Atten-hut! Meet the “Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey”! Greene County high school students asked for help bringing proper public recognition to an inspiring but mostly forgotten local Civil War story. Here’s the schedule of when and where to see them.

By CHUCK OFFENBURGER JEFFERSON, Iowa, Oct. 10, 2026 — Early this year, when I realized how big our “Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey” local Civil War history project was becoming, I called Debi Durham, director of the Iowa Economic Development Authority and thus overseer of the Iowa Arts Council, about it. “It’s my last big hurrah,”…

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He’s once again a Des Moines guy: His “home plate,” with him since ’65, is now in the capital city.

By CHUCK OFFENBURGER DES MOINES, Iowa, Oct. 3, 2026 — Since 2004, I was a property owner, legal resident and enthusiastic supporter of life in Greene County. But last Wednesday, as September ended, I cleared out of the apartment that my wife Mary Riche and I have rented in Jefferson for 4+ years. On Thursday,…

Out in Greene County, Iowa

In Jefferson, a celebration of 150 years for one of our most iconic buildings, a “house of five miracles.”

By CHUCK OFFENBURGER JEFFERSON, Iowa, Sept. 26, 2026 — A key part of local history is going to be celebrated here in one of my hometowns on Sunday, Oct. 4, at 4 p.m. at the Centennial Café on the northwest corner of the Greene County Courthouse square. You’re all invited. There’ll be light refreshments and…

Out in Greene County, Iowa

“…that cute cheerleader from Junction,” who died at 99, was an MVP citizen of Greene County.

By CHUCK OFFENBURGER JEFFERSON, Iowa, Sept. 19, 2026 — We in Greene County lost one of our favorites recently with the death of 99-year-old Marilynn Hoskinson. Her funeral on Wednesday, Sept. 16, at First Presbyterian Church here was actually a feel-good event. There were a few tears, of course, but many more laughs. “It’s almost…

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Shenandoah native son Willis David Hoover was a small-town storyteller, as good as they come.

By CHUCK OFFENBURGER SHENANDOAH, Iowa, Sept. 13, 2026 — “This is not your grandpa’s funeral,” Bill Hillman said to a crowd of about 50 people gathered on a hot, sunny, Sunday afternoon in a large tent on the lawn of his Depot Restaurant & Lounge here in my ol’ hometown in southwest Iowa. “I really…

As another football season begins: I’m learning again there’s always something interesting on sidelines!

By CHUCK OFFENBURGER JEFFERSON & DES MOINES, Iowa, Aug. 29, 2026 — Hmmm, so, how was it the last football season came to a close for me? The Iowa Hawkeyes, the football team of my wife Mary Riche’s alma mater, the University of Iowa, beat the Vanderbilt Commodores, the football team from my alma mater,…

It’s really all about opportunities: Oelwein’s high school Class of 1966 had many good ones.

By CHUCK OFFENBURGER OELWEIN, Iowa, August 22, 2026 — Oh, how I love class reunions! Saturday night, August 15, when the Oelwein Community High School Class of 1966 gathered for their 60-year reunion in this northeast Iowa town, emcee Richard Roepke, now of Ames, asked each of the class members in the crowd to stand…

What Tom Vilsack is getting into now: He’s a “celebrity judge” of Iowa State Fair cinnamon rolls!

(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,…

“Schoolboy Soldiers” on the air! Iowa Public Radio’s Charity Nebbe shared our Civil War story.

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…

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…

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