Our Hometown • 1124

Rodeo & retail?

By Jane Curtis

Peggy Joslin has a long story to tell, but there’s a twist to it.

She opened her store, Country Twist Boutique, in downtown Webster City this fall fully intent on putting the “WE in Webster.”

Joslin took her retail knowledge and mixed it with her roots to create a store that would fullfil her dream and help boost the dreams of others.

Peggy Joslin with her husband, Bob

“I was born and raised on a farm in Dayton,” Joslin said. “My dad was one of the founders of the Dayton rodeo. My dad also was a farmer, raised cattle, hogs and horses. We all helped with this and had our chores — mom, dad, brother and I. My dad owned his own antique and tack store on main street Dayton.

“That was my intro to retail.”

Turns out, hard work is a Joslin twist, too.

“After I graduated from Dayton in 1986, I went to Iowa Central Community College and was in the fashion merchandising program. For on-the-jobtraining I landed a great job working at Braun’s fashions in the Crossroads Mall and stayed there for nine years, climbing up to the manager position.”

In that mix, too, was rodeo.

“My family took up our own rodeo business and became the world’s largest youth rodeo on the road. We traveled from the Canada border line to Texas, Oklahoma, Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota and Iowa putting on youth rodeos,” she said.

With their own production crew, Joslin describes the business as very professional.

“We made these kids feel like rock stars. We had bull riding, bareback, saddle bronc, barrel racing and the wild mule races. Our motto was ‘building confidence one ride at a time.’”

Like so many people in this region, her work history has also included a factory job along the line.

“Frigidaire (Electrolux) called my husband at the time for an interview and told me to come along and be interviewed if I was interested, so I did and was hired. I worked many departments, including washer line, laundry center, Alliance line and dryer line for 17 years until they closed.

“I baled hay with my husband and son in the evenings and weekends too,” she said. “We had a huge business.”

Still, there was the ongoing interest in rodeoing — both her husband and son were bull riders.

“I was the Miss Iowa Rodeo Association queen coordinator and judged the Miss Iowa Rodeo pageants,” she said.

“Now I sponsor a hometown girl heading on to Miss USA rodeo pageant.”

Claudia Coltrain performs at the opening of Country Twist Boutique in Webster City.

After Electrolux, she was hired at Kohl’s Department Store in Fort Dodge. That’s where she gained the experience of setting up a brand new store.

“I worked there for 14 years as of last August,” she said. “Last year I changed it up and worked for home health care and then landed a job at Sunset elementary — a beautiful experience.”

But there was yet another twist.

“I have always dreamt as a little girl to have my own clothing store. Well, dreams do come true! This was my year to do just that!”

Joslin was offered a spot where she could realize that dream. It was in downtown Webster City.

“Gene and Rita Gourley offered me a storefront to rent,” Joslin said. “I went to a Chamber (of Commerce) meeting to see if I was a fit in Webster City and, boy, did I get a huge positive result.”

The grand opening of Country Twist, at 603 Second Street, was the answer to that lifelong dream.

It took place on October 10.

“My little boutique is small, cozy and fun!” Joslin said.

“I’m all about great customer service. I carry a nice variety of apparel — small to 3xl sizes — accessories, wall decor, dips, jellies, candles and bags. Customers tell me it smells so good in my shop and it is very inviting with how I display merchandise.

“As I tell people I’m not just in this community for Peggy Joslin with Country Twist Boutique, I’m here to put WE back into Webster City and build this community with more retail stores.

“I’m here to help anyone get started.”

Yes, that’s another twist.

CITY SCENE CITY SCENE

IT’S FALL SEASON IN WEBSTER CITY

CITY SCENE

IT’S FALL SEASON IN WEBSTER CITY

FALL EVENTS COMING UP THIS FALL…

• CITY WIDE LEAF PICK UP - NOVEMBER 21

o HAVE THEM ON CURB BY 7AM

• COFFEE WITH A COP - NOVEMBER 21

FALL EVENTS COMING UP THIS FALL…

o 8AM- 9:30AM

SOME SAFETY TIPS FOR THIS FALL…

• PREVENT SLIPS AND FALLS BY:

o GOOD SHOES

SOME SAFETY TIPS FOR THIS FALL…

o REMOVE THROW RUGS THAT CAN CAUSE A SLIP OR FALL

FALL EVENTS COMING UP THIS FALL…

• CITY WIDE LEAF PICK UP - NOVEMBER 21

• CHRISTMAS IN THE CITY- DECEMBER 7

• CITY WIDE LEAF PICK UP - NOVEMBER 21

o HAVE THEM ON CURB BY 7AM

o PARADE @ 5:30PM/ AND OTHER EVENTS

• CITY WIDE LEAF PICK UP - NOVEMBER 21

• COFFEE WITH A COP - DECEMBER - 19

• COFFEE WITH A COP - NOVEMBER 21

o HAVE THEM ON CURB BY 7AM

o 8AM- 9:30AM

• COFFEE WITH A COP - NOVEMBER 21

o 8AM- 9:30AM

• COFFEE WITH A COP - NOVEMBER 21

• NEW YEARS GALA- DECEMBER 31

o 8AM- 9:30AM

• CHRISTMAS IN THE CITY- DECEMBER 7

o 8AM- 9:30AM

• CHRISTMAS IN THE CITY- DECEMBER 7

o PARADE @ 5:30PM/ AND OTHER EVENTS

• CHRISTMAS IN THE CITY- DECEMBER 7

• COFFEE WITH A COP - DECEMBER - 19

o PARADE @ 5:30PM/ AND OTHER EVENTS

SOME SAFETY TIPS FOR THIS FALL…

• PREVENT SLIPS AND FALLS BY:

• USE GOOD POSTURE WHEN RAKING LEAVES

o GOOD SHOES

• PREVENT SLIPS AND FALLS BY:

o GOOD SHOES

• WATCH YOUR STEP

o GOOD SHOES

o REMOVE THROW RUGS THAT CAN CAUSE A SLIP OR FALL

o GOOD SHOES

o REMOVE THROW RUGS THAT CAN CAUSE A SLIP OR FALL

• USE GOOD POSTURE WHEN RAKING LEAVES

o WET LEAVES, MUDDY GROUND, SNOW AND ICE

• BENDING, LIFTING, TWISTING ?

• USE GOOD POSTURE WHEN RAKING LEAVES

• WATCH YOUR STEP

• USE GOOD POSTURE WHEN RAKING LEAVES

• WATCH YOUR STEP

o USE YOUR LEGS, NOT YOUR BACK

• WATCH YOUR STEP

o WET LEAVES, MUDDY GROUND, SNOW AND ICE

• BENDING, LIFTING, TWISTING ?

o WET LEAVES, MUDDY GROUND, SNOW AND ICE

• BENDING, LIFTING, TWISTING ?

o WET LEAVES, MUDDY GROUND, SNOW AND ICE

• BENDING, LIFTING, TWISTING ?

o USE YOUR LEGS, NOT YOUR BACK

o RESTAURANTS

o PARADE @ 5:30PM/ AND OTHER EVENTS

• COFFEE WITH A COP - DECEMBER - 19

o PARADE @ 5:30PM/ AND OTHER EVENTS

o 8AM- 9:30AM

• COFFEE WITH A COP - DECEMBER - 19

o 8AM- 9:30AM

• NEW YEARS GALA- DECEMBER 31

o 8AM- 9:30AM

• NEW YEARS GALA- DECEMBER 31

OTHER FUN THINGS TO DO IN WEBSTER CITY THIS FALL… - GET TOGETHER WITH A FRIEND AND GO HAVE COFFEE

- ENJOY SOME DOWNTOWN WEBSTER CITY:

OTHER FUN THINGS TO DO IN WEBSTER CITY THIS FALL…

o SHOPPING

OTHER FUN THINGS TO DO IN WEBSTER CITY THIS FALL…

- GET TOGETHER WITH A FRIEND AND GO HAVE COFFEE

- ENJOY SOME DOWNTOWN WEBSTER CITY:

- CHECKOUT A GOOD BOOK FROM KENDALL YOUNG LIBRARY

- GET TOGETHER WITH A FRIEND AND GO HAVE COFFEE

o RESTAURANTS

- ENJOY SOME DOWNTOWN WEBSTER CITY:

- GET INVOLVED WITH A VOLUNTEER GROUP/ ORGANIZATION

o RESTAURANTS

o SHOPPING

o RESTAURANTS

o SHOPPING

- TRY A NEW HOBBY

- CHECKOUT A GOOD BOOK FROM KENDALL YOUNG LIBRARY

o SHOPPING

- GET OUTSIDE AND ENJOY ONE OF OUR TRAILS

- CHECKOUT A GOOD BOOK FROM KENDALL YOUNG LIBRARY

- GET INVOLVED WITH A VOLUNTEER GROUP/ ORGANIZATION

- TRY A NEW HOBBY

- GET INVOLVED WITH A VOLUNTEER GROUP/ ORGANIZATION

- GET OUTSIDE AND ENJOY ONE OF OUR TRAILS

- TRY A NEW HOBBY

- GET OUTSIDE AND ENJOY ONE OF OUR TRAILS

WANT A REWARDING OPPORTUNITY?

BECOME A VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER. JUST GIVE US A CALL. – 515-832-9131

WANT A REWARDING OPPORTUNITY?

CHIEF STANSFIELD

WANT A REWARDING OPPORTUNITY?

BECOME A VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER. JUST GIVE US A CALL. – 515-832-9131

CHIEF STANSFIELD

BECOME A VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER. JUST GIVE US A CALL. – 515-832-9131

CHIEF STANSFIELD

EAT

Our Hometown Recipe Corner

Baking during the holiday season is a tradition in many households across the globe. Family baking sessions provide a perfect holiday season bonding activity, and the payoff is both cherished family time and delicious, indulgent foods once the items are ready to eat.

Holiday hosts know they’ll need to feed their guests over the course of their stay, and that includes snacks. This holiday season, hosts can involve their guests in family baking sessions and whip up a batch of these delicious and colorful “Christmas Biscuits” from Lines+Angles.

These colorful cookies are tailor-made for family baking sessions

Christmas Biscuits Makes approximately 24 cookies

For the dough:

11⁄2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted, plus extra for dusting

11⁄3 cups confectioner’s sugar, plus extra for dusting

3⁄4 cup almond meal

1 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed

1 large egg yolk

1 tablespoon cold water

1⁄2 teaspoon fine salt

For the icing and decoration:

4 cups confectioner’s sugar

3 tablespoons meringue powder

7 tablespoons warm water, combined with 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, assorted food color (e. g., red, pink and turquoise), assorted colored sugar crystals (e. g., red, pink and white)

1. For the dough: Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Combine flour, confectioner’s sugar and almond meal in a large mixing bowl. Stir well to mix.

3. Add butter, egg yolk, water, and salt, and mix well with an electric mixer with spiral attachments until mixture starts to come together as a dough.

4. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead briefly until even. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

5. After chilling, roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to approximately 0.25” thickness.

6. Use assorted star-shaped cookie cutters to cut out approximately 23 variably sized star shapes. Arrange between prepared sheets, spaced apart.

7. From remaining dough, cut out one teardrop and two semi-circles of dough, using appropriate cutters or working freehand with a paring knife. Arrange on one of the baking sheets.

8. Bake cookies for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden and dry to the touch. Remove to cooling racks to cool.

9. For the icing and decoration: Thoroughly stir together confectioner’s sugar and meringue powder in a large mixing bowl.

10. Gradually beat in warm water and vanilla extract mixture using an electric mixer until icing is smooth and of a flooding consistency; you may not need all of the water.

Tip:

Flooding consistency should be similar to the consistency of toothpaste. If your icing is too thick, thin it out with some warm water, mixing it into the icing in drops

Preparation time: 1 hour, 20 minutes

Cooling time: 30 minutes

11. Divide icing between three bowls. Color two bowls pink and red, respectively, by beating in enough pink and red coloring to achieve uniform colors. Leave the third bowl uncolored.

12. Spoon pink and red icing into separate piping bags fitted with small, round-tip nozzles.

13. To ice the cookies, pipe around their perimeters with the icings to create borders. Fill in middle of cookies with more icing; you can use a damp, warm offset palette knife to spread out icing to an even finish.

14. Carefully transfer iced cookies to cooling racks, decorating with the sugar crystals in festive patterns.

15. Using same technique as in steps 13 and 14, ice teardrop cookie with red and white icing for Santa’s hat and beard, respectively. Ice the two semi-circle cookies with white icing.

16. Before icings have set, carefully attach semi-circle cookies to teardrop cookie to fashion Santa’s mustache. Color any remaining white icing with turquoise coloring and then dab onto teardrop cookie for Santa’s eyes. Pipe some pink icing below eyes for his nose.

17. Let cookies set and harden before serving.

LANDMARKS

How well DO YOU know Hamilton County?

Look at these photos and see if you can identify these local landmarks.

October Winner: Ria Caquelin

Photo #1: Country Twist Boutique, 603 Second Street, Webster City.

Photo #2: Cat Lounge in the Cat Hut, 1118 Second Street, Webster City.

Photo #1

SAVVY SENIOR

by Jim Miller

Best Pill Boxes and Medication Management Tools

Dear Savvy Senior ,

Can you recommend some good pill boxes and medication reminding devices? I’ve recently started taking several new prescription medications along with some vitamins I normally take and need to get a pill box that helps me organize them. What can you tell me?

Dear Almost,

Pill boxes (a.k.a. pill organizers) play an important role in keeping people healthy because they help you stay on top of your medication regimen. While there are many options, here are a few tips to help you choose, along with some top-rated pill boxes as recommended by expert reviewers.

Identify Your Needs?

When choosing an appropriate pill box for you, you first need to ask yourself a few questions, such as:

How many pills do you take and how big are they?

If you take only a few medications, a smaller pill box may be sufficient. But if you’re taking multiple medications and large vitamin supplements, you’ll want to get a large compartment pill box that can hold your daily dosage.

Do you take your pills once a day or multiple times a day?

If you take medications only once a day, a simple pill box with one compartment will do. But if you need to take medications multiple times a day, you’ll want to get a pill box with either two, three or four compartments for each day of the week.

Do you have problems remembering to take your medications?

If so, there are organizers that have built-in alarms and reminding features, or you can download a free medication reminding app on your smartphone.

Do you have a difficult time opening your medication containers?

If so, there are easy-open pill boxes or automated medication dispensers that are ideal for those with dexterity problems.

Do you need a portable pill box for when you’re away from home?

There are smaller portable pill boxes made for traveling, some of which have sealed-shut cases that prevent moisture and dust from entering.

Best Pill Boxes

With help from The New York Times (Wirecutter) and USA Today (Reviewed), some of the best pill boxes in 2024 are offered by Auvon and Sukuos which make a variety of single and multiple compartment pill organizers that are big, colorful and easy to open. Their top-rated options include the “Auvon Weekly Pill Organizer” for once-a-day medication users; “Sukuos AM/PM Weekly 7 Day Pill Organizer” for twice a day use; “Auvon iMedassist Moisture-Proof Weekly Pill Organizer” for four times a day; and the “Auvon Moistureproof Monthly Pill Organizer” for those who want to organize their medications monthly.

Or, if you’re interested in a travel pill box, the “MUchengbao Travel Pill Organizer” is considered an excellent choice.

All of these pill boxes cost around $10 and are available on Amazon.com or Walmart.com.

High-Tech Pill Organizers

If you need more help keeping up with your medication regimen, there are smart pill boxes that will organize your pills, remind you to take them, track your progress and even text or email caregivers if pills are missed. A popular option to consider here is EllieGrid (elliegrid.com, $149), which connects the pill box to the EllieGrid app (via Bluetooth) that you would install on your smartphone.

Or if you need even more help, there are automated medication dispensers like the Hero (herohealth. com, $45 per month), which is a comprehensive, Wi-Fi connected, app-based system that will remind you when to take your pills and dispenses them to you.

Medication Reminding Apps

If you’re interested in a medication reminding app, some top-rated choices include MyTherapy (mytherapyapp.com) or Medisafe (medisafeapp.com). These are free apps that you can download in the Apple or Google Play app stores that will send you timely notifications to take your pills, and reminders to refill your prescriptions.

2024 AG SHOW

Danielle Michalski, ILTA CLTP General Manager

Abby Dorsey, ILTA CLTP Assistant Manager

Jennifer Brown, ILTA CLTP Abstractor

Hannah Campbell, ILTA CLTP Abstractor

Pam Haack, ILTA CLTP Abstractor

Destiny Benavidez, ILTA CLTP Abstractor

Parting

Shot

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.

Our diabetic education services include:

DiabetesComprehensiveSelf-Management

GestationalDiabetesManagement

InsulinAdministrationInstruction

IndividualDiabetesSelf-Management