Some of the Webster City Area Chamber of Commerce's Ambassadors are pictured. They are, from left, Angie Anderson, Daily Freeman-Journal; Renee McDonald, OnMedia and Renee Art Works; Debby Pruismann, Peoples Credit Union; Ian Holcombe, City of Webster City Police Department; Robin Streigle, Webster City Area Chamber of Commerce; Tony Streigle, Mertz Engineering; Aliya Streigle, Abens Realty; and Mark Ferguson, KARL Webster City.
LEADING BY EXAMPLE
Webster City Area Chamber of Commerce shines a light on the work of the Chamber
Ambassadors
By Kolleen Taylor
When you think of ambassadors,
one considers the presidential appointments to France, China, England and exotic places overseas.
But Webster City has its own Ambassadors through the Webster City Area Chamber of Commerce.
The Ambassadors in Webster City don’t get to travel to far-away lands; they are the worker bees of the Chamber organization, fostering member relationships, assisting with member recruitment, helping at events such as the New Years’ Eve Gala and attending ribbon cuttings, grand openings and various other community events and fundraisers as needed.
The Ambassadors are not a new idea in Webster City, but the program had lapsed during the last 20 years. It became the first order of business for the Chamber Board President Mark Ferguson when he took the reins in 2023.
“They were a great asset back in the day,” Ferguson said. “We are always looking for volunteers, and the Ambassadors used to help work and plan events. They are a great asset to the Chamber and the Chamber board.”
Ferguson became a member of the Chamber Ambassadors program in the year 2000.
“I enjoyed planning the events,” he said. “We helped coordinate the weekly coffees, and worked at the various events. I felt we needed that group started again.”
Webster City Police Officer Ian Holcombe stops in the Chamber office to update business contact information and acquire a list of active businesses to follow up with.
The Chamber Ambassadors typically meet monthly at rotating member organizations. These meetings offer a unique behind-the-scenes look at our local businesses and organizations, complete with a tour, Q&A session and insights into current projects, offerings and customer engagement.
They are highly visible and prestigious volunteers and serve as primary liaison to Chamber members. They play a vital role in strengthening our community and fostering meaningful connections.
“I always attend the Ambassadors programs on a monthly basis,” Ferguson said. “This was an important part of the Chamber to me, and my No. 1 goal when I took over as Chamber president.”
It is not a one-way street at all. The Ambassadors benefit through the building of great networking connections and gain recognition for their organization. They also develop a deeper understanding of the Chamber operations and earn some exclusive perks to various functions in the community. Their ideas help to lead changes needed to make Webster City and the Chamber more effective.
Working beside other leaders in the community, they also have the opportunity to strengthen their own personal leadership skills, and be a recognized star in the community.
Current ambassadors serving the Webster City Area Chamber of Commerce and the businesses they represent are:
Angie Anderson — The Daily Freeman-Journal
Maggie Breitenkamp — Availa Bank
Sunshine Duffy — The Cat Hut
Ian Holcombe — Webster City Police Department
Katie Kempter — First State Bank
Renee McDonald — OnMedia
Dave Parrott — Associate Member
Kristin Pergande — K. Stein Designs
Debby Pruismann — Peoples Credit Union
Trisha Rupiper — The Cat Hut
Aliya Streigle — Abens Agency
Tony Streigle — Webster City Church of Christ
Kathy Vaughn — All Cultures Equal.
Renee McDonald, Renee ArtWorks and OnMedia, paints a holiday window display at YaYa’s Liquidation. McDonald rearranged her schedule at the last minute to help add festive cheer to the downtown in time for Christmas in the City. She is also a board member at Legacy Learning Boone River Valley and can often be found at Webster City Market Nights donating her time to face painting.
The Chamber encourages member organizations to consider more involvement through this program, and is always looking for up and coming leaders to continue to help the community grow. For more information about the Ambassadors or the Chamber of Commerce, contact the Chamber office at 515-832-2564 or visitwebstercityiowa.com.
Debby Pruismann, of Peoples Credit Union, packs snack bags for the Webster City Area Chamber of Commerce outdoor movie in fall of 2024.
Maggie Breitenkamp, of Availa Bank, helps with Halloween decor and set-up at the “Hocus Pocus” outdoor movie, presented by Iowa Central in Availa Bank Plaza.
In November 2024 the Chamber Ambassadors toured Diamond in the Rough. The indoor practice facility serves a regional area and fosters youth sports development. Many of the coaches have professional experience in the major or minor leagues.
An Hour Before Daylight — Memories of a Rural Boyhood
Looking back on the childhood of Jimmy Carter
By Lori Berglund
The passing of Jimmy Carter, 39th president of the United States, prompted me to scan the titles on my bookcase and find my copy of An Hour Before Daylight — Memories of a Rural Boyhood. This is a book rich in memories of another time and place, and one that I have enjoyed returning to now and then over the years.
Published by Simon and Schuster in 2001, I bought the book soon after it was published. While I was seldom voting Democratic by that time, Carter had been the first president I ever voted for. Even with my little vote, he lost in 1980. (Grain embargo: Let’s not talk about that.) More than politics, I was drawn to the book for Carter’s recollections of farm life in the early 20th century.
Looking back, I’m sure I was also drawn to the book by the fact that both Carter and my dad were born in 1924. They were both born in hospitals, which was not always common at that time. Dad was the only one of his siblings not born at home, and Carter was actually the first president to be born in a hospital. Both men grew up on working farms, albeit very different farms, both in practice and geography. And yet, they experienced similar things: trotting to the outhouse, hitching work horses to farm implements, and rejoicing as mechanization came to farms.
In An Hour Before Daylight, we learn what it was like growing up as a child of the Great Depression, growing up in the South, living on dirt roads, knowing what physical work really is all about. As a boy, Carter spent plenty of time in bib overalls and bare feet. It was in his rural boyhood where he developed a connection to the land.
Carter writes with a conversational lilt to his words. I can almost hear his kindly, almost fatherly voice speaking directly to me as I read.
“My most persistent impression as a farm boy was of the earth,” Carter wrote. “There was a closeness, almost an immersion in the sand, loam, and red clay that seemed natural and constant.”
This is a book filled with joy and love for the world Carter grew up in, and yet it is also very honest about the shortcomings, particularly in the South where memories of the Civil War were still fresh in the 1920s and ‘30s.
Our core values are normally formed in childhood, and Carter links much of his own character in life to the people and places of
Animals graze on former President Jimmy Carter’s boyhood home and farm, now a National Parks site, outside Plains, Ga., on Feb. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Bill Barrow, File)
his childhood. This includes the grown white men who were strict segregationists, and the “little black boys” who were his playmates as a child in the South. In rural Hamilton County in the 1920s, I’m pretty sure there were no little black children to have as playmates. Carter has great memories of his little playmates, and it is a pleasure to read and know that, regardless of time and place, kids are just kids.
In this book, we learn that Carter’s great-great-grandfather was a slave owner and in his will left 43 slaves to his descendants. The year was 1864, and those people would not be slaves much longer. But the memory of the war clearly colored the world in which Carter grew up.
“I grew up in one of the families whose people could not forget that we had been conquered, while most of our neighbors were black people whose grandparents had been liberated in the same conflict,” Carter explains.
Funny, General Ulysses S. Grant did his best to make sure General Robert E. Lee did not leave Appomattox feeling “conquered.” Acting on the “malice toward none” guidance of President Lincoln, Grant did not imprison Lee, but allowed him to leave the surrender meeting of the Civil War with dignity, his sword at his side.
Carter’s description, however, gives us a unique glimpse into the feelings and attitudes of the Deep South in the years long before Brown V. Board of Education, or a young black minister with a dream. Looking back, Carter’s mother, “Miss Lillian” as the world came to know her, always wanted people to judge the people of those times, with the times they lived in. On that, I do agree with Miss Lillian. Our own age has sins enough of its own that we don’t need to judge the past more than is due.
But do not expect a history lesson in this book. It is a memoir of a man who could clearly look back and see both the good and the bad, and allow it to inform his choices for the future, the way he chose to live his life. Regardless of one’s politics, I hope that we can all agree that Carter lived a good life, one dedicated to lifting up his fellow human beings.
He was one of the most prolific writers among the presidents and I look forward this spring to exploring some of his other books, particularly on faith and values. Carter never sought to impose his faith on others, but he did offer testimony as to the value of faith, of common core beliefs as tools that help create a society in which all can live in peace and freedom.
Rest in peace, Mr. President — and thank you for living your life as a gentleman. I didn’t always agree with you (grain embargo), but you always had my respect.
State Sen. Jimmy Carter, without tie, holds a serious conversation with his campaign workers in Atlanta on Sept. 9, 1970. (AP Photo, File)
Democratic presidential candidate Jimmy Carter and Rep. Barbara Jordan, D-Texas, wave at the Democratic National Convention in New York’s Madison Square Garden where Jordan gave a speech on July 12, 1976. (AP Photo)
Take the Carter Challenge
By now, the faith that President Carter taught Sunday School at Marantha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia, for 40 years is both well-known and legendary. According to the church’s website, Carter ended every lesson with the same challenge: to do something good for another person. Bake a cake and take it to a neighbor, visit a friend in the nursing home.
Dr. Martin Luther King Sr., Rosalynn Carter, President Jimmy Carter, Coretta Scott King, Christine Parris King, sister of the late Dr. King, and U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young sing during a reception honoring friends of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Social Change in Washington, on Oct. 3, 1978.
(AP Photo/Barry Thumma, File)
My favorite idea is to skip the texting, and call an old friend. After all, unlike the days of Carter’s childhood, we don’t have to worry about party lines or long-distance charges.
Lori Berglund is a freelance writer in Iowa.
Coretta Scott King, center, widow of Martin Luther King Jr., presents the Martin Luther King Jr. Nonviolent Peace Prize to President Jimmy Carter at the Ebenezer Baptist Church on Jan. 14, 1979, in Atlanta. First lady Rosalynn Carter stands with them at the podium.
(AP Photo/Jim Wells, File)
Jimmy Carter’s boyhood farm is seen on Dec. 30, 2024, in Archery, Ga.
(AP Photo/Mike Stewart, File)
CITY SCENE CITY SCENE
Happy 2025 and a great New Year it will be. Many positive things are going for us as we put the first quarter century behind us. A year ago we had an uncertain future with a temporary City Manager and a search to be done and with our previous searches costing a lot of money and not being very successful, we soon found we already had the right person for the job here. After John Harrenstein’s first year on the job we have had many achievements and our future looks great.
We have a new Wilson Brewer Park Board, a collaboration of the City and County working together for a common goal. The new board is doing great work and the park’s future has never been better. The City has increased its investment in Roads and our underground infrastructure so much as to be a noticeable difference. City departments have come together for City Upkeep to clean up areas beside our Bridges and other areas of volunteer trees growing
Mayon John Hawkins
CITY SCENE
around town. They have only just started and are already making a big difference. New meters for your water and electric that you can keep a closer eye on yourself, set alarms for over usage on both water and electric to give more control of your home or business.
I hope you are enjoying our City Chamber offices’ great job of bringing more things to do in our City all year round. I personally enjoy the Thursday nights during summer that are getting better each year. These different outings are growing and improving because of you and your neighbors, without City support nothing improves, and we have supported, so growth is happening.
The 608 2nd Street building that caught fire over a year ago is almost ready for a new owner. It has been cleaned up, all new exterior work and new roof, just waiting on some windows and it is ready for a new owner. The City, State and LIFT came together to transform this building from a burnt out abandoned building ready to go back in use. The Elks Building that LIFT has been working on has an elevator being constructed and Wildcat Distillery will be relocating into the main floor in the first half of this year; this will hopefully mean the Ball Room upstairs will be ready later this year. The Coulter Building at 547 2nd Street the City now owns, and we will be assessing the viability of fixing up the building over the next few months. The City has invested heavily into our Downtown buildings over the last few years and with help from the
State hope to keep going. Thanks to the County and City’s collaborative efforts we have joined with the Ames Regional Economic Alliance. Since Hamilton County and Webster City have joined the Ames Alliance we have gained a great partner in our future which has paid dividends many times already. I look forward to working with our County in many more things in the future. It has truly been positive.
A quarter of this new century already and Webster City is looking better than ever. This is because of our community spirit. We keep moving forward even with all the bad things that have happened in the last 25 years. We have risen above them and come back stronger each time. We are stronger now because of collaboration with not only our City people and Businesses, but with our Hamilton County Towns and Businesses and then our greater area - Webster, Boone, Story and Wright counties.
I thank you for this opportunity to serve you and be a part of our great future.
Have a great 2025.
Mayor John Hawkins
Our Hometown Recipe Corner
A fusion of flavors for big game snacking
Each year, football fans gather to watch their favorite teams battle it out on the gridiron. Those battles can get pretty fierce, and football fans know they’re best watched with some delicious food on hand.
This recipe for “Philly Cheesesteak Dumplings” from “Judy Joo’s Korean Soul Food” (White Lion Publishing) makes for a great addition to any game watch party table. These crispy appetizers meld Korean and American flavors together for a truly unique offering.
5 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and finely chopped
1 tablespoon roasted sesame oil
1 pound, 2 ounces cooked, shredded beef short ribs
11 ounces cabbage kimchi, drained and finely chopped
31⁄2 ounces spring onions, finely chopped
3 ounces pickled jalapeños, finely chopped
1 pound, 2 ounces mature cheddar cheese, grated Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
To serve:
Silgochu (dried chilli threads)
1 spring onion, julienned and soaked in ice water until curled, then drained
Sriracha
1 tablespoon sugar
For the filling, first sauté the mushrooms in the sesame oil in a large nonstick frying pan over medium-low heat until just softened. Remove from the heat and set aside. In a large bowl, combine the rest of the filling ingredients with the mushrooms. Mix together using your hands, really breaking up the short rib meat to make a uniform texture.
For the dumplings, line a couple of baking sheets with parchment and set aside. Fill a small bowl with water. Unwrap the wonton wrappers and cover lightly with a piece of clingfilm to keep them moist. Lay a wrapper on a clean work surface and put 1 ounce of the meat filling in the center. Dip a forefinger into the water and run it along the edges of the wrapper to moisten the surface. Now bring the open edges to the center, and pinch where the edges meet each other,
creating four seams in a cross shape. Set aside and cover with clingfilm or a damp tea towel while you shape the rest. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling, making sure the dumplings are not touching on the baking sheets.
To a medium saucepan, add the vegetable oil and heat to 340 F (170 C). Working in batches, place the dumplings on their sides in the pan in a single layer without crowding. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes until golden brown. Transfer the fried dumplings to a wire rack or kitchen paperlined plate to drain. Repeat with the remaining dumplings. If you don’t plan on cooking them straight away, you can freeze them on the baking sheets, then bag them up and store in the freezer.
Top with some of the silgochu and curly spring onion and serve immediately with the sriracha.
by Jim Miller
How Long to Keep Tax Records and Other Documents
Dear Savvy Senior ,
Is there a rule of thumb on how long someone should keep their old financial paperwork?
I have file cabinets full of old receipts, bank and brokerage statements, tax returns and more that I would like to toss.
Recently Retired
Dear Recently,
It’s a great question. As we get older and our financial life gets more complicated, it’s difficult to know how long to keep old financial records and paperwork and when it’s safe to get rid of them. Some things you’ll need to hold on to for your whole life and others for just a month or so. Here’s a checklist I’ve created that can help you determine what to save and what you can throw away.
Keep One Month
ATM receipts and bank-deposit slips, as soon as you match them up with your monthly statement.
Credit card receipts after you get your statement, unless you might return the item or need proof of purchase for a warranty.
Credit card statements that do not have a tax-related expense on them.
Utility bills when the following month’s bill arrives showing that your prior payment was received. If you wish to track utility usage over time, you may want to keep them for a year, or if you deduct a home office on your taxes keep them for seven years.
To avoid identity theft, be sure you shred anything you throw away that contains your personal or financial information.
Keep One Year
Paycheck stubs until you get your W-2 in January to check its accuracy.
Bank statements (savings and checking account) to confirm your 1099s.
Brokerage, 401(k), IRA and other investment statements until you get your annual summary (keep longer for tax purposes if they show a gain or loss).
Receipts for health care bills in case you qualify for a medical deduction.
Keep Seven Years
Supporting documents for your taxes, including W-2s, 1099s, and receipts or canceled checks that substantiate deductions. The IRS usually has up to three years after you file to audit you but may look back up to six years if it suspects you substantially underreported income or committed fraud.
Keep Indefinitely
Tax returns with proof of filing and payment. You should keep these for at least seven years, but many people keep them forever because they provide a record of your financial history.
IRS forms that you filed when making nondeductible contributions to a traditional IRA or a Roth conversion.
Retirement and brokerage account annual statements as long as you hold those investments.
Defined-benefit pension plan documents.
Savings bonds until redeemed.
Loan documents until the loan is paid off.
Vehicle titles and registration information as long as you own the car, boat, truck, or other vehicle.
Insurance policies as long as you have them.
Warranties or receipts for big-ticket purchases for as long as you own the item, to support warranty and insurance claims.
Keep Forever
Personal and family records like birth certificates, marriage license, divorce papers, Social Security cards, military discharge papers and estate-planning documents including a power of attorney, will, trust and advanced directive. Keep these in a fireproof safe or safe-deposit box.
Reduce Your Paper
To reduce your paper clutter, consider digitizing your documents by scanning them and converting them into PDF files so you can store them on your computer and back them up onto a cloud like Microsoft OneDrive, Apple iCloud or iDrive.
You can also reduce your future paper load by switching to electronic statements and records whenever possible.
Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “The
DININGCLUB
4th
Buffalo Wild Wings
Burger King
Burrito Mexpress
Casablanca Steakhouse Culvers
Domino’s Pizza
Dunkin’ Donuts
Family Table
FeedSheed Catering
Fort Dodge Freeze -Dried
Godfather’s Pizza
Hacienda Vieja
Knuckleheads Bar & Grill
Larita’s Cakes N More
Leon’s Pizza
Lomita’s Mexican Restaurant
Mulligan’s Bar & Grill
Papa Murphy’s
Pop’s Pizza & Pub
Rides Bar & Grill
Salty Suz
Sneakers Eatery & Pub
Stadium Inn
Stumpy’s Taco Tico
Thyme
Smoothie Village Inn
ShotParting
DiabeticEducationProgram
Van Diest Medical Center proudly offers a customized education program for those looking for the tools and resources to control their diabetes. This program, certified by the American Diabetes Association and the State of Iowa, allows patients to better understand the nature of their disease and the actions they can take to manage it.
