 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  Carla’s sister & brother-in-law Chris and Tony Woods, of Des Moines, were at the farm on Sunday, August 22, helping Carla do the lawn mowing and other yard work that we’ve struggled to keep up with lately, with all our medical appointments. The Woodses brought along their 18-month-old granddaughter Ari, who was a delight watching all the action from the porch with Chuck, catching up on her reading and then getting a moment on the lawn tractor seat! Click here for larger format Earlier photos in this series Iowa Hall of Pride netINS, Inc. Butler House on Grand B&B Sam's Barber Shop Douglas T. Bates III, Attorney KMA Radio's ''Chuck & Don Show'' Barack Obama story & coloring book The Monks of New Melleray Abbey RELATED LINKS About Offenburger.com Biographies Want to Reprint? Want Updates? ARCHIVES Chuck Offenburger's columns Christie Vilsack's columns Carla Offenburger's columns Carla's book reviews Jared Strong's columns Guest Columns The Simple Serenity Farm columns Farm Photos, 2006 - 2008 Our Iowa News Digest Along Our Way 
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 Cartoonist & cyclist Brian Duffy is guest speaker at our trail association's February 21 banquet By CHUCK OFFENBURGER January 10, 2009 PANORA, IOWA Brian Duffy, who for 25 years was editorial cartoonist for the Des Moines Register and for 10 years was host of the newspaper's RAGBRAI bike ride across the state, will be the guest speaker at the second annual membership banquet of the Raccoon River Valley Trail Association.
Duffy, whose front-page cartoons were one of the Register's most popular features, was fired by the newspaper in early December along with 70 other employees in an economic cutback. Register subscribers were shocked, so much so that several hundred reportedly canceled their subscriptions to the newspaper. His cartoons are still being distributed nationally to about 400 newspapers by King Features Syndicate, and he is a regular in the Cityview weekly newspaper in Des Moines. Duffy has been riding RAGBRAI for 20 years, and for the past decade, was host of it. But after leaving the Register, he has said that he will no longer participate in RAGBRAI. He does plans to continue as a very active cyclist, however, for both racing and touring. He knows the Raccoon River Valley Trail well. ''I've been riding the RRVT, going back to its earliest years,'' said Duffy, who lives in West Des Moines. ''I've had some great times out on that trail, and it will be fun speaking the RRVT Association's banquet. I'll talk about cartooning, and cycling, and show a lot of cartoons on a PowerPoint. And I like to bring along my sketch pad and do some drawing during my talks.'' Another feature of this year's banquet will be a preview of the Des Moines Cycle Club's ''Tour the Raccoon'' bike ride that the club is sponsoring for the first time the weekend of June 13-14. The DMCC ride is open to the public, and registrations will be accepted beginning in February. On June 13, cyclists will leave the Des Moines metro area and ride the trail on its full, 56-mile length, passing through all the RRVT towns along the way, then overnighting in Jefferson during the community's 30th annual Bell Tower Festival. The June 14 ride will reverse the route and use the to return to the Des Moines area. The RRVT Association banquet will also feature an auction, with items offered during live bidding and also silent bidding. Among the items available will be a new cartoon by Duffy, featuring the RRVT, which he is drawing especially for the fundraising event. The social hour will begin at 6 p.m. on that Saturday evening. A full dinner will be held at 7 p.m. with a choice of different entrees. Duffy's speech and the live auction will follow the meal. Tickets for the evening are $25 per person. They can be purchased from all members of the board of directors of the RRVT Association, or they can be ordered by mail, using a handy form which you can print out and mail with your check. Click here for that handy form to order your tickets. It's also easy to order your 2009 memberships in the RRVT Association on that same form. The basic membership is $20 per person, and includes a 2009 trail pass. Family memberships are $35 and include two 2009 trail passes. All proceeds from the banquet go toward help the RRVT Association market and develop the trail. When you join the association, $10 from each membership goes to the three county conservation boards which own and operate the RRVT. The remaining part of the membership fee goes to the association for marketing and promotion. More details about the banquet -- including a list of the auction items -- will be announced in coming weeks on the Internet site www.raccoonrivervalleytrail.org. You can write the columnist at chuck@Offenburger.com.
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