By CHUCK OFFENBURGER CENTERVILLE, Tennessee, July 15, 2016 — This is “The Third Weekend,” as African Americans with roots in Hickman County refer to this part of July — time for them to come back home to Centerville for a couple days.  Then on Sunday, they all travel 60 miles east to Hadley Park in north…

By CHUCK OFFENBURGER COOPER, Iowa, July 2, 2016 — At our house, we’ve got the schedule cleared between 5 and 7 p.m. this evening so we can tune-in to the final broadcast by Garrison Keillor on “A Prairie Home Companion” on public radio. I’ve been listening to Keillor since his earliest nationwide shows, have read…

By CHUCK OFFENBURGER COOPER, Iowa, July 4, 2016 — It’s been nearly 90 years since “knee-high by the 4th of July” was a legitimate measure of a good corn crop, going waaay back before Iowa farmers had the fantastic hybrid seed varieties that they use today. But our neighbor and pal Doug Lawton still good-naturedly puts up with our…