Back in the day when I was the parade marshal and more

       It’s hard to believe that it was 21-years ago this week that I was the Montezuma “Let Freedom Ring” Celebration and Parade Grand Marshal in 2003.
         Jo Ahrens, owner of Three Sisters Fabric and Fashion along with Keith Brake, a local newsperson, named me grand marshal after only three short years in town as the local editor.
        Ahrens and Brake were head of the Montezuma Community Boosters at the time and they wanted me to represent the community in the parade.
       Brake wrote an article about me and I was the star of the parade that week. I even got a parade marshal hat to wear.
       I asked Ahrens and Brake to make sure I was in the lead vehicle so I had time to ride the parade route and get back to the parade in time to take a few photos for the newspaper.
       I got up early and visited the square to snap a few photos prior to the parade. I then made my way toward the school where I would catch a ride in the parade in a Chevrolet Corvette driven by Doug VerMeer, owner of Vannoy Chevrolet.
     I walked about block where I met Mike Phillips, who was parked on the eastside of the Presbyterian Church along Fourth Street.
      He asked me how I was doing and I said something about making my way to the school.
      “The grand marshal needs a ride to the school,” he said, moving chairs out the way to get his vehicle ready to roll.
      It was just a short three blocks, but important enough to Phillips to give me a ride to the school. That was kind of him.
      I remember the day well as I took pictures from the front seat of the Corvette and waved at the crowd.
    My future wife, Debbie, who I had not met yet and Carole, my future mother-in-law, were in the crowd along Fourth Street.
     Debbie had been following me in the pages of the Montezuma Republican since I had arrived in town on July 20, 2000 and was hopeful to meet me. God worked that meeting out just a month later when I first met her at the Iowa State Fair Campground while doing a story on Montezuma area campers.
      I interviewed Carole during the fair as part of my story.
     And thanks to the now late Farrell Johnson and his wife, Iona, who camped on the other side of where the Tindles camped, I met Debbie. I had stopped to visit and Iona saw Debbie, Carole and grandma Louise Tindle were at their camper.
      “That’s three generations,” Iona said. “Go over there and take their picture.”
      When I arrived to take the photo, Debbie handed me a cold Pepsi and all was the good with the world.
       I returned home and ran the story in the next issue of The Republican.
      Debbie wrote me a card after it was published and thanked me for including her family in my story. The rest is history.
       I was a little slow responding, but finally asked Debbie out and we went on our first date on Nov. 9, 2003.
     I took her to a Mexican restaurant in Newton and of all places, Wal-Mart, so I could get some color film developed. And of course, I had to fill my city slicker pickup, as Debbie called it, with gas on the date.
      Debbie doesn’t care for Mexican food, even though I fix tacos often in the Parker house. I wasn’t hitting the bullseye on our first date, but it got better and our love for each other grew.
      I proposed to Debbie on the banks of the Mississippi River in Hannibal, Mo., on May 1, 2004 and we were married less than five months later on Sept. 25.
       This year marks our 20th wedding anniversary.
      We’ve bought a house, self-published six books, started a writers’ conference and this year, held our first vendor fair at the school.
       There’s much more in the works. We love to dream and see what comes from it.
      I’m always amazed that God brought me 550 miles from my hometown of Tulsa, Okla., to Montezuma, Iowa where I would met my wife, Debbie, at the state fair campground.
     We’ve enjoyed many adventures in our nearly 20-years together and I’m sure there will be many more along life’s way.
       Enjoy the week and celebrate this great nation and its many freedoms.
       And while you are at it, take a few moments to thank God for his many blessings in your life!
       Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day.