still see my dad sitting on a log or a lawn chair fishing with a worm and bobber. He could fish for hours and always found someone to shoot the breeze with and catch up on old times.
    Enjoy your summer. Take time with your family making memories and don’t forget to give thanks to God for the blessings of life.
    Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always.