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departments
4 CONTRIBUTORS 5 LETTERS
Our Readers Weigh In
10 POTLUCK
Dishing Up News, Events, People, and Ideas
14 shelf life
Judging a Book by Its Coverage Online Reviews Can Make or Break Today’s Authors
16 STEWARDS
Avian Advocates A Rehabilitation Facility in Dedham Helps Iowa’s Raptors Soar
18 MORSELS
To the Moon Raising a Glass to Iowa’s Coolest Wine
20 Dimensions
Obscure Iowa Artist Gary Kelley Digs Around the Edges
44 PORTFOLIO
Between Dusk and Dawn The Photography of Tim Bloomquist
52 IOWANS
Wonderland A Kanawha Snowflake of Amazing Proportions
features
24 THE CORNER OF GREEN & MAIN
A Des Moines Visionary Builds a Model for Preservation, Conservation, and Choice
30 POWER PLAYERS
Jefferson Fuels Its Own Future
38 ON A WING AND A PRAYER Orange City’s Angel Aircraft
[ contents ] NOvember / December 2012 volume 61 | number 2 iowan.com
Šistockphoto/peanutpie
[
contributors ]
It all started when he was 12
Linda Mason Hunter is
Shuva Rahim grew up
and his parents gave him his first
a fifth-generation Iowan
in the Quad Cities and
camera. Tim Bloomquist was
and host of The Green Zone
now calls Iowa City home.
immediately hooked. When he’s
on KFMG 99.1 FM in Des
She’s a wedding and family
not lugging around equipment
Moines. A former editor at
photographer with a passion
for his “real” job producing TV
The Des Moines Register,
for teaching creativity and
commercials and training videos
Meredith, and Rodale Press,
social media. You can follow
for his company, Professional
she recently published her
her blog at shuvarahim.com.
Video, Inc., he can be found
13th book, Three Green
Beyond photography, Shuva
looking through a viewfinder and
Rats: An Eco Tale (for ages
loves to travel, bike ride, and
snapping “a keeper.” He often
7 to 11 and precocious
do yoga.
leaves through his backdoor in
adults), available online at
Urbandale to head down a dusty
threegreenrats.com.
country road or journey across the country to a national park.
4
After a decade abroad Jennifer
Mike Whye began peering
Blair Tuite is proud to be
through lenses and writing
back among Hawkeyes. A
stories in high school, eventually
monthlong walk across the state
working with publications
in 2009 reintroduced her to the
and in public relations before
beauty of the landscape, the
going freelance in 1983. A
generosity of the people, and
member of Midwest Travel
the remarkableness of Iowa’s
Writers Association, he teaches
stories. Living in Davenport, she
journalism and photography at
is continually reminded of how
the University of Nebraska at
good it is to be home.
Omaha. mwhye.home.radiks.net
THE IOWAN | iowan.com
[
letters ]
In Focus I recently completed
To my surprise, however, as I continued to read through
my Drawing 1 class
the magazine, the information provided on page 53 with
at the Iowa Central
regards to the article about the Dubuque Shot Tower
Community College,
(“Worth a Shot”) listed where the book can be purchased:
Fort Dodge campus,
River Lights Bookstore in Dubuque — OR AMAZON! Why?
under the instruction of
Why not just leave it at River Lights Bookstore, period?
Madai Taylor. Madai is
I use Amazon as well (mainly for Kindle books and
a phenomenal teacher,
usually for free ones) because we don’t have any indie
and I am proud to say I
bookstores in my area that I am aware of. But this oversight,
was instructed by him.
this basically bashing of a company for what it does and
He was able to get me
how it affects its literary counterparts and then giving it free
to draw again by making
advertisement all in the same magazine chafed me enough
me focus. Not only did we draw, but we also discussed how
to write. I don’t know if it was an editing oversight, but I did
our work made us feel. I had never really thought about art
want to bring it to your attention because surely I am not
the way Madai made us think about it. Under his instruction,
the only reader of The Iowan who will see this glaring error.
I felt as though I was under the wing of Rembrandt.
Shannon Jensen, Evansdale
Madai would set the scene for class by adding contemporary music that was so peaceful you could feel your
From the Editor: Accessibility was our thought in listing
inner spirit touch your soul as you began to draw. It made
Amazon. The Iowan’s mission is to bring stories to our
everything flow fluently. It was as if the music soothed you
readers that offer avenues to further exploration. We, of
and cleared your mind so you could focus. I have never been
course, leave it to readers to choose their own paths and
in a class that was so relaxing yet productive. Madai gave me
make their own buying decisions. To steal from and with
a new dimension in the ways I think about art — what it is,
apologies to former Wilson Library Bulletin Editor Mary Jo
not to mention the beauty it holds. If only I could have more
Godwin, I might submit that a truly great magazine contains
classes with Madai. Kudos to The Iowan; I feel you picked a
something in it to offend everyone. Reader feedback fuels
good topic and person to exhibit (“Mining the Spirit: Madai
exactly the sort of conversation we want The Iowan to host.
Taylor’s Journey,” September/October 2012).
Thanks for yours, Shannon.
Nancy Jondal, Webster City
Your Loss
More, Please
I was so excited to see a copy of the January/February
I loved the “Old Ways, New Faces” article (September/
2012 issue of The Iowan in our employee lounge. I had
October 2012, p. 28) that shared the stories of four families
subscribed years before and thought it would be great to
undertaking traditional sustainable farming practices. A
subscribe again. Then I saw the photo on page 11 of the
timely topic and beautifully written in terms of imagery that
dead buffalo and the great white hunter (“The Spirit of the
shared the experience with the reader and also captured the
Buffalo Hunt”). What a disgusting photo and an appalling
personality and unique perspectives of each farmer. Well
story of this “business” of allowing hunters to shoot captive
done. I hope to read more articles like this.
buffalo. You lost a potential subscriber and left me with a
Minca Borg, Fairfield
very bad impression of your magazine. Susan Ricketts, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Problems with Your Editing I found Nick Bergus’ “Problems with Your Order” (Shelf Life,
From the Editor: Those keeping score know that The Iowan
September/October 2012) to be an interesting article about
has received several similar comments on this Potluck
the state of our indie bookstores, no thanks to Amazon and
piece. Current state law allows the hunting of bison on
its ilk. As a librarian, this topic is something very near and
private preserves. Should Iowa be having a conversation to
dear to my heart, even though we have to use book suppliers
rebalance recreation, economics, and conservation? Let us
to make our budget stretch as much as possible because of
know. (I hope Susan gives The Iowan another try and joins
lack of funding.
the discussion.)
November/December 2012 | THE IOWAN
5
Points of Interest in This Issue Proudly published and printed in Iowa
Orange City
Kanawha
Publisher Gaela Wilson
Editor Beth Wilson
Cedar Falls
Sioux City Jefferson Dedham
Art Director Bobbie Russie
Graphic Designer Ann Donohoe Copy Editor Gretchen Kauffman
Cedar Rapids
Ames
Des Moines
New Virginia
Image/Photo Specialist Jason Fort
Iowa City Washington
Corning
Mt. Pleasant
Davenport
Administrative Associate Mary Ann Flanagan
Advertising Account Executives Tim Burke
Tom Smull Subscription Services Katrina Brocka
CEO Jim Slife
Production Manager Twilla Glessner
Statement of the ownership, management, and circulation as required by the act of Congress of August 24, 1912. As amended by the acts of March 3, 1934, and July 2, 1946 (Title 39. United States Code. Section 3685), of THE IOWAN (permit 269-620) for September 30, 2012. THE IOWAN is published bimonthly for $21 at 300 Walnut Street, Suite 6, Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa 50309-2239. Publisher, Gaela Wilson. Editor, Beth Wilson. Stockholders: Pioneer Communications, Inc., James Slife, 300 Walnut Street, Suite 6, Des Moines, Polk County, IA 50309. There are no known bondholders, mortgagees, or other security holders owning or holding one percent or more of the total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities.
Extent and Nature of Circulation
Average No. Actual No. Copies per Issue Copies in Preceding 12 Mos. Sep/Oct 2012
a. Total Number of Copies (Net Press Run) 18,741 b. Paid Circulation (By Mail and Outside the Mail) (1) Mailed Outside-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541 9,577 (2) Mailed In-County Paid Subscriptions Stated on PS Form 3541 1,166 (3) Paid Distribution Outside the Mails including Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales, and Other Paid Distribution Outside USPS® 4,639 (4) Paid Distribution by Other Classes of Mail Through the USPS 0 c. Total Paid Distribution 15,382 d. Free or Nominal Rate Distribution (1) Free or Nominal Rate Outside-County Copies included on PS Form 3541 0 (2) Free or Nominal Rate In-County Copies included on PS Form 3541 0 (3) Free or Nominal Rate Copies Mailed at Other Classes Through the USPS 0 (4) Free or Nominal Rate Distribution Outside the Mail 3,059 e. Total Free or Nominal Rate Distribution 3,059 f. Total Distribution 18,441 g. Copies Not Distributed 300 h. Total 18,741 i. Percent Paid 83.7% James Slife, CEO/Owner — September 30, 2012
18,000
9,085 1,269
4,860 0 15,214
0 0 0 2,486 2,486 17,700 300 18,000 86%
Accounting Manager Allison Volker
The Iowan, ISSN (0021-0772), is published bi-monthly by Pioneer Communications, 300 Walnut Street, Suite 6, Des Moines, Iowa 50309. This issue is dated November 1, 2012, Volume 61, No. 2. All content © 2012 The Iowan/Pioneer Communications, Inc., and may not be used, reproduced, or altered in any way without prior written permission. Periodicals Postage Paid in Des Moines, Iowa, and at additional mailing offices. We cannot be held responsible for the loss or damage of unsolicited material. POSTMASTER: Send change of address to: The Iowan, 300 Walnut St., STE 6, Des Moines, IA 50309. Prices: Subscriptions — Special rate when ordered direct or by mail: six issues per year for $21. International orders require additional postage. Call for rates. Single copies — on newsstands: $4.95; current issue by mail: $4.95 plus $3.50 S+H. Call for quantity discount pricing. Single past issues 2000 or newer: $5.95, two for $9.95; Issues older than 2000: $12.95. New Subscriptions, Renewals, Gifts: iowan.com > SUBSCRIBE subscribe@pioneermagazines.com 877-899-9977 x211 Change of Address iowan.com> CONTACT > Address Change subscribe@pioneermagazines.com 877-899-9977 x211 Past Issues: subscribe@pioneermagazines.com 877-899-9977 x211 Mail Orders: The Iowan Subscription Services P.O. Box 2516, Waterloo, IA 50704
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Let Me Do Your Shopping For You! As we approach the New Year we owe it to our family to do a little homework and shopping for ourselves. Starting personally and if you are a business owner let’s get ready for the Healthcare Reform that is changing each and every year. We take pride in keeping our clients informed so that they can make educated and prudent decisions. We find that if all options are presented, folks will almost always make the right choices. Anyone with an HSA…take a look at your account…talk with your CPA…be sure to take the full advantage of your tax opportunities by funding your account to the maximum allowed. A review of your life insurance is very important. Life changes and so do your needs. Do you carry an income protection policy? If you do I praise you. If you do not it is simply because you don’t realize the importance…this should be viewed as a life jacket…don’t go without it…it is the best investment you can make. Asset protection with long term care could guarantee your ability to live the lifestyle you are accustomed to when you need care for your health. It is Medicare Annual Enrollment Period and time to review your RX drug plans. Call me…my consultations are FREE! As a business owner let me explain what the Healthcare Reform timeline means to your business. I want to make sure that going into 2013 you especially know where you should position yourself for 2014. To have or not to have group benefits is the $99 question. Let’s work the numbers both ways…you be the judge. But make educated decisions well in advance. Don’t wait until it’s a fire drill and as you look in the mirror say “Gee I wish I’d known that!” It is your responsibility to know…I will educate you well in advance. Just call me for an appointment. Sears Insurance is 39 years old…for real! Our clients and their referrals have given us the privilege of handling their health and their finances for four generations. They are also why our production has earned us recognition and was honored as the Top Producer Individual Sales for Wellmark 2011. Thank you to all – Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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THE IOWAN | iowan.com
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November/December 2012 | THE IOWAN
9
[ compiled by Carol Bodensteiner and Mary Gottschalk ]
and music theory, to spend at least a week in Sioux City. courtesy G.R. Lindblade & Co./Sioux City, Iowa
Some of that time is devoted to orchestra rehearsals. But the concert performance is only one dimension of Haskins’ effort to introduce new musical talent to a wider audience “in a careful way.” “The winners,” says Haskins, “have to be more than just good composers. I want them to be able to talk easily about their music to many different groups — to students and residents of our retirement communities as well as to the preconcert audience. I want our audiences to hear the composer’s voice, learn the story behind the music, understand what the composer was trying to do.” Haskins’ first experience with showcasing new music came while he was studying at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore. As the conductor of a 50-person
The Sound of New Music
volunteer orchestra, he premiered one of the early works of a fellow student, Clint Needham.
“Promoting new American music is a passion for me,”
“It was a thrilling experience,” recalls Haskins. “And it
says Ryan Haskins, conductor of the Sioux City Symphony
still gives me joy to be the first to hear a full performance of
Orchestra and the inspiration behind the orchestra’s
a wonderful new work.” — M.G.
innovative Composer of the Year award, which is now in its Haskins expects each of the award winners, selected by a panel that includes him as well as experts in composition
This year’s winner, Roger Zare, will perform with the symphony on November 17. Visit rogerzare.com for more information. Buy concert tickets online at siouxcitysymphony.org > Concerts or call 712-277-2111.
Back on the Map with Mucha
After the 2008 flood, the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library building in Cedar Rapids was moved 480 feet northwest and 11 feet up. Now it’s back on the map, not just because of the move — which was monumental — but also because of the exhibit of art by famed Czech artist Alphonse Mucha that marks the grand reopening. The exhibit includes 230 works, the largest the Mucha Foundation has ever mounted. Mucha’s art inspires rare devotion among his fans, says Diana Baculis, museum director of marketing. “People are coming from all over to see the exhibit,” she says, noting an interesting trend among Mucha fans. “Many of them have Mucha tattoos. They arrive wanting to find the piece that matches their tattoo.” The Mucha exhibit runs until the end of 2012. After the exhibit closes, Iowans can still find Mucha’s art in the state. The Theatre Museum of Repertoire Americana in Mount Pleasant has two Mucha posters: one created for Sarah Bernhardt’s renowned performance in Gismonda, the other of actress Lillian Carter. — C.B. Find more information at ncsml.org > Exhibitions > Alphonse Mucha: Inspirations of Art Nouveau and www.oldthreshers.org > Exhibits & Attractions > Theatre Museum.
10
THE IOWAN | iowan.com
© Mucha Trust 2012
second year. “I want Iowans to be able to share that passion.”
[
Spot of Tea in Warren County
potluck ]
The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the royal wedding, and the Olympics gave Iowans a chance to see a bit of jolly old England. The experience can continue closer to home. Donna Hardin and her daughter Spenser began hosting countryside as a first step in what they hoped would be a trip to England. They established Miss Spenser’s Teas in 2005 to give visitors a true English cultural experience. What constitutes an English tea? Donna points to goodquality loose-leaf tea (not bag tea) and a wide variety of foods, including finger sandwiches, scones with whipped cream and jam, tea cakes, and cookies, all home-baked and served on beautiful china. The teas are not quite “high tea,” which would be
courtesy Zachary Hardin
authentic English teas at their home in the New Virginia
says Donna, describing programs that revolve around English authors such as Beatrix Potter, Lewis Carroll, and
served in late afternoon. Rather, Donna describes tea at Miss
Charles Dickens. English roses and the popular PBS series
Spenser’s as a “formal afternoon” tea.
Downton Abbey have also provided program themes.
“Our goal is to give our friends the best English tea
Though Donna and Spenser haven’t made it to England
experience this side of the pond,” says Donna, pointing out
yet, visitors from England confirm the authenticity of their
that their teas are about more than eating. “We strive to
teas. One gentleman called Spenser aside to talk about her
provide an experience that nourishes body and soul. Women
scones. “In his very proper English accent, he assured her,
are so busy and stressed. We want our tearoom to be a
‘You’ve got them just right.’” — C.B.
haven that speaks to women’s hearts.” Special-event teas held one Saturday each month offer programs by daughter Spenser, who is often dressed in historical garb. “We like to home in on historical characters,”
In addition to event teas, Miss Spenser’s is also open on periodic weekdays. Check the website for events and days. For a longer visit, the Hardins offer a bed and breakfast. missspensersspecialteas.com
Valuable Venue Restored in Corning Between 1870 and 1920 Iowa had few intercommunity roads, but the state did have railroads. In fact, in the 1890s Iowa
300 of them still exist, with only 50 to 75 in use today. In
had more miles of rail line than any other state. And when a
the opera house heyday, Corning boasted three of those
rail line ran through a town, an opera house often followed,
entertainment venues. Last spring Corning reopened one of
says Sam Knutson, coordinator of the Iowa Opera House
its opera houses after a 10-year restoration project.
Project. courtesy De Heaton
At one time Iowa had 1,500 opera houses. Roughly
The Corning Opera House, built in 1902, has since become a regional attraction. At least half of the audience comes from outside Corning and Adams County to enjoy everything from musicians and illusionists to wedding receptions and reunion parties. “Opera houses are as valuable today as they were 100 years ago,” says Knutson. “They provide what you can’t get anywhere else: a place where people meet in silent agreement to be surrounded by music.” — C.B. Visit corningoperahouse.com for more information. November/December 2012 | THE IOWAN
11
courtesy Craig Swift
It Makes a Village
and economic issues, the Chamber of Commerce applied for
Lorraine Williams has been on a mission. Make that two
Main Street status, achieving that designation in 2008. Around
missions. For nearly a decade as the proprietor of Café Dodici
the same time, the Downtown Enhancement Project, in which
in Washington, Williams has aspired to delight customers
Williams was a key player, implemented a multimilliion-dollar
with a creative cuisine that is both healthful and delicious.
plan to improve the Washington streetscape.
She’s also set out to make the southeast Iowa county seat a destination community. Both goals seemed out of reach when Williams returned to
According to Amy Vetter, director of Main Street Washington, none of this could have happened without Williams’ passionate commitment to the town. “She was the first to come in and do
her hometown in 2003 after living in Italy for 27 years. She was
something — and without having any of the financial incentives
dismayed by the sleepy community with its deteriorating town
that the city and Main Street now provide.”
says Williams. “I wanted to bring this town back to life.” Williams soon made what many thought was an
Washington is on its way to becoming the vibrant community Williams envisioned. More than 85 percent of Café Dodici’s customers come from out of town, and the suite of
outrageous bet on Washington’s future: She decided to open
guest rooms above
a high-end restaurant in a dilapidated but historic building
the restaurant is
on the town square. With the help of an SBA loan, she gutted
booked regularly.
the building and restored it to its original design. Café Dodici
Williams chuckles
opened in late 2004.
as she recalls the
Her decision proved to be a powerful catalyst for the
Illinois couple that
community of 7,000. Within a year, two art historians bought
has celebrated
and restored the old J.C. Penney building to house the
Valentine’s Day in
Chamber of Commerce and several retail shops. Another old
Washington for the
building was converted into retail and residential space. The
past four years. “It’s
Washington Library, in need of more space, began planning
way more than just
for a move downtown. With renewed energy behind social
the food.” — M.G.
12
THE IOWAN | iowan.com
Courtesy Craig Swift
square. “I had such wonderful memories from my childhood,”
[
potluck ]
month to help residents make connections through stories, songs, and pictures. ©iStockphoto.com/Fred Froese
“Everyone is looking for connections,” says June Braverman, who helped organize the volunteers and has been a volunteer reader herself. “Pets and farms are two of the most popular topics. The stories volunteers read spark memories of childhood or early adulthood, causing many to want to tell their own stories.” “Volunteers start with readings and questions provided by the library,” explains Kara Logsden, Iowa City Public
Stories to Remember On our best days, any of us might forget why we went into
Library community services manager. “They may add poems, pictures, or songs.” “Many of the people we read to don’t have a lot,” adds
a room. But for those afflicted with dementia, Alzheimer’s,
Braverman. “If we can communicate with them on some
and other mental deficiencies, memories are more elusive
plane, if we can bring five minutes of peace or brightness
and become even more precious when recovered.
into their lives, that’s a pretty good day.”
A partnership between the Iowa City Public Library
The volunteers gain more than they give, Braverman believes. “It’s important to offer these people who might
from these mental blocks remember. The Caring Through
be our neighbors or relatives a way to connect. Then
Reading initiative enables volunteers to visit Johnson
to see a sign of recognition — it’s very meaningful to
County nursing homes and adult daycare centers each
volunteers.” — C.B.
Incubating the Arts
But that success left MidCoast without
Incubators can be a great tool for both individual business
venues to showcase the visual arts.
start-ups and broader community development. A dual-
The Bucktown Center fills that void.
purpose incubator is exactly what the Bucktown Center
Its 17 shops offer a broad array of
for the Arts in downtown Davenport intends to be — a
visual arts, including photography,
supportive environment for promising artists, which at the
printmaking, fabric design, mixed
same time draws people into the city.
media, and a writing center, as well
The story of the Bucktown Center began when a group of local artists set out to counter the 1980s decline of many downtowns. In 1991 the group established MidCoast Fine Arts
as a gallery with rotating exhibits of individual artists. “It’s a wonderful facility,” says
as a nonprofit dedicated to bringing the visual arts back to
Desiree Border, owner of 3 Gypsies
the Quad Cities, where there was little reason for community
Designs and one of three tenants
residents, during the day or after dark, to explore city centers.
in the Center since it opened in
One of MidCoast’s early strategies was to place a
2005. According to Border, a jewelry
courtesy Quinn Kirkpatrick/Small Wonders Photography
and Iowa City Hospice is designed to help those who suffer
variety of visual arts displays in empty retail store windows
designer, having so many different
in Davenport. “The visual arts have a shelf life that the
types of art in one location generates
performing arts cannot offer,” says Dean Schroeder, recently
more business for everyone. “It also
retired executive director of MidCoast. To keep people coming
means that we can learn from and help each other.”
to and staying in the city center, MidCoast made sure the
“We’re pleased with the Center’s success,” says Schroeder.
windows were lit at night to catch the eye of people leaving
“It brings in a lot of foot traffic and has helped to create a
theater and music performances and to make them feel safe
sense of a cosmopolitan community.” — M.G.
when they chose to wander. Over the next decade that strategy, linked with other redevelopment initiatives, led to dramatic growth in commercial and retail businesses in downtown Davenport.
For information on hours, location, and artists at the Bucktown Center, see bucktownarts.com. For information on MidCoast Fine Arts, including a schedule of sponsored events, visit midcoast.org.
November/December 2012 | THE IOWAN
13
[
shelflife ]
Judging a Book by Its Coverage Online Reviews Can Make or Break Today’s Authors
(2,272)
[ by Nick Bergus ]
3.7 out of 5 stars 5 star
878
Being a writer has never been hard. The only requirements
4 star
565
are occasionally jotting down some words and talking about
3 star
345
yourself at parties. Being a good writer, however, has always
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been tough, demanding open-a-vein-and-bleed dedication.
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Being recognized as a good writer with even a modicum of commercial success carries the additional requisite of
See all 2,272 customer reviews
luck. Each step along the way entails an increasingly tense
Igor Shypitsyn/iStockphoto/Thinkstock
Customer Reviews
symbiotic relationship with reviewers. Sunday’s New York Times Book Review, where a review can make or break an author’s career, only covers a couple dozen titles in a typical week. Even if a writer has made it
write and post reviews online. For $20 to $100, writers can
through the gauntlet of securing an agent and a publisher,
commission reviews that are more likely to, ahem, accentuate
she might still find the reviews and the praise for her work in
the strengths of their work. Some review clearinghouses
short supply.
have churned out thousands of fake reviews. Experts
There are, of course, places other than Publisher’s Weekly and the like to read book reviews. Today’s online consumers rate everything — books, ovens, cars — often
estimate that a third of online reviews are commissioned or written by the author or are otherwise fake. We readers are, of course, used to such glowing morsels
right next to where other consumers are shopping. These
extolling a book’s deft writing or life-changing narrative.
reviews are usually more visible and, for better or worse,
We’ve been spoon-fed these positive, commissioned
more influential than those from high-profile reviewers.
assessments for years, long before the Web created a
While the flaws of everyone’s-a-critic reviews are
market for them. They’re called blurbs. Perhaps readers
numerous and well-known, lots of four- and five-star ratings
will eventually get used to reading between the lines of
can drive sales. And a lack of such attention can kill a book’s
commissioned online reviews in the same way they have with
visibility in online stores full of titles from unknown authors.
the blurbs on the backs of book covers. Perhaps the Federal
Online reviews are especially important to the success
Trade Commission, which requires online endorsements to
of self-published books (either print or digital), which
spell out any financial relationships between reviewers and
have become easier to produce and, at $10 per download,
producers, will figure out a way to enforce its guidelines.
lucrative for authors. Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com’s CEO,
At the end of the day, this whole thing seems like a
bragged at an event leading into holiday season that out of
good argument for staying offline and befriending your
the 100 best-selling Kindle books, more than a quarter were
local bookseller.
self-published (and Amazon is selling more e-books than printed books). With so much more riding on online reviews and praise, writers have started patronizing services that offer to
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Nick Bergus is a multimedia producer and freelance writer based in Iowa City.
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A Rehabilitation Facility in Dedham Helps Iowa’s Raptors Soar [ story by Tim Ackarman ]
T
hings were not looking good for Moonface last January. Lost, alone, injured, and starving, he had a slim chance for survival. Snowy owls like Moonface inhabit the Arctic tundra — over 1,000 miles from Iowa. Sightings of the regal white raptor in the state are unusual. Yet every six to seven years, for complex reasons that may include fluctuating prey densities, the continental United States receives an influx of snowies consisting primarily of adolescents. During last winter’s large influx (an “irruption” in birder lingo) the Iowa Ornithologists’ Union documented 154 snowy owls in Iowa. These inexperienced hunters had entered an unfamiliar landscape; at least 33 died in the state, while many more likely perished attempting to return home. Moonface was nearly among those casualties. Already facing long odds, the young male’s chances plummeted when he dislocated an elbow. Because he was unable to travel, hunt, and defend himself, the question was not whether he would die but how and when. Then Moonface caught a break. A motorist spotted the crippled visitor and contacted Carroll County natu16
THE IOWAN | iowan.com
photo courtesy Pete Wachsberger
Avian Advocates
ralist Matt Wetrich, who knew to call Kay Neumann in nearby Dedham. The owl was critically malnourished, weighing only two pounds rather than the expected four. “Actually, the injury probably saved him,” says Neumann, founder and executive director of Saving Our Avian Resources (SOAR). “He was down and available for us to get before he starved out.” An internship at a raptor center during college led Neumann to a love of falconry. She soon became the go-to expert for people with injured raptors. Her hobby eventually grew time-consuming and expensive. “We either have to really do it or we have to quit,” Neumann remembers telling her husband, John. In 1999 she decided to “really do it,” forming SOAR as a nonprofit organization and full-time labor of love. SOAR receives about 150 birds annually, primarily raptors. Common patients include red-tailed hawks, kestrels, great horned owls, screech owls, and bald eagles. Some of these birds are stricken with infections such as West Nile virus. Others are injured in collisions, often with cars, power lines, or fences. A few are deliberately shot or poisoned.
photo courtesy Matt Wetrich
Not all poisoning is intentional. Many birds succumb to lead toxicity, most after ingesting lead shot or fragments of lead bullets discharged by hunters. Bald eagles, which scavenge gut piles and unrecovered deer carcasses, are particularly susceptible. “I’d hardly ever get to see an eagle for rehabilitation if it weren’t for lead poisoning,” laments Neumann, “which would be fine with me.” Her experience has moved Neumann to advocate for lead alternatives. She has worked with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to develop educational materials for outdoor enthusiasts, helps with Iowa State University studies on lead levels in raptors, and lobbies the Iowa Legislature for restrictions on lead ammunition. “It’s not that we can’t stand to see animals die,” explains Neumann. “We see animals die every day. It’s just that there would be something so easy to do to fix this.” Her efforts to replace lead haven’t yet produced the results Neumann would like, but persisting in spite of setbacks is something to which she’s grown accustomed.
stewards ]
tim ackarman
[
Flying the face of success: A rehabilitated juvenile bald eagle is released in 2011 (opposite); an adult peregrine falcon (above, with Kay Neumann) arrived in 2008 and is now a public educator; the malnourished snowy found last January with a dislocated elbow (below, with Neumann) is now inspiring new audiences.
Seven of the nine snowy owls recovered last winter died before or shortly after arriving at SOAR. Neumann chooses to focus instead on the victories. A female snowy rescued in Wright County made a full recovery at SOAR. Neumann worked in cooperation with the Raptor Research Project (of the Decorah Eagle Cam fame) to fit the owl with a transmitter before releasing her in October. If all goes well, tracking her movements will allow scientists to add to a growing body of knowledge regarding these birds. Some victories are partial. Although Moonface regained normal strength and weight, his injured wing didn’t recover adequately to permit release. Some such animals are sent to other licensed facilities in need of birds for display. Others, including Moonface, remain at SOAR and are used in educational presentations at schools, nature centers, and similar venues. Neumann believes these feathered teaching assistants can inspire students in a way human teachers cannot, fostering a new respect and concern for the natural world. “It gets other people involved who may go on to have careers [in conservation]. People are concerned about individual animals, [but] you may spark them to something much larger than wanting to help a single kestrel.” Learn more online at soarraptors.org.
An avid hunter and conservationist, freelance writer and photographer Tim Ackarman of Garner encourages his fellow enthusiasts to protect wildlife by using only non-toxic ammunition in the field. (tackarman@yahoo.com)
November/December 2012 | THE IOWAN
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To the Moon ©istockphoto/Digital Paws Inc.
Raising a Glass to Iowa’s Coolest Wine
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[ story by Jim Duncan ]
early every gardener and farmer in Iowa agreed that the long, hot summer of 2012 was horrible for their crops. Not Matt Nissen. “It was perfect weather for us. Grapes here love it when early summer is hot and dry,” says the winemaker and manager of Prairie Moon Winery and Vineyards near Ames. Nissen was overdue for some good luck. Since he planted his first vines in 2000, he’s run into several challenges, many created by his stringent quality controls. Prairie Moon began as an all-organic operation. After 10 years he realized that mineral oil and sulfur were no match for the relentless appetite Japanese beetles have for Iowa vines. He still grows his grapes, 25 to 30 tons a year, in a sustainable manner. Vines are carefully planted and trellised over 18 acres of hills and dales so that different varietals are exposed to optimum light conditions. Some are trained to grow high and others close to the ground. Nissen covers his more tender varietals with hay in the winter to protect them against root and trunk damage. All his grapes are hand-picked
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Ice Ages In the first century of the Christian Era, both Pliny the Elder and Martial wrote about wine grapes being left on the vine until frozen. Ice wine seems to have disappeared with the Roman Empire. But at the beginning of the 19th century, grapes were left to freeze on the vine as animal fodder during an early German winter. Farmers noticed that those grapes yielded a sweeter musk, so some were pressed into wine. Ice wine harvests in Germany were rare until 1961, when Eiswein became popular and modern technologies made it more practical. In 1984 Karl Kaiser made the first Canadian ice wines with Botrytis-free Vidal grapes in Ontario. By the third millennium, Canada had become the leading ice wine producer in the world. In 2007 a Canadian ice wine (Northern Ice Vidal Blanc Icewine 2005) won the Monde Selection’s Grand Gold, the rarely awarded, highest honor accorded to any wine.
and hand-sorted. All the leftovers from pressing are returned to compost. Nissen is proud that all his wines are made with his own grapes. He’s particularly pleased with Winter
[
morsels ]
Vintage Vegan All this year’s Prairie Moon wines except one (Honey Moon Red) were rated as vegan-friendly by Barnivore .com, the ultimate authority on vegan beverages. Very few wines are vegan-friendly because most are filtered with animal products such as isinglass (sturgeon bladder), egg whites, gelatin, and casein (a milk protein). Vegan purists say this renders them unfit to
Moon Ice Wine. Made exclusively with Vidal Blanc grapes, Winter Moon has a deep flavor that experts have described as both “earthy” and “lychee like.” Unlike many other dessert wines (Sauternes, Tokaji), ice wines must be made with grapes that are free of noble rot (Botrytis cinerea). That gives them what winemakers call a “clean” quality and flavor. Their syrupy intensity is cultivated by letting the grapes freeze on the vine before harvesting, usually in late November or early December. That intensifies their sugars but requires some planning. “We keep an eye on the weather forecasts. When the first 15-degree overnight is predicted, we call in the crew, usually about 10 people. We start harvesting at sunrise. It only takes a few hours because there are no leaves on the vines and the grapes just fall right off. We fill the wine press immediately and start pressing. By then the grapes have usually warmed up to 17 degrees, which is perfect,” explains Nissen. You need some luck to make ice wine. The wet spring and summer of 2010 wiped out Nissen’s ice wine grapes. The warm late fall of 2011 limited the size of his crop and hence the supply of this year’s batch, which is scheduled for market in November. Next year he expects a big batch. Winter Moon is arguably the superstar of Iowa wines. The Mid-American Wine Competition rated the 2007 vintage as “Spectacular.” It won that organization’s Dr. Dick Peterson Award as the best Iowa wine of 2010. Des Moines caterer Cyd Koehn says it’s her favorite wine of any kind to pair with chocolate. She also says it’s an amazing wine to use for cooking, particularly for reductions to serve with game or desserts. Des Moines chef Hal Jasa (Proof) says it’s even marvelous after turning to vinegar.
courtesy prairie moon winery
drink. Nissen substitutes cellulose for animal products.
Cyd Koehn’s Ice Wine Enhancer 1 cup ice wine 2 cups agave nectar 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 8 ounces fresh organic lavender Combine ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a slow simmer over medium heat. Strain through a sieve to remove lavender; let mixture cool. Use in drinks with a splash of sparkling water, drizzle on lemon cupcakes before frosting, or mix with fresh fruit and a splash of the ice wine for a refreshing dessert drink.
Writer Jim Duncan learned everything he considers worth knowing about food, cooking, and gardening from his grandparents.
November/December 2012 | THE IOWAN
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Obscure Iowa Artist Gary Kelley Digs Around the Edges
fine art collection of pastel, monotype, and oil on canvas presents Iowa history as a provocative paraphrase. “I’ve never done anything about Iowa on this scale,” says artist Gary Kelley from his studio in Cedar Falls. “There are some pretty interesting characters here if you dig around the edges.” Kelley — a renowned illustrator whose works have reached a wide variety of audiences, from readers of Rolling Stone to fans of the NFL to customers at Barnes & Noble to patrons of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony — went looking for the most intriguing subjects he could find, sidestepping the more familiar to fill 12 months with the unexpected. He titled his new calendar Iowa Esoterica. “It’s the stuff that your average kid, and probably your average adult, doesn’t realize about our Iowa history.” Kelley selected his subjects with diversity, point of view, and visual potential in mind, but his primary guideline (other than the criterion of “no living people”) was a beloved quote from Gertrude Stein: “You are brilliant and subtle if you come from Iowa and really strange and you live as you live and you are always well taken care of if you come from Iowa” (Everybody’s Autobiography, 1937). “It rings pretty true for Iowans,” says Kelley. “I thought it was an ideal kind of summary of a lot of the people in this calendar.” 20
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Research for such a project is essential, he stresses, and fine details — 48 stars in the early 20th-century American flags of Amendment 19, for instance — matter. But Kelley mines deeper, getting to know his subject. He’s stood in front of the same barn that a young Norman Borlaug helped his father build. He’s sat outside a Parisian cafe where Carl Van Vechten likely lingered over coffee and conversation with other innovative expats. He’s delved into texts that reveal not only the Black and Native American themes jason fort
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[ by Beth Wilson ]
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dimensions ]
Gary Kelley is the most awarded artist at the Society of Illustrators, inducted into the organization’s Hall of Fame in 2007. His vast body of work includes numerous picture books; his pastel illustrations for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow are now part of the Hearst Center Permanent
jason fort
Collection and are on exhibit until November 6 in Cedar Falls.
that inspired Antonin Dvořák during one famous summer but also the experiences of the composer’s teenage daughter that may have led to the family’s abrupt departure from Iowa. “That’s why you do the research,” he says of the larger story uncovered. “Those are the things that make your life as an artist more interesting.” Photographs can aid his creative process, but his job, clarifies Kelley, is not to mimic. His artwork serves to interpret facts in an interesting, often surprising way. “I want to make sure that I capture the era. If I’m going to show a Civil War soldier, I want to do the research — but not to the point that I do something that looks like a photograph in the end.” It was not a photograph but a drawing of a photograph that led Kelley to the young infantryman portrayed in Shiloh Suite. In a dim corner of the Civil War exhibit at the State Historical Society of Iowa, Kelley paused in front of a wall-size black-and-white photo and took out his sketchpad. “As an artist you realize that when you draw something, you have to look at it; you have to absorb it. Take a picture? Click, and it’s done. But when you draw something, you have to study it; you have to notice relationships all over that guy’s body and his uniform.” Always in the back of Kelley’s mind was the staggering statistic: One of every four Union casualties in the Battle of Shiloh was an Iowan. “By drawing him, I made much more of a connection to that poor kid who was tossed into hell.”
While pastel has defined much of Kelley’s career as an illustrator, monotype and oil on canvas are prominent in this calendar collection. A desire for variety to some extent drove media selection, says Kelley, but subject matter often steered decisions. Monotype enables the ghost prints that lend emotion to Shiloh Suite and impart background music in From the New World. The medium lends an ethereal look to Buxton Wonders, a work celebrating one Iowa town’s brief but remarkable existence (and providing the calendar’s bonus month). In his oil paintings Kelley plays more with abstraction, incorporating geometric and organic shapes that in isolation are elusive but when assembled define the subject — the stylized bull in Great White Hunter, the highlighted book in Prairie Girl. Here, too, he sometimes introduces vertical panels (Inner Circle), sometimes visual metaphors (Boy Wonder), and even illogical composition (Greatest Show on Earth). Highlighted dates in the new calendar mark not only births and battles but also defining episodes, unscrupulous acts, humanitarian efforts, and inspirational leadership. These are the people and experiences that have touched and shaped who we are as Iowans — sometimes from the outside in (a Czech in Spillville), sometimes from the inside out (an Iowan in Paris), and sometimes blurring the state’s borders (a Native American straddling the Mississippi, hobos convening in but ever movin’ on from Britt). Kelley’s yearlong Iowa journey explores not so much place as essence: not where we live, but who we are. The 2013 limited-edition fine art calendar Brilliant and Subtle — Iowa Esoterica can be ordered online: iowan.com > Shop > Gifts.
Beth Wilson can’t get over the greatest fact on Earth — that she shares her birth state with the Ringling Brothers. In her own circus, she juggles the editorial demands of a little bimonthly called The Iowan.
November/December 2012 | THE IOWAN
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Marvin D. Cone, River Bend No. 5, 1938, oil on canvas, 24 x 30 1/8 in., Gift of Isobel Howell Brown, 81.1.
This exhibition is supported in part by Simmons Perrine Moyer Bergman PLC, an anonymous donor in honor of Joanne Ribble, the Marvin Cone Art Club, and the Momentum Fund of The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation. 410 Third Avenue SE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52401 319.366.7503 • www.crma.org
Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge TheaterClassroomsExhibit Area
TeacherWorkshopsWildlifeObservationBirding BikingHikingHuntingPrairie Point Bookstore
The Visitor Center facilities include exhibit space, theater, classrooms, and a bookstore! In addition, the public is welcome to drive through an approximately 700 acre enclosure in hopes of seeing bison or elk. The Visitor Center is open Monday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Sundays from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge 9981 Pacific Street | Prairie City, Iowa 50228-0399 (515) 994-3400 | www.fws.gov/refuge/Neal_Smith/ November/December 2012 | THE IOWAN
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Green &Main A Des Moines Visionary Builds a Model for Preservation, Conservation, and Choice
[ story by Linda Mason Hunter | images provided by Indigo Dawn/silent rivers design+build ]
catnap72/iStockphoto/Thinkstock
The Corner of
A nation th at forgets its past h as no future
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— Winston Churchill (1874–1965)
haden Halfhill stood on a shady Des Moines residential street in 2005, looking across at a lone, boarded-up, decrepit commercial building. The circa-1915 structure’s modern features included peeling paint, dark wall paneling from the ’60s, a drop ceiling from the ’70s, and electrical and plumbing systems as old as the building itself. An absence of gutters had allowed water for years to seep through the foundation into the basement, polluting the air with a pungent, musty smell. “It was a rundown, neglected, leaky old building held together with mediocre repairs — a far cry from anything anyone with sense would be interested in owning,” Halfhill recalls with a laugh. Still, the bones were good, he surmised, the general structure sound. He pondered the possibilities for months before actually purchasing the dilapidated property for less than $95,000. Halfhill, a former sculptor turned green builder and owner of Silent Rivers Design + Build and Indigo Dawn Development, christened it the “Green & Main Pilot Project,” for it would become, he imagined, a model — a 21st-century bricks-and-mortar manual, a paradigm-shifting set of best practices marrying historical preservation, sustainable design, and community connection.
The Heritage of Place
When Lloyd K. Hulett opened the first self-serve grocery store in the capital city’s bustling Sherman Hill district in 1933, he understood the formula for commercial success. The location was ideal — on a streetcar line in a walking neighborhood near its busiest intersection. Sitting on the corner of 19th and Center Streets, the sturdy 5,000-square-foot masonry building had a wide entrance, a cavernous basement excellent for storage, an open 1,600-squarefoot room at street level, and three pint-size rental apartments upstairs. Two large display windows allowed passersby on foot or in streetcars to marvel at the decorative displays of canned goods and fresh produce assembled to entice. Not sexy by today’s grocery standards, but Hulett’s neighborhood store was practical and efficient — just what was needed in the early years of the Great Depression. “It was the heyday of the corner grocery,” says John Zeller, local research historian. “Every neighborhood of 1,000 people could support one.”
Ste ve Wilke-Shapi ro
“As a company we want to show Iowa what is possible,” says Chaden Halfhill of Green & Main’s ambitious project at 19th and Center. “That’s why I do this.”
connecting to community When complete, the Green & Main Pilot Project will be a mixed-use property. The downstairs will house a women’s wellness center, bringing people into the neighborhood and heart of Des Moines during the day for appointments. Community groups will be able to utilize Green & Main’s classroom space in the evenings. An upstairs rental apartment will respond to housing needs in Sherman Hill’s high-density urban neighborhood — a mix of apartments, duplexes, single-family homes, and businesses.
November/December 2012 | THE IOWAN
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A conceptual drawing (top) and perspective renderings (below) reveal the future of the renovated site. Neither a twostory addition at the back of the building or an enclosed egress at its side interferes with the view of a preserved storefront.
19th Street
sustainable site native plants permeable pavers rainwater harvesting vegetated roof native turf goals reduce storm water runoff increase biodiversity minimize hardscape
Ryan Peterson
Center Street
In the back of the store two butchers in blood-splattered aprons sliced fresh cuts to order. Hulett stood behind a polished maple counter, crushing out his cigarettes on the wood plank floor beneath his feet, ringing up sales on an ornate brass cash register with a hand crank and a bell that rang each time the money drawer opened. Some customers simply signed for their groceries. “Regular customers had running accounts,” explains Zeller. “The grocer kept track and mailed invoices at the end of the month. If you paid your bill, he sold you groceries.” Today, 80 years later, many Iowa towns harbor one of these small commercial buildings — once upon a time a bank, a cafe, a tavern, a grocery store — but it often sits dilapidated, unloved, and unused. Renovation can cost more than building from scratch, leading to demolition. Those that don’t meet the wrecking ball are sometimes “remuddled” beyond recognition. “Much of Iowa’s architectural heritage exists in small communities and Main Streets,” says Michael Wagler, state coordinator with Main Street Iowa, a division of the Iowa Economic Tony Holub (2)
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Development Authority (IEDA). “These buildings help define the history and mystique of a place. While every old building isn’t itself a historic landmark, it is the collection of these structures that makes up our link to the past. Our built environment is irreplaceable. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.”
LEEDing by Example
After assembling a team of experts, Halfhill spent five years studying the Sherman Hill site, researching the neighborhood, and hammering out a plan. In the evenings he wrote grant proposals describing not just sustainable design (including a green roof, rain wall and rain garden, geothermal heating and cooling, passive solar and natural ventilation, the latest water collection and filtration technologies) but also a state-of-the-art classroom. The refurbished building with a renewed connection to the neighborhood (its first tenant will be a birth and wellness center) would welcome visitors to tour and learn. Green & Main, when complete, would demonstrate best practices in every green discipline — site impact, energy efficiency, resource management, water conservation, and indoor air quality. “When this is finished, we can leverage the success of this project nationally and help position Iowa as a leader,” says Halfhill. Indigo Dawn broke ground in September 2010 amid a heavy downpour — a fitting scenario for a renovation project heavily defined by water management. By October 2011 permeable pavers covered the parking lot, allowing water to be absorbed rather than being diverted to the storm sewer. Behind the building a bioswale — a sloped drainage channel planted with native vegetation — can manage seven inches of rain (the 100-year flood level), trapping silt while the root systems of prairie grasses carry water deep into the ground to filter pollutants. A 1,492-square-foot roof planted with 50 different sedum varieties can handle more precipitation. Eight wall-mounted storage tanks collect rainwater to use to wash off the parking lot and, when necessary, water the green roof. “Green & Main is a great example of a site where they have worked hard to keep the water where it lands on the property,” says Jennifer Welch, an urban conservationist with the Polk County Soil & Water Conservation District. “Otherwise, rainfall runs off streets, rooftops, and yards and picks up pollutants as it flows into the storm sewer and into our rivers, causing water pollution and flooding.” Geothermal heating and cooling comes from eleven 300-footdeep wells. Sixteen solar panels on the roof will provide 20 to 25 percent of the building’s electrical needs. Daylight from a large skylight and multiple clerestory windows fills the interior, reducing the need for electricity. The green roof provides natural insulation. Low-density spray foam insulation was added to interior walls,
by the rules Historic preservation dictated several design decisions. The 1,100-squarefoot addition with large south-facing windows to draw light and heat matches the original architecture in materials, scale, and proportion but is built to the rear of the structure so it does not detract from the historical character of the facade. Similarly, the green roof was designed so plants cannot be seen from the street. Windows presented one of the biggest challenges. Existing singlepane double-hungs did not meet the insulation value necessary for the project’s energy efficiency goals, but they could not be replaced because of the historic value they contribute to the building’s character. Considering these seemingly conflicting goals, it was decided to treat them as storm windows and add a second, energyefficient, operable window behind them on the interior. These efforts, along with the restoration of the original brick and the addition of awnings, will complete the historic look of the facade.
November/December 2012 | THE IOWAN
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Perry Struse
Halfhill hopes the Green & Main Pilot Project will inspire. “Imagine if every county seat had examples of how to
creating a thickness that could support a second layer of windows inside the originals. Halfhill estimates the completed Green & Main Pilot Project will be 76 percent more energy efficient than current national building standards. During deconstruction the crew meticulously collected materials from the original structure for reuse — from floorboards, double-hung windows, and existing fixtures to metal pipes, lath, concrete, and asphalt. They salvaged materials from razed buildings — floorboards from the school gymnasium in Cambridge, glass-block and crystal doorknobs from a building on the east side of Des Moines, structural 210 lumber from a garage in Sherman Hill, 16 shiplap lumber from Iowa barns (used for the subfloor), 88 barn beams (used for posts in the car port and solar arbor). “Salvage and recycling efforts on the Green & Main site will divert 322 tons of recyclable construction and demolition debris from the landfill,” says Jim Bodensteiner, who oversees the DNR’s Solid Waste Alternatives Program (SWAP). With a holistic approach to sustainability, Halfhill is aiming for the highest green renovation certification available: a Platinum rating from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).
build for the next 150 years. Not just how do we fix this building up so we can get another occupant in it, but how do we make this building last?”
main events Marrying historic preservation with sustainable building isn’t new to Iowa’s main streets. The town of Woodbine (population 1,564) [from 2010 census] in western Iowa recently rehabbed 23 storefronts in its historic three-block Main Street district. In northeast Iowa 60 historic structures in downtown West Union are in the process of reconstruction. The project most resembling Green & Main is the recently completed rehab of the Valley Junction City Hall (winner of Preservation Iowa’s 2011 Sustainability in Preservation Award) in West Des Moines. It includes a menu of sustainable technologies, including geothermal heating and cooling, energy-efficient lighting, solar roof panels, a green roof, waterconserving fixtures, and salvaged and recycled materials.
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À la Carte Renovation
An original cost projection of $2.2 million has grown to $2.35 million, a price tag out of reach for most small-town builders and developers. “Costs can be a major roadblock,” says Sam Erickson, who as Vice President of Community Housing Initiatives (a statewide nonprofit) gets a half-dozen calls a week from communities interested in renovating buildings like Green & Main. “It’s more expensive and it’s more trouble, but someone has to be first to take a chance and have a vision.” The average builder/developer wouldn’t have near the expenses of the Green & Main project. “Any replication would be streamlined, carefully considering cost versus value,” advises Halfhill. “For example, don’t do a green roof if your building doesn’t support it. Our green roof cost $21,000, plus $60,000 to change the structure to support it. I happen to like the green roof a lot. We’ll see how it performs. But if I were looking at it from a numbers standpoint, I wouldn’t have done that. If you’re going to do this kind of rehab, these are the things you have to consider.” Things such as geothermal heating. Green & Main uses six different heat pumps. Using only two might not make the building as energy efficient, but that choice would save $40,000. Money could be saved on landscaping and parking as well. Installing permeable asphalt or permeable concrete is less expensive than pavers, which were chosen to match the character of the neighborhood. That required more digging, creating a gravel base.
“Chaden’s project is unique,” says Wagler. “He’s taking it a step further by documenting the process in a better practices manual, including lessons learned. That will be a wonderful education tool. We’ll be able to see the effect a green roof has on storm water practices, for example, or quantify the benefit of porous paving on the parking lot. Having a pattern book will enable a property owner to choose from a menu of options. Even if they implement only one or two or three of the options, it will truly increase the building’s sustainability by that much.”
Interlacing the Future
In January the project ran out of available cash. Halfhill laid off his administrative staff, leaving a skeleton crew of two. The building stands empty, the interior walls framed with reclaimed lumber from the Des Moines Animal Rescue League. Windows are stripped of lead paint, rebuilt, reprimed, and reglazed. Four steel I-beams support the weight of the green roof, which can weigh as much as 27 pounds a square foot when saturated with rain. The shell for a two-story, 1,100-square-foot passive solar addition is ready for windows and roof. Even as a work in progress, the building is already being used as a classroom. “It’s a great opportunity to show how we got to where we are,” says Halfhill. “On Earth Day [April 22, 2012] we had 12 [visitors] go through the building. It wasn’t just DOE [Department of Energy] and historic preservation representatives in the crowd. It was people from the cultural community and water conservationists and environmentalists. It was a great opportunity to illustrate for a diverse crowd how their separate areas of focus converge in this one project — how this sort of rehab is truly holistic. They can begin to weave the story together, to see the connections and learn to collaborate. They’ve never done that before.” As he pursues financial support to finish the project, preaching to prospective funders the gospel of a triple bottom line (not just financial cost but also environmental and social impact), Halfhill ponders the irony of this Depression-era corner grocery store being reborn during what has been called “the Great Recession.” As then, it’s now a tough economy — and a time of great transformation. “We’re experiencing a sweeping paradigm shift all over the country. People want to make a difference and they’re demanding change. Even conservative banks don’t give us the cross-eyed looks we used to get five years ago when talking about green building. One day this type of rehab will be financially feasible. We’re paving the way to show it can be done. It comes with this burden of dealing with lots of different parts. But,” Halfhill sighs and shrugs his shoulders, “someone built the first strip mall. I’m sure the numbers didn’t work then either.”
A cast-iron door (middle) allows visitors to peek below ground at the structural and functional support of the parking area. Permeable pavers, green roofs (top), and storm water collection (bottom) are part of the paradigm shift Halfhill aims to propel.
November/December 2012 | THE IOWAN
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Power Players Jefferson Fuels Its Own Future
[ story by Jennifer Blair Tuite | photography by Shuva Rahim ]
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“I guess I’ve just always loved the wind.”
Tom Wind (yes, that’s his real name) makes this simple declaration as the turbine above him marks time with outstretched arms. “It’s like an old friend here.” “Here” is a pocket of Greene County, where the wind sweeps through 300,000 plus acres of corn and soybeans, and its admiring friend is a national expert on wind energy and part of a local group of landowners who established Iowa’s first locally owned wind farm just outside his hometown of Jefferson. “It’s always been about benefiting the community,” Wind asserts. In the five years since the blades first turned, benefitting the community seems to be exactly what this group of intrepid entrepreneurs has done.
Powerful Potential
Iowa has long been a pioneer in the wind industry, enacting legislation in the 1980s and 1990s to encourage renewable energy production and entice turbine manufacturing and maintenance operations to locate in the state. Today Iowa ranks second in the nation for wind production (behind Texas) and first in the nation for share of energy derived from wind (20 percent). The industry employs around 6,500 people in Iowa, again topping national charts. The potential for growth is vast. With current turbines, the state has the capacity to generate around 4,500 megawatts (MW) of electricity per year — an amount that can power around a million homes. The Iowa Wind Energy Association estimates that Iowa’s total annual capacity is 570,000 MW — enough to power the state 25 times over. The majority of wind farm development in Iowa has been driven by large corporations such as MidAmerican and Florida-based NextEra, which have the expertise and resources to develop large-scale wind farms. These energy producers have been responsible for erecting hundreds of turbines at dozens of Iowa wind farms and will likely continue to be the strongest drivers in the industry’s growth here. Compared with these major players, small-scale, locally owned projects are minor contributors to overall wind energy generation in the state. Local projects,
Tom Wind’s analysis of small, locally owned wind projects estimates five times more money staying in the community.
however, offer benefits that can’t be measured in wattage alone. To get to know the rewards of local wind, you have to get to know the locals.
Going Greene
Keeping watch over the town of Jefferson, seven 265-foot-tall turbines stand like sentinels on a bluff just north on Highway 4. The mile-long stretch of turbines at Hardin Hilltop Wind Farm began as the vision of local farmer Bill Sutton, who in 2003 enlisted the guidance of Tom Wind and the partnership of five other owners of adjacent land. Through Sutton’s dogged determination and Wind’s industry expertise, the partnership sourced funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Iowa Energy Center, and a Californiabased equity partner, who agreed to shoulder most of the construction costs in return for majority ownership for a set period of time. (At the end of that time — around 10 years — the ownership will largely flip to the seven owners permanently.) The energy produced by the turbines is sold to Alliant Energy, which distributes it primarily to its customers in Greene County. “Over the course of a year,” explains Wind, “the power produced almost exactly matches the demand in Jefferson.” That amount of wind-based energy also eliminates enough coal to fill a train three miles long every year. The impact is audible November/December 2012 | THE IOWAN
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Hardin Hilltop began in 2003 as farmer Bill Sutton’s vision for his land and his community. Beyond power generation, the turbines have fueled opportunity for residents like Shane Kozal (below).
as the air-conditioners of Jefferson hum on a sunny June afternoon. Beyond the direct benefit of providing a local source of clean energy, Hardin Hilltop’s revolving arms have reached far into the community, first with their construction in 2007. David Ausberger, the owner of Turbine 7, remembers with a smile the excitement, bustle, and anxiety as his turbine was erected in the December rain. “People from across the county lined the roads to watch the turbines go up. Hotels were booked from here to Ames with people involved in the construction. Restaurants were full. It was a real boom time.” After the construction crews left, the longer-lasting effects of the project began to emerge. “I think of it as small ripples in the community,” he says. One of those ripples sits in a quiet corner of the buzzing Uptown Cafe and with pride describes the growth in his business since Hardin Hilltop’s construction. Shane Kozal, a longtime friend of Ausberger’s, was hired to clean the turbine parts at Hardin Hilltop before they were assembled. Shane and his wife, Wendy, co-owned and operated a part-time power washing business that supplemented wages Shane earned through his job at the local co-op. “We’ve now become the go-to people for turbine cleaning in the area,” says Shane of Kozal Power Washing. “We got the jobs at Junction Hilltop, Emmetsburg, Ruthven. We really have carved out a niche market.” 32
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The extra income from turbine washing enabled the Kozals to hire two more full-time workers, purchase new equipment, open a Tropical Sno stand in town, and start a snow removal business. “Hardin Hilltop helped us realize other ways to branch out and gave us capital to do it,” says Wendy. “That first job really allowed everything else to happen.” More ripples: This past year Renew Energy Maintenance, a regional heavyweight in turbine maintenance, established its Iowa office in Jefferson, employing three full-time skilled technicians and hosting over a dozen other employees who are in the state temporarily for various turbine projects. Jim Mikel, president and founder, is proud of the company’s ability to give meaningful employment to ambitious locals who may otherwise leave the state. “Some of our best employees are local farm kids with that famous Midwestern work ethic.” Some of those workers have received training in turbine maintenance at local community colleges, such as Iowa Lakes and Iowa Central. Many are trained inhouse. Either way, Mikel says demand for this skilled labor is on the rise: “We hope to expand employment in Jefferson to up to 10 full-time employees by the end of the year.” Greene County Chamber and Development’s Executive Director Ken Paxton attributes Renew’s location not only to Hardin Hilltop and further wind development in the area but also to the strong sense of community in Greene County. “Everyone is pulling
The Ausberger farm is home to LeeAnna and David, children Sophia, Nathan, and Lucas, and Turbine 7. Jefferson is now home to an office of Renew Energy Maintenance, where employee Ben Holmes (below) demonstrates safety equipment.
on the same side of the rope here,” he says. “We’ve got great community support for the wind turbines and a progressive City Council and Board of Supervisors. As the wind industry grows, it just gets better for us.”
Banking on the Community
In Greene County that industry growth can be traced directly back to Tom Wind and Bill Sutton. After the completion of Hardin Hilltop in 2007, they looked to a newly built ethanol plant in town and saw an opportunity to provide clean, local power to the facility. Junction Hilltop Wind Farm became fully operational in March 2012. Benefitting from a temporary grant program under the federal stimulus legislation, the nine local partners of Junction Hilltop were able to fund the five-turbine project themselves through a local bank instead of enlisting the backing of a large equity partner. November/December 2012 | THE IOWAN
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by the numbers
34
(since Hardin Hilltop’s origins in 2007)
Number of turbine blade revolutions:
245 million
Number of kilowatt hours generated:
240 million
Number of equivalent miles traveled by each revolving blade:
3.54 million
Number of 100-watt lightbulbs powered at full wind capacity:
147,000
THE IOWAN | iowan.com
capturing wind Each turbine’s three blades rotate an average of 15.6 revolutions per minute. About a third of the wind energy is captured by the blades’ sweep, converted at the top of the tower from mechanical to electrical energy by a generator, converted again by a transformer at the tower’s base to a high voltage power configuration, and finally sent along underground cables to a substation, where it enters Alliant Energy’s transmission grid.
November/December 2012 | THE IOWAN
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Benjamin Yoder, executive vice president of Home State Bank in Jefferson and president of Greene County Chamber, was at the vortex of an 18-month frenzy of paperwork and negotiation that resulted in the financing for the project. It wasn’t easy, he admits, but the result was powerful: a truly locally funded wind project supplying clean energy to a local business. “We saw it as a good loan for the bank and the community,” says Yoder. “As a local bank, it’s important for us to play a key role in community development. It’s a quality of life issue.” The anecdotal evidence found in Jefferson is backed by research on models of wind farms. A 2005 report from the Iowa Policy Project cites three studies, all concluding that small-scale, locally owned wind projects create greater local economic benefits than large, out-of-area investors. In one model created by the U.S. General Accountability Office, a locally owned Iowa wind farm created twice as many local jobs and generated six times more local spending related to the turbines. Tom Wind carried out a similar analysis himself and found that local projects could keep approximately 36
THE IOWAN | iowan.com
five times more money in the community and up to 10 times more money in the state (compared to a large owner based out of state), possibly amounting to $150,000 per wind turbine annually. Wind and Sutton are pushing that potential for benefit one step further with Junction Hilltop. From the outset, the business partners committed to giving 10 percent of the wind farm’s profits to charitable purposes in the county. “We’re still deciding how the donation will be distributed,” explains Wind, “but it was always the plan that Junction Hilltop would give back to the community.”
Fueling the Future
The potential for continued growth of locally owned wind farms is intimately linked to the federal and state incentives that encourage it. In the case of Hardin Hilltop, a production tax credit at the federal level made the project attractive to its equity partner, and a production tax credit at the state level specifically designed for small wind projects provided necessary extra revenue to the partnership.
Home State Bank’s Benjamin Yoder (opposite, with Tom Wind) says a second wind farm — Junction Hilltop — was an investment in quality of life. Tom Wind (top right) reviews logged information inside a turbine at Junction Hilltop. Both place-based projects aim to fuel Jefferson and her future generations.
In the case of Junction Hilltop, the temporary federal grant program was crucial in enabling the partners to fund the project locally. Wind accepts the possibility that the temporary grant program will not be renewed. He, Sutton, and other partners are actively lobbying for an extension of both the production tax credit and, in particular, an investment tax credit, which is more directly helpful to small wind farm owners. All federal tax credits are set to expire at the end of 2012. Although some voices from Washington are confident of the renewal of at least the production tax credit, there is currently no scheduled time frame for passing legislation. Taking a break from wind farm advocacy and fulltime farming, Bill Sutton reflects on the wind projects in Greene County and the potential for further local projects in the state. Since Hardin Hilltop, a number of local projects have emerged, including wind farms in Greenfield, Ruthven, Story City, and Traer. “People are
starting to realize the benefits of community wind, and there are different models emerging,” he says, describing Greenfield’s approach in which a large number of community members each contribute a share of the construction costs and then share the benefits. “That’s truly community wind.” Whatever form local wind takes in the future, Jefferson’s seven sentinels will always have pride of place in Iowa’s history as the first. As the graceful white arms of Hardin Hilltop spin in the late July air and his three young children run knee-deep in the bliss of summer vacation, David Ausberger puts this honor into very human terms: “I want my grandchildren to say one day that their grandpa was part of the first locally owned wind farm in Iowa. I want that to be my mark on the community.” November/December 2012 | THE IOWAN
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g n i W
On a
r e y a Pr
and a
Orange City’s Angel Aircraft Corporation Is on a Mission [ story and photos by Mike Whye ]
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F
F
rom his seat several hundred feet in the air, Carl Mortenson scanned the terrain below. Landing strips chopped out of dense jungle in this southern Peru region were up to 200 miles apart, and Mortenson couldn’t afford to miss an opening. During his challenging flights to deliver Bibles and supplies to missionaries in the late 1950s, he pondered the reassurance an extra engine could provide. “There were times you could fly for an hour and 45 minutes without seeing a clearing in the jungle,” recalls Mortenson, now of Orange City, where his flying experiences landed him at a drafting table on which he’s been inventing a better plane since the 1960s. Called the Angel, his twin-engine aircraft, designed around qualities needed when flying in remote areas, can practically leap into the air and land in very short distances. At its optimum, Angel uses only 658 feet to take off and only 568 feet to land. The best that any similar-size plane can manage is, respectively, 1,525 and 1,825 feet. Angel can hustle up to just over 200 mph, but when flown at only 150 mph, the plane can travel 1,780 miles — a distance from Des Moines to
Angel became in 2000 the realization of planning and purpose Washington, D.C., and back — that took off for Carl without refueling. With its wide, Mortenson in the 1950s. low-pressure tires and heavyduty brakes, Angel can also use unpaved airfields freshly hacked out of the jungle. Although its blueprint first formed in Mortenson’s mind somewhere over South America, Angel’s genesis really began in 1943 when Mortenson was 11 and lying on a sickbed in Yorkville, Illinois, with a burst appendix. “I was just about dead,” he remembers, sitting in a design room at the Orange City plant. “I was sick for nine months and had lots of operations.” Mortenson believes he was spared for a reason, and he subsequently devoted the rest his life to “God’s work.” After high school he attended Chicago’s Moody Bible Institute, which had programs for missionary pilots and mechanics. Only 12 places were available for students that year. “I was 16 and about as average as one could be when I applied. I was the twelfth one accepted.” After earning licenses to be a pilot and an aircraft mechanic, Mortenson took a language course and was
November/December 2012 | THE IOWAN
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THE IOWAN | iowan.com
Rearward-facing pusher propellers,
assigned in 1958 first to Guatemala and then Pucallpa, Peru, where he spent the majority of three years flying to remote villages. A bout of polio brought him near death again, but he recovered and was soon flying over low-lying jungle and between the peaks of the Andes. “The passes were 17,000 feet high with 22,000-foot mountains on either side,” he says, describing perilous flights over lands not yet mapped. “No one really knew where anything really was. We didn’t have GPS.” After returning to Illinois in 1961, Mortenson and others began designing a bush plane with an extra engine. Labor costs and the flight paths of nearby Chicago airports, however, propelled relocation. On the recommendation of a pastor friend whose wife had studied at Northwestern College, Mortenson landed in Orange City. His first design, the Evangel, took flight in 1967. (One of the eight produced now lives at the Iowa Aviation Museum in Greenfield.) “They’ve flown from Guam to South America,” he says. “It was [the missionaries’] first multiengine aircraft. It carried the pilot and eight others.” Determined to make an even better aircraft, Mortenson began designing Angel in 1972. A handcrafted prototype first flew in 1984, but certification and manufacturing hurdles delayed its first sale until 2000. The sleek plane’s most notable characteristic is its rearward-facing pusher propellers that help it
dual controls, a cabin accelerate fast in a short distance — a fine quality to have on short to accommodate pilot and eight passengers airstrips surrounded by trees as (or pilot and 1,400 tall as 200 feet. pounds of cargo), Sons Ed and Evan, who both low-pressure tires, and studied in Iowa State University’s resilient struts and aviation program, have been assisting their father with aircraft design brakes became the and manufacturing since they were hallmark of a new kind of bush plane. in grade school. (Ed still works alongside his father; Evan is now with Beech Aircraft.) Accountant Banj DeYoung completes the team of three at Angel Aircraft Corporation. “Because we’re so little, we do everything,” says Mortenson. After building and selling three Angels, work at Angel Aircraft has come to a halt. Mortenson has not stopped planning, however. He envisions a major design change — replacing the plane’s gas-powered engine with a lightweight diesel engine because aviation gas is scarce in remote areas of the world but diesel fuel is plentiful. Unfortunately, such diesel engines don’t currently exist. “We’re stymied with no dollars to work with,” he says, adding that recent visitors from China, India, England, and closer to home have expressed interest in the company and its designs. Someone, he believes, will put more Angels in the skies.
November/December 2012 | THE IOWAN
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NEW Book Release Timothy C. Florer takes us on a 5,000 mile quest to find America’s Soul on roads less traveled. When today’s Interstate Highway System was originally designed many small towns were bypassed in favor of large, metropolitan areas. A majority of us would say this is progress, but what have we sacrificed? The answer would be the two-lane road, and all it encompasses. 93 pages | 8.5” x 11” | Hard Cover | $34.95+S&H
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November/December 2012 | THE IOWAN
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between dusk and dawn
Every photographer wants his images to look special and unique, but many beginners don’t understand how to make this happen. The answer is simple: Wait for the light. That’s really all there is to it. Once I understood this, everything came together. I tend to gravitate to the
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THE IOWAN | iowan.com
[
portfolio ]
Summerset State Park, warren county
golden hours of dawn and dusk. I wait for long morning shadows, approaching storms, even a black midnight sky. Shooting at twilight or nighttime has its challenges, but the rewards are plentiful. — Tim Bloomquist (tsbphotography.com) November/December 2012 | THE IOWAN
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THE IOWAN | iowan.com Full moonrise over saylorville Lake, polk city
High Trestle Trail bridge over the Des Moines River, near madrid
[
portfolio ]
November/December 2012 | THE IOWAN
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pedestrian bridge over the des moines river, des moines
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[
portfolio ]
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THE IOWAN | iowan.com Wind Turbines, northwestern iowa
portfolio ]
storm, northern polk county
[
November/December 2012 | THE IOWAN
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Wonderland
A Kanawha Snowflake of Amazing Proportions
[ iowans ] She settled on an eagle, a church, a tractor, a train, an ear of corn, a pod of soybeans, a tulip, and a cluster of grapes. Online research helped her
A
[ story by Tim Ackarman ]
perfect the shapes, some of which she drew freehand; others she traced directly over the computer screen.
n eye for art, a head for
Although there’s no previous
math, and a heart for a
With a bit of trial and error, she
record to break, officials with the
perfected the standard snowflake.
speed-juggling husband
famous book of feats weren’t about
And so commenced the math.
might propel a Kanawha
to let Christa in easily. They set the
Christa measured lines,
woman to a Guinness World Record.
snowflake bar high at 4 meters or
contemplated angles, and calculated
As a young girl, Christa Hanson
larger and insisted the creation be
exact dimensions needed to transfer
adopted the German folk art of
an exact replica of a normal-size
her designs to 15-foot paper squares
Scherenschnitte, the strategic cutting
original. True to her modus operandi,
taped together using pieces from a 35-inch roll. Finally she designed
of carefully folded paper to create delicate silhouettes and other figures.
full-size templates for tracing the
Her initial designs were rather
shapes onto “the real deal.” “I love metric now,” she
random, but on occasion she would
confides. “Fractions are no good.”
quite accidentally create recognizable
With the paper taped and the
shapes such as hearts or stars. “If I can put one thing in there, I can put
templates ready, snipping out the
others,” she remembers thinking.
flake is in some respects the easiest part, says Christa. After practicing
Soon Christa progressed from the predictable designs —
earlier in the week, she needed only
Christmas trees and angels — to the
about half an hour to complete her
challenging and unexpected — the
official 14.5 footer for a crowd of
face of a pug dog for a pet-loving
50 during Kanawha’s Labor Day
friend, tractors and corn for a retiring
festivities.
farmer, even gas pumps, coffee
Not to be outdone that day,
cups, and cigarettes for the local
Mark topped his speed-juggling
convenience store.
record by 100 throws and set another in a new category by
Christa was satisfied to
completing 114 juggling head rolls.
practice her art on 8.5Í11-inch sheets of paper until her husband, Tim Ackarman
The family gauntlet thrown,
Mark, set a Guinness World Record juggling the most throws in a minute (420. Yes, 420!). He soon began chasing other records and encouraged Christa to think big.
Christa will search for her next Guiness endeavor, one likely to involve cutting paper. “I’m not any good at juggling.”
Christa Hanson awaits Guinness verification.
Discovering there was no world record for the largest paper snowflake,
Christa enhanced the challenge
Tim Ackarman juggles his freelance
the Hansons petitioned Guinness to
by incorporating elaborate shapes
career, long walks with a pair of
create the category. “They love ‘huge’
with local commercial or historical
rambunctious Labradors, and his wife’s
anything, so the idea was a natural,”
relevance. “The things I put in it are
travel demands from an acreage near
says Christa.
all Kanawha.”
Garner. (tackarman@yahoo.com)
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