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It was Veterans Day, November 1997. I was on a cross-country trip with my brother in his semitruck hauling furniture for Mayflower Van Lines.
I had just wrapped up my college degree that fall and was looking forward to spending some time with my brother and family. We had been in Denver, Colo. and Omaha, Neb. and then drove northeast through Iowa and Lake Okoboji into Minnesota. After making a stop in the Twin Cities to pick up a load, we were staying a couple days in Minnesota to pick up a second load before heading east to the State of Maine. Then it was off to New York City and West Virginia before heading home to Oklahoma. We pulled into a truck stop in Southern Minnesota after our stop in the Twin Cities and there must have been a foot of snow on the ground. My first thought, “Who the heck wants to live in a place like this?” In Oklahoma, I might still be wearing a T-shirt and no coat on Veterans Day. Not in Minnesota or even Iowa. A few weeks later in mid-December 1997, I was riding in the back seat of Ford Focus on my way from Williamsburg to North English while being interviewed for the editor job at the NE Record. I had interviewed that previous fall for the Williamsburg Journal Tribune editor job and didn’t get hired. This was my second try with Marengo Publishing Company and a newspaper job in North English. I was hired on Christmas Eve and landed in Iowa on Dec. 28, 1997. And of course, it snowed my first week on the job. It’s not quite as cold and snowy in our neck of the woods as it is in Southern Minnesota, but the weather here can still be quite frightful at times. I witnessed some big snowstorms, ice storms and some 20 plus below zero nights. And I remember the time I parked my company Geo Metro on Main Street in North English and it snowed overnight. The next morning, my car was buried in a pile of snow and I had to dig it out with a snow shovel. I wondered why there was no parking on Main Street after 2 a.m. And the wind, it’s crazy how much it blows around these parts. There’s lots of wind in our Nation’s Capital and Iowa has lots of wind, too. No wonder we have windmills all over the place. Some folks love the cold and snow. I’m not one of them. I’ll trade a snowstorm for a beautiful spring day anytime of the year. And to make matters worse, not long after moving to Iowa, I discovered the road closing gates on Interstate 35 outside of Ames and further north. “What the heck,” I’m thinking. “If it gets that bad to close the road, that’s too far north. Take me back to the south.” I may have moved back south, but God had other plans for me. Not only have I enjoyed and continue to enjoy a rewarding career, I met my beautiful wife, Debbie, at the Iowa State Fair in August 2003. And she just happens to be from Montezuma. I once drove through Montezuma and stopped on the south edge of town to grab a Pepsi out of my cooler. I never knew that I would work at the Montezuma Republican, met and marry Debbie, buy a house and much more. Life is good! I am more than happy to send this winter weather north to Minnesota. They love it up there. Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always.
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Who remembers video games from the 1970s and 80s like Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Pong, Mattel Auto Race, The Oregon Trail, Space Invaders and more?
I do! As popular as the video games were back in the day, my favorite was playing pinball machines. I wasn’t that good at it, I just enjoyed spending my quarters and playing the latest pinball machine. Some of the top pinball machines of the day were “Wizard,” “Evel Knievel,” “Harlem Globetrotters On Tour,” “Hokus Pokus,” “Bow and Arrow,” “Kiss,” “Star Wars,” “The Addams Family,” “Fun House,” “Travel Time,” “Crazy Race,” “Capt. Fantastic,” “Old Chicago,” “Eight Ball,” “Fish Tales,” and “Flip Flop,” a four-player flipper pinball game. These are just a few of hundreds of pinball machines. I would love to have a pinball machine. Maybe something fishing or bowling. I used to enjoy traveling to Dallas from Tulsa and while there would visit Dave and Buster’s Arcade and Sports Bar. I could spend hours playing pinball machines and arcade games there. Catty-cornered from my boyhood home was Cue City, a pool hall and arcade. I spent many days at Cue City trying to be cool. I even had my own cue stick. Like pinball, I did all right, but never really mastered the game. I was much better at bowling. As we all know, video arcades are somewhat a thing of the past. Like newspapers, they are around, but not like in the heyday. One of our favorites stops when at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri is Dogpatch Arcade on the Bagnell Dam Strip. They have what seems like 100 Skee-Ball machines along with video and pinball machines. I can play Skee-Ball for hours. Today, everything is on our cell phones. I enjoy playing Solitaire and just recently added a new video game to my phone, “June’s Journey,” a hidden objects game. I am able to earn points by finding hidden objects and have already masted a half dozen levels. It’s mostly an unproductive waste of time, but it sure is fun! According to one article I read, it said there are nearly two million apps on the iPhone. Another one said there are 4.567 million apps and games in the Apple App Store. I’m sure it is an always evolving business of keeping people busy. No wonder folks these days are distracted and buried in their cell phones. I would like to have a cell phone that cooks supper and does the dishes. All I have to do is drag the cell phone over the plate or piece of silverware and it cleans it like new. Now that is an app I could get into. Debbie wouldn’t have to encourage me to do the dishes. Wouldn’t it be great if our cell phones could cook supper? How about a sirloin and baked potato from the cell phone café? In my opinion, one of the best things we can do for ourselves is leave the cell phone on the kitchen counter or the bedroom dresser and take time to relearn the art of conversation. Visiting is good for the soul. I enjoy spending time talking to Debbie and figuring out life together. It’s fun! We need to have more gatherings with friends and neighbors where everyone sits on the porch on a nice day, drinking an ice cold glass of ice tea while catching up on old times and talking about the good old days. Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always. Back in the day, Sears and Roebuck was known for its catalog sales and huge department stores.
You could buy about anything through the Sears catalog, including a house at one time. I wonder if there are any Sears homes in Poweshiek County? I saw an article the other day that it has been 30 years since Sears last published its Big Book catalog. It was as big as the New York City Yellow pages and could keep any kid entertained for hours. The giant retail store isn’t much more than a Skelton of its heyday. The store has been through bankruptcy and has been bought and sold by various holding companies. According to an article I read on the internet, there are 42 Sears retail stores left as of mid-January 2023. There is also the independently owned Sears Hometown Stores and other various outlet stores. I don’t know a lot about those stores or how many are in Iowa. It was much different when I was a kid in the 1970s. A trip to Sears was like eating a fried chicken dinner with all the fixings on Sunday after church. The Sears store at 21st and Yale in my hometown of Tulsa, which was closest to our house, had a huge candy and popcorn stand. The popcorn was the best. The store featured a restaurant and three floors of everything from bicycles to furniture and clothing. They had tools, paints, housewares, appliances and much more. There was also auto repair available where you could purchase tires and DieHard batteries at Sears. It was hard to beat a DieHard battery. I liked riding the escalators up and down the different floors. As a senior in high school, I worked briefly (six weeks) in the customer pickup department at the Tulsa Sears. I carried my share of fireplace screens, televisions and buckets of paint out the door. I won’t go into detail, but my career with the company didn’t last long. I’m thankful for the experience. My mom often bought items through the catalog on numerous occasions. The Sears on Yale had a huge in-store catalog department. One Saturday, Mom stopped at the store with plans to order something. There wasn’t a soul at the counter. She could see them milling around in the back but no one came to take her order. It upset her, so she went to the pay phone inside the store and called the catalog department to let them know there was a customer waiting to be served. Like an army of ants, here they came. That’s the best dime she ever spent for a phone call. I bought my first 10-speed bicycle at Sears, a red, white and blue Free Spirit model, in September 1972 using money I had earned on my paper route. I still have most my Sears Craftsman tools that I received in 1978 as a high school graduation gift. I also have a 70s model Sears shop vacuum that still works more than 40-years later. It needs a new vacuum hose. They don’t build them like that anymore. We also bought many items from J.C. Penneys and Montgomery Wards. There was a Montgomery Wards catalog outlet less than a mile from my boyhood home. My mom bought a gas-powered weed trimmer there for my dad in the late 60s. I still own a Timex watch that my great-grandmother bought for me when I was age 7 at Montgomery Wards. It still works. I bought my first VCR at J.C. Penneys. I still buy clothes from J.C. Penneys nowadays. Shopping on-line is handy, but I miss the days of the giant retail outlets. At least I still have the memories. And I can make a tasty batch of popcorn as I order on-line. Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always. Since Iowa is one of the nation’s top producers of corn, beef, swine, ice cream and no telling what else, I figured a food column was in order.
It’s hard to beat a good old Iowa breaded pork tenderloin. They’re a staple at the Iowa State Fair and many eateries across the state pride themselves in dishing out pork tenderloins that are as big a spare tire in a 1948 Desoto. They are big and Iowans love them. I saw a breaded tenderloin on Facebook that was as big as a pizza box. There are even yearly contests seeking out the biggest and best pork tenderloin. I enjoy them, but I would rather have a cheeseburger and order of onion rings from Culver’s. One of our favorite lunch spots at the Iowa State Fair is Beattie’s Watermelon Stand. Debbie usually eats a tenderloin and I have a ham or roast beef sandwich. And of course, some tasty hot French fries and cold ice tea. Another Iowa delicacy is the Maid-Rite or loose meat sandwich as it is often called. An article I found on the internet called it “A messy culinary rite of passage,” an Iowa tradition with just the right combination of spices and meat. First created in 1936 by Fred Angell of Muscantine, the sandwich was declared to be “made right” by a happy customer, and the name, Maid-Rite, was history. Top it off with mustard, ketchup, onion and pickles and it is a favorite of many Iowans. Growing up in Oklahoma, we often fixed sloppy Joes. My mom would brown a pound of ground beef in the skillet and pour in a can of Manwich or make her own mix. She’d then pour the mixture over a toasted open-faced bun and we’d eat it with a fork. I was living in Missouri and attending the University of Missouri-Columbia when I experienced my first loose meat sandwich. I was rolling down Broadway when I saw a sign for Mugs Up Drive In. It looked inviting, so I pulled in for lunch. I scanned the menu and found the Zip Burger. That looked good, so I ordered two. I opened up the packaging and about half the sandwich fell on the floor of my pickup truck. “Where’s the beef,” I’m thinking. In short, Maid-Rites are not too bad. One always has to have a spoon or fork handy. I guess that is the lure of the sandwich. Sweet corn is another Iowa favorite. Come July, the sweet corn vendors pop up on street corners in small towns all across the state selling their tasty treats. Slather some butter and add salt and pepper to taste and it is hard to beat Iowa Sweet Corn. Another tasty Iowa delight is the Hot Roast Beef Sandwich, which includes well-spiced roast beef stacked onto white bread with a pile of mashed potatoes and gravy poured all over it. It’s another popular Iowa State Fair food served at the Cattleman’s. Ham balls is another Iowa favorite and a food that has grown on me. I don’t recall eating ham balls growing up in Oklahoma. My mom may have fixed them, I just don’t recall it. We ate a lot of fried chicken, okra, barbecue Spam, fried fish and fried potatoes. My dad enjoyed wilted salads and fresh onions pulled from the backyard garden. Chili with cinnamon rolls is another favorite Iowa food. Not long after moving to Iowa, I was at a football game between English Valleys and Bussey. It was the last game of the season and the good folks of Bussey would all bring their chili and everyone poured it a large pot at the concession stand. It looked inviting, but I passed. Talk about a gas explosion. Real chili to me is a meat dish, not a soup, as it is often called. It’s good poured over a cheeseburger or over spaghetti with onions and cheese for a three-way. Toss in some beans and make it a four-way. Something that I didn’t see listed anywhere was corn dogs and polish sausages, two of my favorites. It’s also hard to beat a good steak cooked medium or tasty pork chops, baked, grilled, fried or however you like them. And it’s hard to beat Anderson Erickson anything from milk to cottage cheese and various varieties of chip dips. And Nutty Bars, another Iowa State Fair staple, or a dish of Iowa-made Blue Bunny vanilla ice cream is always a good way to end any meal or just enjoy while relaxing and watching a game or one’s favorite show on television. Next time you are out and about, stop and try something different. And while you are there, say hello to a stranger or find someone visit with. You’ll be glad you did. Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always. I was driving in Montezuma the other day and saw a fellow wearing short-legged pants crossing the street by the Presbyterian Family Center.
I happened to know him and I was going to the family center, so I asked him about wearing short-legged pants in the middle of winter. “I wasn’t going too far,” he said with a laugh. It was a fairly nice evening for almost mid-January. The one thing I’ve learned about living in the Midwest – there are some tough cookies here when it comes to the winter weather. People get out and drive around in a winter snowstorm. Others wear short-legged pants in freezing cold and some go without a coat or even a pair of gloves or hat. They’re just running up to the grocery store for a loaf of bread, a bag of chips, a case of cold ones and some hamburger meat. They’re planning to push some snow off the patio and grill out later in the day. A few buddies are coming over in their four-wheel drives to eat and watch the game. I wear more clothes in the summer months than some Midwestern’s do in the winter. I’m not one for wearing a big heavy coat. It kind of weighs me down and I don’t like that. My typical winter wear is two shirts (one being a long sleeve), long johns when the weather gets too cold, a mid-heavy jacket (a cotton jacket with a liner), stocking hat and gloves. It’s warm, but not too heavy. I’ve heard it said in Oklahoma, “If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute and it will change.” I’ve witnessed my share of ice and snow storms in my native state, but here in Iowa, the weather can change faster than the score of a Iowa basketball game. When it starts snowing, I’m headed home. Even though the Iowa DOT does a good job keeping the roads clear, when the snow starts blowing, it’s time for J.O. to start rolling. My comfy chair is a lot better than a road ditch. Some years ago, I had traveled to see a friend near Princeton, Ill. I left his house on Sunday afternoon headed home and stopped and fueled up in Davenport. I bought a Pepsi and a Sunday paper and headed out the door. The fellow behind the counter told me to be careful. I never gave it any thought nor had I checked the weather forecast. I wasn’t too far west of Davenport when I ran headlong into a winter blizzard - snow, sleet, wind and icy cold! Cars and trucks were in the ditches on I-80 and I was in my S-10 pickup with no extra weight in the back. It was by the grace of God that I didn’t get hit or slide into the ditch. I stopped in West Branch at McDonalds to take restroom break and I was shaking like a tree in a windstorm. I could see the imprint of my steering wheel in my hands. Not a wonder I didn’t yank the steering wheel out of the dash. Some years ago, Debbie and I were headed to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving with my folks. It was Thanksgiving eve and a storm brewed up along I-35 in southern Iowa. So, I came up with the brilliant idea to take Highway 63 south. Debbie was not in favor of leaving that evening. Her Iowa wisdom told her to stay home and leave on Thursday. We left on Wednesday. It was not one of my brightest decisions in our marriage. South of Ottumwa, we drove into a snow blizzard and I couldn’t see a thing. We made to Macon, Mo. for the evening and ended up having Thanksgiving on Friday instead of Thursday. Another time, Debbie and I were in Oklahoma and where getting ready to head home. We noticed a winter storm had brewed up in Southwest Missouri. I didn’t think it was too bad, so we headed out of Tulsa toward Joplin. It got worse the closer we got to Missouri. Debbie knew what was coming and she tried to warn me and I wasn’t listening. I wanted to make it to Kansas City and Debbie wanted to stop in Joplin. We ended up staying in Nevada, Mo. after watching a truck zoom past us and fly off the road into a farm field. It spun around a half dozen times. That had to be a scary ride. If I’ve learned anything about winter in Iowa, the best advice is listening to my wife. Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always. How are those New Year’s resolutions coming?
According to a search of the internet, 38.5 percent of U.S. adults set New Year’s resolutions. Of those, 9 percent see them through to competition. Most give up within a week or by the end of January. According to the internet, the top three New Year’s resolution are: exercise more, eat healthier and lose weight. Other resolutions include saving more money, spending more time with family and friends, spending less time on social media, reducing job-related stress and reducing spending on living expenses. I’m sure it would safe to throw in buying a new or better car, paying off bills and getting out of debt, getting a new or better job, making new and more friends, decluttering and clearing your home, reading more, going back to school, taking time for yourself or taking that much-needed vacation. These are great things to living a good life. Setting goals is never an easy task. Exercising and eating right is probably the hardest challenge most of us face on a daily bases. There are so many options from pills to surgery to diet plans. It’s enough to make my head spin. I’ve lost 60 pounds since I was my heaviest in 2013. It’s not a lot of weight, but I feel much better and my clothes fit me better. I’m eating better (most of the time) and I’m walking and moving more. I stopped drinking soda pop, I stay away from alcohol and I try and eat more meals more often. Sometimes it’s the small things that net the biggest results. Unrealistic goals Instead of setting unrealistic goals each year, I offer you a different option. Spend your days and weeks doing good things for others instead of yourself. Following are some ideas: • Open the door for someone on a daily bases (in public and at work) • Let someone go in front of you at the checkout stand at Wal-Mart or the grocery store • If you have some extra changes, pay it forward • Leave an extra tip when you go out to eat • Make friends (even to strangers) – people have so much to offer that can enrich our lives • Invite some neighbors over for a summer barbecue cookout • Purchase and give gift cards to neighbors and friends • Participate in a Christmas giving or angle tree to make life better for others • Mow your neighbor’s yard or offer to clean out their garage or help in some way • Offer a ride to an neighbor or elderly person to the doctor or grocery store • Get involved in a community betterment group. If there is none in your area or neighborhood, start one • Work to make your city, town or community a better place now and into the future • See challenges as opportunities • Volunteer at the local food pantry or at a community event • Donate to the local food pantry • Host a food or coat drive • Give blood at a local blood drive • See the positive in everyday things I’m sure with some digging, there are many other ways to make life better for others and yourself. My parents were good people. They loved God, they loved their family and they believed in working hard and doing good for others. I appreciate all the good things they taught me from the good book and taking me to church and teaching me to give more than I took. There’s so much division in our world and political up evil and craziness. You may not be able to change the world, but you can change the world around you by doing good for others. Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always. I have always wanted to act in a community play, but being in the newspaper business and working a day job has put the brakes on that undertaking for now.
I’m sure acting in a community play is fun but with it comes a lot of work from learning the lines, attending practices and then putting on the performances for several evenings. Anyway, I have it on my bucket list for down the road. Maybe after I fully retire, I will be trying out my acting talents in a local production. Retire! I’ve already retired once, but for only a year. I’m working more now than I was before retiring. I’m a people person and I love to make people laugh. I’m hoping to make my acting debut soon. Anyway, I recently attended the Brooklyn Community Theatre production of “A Carol Play,” a one-act, faith-based play written and directed by Josh Gerard, the Brooklyn Librarian and local minister. The performance was about a director on the eve of the big Christmas play who had entirely forgotten the reason for the season. As with the popular “Christmas Carol,” the director is visited by the ghosts of Christmas plays past, present and future. It was an upbeat and delightful production and brought many laughs from the audience at the Brooklyn Opera House. After writing and directing several faith-based plays, Gerard said he found himself becoming a demanding perfectionist and started forgetting the message behind them. “This play shows how ugly we can let ourselves become when we forget grace and chase after unattainable perfection,” he said in an interview. Gerard has written eight plays and a musical, saying what he loves about writing is how he is able to put his sense of humor into his work. The cast, which was a mixture of adults and local students, did a great job and put a different spin on a well-known Christmas production. I have covered numerous school and community plays throughout my journalistic career. They all have been enjoyable and the acting has been outstanding. Young people these days are so talented. I wasn’t too involved in acting or participated in much of anything when I was in school. I was good about going to school, but being involved was not my strong point. I did play the part of a snowman in sixth grade. My mom made me a dress-like snowman costume from a white bed sheet. It wasn’t fancy and it didn’t have any hoops to make me look robust and round like a real snowman. I showed up with what I had and did a fine job. I doesn’t take a whole lot of talent to stand in the same place and say nothing. I’ve had other small non-speaking roles in several church productions through the years. I carried presents and placed them around the tree in tenth grade in a Living Christmas Tree production at the First Baptist Church in my hometown of Tulsa. And while in college at the University of Missouri-Columbia, I played a part in an Easter production at my church in Columbia some years back. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed a wonderful and blessed Christmas with your family and friends. In spite of the rough patch of weather, this Christmas was one of the best in the Parker household. It was so good to be with family during this time of the year. As we all look to the New Year, I hope you take time to reflect on your many blessings and keep your focus, dreams and resolutions on the positive and being difference makers in your neighborhood, community, town, city and in all you do. Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always. It was Christmas Eve 1997. I can still see my dad standing in the kitchen of his and my mom’s log cabin on a small acreage south of Tulsa, Okla.
I had just hung up the telephone after talking with my photojournalism teacher at the University of Missouri-Columbia about taking a job at the North English Record. “Take the job,” my dad said to me as I stood there. “Isn’t that what you went back to school for?” I took his advice and called Alan Sieve at Marengo Publishing Company (MPC) to accept the offer that I had received earlier in the day. Later that day, my mom and dad were in the kitchen when my dad asked me if a thousand would do? “A thousand what?” I replied. “A $1,000 to help you get started,” Dad said. That was a like a breath of fresh air. I didn’t have a dollar to my name. I had finished school at age 37 that fall after wrapping up a couple incomplete courses at MU. I had moved back to Oklahoma in October while looking for a job. I spent about a month of that time riding shotgun with my brother in his semi-truck. I slept in the truck and ate at greasy spoon diners and truck stops along the way. We hauled furniture from Tulsa to St. Louis, Denver, Omaha and even Royal, Iowa, a small-town near Spencer. We stopped in the twin cities and rolled through Chicago, Cleveland and ended up in Maine and New York City. After returning to Tulsa, we hit the road again, this time to pick up a load north of Detroit and take it back to the Sooner State. We made a stop in Princeton, Ill., to stay the evening with a friend, who I had met in Tulsa before going back to school, and his family. That evening, Tom and I called home and my mom told me that Sieve had called earlier in the day looking for me. The next day, I called Sieve and he asked if I was interested in the North English Record editor position. I told him yes. Sieve then said he knew I was on the road (per my mom) and wanted to know when we could have an interview. I looked at Tom and said, “How about this afternoon?” Tom and I pulled into the Landmark Restaurant in Williamsburg a few hours later where I met with Sieve and the Williamsburg Journal-Tribune editor for an interview in a Ford Focus. They were asking questions while giving me a tour of North English. I was hired a week later on Christmas Eve. I rolled out of Tulsa on Dec. 27 that year with a few belongings in my truck headed for my new home and a new adventure. Most of my belongings were in a storage facility in Ashland, Mo., where I lived in college. All I had was a credit card for gas. Had my parents not given me that money, I don’t know how I would have made it. They were always so good to me and my brother. I’ve been in Iowa for 25 years this month. I spent nearly 18 years of that time working at the North English Record, Montezuma Republican, Brooklyn Chronicle, which included covering Victor, and the Poweshiek County CR papers. Today, I work a day job near Grinnell and since November 2018, I have been doing freelance work for the CR paper. I met my wife, Debbie, at the Iowa State Fair in 2003 while doing a story on State Fair Campers from the Montezuma area. We were married just more than a year later on Sept. 25, 2004. I was a day from turning 45 and hadn’t been married before. We celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary in September. We bought a house together in November 2006 and have made a home in the years since. We’ve published four books, two Iowa photo books and two romantic suspense novels by Debbie in recent years. Her third book in the series is at the editor and she has books four, five and six in the series awaiting editing. She’s also written a Christmas book that she hopes to publish next year. I never had any idea growing up in the big city that I would move to small-town Iowa, meet my wife, buy a house and find my passion. I’ve written hundreds of stories and took thousands of photos and believe that I have made more friends than enemies along the way. It all started after I won a 35mm camera in a weight loss bet with a co-worker at the Tulsa newspapers in 1983. I started taking adult photo classes at a local community college, which led me to Rogers State College (now university) in August 1987. While at RSC, where I earned an AAS degree in graphics technology, I got the bug to continue my educational pursuits and landed at MU. I hadn’t taken an ACT test and barely passed high school English and still got into one of the top journalism schools in the world. I worked my through college, first with the US Postal Service as a part-time casual clerk at the Columbia Mail Facility and later as a custodian on the MU campus. I always said I cleaned lots of toilets and swept my way through journalism school. Thank you all for supporting me, encouraging me, sharing story ideas and helping me along my life’s adventures. And thanks to Debbie for believing and loving me just as I am. Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always. I hope you enjoyed a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving with family and friends.
After enjoying a tasty meal of ham, green beans and mushroom casserole, corn, mashed potatoes and gravy, hot rolls and an array of pies and snacks, I settled into the lazy chair in my sister-in-law’s mother’s home in Colfax. It was late in the afternoon and the Dallas Cowboys were taking on the New York Giants in the annual Thanksgiving Day game. According to historical records, namely the internet, Dallas has played on Thanksgiving Day since 1966. Only two years did the Cowboys not play on turkey day. In 1975 and 1977, then NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle swapped out Dallas for the St. Louis Cardinals in an attempt to boost that franchise’s national exposure. I’ve been a Cowboy fan for many years and eagerly await the team’s return to the Super Bowl. When I was a youngster in middle school, or junior high as it was known back then, I was a Miami Dolphins fan. It might have been because my PE teacher was a Redskins fan. In high school and for several years afterwords, I enjoyed following the Houston Oilers as I loved to watch Earl Campbell, a Texas Longhorn product, run the ball. In the early 1980s, I switched my alliance to the Washington Redskins (now known as the Commanders). I always enjoyed watching John Riggins, a fullback with the Redskins. He was a bruiser. In September 1985, I attended a Monday Night game at Texas Stadium when the Redskins took on and hammered the Cowboys. The next day, I had the opportunity to meet the Redskins mascot, who was staying in the same motel where I stayed. I was able to purchase some Redskins memorabilia, including a Hog T-shirt named after what was affectionally called the most notorious offensive line ever, a hat and ink pen and several other items. A couple years later, I attended a Cowboy’s Monday Night game in the old Texas Stadium against the New York Giants. The Cowboys had signed Herschel Walker at the running back position. Walker was a former Georgia Bulldog who won the Heisman Trophy his junior year and went on to play three years in the USFL (United States Football League) with the New Jersey Generals before coming over to the NFL side. Ironically, my hometown of Tulsa supported a USFL team, the Oklahoma Outlaws, in the 1980s. They played their home games at Skelly Stadium on the campus of Tulsa University, which was about one-half mile from my boyhood home. I enjoyed watching Doug Williams play quarterback while he was in Tulsa. He went on to play for the Redskins and win the 1988 Super Bowl. After watching Walker led the Cowboys to a win in that Monday Night game, I have been following the Cowboys ever since. I’ve never been to the new AT&T Stadium in Dallas, but have attended seven games at the old Texas Stadium. Five of those games were on Thanksgiving Day. The other two on Monday Night. My brother went with me all five years on Thanksgiving Day. We enjoyed games against the Minnesota Vikings, Houston Oilers, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins and Pittsburgh Steelers. Dallas lost the first three and won the last two of the five games we attended. The Cowboys have gone 31-22-1 on Thanksgiving Day since starting its holiday tradition nearly 60 years ago. Their best Thanksgiving stretch came in the early 1980s, as they set a franchise record by winning six straight Turkey Day games from 1980 to 1985. I got to see games when Tom Landry and Jimmy Johnson coached the Cowboys and watched players such as Danny White, Gary Hogeboom and Troy Aikman at the quarterback position, Emmitt Smith at running back and Michael Irvin at wide receiver. Aikman went on to led the Cowboys to three super bowls, the last for Dallas. We drove from Tulsa to Dallas and always stayed at the Red Roof Inn near the DFW (Dallas Fort Worth) Airport, the same motel where I had earlier met the Redskins mascot. Our trips typical included a stop at Dave and Busters, an arcade delight and fun place to visit, and we ate at various hamburger joints and restaurants. At least once, we made the trip to Fort Worth to visit the Museum of Science and History and Omni Theater. If you are ever in Fort Worth, it’s worth visiting. In addition to the Cowboys, I have attended three Kansas City Chiefs games. I saw the Cleveland Browns, Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos take on the Chiefs. I don’t recall who won the games. I haven’t attended an NFL game in the years since. I returned to college in August 1992 and the budget wouldn’t afford me the opportunity. Some years ago, I toured the old Texas Stadium and visited Valley Ranch, the former home and training facility of the Cowboys back in the day. That facility is long gone and the team is now based in Frisco, Texas. The Cowboys have a pretty good record this year. Maybe they will get it done and make it back to the big dance. If not, I still have lots of good memories of watching football games in Texas Stadium with my brother on Thanksgiving Day. Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always. Growing up, the local public library was one of my favorite places to visit.
Florence Park Library was part of the Tulsa Public Library System and was about one-half mile from my boyhood home. I spent many summer days there exploring the world through books or attending a summer reading program. I never knew then that one day I would help write a book, or in Debbie and my’s case, publish two Iowa photography books. Our first Iowa photo book, “Iowa’s Tradition: An ABC Photo Album of the Iowa State Fair,” was published in July 2006. We met at the state fair and when we decided to do a book, the state fair was a natural fit. We learned a lot about the do’s and don’ts of the publishing world. We ended up printing more books than we needed and have since donated at least a thousand books to schools and children’s cancer hospitals in Iowa City and Des Moines. A few years ago, our state fair book was featured in a Des Moines Register article about international students who took part in a summer learning course about Iowa and the state fair. That first year, Iowa State Fair Butter Cow Sculptor, Sarah Pratt, came to the school and taught the students how to make a miniature butter cow using real butter. We ended reaching out to the coordinators of the program and the next year, we were able to sign and donate our books to the teachers and students. It was a lot of fun. In 2008, we published our second Iowa photography book, “Family Reunion: Midwest Old Threshers.” The book was a collaborative effort with the good folks at OTR in Mount Pleasant. That book has been well received and in recent times, has found a renewed interest among farmers and steam engine enthusiasts. Debbie has since published two romantic suspense novels, “The Auctioneer,” released in February 2018 and “Moving On,” a second book in the Hope Series, published in July 2020. The books center around the good folks in the fictional town of Hope, Iowa. Debbie’s has book three in the series at the editor and has written books four, five and six, which she just wrapped up last week. She’s already hit the ground running with book seven. The goal is publish three, four and five next year and if book seven is finished, we might get them all out to Debbie’s fans. She also has written a Christmas novella that she hopes to publish next year. It didn’t work out for this year. The key to having a good book is finding a good editor and proofreader(s). That second set of eyes is money well spent. Down the road, I hope to publish a photo book on the Mississippi River. I want to travel a portion of the river on a barge and take photos. I also would like to write a book on a family who used steam engines to farm. I’m not quite sure if it will be a fictional family with a historical narrative. In addition to our writing ventures, Debbie and I have been attending and selling our books and my photos at various craft shows around the state for more than a dozen years. We’ve had tables at everything from toy shows to larger venues such as the Varied Industry Building at the Iowa State Fair to Carver Hawkeye Arena, which was later moved to the Coralville Marriott Conference Center. This year, we attended a book fair at the Badger Public Library near Fort Dodge in September; the Clarinda Craft Carnival in the southwest corner of the state in October for a second year; the Pella High School Band Boosters Craft show on Nov. 12, and most recently on Nov. 19 at the Pleasantville High School Craft Show. We have one more show this year at the HLV Boosters Craft Show in Victor, the second weekend in December. Sometimes craft shows are a great place to sell books and other times, we can’t get a soul to stop at our table. One show we attended a few years back at a school in southeast Iowa featured their famous cinnamon rolls. People came, bought their cinnamon rolls and went home. On the flipside, at the Clarinda Craft Carnival this year, people where buying our books as we were packing up for the day. That is a great craft fair and worth the drive. Sometimes we sell a lot of books and other times, we don’t even get our table fee back. The greatest joy isn’t always selling a book, but in meeting people and being together doing something we love all while sharing our passion with others. And that sometimes is worth a lot more than what money can buy. I hope you follow your dreams. Today is your day to get started. I encourage you to take a step toward making your dreams a reality. Have a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day and always. |
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