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August 14, 2010
- Occasionally something comes across our desk that we
think worth sharing whether it is a documentary film about a
social justice issue, a recipe, or news of a Rolfe graduate.
In this case, it is story from yesteryear about two
well-known men in the Rolfe area. The story comes from Mary
Le Nelson Clark (RHS 1954) and is about
Deane Gunderson
(1935), who died this summer, and her father,
LeRoy Nelson (1927),
who died in 2003. Enjoy.
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from Mary Le Nelson Clark I've always loved the story
about Deane and my father, LeRoy Nelson, meeting in front of the
Rolfe State Bank. Deane had a belt on that was up to the very
last hole. Dad looked at it and said, "Deane, your belt is too
short." Deane looked at Dad's belt which had a long flap and
said, "LeRoy, your belt is too long." Right there on Main
Street, in front of the bank, they each pulled off their belts
and made the exchange. |
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August 5, 2010
- We have posted a
YouTube slide
show about Anita Beckord that her family created for her
memorial service.
August 4, 2010
- We have posted the obituary for former Rolfe resident
Anita Beckord who died yesterday.
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Obituary
Anita Mae Miller Beckord of Longmont,
Colorado, passed away August 3, 2010 at her Hover
Village home. She was 91.
Anita was born April,16 1919 in Havelock, Iowa, to
George and Sarah Buck Miller. She grew up in nearby
Rolfe, Iowa, where she graduated from high school in
1936. She had one brother, Leroy.
more |
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August 3, 2010
- Several days ago, Sara Beckord wrote to say that her
mother, Anita Miller Beckord (RHS 1936), had been admitted
to Hospice in Colorado. This afternoon, Bruce Beckord wrote
to say Anita "passed away very peacefully this morning at
about 10:00. Services will be on Saturday at Westview
Presbyterian church in Longmont." Anita and her husband,
George, owned and
operated Beckord's Hatchery in Rolfe. In 1979, they retired
to Estes Park, Colorado. Later they lived in Longmont where
George died in 1996. Anita and George have four surviving
children: Sydney (1958), Bruce (1961), Sara (1968), and John
(1964). Their son Don
(1962) died in 1997 from complications of
diabetes.
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Martin DeWall (RHS 1941) died on July 31 at the
Pocahontas Community Hospital. Martin and Lenora DeWall
farmed in the Pocahontas County area until retiring in
Pocahontas in 1988. Their children include Brenda (1968),
Dennis (1970), Sharon (1975), and Garry (1977).
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Emondeane Ricklefs, age 85, died on May 25 at the Rolfe
Care Center. Emondeane and her husband,
Bernard Ricklefs,
who attended Rolfe High School, farmed south of Rolfe and
raised three children: Tim (1963), Bennet (1966), and Susan
(1967). Bernard died in 2003.
July 14, 2010
- Some Rolfe folk have been working on a grant with the
idea of improving the looks of the town. They recently sent
out a news release about an upcoming public meeting to
unveil their vision and a
flyer
that gives a glimpse of their vision.
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Public Meeting to Showcase
Visioning Concept for Rolfe
Rolfe, IA (July 12, 2010) – On Thursday,
July 22, starting at 4:00 pm, residents of
Rolfe will have the opportunity to view the
final conceptual landscape plan for the
community during a public showing at the
Farmers Market. A formal presentation of the
proposed designs will be held at 5:30 in the
Community Center.
Landscape architect, Jen DeWall, Andrew
Kraemer, student intern from Iowa State
University, Trees Forever field coordinator,
Barb Grabner-Kerns, and members of the Rolfe
visioning committee will be available to
explain the plan and answer any questions.
Some of the areas that have been addressed
in these plans include new trail
development, main street beautification, and
interpretive and wayfinding signage.
Residents who want more information or who
are interested in participating in the
visioning process should contact
Gloria
Gunderson, committee chair or Barb
Grabner-Kerns, Trees Forever Field
Coordinator, at 515-576-3436.
The next steps of the visioning committee
include presentation of cost estimates, and
planning for implementation of projects from
the conceptual design plan. This is
scheduled for Tuesday, August 10 at 5:30
p.m. in the Community Center. Everyone is
always welcome.
The Iowa’s Living Roadways Community
Visioning Program is sponsored by the Iowa
Department of Transportation in partnership
with Iowa State University Extension
Landscape Architecture and Trees Forever.
flyer |
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July 9, 2010
- We have corrected and added to the
memorial page for
Deane Gunderson. One of the items is a set of memories from
Wayne and Anita Beal of Ames who knew Deane when he was on
the Iowa Association of School Boards.
July 5, 2010
- Glenn Markley of the class of 1955 informed us that
Darlene Burns, age 96 of Rolfe, died this morning. There
will be a viewing at 9 a.m. on Thursday, July 8, and a
funeral service will follow at Powers Funeral Home.
- We have posted the
official obituary
for Deane Gunderson who died on July 1 and some
home movies and video
clips that were created for his 90th birthday
celebration in 2008.
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July 1, 2010
Deane Gunderson, a 1935 graduate of RHS and a retired Rolfe farmer, died peacefully at the Israel Family Hospice House in
Ames on July 1, 2010. It was an idyllic day with sunshine, blue skies,
and billowy, white clouds with temperatures in the 80s.
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After a month of many inches of rain, the day's weather was perfect
for growing corn and soybeans–the two crops grown on Deane's land.
Deane's family had him moved to the Hospice facility at four
o'clock the previous afternoon from Mary Greeley Hospital in
Ames where he had been for a week after he fell on Father's Day
at Arlington Place. It is an assisted living center in
Pocahontas. At Mary Greeley, doctors monitored Deane, who had a sub-dural hemotoma (a
collection of blood between the brain membrane and skull) that may have
been related to the fall.
more |
June 25, 2010
- The Rolfe High School class of 1960 will celebrate its
50th anniversary at a reunion in Algona on July 9 with some
classmates attending Greater Rolfe Days events the
next day. RHS Web site editor, Helen Gunderson (RHS 1963),
created a short YouTube tribute to the class. The video uses
movies shot by Superintendent Ralph Mortensen in the 1950s,
photos that Helen's sister, Clara Gunderson Hoover, had
collected of members of the class of 1960, and music by
Emily Anderson. Coincidentally, Clara celebrates her
birthday on July 9. Best wishes to the class, and happy
birthday to Clara.
May 16, 2010
- Today's edition of the Des Moines Register
carried an
update on the status of Heather DeJoode.
May 13, 2010
- Mary Lyon, who was a Rolfe
elementary school teacher from 1965-1976, died on May 4 at
the age of 98 in Spencer.
obituary
- Our condolences to Mark Eccles (RHS 1969) of Cedar
Rapids and his family. Mark's daughter, Heather DeJoode of
Ankeny, was recently involved in a truck-car accident that
killed her five-year old son Carson and five-month-old
daughter Claire. Heather and her son Chase survived. Carson
and Claire are the great-grandchildren of Guy (RHS 1940) and
Mary Ellen Eccles of Rolfe.
WHO newstory
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May 10, 2010
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May 4, 2010
- The
Rolfe
Public Library is nearing completion of a project to
digitize 110 oral history interviews conducted in 1980 and
1981 of a variety of Rolfe people. The interviews were
recorded on audio cassette tapes but will be available on
CDs at the library. Interested persons can also arrange to
obtain CDs for their own collections.
Recently, the library embarked on a project to digitize 33
rolls of microfilm of the Rolfe Arrow and related
newspapers, such as the Rolfe Reveille, with
publication dates ranging from 1888 to 1989. The goal is to
post the digital version of the newspapers on-line by
February 2011 where visitors will be able to use the Web
site’s search tool to find key words.
more
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April 9, 2010 — Editor's corner by Helen Gunderson |
| Life
here in Ames is full with gardening and plenty of napping to deal with
fuzziness in my system that is probably a reaction to
stuff in the springtime air. However, I did get time to shorten
the video that I produced in 1997 about the road I where I grew up.
The show is now 10 minutes long and short enough to post on YouTube.
Some of you may have already seen it in a 13-minute WMV file. Hopefully, by
being on YouTube, it will get more visibility. I will embed the
program here, add some thoughts about Miss Marcum, then plant onion
seedlings that I started a few weeks ago. They need to get in the
ground before they perish in the containers, which are the
bottoms of gallon milk jugs.
more |
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April 8, 2010
- Mary Elizabeth (McEwen) Nelson, age 99, died on April 3
at the Rolfe Care Center where she had been a resident for
several years. Mary was born in Plover, then moved to Rolfe
at the age of two and graduated from Rolfe High School
in 1928. She and her husband,
LeRoy, farmed east
of Rolfe on Meadow-Run Farm. He was in the RHS class of 1927
and died in 2003.
obituary
March 14, 2010 — Editor's corner by Helen Gunderson |
| Although I have
recorded several interviews that are posted on
this site and elsewhere, I had never recorded
one over the phone. That
changed this week. I have been figuring out the
necessary, but rudimentary hardware, and did my first experiment
on Wednesday night. And Jerry Farlow of the class of 1955 was
a willing subject for the experiment. His mother
Dorothy Farlow had a beauty parlor in their home
across the street, south of the entrance to the
main part of the Rolfe school, and that is part
of the context of the interview. Jerry is
currently a professor of mathematics at the
University of Maine. His wife Susan is a travel
writer, and they travel extensively. Also, Jerry
has written several pieces for this Web site. I'll write
more later, but for now, I will simply add this
link to
the MP3 file of the 34-minute edited version
of the conversation. I will be interested in how
the audio quality, including the volume levels,
work. I would also like to know if you would
prefer one long file or having an interview
divided into shorter segments. So, if you wish,
please send me
your feedback. Thanks. |
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March 9, 2010 — Editor's corner by Helen Gunderson
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It's been over 10
years since the Rolfe Alumni Web site was first
published. We have strived to recruit people to
write essays, and toward that end, we have received
pieces from
about 60 people. The recruiting process was
not an easy one, and most of what we have was submitted
nearly a decade ago. Also, there were those people, including former
faculty, who said they would write, but have not
followed through. Then there are other folks such as Jerry Farlow (1955) and me
(1963) who have
written several pieces. In fact, we recently posted a new
essay
(or call it a story) from Jerry, and he says he has
yet another that he is perfecting and intends to submit this
spring.
more |
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February 13, 2010 |
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Jerry Farlow (RHS 1955) sent an
email today,
saying he was one of the runners in the recently-posted
home movies that
Superintendent Mortensen shot in the 1950s. So we created a
section for
comments related to the films. Thanks Jerry. We welcome other
RHS-related people to join in the fun of
sending us info and memories to
post. |
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February 11, 2010 |
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Finally, we have overcome technical gremlins and have posted
some home movies of Rolfe school activities on YouTube. |
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They were shot by
the late Ralph O. Mortensen when he was superintendent
of the Rolfe Community School District in the mid-1950s.
Click here to go
to a full page of the clips. |
February 7, 2010
-
Today something happened that is just the
kind of thing that makes it exciting to publish this Web
site. Jerry Farlow (RHS class of 1955) emailed us another
reflection of his days growing up in Rolfe to add to our
essay section.
It's his fourth piece, and
this one is
about delivering newspapers and a scheme he had to win a new
Schwinn bicycle. It's been awhile since we have posted new
essays (or much else for that matter), and we're thankful to
Jerry and hopeful that others of you will
send us some of your thoughts
and/or stories.
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Raymond W. DeWall, who graduated from Rolfe
in 1949 and farmed between Rolfe and Pocahontas, died at the
age of 79 on Friday at the Pocahontas Manor. Funeral
services will be held 10:30 a.m. Saturday, February 13, at
the St. Peter Lutheran Church in Pocahontas with Rev. Jack
Kahle and Rev. Robert Dodge officiating. Burial will be in
Summit Hill Cemetery in Pocahontas. Visitation will be from
4 to 7 p.m. Friday, February 12, at the Powers Funeral Home
in Pocahontas. For online condolences and obituaries, visit
www.PowersFH.net.
February 6, 2010
-
Well, we have been there, done something
like this before. But we will try again to have a RHS alumni
message board. This time will we have set up a
Yahoo
group for Rolfe alumni. If interested, go to the
site.
If you are already a Yahoo user, the process should be
simple enough, and you will know generally what to expect.
If you are not familiar with Yahoo, the process may seem
challenging, but if so, contact
editor Helen Gunderson for help. As usual with the RHS
Web site, we expect civility from those using our Yahoo
message board.
February 5, 2010
-
Jann
Brinkman Ricklefs (RHS class of 1972) wrote us this week
to say that she and other alumni are forming a reunion
committee. Customarily, the all-class reunion has been held
every five years (i.e. 1990, 1995, 2000, and 2005.) However,
in its first decision, the planning group has decided to
hold the next all-class event, not in 2010, but in 2013,
when the town of Rolfe will celebrate its sesquicentennial
(150th) anniversary. committee
list
November 28, 2009
-
Ruth Virginia Feldman, 91, formerly of Rolfe
and Ames, died on Thursday at Bethany Manor in Story City. A
private family service will be at Bethany Manor Chapel on
Sunday, November 29. Burial will be in Riverside Cemetery in
Spencer on Monday, November 30. Adams Funeral Home and
Cremation Service in Ames has been entrusted with the
arrangements. Ruth was married to Lou Feldman, former Rolfe
veterinarian. They are the parents of three Rolfe graduates:
Jack, Mark, and Shari.
October 22, 2009
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Geraldine H. Zeman, age 81, of Rolfe, passed
away on October 20, at the Pocahontas Community Hospital.
Funeral Service will be at 10:30 a.m., Friday, October 23,
at, St. Margaret's Catholic Church in Rolfe, with Fr. Andrew
Hoffmann officiating. Burial will be in St. Margaret's
Catholic Cemetery near Rolfe. Visitation is from 5 to 7 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 22, at the Powers Funeral Home of Rolfe, with
prayer service at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Funeral Home.
more
October 17, 2009
September 17, 2009
Although this Web site focuses on Rolfe High
School and the Rolfe community, we thought it appropriate to
give a little attention to the history of Pocahontas. It's
now the locus of the school district that includes students from
the Rolfe area. In 1992, our editor, Helen Gunderson, worked
with Ruth Ahlrichs, director of the Pocahontas Public Library,
to produce a 28-minute
video about that town, focusing on its Main Street. We've
divided the show into three segments since the YouTube limit is
10 minutes and have posted here.
August 3, 2009
Verle Duane Howard, age 85, died on Saturday,
August 1, at the Rolfe Care Center. Verle and his wife
Velma and their children lived in the
Philippine Islands in the 1950s, where he was a
power plant supervisor for Voice of
America until 1962. Then they
returned to the Howard homeplace farm southwest of
Rolfe. Verle and Velma lived there until the 1990s,
when they retired and moved to a home in Rolfe. He
had been in declining health for the past few years
and moved to the care center a week ago.
Velma and Verle are
the parents of six RHS alumni who graduated in the
1960s and 1970s:: the late Joy,
Randy, and Monte, and the surviving siblings Hope,
Kelly, and Karen.
Visitation is from 5 to 7 pm on
Tuesday, August 4, at the Powers Funeral Home in Rolfe. Funeral services are at 10:30 am on
Wednesday, August 5, at the Shared Ministry of Rolfe.
Burial will be in the Clinton-Garfield Cemetery
southeast of Rolfe with military rites by the Rolfe
American Legion.
more August 1, 2009
We thought visitors would enjoy two new YouTube
videos by editor Helen Gunderson about an
informal group of bicycle enthusiasts in Ames who
helped friends move to new homes last month, using
bikes and trailers. And maybe some of you will get ideas for
how you, your family, friends, and community could
put bikes and trailers to work and rely less on
cars, pick up trucks, and vans.
Bicycles and trailers would be great for errands such as
getting groceries or delivering them for someone
else; taking casseroles and cakes to a
church dinner; hauling coolers of ice, beer,
lemonade, hot dogs and beef patties to a picnic;
and making business deliveries.
Also, it doesn't seem like gasoline needs to be
burned in order for athletes to work out. A
school district could have a small fleet of
bikes and trailers to take athletic equipment
and sports beverages to football fields and
softball diamonds for team practices. (Same
would be true for the likes of a youth baseball
program.)
Most of the trailers in the videos are made by Jim
Gregory of Ames who operates a business called
Bikes at Work
out of his home and constructs the trailers in his
basement. One of his services is that of
transporting interlibrary loan materials from the
Iowa State University library to the Ames Public
Library. Otherwise, if the materials went via the
postal service, they would go to Des Moines
first, then back to Ames, with at least a one day
delay. Check the
Bikes at Work
Web site for all sorts of information and links
related to using bicycles and becoming less
dependent on gasoline-powered vehicles.
Perhaps communities such as Rolfe (especially
where there is such a flat terrain, short
distances from one side of town to the other,
and uncomplicated traffic) could
invest in a few trailers and hire folks (young,
retired, and others) to
use them to pick up recycling materials.
The trailers
also work well in the winter, especially when the
bicycles pulling them are outfitted with studded
tires. Just ask Helen who uses her bicycle and
trailer for almost all her in-Ames travel. She
swears by studded tires and sees many advantages
to getting about without a car. At the top of
her list is her perspective that urban biking is
fun and personally rewarding.
July 19, 2009
July 15, 2009
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We've received word from Glenn Markley (RHS
1955) that fellow classmate
Larry Snook passed away
early this afternoon. Funeral arrangements are
pending and we will attempt to post them in a timely
manner. Mr. Markley also stated he has plans on
attending Larry Snook's funeral.
-
We identified three more photos in the Greater
Rolfe Days parade
gallery.
-
On January 30, we posted some
thoughts about corn
bread and said that editor Helen Gunderson would be
writing an essay about corn issues. Well, she never
did write the article, but today, she submitted her
favorite corn bread
recipe.
If any of you have a corn bread recipe to post,
please send it to us.
Thanks.
July 14, 2009
-
Chris Simonson (class of 1979 and our "memorial
board" editor) sent information about the photo of
one of the Farmall entries in last week's Greater
Rolfe Days parade. Mark Leubenthal, head mechanic at
West Bend International, drove an 806 Farmall
tractor that his family restored. Mark is related
through marriage lines to Connie Nelson (RHS 1978).
parade photo
gallery
July 13, 2009
July 11, 2009
July 9, 2009
July 8, 2009
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Editor Helen Gunderson again has dug into her
video archives and this time, she found footage of the 2000 Greater Rolfe Days parade. And since the 2009 event is this
weekend, we decided to post the following YouTube
video. Enjoy. She has also revamped the video of
RAGBRAI parading through Rolfe in 2007 and posted it
on YouTube.
Click here
to go to the RAGBRAI video.
|
July 7, 2009
- The death of LaVonne Howland reminded
editor, Helen Gunderson (RHS 1963), of wonderful video footage in her archive of LaVonne handing out
balloons at the last worship service at the Rolfe
Presbyterian building. That was in 1995 shortly
before the facility was razed. With the current ease
of editing video and posting programs on YouTube,
Helen decided to post a video of the last service
as well as the lunch and commemorative service that
same Sunday. Recently departed Barbara Olerich has a
cameo role in the video as do other folks who are no
longer with us.
July 6, 2009
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The popular
soda fountain at Calligan Sundries circa 1978.
Women left to right: LaVonne Howland, Rose
Calligan, Erla Howland.
LaVonne die this past week. Rose is also
deceased. Erla is now Earla O'Neil and continues
to live in Rolfe. |
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July 3, 2009
- Posted obituaries for
Jerry Loss
(RHS 1970) and
LaVonne
Howland (RHS and Rolfe resident).
- Later in the day, we posted some of LaVonne's
reflections about her rural heritage that she
shared in an oral history interview with RHS editor
Helen Gunderson. The interview was part of the
project Helen has conducted about the rural
neighborhood where both both women grew up..
June 26, 2009
- Fran Chambers Measom (RHS 1946) notified us that
her sister
Mary-Isabelle Chambers Flanigan (1943)
died on July 3, 2007. Fran is sending us the
obituary, and we will post it when it arrives.
June 25, 2009
- If you are interested in learning more about the
FoodInc documentary that was released this month,
check out
one of the on-line reviews that includes an
interview with the producer.
June 24, 2009
- There is a new documentary about agriculture
that was released this month titled
FoodInc.
Check out the
trailer on the film's official site and
another version of the trailer on YouTube. It sounds like there are many showings
in East Coast theatres but few in the Midwest. But
there will be an opportunity to see it in Des Moines
at the Fleur Cinema, beginning on July 10, the only
scheduled opening in Iowa. See the complete
schedule for showings across the country. You
can also visit the
Fleur Cinema Web site. There are also a couple
of on-line corporate critiques of the film. One is
by
Monsanto Corporation. Another is a blog entry
dated June 10, 2009, and the
American Farm Bureau site. This should be of
particular interest to Rolfe-related people because
the town is in the heart of the agricultural belt
and since agricultural issues are cultural issues
that affect people across the nation and around the
world, whether living in small towns or cities.
People vote with their pocket books when they buy
food, and it is important to be informed to be able
to make informed choices. If there are Rolfe-related
folks who would like to submit thoughts regarding
this film, please contact editor
Helen Gunderson (RHS
class of 1963).
June 4, 2009
- Here's a note from our editor, Helen Gunderson (RHS
1963), about some places to shop in the spirit of
the slogan "reduce, reuse, recycle."
| |
| Yesterday,
I went to Iowa State University
Surplus, which is a great place
to find lots of things,
including used computers and
filing cabinets. I was there to
get filing cabinets for my
church and personal use. A
friend had brought his pickup
truck to transport them, but it
wasn't big enough to carry all
of them in one run.
A friendly fellow with van
and trailer, who operates a
consignment store in Ogden,
Iowa, said he was driving to
north Ames for an appointment
anyway and volunteered to
deliver my cabinets to my house.
What a deal. I felt the best way
I could thank him would be to
let people know about his place.
It's the
Iowahub.
I also know of a store called
Consignment Gallery in
Gilbert (four miles north of
Ames) that provides a great
service.
ISU Surplus is open from
noon to 3 pm on Wednesdays
except the occasions when it is
closed due to holidays such as
it was the Wednesday after
Memorial Day. Also, the
Iowa Department of
Transportation located in
Ames has vehicle and small
equipment auctions. The next one
will be September 19. And Ames
has great Salvation Army and
Goodwill stores.
So if you want a little
vacation excursion, drive the
back roads of Iowa and see the
scenery, avoid the big box
stores, stop at some of these
places, and find a good place to
eat--perhaps even having a
picnic at Dolliver Park
southeast of Fort Dodge, McHose
Park in Boone, or some other
park on your route. And if you
want to know my favorite Ames
restaurants, drop me a
note.
I would be willing to create
a list of auction, consignment,
and thrift store places and
publish it on this site. So if
interested, please send me your
recommendations with pertinent
contact information and Web site
addresses. Then we could
encourage Rolfe expatriates to
take a central and northwest
Iowa excursion with site-seeing,
shopping, picnicking or dining
out in the Rolfe area. |
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May 24, 2009
- Today we discovered an
on-line transcript of the 2009 commencement
address of Paul Hawkens at the University of
Portland and wanted to share it with the rest of
you. Hawkens is a renowned entrepreneur, visionary
environmental activist, founder of
Wiser Earth
and author of many books—most recently
Blessed
Unrest.
May 7, 2009
May 5, 2009
April 16, 2009
- We have heard of other recent deaths of RHS
alumni:
Kenny Pederson of the class of 1953 and
Garth Smith of the class of 1959.
- Also,
Melba Jones, age 87 and former owner of the
Sunny Brook Cafe, died. Her memorial service is at 11
am on Monday, April 20, at St. Paul's Lutheran
Church in Rolfe with visitation at 10 am.
- Also, here is the
link to the obituary for John Rickard.
- Thanks to all you who have sent use relevant
information. Your eyes and ears and submitting
material is important to the success of this site.
We have a backlog of names and obituaries to add to
the
Memorial Board, but hope to get that job done
within a few weeks.
April 5, 2009
- Kathleen Rickard Gentes wrote us today to report
the death of her cousin, John Rickard. He was a
member of the Rolfe class of 1968 and died at his
home in Colorado on March 31 of cancer. One of his
sisters,
Arlene Rickard Steele, a member of the class of
1965, died on April 10, 2008, in Saint Charles,
Missouri. Thank you Kathleen.
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March 26, 2009
We posted a
column by our web site editor, Helen Gunderson (RHS
1963) proposing the formation of gardening circles. The
following is an excerpt:
| The White House garden is a reminder of the
Victory Gardens that American families grew
during World War Two. In that era, victory meant
defeat of Germany and Japan. In this era,
victory can mean finding successful strategies
to deal with the dire social, economic, and
environmental challenges that confront the
nation and world. Gardening and the use of
locally-grown food have many values–some that
can be important in facing those challenges.
The taste is exceptional; the nutrition,
superb. There is more control over food safety,
less waste in packaging, lower consumption of
fossil fuels to transport the food, and benefits
to our state’s environment, economy, and
communities. The use of locally-grown foods can
also counter the trend of parts of America, even
our Midwestern rural areas, becoming like
colonies dependent on urban and corporate food
producers. It is scary to imagine a future era
when Iowa would have no farmers in the business
of raising quality food for those who live here.
more |
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January 30, 2009
In last week's Pocahontas Record-Democrat newspaper, there
was a two-page spread that saluted the area's corn growers. It's
an annual piece of advertising with much, if not all, of the
material coming from the Iowa Corn Growers Association. (Of
course, it was not listed as advertising but was published in
the news section.)
The most intriguing aspect of spread was the
suggestion that people eat their corn. There was also a recipe
for cornbread, but it said nothing about a person obtaining
locally-grown corn and grinding it. The best corn for cornbread
might be some open-pollinated, yellow dent corn, or blue corn.
We wonder just how
many Pocahontas area farmers grow that kind of healthy corn and not
the high tech, bio-engineered corn that costs around $230 bushels
per bag of seed for planting and demands the use of lots of chemical
fertilizers and herbicides. Our editor, Helen Gunderson, will be
writing an essay about the matter to post on this site. She
recommends that those people who wish to learn alternative views
about corn production in Iowa view the 2007 documentary film,
King Corn.
She also
suggests that folks who like cornbread find a source of
open-pollinated, yellow dent corn or blue corn and make their own
cornbread. One place for the yellow dent kind is
Paul's Grains in central
Iowa. But there may be others within Pocahontas County or nearby. We
look forward to learning about those sources of corn. Helen will
also be posting her favorite cornbread recipes and would like
visitors to submit theirs for posting on this site.
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January 24, 2009
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We thought Rolfe loyalists and other visitors to
this site might be interested in viewing a short
video and
portions of a book that our editor, Helen Gunderson (RHS 1963),
has done for her project The Road I Grew Up On. She posted
the files today, but seeds of the project were sown 20 years ago
when she lived in California and returned to Iowa for a series of
photo forays. She now lives in Ames, Iowa.
January 14, 2009
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We have learned from a college classmate of Dick
Gray that Dick died of cancer in 2008. He had taught vocational
agriculture at Rolfe from 1952 to 1954. In 2005, he posted an
entry in the "where they are
now" database. When we get further information about Dick, we will
post it.
January 8, 2009
January 2, 2009
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