What Tom Vilsack is getting into now: The World Food Prize CEO, former governor & U.S. Ag Secretary is the “celebrity judge” for our Great Iowa Cinnamon Roll Challenge at the Iowa State Fair.

(The following column was written under the influence of a fine cinnamon roll from The Bake Shoppe in Windsor Heights, Iowa.) By CHUCK OFFENBURGER DES MOINES, Iowa, Aug. 14, 2026 — Dee Dee Kennedy, Anita Van Gundy and Amy Fuson have been in my dreams the last couple weeks. Oh, not the three women, actually,…

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Out in Greene County, Iowa

“Schoolboy Soldiers” on the air! On Monday, Iowa Public Radio’s Charity Nebbe shares the little-known story of the young soldiers from Rippey, in Civil War, on her “Talk of Iowa” show. More big news here, too!

By CHUCK OFFENBURGER JEFFERSON, Iowa, Aug. 2 — The very popular Iowa Public Radio and Iowa PBS-TV show host Charity Nebbe will bring the nearly-forgotten story of our “Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey” to listeners on her “Talk of Iowa” radio show this Monday, Aug. 3, at 10 a.m. CDT. My readers now know much of…

OFFENBLOGGER

Bowing out of bicycling & RAGBRAI: He’ll “stick to taking walks, porch-sitting and telling stories.”

By CHUCK OFFENBURGER DES MOINES, Iowa, July 26, 2026 — Oh, how I’ve loved RAGBRAI, the 53rd edition of which ended Saturday, July 25, in Dubuque. I’ve ridden 30-plus of them, starting in 1983, but in more recent years, just a day or two. I will be forever grateful for all that the great bicycle…

OFFENBLOGGER

If you love sportswriting, & Carroll’s Times Herald job is opening up, you feel the ol’ spirit stirring.

By CHUCK OFFENBURGER DES MOINES, Iowa, July 11, 2026 — In this week of my 79th birthday (July 11), the Carroll Times Herald, one of the nine newspapers I subscribe to, has been running an ad saying it “has an opening for a full-time sportswriter/photographer…. “A love for high school sports is a must for…

OFFENBLOGGER

Let’s get (cinnamon) rolling! The “Great Iowa Cinnamon Roll Challenge” comes with huge $$ prizes!

DES MOINES, Iowa, July 7, 2026— The Great Iowa Cinnamon Roll Challenge of 2026 is now set for 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 22, at the Iowa State Fair here. The event celebrates Chuck Offenburger’s decades of experience and pursuit of the best cinnamon roll in Iowa. (That’s me.) As the former Iowa Boy columnist…

Our deep roots as farmers: Thoughts as we do the 4th of July measure of the Lawtons’ 2026 corn crop.

By CHUCK OFFENBURGER COOPER, Iowa, July 4, 2026 — It’s such a good life, farming. It really is. Don’t most all of us know that from our own families’ histories? We’re well-rooted in it. That came up here Friday as I met with my great friends, Doug and Karen Lawton, now 71 and 68, at…

A farewell after 96 years together: My alma mater Shenandoah High leaves the Hawkeye Ten.

By CHUCK OFFENBURGER SHENANDOAH, Iowa, June 28, 2026 — Please oblige me as I share some hometown news, maybe grieve just a little, and then start celebrating 96 years of mostly great memories. This coming week, the boys and girls sports teams from my alma mater Shenandoah High School, here in southwest Iowa, will have…

Who is the most notable American in 250 years? We RicheBurgers share our thoughts & ask yours.

By CHUCK OFFENBURGER WASHINGTON, D.C., June 21, 2026 — In this summer when we are celebrating the 250th anniversary of the founding of the nation, it seemed like a great time for my wife Mary Riche and me to spend a long weekend in and around our capital. We did that Friday thru Tuesday, June…

Pvt. John H. Toliver subs for Chuck Offenburger: Was all they sacrificed in the Civil War worth it?

By PVT. JOHN H. TOLIVER JEFFERSON, Iowa — It might have looked like the columnist Chuck Offenburger was marching with the “Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey” in the Bell Tower Festival parade Saturday morning in this west central Iowa town. I guess I might look like him. But allow me to introduce myself. I am Pvt.…

A “celebrations” kind of guy says “America 250 Iowa” is here. Divided as we are, let’s still celebrate!

By CHUCK OFFENBURGER JEFFERSON, Iowa, May 30, 2026 — Several days ago, I happened to be talking to Carter Petterson, who’d just graduated from Greene County High School here. He was telling me he will enroll this fall at Warburg College in Waverly, and so I asked him, “Have you had a chance yet to…

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What Tom Vilsack is getting into now: The World Food Prize CEO, former governor & U.S. Ag Secretary is the “celebrity judge” for our Great Iowa Cinnamon Roll Challenge at the Iowa State Fair.

“Schoolboy Soldiers” on the air! On Monday, Iowa Public Radio’s Charity Nebbe shares the little-known story of the young soldiers from Rippey, in Civil War, on her “Talk of Iowa” show. More big news here, too!

Bowing out of bicycling & RAGBRAI: He’ll “stick to taking walks, porch-sitting and telling stories.”

If you love sportswriting, & Carroll’s Times Herald job is opening up, you feel the ol’ spirit stirring.

Let’s get (cinnamon) rolling! The “Great Iowa Cinnamon Roll Challenge” comes with huge $$ prizes!

Our deep roots as farmers: Thoughts as we do the 4th of July measure of the Lawtons’ 2026 corn crop.

A farewell after 96 years together: My alma mater Shenandoah High leaves the Hawkeye Ten.

Who is the most notable American in 250 years? We RicheBurgers share our thoughts & ask yours.

Pvt. John H. Toliver subs for Chuck Offenburger: Was all they sacrificed in the Civil War worth it?

A “celebrations” kind of guy says “America 250 Iowa” is here. Divided as we are, let’s still celebrate!