Offenburger.com

Along Our Way

What a way to end a summer! We Offenburgers were the guests on a late-summer weekend at the lake house of our friends Joe and Cindy Connolly. The Connollys live in Council Bluffs and commute many weekends to their get-away place on a private lake just south of Columbus, Nebraska. It was a real “kick-back” weekend with lots of sunshine, fun boating, good food and plenty of time to read.
[TO SEE THESE PHOTOS & OTHERS IN LARGER FORMAT, AND TO READ A BRIEF STORY, CLICK HERE.]

A conversation

LIVING WITH CANCER

with the Offenburgers

Chuck Offenburger was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins follicular lymphoma cancer on July 10, 2009, had six months of chemotherapy & is now doing well in a “maintenance” program. Carla Offenburger underwent surgery on April 26, 2010, for removal of a jaw tumor which was found to contain adenoid cystic carcinoma cancer. She underwent six weeks of follow-up radiation in June and July, and continues under close medical observation. We post updates frequently here, including brief insights from Chuck, Carla and at least one of you readers.

“Carla, if you were standing here I’d hug you. This is such a ton of stress and scheduling for anyone but then add that you are recouping yourself and it is nearly overwhelming. Yet here you are forging ahead.”

FOR THE LATEST UPDATE, CLICK HERE.

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

Chuck Offenburger's
new book on sports
legend Gary Thompson
gets excellent reviews

FOR INFORMATION ON WHERE & HOW TO BUY THE BOOK, CLICK HERE!

''GARY THOMPSON: All-American'' is the new, 352-page biography of one of the state’s genuine sports icons. From 1950-’53 Gary Thompson led the Roland Rockets to high school sports glory in basketball and baseball, giant-killers from one of Iowa’s small schools. Then he led the Cyclones at Iowa State from 1953-’57, becoming the college’s first two-sport All-American. He’s had major success in broadcasting and business, from his home base in Ames. And he and his wife Janet have a family as solid as they come. “I’m the luckiest guy around,” Thompson says.

TO READ CHUCK OFFENBURGER'S COLUMN ABOUT THE BOOK AND THE ''BOOK LAUNCHING'' HELD EARLY IN DECEMBER, CLICK HERE.

TO READ DES MOINES REGISTER SPORTSWRITER RICK BROWN'S REVIEW OF THE BOOK, CLICK HERE.

TO READ CEDAR RAPIDS GAZETTE SPORTS COLUMNIST JIM ECKER'S REVIEW OF THE BOOK, CLICK HERE.

TO READ AMES DAILY TRIBUNE SPORTSWRITER DICK KELLY'S STORY ABOUT THE BOOK, CLICK HERE.

TO READ DOUG BURNS' STORY ABOUT THE BOOK IN THE CARROLL DAILY TIMES HERALD, CLICK HERE.

TO READ ANDY GOODELL'S STORY ABOUT THE BOOK IN THE OSKALOOSA HERALD, CLICK HERE.

WANT TO SEE AND HEAR THE OLD ROLAND HIGH SCHOOL FIGHT SONG PERFORMED? CLICK HERE!

FOR INFORMATION ON WHERE & HOW TO BUY THE BOOK, CLICK HERE!

FOR PHOTOS FROM OUR BOOK LAUNCHING EVENTS, CLICK HERE!

SEE BOB MODERSOHN'S PHOTOS OF OUR BOOK CHAT AND SIGNING AT BEAVERDALE BOOKS IN DES MOINES!

Our Partners & Patrons
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

Out in Greene County, Iowa

Iowa Hall of Pride in Des Moines now features 150 of our Don Poggensee’s photos of the state

By CHUCK OFFENBURGER
December 8, 2009
DES MOINES, IOWA

Like thousands of other Iowans, I have became a real fan of the photography of Don Poggensee, the shooter from Ida Grove in northwest Iowa whose work we feature regularly on this Internet site in the “Poggensee’s Postcards” feature.

We always look forward to his eye-popping landscapes of the Loess Hills in western Iowa, his images from his visits back to the Amish farm communities in northeast Iowa, his insightful shots of quirky little landmarks in communities across the state, his amazing pictures of wildlife, and his fond portrayals of life around Ida County. Occasionally he takes us beyond our state’s borders, like when he brings us views of the migration of whooping cranes through the Nebraska Sandhills.

There’s now a new opportunity to see a big collection of Poggensee’s best work.

There are 150 of his most memorable and stirring color photos of Iowa now being displayed at the Iowa Hall of Pride, which is located across the street from Wells Fargo Arena in downtown Des Moines. They are put together in an inspiring slide show that runs on a 42-inch plasma high-definition TV. While the images alternate on the big screen, there’s nice background music playing in a recording put together by David Bingham of the Ankeny-based firm Keep It Memorable Sports, a company which has done much of the video and audio work featured in the Hall of Pride.

Don Poggensee, of Ida Grove, is one of the best photographers working in Iowa today.

The display is entitled, “Is This Heaven? No It’s Iowa!” Of course, that’s a line borrowed from the 1989 smash-hit movie, “Field of Dreams.”

Jack Lashier, executive director of the Hall of Pride, said “that line is what I immediately thought of when I saw all of Don Poggensee’s photos of the state put together. They really show what a beautiful place Iowa is.”

They also show how varied and interesting all the aspects of Iowa life are.

“It is certainly an honor to display my work at the Iowa Hall of Pride,” Poggensee said. “I love to share my photos, and this is another place that people can see what I see around Iowa with my camera. The photos may help them understand what a great and beautiful place Iowa really is.”

Poggensee, 65, is a native of the Denison area in western Iowa. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force after high school, was trained as a pilot and a flight instructor. During his travels for the military, he began developing his interest in photography. Eventually he started offering some of his photos to magazines and newspapers.

After his time in the Air Force, he became a corporate pilot for GOMACO, the Ida Grove-based company that makes machines – many of them huge – used in concrete construction projects around the world. He retired from flying for the company in 2000 but continues today as the manager of the firm’s digital photo lab. He has been a GOMACO employee for 41 years, the last 36 in a full-time position.

His photos have by now been published in more than 70 different magazines as well as in many books. He has had two different traveling exhibits of his photos on the Loess Hills and one on Amish life in the Midwest.

You can read more about Poggensee by clicking here.

The display of his photos at the Iowa Hall of Pride opened in November and will continue indefinitely. That facility is open Monday thru Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. You can get more information about it by clicking here.

You can write the columnist at chuck@Offenburger.com.

Here is the kiosk in the Iowa Hall of Pride in Des Moines that features 150 of Poggensee’s photos on the 42-inch plasma high-definition TV.

One of the Poggensee photos featured in the display is this striking view of downtown Des Moines at night.

Here is a Poggensee photo of an Amish farmer binding soybeans in a field near Hazleton in northeast Iowa.

A Poggensee photo from the National Balloon Classic in Indianola.

Here Poggensee shows the legendary “Black Angel” in a Council Bluffs cemetery.

One of Poggensee’s most fun photos – of kids in the pig-wrestling in the mud, an annual event at the Ida County Fair.

The sign on the kiosk where Poggensee’s photos are being displayed at the Iowa Hall of Pride.