Rec'd 2023

Your Annual Guide to Recreation in Iowa

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June Contributors

Cristin Mitchell, Dawn Frary, Devin Ferguson, Erin Casey, Gabby Estlund, Julia DeSpain, Kevin Mason, Lily Wasserman, Leslie Shipp, Sara Elgatian, Will Eisenberg, Wyna Liu

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40 Game of Foam

Coralville

Belegarth players gather to fight it out (safely!) as sword-wielding fantasy characters.

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Rec’d June 2023

Your Annual Guide to Recreation in Iowa PUBLISHED BY LITTLE VILLAGE

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Cover by Julia DeSpain

Your Annual Guide to Recreation in Iowa

Half Pipe, Full Throttle

As of 2021, Des Moines has the largest U.S. skatepark—and is making the most of it. “One day, we’ll get a chance to cheer on somebody in the Olympics that started skating because of this park,” predicts coach Kevin Jones.

North of the Mason-Dixon

Well before it was a state, Iowa was an important part of the Underground Railroad. Four “stations” in the southern half of the state remain historic sites to this day, preserving stories of radical resistance.

62 Owl in This Together

Our favorite outdoor sports can leave behind deadly traps for eagles, hawks, possums, bobcats and other wildlife. Animal care experts from three local rescue orgs share simple advice that could save a life.

Little Village (ISSN 2328-3351) is an independent, community-supported news and culture publication based in Iowa City, published monthly by Little Village, LLC, 623 S Dubuque St., Iowa City, IA 52240. Through journalism, essays and events, we work to improve our community according to core values: environmental sustainability, affordability and access, economic and labor justice, racial justice, gender equity, quality healthcare, quality education and critical culture. Letters to the editor(s) are always welcome. We reserve the right to fact check and edit for length and clarity. Please send letters, comments or corrections to editor@littlevillagemag.com. Subscriptions: lv@littlevillagemag.com. The US annual subscription price is $120. All rights reserved, reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. If you would like to reprint or collaborate on new content, reach us at lv@littlevillagemag.com. To browse back issues, visit us online at issuu.com/littlevillage.

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72 Horsing Around

You don’t have to be a horse person to find solace in a herd, according to therapist Natalie Benway-Correll. With the right approach, humans can learn to relax, earn trust and foster “equine empowerment.”

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Dawn Frary / Little Village

WHAT’S THAT RACQUET?

It’s Pickleball!

Odds are you or someone you know is utterly smitten with this sport. What makes the paddle, net and wiffle ball so addictive to so many kinds of Iowans?

BY ADRIA CARPENTER

No matter the question, the answer is always pickleball.

“Pickleball meets you where you are,” said Emma Clark, a career coach at Cornell College.

Clark grew up playing racquetball in Illinois, but the sport isn’t as popular today, so she searched for a racquetball-adjacent activity instead. When the Smithfield Tennis and Pickleball Center in Cedar Rapids reopened last October, Clark found herself drawn to the perforated plastic ball.

She’s not alone. For the third year in a row, pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in America, with around 8.9 million active

players nationwide, according to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SIFA).

An estimated 36.5 million people 18 and older, 14 percent of all Americans, played pickleball at least once in 2022, the Association of Pickleball Professionals (APP) reported.

Clark moved back to the Midwest in 2021 with two goals: get active and connect with the LGBTQ community.

“One of the things I looked for was like, ‘Where’s my queer community?’ And I had a really hard time trying to get it,” she said.

Pickleball was a two-paddle-one-ball solution. Clark now runs ICR Pickleball, a casual pickleball group for LGBTQ people and allies

Evan Risk plays pickleball in Cedar Rapids, March 2023. Adria Carpenter / Little Village

Illustrations by Julia DeSpain / Little Village

in Iowa City and Cedar Rapids. She organized the group under the guidance of the Lambda Softball Association of Eastern Iowa (LSA).

“LSA has just been there every step of the way to sort of be like, ‘Here’s how queer sports are working right now,’” she said.

When Clark contacted Smithfield Center to host their games, she didn’t get far into her pitch before the general manager and head of membership eagerly agreed.

“I had all this data I have researched about like, why this is beneficial, why this is a good investment. And I got about one sentence out, and they’re like, ‘Oh my God, this is amazing!’” Clark recalled. “I just really want to hold them up because I think those types of community partners are just really, really important.”

ICR Pickleball had approximately 25 participants of different ages and genders in the winter/spring season, with around eight people per session participating. In addition to LSA, Clark reached out to the Close House, Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays chapters (PFLAG), Cedar Rapids Pride, among others.

Here’s how the game works: A player serves the ball underhanded across the net, from the right box to the left box. After the ball bounces, the opposing player knocks it back across the net. The ball must bounce a second time before returning. Once the ball has bounced in each team’s court, players can volley the ball at any time. In tennis, the server has two chances to hit the ball across the net, but in pickleball, the server has one shot.

If a player doesn’t volley the ball back, whacks the ball while in the area around the net called the kitchen (unless the ball landed in there first), or hits it out of bounds, the round is over. Unlike tennis, only the serving team can score a point. Games are typically played to 11 points, and a team must win by two points.

The serving player continues serving until their team commits a fault. In doubles, both partners get the opportunity to serve before it switches to the other team. If a player’s score is even, then they serve from behind the right box, and vice versa.

Pickleball was created by Joel Pritchard in 1965. Pritchard, later a member of Congress as well as the lieutenant governor of Washington, was bored at his summer home on Bainbridge Island, near Seattle. Along with his friend Bill Bell, he cut paddles from plywood, borrowed a wiffle ball from a neighbor, lowered the net of a badminton court and started playing. Later on, Pritchard, Bell and Barney McCallum formalized the rules, embedding family play and accessibility in the game’s structure.

Today, pickleball has actual paddles instead of plywood cutouts. They’re larger than ping pong paddles, but smaller than a tennis racquet, and shaped like a rectangle with rounded edges. Likewise, the court is larger than a ping pong table and smaller than a tennis court. Four pickleball courts can fit on one tennis court.

The name “pickleball” came from Joel’s wife, Joan Pritchard, a competitive rower. The

sport reminded her of a pickle boat—which is manned by a team of leftover rowers who weren’t selected to compete as principal rowers—because pickleball was created from leftover elements of other sports. Some people suggested that the name came from their family dog, Pickles. But the sport predates the dog, Joan said. Pickleball was named the official sport of Washington in 2022.

“It is kind of addictive once you get into it. It’s hard to stop,” said Chuck Golliher, president of the Des Moines Metro Pickleball Club (DMMPC).

In 2017, around 15-20 people in the Des Moines metro area decided to create a nonprofit organization dedicated to pickleball advocacy. Its primary goal was to convince local municipalities to recognize pickleball as a growing sport and provide resources to build and maintain permanent pickleball courts.

“We’re trying to represent the face of pickleball in the metro area,” Golliher said.

Golliher first heard about pickleball from his brother-in-law in Florida. They wanted to check out an athletic facility in the area and hadn’t intended to play. But a man handed them some paddles and said, “Let’s see what you got.”

“The rest is history. From there we got overwhelmed by the game, thought it was fantastic, and just continued playing ever since,”

Emma Clark and Annette Vernon play pickleball in Cedar Rapids, March 2023.

Adria Carpenter / Little Village

Golliher said. “I can’t even begin to tell you how many new friends we’ve made … through the sport of pickleball.”

DMMPC has between 350 to 400 active members from Des Moines, West Des Moines, Urbandale, Clive, Perry and Indianola. It hosts semi-regular training workshops and serves as a catalyst for forming casual groups, as well as competitive leagues and tournaments. Golliher has seen players as young as 8, many players in the 50s-to-70s age range and even a handful in their 80s. The club even has some professional players that compete with the Professional Pickleball Association at tournaments in Las Vegas, Austin, Texas, and so on.

When DMMPC began proselytizing pickleball to local leaders, some municipalities were slow to recognize the sport, Golliher said. But now there are courts in Walker Johnston Park in Urbandale, at the MidAmerican Energy Company RecPlex in West Des Moines, the McCollum Waveland Tennis Complex in Des Moines and many more. And private courts like Smash Park, Life Time and the Prairie Ridge Sports Complex now have pickleball accommodations.

“Whenever I hear a project involving recreational facilities, almost always, you’ll see pickleball included,” he said. “Smash Park, which is kind of a leader in leagues in this area, it’s not unusual for their entire league spaces to be filled up within an hour.”

Even with all the new facilities in the area, there’s still a shortage of courts, he said. In the summer, courts are “flooded with people,” though he acknowledged that avid players should drive further distances to less populated courts. For the winter months, Golliher hopes to see more indoor courts available.

Beside the ease of play—anyone can learn the sport in just a few hours—and the low cost barrier of entry—paddles and balls are relatively inexpensive—Golliher said the social component draws people into pickleball.

“It has a lot of appeal to folks that might not have the physical capability to do tennis or something more demanding,” he said. “It’s a sport that anyone can play. It’s very social … The competitive aspect of it is important for many. The social aspect, though, is important for many more.”

For Erin Droll, an Iowa City native and self-described townie, pickleball was the perfect casual activity to socialize and get active.

“I’m running a business, I’m a single mom. And you just have a thing where it’s just like, show up at noon on Sunday and play … It’s phenomenal for me to be able to have that,” said Droll, the secretary for LSA. “I’m not a particularly competitive person. So I don’t know that I’ll ever be particularly good at it. I’m not particularly good at softball, but I like to play.”

Droll had never played pickleball before Clark contacted LSA. But she’d heard of it from her sister and a coworker, a 60-year-old woman who’d duck out of the office early to play. Droll played tennis in high school, so she learned the basics quickly. Beyond the “show up and play” format and low financial costs, Droll appreciated the community’s non-judgmental attitude.

“The most important thing is that people can come, that it’s a safe space where people are valued, and they can be themselves,” she said. “LSA prides itself on being inclusive, and Emma’s group is the same way. There’s no judgment, like you come and you play.”

The pickleball community is committed to meeting someone’s individual needs on the court, whether it’s different levels of skill, different physical abilities or a different socioeconomic status.

Pickleball meets you where you’re at, and that’s especially true for the LGBTQ people.

“How do we connect with each other? How do we create opportunities so that people can find the resources they need? How do we create these spaces for joy?” Clark asked.

The answer, of course, is pickleball.

A League of Their Own

This Central Iowa nonprofit takes “team pride” to a whole new level.

BY COURTNEY GUEIN

Rich Rumsey is an active guy. He likes to play volleyball, dodgeball and go biking. But when he joined Pride Sports League in 2019, it wasn’t for sports. It was for the community.

“It’s an organized way to find other people that are similar to yourself,” he said. “It’s a great way to meet people.”

Pride Sports League of Central Iowa is a Des Moines-based nonprofit founded in 2012 that provides a safe space for LGBTQ people to play sports competitively and recreationally.

“During our nights of play, like volleyball, we’ll go for three or four hours,” said Rumsey, the league’s treasurer. “You might play for 45 minutes or an hour, and then you can sit around outside, just getting to know your teammates.”

The league currently offers indoor volleyball and basketball, dodgeball, softball, kickball, sand volleyball, tennis, cycling and gym classes. They plan to organize more leagues and events based on membership levels and demand. But volleyball is the league’s most popular sport, and it’s offered year-round.

The organization took a hit following the COVID-19 pandemic, as did so many others. After a two-year hiatus, members were starved for sports. When the 2022 volleyball season began, the rosters were overflowing.

“We actually had so many players that we had to expand our volleyball season,” Rumsey said.

Outside of sports, the league sponsors Capital City Pride and Pride Fest. The group typically walks in the pride parade, which has been Rumsey’s most memorable moment since joining the league.

“That receptivity that we got from the folks along the parade route was an amazing feeling!” Rumsey said.

The league also hosts the occasional barbecue in the park or similar social event for players and their loved ones. Visit Pride Sports League’s website and Facebook page for more information about upcoming leagues and events.

Julia DeSpain / Little Village

It’s Table Tennis!

The Des Moines Table Tennis Club was formed in 1991, a little over a century after the sport began. Its members came to the game at different points in their lives, some learning in basements with family members, and some never playing until joining the club.

“When I wanted to take a break from school, programming, I would go to the recreation room. In the recreation room they had a pool table, and they had ping pong,” said Noi Sackpraseuth, one of the club’s founders. “It’s easy to learn but hard to master.”

only use equipment bought from the company.

DMTTC members have their own explanation of why there is a difference between table tennis and ping pong, but mostly agree that ping pong is a casual game with lighter strokes, while table tennis is the more competitive game, with rubber-coated paddles that allow for more spin.

But for Sackpraseuth, the main difference is a matter of style.

BY LILY WASSERMAN

Every week, the Fourmile Community Center echoes with the sound of hollow plastic balls smacking against wood, signalling match time for the Des Moines Table Tennis Club. For over three decades, the club has introduced new players to the game, building a community around rubber-coated paddles.

Table tennis evolved from an informal, indoor version of lawn tennis in the 1890s, to a competitive Olympic sport today. Originally, it was a popular recreational activity for middle-class Victorians, usually played without formalized equipment.

As the game grew in popularity, new names for it emerged. In 1901, Parker Brothers, the game manufacturer, trademarked “PingPong,” and attempted to enforce that trademark, insisting any organizations that used “Ping-Pong” as the name of their game must

“Table tennis, it sounds better,” Sackpraseuth said. “It’s more professional. While ping pong has that name, like it’s not really a sport. It’s something that you play in the basement with your friends.”

The club’s founders opted for “table tennis” instead of “ping pong” partly for that professional reputation.

The term “table tennis” entered the vernacular two decades after Ping-Pong was trademarked. In 1922, Ivor Montagu, an English writer and filmmaker, founded the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF)

This Olympic sport takes minutes to learn and a lifetime to master, according to Des Moines’ highest-ranking player.

which still regulates the sport worldwide. Montagu, a dedicated socialist, specifically designed table tennis to be egalitarian, accessible to anyone, as opposed to sports for the wealthy elite like polo.

In 1926, the ITTF adopted a constitution, a standardized set of rules and hosted the first table tennis world championship. Formal matches are played to 11 points and a team must win by two points, similar to regular tennis. The Des Moines club follows the traditional ITTF rules but added a replay system for tough calls.

“Everyone’s generally pretty nice,” said DMTTC President Kevin Ripp. “We don’t generally need to establish rules.”

The ITTF has a ranking system for players.

Members of the Des Moines Table Tennis Club (DMTTC) hone their skills Tuesday and Thursday nights year-round at the Four Mile Community Center, located on the east side of Des Moines. All skill levels are welcome. Britt Fowler / Little Village

Upcoming Events in the Racquet Realm

Thursday, June 1, 7 a.m., Wellmark YMCA, Tennis, Des Moines, $15

Wednesday, June 14, 6 p.m., Adaptive Sports Iowa Wheelchair Tennis Lessons, Crossroads Park Tennis Courts, West Des Moines, Free

June 16-18, TBA, QCA Adaptive Sports Association Annual Adult Wheelchair Tennis Tournament, Quad City Tennis Club, Moline, Illinois, Fee & registration required to participate (free to attend)

June 16-18, TBA, QCA Adaptive Sports Association Annual Junior Wheelchair Tennis Tournament, Quad City Tennis Club, Moline, Illinois, Fee & registration required to participate (free to attend)

Wednesday, June 21, 6 p.m., Adaptive Sports Iowa Wheelchair Tennis Lessons, Crossroads Park Tennis Courts, West Des Moines, Free

Wednesday, June 18, 6 p.m., Adaptive Sports Iowa Wheelchair Tennis Lessons, Crossroads Park Tennis Courts, West Des Moines, Free

Wednesday, July 12, 6 p.m., Adaptive Sports Iowa Wheelchair Tennis Lessons, Crossroads Park Tennis Courts, West Des Moines, Free

Friday, July 14-16, TBD., Summer Iowa Games Adult Tennis, Ames High School Tennis Court, Iowa State University’s Forker Courts and Emma McCarthy Lee Park, Ames, $35 (by July 3)

Friday, July 14-16, TBD, Summer Iowa Games Youth Tennis, Ames High School Tennis Court, Iowa State University’s Forker Courts and Emma McCarthy Lee Park, Ames, $35 (by July 3)

Saturday, July 15, 8 a.m. Summer Iowa Games Badminton, Iowa State University’s Forker Building, Ames, $35 (by July 3)

Saturday, July 15-16, 8 a.m. Summer Iowa Games Racquetball, Iowa State University’s Lied Recreation Athletic Center, Ames, $35 (by July 3)

Saturday, July 15, 9 a.m., Summer Iowa Games Table Tennis, Iowa State University’s Lied Recreation Athletic Center, Ames, $30 (by July 10)

Saturday, July 15-16, TBA, Summer Iowa Games Pickleball, Iowa State University’s State Gym, Ames, Ames, $40 (by July 3)

Wednesday, July 19, 6 p.m., Adaptive Sports Iowa Wheelchair Tennis Lessons, Crossroads Park Tennis Courts, West Des Moines, Free

Wednesday, July 26, 6 p.m., Adaptive Sports Iowa Wheelchair Tennis Lessons, Crossroads Park Tennis Courts, West Des Moines, Free

Based on performances in tournaments, players will gain points that establish their overall rank, with bigger point totals means a higher rank. The best players will have a rank of approximately 3,000 points, while a beginner starts at zero.

Sackpraseuth is the highest-ranking player at the DMTTC, with a current rank of 2,045. Aiden Sharpe, another member, describes him as “almost like a celebrity” in the group.

As the sport spread and evolved, different styles of play evolved. Member Scott Yates said DMTTC’s diverse membership has helped him learn about different interactional styles of play.

“It’s interesting to see how everybody approaches it differently,” he said.

Despite its European origins, table tennis proved popular internationally, developing a particularly strong following in China. Montagu had hopes that the game could help the People’s Republic of China reconnect globally, following the disruption of interna-

tional relations in the wake of the Communist Party’s victory in the country’s post-World War II revolution. He invited the People’s Republic to join the ITTF and enter the world championships. Montagu’s efforts caught the attention of Mao Zedong, who played the game himself and gave official sanction to table tennis—commonly known as “ping pang qiu”— as a worthy pastime in the early 1950s.

In 1971, the United States used so-called “ping-pong diplomacy” as part of its efforts to establish formal relations with the People’s Republic, after 22 years of refusing to recognize the legitimacy of the government in Beijing. The initiative took off when the American team, competing in the World Table Tennis Championship in Japan, received a formal invitation to visit China, an event Time magazine dubbed “The ping heard round the world.”

Team members were the first Americans invited by the government to visit the country

Britt Fowler / Little Village

“When I wanted to take a break from school, programming, I would go to the recreation room. In the recreation room they had a pool table, and they had ping pong. It’s easy to learn but hard to master.”

—Noi Sackpraseuth

since the 1949 revolution. On their tour of the nation, the players met Chinese students and workers, and of course, played matches. It was an act of public diplomacy that helped improve the image each nation had of the others.

While their matches have never borne the weight of high-stakes international diplomacy, most DMTTC members have games that stick out in their minds. Kazek IsraniWinger remembers a match where his team at the University of Northern Iowa beat the University of Iowa in a double-decider game, which is played when teams are tied with two wins each. The win sent UNI to the regional, and the UI players home.

“It was our first year as a college team, and we were all pretty nervous going against all these bigger public schools and public universities,” Israni-Winger said. “We didn’t want people to think we were a bad team that just wanted to play. We wanted to show that we could play competitively.”

The Summer Olympic Games added table tennis to its official roster in 1988, and added team tournaments in 2008 followed by mixed men’s and women’s tournaments in 2020.

Some DMTTC members have competed at the Winter Iowa Games, a weekend competition for various sports. The table tennis division features tournaments based on expertise, age and gender. The tournament performance in the Winter Iowa Games impacts a player’s overall rank.

Two of the club’s members, Sackpraseuth and Randy Hyunh, have won their age divisions at the games.

“Bringing home medals has always been something I want to do for my family,” said Hyunh, who won the 18-and-under division. “They’re always proud when I bring home a medal myself.”

Club members also play at the CelebrAsian matches in Des Moines. A few years ago, they held their own tournament, attracting players from around the Midwest. Some members joined the club looking for a workout, but for most, the main draw was meeting new people.

The matching system at the club allows any member to challenge any other member. Players can set their paddles against the foot of any table to indicate they’d like to play the winner of a match.

Although the club has a website, most members first became aware of it by attending Fourmile Community Center for other reasons, or by hearing about it from friends.

“I’m very guarded of our culture here,” Yates said. “I’ve been to different clubs, and some of them are very nasty and competitive and almost angry. Our club is more about inclusivity. Anybody can come here and play, even if you’ve never held a racket before.”

Did you know...

Many of Broadlawns Medical Center’s providers are trained under oneiowa. These providers have chosen to educate themselves on LGBTQ+ care and are committed to providing all-inclusive healthcare to all individuals.

ALL-INCLUSIVE PROVIDERS:

Living as an LGBTQ+ person is not a choice. Nobody chose that. It’s part of their DNA just like diabetes and cancer, and to discriminate against a person because of who they are is just unfair. Everybody should be able to be who they are, and live as they wish.

- Dr. Kaaren Olesen, DO OBGYN

It’s Tennis (with a Twist)!

BY LESLIE SHIPP

Anne Pham bounces a tennis ball on the ground. The score in her singles set is 0-2. She looks across the court at her captain, Michael Boyer.

“Hey, I’m ready to come out whenever,” she declares.

“No, you gotta stay in,” Boyer says.

Pham had already played several sets of singles over the previous two days for her team, the Poachaholics, during this July 2022 Impact Team Tennis competition.

Impact Team Tennis is a fast-paced, co-ed tennis format played by teams organized into leagues. There are six sets in total: one set each for men’s and women’s doubles, one each for men’s and women’s singles and two mixed sets.

Teammates on the bench can substitute into a match at any time. Two courts are used to play matches concurrently, and teammates gather in the space between the courts. Unlike other forms of tennis that insist on silence, ITT encourages coaching and cheering from the sidelines.

Without a sub, Pham returned to the round and evened the score 2-2, while the temperature at the Copper Tennis Center in Springfield, Missouri, hit 105.

To compete in a Regional Qualifier, a team must win a local tournament, unless it’s a Seniors or Super Seniors team. Players on Seniors teams are between 50 and 59 years old, while players 60+ are Super Seniors. Both groups advance directly to Regionals.

During the brief pauses in her Regional, Pham glanced over to the adjacent court, where the men’s singles raged on.

As she switched sides for the changeover, Pham asked her teammates, “Hey, it’s an even playing field now. Does somebody else want to come in for me?”

“Are you still good?” Boyer asked. “Are you going to pass out?”

“No, I’m not going to pass out,” she reassured him.

Pham’s teammates handed her a chilled damp towel from an ice chest, which she wrapped around her neck. Singles can be a lonely head-game, so her teammates began to offer her some advice. Sometimes you need a reminder to focus on what’s in front of you, Pham said.

Over the next two rounds, Pham fell behind again, 2-4. But she decided not to ask for a sub, because she didn’t want a teammate to have to start from two points down. Instead she rallied, bringing the score to an even 5-5.

The set went to a tiebreaker, in which the first to five wins. After six rounds, Pham wasdown again, 2-4. One missed shot, and the game would be over.

“Anne is just a brick wall,” said Joel Heil, one of her teammates. “She gets everything back.”

Pham scored the next three points in the tiebreaker, winning her set. The Poachaholics

director at Life Time, compared ITT’s atmosphere to a college game.

“Everyone is on the court cheering, cheering, cheering,” Bliss said.

Genesis coordinator Lynette Brown said that players like ITT’s format and atmosphere because it’s more flexible and less formal than other tennis leagues.

“The format allows for asking questions, getting input from other people, stopping play and discussing situations,” Brown said. “People are less intimidated to play once you tell them you can coach and cheer.”

Pham’s teammate Heil, who played for United States Tennis Association (USTA) club tennis at Iowa State University, likes the breakneck fever of ITT.

“The best part about the format is the intensity of playing one set. You have to play well right off the bat,” Heil said.

would go on to win that match and three others, clinching victory at the ITT Regional Qualifier.

There are two groups that organize ITT leagues and tournaments in Iowa: Genesis Health Clubs in Des Moines, and Life Time Athletic in Urbandale. Pham plays at Genesis, and the connection she feels with her teammates is as important as the tennis.

Faith Bliss, the league pro tournament

ITT players use the USTA rating system to form teams. Players are ranked from 1 to 7 in half-number increments, with a pro player rating a 7.

Unlike traditional tennis, the score of each game adds up to the team’s total score. That every game matters and all team members contribute is a fundamental principle for ITT. Jennifer Smith, its director of tournaments, said this is derived from World Team Tennis

A fresh, less-formal competition format helps some Iowa tennis players ratchet up the intensity while evening the playing field.

Anne Pham serves in a match at the WTT (now ITT) National Championships as her doubles partner, Jessica Stewart, readies for the return. One of the two teams Pham played on, the Poachaholics, won the 4.0 division last November in Orlando. Courtesy of Anne Pham

“The format allows for asking questions, getting input from other people, stopping play and discussing situations. People are less intimidated to play once you tell them you can coach and cheer.” —Lynette Brown

(WTT) co-founder Billie Jean King’s belief in gender equality.

King is probably best remembered for 1973’s “Battle of the Sexes” tennis event. King, then the world No. 1 female tennis player, played the 55-year-old former men’s champion Bobby Riggs, a self-proclaimed “male chauvinist pig” who believed no woman was capable of defeating a decent male player. King disproved that, thoroughly beating Riggs.

ITT encourages “men and women competing together on a team, and both genders making equal contributions to the result of the match,” Smith explained.

This scoring format, where every game counts towards the team score, upends traditional tennis strategies, which focus on players winning two out of three sets to win a match.

“Everything is around the team score,” said Justin Despotovich, a Poachaholic team member.

When Pham was down in one of her singles sets at Regionals, she could see her teammate, Tim Paulson, was winning his set. She lost 0-6, but Paulson won 6-1, so the net loss was one game. The two doubles sets were close, so winning came down to the mixed sets.

“You have to be really good at mixed because there are two courts of that,” Despotovich said.

Pham knew their mixed teams were strong, so that took some of the sting out of her singles set loss. As she expected, the Poachaholics won both their mixed sets.

“There is more strategy,” Despotovich said. “You might have one really good court of men’s singles, but it takes five other sets to win the match.”

Heil cited one more way ITT differs from traditional tennis: a team is never out of the match.

“You can come back from 10 games down,” he said. “There is the added pressure of knowing that when you are ahead, you still have to play well.”

Karin Beschen plays on Team Christie in the tournament organized by Genesis. She previously took clinics at the club and wanted to find match opportunities. Beschen formed a team along with friends from one of the clinics.

“I was curious about it and just liked the idea of tennis with a twist,” she said.

Team Christie won a division competition for teams with an overall ranking of 3.0. The team had never played together in a tournament, but camaraderie, trust and support gave them an edge, according to Beschen. Once they started to win, the cheering pumped them up. Team Christie won all three of their matches, Beschen played every set.

“I was so happy,” she said. “It felt like I had just won Miss America!”

Some teams just play for fun. Faith Bliss played on a team where everyone took a couple games of singles, helping alleviate the age-old issue of who is playing singles.

“The most important thing on my team, I always have someone to play singles,” said Genesis’ Lynette Brown, who also played on a team.

But other teams plan carefully and extensively. Michael Boyer, the mastermind behind the Poachaholics’s team captain, is their strategist.

“You are trying to find people you are friends with and trying to find the best players at certain levels,” he said. “The ideal situation is to have everyone at the top of their level.”

All players have to know their roles.

“[A] key is to find players who won’t be offended when they get subbed out,” Despotovich said. “They have to have a mentality that it is not personal. You have to find the hot hand right now. Or a match up against who you are playing against.”

Pham appreciates Boyer’s coaching.

“Having a good coach is one of the markers of how successful the team is going to be,” she said. “I knew he wasn’t going to take me out even if I was losing 0-4 because he had a plan.”

Sometimes others do the coaching. During one changeover when Pham was down, Despotovich talked with her.

“Justin kind of holds you with his comments,” she said.

A few months after winning the Springfield Regional, Pham and the rest of the Poachaholics won the ITT 4.0 National Championship in Orlando, Florida.

A Super Seniors 4.0 team with two members from Iowa, Dawn Ver Steeg and Dennis Lonzarich, also took home a national title. Other members of their team were from San Diego and New Jersey.

Genesis will have an eight-week summer league in 2023. Life Time hopes to have a tournament in late spring or early summer. Winners of these events may attend one of the regionals being held across the country, in locations ranging from Raleigh, North Carolina to Scottsdale, Arizona.

Jennifer Smith said there are plans for pickleball using the same format. Whether its pickleball or tennis, her favorite part of ITT is watching players have fun and develop new bonds of friendship, and in some cases, even more.

“We have even had players who have met for the first time while playing our format get married!” she said.

Gorge Yourself

The 1993 flood uncovered a time capsule in Coralville, chock full of fossils—remnants from a shallow sea that covered the land long before the dinosaurs roamed.

BY EMMA MCCLATCHEY

Sixty-five million years? Please. You want to see something old, head to the Coralville Dam.

It’s not the dam that’s old, though it has survived almost seven decades and two near-apocalyptic floods. In fact, it was the first of these floods in 1993 that breached the 712-foot spillway and inundated the campground below, washing away many centuries of concrete, soil and sediment to reveal a geological treasure trove—stones and fossils dating back more than 350 million years to the Devonian age, when this

land was covered by a shallow sea.

The Devonian age isn’t as action-packed as the more recent Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, which saw many-ton dinosaurs and scrappy mammaliaforms battle for survival amid massive volcanic eruptions and meteorite strikes. The period lasted 60 million years, beginning roughly 420 million years ago. Sea levels were high during the Devonian. The weather was warm and arid, the land glacierless. Earth’s first forests began sucking up carbon, depositing it into the ground.

Dubbed the Age of Fishes, the Devonian saw armored fish known as placoderms earn apex-predator status in almost every aquatic environment on the globe. Some lake-dwelling fish developed lungs and muscly pectoral and pelvic fins, eventually taking the first gloppy steps on land. These fish are the ancestors of all four-limbed vertebrates, from dinosaurs to humans.

Meanwhile, a bunch of organisms with scientific names thrived on the reef floor:

brachiopods, bryozoa, hederellids, microconchids, crinoids, trilobites, bivalves, bactritoids. Now-extinct classes of cephalopods floated along in horn-like or circular, spiral shells. These ammonite fossils would appear alien—all spiky, spiny, brittle, tubular and shell-covered—if they weren’t some of the most iconic fossils on record.

During the Devonian, most of North America and Europe formed a south-of-theequator continent called Laurussia, which gradually shifted north and rotated counterclockwise (ruffling Earth’s tectonic feathers in the process). The period finally ended 360 million years ago with the start of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age, which gave way to Pangea, mountain ranges, deserts and dino-palooza. But for much of the period, Laurussia was home to inland seas, typically clear, warm and shallow. Evidence of these extinct

The Devonian Fossil Gorge, est. 350 million years ago, opened to the public on Labor Day weekend in 1993. Jordan Sellergren / Little Village

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seas can be found in parts of England, Belgium, New England and the Midwest.

Which brings us back to Coralville.

Fossil Gorge fascinated the public as soon as it opened on Labor Day weekend in 1993, attracting tens of thousands of visitors a day. Because locals and outof-staters were so enticed by a 375-million-year-old limestone sea floor in one of the most comically landlocked states, a committee was formed to develop it into a tourist attraction. Half a million in donations were collected and, with the help of the Army Corps of Engineers, the park was dedicated in 2001—complete with an entry plaza, biostrome plaza, handicap accessible walkway, 20 educational “discovery points” marked by hexagonal signs within the gorge, and other park features—making it the perfect (free) field trip for families and local elementary classrooms.

But the Flood of 2008, which crested even higher than the ’93 flood, did a number on visitor amenities: ruining sidewalks, markers and the biostrome plaza. But while certain points of interest were washed away, others were revealed. Even more of the 200-foot-thick Devonian bedrock was exposed, especially on the southern end of the gorge, and new discovery points were flagged.

Fossil looters have been the biggest enemy of the gorge, but run your eyes over the stone floors and walls and you’ll still see evidence of Devonian corals (Hexagonaria and Favosites, in particular); crinoids, starfish-like animals that looked like plants (the stemmed variety are also called sea lilies); and brachiopod shells with their distinctive wide hinges.

You may even spot bits of calcite glimmering from fractures in the limestone floor—caused by all that continent shifting—or trilobite fossil fragments.

But even if a river of sludge breached the spillway tomorrow, covering up Fossil Gorge once again, researchers have studied and preserved enough of the fossil fauna to keep the Devonian alive in the 21st century. There are dozens of exhibits, sites and educational opportunities around Iowa attesting to the impact of Devonian-era geology, ecology and climate science on life today. Below are some of the top spots.

University of Iowa Museum of Natural History

Macbride Hall, Iowa City; Admission: Free

Apart from Rusty the giant Ice Age ground sloth, one of the most well-known displays at this public science museum—tucked inside UI’s historic Macbride Hall—is a life-size depiction of a Devonian reef floor. The diorama provides a vivid glimpse of Fossil Gorge, 380 million years ago, showing colorful crinoids, corals, trilobites, brachiopods, cephalopods, small fish and the T Rex of the Devonian sea: the 20-foot-long armored predator, Dunkleosteus.

Fossil & Prairie Park Preserve

1227 215th St, Rockford; Admission: Free

Located one mile west of Rockford, Iowa along the Winnebago River, this is one of the only fossil-rich sites in Iowa where the public can legally play finders-keepers with Devonian marine fossils. Trails wind through native prairie, past beehive kilns built in the early 20th century, and into a fossil quarry, ripe for discovery. Seek more information about the local landscape inside the visitors center.

The Putnam Museum & Science Center

1717 W 12th St, Davenport; Admission: $8-9, free for children 2 and under An early donation to this 150-year-old Quad Cities museum was a collection of crinoid stem pieces found in Burlington in 1868. A slab of crinoids hailing from Le Grand, Iowa was added later, and the Devonian sea lilies—regarded as Iowa’s unofficial state fossil—still sit among geodes and agates in Putnam’s popular Fossils and Minerals exhibit. More info: putnam.org

Rock, Mineral & Fossil Show

Hawkeye Downs, Cedar Rapids; March 23-24, 2024 Admission: $1-3, free for children 12 and under

Presented by the nonprofit Cedar Valley Rocks & Minerals Society for 58 years, this two-day expo is a dream come true for any fan of rocks, fossils, crystals, gems, jewelry, artisanal gifts, craft fairs and Iowa geological history. Kids can sluice sediment, make footprint casts

It’s not (too) hard to spot fossilized coral in the limestone at Fossil Gorge. Emma

and fill bags with tiny tumbled stones, while adults shop at dozens of dealer tables. All ages can benefit from the educational displays (including a table of information and coloring pages from the Iowa Geological Survey) and feel time fold like an accordion while viewing rare agates and fossils older than even Chuck Grassley.

Maquoketa Caves State Park

Maquoketa; Admission: Free

One of the most awe-inspiring natural sites in Iowa, many of the rocks that make up the 13 caves, formations and natural bridge in this state park were once buried under Devonian strata. The park is dominated by Silurian dolomite, formed from lime deposits left by 430-million-year-old tropical seas. Fossil Gorge-esque limestone is visible in some of the bluffs, but the best geological gems can be found in the dolomite rock: fossils and molds of fossils from crinoids, coral, sponges, snails, clams and other Silurian sea critters. Bring a flashlight and you just might spot ’em!

Fryxell Geology Museum

Augustana College, Rock Island;

Admission: Free

Come for the 22-foot Cryolophosaurus skeleton, T rex skull cast and wall of glowing, fluorescent rocks—stay for the Sirulian and Devonian plant fossils that sit among Augustana College’s 20,000-piece geology collection.

Emma McClatchey / Little Village

McClatchey

Crocus & Clover

Want a more natural lawn that can still stand up to activity? Ask a backyard expert.

BY ISAAC HAMLET

“In environmental circles, lawns often times get a bad rap,” observed Fred Meyer, director of Backyard Abundance. The Iowa City-based nonprofit, founded in 2006, is dedicated to helping individuals connect with and appreciate nature.

Grass lawns offer little environmental benefit, reduce biodiversity and don’t do anything for local pollinators. That’s made traditional lawns a contested topic in environmental discussions.

While Meyer conceded that grass lawns don’t generally offer much, he pushed back against negative perceptions.

“[Lawns] often look nice and hold space really nicely,” he said. “I think what needs to be more communicated is that lawns need to be part of a larger whole, so making them more purposeful is how people benefit the most.”

Appearances aside, Meyer also said that the turf grass comprising most lawns in America is often the best option for those who want to use their space for sports like bocce ball, badminton and croquet.

“All of those things require a lawn,” he said. “I get a lot of questions about what good grass

on the path to a more environmentally friendly lawn is a literal seed.

While plants like creeping thyme offer alternatives to grass in low activity areas, there are plants that stand-up much better to the foot traffic of sports. Meyer’s first recommendation is the Dutch white clover (Trifolium repens), a little flower that often shows up among four leaf clovers.

edible (though they’d probably serve you better as components for tea than the center of a full meal).

alternatives for lawn activities are and honestly there aren’t good alternatives for active sports.”

So, speaking with Little Village, Meyer shared some tips on how to make your traditional grass lawn more environmentally friendly.

According to Meyer, the first seed to plant

“This will attract pollinators like bees … [and] it’s a nice nitrogen fixer, it pulls nitrogen out of the air and feeds that to the turf grass,” Meyer said, noting that it’s also fairly inexpensive. “By adding this clover to the lawn, that can actually feed the lawn naturally with the nitrogen that’s flowing in. It’s also drought tolerant.”

Also drought tolerant is the violet (Viola), which Meyer suspects pulls fewer pollinators than Dutch white clover, while still attracting some. Also noteworthy is that both Dutch white clovers and violets are considered

Two other plants to consider when diversifying your lawn are self-heal, or woundwort (Prunella vulgaris), a Midwest flowering herb also popular among pollinators, and crocus (Crocus)—a perennial flower in the iris family that blooms in the spring.

“These spring ephemera gobble up those nutrients, and when they start dying in late summer they re-release those nutrients,” Meyer explained.

All of these plants, from clover to crocus, Meyer noted, not only survive foot traffic well but can survive being mowed, so long as the mowing occurs at about 4 inches: a height which Meyer said is also typically better for the grass still occupying the yard.

“Grass is still going to be the dominant plant … you’re going to see 70-80 percent of [the yard] still being grass.”

The second step for sporting folks working on their lawns is to designate a space. If you know there’s a particular area that you want

Drought tolerant Dutch white clover attracts pollinators and pulls nitrogen out of the air to feed the lawn. NY State IPM Program at Cornell University

“Lawns often look nice and hold space really nicely. I think what needs to be more communicated is that lawns need to be part of a larger whole, so making them more purposeful is how people benefit the most.” —Fred Meyer, Backyard Abundance

to use for a particular sport, you can make sure that, whatever else you might do in your yard, you have space preserved for that.

Red or yellow twig dogwood shrubs can be a great way to attract birds to the area, and fruit trees or berry bushes can be planted for those who’d like to foster food in their yard. These can also help create a sense of enclosed space around a yard.

“If people want to support habitat for pollinators or birds, or they want to [garden] ... they can surround that recreational area with these additions that would promote those other practices,” Meyer said. “While they’re playing badminton they could enjoy birds … they can nibble on a cherry if they want.”

Meyer also emphasized the importance of general lawn care, starting with ensuring your mower is set for the highest cutting height possible.

“Mow high the first mowing of the year … The next thing to do is aerate, then the ideal thing to do is get some of that seed that I mentioned, spread it and then spread compost over everything,” he said. “That’s the best sequence for people wanting to enhance their lawn this spring.”

While mowing should happen regularly, every week or two, Meyer estimated that while ”you can aerate and compost up to three or four times per year, if the lawn is really struggling,” you can keep a lawn healthy by doing so just once or twice annually.

Meyer made note as well of an initiative called Your Best Lawn, a partnership between the City of Iowa City, the cities of Coralville and North Liberty and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources which reimburses homeowners who want to make their lawns greener through soil restoration. That reimbursement goes as high as 50 percent (not exceeding $2,000) of the cost incurred (when using approved contractors). Clean Water Iowa funds similar programs to improve soil health with partners across the state.

Above all of this, though, Meyer believes that those who are looking to make changes in their lawns are doing so because they know they’ll enjoy both the process and the space they create.

“You’ve got to enjoy it. If you don’t like doing this stuff—don’t do it,” Meyer said. “We want our landscapes to be enjoyable. We don’t want them to be tugging at you … We’ve got plenty of guilt and shame to go around about how we are impacting our environment. Let’s not do it in our own backyard.”

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Beyond the Corn

Backbone State Park

1347 129th St, Dundee 563-924-2527, backbone@dnr.iowa.gov

Maquoketa Caves State Park

9688 Caves Rd, Maquoketa 563-652-5833, maquoketa@dnr.iowa.gov

From the Devils’ Backbone to

BY KEVIN MASON

Since the onset of Americanization during the early 1800s, Iowa’s environment has changed more than any state in the union. Over 98 percent of Iowa’s lands were altered in service of agriculture. Forever spreading fields of corn and soybeans line highway shoulders, stretching out east to west, north to south.

The state ranks second to last in state and federal lands open to the public per capita. But in those remaining public lands, the natural and historic beauty of the Hawkeye state survives.

During the 19th century, eager pioneers plowed the prairies and cleared ancient oak savannahs to open the lands for the age of Manifest Destiny. As expansion accelerated and the best lands went into production, settlers began planting on marginal lands, like the steep stretches of the Iowa Driftless region around Yellow River State Forest.

In the early 20th century, public attitudes shifted toward preservation and conservation of natural resources. In 1917, Iowa created the Iowa Conservation Commission with the purpose of establishing a series of parks and preserves throughout the state. The commissioners quickly set about identifying potential park sites and rallying local communities to provide funding and lands for park creation.

Jumping from rock to rock high above the Maquoketa River, Backbone State Park’s breathtaking beauty lets your imagination wander back in time. Backbone is Iowa’s first state park, located near Strawberry Point in eastern Iowa. It first welcomed visitors in 1920

and is known for the distinctive quarter mile long “Devils’ Backbone,” a stretch of Silurianage Dolomitic limestone towering above the river. The state purchased 1,200 acres at the site from 44 individual property owners. After extensive development over the ’20s and ’30s, it quickly grew into a beloved destination for generations of Iowans who enjoy the outdoors. Backbone, with its distinctive castle-like boathouse, rare natural springs, mysterious caves and other natural wonders, still draws thousands of visitors each year.

As the Maquoketa River winds southeast, its water has carved out one of Iowa’s most distinctive state parks: Maquoketa Caves. The park has at least 13 distinct cave structures ranging from 30 to over 1,000 feet deep, and evidence of human inhabitation there stretches back at least 6,000 years.

American settlers first happened upon the vast underground labyrinth when two local hunters followed a herd of deer into the entrance of one of the caves during a snowstorm. The location rapidly gained popularity soon after. Young visitors would dance in a small pavilion constructed under the rockface, at the entrance to “Dance Hall Cave.”

With contrasting darkness and light, paired with rough stone and vibrant plant life, Maquoketa Caves makes many visitors believe they’ve stepped out of Iowa and into an alternative reality.

Just down the road from Maquoketa Caves in Anamosa is Wapsipinicon State Park. Visitors started flocking to the park during the early 1920s. Blasting crews uncovered at least nine human skeletons at Horse Thief Cave within the park’s bounds in 1923. The blasting also uncovered pottery and other artifacts tying the location to the distant past, but the park itself dates back to the Archaic period roughly 4,000 years ago.

Wapsipinicon stands as a distinctive early entrant into the state park system, with unique

Wapsipinicon State Park 21301 County Rd E34, Anamosa 319-462-2761, wapsipinicon@dnr.iowa.gov

Pilot Knob State Park 2148 340th St, Forest City 641-581-4835, pilot_knob@dnr.iowa.gov

Pammel State Park 1900 Pammel Park Rd, Winterset 515-462-3536, awarnke@madisoncounty.iowa.gov

Echo Valley State Park 9672 Echo Valley Rd, West Union 563-422-5146, fayetteccb@hawkeyetel.com

Brush Creek Canyon State Preserve E Avenue near Arlington 563-425-4161, state_preserves@dnr.iowa.gov

Fort Atkinson State Preserve 303 2nd St NW, Ft Atkinson 563-425-4161, volga_River@dnr.iowa.gov

Pikes Peak State Park 32264 Pikes Peak Rd, McGregor 563-873-2341, pikes_peak@dnr.iowa.gov

Effigy Mounds National Monument 151 IA-76, Harpers Ferry 563-873-3491, efmo_interpretation@nps.gov

Waubonsie State Park 2585 Waubonsie Park Rd, Hamburg 712-382-2786, waubonsie@dnr.iowa.gov

Gitchie Manitou State Preserve 52141 Adams Ave, Larchwood 515-725-8200, state_preserves@dnr.iowa.gov

Shimek State Forest 33653 Route J56, Farmington 319-878-3811, shimek_forest@dnr.iowa.gov

Dead Man’s Lake, there is much to explore in Iowa’s state parks and public lands.

Pilot Knob State Park, Kevin Mason

Adria Carpenter / Little Village

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HERE FOR THE DRAMA.

amenities like a nine-hole golf course and a peeled log-style lodge, representative of park development in the 1920s. Much of the park’s development resulted from work agreements with the Anamosa State Penitentiary. Inmates toiled to develop the amenities familiar to visitors today.

Pilot Knob State Park towers above the Algona end moraine in far north-central Iowa. The park is capped by a stone tower constructed to offer a commanding view of the bottomless sphagnum bog known as Dead Man’s Lake. The park is a love story of sorts: 162 locals each chipped in $70 to purchase the land, and gifted the site to the state during the early 1920s, hoping to secure a state park. Similar stories abound in state parks throughout Iowa. Local communities have often taken initiative to preserve lands too precious to surrender to the plow.

Today, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources officially administers 72 parks throughout the state, and many other sites now under county or federal control have once been a part of the state park system.

Pammel State Park, managed by Madison County Conservation, is tucked among the famous covered bridges southwest of Des Moines. It has Iowa’s only automotive tunnel and a “Devil’s Backbone” of its own. State officials determined Madison County could better maintain the park and officially transferred duties in 1989.

A similar story played out for Echo Valley State Park in Fayette County. The state owns the park, but the Fayette County Conservation Board manages it, after disrepair and other issues plagued the park’s enticing escarpments.

Echo Valley visitors can drive 30 minutes south to Brush Creek Canyon State Preserve and inadvertently land in the distant past. The state refused to transfer the park to local control, in favor of creating a biological preserve. Hikers might feel like prehistoric explorers as they bushwhack through this largely unmaintained park and see the sharp canyon

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that descends to a meandering trout stream. Or as they encounter the decaying Civilian Conservation Corps picnic shelter in the depths of the forest.

For those more interested in a well-maintained and informative journey into Iowa’s history, the partially reconstructed military fort at Fort Atkinson State Preserve hosts interpretive panels, yearly programming and other features friendly to the faint of heart.

Further to the east on the Mississippi River is Pikes Peak State Park, which showcases the past, present and future of Iowa’s public lands. The park was originally part of a federal plan to create a national park in the early 20th century, but it was eventually adopted into the state system. The nearby McGregor Heights State Park, however, only temporarily stayed in state control before federal officials reclaimed the land to create Effigy Mounds National Monument.

Both sites feature mounds tied to Iowa’s Woodland Era Indigenous inhabitants. Pike’s Peak also holds other treasures: the gentle water of Bridal Veil Falls, prominent views at Point Ann and Pike’s Peak, and an active hummingbird population drawn by the sweet sugar of feeders near the Civilian Conservation Corps lodge building.

From the northeastern Pikes Peak, to the southwestern Waubonsie State Park, and from the northwestern Gitchie Manitou State Preserve to the southeastern Shimek State Forest, there are still beautiful lands for Iowans to explore.

No matter where you are in the state, tucked between where the tall corn grows, you aren’t far from the public lands which lets you glimpse Iowa’s natural and historic past.

Kevin T. Mason, Ph.D., serves as an Assistant Professor of History at Waldorf University in Forest City, and created ‘Notes on Iowa,’ a publicly oriented history project currently exploring the history of Iowa’s public in videos and short-essays available at notesoniowa.com.

Carry That Weight

Next stop for this Sioux City powerlifter: the 2023 Berlin Games.

BY CRISTIN MITCHELL

When the 2023 Special Olympics World Games begin in Berlin on June 17, there will just be one Iowans on Team USA, Mitchell Betsworth. The 27-year-old powerlifter from Sioux City isn’t worried about the competition in Germany. He already knows what it’s like to compete at the highest levels, and he has the medals to prove it.

Betsworth, who has Down syndrome, was a gold medalist at the USA Special Olympics Games in 2014, 2018 and 2022. Weighing only 163 pounds, he recently hit a 425-pound deadlift and 300-pound bench press at a competition in Iowa City.

Betsworth has been a competitive powerlifter since his sophomore year of high school. His aide, Preston Stevens, recognized that he was built for powerlifting. Troy Betsworth, Mitchell’s father, is a former powerlifter himself, so regular training evolved organically. It’s very much a family affair for the Betsworths, with his uncle Kevin and cousin Derek also helping out as a competition gets near.

The 2023 Berlin Games will be the Betsworth family’s first time traveling abroad. Betsworth and his teammates will travel together without their guardians, while the rest of the family will

needs from ages 8 and up, in 17 sports, providing training year-round. Mitchell Betsworth joined the Knights after high school.

“It takes an army,” his father Troy said. “We’ve met more friends through the Special Olympics than we would have ever met in any other social setting.”

“I did a lot of helping with fundraising in the first year that it started, knowing that Mitch would eventually transfer into that team,”

Michele Betsworth, Mitchell’s mother, recalled.

cross the Atlantic to watch from the stands.

In addition to the solid support of his family, Betsworth has had a steady supply of help and support from the Sioux City Knights, an all-volunteer Special Olympics delegation composed of athletes, parents and guardians.

The Sioux City Knights currently have more than 170 athletes among its members. Before the group formed in 2012, there was no outlet post-high school for people with disabilities to compete in sports.

The Knights work with athletes with special

For over a decade, Betsworth and his parents, along with a group of 15 to 30 people, participate in Siouxland’s annual Polar Plunge. This fundraising event raises critical support for Special Olympics Iowa.

The Polar Plunge is exactly what it sounds like: participants jump into a frigid body of water in the depth of winter. The annual event usually has a theme. In 2015, it was favorite bands, so Betsworth and his father dressed as Yoko Ono and John Lennon.

Since the pandemic, the Polar Plunge started using a specialized tank with chlorine for

Mitchell Betsworth poses with his many awards. Courtesy of Mitchell Betsworth’s family

“It takes an army. We’ve met more friends through the Special Olympics than we would have ever met in any other social setting.” —Troy Betsworth

added safety, instead of jumping in a lake as they did before. Cold temperatures or not, Troy thinks that support for Special Olympics Iowa will remain steadfast.

“We could do this in July and they wouldn’t care if they know the money is going to Special Olympics Iowa,” he said.

The pandemic didn’t disrupt Betsworth’s training routine. He has an at-home setup, including a power cage for squatting to ensure safe operation. Squatting is dangerous without the cage, Michele explained. The state of Iowa doesn’t include squats in its Special Olympics powerlifting competitions for this reason.

Troy said the Knights did a “wonderful job” to help athletes keep active during the pandemic, “whether it’s shooting baskets, running around the track, doing individual things where we could practice social distancing but still keep the athletes involved.”

Last summer, four members of the Knights competed in the Special Olympics USA Games in Orlando. In total, the Sioux City Knights sent 12 athletes to Team Iowa for the competition.

For the past seven years, Betsworth has been a global messenger for the Special Olympics organization, which his mother Michele helps with. Global messengers are advocates who spread the organization’s core values.

“I help him with that because of his speech, but he does better when he has paper in front of him because it slows him down,” Michele said. Betsworth’s thicker tongue, resulting from Down syndrome, causes his speech to get jumbled.

In 2018, Betsworth was featured in Sports Illustrated’s end-of-year photo roundup. The image shows him during the deadlift competition at the Special Olympics USA Games that year. The inclusion was a total surprise to the family. John Kliegl, CEO of Special Olympics of Iowa, called them shortly after the issue came out that December. He asked whether Troy had even been in Sports Illustrated before announcing, “Well, Mitchell is!”

In March, Mitchell was honored to read the Special Olympics oath before an Iowa Heartlanders hockey game in Coralville: “Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.”

Outside of powerlifting, he works at Pizza Ranch and enjoys swimming, bowling and golfing. When asked about how he feels about competing on the world stage, Mitchell re ported that he is “so ready!”

Members of Team USA will be making their first stop at their host city, Bremen, Germany, where they will spend three to four days before departing for the World Games in Berlin. There, Mitchell Betsworth will represent the USA in powerlifting, including squat, bench press and deadlift competitions.

Let’s Roll

Athletes of all physical abilities can pass, serve, sled and cycle across the state through Adaptive Sports Iowa.

BY ISAAC HAMLET

Wheelchair tennis is kind of like traditional tennis, but with wheelchairs. That sounds obvious, but the two sports are remarkably similar. The only adaptation is wheelchair players get two bounces instead of one.

“Maneuvering your chair around and taking the figure eights and stuff on the court is really what I’ve learned, how to hit the ball and don’t watch where the ball’s going,” said Joel Fini, a 46-year-old Des Moines native.

Fini is one of many utilizing the services of Adaptive Sports Iowa (ASI), an Ames-based nonprofit that organizes sports and other

Adaptive Sports’ RAGBRAI team

Months before RAGBRAI’s 50th anniversary ride, the Adaptive Sports Iowa riding team was already full.

“Our team kinda caps out at 80 people and right now we’re kinda passed that cap, so it’s gonna be a huge year,” said Hannah Bowman, the director of Adaptive Sports Iowa, an Ames-based nonprofit launched in 2011, dedicated to the education and organization of recreational opportunities for Iowans with physical disabilities.

RAGBRAI, for those unfamiliar, is short for the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Race Across

recreational activities for Iowans with physical and visual disabilities. Fini is paraplegic, the result of an accident in 1993 that injured his T7 spinal nerve and paralyzed his hips and legs.

He joined the ASI crew back in 2012—a year after the organization began—when the former director of ASI introduced him to wheelchair basketball during his daughter’s basketball game. Additionall, he’s participated in other sports from pool to cycling to kayak fishing to bow hunting to skiing, and in 2022, he was named the Adaptive Sports athlete of the year.

ASI offers wheelchair basketball, sled hockey and a RAGBRAI cycling team, among others. The tennis program is only three years old, but it’s become one of the nonprofit’s most successful sports, according to Hannah Bowman.

“Tennis seemed like a really natural next step for us,” said Bowman, the director at ASI for the past five years. “You can have two participants and still have it be successful because they can play each other.”

Wheelchair tennis can still be played with standing players, and people who might not use a wheelchair everyday can use one to play.

“We have one participant who can walk

Iowa. The subject of the recent documentary Shift, RAGBRAI started half a century ago when a pair of Des Moines Register reporters decided to bike across the state in search of stories. Their casual odyssey has since grown into an annual tradition drawing tens of thousands of cyclists from around the world.

“We have a really close partnership with the RAGBRAI staff,” Bowman said. “Essentially any person with a physical disability that wants to ride RAGBRAI, regardless of whether they’re from Iowa or not, they’re welcome to join our team, as long as we have the space for them.”

Adaptive Sports sponsors the riders on its team, meaning participants generally don’t have to worry about bringing equipment and being sure they’re prepared for the ride itself. Once

just fine,” Bowman explained. “But, with her disability, has some balance issues and can’t necessarily run, [so] sitting down works better for her.”

The tennis program runs three times a year in six week increments. There are lessons June through July, September through October and January through February—in the case of the latter, the game is played indoors. Though fewer people are needed to play tennis, participation has been comparable to sports that demand more players.

“Wheelchair basketball or our sled hockey program, they’re in the six to 12 participant range, so I would say that tennis is pretty on par with those,” Bowman said. “But I would say [tennis] is more successful, just because of the fact you don’t need as many people to play.”

On the notably higher end, ASI’s RAGBRAI team has amassed roughly 85 cyclists as of March 2023 for the 50th anniversary ride.

Bowman also attributes the tennis program’s success to financial support provided by the United States Tennis Association and

2022 Adaptive Sports Iowa Wheelchair Tennis Participants. Courtesy of Adaptive Sports Iowa

they get rolling, Adaptive Sports has a dedicated bike mechanic, team nurse and sag vehicle.

Emily Medina, 2022 Adaptive Sports Iowa cycling team Courtesy of Adaptive Sports Iowa

to the professional coach who leads the program.

Fini hadn’t tried out tennis before ASI introduced the program, but now he’s a fairly consistent player. He attends almost every practice, and his daughter often tags along.

He hopes that ASI will be able to organize tennis competitions and tournaments in the future. Fini has a strong competitive side and likes testing his skills against others. For example, he recently joined a cornhole league.

“Me and my buddy thought we were pretty good, and then we [went to] play in a bags league and we got our butt kicked,” he said.

ASI has held a few tournaments over the years, but it’s had difficulty filling out teams for consistent play, Fini said.

It’s unclear how much ASI can collaborate with similar organizations, according to Nicole Berger, the main tennis instructor at the nonprofit. But because of how accessible and adaptable tennis is, she’s optimistic for more cross pollination.

“Our number one [goal] is connecting with Davenport more, they’ve had a program much longer than we have,” Berger said.

They could potentially compete with programs in places like Sioux Falls, South Dakota or Lincoln, Nebraska, but it would be more casual and fluid.

“It would probably be a situation where we’d have their people down here and then we’d go down there,” she said.

Whether or not people are looking for a competitive angle, Fini hopes other people give Adaptive Sports a try.

“One thing I always like to say is, ‘Don’t be afraid to try,’” Fini said. “Just come out and do it, and surprisingly, it’ll be a lot of fun regardless of your ability or disability.”

For more information about tennis and other programs offered at ASI, check their website and social media.

The team also makes sure participants are able to sleep indoors at accessible hotels.

According to Bowman, not only is the RAGBRAI team the most attended program Adaptive Sports offers, it also builds comradery between individuals with different disabilities. For example, Bowman noted, it’s a rare opportunity for those with visual impairments to join a team with folks of other disability demographics.

“We have one other program, baseball for visual impairment, and other than that we don’t have a ton going on,” she said. “It’s really cool being able to see them being able to interact with our other participants, which they don’t usually get to do throughout the year.”

—Isaac Hamlet

JOHN AND MARY PAPPAJOHN SCULPTURE PARK

Live, Laugh, LARP

weapons—but Belegarth straddles the middle ground of more extreme styles. Fighters choose a name for themselves, train, socialize within their local realm and prepare for large battles.

There are two Belegarth groups that span eastern Iowa: Beornve in the Quad Cities and Tirn Hithui in Iowa City. These groups are called “realms’’ or “parks.” Noah Jones, co-leader of the Beornve realm, has been fighting for 10 years.

“I love the fighting and events, but I would say the main thing is the incredible community. The vast majority of people I interact with, outside of work and family, I met through Belegarth,” Jones said. “I originally thought it was just going to be something fun to do on weekends, but it has become such an integral part of my life that I can’t imagine not being as involved in it as I am.”

said Walter McCallum, or Worthane. “It used to have a ‘might makes right’ feel, and people are much more conscious of each other now.”

Once a week, the Tirn Hithui group reserves time to work on their weapons or armor as needed. They also have community weapons available that are made, repaired or donated during these crafting sessions. After Monday night practice they have dinner and play board games.

Still, the fighting is the main event. Players learn tactics, play styles and narratives at weekly practices, which then culminate in large regional or national events. Each player develops their own fighting style while learning the fighting style of their sparring partner.

BY SARA ELGATIAN

In a sunny clearing at Vander Veer Botanical Park, two sides draw their foam weapons and charge. This is Belegarth, a medieval-themed combat game.

“Exercise is boring,” said Mazog, a Belegarth player of over 20 years. “Fighting is not boring.”

Belegarth falls under the umbrella of Live Action Role Playing (LARPing). There are other types of medieval-style combat— some have strict narrative, others use metal

Belegarth fighters use weapons that are usually homemade, with a firm center made of fiberglass, PVC or light wood, that are then wrapped in foam. Weapon guidelines have two general categories: “blue” swords can be up to a certain length, and “red” swords must be over that length. Fighters can also use daggers, bowed weapons and shields during some events.

“They should never leave a mark,” said Tirn Hithui founder Amber Shaffer, or Aza.

There’s been an increased awareness for safety concerns at the national level, better methods of reporting people, revoking memberships, and so on, Jones said.

“I started in 2009 and it’s changed a lot,”

Some events are just fights, but others include storylines and roles. Players are divided by character traits to see how they fit into the storyline. Regional fights like Wolfpack Opener and Oktoberfest, and national events like Battle For The Ring, use storylines to escalate the fight.

Battle For The Ring is one of Jones’ favorite events. It’s essentially a mini festival. Some days have fighting classes and crafting sessions, tournaments, big line-fights, vendors, etc.

“Most people camp at the event site, so nightlife in the past has had lighted areas for fighting, bardic competitions,” Jones said. “I’ve even seen people bring out a DJ setup

The Tirn Hitui realm practices during winter at a gym in Wilton, Iowa. Sara Elgatian / Little Village

Treadmills are for peasants. These Iowans prefer to get their cardio in hand-to-hand combat, with plenty of imagination in the mix.

and host a party. It’s really only limited to the effort people are willing to put in to do it.”

Gannon Clark, or Aardwolf, a co-leader of Tirn Hithui, has been in several different LARPing and martial arts groups throughout his life, but Belegarth is his favorite.

“I keep coming back for the community. These are my people,” Clark said.

Realms typically have some overlap, and Beornve and Tirn Hithui are no exception, especially in the winter months. This happens as populations wane with cold weather, or when looking for new practice locations. (In warm months, fighters meet at parks, hence why realms are colloquially referred to as parks.)

Beornve quit practicing during the winter of 2019 and took a long hiatus when the pandemic hit the next year, which the national Belegarth organization encouraged.

“Belegarth as a whole took COVID pretty seriously from what I saw,” Jones said. “Even when we were back to practicing we had extra guidelines that were recommended by the organization.”

But weather and pandemics aren’t the only factors for attendance. After Game of Thrones premiered on HBO in 2011, Belegarth realms saw participation swell before tapering off. The same happened in 2015 before a massive national event.

Even with the mainstream “nerd culture” renaissance—with the box-office powerhouse of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the resurgence of Dungeons & Dragons following Stranger Things or countless other IPs—there’s still stigmas and stereotypes that surround LARPing and adjacent activities, Jones said.

“People don’t like calling it [LARPing] because there’s a stigma that comes with the term. The great thing is, once you get past that, you see there’s something for everyone,” he said. “I know people who don’t go to events but have shown up in gym clothes every Saturday for years just to swing sticks. Other people have spent hundreds of hours getting their garb exactly how they want it and can tell you their entire character background. Then there’s people that fall everywhere in between.”

Jones cautions people not to let preconceived ideas stop them from trying it out.

“I never pictured myself doing anything like Belegarth until I actually showed up and tried it for myself,” he said. “There is a wide-ranging community, and odds are you’re going to meet people you have things in common with outside Belegarth too.”

In good weather, Beornve meets at Vander Veer Park in Davenport at noon on Saturdays. And Tirn Hithui meets in City Park, near the cabins, in Iowa City at 3 p.m. on Sundays and 5 p.m. on Mondays.

Garde-ian

Fencing requires total focus. So does coaching the ever-changing sport.

BY GENEVIEVE TRAINOR

Iowa City Fencing Center founder, director and head coach Judy O’Donnell moved to Iowa in 2000, when her husband took a job at the University of Iowa. Ten years later, after advising for the university’s club fencers and taking on more private students

than she had room for, O’Donnell opened the Fencing Center.

“You can only have so many holes in your basement ceiling before you have to do something!” she said, with a laugh.

O’Donnell fenced on her college team at Wellesley College, moving to Germany after her graduation in 1982 to train intensively at a fencing center there. She fenced in several World Cup competitions, between 1984 and 1991. In 1985, she began coaching children through the Boston Fencing Club, starting with one 5-year-old boy and growing her student base from there. That boy was Davis Merritt; under her training, he went on to win

What’s In a Blade?

President of and coach at the Iowa City Fencing Center Judy O’Donnell stands flanked by her young students during a break in their practice. Gabby Estlund / Little Village

several national championships and is now the head foil coach at that same school.

“There’s a funny story,” O’Donnell said. “We were at the national championships, [I was] coaching some of my students. And sometimes the coaches will chat together. And he came up to me, and said, ‘As soon as I looked over and saw who the other coach was, I knew we were going to lose!’”

O’Donnell fell so in love with coaching that

The sport of fencing employs three different styles, each utilizing a slightly different type of sword.

Foil is the typical beginner weapon. It’s light and quick, with a rectangular blade shape. The style evolved from military training; the blunted blades were used as practice weapons for smallsword fighters. In sport fighting, points are only scored with the tip of the weapon coming into contact with the opponent’s torso. Women’s foil fencing was introduced in the Olympics in 1924, 28 years after men’s fencing, and remained the only version of the sport women could compete in at the Olympics for the next 72 years.

Épée is the largest and heaviest of the three weapons. It has a V-shaped blade and a larger bell guard than a foil. The style is most similar to traditional 19th-century dueling. Like foil, points can only be scored with the tip of the blade and in a thrusting motion. But in épée fighting, there are no right-of-way rules and the entire body is a valid target. Also unique to épée, body-to-body contact is not an automatic offense, unless it is particularly brutal. Women’s épée was introduced to the world championships in 1988, eight years before it was approved for the Olympic Games.

Sabre uses the fastest, most aggressive style. The weapon, which evolved from a naval cutlass, has a knuckle guard that curves over the hand and connects with a pommel to the bottom of the handle, rather than the bell-shaped style of the other swords. The blade itself is Y- or V-shaped ending in a rectangular point. Points can be scored with a thrust using the tip, as in foil and épée, or with a cutting movement using either edge of the blade. The entire upper half of the body (including arms and head) is a valid target. Like épée, sabre fencing was long considered too violent and aggressive for women. The first official competitions for women in sabre occurred at the 1999 World Cup, but was not added to the Olympics until five years later.

she went back to school, earning her Masters of Education at Harvard University in 1988. She’s been teaching and coaching since. She teaches students of all levels of in Iowa City, across most brackets of competition age categories, with varying goals for their studies.

“Some people just want to come in for an hour of class a week, have a good time, get a little exercise and have some fun,” O’Donnell said. “Other people want to go to national championships.”

She answered a some questions for Little Village about her practice and her business.

What would you say is your favorite style? Are you more foil, épée, sabre? Well, each one is very different as far as the target and the rules and the way it’s played, and the way you think about it, and how you perform it. They’re all fun. … At first I did foil because back then women were only allowed to do foil. And then women started being allowed to do épée, so I did that. I did a little World Cup foil, but most of my World Cup was in épée. But women still weren’t doing sabre back then, so I didn’t get to do a lot of sabre competition. But I think all three are splendid; I teach all three.

Aside from the variety of opportunity for women, what would you say has changed on the world scene in fencing, between your time competing and now? What do you see when you watch the current competitions and look at the current competitive styles? It changes over the years, they kind of cycle through things. You kind of go through one style and then it disappears because everybody figures out how to deal with that, and another comes along, and people figure that out. So it changes a lot.

Fencing has gotten a lot more athletic over the years. It’s gotten a lot faster. The electrical scoring equipment allows for touches to happen so quickly that sometimes you don’t even see the hit. … So it’s quite a bit faster than it used to be. Americans are doing a whole lot better than we used to do, too! The U.S. is having a lot of international success.

My next question [is] about the mental component. What sort of training do you do, especially for young kids, to cultivate that ability, that focus and that stillness? Sure, yeah! Sometimes we have certain games we play in the classes that will help develop that kind of focus. Also with my junior team, that’s for the more serious kids, and during the junior team training sessions we’ll spend part of the hour doing mental things, mental training aspects … relaxation training, each session a little bit of that.

… Aspects of mental training are really

THERE’S ALWAYS SOMETHING FUN TO DO

in North Liberty, including the City Slate collection of special events. Every event on the slate is free to attend. Full schedule and details at northlibertyiowa.org/cityslate

The City Slate is made possible by our community sponsors: Centro, Inc, The Family Dental Center, The Eastern Iowa Airport – CID, Hills Bank, MidWestOne Bank, Shive-Hattery, South Slope Cooperative, University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics, Urban Acres Real Estate and Veridian Credit Union.

important to competing and really important to being able to enjoy life, in general. I’ve had lots of students come back and tell me they’ve applied what they learned in the mental training to other aspects of their lives, and that’s always really nice to hear. … I do some mental training with fencers besides my students here … I’ve also worked with equestrians in the past, and people who are involved with other sports.

Is fencing ever used therapeutically, for kids who struggle with emotional regulation or anything like that? Yeah, we’ve worked with some kids who’ve had problems like that, and even some adults. One of my most favorite moments of coaching: I work with a lot of kids who are autistic, who feel much more comfortable when they have a fencing mask on. And I remember after a parent-child class, a mother was crying in the corner, and I asked, “What’s the matter, my goodness?” And it turned out her son had looked for the first time. Looked directly at her through the fencing mask. She said, “I finally got to see his eyes.” It was a very moving moment.

A fencing class, for kids like that, gives time to relax, build confidence and self esteem,

and we can build that up. It’s really good for a lot of different things. I’ve worked with a lot of kids who’ve had issues. People who are ADHD, they learn to focus more. Because if you don’t focus, you get hit! It’s pretty simple: you’ve got to pay attention to the person in front of you, trying to poke you. So they develop focus, without anyone nagging at them to develop focus.

Do you feel like fencing is embraced by Iowans, generally? We do a lot of two-hour Introduction to Fencing classes—we offer that twice a month, so people can find out what it’s all about. And so often, when I explain to people that no, we don’t fence with sharp swords, they give a sigh of relief. People are thinking that we’re going to fence with something sharp, and that it’s really dangerous … We don’t fence with anything sharp. Everything that we wear is designed for safety. I think that’s one of the myths that people don’t understand. A lot of people think it’s an elite sport for rich people only, and that’s not true. We keep prices quite low, we provide all the equipment. So there are a couple of those myths that we’re still trying to break through. We’re the only club for the public in Eastern Iowa, then there are three clubs in Des Moines

and there’s one in Sioux City, and both the University of Iowa and Iowa State have clubs for their fencers. … There’s not a lot; it’s not like every town has a fencing place in Iowa. But it’s growing bit by bit.

I would love to see lots more people coming in and trying it, hopefully sticking around and doing more of it. There’s so many great benefits to fencing; it’s a great stress relief. When you’re fencing, you can’t think about anything else. When you go to the gym and work out on the treadmill or whatever, you carry all your worries in the back of your mind.

I’ve got people who’ll drive two or three hours for an intro class … I always feel bad that, here they are, they fall in love with it, but there’s nowhere for them to do it when they go home. So I’d love to see more clubs springing up.

At our facility, people are very welcoming. It’s a really friendly group of people that enjoy the time that they spend together and the time they spend fencing. Everybody seems to care about everybody else. It’s a very nice culture that we’ve developed here. … If somebody’s looking for that opportunity to make new friends, have some fun and get some exercise all at the same time, fencing is a really nice thing to do.

On Deck

BY ADRIA CARPENTER

The next generation of skaters has carved out its own community within the country’s largest skatepark.

On any sunny afternoon, the Lauridsen Skatepark in downtown Des Moines is filled with locals and out-of-towners, amateurs and pros, teens and 20-somethings. And right along with them, you’ll find the Subsect Kids Skate Crew, a group of skaters who are among the youngest at the park.

“They really found and created their own space and their own community within the skatepark that is well-respected among the older skaters, because they see it as like, ‘This is the next generation. These kids are going to do things that I never even dreamed of doing,’” said Norm Sterzenbach, president of Skate DSM, a skateboarding advocacy nonprofit in Des Moines.

Subsect Kids formed organically soon after Lauridsen opened in 2021. Then 7-year-old Isla Bowers wanted to learn how to skate like her father.

“My dad would skate, and I wanted to be a part of skating to do an activity with him, so I wouldn’t have to sit at home when he would go skating,” she said.

Isla Bowers and her mother, Alyssa, started attending skate clinics at Lauridsen, hosted by Skate DSM. The clinics teach skating fundamentals and skatepark etiquette, so everyone feels comfortable coming to the skatepark. There, Isla and Alyssa met other young skaters and parents and eventually created a small group.

“They just really kind of formed a little bond,” Alyssa said. “Learning how to drop in that first summer was like an obstacle they all had to do. And it was like, there was tears and crying. And they would hug each other, and like, ‘You can do this!’”

Isla thought dropping in was scary at first, but now it doesn’t intimidate her.

“As soon as I did it, I didn’t think it was that scary anymore. So I just did it a bunch of times in a row. But it did take me like a long time to get it,” she said. “It doesn’t look that scary when you’re at the bottom, but when you get up there, it’s taller than it actually is. So that makes it a lot scarier. But then when you actually drop in, it’s the same as when you were at the bottom of it, and it looks small.”

Skateboarding can have “an enormous amount of positive impacts” on a kid’s life, from providing a supportive community to teaching life lessons like perseverance, Sterzenbach said.

“In order to be good at skateboarding, you have to be willing to fail, and fall, and get hurt, and get back up, and keep going,” he said.

Subsect Kids take its name from Subsect Skateshop in East Village, about a 15-minute walk from the skatepark. The shop is owned

by Kevin Jones, a Des Moines native and Skate DSM board member.

“Subsect Kids Crew, someone was like, ‘What’s been your favorite thing that came from the skatepark?’ That would be it,” Jones said.

Jones learned how to skate at the age of 8 when a friend gave him a skateboard. Later on, he became a team skater for Subsect. He’s been the shop’s owner for five years but has

kids’ lives. A skatepark was at the top of the list.

“It’s somewhat visionary for this particular group to want to get behind it,” Sterzenbach said. “It’s fair to say that it wouldn’t have happened without them keeping the project alive for so long.”

The project struggled for years to find funding, Sterzenbach said. Early plans included small “skate zones” in neighborhood parks plus a large, centralized park. The Four-Mile

—Isla Bowers

managed daily operations for over 20 years. And he’s been involved with Lauridsen for just as long.

“That skatepark is over 20 some years of my life, oh wow. I’ve been on some form of a committee or another since I was in high school,” he said, who became the “skater ambassador” during Lauridsen development.

Lauridsen is the largest skatepark in the country at 88,000 square feet, 10,000 more than the previous largest park, Spring Skatepark in Houston, Texas. Planning for Lauridsen began in 2004 when A Mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy (AMOS), a faith-community advocacy group, conducted a survey to see what recreation needs were missing in

Skatepark in northeast Des Moines was one of these small parks. After the 2008 flood, the City of Des Moines had no funds available for further construction, but it donated a plot of land along the west bank of the Des Moines River.

The next nine years were spent designing, redesigning, applying for grants, holding fundraisers and promotional events. In 2017, local businesses, organizations and elected officials formed a committee to complete the skatepark and prevent the grant funds from sunsetting.

Norm Sterzenbach joined the project at this stage. He had started skating at an early age while growing up in Cedar Rapids. The city

“As soon as I [dropped in], I didn’t think it was that scary anymore. So I just did it a bunch of times in a row. It doesn’t look that scary when you’re at the bottom, but when you get up there, it’s taller than it actually is. ”

Isla Bowers, right, encourages a fellow skater to drop in. Adria Carpenter / Little Village

did not have a skatepark then, so Sterzenbach skated streetscapes, DIY ramps and his backyard half-pipe. The skating community there was fragmented, he said.

“We didn’t really know each other because there wasn’t a hub that everyone went to. We

had our own neighborhood turf,” Sterzenbach recalled. Lauridsen makes things very different.

“Here, it’s bringing a lot of people together that don’t necessarily know each other,” he said. “And it shows that the skateboarding

Above: Adia Snell attempts to skate over the stairs while, Reese Bunn, Victoria Munoz, Ryder Bunn and Cali Lloyd encourage her. Adria Carpenter / Little Village

community in Des Moines is a lot bigger than I think people had anticipated.”

Connor Barrett is a 23-year-old local skater, filmmaker and the creator of respecTapes. He started seriously skating around 12 and has always carried a camera around. Filming his friends while they’re in the zone, trying to get tricks, just seemed natural. He didn’t even really think about it. There was a skater community in Des Moines, he said, but it was scattered.

“You didn’t see everyone in the community until Subsect had a demo, or a pro skater was coming,” Barrett said. “Whereas now, Lauridsen is just a center for everybody.”

Construction on Lauridsen began in 2018 with a budget of $3.5 million. But there was a series of delays due to utility lines underneath the site, having to build a retaining wall to keep 2nd Avenue from eroding into the park and increasing costs for materials caused by the pandemic. The final price tag was $6.1 million, much of it privately funded. The park is named for Nix and Virginia Lauridsen of Lauridsen Group International in Ankeny, who donated $1 million towards the project.

The park finally opened in 2021. Designed by Lance Mountain and Colby Carter of California Skateparks, Lauridsen has park and street courses—with pipes, ramps, curbs, rails, stairs—a quarter-mile long promenade, the amoeba pool and flow bowl, a snake run and a skateable sculpture that spells out “WOW.”

Opening day “was chaos, but good chaos,” Jones said. And nearly everyone wanted to see the country’s largest skatepark, including Barrett.

“There were so many people that I hadn’t seen in five years on skateboards. Everyone showed up out of nowhere,” Barrett said. “It was amazing. It was overwhelming.”

Lauridsen was designed to be accessible to newcomers and experienced skaters. The promenade is mostly flat, perfect for people learning how to balance on the board and ride on small inclines. Intermediate skaters can drop into the flow bowl, and professionals can ride in the amoeba pool.

“If it’s the first time you’ve ever been on a skateboard, or you’re an Olympic athlete, there’s a space in that park for you,” Sterzenbach said.

At the Skate DSM intro clinics, Sterzenbach has seen skaters as young as three, and as old as 60. The clinics are taught by local skaters, which help people feel like they belong at the skatepark, he said.

Isla volunteered to become a junior instructor for the clinics.

“When you get better at skateboarding you can also help other people learn how to skateboard, and teach other people, and that’s fun,” she said.

The Subsect Kids volunteer for the clinics—and help even when they haven’t signed up—and the group volunteers to hand out free skateboards around the area.

“These kids are actually doing good things. They’re trying to be role models and be supportive of everyone. And they just include everyone,” Alyssa said. “You just see how much the kids learn from the experience of skateboarding. I never really thought about it before, but it’s the community that they get involved with … The way they support each other, and the way they just finally do it, and the feeling that you see on their faces, like they did it. That was hard, and that was scary, but they did it.”

Many of the Subsect Kids have dreams to become professional skaters, some are even sponsored. And those dreams are so much closer when they’re skating alongside their heroes.

“Being a landlocked state being in the Midwest, with our weather, no professional sports teams, no mountains, no oceans. It’s limiting what can exist here within the state, in terms of entertainment,” Sterzenbach said. “We can’t rely on the natural wonders of the state to attract these things on their own. We have to build our own destiny.”

Building the country’s largest skatepark immediately attracted attention. Soon after opening, Lauridsen hosted the 2021 Dew Tour, the only qualifying event for Olympic skateboarding held in the US that year.

“It was cool to see all these kids here and excited about the park, and then also getting to see the possibilities and what they can learn and do at that park,” Jones said. “I truly believe that one day, we’ll get a chance to cheer on somebody in the Olympics that grew up that started skating because of this park.”

The Dew Tour returned to Des Moines in 2022. Pro skater Sky Brown gave away the boards she used to kids at the skatepark. And when Isla was trying to do an ollie, Olympic skater Ryan Decenzo walked over and gave her some tips.

“What was rad is there were a bunch of girl pro skaters here,” Jones said. “I would say the girl skateboarding population, because of that, grew instantly by like 50 percent.”

Isla doesn’t have pro skater aspirations. She’s content with practicing ollies, skating with her dad and hanging out with friends. But for other Subsect Kids, Lauridsen is just the beginning.

“We already have some really rad, local skateboarders. But the kids are going to be next level because they have that skatepark,” Barrett said.

Free State

Four historic sites illuminate Iowa’s role in the Underground Railroad.

BY PAUL BRENNAN

For the enslaved people in Missouri and Kansas before the Civil War, the path to freedom often ran through Iowa. The crisis of 1820 over how far slavery should be allowed to expand in the territories of the United States acquired in the Louisiana Purchase had set the northern limit for slavery at the border between Missouri and Iowa. Missouri became a slave state in 1820, and as strong a defender of slavery as the states of the Deep South. Twenty-six years later, Iowa entered the union as a free state.

Iowa wasn’t just a free state as a matter of law. Many of its residents also had a strong anti-slavery conviction, especially in Quaker and Congregationalist communities. Some were willing to act on their beliefs and help enslaved people seeking freedom. Well before it became a state in 1846, Iowa was an important part of the Underground Railroad.

There were dozens of sites—known as stations—across the southern half of the state that provided safe harbor for those making the dangerous journey to freedom, but only four sites of significance are still extant and listed on the National Park Service’s Itinerary of Underground Railroad sites open to the public. They range from a town in southwest Iowa where anti-slavery militants trained and stockpiled weapons, to a town in southeastern Iowa that was overrun by an armed mob of slavers from Missouri.

militants fighting against slavery, including John Brown and his sons, found Tabor to be a safe haven, and a convenient location to store weapons for raids into the Kansas territory and Missouri. Brown even drilled his fighters on Tabor’s Public Square, before setting off on his ill-fated mission to raid the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.

The Public Square, now Tabor City Park, is the heart of the Antislavery Historic District. Equally significant is the nearby Todd House. The two-story clapboard house was home to Rev. John Todd, a Congregationalist minister and one of the town’s founders. In the 1850s, it was probably the most important station on the Underground Railroad in western Iowa. The Tabor Historical Society offers tours of the house, which can be scheduled by calling 712-313-0102.

an essential feature of the construction was a secret room in the basement, where people fleeing from their enslavers could find temporary safety.

Hitchcock and family lived in the house until the end of the Civil War in 1865. The house, whose style is a western Iowa interpretation of the federal style, has been restored to its condition in the 1850s, when it welcomed fugitives as a station on the Underground Railroad.

Jordan House

2001 Fuller Rd West Des Moines Tours: Friday and Sunday, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., 515-225-1286

Tabor Antislavery Historic District

Downtown Tabor Iowa

Tabor was founded with a purpose. In 1852, a small group of families from Oberlin, Ohio settled in Fremont County, located at the southwestern corner of Iowa. The settlers were looking to recreate the spirit of Oberlin in their new state. The Ohio town was

centered around Oberlin College, which sought to instill in a fierce sense of egalitarianism as well as an active dedication to abolition of slavery. Just months after settling in Iowa, the groups succeeded in establishing Tabor College, a school but an Oberlin and associated with the Congregationalist Church. (The college closed in 1927.) More significantly, they also brought Oberlin’s opposition to slavery to a town close to the borders of both Kansas and Missouri. Tabor became a center of antislavery activity.

As the fight between pro- and anti-slavery factions in Kansas turned bloody in the 1850s,

George B. Hitchcock House

63788 567th Ln, Cass County

Tours: May 1-Sept. 15, ThursdaySunday, starting at 1 p.m. 712-769-2323

Sixty miles northeast of Tabor, and just outside the town of Lewis, the Hitchcock House was another important station on the Underground Railroad. Built in 1856, it was home to the family of Rev. George Hitchock, a Congregationalist minister with strong abolitionist beliefs who came to Cass County in the 1840s, after becoming circuit-riding preacher in western Iowa. Hitchcock and his family originally lived in a log cabin, but in the mid-1850s the minister hired workers to build a two-story house, made from locally quarried sandstone. For Hitchcock,

By the time the first phase of construction on this two-story Italianate Gothic-style house was completed in 1850 and the Jordan family moved in, James C. Jordan was already one of the richest and most important citizens of the state. One of the largest property owners in Iowa, a farmer and cattle rancher, Jordan was also a force in banking and politics. He led the push to move the state capital from Iowa City to Des Moines, and played a decisive role in determining the path railroads took across the new state. And in the 1850s, Jordan also became known as the “chief conductor” of the Underground Railroad in Polk County.

Fugitives probably did not stay in the Jordan family’s house, but found shelter somewhere else on his sprawling estate. Jordan also hosted John Brown on at least two occasions.

The house is now a museum of the West Des Moines Historical Society, displaying artifacts from its time as a station on the Underground Railroad, as well as

John Brown Freedom Trail, 1859 State Historical Society

GREATER DES MOINES BOTANICAL GARDEN

THURSDAYS

June 15

The June Bugs

June 22

Jay Allen

June 29

Brad & Kate

July 6

Adé & The Soul Brothers

July 13

NOLA Jazz Band

July 20

The Sheet

July 27

Max Wellman

August 3

Son Peruchos

August 10

Surf Zombies

August 17

Damon Dotson

August 24

Tom’s Top 8

August 31

Cory Waller & The Wicked Things

September 7

Birdchild

September 14

Parranderos Latin Combo

September 21

Gina Gedler

September 28

The Feel Right

Silphium perfoliatum (cup plant)

SOUND THANKS TO RIPPLE PRODUCTIONS / SUMMER CONCERT SERIES PRESENTED

other items from the early history of the city.

Henderson

Lewelling House

401 South Main St, Salem

Open Sundays, May-September and weekdays by appointment

319-258-2000

The small town of Salem in southeastern Iowa was the first Quaker settlement in Iowa. Established in 1835, in what would become Henry County a year later, its residents were opposed to slavery as a matter of faith held by members of the Society of Friends. But just how far they should take that opposition divided the community. It wasn’t a question that could be ignored, since the Missouri border was just 25 miles away.

The town’s congregation split into two factions in 1843: the Salem Monthly Meeting and Abolition Friends Monthly Meeting. Henderson Lewelling, who had arrived in Salem six years earlier, was one of the organizers of the abolitionist group.

Lewelling’s two-story stone house served as a meeting place for the town’s most committed abolitionists. It is possible that he sheltered escapees from Missouri there as well. But the most important moment in Salem’s anti-slavery history came a year after Lewelling and his family left Iowa for Oregon in 1847.

Justice of the Peace Nelson Gibbs purchased the house from Lewelling, and both lived and held court there. On June 2, 1848, nine enslaved people—men, women and children—escaped from Ruel Daggs farm in Clark County, Missouri. Three days later, bounty hunters from Missouri caught up with them near Salem. Local residents blocked the bounty hunters from taking away the fugitives, insisting everyone go before the justice of the peace for a hearing.

Gibbs demanded the bounty hunters produce proof that the people they captured were owned by Ruel Daggs and they were working on Dagg’s behalf. The bounty hunters had nothing to back up their words. Gibbs declared their captives were free to go. The bounty hunters seized four of the fugitives, forced their way through the locals and hurried back to Missouri.

Daggs announced a reward of $500 for anyone who captured the missing five fugitives. On June 7, a mob of armed men from Missouri stormed Salem. They occupied the town and began forcing their way into homes, searching for the missing five. A local man slipped past the mob, and rode at top speed to the county seat of Mount Pleasant to alert the sheriff. The sheriff assembled a group of armed volunteers, and headed to Salem. As soon as the sheriff and his men confronted the Missourians, the mob fled back across the border. The five remaining freedom seekers were never recaptured.

Furious, Ruel Daggs sued 19 Salem residents for damages under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, demanding $10,000 in compensation for his “lost property.” The case went to trial in federal court in Burlington in June 1850. The law was on Daggs’ side, and he won. The attorneys for the defendants filed an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, not because they thought they’d win, but just to give the defendants time to transfer their property to other family members. It worked. Daggs was never able to collect any of the money the court awarded him.

Ruel Daggs v. Elihu Frazier et al was the last case brought under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. The Daggs case would be cited in congressional debates, as Southern states pushed through the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, a more expansive version of the older law. That use of the federal government to force free states to honor wishes of enslavers further deepened the schism in the country over slavery, and became a milestone on the path to the Civil War.

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LV EDITORS’ PICKS

2023 RECREATION-FOCUSED EVENTS

Planning an event? Submit event info to calendar@littlevillagemag. com. Include event name, date, time, venue, street address, admission price and a brief description (no all-caps, exclamation points or advertising verbiage, please). To find more events, visit littlevillagemag.com/calendar. Please check venue listing in case details have changed.

Races and Runs

Saturday, June 3 at 7 a.m. DAM to DSM, Saylorville Dam, Johnston, $90

Saturday, June 3 at 1 p.m. Stepping Out to Cure Scleroderma Walk, Grand View University, Des Moines, Goodwill Donation

Saturday, June 3 at 8 a.m. Park2Park 5K Fun Run, Van Meter, $35

Saturday, June 3 at 9 a.m. Look to the Stars Cancer Foundation 5K Walk & Run, Pulaski, $25

Saturday, June 10 at 8 a.m.

Capital City Pride 5K Stride, East Village, Des Moines, $35-40

Saturday, June 17 at 6:30 a.m. RipRoar Youth Triathlon, Cedar Rapids, $50

Saturday, June 17 at 4 p.m. Freedom Festival Balloon Glow 5K & 10K, Jones Park, Cedar Rapids, $35-40

Saturday June 24 at 8 a.m. RipRoar Youth Triathlon, Grays Lake Park, Des Moines, $50

Sunday, June 25 at 8 a.m. Pride 5K: Walk, Run, Roll, Bass Street Landing, Moline, $25-40

Saturday, July 1 at 8 a.m. Prairie Crossing Wine Run 5K, Prairie Crossing Vineyard and Winery, Treynor, $25-50

Saturday, July 1 at 7 a.m. 4th Fest 5K, Coralville Recreation Center, $30-45

Pedigo with Jordan Sellergren

Julia DeSpain / Little Village

Hunter the Archer

from Waverly

BY EMMA MCCLATCHEY

Three years ago, if you asked Hunter Telleen’s loved ones which sport he’d excel at in high school, archery would likely never have crossed their minds.

They’d probably have guessed cross-country or track, pointing to the records Hunter set running meets as a 7th grader at Waverly-Shell Rock Middle School. Buck hunting, a hobby the Telleens practice every deer season on their family farmland in Lucas County, was another possibility. They might have even chosen something equestrian, since Hunter’s dad Lynn Telleen was the longtime owner of The Draft Horse Journal, a quarterly publication out of Waverly, Iowa focused on heavy horses. (Fun fact/disclosure: Lynn recently sold DHJ to Little Village owner Matthew Steele.)

Sure, Hunter enjoys all those things. But his sport of choice takes him off school grounds and out of Iowa to competitions around the country, where the 14-year-old shoots for perfect scores and ranks among the top youth competitors in the U.S.

Hunter became incurably curious about archery in 2021, after shooting some arrows at foam targets with a friend at a local 3D shooting range.

“I wanted to get a bow, and then I got one,” Hunter said. “I shot it so much that it was, like, falling apart, so I got a better one and then I started shooting competitions.”

They bought his first bow up at Cabela’s for a few hundred dollars. His new bow was specially ordered online and cost upwards of $3,000.

“I felt like I had to practice a lot better,” Hunter said.

The quality is something you can feel, he explained, lifting the blue aluminum and fiberglass contraption out of his dad’s truck. Hunter shoots a compound bow, which utilizes a

system of pulleys and cables to make handling the bow at full draw easier than recurve bows (the kind you see in the Olympics), improving accuracy at great distances.

“The bow with everything on it is like 13 pounds,” he said. “You want it heavy because then it doesn’t jump up in my hand as much as a lighter one. You have a sight and rest, put an arrow on the rest, and then you have this little D loop here, you usually have a release, pull back and then—let go.”

Hunter’s parents have been supportive of his passion from the jump. They had no idea what it would mean to raise an elite archer, but it was clear Hunter had a natural talent. They’ve taken cues from Hunter’s coaches, including

Linda Beck, a bowhunting world champion and USA Archery-certified coach with North Central Elite Archers.

“It’s kind of an elite archery club that you have to be invited to,” Lynn explained. “[Coach Linda] scouted him out. Being involved with the North Central Elite Archers involves getting some one-on-one coaching with her, which is invaluable. She’s got several Olympic archers under her. She’s top-shelf as far as a coach. So it’s all just compounded to make him even better.”

Less than two years after picking up his first bow, a 13-year-old Hunter attended his first major national tournament, the 2022 Junior Olympic Archery Development (JOAD)

A 14-year-old

is making a splash in an elite, precision sport.

Devin Ferguson / Little Village

Tuesday, July 4 at 8 a.m. Pulpit to Pulpit 5K & 1 Mile Fun Run & Walk, Pulpit Rock Brewery, Decorah, $15-30

Saturday, July 15 at 9 a.m. Glyn Mwar Wine Run 5K, The Local Glyn Mwar Wine Bar, Mount Vernon, $25-50

Saturday, July 15 at 7 a.m. Lake McBride Trail Races, Lake McBride, Solon, $50-70

Saturday, July 22 at 9 a.m. Olathea Creek Wine Run 5K, Olathea Creek Vineyard & Winery, Le Claire, $25-50

Saturday, July 29 at 8 a.m. Walker Pickle Days 5K and Fun Run, Walker, $25-30

Saturday, Aug. 5 at 6:30 a.m. Wapsi Wiggle: 5K & Half Marathon, WGWL Trailhead & Welcome Center, Riceville, $20-40

Saturday, Aug. 12 at 7:30 a.m. Wizard Run, Des Moines, $35-60

Saturday, Aug. 12 at 7:30 a.m. Mines of Spain Trail Races, Dubuque, $25-50

Saturday, Aug. 19 at 8 a.m. Watermelon Stampede 5K & 10K, Muscatine Community YMCA, $25

Sunday, Sept. 3 at 7:30 a.m. NewBo Run Half Marathon & 10K, Cedar Rapids, $35-50

Saturday, Sept. 9 at 7:30

a.m. Pleasant Creek Trail Run, Pleasant Creek Recreation Area, Palo, $35-55

Saturday, Sept. 9 at 8 a.m.

Friends of Pilot Knob Trail Race, Pilot Knob State Park Stone Shelter, Forest City

Sunday, Sept. 17 at 7:30 a.m.

Women’s Half Marathon & 5K, Downtown Des Moines, $25-75

Sunday, Sept. 17 at 9 a.m. Fireside Wine Run 5K, Fireside Winery, Marengo, $20-60

Sunday, Sept. 30 at 9 a.m. North Shore Distance Classic, Lake Macbride, Solon, Donation-$60

Saturday, Oct. 14 at 8:30 a.m. Hot Cider Hustle Half Marathon, 10K, 5K, NewBo City Market, Cedar Rapids, Free-$89.99

Sunday, Oct. 15 at 8 a.m. Des Moines Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K, Historic Court District, Des Moines, $40-139

Julia DeSpain / Little Village

Outdoor Nationals in Decatur, Alabama. “He was shooting against several kids a year older, with more experience, but still ended up 10th in his division,” Lynn recalled.

Rules, standards and scoring systems vary depending on the competition—there’s indoor and field archery; recurve, compound and barebow styles; target, field and 3D competitions, etc.—but Hunter typically shoots down

30-meter ranges (adult competitors shoot up to 70 meters) at five-ring targets, a dime-size X marking the center of the smallest ring.

As Hunter sums it up, the goal is “just trying to get them all in the middle.”

This March, Hunter placed ninth at the National Field Archery Association’s Indoor Nationals tournament in Louisville, Kentucky, scoring 299 on the first day and a perfect 300

on the second day of the competition.

“My scores used to be like 200, and now they’re like 299s out of 300,” he said. “A lot of it is really mental because you want to shoot a perfect score.”

This drive fuels some friendly rivalry with his fellow shooters. Many of Hunter’s best friends are archers he’s met at competitions, some of whom hadn’t even heard of Iowa until they met him.

“We place bets and we [put] a lot more pressure on ourselves than we actually need,” he said with a laugh. “We talk smack when we get to the tournament. We’re all like, ‘OK, hope you do good.’ And then after we’re like, ‘You’re trash!’”

These friendships are now more important to Hunter than mastering the sport. Asked about his ultimate goal, he said with a grin, “To beat all my friends.”

Lynn is happy to see Hunter thrive, even if Lynn’s still a bit confused about the scoring system at competitions. The single greatest investment he’s made in Hunter’s archery career has been time—hundreds of hours spent on the road heading to shooting ranges across

Training at Waverly Archery Club, Hunter Telleen prepares to aim. Devin Ferguson / Little Village

Daily Digest

Sunday, Oct. 29 at 8 a.m. Run for the Schools, Robert A. Lee Recreation Center, Iowa City

Saturday, Nov. 4 at 11 a.m. Run the Woods, Earlham, $30-45

Saturday, Nov. 11 at 9 a.m. Woodpecker Six, Linn County Pinicon Ridge Park, Central City, $55-65

Thursday, Nov. 23 at 9 a.m. Turkey Trot 5K, Greene Square Park, Cedar Rapids, Free-$60

Thursday Nov. 23 at 9 a.m. Turkey Trot, Downtown Des Moines, Des Moines, $12-164

Sunday Dec. 3 at 12 p.m. 3K

Winter Beer Run x Confluence Brewing, Confluence Brewing Company, Des Moines, $35-100

Saturday, Dec. 9 at 2 p.m. Ugly Christmas Sweater Run/Walk, Nevada, $10

Saturday, Feb. 17 at 9 a.m.

Wellmark YMCA Red Flannel Run, Downtown Des Moines, $35-45

Saturday, Feb. 24 at 4 p.m.

Coldest Night of the Year Fun Run & Walk, Principal Park, Des Moines

Music Festivals

Friday-Sunday, June 30-July 2. Iowa City Jazz Festival, Downtown Iowa City, Free

Saturday, July 1 at 1 p.m. Soundcheck Fest, Captain Roy’s, Des Moines, Free

Friday and Saturday, July 7 and 8. 80/35 Music Festival, Downtown Des Moines, $55250

Saturday, July 8 at 11 a.m. North Liberty Blues & BBQ, Centennial Park, Free

Friday-Sunday, Aug. 4-6. Hinterland Music Festival, Avenue of the Saints Amphitheater, Saint Charles, $100-1,500

Friday-Sunday, Aug. 25-27. World Food & Music Festival, Western Gateway Park, Des Moines, Free

Friday-Saturday, Sept. 15-16. Blues Fest, Le Claire Park, Davenport, $27-57

TBA: Sept.-Oct. Witching Hour Festival, Downtown Iowa City, TBA

Julia DeSpain / Little Village

Iowa, driving to monthly practices with Coach Beck in Zimmerman, Minnesota, and to competitions in the Deep South in the heat of summer.

Hunter doesn’t take this support for granted. “If they didn’t [drive me], I might not have the opportunity to [compete] and wouldn’t have as many friends around the archery community as I do.”

Being a high schooler is all about balance, but Hunter admits his focus “is pretty much all archery” right now. He has no idea what he’ll study in college, but he knows he wants to shoot on a college archery team somewhere like Texas A&M; his dad would love to see him earn a full-ride scholarship.

Hunter said he’d like to coach someday, “showing young people how to not struggle with what I struggled with just getting into archery.”

“Archery is pretty much for everybody and you can have any setup,” he added, recommending first-time archers visit Plum Creek Archery in Dyersville, Iowa. “They’ll help you set up a bow and they’ll even tell you how to fix your form or your release or something.”

If you’re down to practice, practice, practice, making countless miniscule adjustments on a long road towards precision, competitive archery may be for you.

“It’s [very] challenging, and it’s really rewarding when you shoot really well or get an achievement,” Hunter said.

In a touch of serendipity, the 2023 JOAD Target Nationals, hosted by USA Archery, will take place in Des Moines, July 12-16. Hunter hopes to attend the largest indoor archery competition in the world, the Vegas Shoot in February 2024, which attracts around 4,000 archers of all kinds from around the world to shoot for cash prizes up to $50,000. The Telleens are also considering a trip to France so Hunter can compete in a world cup tournament.

Hunter and his family can’t help but dream about seeing him shoot for an Olympic gold medal someday, even if the odds are stacked against him.

“While the 2028 Olympics in L.A. is a real goal, they currently only involve recurve bows,” Lynn explained. “Hunter shoots a compound. We are hopeful that the Olympic Committee will add compound bow competitions by then. If so, Hunter will be 19 at the time. So, it’s still a bit of a pipe dream at this point—but a pretty cool one for a young kid from northeast Iowa who only recently discovered the sport.”

“I think it’d be really cool,” Hunter added, “the opportunity to shoot in front of the whole world.”

Giovanni Bahena & Kaelan Bohn, Guys & Dolls, 2022-23 Season

Beer Festivals

Saturday June 3 at 1 p.m. Iowa Craft Brew Festival, Lauridsen Amphitheater, Des Moines, $45

Friday, June 16 at 6 p.m. Sips in the City, Smash Park, West Des Moines, $50-60

Friday, Sept. 15. BrewNost, National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, Cedar Rapids, $85-135

Saturday, Sept. 23 at 12 p.m. Northside Oktoberfest, Northside Iowa City, $10-85

Friday-Sunday, Sept. 29-Oct. 1. Oktoberfest Amana, The Amana Colonies, Free

Jaunary 2024. Brrfest, Coralville, $50-65

Cultural/Community

Friday-Sunday, June 2-4. Iowa Arts Festival, Downtown Iowa City, Free

Tuesdays, June 6-Aug. 29 at 6:30 p.m. Music on the Move, Various Venues, Iowa City, Free

Friday, June 9 at 5 p.m. Bike-in Beats Outdoor Concert and Fundraiser, Iowa City Bike Library, Free

Fridays, June 9 to Sept. 22 at 6:30 p.m. Friday Night Concert Series, Ped Mall, Iowa City, Free

Wednesday, June 14 at 4:30 p.m. Latino Film Festival’s LGBTQ Night, State Historical Museum, Des Moines, Free

Julia DeSpain / Little Village

Outdoorsy Stores

Quality gear from Iowa retailers (and where to wear it).

BY MALCOLM MACDOUGALL

If there’s one thing as certain as death and taxes, it’s that your equipment will wear out. Shot strings on a tennis racket, running shoes gone treadless, a broken chain; all things pass, nothing lasts.

So, what to do? Obviously, the easy answer is to head online to some large retailer. But with so many options within just a short drive (or even a walk), why fork over your money to our Amazon overlords?

Racquet Master

702 S Gilbert St, Iowa City

The name says it all: Racquet Master is a neat little specialty shop just south of downtown Iowa City. Whether you’re picking up pickleball supplies, getting your racquet restrung (the restringer is right next to the counter!) or looking for new clothes to hit the court in, you’re sure to find something.

Talk to Craig Carney, the eponymous Racquet Master, for recommendations—he’s been stringing racquets for the University of Iowa since the mid’80s. Once you’ve found your

racquet, head over to City Park and check out the six available courts. They’re lit after dark, so not even nightfall can stop your cycle of endless deuces.

SOKO Outfitters

41 16th Ave SW, Cedar Rapids

If you’re the type that’s already planning your hiking routes before the first sniff of spring, SOKO Outfitters in Cedar Rapids’ Czech Village is the place to be. Its merchandise primarily leans towards the outdoorsy style of recreation, with hiking gear, tents, Nalgenes and more. SOKO also recently started offering summer rentals for paddle boards and kayaks. If you can portage ’em, it’s only a 10-minute drive to Prairie Park Fishery, where you can get the rod out for a relaxing Saturday afternoon.

Iowa Running Company

1000 3rd St SE #2, Cedar Rapids

Just a brisk jog over from the NewBo Marketplace in Cedar Rapids, you’ll find the Iowa Running Company, which owner Jim Dwyer and Clifton Smith opened in 2020. Pick up running shoes, work-out clothes or even running-themed coffee to fuel those early morning runs. After your shopping trip, head on down to the trail coming from Czech Village and break ’em in with a quick jog down the riverside!

JS Powersports

823 Rockford Rd SW, Cedar Rapids

If you’ve driven up through Cedar Rapids by way of I-80, you’ve probably caught sight of the sign

for JS Powersports, just off of Blairs Ferry. Whether you have mud on your tires, snow on your treads or a shiny chrome motorcycle, all the gear you’ll need is here. Best summer sport idea, pick up a jet ski and head to the Cedar River!

Fin & Feather

125 Hwy 1 W, Iowa City

This locally oriented, family owned alternative to Cabela’s is right off Highway 6 in Iowa City. A surprisingly extensive store considering its location in a strip mall, you can pick up all your hunting, fishing and camping gear for the year. Don’t miss Fin & Feather H2O at nearby Terry Trueblood Recreation Area, where you can rent basically anything with a paddle, Thursdays through Sundays, and spend the day relaxing on Sand Lake.

Active Endeavors

4520 University Ave Suite 130, West Des Moines

920 E 2nd Ave, Ste 110, Coralville 3950 Elmore Ave, Davenport

The Des Moines Active Endeavors (unaffiliated with the Active Endeavors in Eastern Iowa) has been equipping Iowans with a plethora of the best brands for the outdoors since 1993. Head over if you want to stock up on the brands all the gear-crazed crave; from Arc’teryx to OluKai, you’ll have your pick of sustainable, comfortable active gear.

Those located in Eastern Iowa can check out the other Active Endeavors in Davenport and

Recreational Retailer Recommendations

Coralville (formerly in downtown Iowa City), where you can find just as broad a selection of brands. Split the difference between the two when the weather starts to turn chilly, don your new favorite puffer jacket and wool socks, and head to Grinnell’s Rock Creek State Park for a winter campout.

Back Country

2702 Beaver Ave, Des Moines

Dedicated to sustainability in all the clothes they carry, Back Country—the original in Des Moines, not the online brand with a similar name—is a great stop for anyone looking to look good while also doing good. It’s a boutique with a focus on outdoor clothing, and no matter your style, you’re bound to find something fun and useful. Pick up a nicely coordinated outfit, and go one-on-one or two-on-two at Waveland Tennis Park.

Stoked DSM

518 E Grand Ave, Des Moines

For some of us, the hiking trail is just another reason to accessorize, and Stoked DSM is the perfect place to stock up. Right in the heart of Des Moines’ East Village, there’s a ton of cool and comfy clothes that’ll look good on the trails or out on the town. You can find everything from tie-dyed socks and great graphic tees, to practical, hard-wearing clothes tough enough for the thickest underbrush. Once you’ve got your look ironed out, grab your bike and cruise through the High Trestle Trail!

Cotopaxi Kapai 1.5-3L Hip Pack

Price: $25-45

Recommended by:

Cortney Wolter, store manager, SOKO Outfitters, Cedar Rapids

Prism Zenith 5 (5 ft. Delta Kite)

Price: $45 for Zenith 5, other Prism Kite models $30-$95

Recommended by: Heidi Madsen, camping manager, Fin & Feather, Iowa City

OBOZ Sawtooth Lo–Waterproof

Price: $160

Recommended by: Brian Nerad, shop manager, Active Endeavors, Coralville

Super73 Electric Adventure Bikes

Price: $1,295-$4,800

Recommend by: Graham Rush, shop manager, Stoked DSM

Sunday, June 18 at 1 p.m. The Science Festival Trail, Raccoon River Park, Des Moines, Free

Friday-Sunday, June 23-25. Art Festival, Des Moines, Free

Saturday, June 24 at 4 p.m. Block Party, Downtown Iowa City, $10-15

Saturday, July 15 at 7 p.m. Water Lantern Festival, Riverview Park, Des Moines, $36-56

Saturday and Sunday, July 29 and 30. Harmony Festival, NewBo District, Cedar Rapids, $65-80

Thursday-Sunday, Aug. 10-20. Iowa State Fair, Iowa State Fairgrounds, Des Moines

Wednesday, Aug. 23 at 4 p.m. Taste of Iowa City, Downtown

Saturday, Aug. 26 at 11 a.m. Latino Festival, Downtown Iowa

Saturday, Aug. 26 at 3 p.m. Ingersoll Live, Ingersoll Ave, Des Moines, Free

Saturday, Sept. 16 at 12 p.m. Food Truck Fight, Riverside Park, Muscatine, $25

Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 23-24. Jaycees Bar-B-QC, Downtown Davenport, Free

Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 23 and 24, 2023. Latino Heritage Festival, Western Gateway Park, Des Moines, Free

Saturday-Sunday, Oct. 14-15. Madison County Covered Bridge Festival, Winterset, Free

National Balloon

Julia DeSpain / Little Village

KeepWildIowa

BY ERIN CASEY

Outdoor recreational activities like hunting, fishing and sports are perfect for warm weather. During the turn of seasons, wildlife is migrating back to Iowa and preparing for mating. Unfortunately, our pastimes can leave animals like eagles fighting for their lives in local raptor and wildlife rescue centers.

Tracy Belle, director and founder of Wildthunder Wildlife & Animal Rehabilitation & Sanctuary (W.A.R.S.), Sonja Hadenfeldt, coordinator of Raptor Advocacy Rehabilitation & Education (RARE) and Kay Neumann, executive director of Saving Our Avian Resources (SOAR) are busy year round saving our majestic wildlife. While they adamantly support hunting, fishing, sports and other outdoor activities, our actions can either take an animal’s life or save it. Responsible recreation is up to us.

The majority of Iowa’s hunting season occurs near fall and winter, but raptor rescue centers see sick birds, especially eagles and turkey vultures, coming in from November to March. This is due to lead poisoning from ammunition that’s left over in entrails or animal carcasses.

Eagles scavenge through deer and ingest lead particles left over by the bullet. It doesn’t take much to down a healthy bird.

“A piece of lead the size of a grain of rice can kill an eagle, or cause them severe lead poisoning,” Hadenfeldt said.

To better understand the leftover damage of lead bullets, Hadenfeldt described an experiment that compared lead bullets and copper bullets in which researchers shot both lead bullets and copper bullets into water.

“The copper bullet mushrooms and almost looks like a flower, so it doesn’t separate,” Hadenfeldt said. “The lead slug bursts into millions of little pieces.”

“The chances of you being able to find that slug, or bullet, in the animal that you’ve shot, is almost impossible,” Neumann added. “You can go in and carve around in there, and maybe find it, but then there’s shrapnel all over.”

Lead poisoning can lead to lethargic behavior in eagles and slow down their digestion, Belle said. It can also affect their nervous system, leading to kidney and other organ failure, because they can’t process the food and don’t eat.

Rescue centers will X-ray eagles for lead fragments in their gastrointestinal tract. Lead poisoning isn’t a rare occurrence, especially in eagles. Around 40 percent of eagles that come to RARE test positive with lead, Neumann said.

“It can affect their vision. It can affect their digestion because you don’t process food normally, so you make bad decisions and may run into a car or into a fence,” she said.

As a result, some birds come in with broken wings from hitting cars. Removing the lead isn’t

Injured and ill wildlife need help, especially in a state littered with lead bullets. Luckily, there are stewards looking out for Iowa’s tamer inhabitants.

Two great horned owlets are nearing the fledgling stage where they will have enough adult feathers to start learning to fly. Dawn Frary / Little Village

Thursday-Sunday, Nov 30-Dec 3. Christkindlmarket, Principal Park, Des Moines, Free

Thursday-Sunday, Jan. 25-28.

University of Okoboji Winter Games, Okoboji

Cycling

Recurring on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. Women/Trans*/Femme Night, Iowa City Bike Library, Free

Recurring on Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. College Green Group Ride, College Green Park, Iowa City, Free

Saturday, June 3 at 9 a.m. Waterworks: North Liberty HS to Oxford and Tiffin, Waterworks Prairie Park, Iowa City, Free

Saturday, June 3 at 9:30 a.m. Bike to X-Out Fragile X, GoodSons Food & Spirits, Des Moines, $35-40

Saturday, June 3 at 9 a.m. Hillbilly Bike Ride, BrickHouse Fitness, Bondurant, Free

Saturday, June 3 at 12 p.m.

Iowa Scholastic Mountain Bike League Race Series #1, Mt. Trashmore, Cedar Rapids

Sunday, June 4 at 10 a.m.

Iowa Scholastic Mountain Bike League Race Series #2, Sugarbottom Recreation Area, Solon, $25

Tuesday, June 6 at 6:30 p.m. CRANDIC Time Trial Series, Big Grove Brewpub, Free-$45

Wednesday, June 7 at 6 p.m. Wednesday Night Social Ride: 23-mile Loop, Quinton’s Bar & Deli, Coralville, Free

Thursday, June 8 at 6:30 p.m. Elkhart Time Trial Series, Elkhart Memorial Park, $20-85

Saturday, June 10 at 6 a.m. Break The Cycle: Challenge Des Moines, Kinship Brewery, Waukee, $50-100

Saturday, June 10 at 10 a.m.

Iowa Scholastic Mountain Bike League Race Series #3, Quarry Hill Rd, Decorah, $25

Saturday, June 10 at 9 a.m. Weber to Williamsburg to Parnell Loop, Weber Elementary School, Iowa City, Free

Julia DeSpain / Little Village

easy, Hadenfeldt explained. They need a bonding agent to adhere to lead in the gastrointestinal tract, usually fluid therapy and nutritional support that flushes the practicals out.

“We have looked into doing chelation, which uses a calcium product that allows the heavy metals, like lead, to adhere to that compound, and then it leaves the body,” she said.

Unfortunately, lead testing kits are expensive and normally have about a nine-month shelf life before they need to be replaced. Even with constant care and attention, not many eagles survive.

“We can save about 11 percent of the lead-poisoned eagles that come to us,” Neumann said.

Lead poisoning also poses a threat to human health. Neumann once tested two pounds of venison destined for pantries, and 30 percent tested positive for lead. A hunter using lead slugs may bring home meat riddled with lead, which can then appears on our

dinner plates and enters our bodies.

As an alternative, we could discontinue the use of lead ammunition in favor of copper or steel bullets. Or hunters can switch from rifles and shotguns to bows. Hunters using lead ammunition should take the whole animal carcass and not leave lead-speckled food behind for the eagles.

These changes would protect our own health, help maintain a healthy population of eagles and free up resources at rescue centers for other serious cases.

Like hunters with lead bullets, fishers who use sinkers and hooks with lead can inadvertently cause lead poisoning and other health risks.

“It’s not just eagles,” Belle said. “We have geese, pelicans and swans getting taken out because they’re swallowing lead sinkers.”

Top: Five bald eagles, all treated for ailments including poisoning and head trauma, recover in Wildthunder W.A.R.S.’s new flight cage. Above: A red iguana whose front right leg was amputated basks in recovery at Wildthunder W.A.R.S.’s clinic and shelter. Dawn Frary / Little Village

Waterfowl scavenge the bottoms of lakes and can mistake the small sinkers for food. Fish can also swallow sinkers, and if a bird eats that fish, the lead sinker is ingested by proxy. But lead isn’t the only danger. Fishing lines, discarded hooks and left-behind trash threaten wildlife. Hadenfeldt treated one goose that

Lead poisoning can lead to lethargic behavior in eagles and slow down their digestion, Belle said. It can also affect their nervous system, leading to kidney and other organ failure, because they can’t process the food and don’t eat.

Sunday, June 11 at 9 a.m. core4 backside, Wilson’s Orchard, Iowa City, Free

Saturday, June 13. Lucas Farms Neighborhood Bike Tour, Iowa City Bike Library, Free

Saturday, June 17 at 7 a.m. Bacoon Ride, Raccoon River Valley Trail, Waukee, $62-$92

Saturday, July 1 at 7 a.m. Iowa Gravel Classic, Whiterock Conservancy, Coon Rapids, $30-120

Saturday, July 8 at 10 a.m. Iowa Scholastic Mountain Bike League Race Series #6, Scott County Park, Eldridge, $25

Sunday, July 9 at 8 a.m. Grand Prix Des Moines Criterium, Waterworks Park, $15-45

Saturday, July 15 at 10 a.m. Iowa Scholastic Mountain Bike League Race Series #7, Center Trails, Des Moines, $25

Sunday, July 16 at 9 a.m. 28th Annual B-4 Bike Ride, Lakeshore Cyclery & Fitness, Storm Lake

Saturday-Saturday, July 22-29. RAGBRAI, Sioux City, $60-250

Tuesday, Aug 1 at 6:30 p.m.

CRANDIC Time Trial Series, Big Grove Brewery, Solon, $15

Tuesday, Aug. 8 at 6:30 p.m. Night At The Oval, Hawkeye Downs Speedway, Cedar Rapids, Free-$20

Friday-Sunday, Aug. 11-13. Tour of Central Iowa, Cumming

Saturday, Aug. 12 at 6 a.m. Courage Ride, Big Grove Brewery, Iowa City, $15-$90

Saturday, Aug. 19 at 10 a.m. core4 gravel, Wilson’s Orchard, Iowa City, Free-$105

Saturday, Aug. 26 at 9 a.m. Onabike XXXI, Onawa Public Library, $20-$25

Sunday, Sept. 10 at 9:30 a.m. Sugar Bottom Scramble, Sugar Bottom Recreation Area, Solon, $10-30

Saturday, Sept. 16 at 9 a.m. Snaggy Ridge 105, The Cedar County Fairgrounds, Tipton, $50

Saturday-Sunday, Sept. 23-24. Capital City Cross, Stone Park, Des Moines

Saturday-Sunday, Oct. 21-22. Spotted Horse Gravel Ultra, Madison County Winery, St. Charles, $30-120

Saturday, Dec. 9 at 11:30 a.m. Big Wheel Rally, Carl’s Place, Des Moines, Free

Tuesday, Jan. 16 at 9 a.m. Iowa Bicycling Day at the Capitol, Iowa State Capitol, Des Moines

got tangled in a fishing line and had filaments embedded in her legs to the bone.

“People will pull out all their fishing line and just throw it on the shore, and these ducks and geese get tangled in them,” Hadenfeldt said. “We have barred owls who are notorious for getting hung up in the fishing line.”

It’s extremely difficult, if not impossible, for some birds to eat or fly when they have hooks stuck in their beaks or wings.

Waterfowl are also known for contracting or carrying avian flu. When people go fishing and walk through areas heavily populated by waterfowl, they can accidentally spread avian flu by stepping in bird droppings. The flu is highly contagious and incurable.

“We take in about 1,000 animals each year,” Belle said. “We had a fox, two great horned owls, opossums and a red tailed hawk test positive for avian influenza. They passed because of how deadly it is. [Wildthunder is] one of the few rehabbers who can treat animals with avian influenza.”

We need to clean up discarded fishing lines, sinkers and hooks, and use tools without lead. We also need to clean our shoes and clothing after walking through an avian-dense area. And of course, we need to keep our waterways

litter-free, so animals don’t swallow garbage or get tangled in it.

It might be surprising, but some sports like soccer can pose a threat to birds. When owls are hunting at night, it can be hard to see the goal nets.

“Owls get tangled up in it,” Hadenfeldt said.

“They hear something, and they’re intent on going after prey, and they happen to fly into the soccer net.”

Like fishing line, the net fibers twist around the owl’s body, neck and wings, potentially suffocating it, or breaking/fracturing bones. The bird’s left to hang all night, and by the time

Until it is ready to be released, this bobcat kitten will be housed at Wildthunder W.A.R.S.’s HQ with minimal interaction (aside from daily care) to avoid human imprinting Dawn Frary / Little Village

it’s found the next day, it’s likely suffering from exhaustion and dehydration.

The easiest way to help prevent this is to lay or pull the soccer nets down at night, so no wildlife gets tangled in them.

While we prepare for barbeques, graduation parties and outdoor fun, there are other ways we can protect wildlife.

When managing rodents or flies, consider using alternatives to sticky tape. Birds can get caught by sticky traps and are unable to escape, Hadenfeldt said.

“You have to be very careful removing them from the trap so that you’re not damaging the feathers or taking the natural oils off of the bird,” she said.

By removing the oils, the feathers become brittle and break. But many birds die in these traps before anyone comes to save them.

Rodenticide can infect eagles and other animals who eat dead rodents. This can poison birds and their babies.

Another potential threat comes from euthanized family pets, buried in backyards. Belle treated one bird that was vomiting. Lab results showed that it was positive for chemicals found in euthanasia drips.

Thanks to Belle, the eagle survived and is set for release, but it won’t be returning to the area it was found. Since W.A.R.S. couldn’t identify the infected food source, they can’t risk the bird finding and eating the food again. As a result, this eagle may not see its mate again, and eagles mate for life.

To help prevent this, Belle suggests either cremating the remains of a family pet or burying it at least three to five feet deep. This allows microbes to break down the body and reduces the risk of wildlife digging it back up.

Finally, with baby bird season arriving, we’ll likely find some fallen chicks. While our first instinct might be to take the chick indoors, that may actually harm the baby bird more.

One of RARE’s avian ambassadors, an American kestrel named Killy, was taken in by people at a young age. Because they fed him and his broodmates an improper diet, only Killy survived. His development was stunted, leaving him with a deformed right wing.

When in doubt, reach out to an avian rescue team. But nine times out of 10, a grounded baby is still being taken care of by the parents watching from above. Some chicks, like owlets, can even climb back up into the nest.

If you ever find an animal in distress and want to do your part to aid our wildlife, remember to contact your local rescue center. Wildthunder W.A.R.S., RARE and SOAR have all the equipment to tend to a plethora of injuries and illnesses.

Year-round ’loonacy

Although the National Balloon Classic only lasts nine days, the National Balloon Museum in Indianola is open year round. Located at 1601 North Jefferson Way, the museum’s hours are 1-4 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday.

The museum has a variety of exhibits covering more than 200 years of ballooning history, and a large collection of hot air balloon memorabilia. Since 2004, it has also been home to the U.S. Ballooning Hall of Fame. The hall’s first inductee was Ed Yost, the “father of modern day hot air ballooning” and one of the four partners who founded Raven Industries in 1960.

A ground-level glow

A Sky Full of Nylon

BY PAUL BRENNAN

In popular imagination—or at least in ads trying to exploit people’s imagination— hot air ballooning usually happens above the dramatic landscape of the American southwest or romantic vineyards, never over more prosaic locations like Kalamazoo, Michigan or Indianola, Iowa. But Kalamazoo hosted the first National Hot Air Balloon Championship 60 years ago, and Indianola has been a major center of hot air ballooning for almost as long.

The first hot air balloon flight happened in France in 1783, when Étienne Montgolfier briefly made a small ascent in a balloon tethered to the ground by a rope. The balloon was

made of cotton cloth and paper, heated by burning wool and damp straw. Improvements rapidly followed, and ballooning transformed everything from warfare to recreation, but it wasn’t until 1960 that the modern era of hot air ballooning began.

Four balloon enthusiasts who had worked together in the Applied Sciences Division of General Mills started their own company after determining the right design, the right material (polyurethane-coated nylon) and the right heat source (a propane burner) to create a reliable, user-friendly and reasonably priced balloon. The first customer for balloons from the newly founded Raven Industries (now

Hot air balloons aren’t just impressive as they float through the sky, they can also charm and thrill without ever leaving the ground. One of the highlights at Freedom Fest in Cedar Rapids is the light from hot air balloons during a “balloon glow.”

The event involves hot-air balloons tethered to the ground, firing up their burners as sunset begins. The sky darken, the balloons glow like giant lanterns, creating an almost ethereal beauty. Until 2022, the balloon glow was held at the historic Brucemore estate, but has now moved to Jones Park (Jones Park (201 Wilson Ave SW). The 2023 balloon glow will take place on Saturday, June 17.

The National Balloon Classic, July 28Aug. 5, Memorial Balloon Field, 15335 Jewell St, Indianola Anyone interested in taking a ride in a hot air balloon during the National Balloon Classic should contact Galena on the Fly (buyaballoonride. com). Availability is limited and all rides must be scheduled in advance.

For six decades, a spectacular tradition has taken place in the open air above Indianola.

Lily DeTaeye / Little Village

home of the Center for Afrofuturist Studies, Iowa City Press Co-op, and Media Arts Co-op

Aerostar) was the U.S. Navy, which needed high-altitude balloons for research projects, but the new balloons quickly caught on with recreational flyers looking for something better.

In 1963, three years after Raven produced its first balloon, the inaugural U.S. National Hot Air Balloon Championship was held in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

The championship came to Indianola in 1970. Less than 20 miles south of the state’s biggest city, but with an abundance of open spaces and a wide open sky, Indianola was an ideal location for hot air ballooning. The event had been held in a different city every year, but Indianola was such an appealing spot, it returned every year for the next 18 years.

In 1989, organizers decided to take the show on the road again, but Indianola was left balloon-less. That same year, the National Balloon Classic was launched. Memorial Balloon Field in Indianola is its permanent home.

“As a native Iowan, it felt magical and new to watch balloons soar over the cornfields I am so familiar with,” Little Village’s Lily DeTaeye wrote after attending her first National Balloon Classic in 2022.

The classic is a nine-day celebration of all things sport ballooning every summer. There are also competitive events. Last year’s classic featured five competitions: the National Balloon Classic Championship, the National Balloon Classic Pro Cup, the North Central Regional Championship, the State Championship and the U.S. Women’s National Balloon Championship.

“But to me, the National Balloon Classic felt nothing like attending a competition,” DeTaye wrote. “Instead, the experience is one of leisure, awe and community.”

Attendees can schedule their own rides in a hot air balloon during the classic. It isn’t cheap— prices start at $250 per person—but it does provide a remarkable view and the sense of having defied gravity.

This year’s National Balloon Classic, which is scheduled for July 28-Aug. 5, will feature more than 100 hot air balloons. The balloons will range from the utilitarian to the whimsical ones, like the towering Peg Leg Pete the Pirate Parrot. The event will also feature live music, Kids Land, and food and drink vendors, including beer from local breweries.

Tickets to the family-friendly classic are not sold at the gate, but can be bought online for $10/person, kids under 6 admitted for free. Parking is included in the price of admission. For information on how to buy tickets go to naitonalballoonclassic.com, or call 515-9618415.

Human Whisperers

“Slow down, Feel IN, Live Well.” That’s the motto on the Well Lived Life’s website. There have been workshops on empowered beauty and more so far. And in June 2023, after working in California and elsewhere in the Midwest, Benway-Correll will offer her first horse-centric “mini retreat” here in Iowa, with hope for more in the future.

Since 2006, fresh off earning her degree, Natalie Benway-Correll has worked as a LISW (licensed independent social worker) in Iowa City. But a couple of years ago, her experiences as a therapist during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a search for something more.

“During the pandemic, I was seeing—based on all the conversations I was having, with my clients and my friends—this need for expanded emotional capacity,” she told me in a recent phone call. “Everybody was talking about how exhausted and grief stricken [they were]. … People were really tired and reevaluating their lives, like, ‘Where do I go from here?’ Myself included—pretty much in the beginning of the pandemic, I was desperate to find something to help me cope emotionally so that I could be available to my clients and my family. And horses were my respite. It was like coming home.”

Her exploration of the connection between horses and healing, fomented at the Reflective Horse in California under her mentor Cassandra Ogier, broadened into her current passion project, the Well Lived Life. Under that umbrella, she examines space making, community building and deep connectivity within and between people.

“What’s different about the model that I trained in is, it’s somatic reprogramming and equine empowerment,” she explained about Ogier’s trademarked therapeutic style. “One of the things that is a part of the process is being able to intuit or read whether or not that horse wants to be touched. I think a lot of times, we kind of put our agenda on these animals. And part of what this program is about is learning about interdependent relationship, and how to extend an invitation.”

The somatic, body-centric aspect is a preparation for that experience—“I do not allow, nor does my mentor allow, people to go into a space with horses unless you’re grounded,” she said. The key to growing that “emotional capacity” Benway-Correll noticed such a craving for is in stillness, in presence.

“A lot of it is really just about getting quiet enough and connected with what’s happening in your body, and then seeing what comes into your awareness,” she said. “The horse is such an incredible portal to a deeper understanding of yourself and your relationship to everything around you.”

Benway-Correll takes the same approach to her wider work with the Well Lived Life.

“I wanted to create a more inclusive wellness culture. … When I was looking around at a lot of the wellness spaces that I was a part of, they were very white and able-bodied,” she said. “I didn’t want to create just another white women’s wellness [program].”

“It’s not just one-and-done. It’s an ongoing commitment to relationship,” Benway-Correll said of the challenges of transcending that limitation. “And I think that’s what is really foundational to the work of the horses—learning,

again and again, how to be in the right relationship.”

“I know it sounds really esoteric, sometimes, what I’m describing,” Benway-Correll says with a laugh. But there’s no secret knowledge necessary to benefit from this process. “You don’t have to be a horse person to experience how empowering it is, to basically go into a herd and become a part of it. If you don’t have an agenda, if you are able to stay grounded.”

The reward for being present is a sort of freedom.

“If I’m grounded, and I’m not in my head about what’s happening, we can both just show up, as is,” she said. “I haven’t even been able to do that in my life in many different relationships, and being able to have a felt experience of that over and over again … I don’t have to tell myself I’m this great person. I just am showing up as I am in the moment, and that is so freeing. It’s just so freeing ... And if a horse—or human—doesn’t want to connect, that isn’t about me. I don’t need to tell myself a story about what’s happening. It’s really beautiful to be able to walk through the world in that way.”

“The horse is such an incredible portal to a deeper understanding of yourself,” according to this Iowa City therapist.

BY GENEVIEVE TRAINOR

Moved by Wonder Equine Retreat, Lovely Bunches Farm, Iowa City, Sunday, June 25 at 4 p.m., $150

Six Places to UpGiddy Iowain(for Beginners)

Blue Meadows Farm in Mitchellville has lessons for riders of any skill level, ages 4 and up.

“I am so excited to keep growing the lesson program and help young riders develop and recognize their talents and love for the Saddlebred and Hackney breeds,” said co-owner Lauren Brannon in an interview with The Saddle Horse Report. Lessons are offered year round. To explore the farm and its various offerings, call 319-430-9055.

Green Wood Stables in Norwalk offers riding lessons for ages 6 to 80. The stables

have lesson horses and ponies for beginner and advanced riders and offer lessons in a safe indoor arena year-round. The trainers specialize in helping learners understand the reasoning behind any action taken on or around horses. It’s a full-service facility offering everything from lessons for those just beginning to experts ready for national-level competition. To learn more or set up a lesson, contact Stefanie Kritzler at 515664-0776.

Haven Hills Horse Ranch in Oxford provides western and hunt-seat horseback riding lessons for people of all ages and skill levels. HHR has the stated goal of being all-inclusive and treating every student and horse as an individual. Owner Sara Krieger and riding instructor Maggie Dale are significantly involved with Johnson County 4-H, helping with meetings, clinics and the horse show at the county fair each summer.

Dale is an experienced

equestrian with almost 20 years of riding experience. She competed at state-level competition, as well as at international events. More information can be found at the ranch’s website havenhillshorseranch.com

Keith Equestrian Center in Ottumwa is a full-service show and lesson barn focused on the unique abilities of the American Saddlebred. All riders—adult or child, beginner to advanced— are welcomed for competition or recreation. Riding lessons emphasize horsemanship and horse safety.

For more information, contact Kelsi Keith-Rusch at 641-777-2252.

Maplewood Farms in Grimes is a full-service training and show barn for American Saddlebreds, Hackney ponies and Fresian horses. It offers goal-focused lessons for riders age 5 and up. Staff work hard to be helpful to beginners, and Maplewood strives to be flexible with reasonable

prices.

For lessons or further info call Maplewood Farms at 515-419-2618.

Menagerie Stables in Mitchellville offers a range of equine experiences, including an adapted riding program for people with physical, behavioral, cognitive and emotional challenges. It offers beginning to advanced riding lessons for able-bodied individuals with a focus on the saddle seat discipline. Lessons for all ages in safety and basic horsemanship move at each person’s pace as they progress to more advanced skills and activities. In addition to its lessons, Menagerie Stables offers pony rides for young children, birthday parties, family horse experiences, pony parlors and more fun events throughout the year. For more information, contact Deanne Mundt at 515-229-5722 or Erica Jones at 515-577-8038.

Charro riding at the Iowa Horse Fair and Rodeo in Des Moines Adria Carpenter / Little Village

Living Legends

BY GENEVIEVE TRAINOR

Nestled just a bit inland of West Okoboji Lake, toward the west of Iowa’s northern border, near the historic Arnolds Park amusement park, sits the Iowa Rock ’n Roll Hall of Fame. Ohio, of course, hosts the big name Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and many other states have halls of fame dedicated to music generally, a few to country music, some to jazz.

But Iowa’s is the only museum in the country dedicated to celebrating the rock music its state generates. And when it opened its doors in 2003, the museum (which is open from Labor Day to Memorial Day each year) made the Iowa Rock ‘n Roll Music Association the first state music association to have its own free-standing museum.

The IRRMA, which runs the museum and manages Hall of Fame recognition, was founded in 1997. It’s a 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to preserving Iowa’s rock history and nurturing the next generation of Iowa rockers. The Hall of Fame inaugurates a new class each year, made up of not just musicians, but DJs, media representatives, support people, recording studios, venues and more. The 1997 class recognized five bands, two ballrooms and a radio station. The class of 2023 will add 33 more names to the roster, and nominations for each following year are accepted through midnight, Sept. 15.

As of 2022, the organization’s 25th anniversary year, there were 567 inductees into the Iowa Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. How many can you find of the 25 honorees below from across the last 25 years?

1. Bands of Gold (Dubuque band, inducted 2002)

2. Bo Ramsey (Burlington-born guitarist, 2005; also in 2007 with Patrick Hazell & The Mother Blues Band)

3. Bob Dorr (DJ, 2000; also in 2007 with Bob Dorr & the Blue Band)

4. Carolyn Matousek (Inaugural Women Who Rock designee, 2000; also in 1997 with the Velaires)

5. Craig Erickson (Cedar Rapids guitarist, 2017)

6. Dennis McMurrin (Cedar Rapids guitarist, 2018)

7. Dogs on Skis (Eastern Iowa cover band, 2013)

8. Doug Roberson (Iowa City guitarist, 2021)

9. Flying Marsupials (Central Iowa cover band, 2016)

10. Hoyt Sherman Place (Des Moines venue, 2015)

11. Headstone (Cedar Falls band, 2006)

12. Jim Musser (Iowa City Press-Citizen columnist, Media Representative, 2018)

13. KIOA (Des Moines radio station, 1997)

14. KWWL (Waterloo radio station, 2009)

15. Kip Shannon (Ticket-taker at Lake Robbins Ballroom, Support People, 2008)

16. Lakewood (Western Iowa ballroom, 2009)

17. Laurie Haag (Iowa City percussionist and bassist, 2022)

18. Maddie Poppe (Clarksville American Idol winner, Spirit Award, 2022)

19. McElroy (Waterloo auditorium, 2013)

20. Molly Nova (Cedar Falls musician, Women Who Rock, 2012; also in 2007 with Bob Dorr & the Blue Band)

21. The Nadas (Des Moines band, 2018)

22. Rieman Music (Des Moines—and beyond!—music store, 2017)

23. Surf Zombies (Cedar Rapids band, 2017)

24. Val Air (West Des Moines ballroom, 1998)

25. The Velaires (Sioux City band, 1997)

Call the Fire Department!

BY WILL EISENBERG, EDITED BY WYNA LIU

depicted three times in this puzzle’s grid

61. North American buglers

62. Snoots

63. Umami-rich noodle soup

64. ___ Misérables

65. Concerns for an ophthalmologist

66. It’s sought when it’s hot

DOWN

1. Hit ice, say

2. Browns opener?

3. Treads the boards

4. Forgettable

5. How those who agree see

6. Laugh and a half

7. Band aid?

8. Carols, or a certain carol’s chorus

9. Medieval coinage

10. Niacin’s vitamin number

11. Glen, but broader

12. Bird associated with the Egyptian god Thoth

13. Splinter group

18. Printer’s units

31. Something you might do with a date ... or disaster

32. Pork ___ (fluffy congee topping)

34. Give away

38. Players who won’t be consoled?

39. Sound heard in a clearing?

42. Provide for, as a party

44. Part of a blade that connects to a handle

45. Chance encounters

46. “Am so!” retort

49. Affected, in a way

51. The Giving Tree author Silverstein

52. Vegetable in some oven-baked chips

53. They’re often kept in pens

54. More, at times

55. Tuscaloosa school, familiarly

56. ___ Nadir (Community character)

57. Unit of force

59. Half a laugh

60. Cantankerous cry

21. Relative of a chickadee

22. Like the whale shark among nonmammalian vertebrates

23. Sports org. notorious for corruption

24. Sweet-smelling compound

25. Financial assistance for many U.S. college students

29. Take to the station, say

33. Earth-shatteringly devastating

35. Any’s counterpart

36. D-bag

37. Southern Numic dialect

38. Outdoor seating spot

40. Sci-fi/fantasy publishing group named for a rocky peak

41. Apps that aggregate Ologies and Radiolab episodes

43. Nissan model sold in Japan as the Sylphy

47. Litmus paper chemicals, e.g.

48. Vibes

50. Cap named after a Robert Burns poem

51. Principal at Springfield Elementary

54. Apollo landing craft, for short

55. Word before Brains or Bunny

58. Caption on a classic motivational poster

19. Cousin of an orc

23. “___ have to do”

24. They may help you tighten things up

25. Sings like Betty Carter

26. Lake that derives its name from Washo

27. Nut eaten by an Iberian pig

28. “That’s my cue!”

30. Like Cheerios