To the Editor:I cannot begin to thank everyone who helped make the benefit for Dave Kepler a huge success. It was amazing to see all the people who came to support Becky and Dave. Everything - the meal, bake sale, quilt drawing and silent auction went better than we could have ever imagined. ...
You probably know it as the hiking trail along the river. I call it Webster City's "Great River Birding Trail" a.k.a. The Boone River Hiking trail.I think the Chamber of Commerce missed the boat on this one. It's one of Webster City's overlooked assets. And a premiere one at that. Not only is ...
I saw a familiar rusty old pick-up truck in the coffee shop parking lot as I drove by. It was the '50-something Studebaker driven by my grumpy old pal, Eb Griper.Having not seen Eb in quite a well, I made a quick turn into the parking lot. Eb was sitting in a booth by himself, looking like he ...
Last week I went to the funeral visitation for a school bus driver.Of course, Dale had lots of roles throughout his life - husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, farmer - but even longer than any of that he was a school bus driver for the public school where he graduated. He started ...
I had a call from my little granddaughter, Ariel, earlier this week. She wanted to tell me that her new baby brother would be coming in a few days. At 5, she's quite thrilled that she will have this little fellow to cuddle and coo over. She and her brother, Eric, 3, are probably not aware of ...
As session is drawing towards a close, we have remained very active this week debating bills on the House floor and working with colleagues from the Senate on bills as they make their way back and forth from each chamber.AgricultureOn March 28, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land ...
To the Editor:I wish to thank LuAnn Garvey, the FFA and all who helped with the USO show, Pork Burger dinner, Bake Sale and the Silent Auction last week. Also, a special thanks to all of the students who volunteered to help with this special night. It was a great and entertaining night.Because ...
To the Editor:We would like to thank everyone who attended the USO show last weekend at Webster City High School. We would also like to thank anyone who helped in any way with the show and bake sale. We received $4,723 to help send our veterans on the next Honor Flight in May.This was a ...
To the Editor:A special thank you to Ms. Garvey and her crew for initiating the USO show as a fundraiser for a future Honor Flight to Washington D.C. for our veterans. Congratulations to all the students that took part in staging a great variety show. As usual, Pat Powers was excellent as the ...
A squirrel banquetIf you're a fan of cowboy hats, old pickup trucks, flannel shirts, enormous deer racks, big fish and cathead biscuits with sawmill gravy, then you're going to like the subject of this week's column squirrels.I love the sweet aroma of squirrel and I'm surprised at most folks ...
When my wife and I moved to the city from rural Iowa 14 years ago one of the biggest changes we experienced was church music. In rural Iowa we were members of a church with a traditional worship service; in the city we found mostly contemporary worship services.I am not denominationally loyal ...
So I spent my spring break doing a lot of driving and a lot of visiting, headed north in spite of the fact that I rarely hear of anyone going that direction for spring break. Usually it's south, of course, in some form or another. But the folks I wanted to visit are north of here, so that's ...
April has the special designation of being National Poetry Month. Since 1996, National Poetry Month is an initiative of The Academy of American Poets to help celebrate the art of poetry and increase the visibility of poetry in popular culture. There are numerous ways to observe this holiday, ...
During that cold snap called winter, we've been busy planning. Sunday the 30th of March we're having an open house for all home based businesses in the area at inTANDEM Workspace at 501 Bank Street. Join us at 1 pm and see how the Chamber can help make your business grow. We're also ...
To the Editor:Saturday, March 15, 2014 was the Webster City Cub Scout Pinewood Derby race. I feel it was a huge success much in part to all of the volunteers who helped make it run smoothly. Thank you to the businesses and individuals who helped. The boys are the recipients of their generosity ...
To the Editor:Terry Branstad and I have a lot in common. We're both 67-year-old white males, native Iowans, raised on family farms, and registered Republicans. We both attended the University of Iowa. Branstad went on to become a lawyer and a career politician. I went into farming.After his ...
Every old farmhouse had one. Every country elevator had one. The now-gone country stores and gas stations had one on the back room table. They were the common thing that drew folks around, made then bury their hatchets for a day and made cause for both casual and serious conversation. Of what I ...
University of Iowa President Sally Mason created brouhaha a few weeks ago with her remark on sexual assaults on the campus.Commenting on the problem, President Mason said, "I'm not pleased that we have sexual assaults, obviously. The goal would be to end that, to never have another sexual ...
Sometimes we suffer missed opportunities that become especially clear when viewed in hindsight. Then again, maybe hindsight is the only way to see a missed opportunity.One of those for me is Ruth Buxton Sayre, a distinguished senior citizen I met during my last semester at Drake. I needed ...
Twenty-five years ago, in a bi-partisan celebration of what is best about living in Iowa, the Legislature created and Gov. Branstad signed into law an innovative program to protect Iowa's natural heritage for future generations.Iowa's Resource Enhancement and Protection Program - or REAP - has ...