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,…
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…
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,…
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…
(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,…