LE CLAIRE, Iowa, March 2, 2014 – Photographer Don Poggensee recently was in this eastern Iowa town to check on the eagles wintering along the Mississippi River. “Below Lock & Dam No. 14, eagles seem to be everywhere,” he reported. Iowa is now one of the leading states for wintering bald eagles. And he provided…
By CHUCK OFFENBURGER COOPER, Iowa, March 3, 2014 –The Iowa girls high school state basketball tournament happens this week at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, and that brought Iowa Public Television to Greene County last week to talk some history. Why here? One reason is that I’m here, and I wrote the 2002 book…
By CHUCK OFFENBURGER SHENANDOAH, Iowa, Feb. 12, 2014 – Kathryn Ketcham, 96-year-old mother of my lifelong friend and high school classmate Bruce Ketcham, died in late January. I’m really glad I was able to attend her funeral here in my ol’ hometown. You know, I can hardly think of her as “Kathryn.” Even though she never would…
By CARLA OFFENBURGER COOPER, Iowa, Jan. 11, 2014 – I was so excited on the recent New Year’s Eve when I had finally reached – and topped – my 5-year-old goal of reading 52 or more books in one year. I finished 2013 with 54! I read a lot, and it would seem that this…
By CHUCK OFFENBURGER GREENFIELD, Iowa, March 5, 2014 — Iowa Public Television tonight premieres an hour-long documentary telling the story of one of the state’s most remarkable journalism families and their newspaper. They are the Sideys, of Greenfield, and the weekly newspaper they’ve owned and operated with love and professionalism for 125 years, the Adair…
By CHUCK OFFENBURGER COOPER, Iowa, Feb. 10, 2014 — We of the musical composing team of Mariska & Offenburger have given our all for ol’ Cottey College, the all-women’s school in Missouri owned by the all-women’s organization P.E.O. And we now turn over to the Cottey students, faculty and staff — as well as to…
IDA GROVE, Iowa, Feb. 6, 2014 –“It was good to see the Alta-Aurelia school students out on Moorehead Lake during a ‘First Experience’ ice fishing outing,” photographer Don Poggensee reported the other day, when he sent us some beautiful winter images of Iowa. “I understand that all the students were able to land fish, and what a great way to…
By CHUCK OFFENBURGER GRIMES, Iowa, Feb. 12, 2014 — My nephew Mark Watson, 50-something, asked me recently to come tell his West Polk County Rotary Club how to become bicyclists. “I think if you’ll talk about the advantages of biking, it might be good for some of us older farts in the group,” Mark said. …
IDA GROVE, Iowa, Jan. 14, 2014 – Photographer Don Poggensee always has his eye out for nice scenery, wildlife and interesting people, and sometimes he finds himself staring at signs. “I decided to share some of the signs I’ve seen during this past year, traveling and photographing,” he said. “Some signs have more than one…
By CHUCK OFFENBURGER BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Jan. 16, 2014 — We loved our recent five-day stay here. We especially loved it that our football team, the Vanderbilt Commodores, won their bowl game. Beyond that, experiencing the historic portrayals of Birmingham’s place in America’s civil rights history was eye-opening and powerful. Sampling life in the “new” Birmingham was…
