Along Our Way
The third annual Fall Festival on the Raccoon River Valley Trail drew several hundred people in ideal weather on Saturday, October 4. There was a huge breakfast, bicycle riders, tram riders, walkers, lunch at a river bridge and another ''Trick-or-Treat Trail Trek'' for costumed dogs!
[CLICK FOR MORE PHOTOS IN LARGER FORMAT & ADDITIONAL DETAILS]
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Our Partners & Patrons
Iowa Hall of Pride
netINS, Inc.
Butler House on Grand B&B
Sam's Barber Shop
Breitbach's Country Dining
Douglas T. Bates III, Attorney
KMA Radio's ''Chuck & Don Show''
The Monks of New Melleray Abbey
How the donut man from Bunkers Dunkers in Jefferson helped land RAGBRAI XXXVI for an overnight stop here!
The route for the 2008 RAGBRAI -- that's the Des Moines Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa -- included our Greene County seat of Jefferson as an overnight stop on Monday, July 21. More than 20,000 people came to Jefferson, pop. 4,600, that night. Read the amazing story here about a chance encounter three years ago in Florida, where our vacationing local donut king Randy Bunkers warmly greeted a stranger who was wearing a RAGBRAI T-shirt. The fellow happened to be RAGBRAI director T.J. Juskiewicz -- and in the summer of 2008, hurrah! RAGBRAI came our way!
[READ MORE]
Our hometown of
Cooper may look
pretty sleepy but
there's a whole lot
happening here!
There’s the annual Cooper Prom (for all ages), concerts, basketball, suppers, ice cream socials and people coming through all the time on the Raccoon River Valley Trail. Here is the story on the little community in Greene County, Iowa, that is now home for the Offenburgers.
[READ MORE]
RELATED LINKS
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Chuck Offenburger's columns
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Carla Offenburger's columns
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Jared Strong's columns
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The Simple Serenity Farm
columns
Farm Photos, 2006 - 2008
Our Iowa News Digest
Along Our Way
What’s the deal with the
black & white saddle shoes?
Click here for the story of our farm in Greene County, Iowa.
Here's looking at life
at Simple Serenity Farm
It's been quite a year for gardening at the farm, and here are some photos of the late bounty Follow the link below for additional details.
Click here for larger format
Earlier photos in this series
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| POGGENSEE'S POSTCARDS
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Photographer Don Poggensee
gives us a view of autumn birds,
some preparing for winter here,
others ready to head south
Pictures by Iowa photographer Don Poggensee |
COMING UP IN IOWA
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We recommend the following, if you want to experience this state at
its best!
October 11: An unexpectedly big Iowa Conference football game in the historic Rock Bowl in Dubuque at 1 p.m. It's the Buena Vista University Beavers, 3-0 in the conference, playing the Loras College Duhawks, 2-0 in the league, for the lead and the inside track to the championship. It's a whole new deal, now that favorites Central and Wartburg have already been beaten in the conference. For details, click here.
Oct. 11 & 12: It's ''Fall Festival'' weekend at Deal's Orchard, just west of Jefferson, one of the real traditions of autum in west central Iowa. Fresh cider, apples, pies, pumpkins, plus lots of other food, music and hayrides. For details, click here.
Oct. 25: Pheasant hunting season starts across Iowa, and continues thru Jan. 10. For details, and seasons on other game, click here.
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THE CONTINUOUS
IOWA CAUCUS
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It is a great time in rural Iowa, watching the harvest transform the countryside and our communities. Which part of the harvest do you most wish you could experience yourself?
[SEE PAST RESULTS]
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| | Out in Greene County, Iowa |  Perfect autumn weather forecasted on Saturday for the Raccoon River Valley Trail Fall Festival
By CHUCK OFFENBURGER
October 2, 2008
COOPER, IOWA
You're invited. It will be a great time to experience our 56-mile-long hard-surfaced trail from Jefferson to Waukee, the latter on the edge of the Des Moines metro area. Walk, jog, skate, ride a bicycle or come to Jefferson and enjoy a free ride on an open-air tram that will give you an eight-mile round-trip cruise on one of the prettiest sections of the trail. What's that? You want to bring Fido or Fifi along? Fine, put a costume on him or her (you, too!) and enter the “Trick-or-Treat Trail Trek” for dogs at the trailhead in Panora. There is something for everybody! [READ MORE] |
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| | What's Carla Reading? |  How she became a major fan of a leading sports commentator & writer, then met him!
By CARLA OFFENBURGER
September 3, 2008
COOPER, IOWA
Our reviewer became familiar with sportswriter Frank Deford by listening to his commentaries every Wednesday on National Public Radio's ''Morning Edition'' news show. Then when she learned he would be speaking at the Iowa Book Festival in the town of Adel, she jumped at the opportunity to hear him in person, buy his books and begin savoring his written work. And now she's a bigger fan than ever. [READ MORE]
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| | | | Our Iowa News Digest | Recent items of interest in
our perhaps peculiar view
LET'S HEAR IT FOR BREITBACH'S! - Balltown, October 2, 2008
THE MARLBORO MAN IS NOT HAPPY - Shenandoah, Oct. 1, 2008
WHAT A BUNCH OF FOOTBALL HOOIE - Cooper, September 16, 2008
TALLEST CORN STALK & BIG TALK - Guthrie Center, September 6, 2008
THE HUMOR OF CHURCH MUSICIANS - Jefferson, June 9, 2008
WELCOME, STRANGER, TO COON RAPIDS! - Coon Rapids, May 30, 2008 [READ MORE]
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Featured Partner & Patron
| Butler House on Grand
One of Iowa’s best B&Bs
4507 Grand Avenue
Des Moines, Iowa 50312
(515) 255-4096
info@butlerhouseongrand.com
www.butlerhouseongrand.com
The Offenburgers’ home away from home in Des Moines, the Butler House on Grand is an elegant 78-year-old Tudor home built by one of the capital city’s leading families.
It has been lovingly restored as a bed-and-breakfast by Clark and Lauren Smith, who bought it in 1996 and live there with daughters Darby, 7, and baby Brigid. The Smiths’ progress was followed in a series of articles in the Des Moines Register. The Butler House was named the Des Moines Symphony Alliance’s Designer Show House in the fall of 1999, and its living room, dining room, library, hallways and seven guest rooms are filled with the work of area designers and artists. Andrew Offenburger never misses a chance to sit down and play the baby grand piano.
The Butler House on Grand is across the street from the Des Moines Art Center and beautiful Greenwood Park and, as the Smiths say, “Close to everything in the Des Moines Metro!” The rooms are quiet and comfortable, the food is great and the friendliness of the Smiths is unsurpassed by any innkeepers anywhere.
Your hosts: Clark and Lauren Smith and daughters Darby and little Brigid. |
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