Tractor virgin's first harvest

My brother-in-law Mark was up for the weekend to help with harvest and asked if I was game for becoming his "Jedi Padawan-Apprentice Learner." Guess after living in Iowa for 10 years it was about time I pitched in. For those of you not from Iowa, consider this photo essay a quick lesson in harvesting corn.

The transfer- This is easiest when you can just park and let the combine empty his tank into your wagon. One of the biggest challenges was learning how to drive along side the combine and let him empty-on-the-go. I have a whole new respect for pilots of refueling tankers! "Too close, no no no, too far, slow down, hurry up hurry up, now ya got it, easy, easy..."

This experience REALLY made me see why Iowa farmers played such a vital role in the armed forces in WWII, they're pilots, mechanics, machinists, and engineers all at once. They coordinate their movements and constantly judge spacial relationships. These guys are all about efficacy. Red necks deserve our respect.

Hauling grain for farmers is hard in the daylight with steep hills, terraces, and mazes through the corn- but in the dark, everything is harder to judge and difficult to find. I slipped out of gear a couple of times, had to pop it into gear a few times, popped a few wheelies, started rolling down a hill and had a near miss with the combine at least once. I have a whole new respect not just for farmers and haulers, but for guys that run tractor pulls too. But most of all, I have a lot more respect for my father-in-law and how he doesn't like to keep harvesting much past dark where lots of other farmers keep going all night. It's a bear, lemme tell ya.

This maneuver is called the "double-cross." It is rare and a bad sign. It's when two combines need to unload into the same wagon. This night it happened because it took me 4 passes to line up my wagon with the auger- it was a narrow bath between bins. Meanwhile, my nephew and his cousin were having trouble with the ignition on the other tractor and couldn't back out from the other bin/auger.

Mark empties the gravity-wagon into the auger. This wagon holds 440 bushels. That's 14,080 Quarts to we laymen. 42 lbs per bushel is about average according to ask.com, Mark said this was approximately 50 lb per bushel. Either way, each wagon load is around 10 TONS of corn.

I don't know beans

She wants to be a farmer. I wonder about that because she'd rather read or cook or play video games than rake or weed or clean. I tell her that if she's serious she has to downright nag her grandfather into letting her tag along with him and learn and help. But we keep her busy. There's 4H and piano lessons and confirmation and the counselor on Thursday nights.

Besides her cousin who's a year and a half older is always out at the farm. He's a boy and has always been out at the farm his whole life. I don't want to be sexist and think that she can't farm just because she's a girl. Girls can farm. But I'm a suburban "city slicker" transplant myself, I know exactly squat about farming. Whereas my nephew was pretty much bred and intentionally conditioned, even programmed deliberately for farming. That was his father's heart and very soul. If it's not his destiny to fulfill his father's dreams, we will all be bewildered.

So I feel somewhat inadequate when it comes to helping this 10 year old girl attain her own dream of someday becoming a farmer. Sometimes I can write it off as inconsequential because how many "dreams" do little kids have. When I was seven I wanted to be a farmer, and a cowboy, and a fireman, a baseball player and a rock star. Surely next week she'll want to be an astronaut or a veterinarian or something else, right? Except that she's said that she wants to be a farmer when she grows up for almost two years now.

Am I being sexist? Am I being a realist? It's difficult to make a living as a family farmer, nearly impossible. Female farmers are not unheard of, but they certainly are rare. Would that make it more of an uphill battle? Do I want to encourage her or protect her from potential failure? Is that like the parents who discouraged their daughters from becoming lawyers and scientists because those were male dominated fields? Would it be like the parent that doesn't think of themselves as racist, but would discourage their child from marrying someone with a different skin color because they know the racism and opposition that they will have to endure from society as a couple?

I don't know. I just know that I can't help her because I don't even know how to drive a tractor, let alone use one to pull a gravity wagon, let alone operate a combine. I am virtually clueless when it comes to markets and yields and moisture tests and using augers to load grain into bins.

But I knew that her younger two sisters and both of her cousins had gotten to ride along with my father-in-law in his combine this fall, as well as in tractors with various uncles and cousins. And I knew that she was due.

But we would be late. I lost track of time at school and had completely forgotten that I needed to pick her up from church after Confirmation class. I picked her up 20 minutes late. They told us that the men were working at the "upper place." I've lived here for nine years and I still don't remember where that is.

I drove into a field uphill from my in-law's farm. Empty, and bare. They were done here. Obviously, "upper" must not mean up-hill, it must mean East or North. I headed for another farm which I knew he rented, on the other side of the town's cemetery.

I didn't get to the end of the section, I turned North a mile too soon. It was dark and I only ever go there maybe twice a year.

When I had gotten half way up the lane I knew it was the wrong place because the combines were red instead of green.

I felt embarrassed and just started backing up instead of coming onto the place and turning around. That's when one wheel dipped onto the grass on the edge of the culvert and we were stuck. All we could do is spin, just like snow.

Fortunately the farmer had a chain and pulled us out. But, by the time we finally made it to the right bean field they were done.

So first Grace was scared because it was dark and we were lost and then stuck. Now she was ticked because she got gypped out of her ride with her Grandpa. I hate it when she cries. Oh well, there's sure plenty of corn to harvest, kid.

I just hope that either we can somehow give her what she'll need to make her dreams come true, or that she'll catch some other dream. Meanwhile, I wish I could afford a four-wheel drive vehicle and I should really consider asking for a GPS device for Christmas. And meanwhile she need to continue to work on her grades at school so that she can go to college someday, whether she ends up farming or not. One thing's for sure, I don't know beans about it.

Headed to Des Moines

The Charter Oak Achievers 4H Club (formerly the "Merry Maidens") are going to the Iowa State Fair with their 'Bake a Cake' skit that celebrates their 60th anniversary! Congratulations girls!

One of the best things about summer

Charter Oak has pretty much the last LOCAL fair in Iowa. Before they go to the County Fair next week, 4H and FFA kids show their livestock and exhibit their projects down at the city park at. The Methodist Church cooks and sells home made pie, the Commercial Club sponsors BINGO and there's even a petting zoo with lamas. It's one of the best parts of small town living here in Iowa every summer.

Charter Oak Achievement Days continues to grow. Two more flagpoles were added as memorials next to the show ring, so that the American flag and the FFA flag are now flown along with the 4H flag. But a greater example of growth is that there were 30 more head of swine exhibited this year than last year. EmCee Lee Stence, CO-U Agriculture teacher, said that this was the most pigs and presenters that he'd seen in the past 15 years.

No tractor ride, pedal pull, horseshoe pitch or duck races and the bake sale auction and BBQ were moved to the Community Building on Main Street due to torrential rains Sunday morning that flooded the park. Charter Oak received almost 6 inches of rain between 8 AM and noon. The "lake" at the city park had to be pumped out to be ready for Monday morning.

July 12-16
Monday- Rabbits, Poultry, Sheep, and Swine
Tuesday- Dogs, Horses, and Cattle
Wednesday- 4H Style Show, Pride of Iowa and Talent presentations

Charter Oak Achievement Days Ads

Local friends and business owners,

We're putting together our annual Charter Oak Achievement Days edition which will be published on July 23.
I will be making phone calls to area businesses and regular supporters of the Achievement Days edition this week. So don't be surprised if you hear from me.

Our sizes include:
3x3 $84.50
2x2 $52
Sig $27

I hope you'll consider showing your support for the 4-H/FFA Achievement Days again this year. Please let me know as soon as you can.

Give me a call at the PRESS office at 712-881-1101


Thank you,!

Our Hometown

Charter Oak will be featured in the "Our Hometown" segment of the KTIV evening news broadcast at 10 p.m. on June 14th and again on the morning show between 5-7 a.m.on June 15th. Citizens taking part were Don and Nadine Friedrichs, Ernie Poggensee, Janice Throckmorton, Nancy Rosburg, Chris Dale and Allen Staley.

If you miss it, next week (after June 14th) you can check out www.KTIV.com

and click on Hometown tab for a replay of the presentation regarding Charter Oak. It will be short, but always interesting to see what the TV people choose to use or edit out. The promo segments have been great - the arboretum was at the top of its glory.

Local Interest

It's about time I wrote about something other than politics, don't you think?

These pictures were part of the 4th of July weekend kick off to Charter Oak's 60th Anniversary Achievement Days 4H&FFA Fair and livestock shows- Charter Oak Achievement Days was featured in last month's Wallace's Farmer magazine! These parents and kids work SO hard to maintain this fantastic part of our community, they really deserve our appreciation. Thanks neighbors!


Just south of Charter Oak, a line of 36 tractors form a parade through the countryside on Sunday. COU student Aaron Baughman organized a tractor ride as a 4H project for this year's Achievement Days. The caravan left Charter Oak around 12:30 Sunday afternoon south on L51 to Nelson Park Road where they rode east to Dow City and took the Kenwood Highway back to Charter Oak. In spite of the heat and the price of gas, plenty of curious onlookers enjoyed a drive out into the country so that they could watch the long line of red, green, and several orange antique tractors cut through the hills.

Holy cow; adventures in agricultural photography

Charter Oak-Ute NEWSpaper — Schleswig Leader, Thursday, July, 19, 2007 – Page 3

It’s not always easy to get pictures of kids and their animals. The critters generally aren’t good posers. They kick up dust that catches the flash and shows up in the picture as mysterious glowing orbs. Inevitably pictures can be blurry, eyes are closed or beasts are baring their worst sides.

The first year I covered the livestock shows at Achievement Days I struggled to get the best possible shot of the kid’s face. Being born in a city I didn’t know any better. After the NEWSpaper came out, my farm native wife explained to me that the whole point of a livestock show is the livestock. Live and learn.

In order to guarantee the best possible shot, I usually keep the subjects there for an eternity so that I can take at least three pictures in hopes of getting at least one that will turn out.
This year I kept one young lady even longer and took four, just to be on the safe side.
There was this group of boys sitting on the gate behind the show ring. They were giving the presenter a hard time, urging her to ask me to take yet another picture.

I recognized at least one of them from Boyer Valley where I teach. These are the kind of middle school kids who wear their boots to school even on field day and wear Carhart jeans even when everyone else in school have on shorts because it’s 100°.

They don’t walk they saunter and from the way they speak you’d guess they were from Oklahoma, Arkansas or Texas, you’d never guess that they’re Iowa born and bred.

“He won’t care, he’s-” something something. I wasn’t sure what they said to the girl but I was sure it was about me. I didn’t know what the problem was but I knew these ornery eighth graders were lucky I wasn’t going to see them in school on Monday because it was summer.

Of course, eventually when I was processing the night’s pictures on the computer I realized that they weren’t just giving me or the girl a hard time. As it turned out the Heifer was relieving itself in all but the last photo.

Later that same night, my Iowa native wife had another nugget of wisdom for me; don’t wear a red shirt and get into a ring full of cattle. Incidentally, our mascot at my high school, Shadow Mountain back in Phoenix was the Matador. I however don’t enjoy being charged by animals that weigh over half a ton.

Now as a photographer I’ve been hit by basketballs, volleyballs, referees, and have even had a couple of near-misses with football players. But I have a real respect for these kids in 4-H and FFA who look like they should have separated shoulders the way their cows and steer pull them around.

At that moment when two black beasts tried to start a mini stampede I was frozen. What I should’ve been thinking was “now’s a good time to jump over this fence next to me.”
The over-riding impulse of a really GOOD photographer would have been “now’s a good time to take a picture, what a great action shot.”

I’d like to say that either of these thoughts came into my mind at the crucial moment. Heck, I’d like to say that I was thinking either “boy, I hope one of these Dads and 4-H leaders who make their livings handling these creatures everyday can step in and get control of them before any of these kids or I get hurt.” They did of course, (in fact I think that they probably never got closer than five feet to me, but that’s not what I was thinking.

As a matter of fact, I can’t tell you what I was thinking because this is a wholesome family newspaper.

I can only tell that there was plenty of it around in the show ring and all the holding pens.

Dan the man Kuhlmann cleaning up my thoughts. Say, that "honey wagon" reminds me of an old joke. Seems like William Jennings Bryant was campaigning once and a crowd was so big that he had to climb up on a farmer's manure spreader so that people could see and hear him. He started off "This has to be the first time that a Democratic candidate has given a speech from a Republican platform."

COU FFA teacher Lee Stence just misses an interview with a champion market steer and his pet boy. "Mooooo"

Here's a couple of great recipes to getya ready for the Iowa State Fair:

Iowa Beef Sundae
1 package (17 ounces) refrigerated fully-cooked beef tips with gravy ( can substitute left over pot roast or browned hamburger)
1 package (24 ounces) refrigerated mashed potatoes

Toppings: Shredded cheddar cheese, dairy sour cream, cherry or grape tomatoes
Heat beef tips with gravy according to package directions. Heat mashed potatoes according to package directions. Using ice cream scoop, place 2 scoops (about 1/3 cup each) mashed potatoes in each of 4 individual sundae cups or serving bowls. Divide beef tips evenly over potatoes in each dish. Sprinkle with cheese and top with dollop of sour cream, as desired. Place 1 tomato in center of each serving for a “cherry.”

Pork chop-on-a-stick
8 6-ounce boneless pork loin chops, about 1 inch thick
1/2 cup bottled Italian dressing
Peanut oil
8 8 x 1/4-inch-thick wooden skewers or dowels
Honey mustard or BBQ sauce

Place chops in a resealable plastic bag set in a shallow dish. Pour salad dressing over chops.; seal bag. Marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour, turning bag occasionally. Preheat oil to 350° F. Drain chops, discarding marinade. Insert a wooden skewer into a short side of each chop. Fry the chops, half at a time, for 5 to 8 minutes or until 160° F. Maintain oil temperature around 350° F. Remove chops from hot oil and drain on wire racks. Serve chops with honey mustard.

Livestock Show

Here are some late night pictures from the Charter Oak Achievement Days swine show. Judging went till nearly 11:30 last night. So, not being a pig expert, my A.D.D kicked in so I tried taking some experimental "artsy" shots. See the winners in the July 19 edition of the Charter Oak-Ute NEWSpaper.

The more things change...

The more things change, the more they...

Page 3 Charter Oak-Ute NEWSpaper & Schleswig Leader- Thursday, September 21 2006

“Daddy...” started Ellen, our four year old while we were on a walk to the library one Saturday morning.

“Yes honey?” I responded, waiting for her to continue.

“I miss our old town,” she sighed.

Needless to say I struggled to imagine what she was talking about. She was born after we’d moved back to Charter Oak from Los Angeles. She’s never lived anywhere else and doesn’t have an “old” town. However, she does have an amazingly active imagination- like most preschoolers, and she tends to be our drama-queen, so she could be talking about anything.

She’ll often pretend to be someone we don’t know and engage us in an imaginary conversation about people and situations she makes up. The most disconcerting one had to be when we were driving home from getting groceries and she announced-

“Mom,” serious dramatic pause, “Dad,” another pause, “I think I’m PREVAnant.” Obviously we need to cut off this kid’s TV intake. Needless to say, this pretend soap opera scenario led to some discussions about the birds and the bees about a half decade earlier than we had hoped.

But that “I miss our OLD town” comment had me stumped more than anxious.
“Uh... what do you mean Sweety? Why did you say you missed our OLD town?” I inquired.

“Yeah, where’d it go to?!” demanded her older sister, Grace, who is seven.

“I mean I miss the way our town USED to be,” Ellen explained.

“Huh?” I muttered. She’s only four, how sentimental and nostalgic can she POSSIBLY get? She never know a Charter Oak with a restaurant or a grocery store, let alone a bowling alley, movie theatre or car dealership. Heck, I doubt she even noticed the graphic design studio or the archery shop that were down town just a couple of years ago.

“WHAT are you talking about?” Grace and I both said to her incredulously.

“Why did we need a new bank? I liked our old bank,” Ellen pointed out. Forget about the fact that she probably never set foot in the old bank on the corner of First and Main or the fact that the new one on the corner of Main and Highway 141 is much bigger and gorgeous. I was about to point out these facts to her, and the fact that we conduct our business at the bank where her grandmother has worked for decades in Denison when she went on-

“Plus now they’re going to build ANOTHER new bank across the street from the new bank...” she complained, “how many banks do we need, anyway?!”

This did actually remind me a little of one comedian’s routine about stepping outside of a Starbucks only to be confronted with what, just across the street? Another Starbucks. But heck, as guilty as I might feel about Rickett’s loss, another new business in Charter Oak has to be a good thing for Charter Oak, right? So I was ready to explain this to her when she continued...

“And why did they have to make all the streets BLACK? I liked the streets the OLD way...” she pined.

As nervous as I am about my property taxes, I for one really appreciate how Charter Oak has brought in an asphalt company to resurface our streets. Frankly, it’s downright luxurious to have a smooth ride and an even walk.

I was about to try to explain this to her, to try to help her listen to reason, when she went on-

“Plus, I miss ‘Shell,’ why did they have to change the name of our gas ‘tation? Do we have no call it ‘CEMM-EX’ now?” she grumbled.

I was prepared to prepare a case in the defense of the owner and to explain that the Cenex corporation would probably offer him less expensive gasoline than Royal Dutch Shell when her big sister Grace piped in-

“Yeah, I miss Shell too! Only I miss ZIT-CO too!” she complained.

“Yeah, I miss ZITS-GO too!” agreed Ellen. Before Cenex was Shell, it was Citgo- I suppose that’s why the owner also calls his convenience store “EZ-Stop.”

There are folks in Charter Oak who still call it “Maria’s,” but of course my girls wouldn’t know that. Plenty of folks will always thing of it as “the General Store,” for that matter, even though that gas station was actually across the street from EZ Stop.

“Wow, Ellie, you sure miss a lot of things about how our town used to be,” I offered humbly.

“I just wish things could always be the way they used to be,” she finished with a sigh. “Why do things always have to change?”

I thought to myself, “Boy kiddo, if you feel this way at four, how will you feel when you’re 34?” But I didn’t see the point in saying it to her out loud.

CommYOUnity; Charter Oak Achievement Days

Even in a drought I love living in small town Iowa. Sure, the sweet
corn and the home grown tomatoes may be hard to come by this summer,
but it's not just about the food, it's about the people.

If you're reading the Charter Oak- Ute NEWSpaper it's pretty obvious
that there's a lot of coverage of the Charter Oak Achievement Days
this week. If you're reading the Schleswig Leader, I'm sorry because
you're really missing some fun pictures.

When our late publisher Mike Lyon started running this column on page
three, which the Leader and NEWSpaper share, he suggested that I try
not to focus too much on too local of subject matter, so as not to
alienate new readers in Schleswig. I've tried, but I just have to
talk-up the Achievement Days a little bit this week. The thing is,
it's the kind of volunteerism and community that makes all of rural
Iowa so wonderful.

The fact is that these three papers have a lot of territory to cover.
The Press serves Castana, Smithland and Danbury, not just Mapleton.
Between the Newspaper and the Leader, we also have to cover Soldier,
Ute, Charter Oak and of course Schlewsig and everything in between
(which I guess is Ricketts).

That being the case, I want to once a gain make a plea for your
contributions and participation, not to mention your patience. Jackie
Pester did her best to cover both Ute and Charter Oak and Karen Soukup
certainly represented Ute well being from there. In their absence
we've been advertising for someone to cover these areas. I've got only
a few more weeks before I go back to school.
Schleswig has Elaine Teut but I for one really think that you lost as
much as Mapleton when Bonnie Schoreder left our staff. The point is
that most of our content for all three papers has always been
submitted by you the community anyway. Please keep up the good work.

When your community has a big event like the Charter Oak Achievement
Days, let us know. Call, E-mail or fax the office in Mapleton and let
Ann Collins know that you'd love to have someone come out and cover
it. If they can't, you can. Take some pictures and jot down some facts
and names. You don't have to be a great photographer or a wonderful
writer. You just have to care about your community.

When you travel around the Midwest, you rarely find towns as small as
ours that even have newspapers, let alone papers of the caliber of
these three. There are a few ways to keep them and keep them as good
as they are and most of them involve you.
Obviously we need your subscriptions. So please, renew, encourage
other people to subscribe or renew, and give subscriptions as gifts.

I know it's tough sometimes, but please advertise. Believe me it's not
easy to sell ads, not everybody is made of money and certainly with
things like school sports or 4-H and FFA Shows folks figure they can
support the kids in more direct ways, but let me tell ya, if you want
to see them covered in the paper, the paper needs to be able to afford
the room they commit to those activities.
But above all, contribute. You don't have to have a digital camera and
E-mail, you can loan the paper prints that they can scan and scribble
down some notes that they can type up. If the paper doesn't have
someone available to cover an event that you think is important or if
they just don't know about it ahead of time, they rely on your
submissions.

As the old saying goes, "If it's going to be, it' s up to me."
Now, end of plea. Let me tell you about some folks who do just that,
they make things come to be.
As a resident of Charter Oak, I can't tell you how impressed I am with
my friend Peggy Staley. I don't know how the idea for "Arts at the
Arboretum" got into her head, but I'm glad it did. She's to be
commended for all her time and effort spearheading the event as are
all the volunteers who made it happen.

Charter Oak is lucky to have such a terrific facility and I fear that
too many of us take it for granted. Featuring local talent in a
picturesque picnic like setting may be just what we needed to draw our
attention to it so that we take better advantage of it and take better
care of it.

I'd also like to recognize Charter Oak-Ute Agriculture teacher Lee
Stence. Of course, he'd be the first to deflect the publicity and
offer it to all the parents, kids and volunteers that put so much work
into the livestock shows at the heart of Charter Oak Achievement Days
and he's right.

There are very few individual towns in Iowa that still have a local
fair event like we do. As a matter of fact, there are many county
fairs that aren't as nice or that have fewer animals in their shows.
Some may be nostalgic for "the good old days" when it was even bigger
and better, but as a transplant, I for one am always wowed. From an
annual alumni banquet, rather than each class having to be on their
own, to the Methodist food stand, the FFA, the 4-H clubs, the Fire
Department, the Commercial Club, the Clubettes, the Youth Groups and
anyone else I failed to mention, a whole community has to come
together to put on such a summer spectacular.

So pat yourselves on the back. And please, keep up the good work. And
don't be afraid to share some ideas. As good as we have it, we can
always do better. We can all make a difference with removing litter,
maintenance, weeding and gardening. And there are always resources
that we've overlooked.

Annual LYF Rake&Run

Pictured are back row; Vacancy Pastor Ed Brandt, Seniors LYF Vice President Grant Kuhlman and LYF TreasurerLee Kuhlman and Sophomore Jeke Goslar. Middle row, Seniors LYF President Lacy Neddermeyer, and LYF Secretary Molly Goslar and Sophomore Jason Kuhlman. In Front; Landscaper Jamie Neddermeyer or Audubon and Melvin Neddermeyer.

LYF Rake & Run
Sunday, November 14th members of St John Lutheran Youth Fellowship met at Melvin and June Neddemeyer's farm to participate in the LYF's annual "Rake-n-Run." Every year high school students from the congregation help cleam up leaves for elderly members of the community.

The day began with lunch and a Bible study based on 1Thesalonians 5:18, "Give thanks in all circumstances." Student considered that serving others is one way of giving thanks, giving thanks by giving back. God doesn't just tell us to be give thanks when we're happy, but under ALL circumstances.

Students then raked the lawns of nine houses, starting on the Southeast side of Charter Oak and working their way to the Northwest. LYF President Lacy Neddermeyer's dad and her brother Jamie helped the crew. Jamie owns his own landscaling business in Audubon. His mower, blower and expertise really sped up the process.

The kids were also joined by Vacancy Pastor Ed Brandt, who brought tarps and fresh experiencing from helping with his home congregation St. Paul, Ute's LYF rake-n-run the week before.

Kids shared the work but also shared plenty of fun, jumping into piles of leaves and determining which brand of rake was most effecient. At the end of the day, homeowners were thankful that their yards were cleaned up and the crew was thankful it was all over so that they could go home and recover.

This Sunday, Novemeber 21st, St. John LYF will host their other annual Fall project, a Community Thanksgiving Dinner. Everyone is invited. The LYF will begin serving at 11 AM in the basement of St John Lutheran Church in Charter Oak. A free-will offering will be collected with matching funds from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. Turkey, potatoes, vegetables, deserts and Edna Johansen's famous dressing.

Late Summer Loose Ends

School was supposed to start this past week for Boyer Valley, I think that Charter Oak-Ute resumes this next week, Maple Valley has postponed school until September. If you hadn’t heard, both BV and MV built new facilities this summer and they’re both having some trouble getting everything finished and ready to go for the new school year.

Usually, most teachers like to get into their room and do some planning in the weeks before school. Needless to say, that hasn’t been happening for many of us and it’s led to a feeling of being unsettled. So this week I’d like to tie up a few loose-ends that have been bothering me. Consider this my way of trying to accomplish some sense of closure.

Way -back in the Fourth of July column, a few of you may have been confused. Which is a shame, because several people shared with me how much they appreciated what it said. I signed the column “R. Saunders.” People have been asking me who that is and what that meant.

Richard Saunders was Benjamin Franklin’s pen name. As in “Poor Richard’s Almanac,” Franklin’s famous periodical that was full of homespun humor and sage advice. The thirteen virtues that I had Saunders expound upon were Franklins- perhaps one for each of the original thirteen colonies. I thought they’d be especially poignant for the Fourth, considering the polarized political rancor that seems so prevalent lately which the Presidential election has seemed to exacerbate.

I made two mistakes in my column praising the Charter Oak Achievement Days. I reported that one of the Welner brothers had told me about the Methodist food stand. It was actually Loren Straight who put me on to how old the portable building was. Sorry about that. Having been married into the town 13 years ago and now living here for five, I still can’t put the right name with the right face. I also said something about the new shelter house being air-conditioned. Someone since then told me that that’s not the case. I guess I’m not sure either way, I hope my saying that it would be didn’t make any difference.

I finished ‘Catcher in the Rye.’ I figured out what the title means, it doesn’t have anything to do with baseball. It has something to do with that old song, “when a body meets a body coming through the rye” and trying to save people who are lost in life. You really have to read it for it to make more sense and to do it justice. I highly recommend it.

John Grisham’s ‘the Bleachers’ is also well worth the read, even if you don’t like football. If you’ve ever played football, you’ll regret not reading it. Haven’t got my hands on ‘Home Grown Democrat’ yet, I may wait till it comes out in paperback.

I’m not sure why I haven’t been in the mood to write about politics lately. Probably because it looks like any one who’d bother voting has pretty well made up their minds and aren’t too open to changing it. And I for one am sick of the mud slinging and the anger. It’s not worth getting myself worked up and I hate having other people angry at me or thinking I’m somehow inferior to them or crazy or something.

I have to get one political issue off my chest quick. A Bush supporter recently reasoned that it’s not wise to change Presidents in the middle of a war. That just confuses me because if they’re talking about “The War on Terror,” that was being waged even before it was declared and it will probably be a reality that we have to live with for decades to come. If we declare Marshall Law or suspend elections, then the terrorists win. If they’re talking about the war in Iraq, it seems to me that the President announce “mission accomplished back in March and Sovereignty was transferred at the end of May, a day or two ahead of schedule. So isn’t that war over? Or did I miss a memo?

Please forgive me if that made you angry or if you think I must be crazy or ignorant or something for being as confused as I am. Don’t forget to vote November 2, even if it’s not for who I’d like. If don’t exercise our rights, the Terrorists win. Democracy is like muscle- “use it or lose is.”

Sadly, I have to report that Noah’s Ark has been dry-docked. We really needed around 12 kids. 6 three year olds and 6 four year olds. We had commitments from about 7 but would’ve needed to combine the ages, which would very be difficult. One of the big appeals of the new public preschool is the convenience for working parents of running all day. For Noah’s Ark to have done that involved new and different licenses which would’ve taken more time and raised costs. It was a difficult decision, but eventually, we had to give up the dream.

It’s a sad loss for the community and a shame that St. John couldn’t sustain such a blessing of a ministry to young families, but life happens and the only constants are God, death and taxes, so we grieve and move on. We’re sorry to those of you who were looking forward to Noah’s Ark continuing.

I’m not sure my daughter Ellie grasps what it means for her yet. As far as she’s concerned, she’s going to ride the buss to high school next week She doesn’t turn three till December, so we’re not going to put her on a bus for a while. I’d still like her to get that Christian foundation, so maybe we’ll look into St. Matthew’s preschool in Mapleton next year.

Kids still say the darnedest things. The other night over supper, Ellie announced-

“Mom, Dad…”

“Yeah, hon?”

“Mom, Dad, Gwacie…”

“What is it, sweetheart?”

“Mom, Dawd, Gwacie…I have to tell you something…”

So we set our forks down, anxiously awaiting her important announcement.

“I have to tell you somtin’, um, Mom, Dad…”

I thought that what ever it was had to be important or profound because she was working so hard to get it out.

“Mom, Dad, Grace…We eatin’ supper.”

Yep, she may be under the delusion that she’s fourteen, and she may still be pretty hit-and-miss with the potty training thing, but at least she has a firm grasp on the obvious.

It’s not FAIR that it’s over

The weather on Sunday and Monday of Achievement Days was typically sweltering, but Tuesday and Wednesday we absolutely beautiful. We’re really fortunate in Charter Oak to have the Achievement Days. I enjoy them a lot more than any County Fair, and I’ll tell you why.

They’re a lot cheaper, they don’t smell near as bad, you know almost everybody there, and you don’t have a heart attack if you lose track of your kids for a few minutes- what’s more, it’s harder to lose your kids in the first place- or for them to lose you for that matter.

If you happened to miss the Achievement Days, July 11-14, you might not have heard Dan Kuhlmann announce at the livestock show that the Charter Oak Boosters is the largest 4-H group in Crawford County. And the Ute Explorers are the biggest in Monona County.
According to the law of averages, therefore, you probably saw projects and livestock that will be winning ribbons in Onawa and Denison soon, and no doubt on to Des Moines for the State Fair too!

Don’t quote me on this, but I believe someone told me that 2004 was the 57th year for the Charter Oak Achievement Days.
Ron Welner told me that 2004 was the 50th anniversary of the building used by the Methodist Church for their annual food stand. How about that? Come to think of it, looking up at the canvas roof, I was kind of reminded of the Korean War era hospital tents on M*A*S*H.

Imagine, every year they fold the thing up and store it in the old garage behind the Church. After this year, of course it will be retired since the Methodists will be able to borrow a portion of the much anticipated new shelter house.

I realize that the shelter house hasn’t been without it’s share of controversy- which you notice I’ve deliberately steered clear of in this column. Ya never like to lose trees, but rumor has it the ones that came down proved to be pretty sick after all. Between our park and the arboretum across the highway, we still put many another town to shame as trees go. And it will sure be nice to enjoy 4H exhibits in air conditioned comfort next year.

All I know is, those Methodists always have some wonderful pie and everyone who volunteers at the food stand is friendly and cheerful- you can’t always say that about the service at some county and state fairs. I for one really appreciate their dedication.

And we’re incredibly lucky to enjoy the Alumni BBQ and the Clubettes’ fishing pond (box), and the popcorn, cotton candy, root beer floats, games, face painting, auction and Bingo games too! I hope that as a community, we know how lucky we are and appreciate all the hard work that so many volunteers put in.
I don’t know of many towns as small as Charter Oak that have as nice a children’s playground as we do. Not to mention our pool, tennis courts and phenomenal Softball team!

Maybe I wasn’t in there long enough or was there when it was relatively cool, but I swear our livestock “barns” smell a helluva lot better than any I’ve been in at county and state fairs.
Of course live stock is gonna be fun with my girls.

“Hi big cows! Hi big cows” my two year old, Ellie waved to all the cattle as we walked through the stalls. She’s so friendly.
But I’m a little worried about her older sister Grace’s tastes and sense of aesthetics. As she crouched down to look at one hog through the fence, she mused “Oooh, he’s so CUTE! He Beuootiful!”

Go East, young man

I recently had a student at Boyer Valley visit Phoenix, Arizona, my hometown, to take a girl to her prom there, and visit a sick aunt. He enjoyed it, especially “Cooperstown,” a restaurant by the baseball park owned by seventies heavy metal rocker Alice Cooper, a Phoenix native.

“Mr. Mallory, that town is SO cool, it’s so modern and clean and there’s so much to do… why would you ever want to leave a place like that?” he asked me.

“A woman,” I answered. The real answer is certainly much more complicated, but I thought this one sounded edgy and mysterious and its certainly true in part anyway.

This kid’s girlfriend and her family had obviously only shown him the best parts of Phoenix because as much as I love and sometimes miss it, it’s far from Nirvana. For one thing, its several million people bigger than it was when I was a kid, not that there’s anything so wrong with that, but people change and so do cities. The Phoenix of my childhood still had dirt roads and was zoned for livestock, at least where we lived. The city mountain preserves provided plenty of desert wilderness for kids to play “Cowboys and Indians” without having to stretch your imagination too much. Especially my best friend when I was five was Juaquin Luna, a Maracopa Indian who lived two houses down in our Paradise Valley subdivision, up near the corner of Cave Creek Road where Cactus Road turned into Thunderbird Road .

For my birthday I’d beg my parents to take us to “Rawhide; Arizona’s 1880’s town,” a dude ranch complete with boardwalks, gun fights and stage coach rides. There was something cool about having all the businesses all on one street and not having to drive your car across town if you had to go to the barber, blacksmith and mercantile all in the same day.

A few years ago I read about how Wyatt Earp was actually from Iowa, originally, before he shot up the OK Corral in Tombstone Arizona- by way of Dodge City, Kansas, before he ended up in L.A., consulting on Tom Mix Westerns. I liked to imagine that I took the reverse path of Marshall Earp. Arizona to Iowa, instead of visa-versa.

Recently, I crossed paths with someone out on the frontier of the Wild Wild Web who knew what Charter Oak was like many years ago, perhaps not as far back as the wild west days, but certainly back in our town’s boom time.

Bob Lyons lives in Mesa, AZ. His grandparent lived around Second and Cedar in Charter Oak. He had found a picture of their house and wanted to do a little research, so he was on the internet and ran a “Google” search of Charter Oak, he found St. John Lutheran Youth Fellowship’s web page and decided to email me.

“With your church work I'm reminded of our Coach in Charter Oak,” Bob wrote. “Mr Evans, who also taught Sunday School at the Methodist church. He later became Superintendent of the school. Also reminded of my classmate Eldon Monte whose father was Superintendent of the Lutheran school. We graduated in 1939.”

The Charter Oak that Bob Lyons grew up in had two Banks, and a newspaper, presumably “the Charter Oak Times.” Charter Oak had a jewelry store, a post office, a lumber yard, and a bowling alley- sounds like Denison.

They had a pool hall- uh, oh, that spells trouble with a capital ‘T,’ and that rhymes with ‘P,’ and that stand for “pool.” I wonder if Meredith Willson had ever been to Charter Oak.

Bob mentioned a telephone office, electric office, and an opera house. That was more than Rawhide had.

Bob said that there was freight and passenger service at the rail road station. I knew they called it “Rail Road Street” for a reason. My farmer-in-law, Allan Neddermeyer tells a story about how he got on the train for his class trip to Chicago right here in town.

Bob’s Charter Oak had an ice house, I guess I’m not sure what one of those would be. There was a grainery, not surprisingly. There was a “produce house” where customers bought eggs, milk, cream, and chickens from farmers.

There was a ladies dress shop, Doctor Huber M.D., a Dentist, a drug store, and count ‘em- TWO grocery stores. Not to mention a meat market, a bakery, and a harness shop. There was a hotel, a soda fountain, two car dealers, and of course, an implement dealer.

Did I mention the Furniture Store? How about the Mortuary? Well, I guess we still have one of those. There was a Photo Studio, a restaurant and a café (well, at least we still have Citgo).

"The Smoke House was a frame building on the West side of Main Street,” Bob explained to me, “which was one large room with a small caged area in the back right hand corner. In the caged corner the owner made and sold cigars.” That got my attention, even though I haven’t lit up a stogie since college.

“The rest of the room was all open with tables used by clients to play cards,” he continued. “Needless to say, the room was always smoke filled.” Wyatt Earp probably would’ve felt at home, but Doc Holiday probably should’ve avoided it, what with his tuberculosis and all.

Bob retired after 40 years with the Valley National Bank of Arizona. That was interesting to me since my mother-in-law, Marge Neddermeyer has put in around 30 years at the Wells Fargo (formerly Norwest, formerly Northwest) in Denison.

Black Bart had held up the Valley Bank in Rawhide.

Bob got my start in Charter Oak cleaning the spittoons in that bank where his dad had worked until he died of lung cancer from smoke, even though he didn’t smoke. That sounded more like a cantina than a bank.

When Bob lived here there was both a Lutheran and a Catholic school, 1 thru 9. He told me that he took piano lessons from a Catholic Nun. For the time being we still have our public school and I for one want to hold on to our Lutheran preschool as long as we can.

We still have one bank, the Ag, a few seed stores, repair shops, trucking services, a cabinet maker, several hair salons, a graphic design studio, the Hoffman insurance Agency, and of course Staley’s Catering. We may not be booming, but I love that you can walk across town and almost everyone will smile, wave, and say hello. Without fear of a gunfight or of stepping in horse apples.

Letter about the old days

Ted,

"Bob's Charter Oak had an ice house, I guess I'm not sure what one of those would be."

I'm surprised you didn't think of an "igloo".

It just goes to show you that, regardless of how much education you get, there's more to learn. Everyone should know that an "ice house" is where they store the blocks of ice. The ice was harvested from a lake and shipped by rail (that's railroad train) for storage in the ice house.

Normally it's just below ground level where it's packed with sawdust. In the summer you went there for ice to make ice cream and, of course, the "ice man", with his team and wagon, delivered ice to the homes. The homes had a sign in the window which told him how much to bring in. He carried in the appropriate block and installed it in the "icebox". Of course the houses were not locked. The sign in the window was standard and we still used them when students at the Univ. of Iowa. They were about 12" square with diagonal lines from corner to corner which left "V" shaped sections where choices of quantities were designated such as 15, 25, 35, & 50 lbs. The numbers were printed in a manner so that the bottom section gave the requested number while the top section would "read" upside down, and the side sections were each lying on their sides.

Noah’s Ark still afloat with Bramley at the helm

I was driving my two year old, Ellen to the babysitter one morning when we had an interesting conversation.

“Where’d Hewen go?” she asked.
“Your sister GRACE is with Mommy, Mommy is driving her to preschool, and by the way, YOUR name is Ellen,” I replied.
“She go schoooowel? Me wan go schooowel,” she said.
“Well, I know you’d love to go to school, but you’re not old enough yet, by the way, how old are you, Ellen?” I quizzed her.
“Me five!” she announced.
“Nooo, you’re two,” I explained, holding up two fingers.
“NO! Me FWIVE!!!” she screamed.
“Honey, listen, calm down, think about it,” I reasoned (temporarily forgetting that reasoning with a two year old is about as smart as trying to train your cat to heard sheep). “Your older sister, GRACE, is only four, and you’re the LITTLE sister, you’re just two, get it?”
“Oh-tay,” she relented.
“So how old are you?” just wanting to make sure I had gotten through.
“ME TWOO!” she grinned and held up two fingers.
I smiled and sighed, apparently I’d gotten somewhere.

I love the fact that she longs to learn and has finally gotten to an age where she’ll slow down long enough to climb on our laps for a us to read to her.
We’re really fortunate that Grace loves school too. Although, many is the evening when we ask “Grace, what did you learn about in school today?” only to have her shrug and answer “things.” I thought that kind of thing wasn’t supposed to happen till at least junior high.

Research has established that preschool education can produce substantial gains in children's learning and development. Christian preschools not only give kids a head start, they also lay a foundation of faith and relationships for children.

The Barna Research Institute discovered that a person’s lifelong behaviors and views are generally developed when they are young – particularly before they reach the teenage years. A person’s moral foundations are generally in place by the time they reach age nine (fourth grade). A majority of Americans make a lasting determination about the personal significance of Christ’s death and resurrection by age 12 (seventh grade).

It always boggles my mind when parents proudly proclaim that they’re not forcing their religion on their child, they want them to make up their minds for themselves when they’re old enough. Obviously these parents don’t genuinely believe whatever faith they claim to profess because if you KNOW and BELIEVE that God is real and that the Bible is true, why would you treat that knowledge as if it were merely an option, a choice. We inoculate our children with vaccines to protect them from deadly diseases, why not share with them that God loves them and wants what is best for them while they’re young too?

This is National Lutheran Schools Week. Martin Luther once argued that schools were more important than even homeland security.:
“Even though only a single boy could thereby be trained to become a real Christian, we ought to give a hundred dollars to this cause for every dollar we would give to fight the Turk, even if they were breathing down our necks,” he wrote in a sermon promoting education.
The main reason Luther encouraged parents to make sure their children received an education was so that they could one day read the Bible for themselves and thereby develop a personal relationship with God. That’s a value that Methodists, Catholics, Baptists, and every Christian can appreciate.

Many people remember that St. John Lutheran Church in Charter Oak once had a Lutheran elementary school, but how many realize that they still have a Lutheran school?

St. Johns Lutheran’s preschool, “Noah’s Ark” has been blest by the loving care, and instruction of Mrs. Sandy Bramley since 1981. This Lutheran Schools Week, I want to recognize Sandy for her important work. Sandy has introduced generations of Charter Oak children to Jesus and the Bible. She has started them on their life’s journey of learning and working together. Thank you, Sandy and may God continue to bless the work He does through you.

Lynn Hoffman is someone who also played a major role in Noah’s Ark for many years. If you or one of your children have been a student of Sandy or Lynn over the years, why not send them a note and let them know what a difference they make and what they mean to you?

Thank you President George

I’ve always been the kind of person who says “I never win anything.” Picked last, last place in the race, struck out in baseball, struck out with girls. Charlie Brown. I’d call into radio stations for contests but the line would be busy, or maybe I’d get through but the ninth caller would win and I was the tenth caller, or the producer would put me on hold and then I’d get hung up on before it was time for the DJ to talk to me.

But I’ve discovered the secret to luck. Dumb luck. Call it what you will, but inevitably, you never get what you really want until you stop wanting it. The Hindus call it Nirvanah. Buddah said that the only way to reach true inner peace was the absence of all desire. Jesus said that whoever would save his life must lose it.

I didn’t meet the love of my life until I gave up “looking for love in all the right places. Anyway, here’s the story about my recent streak of good luck.
The Wednesday before Thanksgiving I was packing lunches and listening to the news on National Public Radio (KWIT 90.3fm) when Bethany called down to me from brushing her teeth.

“Which President made Thanksgiving a Holiday?” she asked?
“Lincoln made it a CONTINUOUS, annual holiday, FDR made it the third Thursday, why?” I volleyed back, trying not to sound TOO much like Cliff Claven from ‘Cheers.’

“In 1789?” She asked.

“Only one guy was president in 1789,” I said.

“Call ‘the Bridge’ right now, they’re having a contest.” And she gave me the phone number.(‘the Bridge is a Christian station in Omaha, KGBI 100.7 fm.) I was in no hurry or panic since I not only knew the answer, but didn’t believe I had a snowballs chance in Havana of getting through anyway.

“Good morning, this is the Bridge, who was the President to first make Thanksgiving an official holiday in 1789?” asked the voice.

“Well, since the Constitution was just drafted in 1787, I’m going to say President George Washington.” I answered, trying to sound unsure of myself- which wasn’t hard since I was so shocked that I was actually speaking to a radio personality.

“That’s exactly right! What are you doing this morning?” asked the DJ.

“Uh, getting ready to go to school?” I said without thinking.

“Where do you go to school?” wow, I must sound young.

“Um, I teach at Boyer Valley in Dunlap.” I replied.

“Uh, oh, You don’t teach History do you?” shoot, I wondered if they were going to disqualify me or something.

“Uh, no, Art and Yearbook.” I muttered, as if I need to be ashamed that I teach Art, rather than History. I feel the same way when I tell people that I coach cheerleading rather than basketball. Of course, I didn’t go into it with the DJ that I did major in History and had taught it for the better part of a decade.

I was amazed at how quickly the prize came in the mail. Just a day or two, but I still didn’t think of myself as “a winner.” The prize was a CD and a DVD. Both of my favorite Christian musician, Steven Curtis Chapman. I had already gotten the CD for Bethany for Valentines Day (Arizona Statehood Day) and we didn’t have a DVD player, we still used the same VHS recorder we got as a wedding present. So I still felt like a loser. I was Charlie Brown on Halloween night when all the other kids are getting candy bars and money and popcorn balls, I got a rock.

So last week, at Santa Claus night in Charter Oak, I didn’t expect to win anything. I thought it would be great to win a turkey. Actually, I’m such a pessimist, I totally expected to win doughnuts and be embarrassed about how fat I am. Either that or I’d win a subscription to the NEWSpaper, which I already have.

Needless to say, I did a double take and didn’t believe my ears when my name was drawn for the DVD player. Part of me wanted to hide. I didn’t deserve this. Part of me wanted to jump up and down and squeal like a contestant on ‘the Price is Right.’ Wow, I’m not a total loser, I’m not, I’m not.

But you know what, it was a million times more exciting, more fulfilling, more thrilling, and more important to hear Gracie’s name drawn for the bike. It’s pretty big for her yet and she has a tough time with coordination, but wow. Just wow. That was really cool. I get to be related to her. She’s in my family. I’m pretty lucky.

There’s no place like Home

We newspaper people love to hear from our readers. I’m sure that Mike and Barb Lyon would love it if you’d make the NEWSpaper what’s called in the biz a “public forum.” A forum is a place where ideas are exchanged. Recently we’ve seen it happen with letters to the editor about the school board elections. The more you contribute to the NEWSpaper with your letters and submissions, the more it belongs to all of us in Ute and Charter Oak.

In the interest of communication, I’m revealing ALL of my email addresses to you, even though I’m putting myself at risk. You could stalk me or start sending huge amounts of “spam” to me. Please don’t. Pretty pleeease? With sugar on top?

Here they are, oh- by the way, my “snail mail” address (AKA: usps) is P.O.Box 75 in Charter Oak. tedm@mapletonpress.com, as you know is my official NEWSpaper address, but no one ever seems to write me there, even though it’s at the top of every column. malloryt-at--valley.k12.ia.us is my official email address at work down in Dunlap. We just got email this year so hardly anyone ever writes me there. Ted.Mallory-at-.org is my nifty new Concordia University, Nebraska alumni email address, it’s mostly if and when Boyer Valley blocks hotmail like every other school, but it may be a way for classmates who’ve lost touch to find me and I personally think it looks cool to other churches when I have Youth Group stuff to mail. coachmallory-at-.com is the address I check daily, but I should warn you, once you send me something I have your address forever and you might just find that you get all kinds of spam FROM me!

That said, it’s time so say something else-
Homecoming was really great. Friends, family members, alumni of all ages, Charter Oak and Ute are great places to live, be from, and come home to visit. Wherever you are scattered, whether you’re still in Crawford or Monona Counties, elsewhere in Iowa, California, Oklahoma, or on any of the ships at sea, you have to admit, that there’s no place like home.

Granted, I’m a transplant and as an employee of a different school district and parent of small children, I didn’t get in on all the homecoming activities COU had to offer last week, but judging by the coronation Sunday and the parade Wednesday, COU school and the town of Charter Oak are brimming with pride and spirit. Believe it or not, the level of involvement and enthusiasm at COU’s homecoming is very rare.

In a previous column, I applauded the contributions of Dan& Deb Kuhlman, Rosie Lally, and especially Lucia Lincoln for the hard work they put into the shelter house fundraiser. This week I want you all to give a big hand to the COU student Council, to Mrs. Linda Nepper, to Principal Rollie Wiebers, to all the kids, and quite frankly to every last one of YOU.

Sure, I love watching the golds and yellows and ambers of the fields instead of concrete and traffic, sure it’s important to raise my kids near family and in a safer environment, but what makes this such a great place to live is that the people who live here are so involved and connected.

There are city-slickers who would have giggled during coronation and thought it was too idyllic, too 1964, almost campy or kitsch. Like a scene out of “Pleasentville,” “the Truman Show,” or “Peggy Sue got Married,” but I thought it was one of the most well-planned out, charming, engaging, and meaningful high school ceremonies I’ve ever attended.

Maybe I’m naïve or idealizing things, but it sure looked like the royalty candidates were kids who genuinely reflected the best things about the student body. It wasn’t “just a popularity contest,” and (no offence winners, you great looking kids, but) they weren’t just chosen because they were the “hottest,” kids in school. That demonstrates a lot of character on the part of the voters.

Tessa Lally did a terrific job as emcee. The fact that candidates are expected to prepare an acceptance speech and the involvement of all four grade levels and eight kindergarteners are powerful and important things that most other schools overlook. Even the adapted “Miss America” song speaks volumes about the values and priorities COU is teaching.

I’ve seen a lot of parades. I’ve watched homecoming parades for at least a dozen schools over the years, often as part of the visiting football crowd. For my money, COU’s is the most amazing thing around. Oh, sure, some schools have more elaborate floats, but no place has the kind of whole-community involvement, participation and turn out that COU did last week.

It sure looked like the BBQ had a HUGE turn out too. You expatriated Charter Oakians and Utites, you missed a lot by not being here last Wednesday. Naturally, I was partial to the preschool kids from Noah’s Ark. Gracie insisted that her Mom or I could not walk with her, but she and her cousin Hallie stuck pretty close together all the way down Main Street.

I haven’t gone to a single homecoming at Shadow Mountain since graduating. I’ve only been to a couple at Concordia, but I tell ya what, COU alumni really have something special to come home to.
We should be proud. We are Americana and small-town Iowa at its best. We are the red, white, and true blue.

Cheesy puns put ‘unity’ in ‘community'

by Theodore J. Chipmonk

I have to hand it to Rosie Lally and Lucia Lincoln. They've done it again. Last weekend's benefit production put on by the Charter Oak Shelter House Committee was a laugh riot.

But it was a whole lot more than funny, it was democracy in action and it was exactly the kind of thing that makes small towns so wonderful.

The show was everything it set out to be. How many Broadway plays can say that? Of course, what it set out to be was silly, cheesy, puny fun. This play was everything a small town ought to be, and everything you look for in a friend or neighbor- totally unpretentious, self effacing, and able to laugh at them self. That may be due, a great deal to Rosie and Lucia.

Ms. Lincon has been teaching, (or “coaching”) drama at Charter Oak-Ute High School long enough to have established herself as a community institution. There are some powerful values that seep into the way she writes, plans, produces and directs her plays. It’s pretty obvious that she very deliberately tries to include as many people as possible.

As a result, more people are exposed to the creative process than usual. That way, we take ownership for it, we respect it and it’s more important to us. That also means that more of us “get cultured.” More of us attend such a play than normally would.

Another result is that the creative process is exposed to more hands, more input. Rosie & Lucia know we’re not professional actors and enjoy our idiosyncrasies. Heck, they take advantage of our personality quirks. In the case of last weekend’s play, they took advantage of our names.

It’s gotta drive them crazy. Having so many people learning and rehearsing parts has to start feeling like herding cats. But they manage it like pros.

Some would argue that “too many cooks ruin the soup.” Maybe so and that may be a problem if you’re trying to make Viennese turtle soup with truffles, but if you want a good ol' jambalaya, the more input the better. Lincoln and Lally actually ask for input, encourage improvisation and solicit creativity. What results is something that reflects who we are as a town, and is more our voice than either of their voices alone.

I know it sounds hokey to compare a High School English teacher to Thomas Jefferson, but just like he was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence but it was really written by the whole Continental Congress and is historically considered to be an expression of “the American mind,” Lucia starts out writing a fun little play but it takes on a life of it’s own and it really represents Charter Oak and belongs to Charter Oak, more than to Lucia or Rosie or any one else.

When I married Bethany, it didn’t take long for me to figure out that I didn’t just marry her, I married into a family, what’s more, I didn’t just marry into a family, I married into a town. That’s a wonderful feeling, even if it was a little intimidating at first. A stereotype we city native have of small towns is that they’re exclusive, stodgy, and unwelcoming to outsiders. Charter Oak broke the stereotype for me. It has been warm, accepting, understanding and has enthusiastically made me feel like a welcomed member of the community.

When we’d first come back to visit from college or California, I’d have a hard time placing names with faces. Bethany told me that there aren’t TOO many names to remember. If you know Neddermeyer, Kuhlman, Meseck, and Staley, you know almost about everybody. Thanks to last weekend’s play, I can put a lot more faces with a lot more names.

Those are the kind of values that Lucia’s dramas and her directing style embody. As a fellow teacher, I watched her at play practice to see what kinds of “teacher” things she does. Immediately following practice she made an effort to touch base with everyone she could. She praised them for their performance, gently suggested things she’s like them to add or change and often noticed things they did on their own that she thought contributed to the play.

Lots of us may have moaned or even cringed when we were asked to be involved, but think about two things; First, one of our pastors in California said that if you want someone to become a member of a church, you should “give ‘em a job.” Active participation automatically creates commitment. Second, one of the great things for armatures (and high school students) about having a huge cast is that they’re all short, easy parts. Anyone is more apt to help if they aren’t overwhelmed by how much they have to do.

In other words, “Many hands make light the work.” Or as Red Green says on IPTV, “We’re all in this together.”

That’s what community is all about. That’s what participatory democracy is all about. Helping each other, enjoying each other’s camaraderie. As everybody knows, the family that plays together stays together. I think that that has to be every bit as important as businesses or a school. If we enjoy working together to help each other out, we’ll stay afloat. I’ll bet we’ll even improve our town some, like by being able to build a new shelter house down at the park.

It may have been a corny, cheesy line at the end of a corny, cheesy play, but we ought to thank Lucia and Rosie for “putting the UNITY back in COMMUNITY!