By CHUCK OFFENBURGER COOPER, Iowa, July 4, 2018 — Well, God bless America anyway. That’s the mindset good farmers like our neighbors Doug & Karen Lawton have to put themselves in this Independence Day. Yes, the corn looks way better than the old “knee-high by the 4th of July” standard of the pre-hybrids era of…
By CHUCK OFFENBURGER JEFFERSON, Iowa, June 5, 2018 — If you’ve known Terry Rich well over the years, you’ll be shocked at this — when I asked him the other day what being named the 2018 “Bell Tower of Fame” award winner means to him, he lowered his chin, choked back some emotion and said softly,…
By CHUCK OFFENBURGER JEFFERSON, Iowa, June 6, 2018 – By proclamation of the Greene County Board of Supervisors, this past Sunday, June 3, was officially “Carla and Chuck Offenburger Day” here in our home county. Reports from the field are that there were no injuries, property damage, fights, protests or arrests. Carla and I are…
The ceramic tile mosaic “The Land of Plenty” – 14 feet in diameter and made from more than 48,000 hand-cut and hand-placed pieces – is probably the most fantastic art installation in the whole county. “It’s symbolic of your community, your history, your culture, your economy,” says one of America’s leading ceramic artists of today.…
By CHUCK OFFENBURGER JEFFERSON, Iowa, Oct. 16, 2017 — The “Courthouse 100” committee, which for nearly two years has been planning events celebrating the centennial of the Greene County Courthouse, has had some fun surprises while sifting through the history of the inspiring building in Jefferson. That history, and the continuing operations of county government…