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In a moment of serendipity earlier this month I ran into a good friend I don't get to see often. We both had places to go but enjoyed visiting for a few minutes.

We recalled some of the characters we knew growing up in the little town of Kamrar. For a town of 225 residents, Kamrar had plenty of characters.

The first name to come up was that of Percy Arends, owner of the town's hardware store. On a cold winter day you were most likely to find Percy sitting near a fuel oil heating stove at the back of the store with a few of his cronies. A checkerboard and a deck of cards were always nearby.

Percy loved to tease kids. I remember being 4-years-old and arguing with Percy as he tried to convince me that my real name was Oscar. Despite the teasing, every kid in town knew that in a pinch Percy would be among the first to lend a hand. Percy was a real character.

Every community has characters. In my first years in Sioux City I had an advertising client who was a character. Joe was more cynical than Percy, but he was a character nonetheless.

Thirty-five years ago Joe was the first to tell me about plans to make Iowa Highway 60 an expressway, eventually providing northwest Iowans a four-lane highway all the way to the Twin Cities. He was incensed with the proposed cost of the project. One learned not to argue with Joe as he could tie up your time for hours.

On another visit to his business Joe claimed scientists had found a cure for cancer but the federal government wouldn't let them use it because with fewer people dying our population would grow too large. I did try arguing on this one and, sure enough, I was in his store for at least another hour.

In Creston I knew several characters including a southern Iowa farmer who brought his wife to town to shop once a week. While his wife shopped, Whit made the rounds of local business firms where he dropped in for impromptu visits. He enjoyed regaling his hosts with stories from his days in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

Some days Whit overstayed his welcome. A week or so after his grandson was killed in a farm accident, however, he stopped by and I dropped everything I was doing. I didn't know how to console the brokenhearted grandfather so I just sat and cried with him. This proud vet was a true character and I was pleased that he considered me a friend.

An elderly Creston native named John stopped by my office occasionally to share a local historical anecdote. He didn't care if I was on the phone or if I already had a visitor; he just walked in and took a chair. He had an excellent memory and his anecdotes were usually first person.

When we were raising money to build a new community center in Creston John dropped in one day to tell me about a youth recreation center that had been established there several decades earlier.

"You know why it didn't last?" he asked. When I told him I didn't know he proceeded to share details of sexual escapades that had occurred in the original center. I'm not sure if he was sharing from first hand experience but he really enjoyed telling the story.

You need to take some characters' stories with a grain of salt, of course, but if you listen carefully you can learn something. As a matter of fact, Highway 60 is now an expressway from LeMars to the Minnesota border and, if not already, you will soon be able to drive all the way from Sioux City to the Twin Cities on a four-lane highway.

Characters are square pegs in a round peg world. When we visited a few weeks ago my hometown friend and I agreed that we're both square pegs ourselves. It's why we got along so well as kids and it's the reason we both appreciate the characters we've met.

I wouldn't be surprised if some young people have already described my friend and me as characters. If so, I'll wear the title with pride and I know my buddy will, too.

Arvid Huisman can be contacted at huismaniowa@msn.com. 2009 by Huisman Communications.