May/June 2013 by The Iowan magazine

DRIVING FORCE The Lincoln HIghway at 100

ins ide Tenacity & Advocacy in Greene County Inspiration & Entrepreneurship in DeWitt Preservation & Passion (& Pie!) in Colo Success & Self-Determination on Meskwaki Settlement Sustainability & Opportunity in Woodbine

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Sweet Roxie Red®—refreshing, sweet, fruity wine with cherry and citrus on the nose and sweet cherry and candied fruits on the palate; pair with spicy Asian or Mexican foods and spring afternoons! Served chilled. 2011 Iowa Marquette Rosé—dry, full-bodied rosé with bright cherry, strawberry, citrus, and peach on the nose and strawberry, raspberry, and cherry on the palate; pair this versatile rosé with a wide variety of your favorite foods. Serve slightly chilled. American Pink Catawba—semi-sweet, fruity rosé with pineapple and tropical fruit nose; green apple and citrus palate; pair with barbecue or picnic foods like cold meats or cold fried chicken; great sipping wine! Serve chilled.

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contents MAY / June 2013 volume 61 | number 5 iowan.com

features 27 Refresher Course 28

On THe COVeR: Tricked-Out Ride: The Iowan cruises today’s Lincoln Highway with a fantasy plate created by Publisher Gaela Wilson and Graphic Designer Ann Donohoe. Photography by Paul Gates. The red, white, and blue “L” logo is a trademark of the Lincoln Highway Association. Used with permission. THIS PAGe: Though moniker, alignment, and signage have changed through the century, the coast-to-coast Lincoln Highway remains a significant river-to-river road through today’s Iowa. Stories begin on page 27. Photography by Paul Gates. Abraham Lincoln bobblehead used with permission of Royal Bobbles: RoyalBobbles.com.

28 33 37

Passion Still Drives the Lincoln Highway

Out of the Mud, Onto the Map Iowa’s 100-Year Journey Along the Lincoln Highway

In Gear with Progress Bridging Centuries in Greene County

Intersecting Lives The Journey Continues in DeWitt

Community, Food & Lodging Both Locals and Travelers Pull Over in Colo

Chasing the Future

Green Light

Highway Happenings 2013

Meskwaki Strength Travels a Familiar Road A Sustainable Approach Steers Woodbine Centennial Celebrations

departments 4 from the editor 5 contributors 6 letters 12 18

Our Readers Weigh In

potluck Dishing Up News, Events, People, and Ideas

at play Made in Iowa

A 2,000-year-old Sport Plays On

dimensions The Art of Awareness

Water Quality Is Shaped by Sculpture

stewards Bumper Crop

Nature and Art, Heaven and Earth Meet in Harvest Preserve

in focus In the Moment

A Fair Favorite from the Photography Salon

parting shot Marking Time Drive-By in Greene County

from the editor

Driven

Proudly PublIShed aNd PrINted IN Iowa

It was an ambitious vision — audacious,

Publisher Gaela Wilson Editor Beth Wilson

some might say. With purpose and courage,

Art Director Bobbie Russie

a great feat was imagined. More supporters joined the cause, and day after day, week after week, a growing number of intrepid individuals covered extraordinary terrain. The work was complex, involving diligent study, difficult decisions, bumps in the road, detours, dead ends. Limited resources and a looming deadline added concern on days that were sometimes already filled with

Graphic Designer Ann Donohoe Image/Photo Specialist Jason Fort Editorial Associate Nate Brown

Copy Editor Gretchen Kauffman

Advertising Account Executives Meghan Keller

Tom Smull Becca Wodrich Subscription Services Katrina Brocka

frustration and exhaustion. The challenging obstacles, however, were met with renewed enthusiasm and anticipation as new directions and exciting possibilities were discovered. Another turn, and a new Iowan to meet. A little further down the road, a new story unfolding.

CEO Jim Slife Production Manager Twilla Glessner Accounting Manager Allison Volker

Such was the journey that carried The Iowan to its destination — a Lincoln Highway anniversary issue. Much like the experience of the visionaries and believers who, against plenty of odds, built a highway stretching coast to coast, our staff and a collection of familiar freelancers set out to put together a magazine covering river to river. The dogged devotees of the early 20th century eventually connected travelers along 3,389 miles of new road. Our May/June 2013 issue connects readers through 25 pages of stories — spanning the old and the new. As the highway turns 100 this year, this special issue pays homage to the astounding history of the Main Street Across America. But our magazine is just as driven by today’s communities and individuals who are the caretakers of the Lincoln Highway legacy, yes, but also the thinkers and doers who are connecting the state in new ways. Meet advocates with fresh paint in Greene County, entrepreneurs with fresh inspiration in DeWitt, roadside renovators with fresh traffic in Colo, a nation with a fresh future on Meskwaki Settlement, a community with a fresh approach to downtown revitalization in Woodbine, and more Iowans with fresh ideas. We couldn’t possibly find or fit all of Iowa’s Lincoln Highway stories in this single issue. We invite you to set out this summer — the summer of the Lincoln Highway’s centennial — to uncover them for yourself.

The Iowan, ISSN (0021-0772), is published bi-monthly by Pioneer Communications, Inc., 300 Walnut Street, Suite 6, Des Moines, Iowa 50309. This issue is dated May 1, 2013, Volume 61, No. 5. All content © 2013 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 $24. International orders require additional postage. Please call for rates. Single copies — on newsstands: $4.95; current issue by mail: $4.95 plus $3.50 S+H. Please call for quantity discount pricing. Single past issues 2005 to present: $5.95 plus S+H, two for $9.95 plus S+H; prior to 2005: $14.95 plus S+H. 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 Advertising Information: 515-246-0402 x202 or 877-899-9977 x202 advertising@iowan.com iowan.com 2012_IRMA_member_emblem.jpg (JPEG Image, 1500 × 1466 pixels) - S...

— Beth Wilson, Editor editor@iowan.com

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contributors

As a child, Carol

The original Lincoln

Cathy Collison first

Before Jim Duncan

Bodensteiner frequently

Highway’s culverts and

got acquainted with the

visited the Meskwaki

traveled the Lincoln

bridges that serpentine

old highway on walks

Settlement, he drove the

Highway in Clinton

today’s highway give

along Lincoln Way as

Lincoln Highway many

County with her parents.

Doug Clough an

an ISU student and later

times to discover its

She got to see the old

appreciation of the

on drives with her late

stories, among them a

road in a new way while

fortitude of the early

father-in-law, who knew

baseball park in Clinton,

exploring the goings-on

20th century. The spirit

all the twists and turns

supper clubs in Linn

in Greene County.

and can-do attitude

near his farm west of

County, animal science

of today’s Woodbine

Carroll. Lincoln busts

in Ames, raspberries in

residents do the same for

rising out of cornfields

Jefferson, tenderloins

him in the 21st.

remain her favorite

in Scranton, loam in

discovery.

Missouri Valley.

West Des Moines

Twenty years after

Suzanne Kelsey has a

photographer Paul

Drake Hokanson’s The

warm spot in her heart

Gates traveled many

Lincoln Highway: Main

for the people who live

miles along the Lincoln

Street Across America

in DeWitt, once one of

Highway, meeting people

introduced Jim Hill to

the country’s busiest

and — Mmm. Pie.

the old road, he was

intersections. Kelsey

reintroduced by Colo’s

lived in the Lincoln

journey and success.

Highway town for five years and learned from friends and neighbors the true meaning of hospitality.

May/June 2013 | THE IOWAN

letters stunning

soon. very soon.

I was intrigued by your article in The

Kudos to The Iowan for a gorgeous

Iowan’s Jan/Feb 2013 issue about

March/April 2013 issue. The beautiful

the power plant in Keokuk (“Mighty

colors in your magazine are a great

Milestone”). In 2003 I was taking

reminder of the visual feast Iowans will

photographs for my book Against the

enjoy any day now.

Kristen Carey, Charles City

Current, an anthology of life along the Upper Mississippi. While working in the Keokuk area, I was fortunate to

TIM FLORER

be the first person to tour the power

Cheers The article on Iowa wine (“Mettle to Medal,” March/April 2013) was an

plant after 9/11. Imagine that you are the only person inside this stunning

By Any other Names

informative look at one of Iowa’s

structure, and all you hear is the whine

I received and read with interest

underdeveloped yet potentially great

of the turbines. There were three

March/April 2013 issue of The Iowan.

agricultural and economic outlets,

running that day.

I congratulate you for attaching the

but why not take a look at wine’s

correct names with the frog photos

close relative — beer? It’s one of the

I was impressed with the pure design

(“Call of the Wild”) — except that one

fastest growing and most popular

of the turbines and the building that

labeled “tree frog.” It should have been

trends in the country. I count over

housed them. Tall, arched windows let

identified as Eastern gray tree frog, for

25 breweries in this state, and I have

in light, and those generators had a

there are many species of tree frogs,

no doubt that there’s more to come.

futuristic look, even though they were

including the cricket frog.

Iowa beer enthusiasts like me would

As I decided what to photograph,

The Tipton article (“Soul Food”)

built in 1913. I question if today’s technology and design could compare to

took me back to the days of my youth.

this beautiful structure.

I didn’t recognize the people men-

Tim Florer, Des Moines Author of Reflections Along the White Pole Road and One More Turn on the Two Lane

love to see an article on what the state has to offer.

Stuart Braun, Des Moines

tioned except for Kris Clark and, of course, Hardacre, which is a familiar name, for it is the name of the theater. I recall walking across town as a child — my hoe over my shoulder — to work in the World War II era Victory Gardens mentioned in the article!

Carol Berrier, Delavan WI

From the Editor: Stuart, you missed J. Wilson’s story of craft beer renaissance (“Brewhaha,” January/February 2012). You can still order back issues at 877-899-9977 x211!

Write to Us! The Iowan 300 Walnut Street, Suite 6 Des Moines IA 50309

the Lincoln Highway

Cedar Falls

editor@iowan.com Dubuque

scranton ogden Ames tama van Horne Carroll Grand Boone Colo Cedar Meskwaki Junction Woodbine settlement Belle rapids Plaine Des Moines iowa Honey Prairie City Creek City Council Bluffs

iowan.com > Contact Facebook.com > The Iowan Magazine

DeWitt Bettendorf Davenport

test Drive Visit iowan.com and read a digital edition of the magazine on your computer, tablet, or smartphone.

Points of Interest in This Issue

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potluck

Tora, Tora, Tora! Japanese Zeros zoom out of the clouds. Pyrotechnic explosions fill the air with smoke and noise. Amidst the chaos, Allied aircraft, including P-51 Mustangs, Curtis P-40s, stearman PT-17s, and B-25 Mitchells, scramble to take off and defend the site. It’s not december 7, 1941, but people

COurTEsy TOrA! TOrA! TOrA!

compiled by CArOl BOdENsTEINEr and MAry GOTTsCHAlk

who attend this year’s Quad City Air show will experience “Tora, Tora, Tora” and get a

The two-day Air show requires 800 volunteers, draws 80,000–100,000

good sense of what it was like that morning

spectators, and delivers a $20 million annual economic impact to the community.

at Pearl Harbor. “The whole purpose is to remember

Hopper organized the first show 27 years ago as a gift to the community that gave him his aviation start. As a young boy, Hopper biked to the

WWII,” explains ken Hopper, founder and

davenport airport and hung on the fence watching airplanes take off and land.

president of the aerial performance. Every

He was hooked. He earned his pilot’s license when he was in high school. After

event is a patriotic showcase, this year

graduating from college, he came back to the Quad Cities. “I never imagined

especially so as it offers a special tribute to

the air show would last this long.” — C.B.

the Greatest Generation. “It’s moving when people who served then see planes they haven’t seen in 70 years.”

The aerial salute to the Greatest Generation takes to the skies June 22–23 at the Davenport Airport. Learn more online at quadcityairshow.com.

Music, Art, Nature When Michael Wilson began a new painting series focused on bison, he first needed to study his subject. some suggested a trip to south dakota. “south dakota is great, but I wanted to paint the bison in my backyard, in Iowa,” says Wilson in his artist statement. He made 40 visits to Neal smith National Wildlife refuge in 2012, taking thousands of reference photos to capture the animals in all seasons and all stages of life. Bison, Bison, Bison — a painting and exhibit title that references the zoological nomenclature for the plains bison subspecies — showcases 24 canvases

Follow the Leader, oil on canvas, 24×36

that are part of a benefit event that also includes an outdoor evening concert with the des Moines Community Orchestra and star gazing with the des Moines Astronomical society. — B.W.

THE IOWAN | iowan.com

Concert on the Prairie will be held Friday, June 7. Visit tallgrass.org for schedule and ticket information. Bison, Bison, Bison will remain on exhibit in the Refuge’s Prairie Learning Center through July 31. Learn more about Michael Wilson’s artwork online at michaelwilsonart.com.

potluck See Shell Collection The Museum has also put turtles on the streets of

The pancake turtle, as its name implies, is flat. The reptile, native to Kenya and Tanzania, has a hinged, flexible shell

Dubuque in an imaginative, larger-than-life public art

that allows it to crawl into crevices, then puff up so it can’t

project. Some 25 fiberglass turtles have been adopted

be pulled out.

and decorated by local businesses. — C.B.

The ability to adapt and survive is a hallmark of turtles,

Turtles reign in Dubuque through November. Learn more about the museum and exhibit online at mississippirivermuseum.com.

which live on six of the world’s seven continents. It’s no wonder that both early and modern cultures have revered these fascinating reptiles. For Native Americans, the turtle represents ancient

Snail-eating turtle COURTESy NATIONAl MISSISSIPPI RIvER MUSEUM

wisdom. The Chinese count the turtle as one of four sacred animals, honoring it as a creature of both land and sea, able to thrive in any environment. Fables showcase the tortoise’s steady persistence against the flighty hare. Teenage mutant turtles become crime-fighting ninjas. “The mythology of turtles shows a real connection to everyday life,” explains John Sutter, marketing director of the National Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque. The pancake turtle is one of 90 turtle species from six continents showcased in Turtles: Secrets of the Shell. The Mississippi River Museum exhibit represents the largest single collection of turtle species in the United States.

Pull! Trap shooting has been a high school sport in Cedar Falls

and Scholastic Clay Target Program gets an extra boost from

for a quarter of a century, but it’s taken on new vigor

Midway USA’s Scholastic Shooting Trust Fund, which contrib-

since 2006, when Ben Berka founded the Iowa chapter of

utes $2,000 to each of the more than 70 Iowa schools that

the Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP). Trap shooting

send a team to the championship, held each summer in Cedar

programs, says Berka, not only teach gun safety but

Rapids. Extra funds go to the schools with winning teams.

also offer important developmental skills — teamwork,

In the program’s first year, 10 events attracted just under

leadership, mental focus, and self-discipline.

400 participants. In 2012 nearly 250 events saw 1,789 youth participating in the championship. “It’s a fun, family event,”

The Iowa SCTP works with the Iowa DNR to organize

says Berka, “with lots of enthusiasm and energy.” — M.G.

local leagues and spring qualifying events for skeet, trap, and sporting clay, culminating in a statewide championship

For information visit iowadnr.gov > Recreation > Shooting Sports > Clay Target Program (SCTP).

COURTESy IOWA DNR / JEFF BARNES

for both individual and team events. The Iowa High School

Trap A clay disk is launched from a target throwing device. Skeet Two clay targets are launched from different angles on a crossing path. Sporting Clay Often described as “golf with a shotgun,” sporting clay uses 10 to 15 shooting stations laid out over natural terrain.

May/June 2013 | THE IOWAN

COURTESy NASA

potluck Well-Driven Cedar Rapids native Jim Kottmeier was only 19 when he worked with a team of Honeywell engineers to design the Stabilization and Control System for NASA’s Apollo command capsule. Their efforts resulted in many technological advances that took Americans to the moon and brought them home safely. One of those innovations was a guidance control stick that made it easy for astronauts wearing bulky space suits to steer the command module and lunar excursion module with precision. For that effort, The Iowa Transportation Museum recognizes Kottmeier as a Transportation Hero. (Gamers likely hail Kottmeier a hero, too, because that control stick is better known to them as the joystick.) — C.B. One giant leap: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin in Apollo 11’s command module.

This year’s Transportation Hero inductees will be announced on May 17. Read the stories of more transportation heroes online at transportationheroes.org.

The 20th annual Solar Splash regatta is not your everyday boat race around the buoys. Over five days in June, a dozen or more solar-powered racing machines from around the world will compete on George Wyth Lake in Waterloo for trophies in seven different categories. Each boat has been designed and constructed by a team of engineering students during the course of one academic year. The competition exposes them to a variety of

COURTESy DAVID LUNEAU

Panel Power

technical disciplines, teaches them the efficient use of energy and systems, and encourages teamwork. Most of the school teams come from the United States, but past races have included teams from Turkey (Istanbul Technical University was the 2012 champion team) and Mexico; India will be represented in this year’s race. — M.G.

The competition hits the water June 12–16. For information on the races and directions to the events, visit solarsplash.com.

Breakfast on the Runway Small airplane fans can check out one of the many fly-in breakfasts taking place at Iowa airports during the summer, often in support of local charitable organizations. Fly-in breakfasts are just what they sound like: Pilots from around the Midwest fly their planes to a scheduled Iowa airport, where they are served a free breakfast. “Pilots are gregarious by nature,” says Jeff Hutcheson, organizer of the 10th annual Great Plains Wing CAF (Commemorative Air Force) Pancake Breakfast in Council Bluffs. “We all love to look at, compare, talk about, and fly airplanes.” The pancakes aren’t just for pilots. Visitors are encouraged to chat with the pilots, talk to the airport manager, hang out with friends, and enjoy a hearty breakfast. Visitors to the Council Bluffs fly-in can also tour the CAF museum at the airport. — M.G.

For a schedule of fly-in breakfasts in Iowa during summer 2013, visit iowadot.gov > Search Aviation Calendar. COURTESy CAROLyN MASON

THE IOWAN | iowan.com

potluck Riding into History When Hudson High School senior Hope Petry spurs her horse through the series of tight turns that constitute a pole bending race, she’s demonstrating the riding skills critical on the American frontier. Competitions honoring the best of these skills were a natural outcome. Today’s rodeos allow both competitors and spectators to learn about these early American skills. Petry, who entered her first rodeo in sixth grade, was the All Around Cowgirl (highest female point scorer across all events) for Iowa in 2011 and is now the Iowa High School Rodeo Association Student President. She loves the competition and the animals. “Rodeos are a great way to learn time management skills as well as develop lifelong friendships.” — M.G.

The State Finals of the Iowa High School Rodeo Association will be in Waterloo June 7–9. For information on the events and times, visit cowboycalendar.com/iahsra or contact Alison Young at 641-757-2074. COuRTESy JENNINGS PHOTOGRAPHy

Cat Care Gavivi, a 16-year-old lioness at the Blank Park Zoo in Des

simply amazing. Johnson has opened a door to a new fron-

Moines, grew sluggish after Chacha, the male of her pride,

tier of animal care.”

died in March 2012. Despite efforts to improve her health,

Johnson has used these techniques, which are founded

the big cat was growing steadily weaker, and Bonnie Van

on the principles of physics and tune in to the energy flows

Ellen, area supervisor of great cats and primates, was

of animals as well as people, to help several breeds of great

worried about her survival. She turned to Joanna Johnson.

cats, along with monkeys, birds, and dogs.

During Johnson’s first visit, she sat just outside Gavivi’s

Einstein changed our understanding of the nature of life

cage. “I held my hands out, palms up, Reiki-style, offering

itself, says Johnson. “Healing is as much about energy flows

the lioness unconditional healing energy,” explains Johnson,

as it is about the mechanical procedures we associate with

who practices techniques for stress reduction and healing

traditional health care.” — M.G.

known as Reiki and Healing Touch. “She responded immedi-

For more information about using healing energy techniques with animals, visit clearingcats.com or contact Bonnie Van Ellen at the Blank Park Zoo: blvanellen@blankparkzoo.net.

ately, repositioning her body to face me. She stared into my eyes and smiled.” Gavivi’s appetite soon returned, and today, almost a year later, she is again a strong and playful animal. When Johnson visits, Gavivi sits by the bars of her outside habitat, as close to Johnson as she can get. “All you see is a woman moving her hands and whis-

What we have called matter is energy, whose vibration has been so lowered as to be perceptible to the senses. There is no matter. — Albert Einstein

COuRTESy BONNIE VAN EllEN

pering,” says Van Ellen. “But the reactions of the animals are

May/June 2013 | THE IOWAN

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May/June 2013 | THE IOWAN

A 2,000-year-old sport plays on story by SuzANNE KElSEy

ynn Wartgow stood with a crowd along the edge of the Quad Cities Polo Club field in Bettendorf two years ago and watched riders on horses smack a small white ball back and forth toward goal posts at each end. “They spun their mallets in perfectly smooth circles — effortlessly, like spinning a jump rope,” recalls Wartgow. She was awed by the agility, speed, and power, she says, as horse and rider worked as one. Though not fully understanding the rules of play at the time, the equine enthusiast and endurance rider discovered that day that a polo player inside her had been waiting patiently to emerge. The photographer, frame shop owner, and parttime nurse played her first practice match last year, and today Wartgow, 58, wears the blue and white jersey of the Quad Cities Polo Club. She recently purchased trained horses — known in polo vernacular as “made ponies” — and this summer will take to the field with the team for her second season. Like soccer or hockey, polo is played on a rectangular field of closely cropped grass with painted boundary lines. Ten-foot-tall break-away goal posts stand 8 yards apart at both ends of the field, and teams of four riders each use 18

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long mallets made of cane shafts with cigar-shape hardwood ends to move solid plastic balls toward and desirably between them. Umpires on horseback follow the action through six “chukkers” (7-minute periods of play). Early written accounts suggest that the Sport of Kings may have originated in Asia 2,000 years ago to prepare warriors for battle. Polo spread to India in the 13th century and in the mid-1800s, through military channels, to England. In Iowa the Northwest Polo League was created in 1885 with teams from Sioux City, Council Bluffs, and Omaha. Iowa today has two polo clubs: the nine-member Quad Cities Polo Club and the 15-member Des Moines Polo Club. The Des Moines roster includes several pros, hired by individual team members, who travel from as far as the Dominican Republic to play and work with the team during the polo season. “We actively encourage people to attend,” says Des Moines Polo Club President David Sommers of events that are free and open to the public. “If we see someone new drive into the field parking lot, we will make an effort to introduce ourselves and explain what’s going on.”

pHOTOS cOurTESy lyNN WArTgOW

Made in Iowa

at play Wartgow continues to climb the steep learning curve of mastering the rules and strategies of the game while learning to work effectively with her polo ponies. Polo players generally agree that the horse contributes 80 percent toward the success of any game. Mounts were once restricted to pony size, but the average horse used today is just over 15 hands (a hand is approximately 4 inches). Some horses are even taller — like Gonzalo, the 16-hand made pony that Wartgow purchased last year. Wartgow says smaller, shorter horses may be more agile because they are closer to the ground. Larger horses tend to make better defensive players, allowing players to “ride off” an opponent’s horse more easily. Above all, a good polo horse must be level-headed, says Wartgow. “It has to trust the rider, and it has to be brave. If a horse is spooked by peripheral movement or the sound of a mallet strike, it won’t work. A horse like Gonzo hears the mallet hit the ball and knows it’s time to get moving down the field. He’s eager to go.” Even a trained and eager horse can’t last an entire polo match, which requires galloping up to 15 miles.

Instead a minimum of three horses, each with at least several years of training, will be ridden by the same player during one game. Riders must keep themselves in shape as well. “I needed to be strong and fit for endurance riding, but polo requires an even greater level of personal discipline,” says Wartgow. “You also have to know the rules of the game, stay focused, and think before you act so that other horses and riders don’t get hurt. What I love about polo is that it pushes me in so many ways.” Within the United States Polo Association are many programs geared to people of any age, including members in their 70s. In them Wartgow has found both inspiration and aspiration. “I wish I would have started sooner when I was stronger,” she admits. “But now is the perfect time for me to be learning something new. I intend to enjoy it for years to come.” Suzanne Kelsey, a writer from Coralville, is a new polo fan. Join her and other fans this summer for a traditional halftime divot stomp in Bettendorf or Des Moines.

Pony Play Matches run from May to September. Become a “made” polo fan — or new player — by learning more online: quadcitiespoloclub.com and desmoinespolo.com.

Made pony Gonzalo in play with Quad Cities Polo Club President Jeff Boeh. Opposite: Mid-chukker with the Quad Cities Polo Club (black jerseys) and the Madison Polo Club. 19 May/June 2013 | THE IOWAN

dimensions

The Art of Awareness water quality is shaped by sculpture

hat would you do with 1,000 pounds of trash? That question was put to artist David Williamson 11 years ago after Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) staff pulled 100 cubic yards of debris out of the Maquoketa River. Williamson’s answer was blunt: “I wouldn’t do anything with it.” His vision following the DNR’s initial Project AWARE (A Watershed Awareness River Expedition) was collaborative. “I’d help volunteers build something with the trash.” An Ogden artist who lived and breathed recycling years before it was popular, Williamson wanted to shine the light on the volunteers who take to canoes every year to clean up Iowa waterways and to engage the public in owning river quality. Art, he was confident, could do both. For the past decade Williamson has used the Iowa State Fair as his studio, taking input from AWARE volunteers and the public as together they create artwork that draws visitors into the story of Iowa’s river cleanup efforts. “The art is real-time and improvisational,” he explains, describing the collective process. A sculpture titled Drop In began when Williamson asked volunteers to be on the lookout for trash to use in art. One volunteer pulled a broken plastic 12-inch stand for a birdbath out of the Little Sioux River. “Look at this,” said the paddler. “It looks like a water droplet with a door in it.” Williamson took that volunteer’s water droplet idea. Using a tractor tire rim, rebar, and fence posts — some 500 pounds of river trash — he began to cast the parts of a sculpture in front of, and with the help of, people gathered in the DNR Courtyard off the Grand Concourse. Children helped pour molten aluminum into swirling shapes cast from cracked elements of an old electric stove. 20

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pHOTO COurTEsy ArTIsT dAvId WIllIAmsON

story by CArOl BOdENsTEINEr

(“Symbolically, the shapes tell us to keep water quality on the front burner,” says Williamson.) Adults helped transform fence post spades into the wings of herons that volunteers often see soaring over the rivers. Parts of a child’s bicycle become a junkyard frog. The result is a 9½-foot-tall sculpture that awakened in volunteers an awareness of how trash could become story and invited fair visitors inside their story to experi-

ripples 10 years of Project AWARE 786 river miles 2,539 volunteers 793 sponsors 484,719 pounds (242 tons) of trash (70% recycled) 176,002 pounds of scrap metal transformed into art iowaprojectaware.com

dimensions renown Taking Pride in Iowa’s Water Project AWARE has gained national visibility. In 2009 the project was recognized by the U.S. Department of the Interior as the Outstanding State Volunteer Program in the United States. takepride.gov/press/001.html

ence the state of Iowa’s rivers. “At first, Drop In entices you with the beauty of the art,” says Williamson, who stresses the sculpture’s power to go beyond aesthetics to education. “Then you realize this shouldn’t exist. This metal shouldn’t be in the water in the first place. By working with material that’s worth less than zero, material that exists for artistic use because of a careless act, we go from a careless act to a profound act of caring.” For the past five years, river trash has been used to fashion 10×10-foot security gates for the DNR building on the fairgrounds. Waves and paddles of metal pay homage to flowing rivers and steered canoes. The fifth and final gate was installed this spring. The effectiveness of the art’s message, says Williamson, is best measured against one of the state’s markers of distinction. “I figured we’d know we were successful when AWARE is as visible as RAGBRAI,” he explains. The river expedition is reaching that status; each year thousands participate in Project AWARE and other cleanup events inspired by the DNR’s annual effort. They participate in creating AWARE art at the Iowa State Fair, and they interact with the art at exhibits around the state. Williamson’s point is made as Project AWARE takes to the upper Des Moines River from July 6–13 to clean up the waterway from Algona to below Fort Dodge. “Initially we only planned to include a few miles of the East Fork of the Des Moines River in Kossuth County,” says Lynette Seigley, Project AWARE coordinator. “But local county representatives lobbied us to begin the event farther upstream. Hence, we’ll be starting in Algona. It’s wonderful to have the interest and enthusiasm from local communities for the event in their watershed.”

PHOTOS cOURTESy PROJEcT AWARE VOlUNTEER DIck WORM

Trash of every dimension is pulled annually from Iowa’s rivers — a large appliance from the Nishnabotna River in July 2010 (top); rusted metal parts from the Iowa River in July 2012. Some of the trash removed from the Little Sioux River in 2005 was transformed into Drop In (opposite).

Des Moines-based writer Carol Bodensteiner worked on the Iowa River with other Project AWARE volunteers in 2006 and has seen Iowa’s waterways — and junk — differently ever since.

May/June 2013 | THE IOWAN

stewards

Bumper Crop Nature and art, heaven and earth meet in Harvest Preserve story and photos by CArOl BOdENsTEINEr

he ascent on the trail through tree-covered hills is steep enough to raise your heart rate. Pausing at the edge of a meadow to catch your breath and enjoy a moment of silence, you might glimpse a wild turkey disappearing into the trees or a red-tailed hawk soaring overhead. Harvest Preserve in Johnson County is dedicated to the native plants and wildlife that once covered Iowa, but the idea for such a place began with a pile of stones half a world away. The massive dolomite pillars quarried 4,000 years ago by unknown people on the island of Flores in the Indonesian Archipelago were in danger. Political upheaval had generated forces of destruction. History was about to be destroyed, pushed into the ocean to be lost forever. Doug and Linda Paul of North Liberty learned about the crisis and launched a rescue effort. Soon the 20 stones, ranging in length from 11 to 24 feet and together weighing 90 tons, were on a boat to Los Angeles. From there they moved by train to Omaha, then by truck to Iowa City. “It was imperative to get the stones out,” says Doug, “but we didn’t have a place to put them.” 22

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While the stones were in transit, Doug — an entrepreneur who’s prone to big ideas he actually acts on — spent time on a local piece of land that had a profound impact on his next step. Four hundred acres of farmland on the northeast edge of Iowa City had been targeted for housing development. Doug looked out over the rolling hills with a different vision. Saving the Neolithic stones focused his thinking on the importance of saving Iowa land. “There are certain places where one feels a natural communication with the divine, whatever form the divine takes. Places where heaven and earth meet. And this is one,” says Doug. “As soon as I sat on that land, the whole thing became clear. This land had to be protected.” The Pauls bought all 400 acres, averting development and securing a home for the arriving stones. That was the beginning of Harvest Preserve, a place where people are invited to connect with nature. It’s the kind of place, say the Pauls, that is all too scarce these days. “In eight generations we’ve devoured this country’s natural resources — trees, minerals, water — for development purposes,” explains Doug. “When all the land around cities is taken for development, what will be left of natural spaces for people?”

stewards Establishing Harvest Preserve introduced a new sense of worth, according to Linda, an artist who serves on the board of Harvest Preserve Foundation, Inc. “The Preserve offers a way of valuing the land for itself,” she says, underscoring the organization’s mission to permanently preserve this spot of earth. Preserving meant restoring as Doug set about making his vision a reality. He cleared out a silted-in pond and built a retreat on its shore. He removed invasive plants, replacing them with oak trees and native plantings such as Indian grass and purple coneflowers. A two-mile trail now encourages visitors to walk the wooded hills, relax in shaded glades, discover sculptures — both ancient and modern — tucked in clearings, and contemplate nature and their relationship to it. A century-old barn remains a testament to the land’s farming history. Once the land was ready, the Pauls enlisted help from the Art Institute of Chicago and a geomancer (who read and harmonized the energy signals of the stones and their new home) to bury each one between one-half and one-third its length in the ground. “The placement of the stones is an energetic collaboration of the earth and the stones and of the stones with each other,” explains Doug. A sign near the Sacred Stone Circle, as the installation is called, invites visitors to do a spiritual healing exercise. But mainly the idea is to be quiet and listen to nature. “Some see the rocks as an interesting arrangement. For others it’s a totally energetic experience,” says Doug. Mary Martin Lane of Waterloo felt a powerful connection to the stones the first time she saw them as part of a group performing a Sufi dance of universal peace to celebrate the solstice. “I am sensitive to the power of the earth,” says Lane. “The Sacred Stone Circle stopped me in my tracks. There is an atmosphere of awe there, akin to any sacred place. A unity of people with clouds and sky. A sense of oneness.” Since opening in 2005, Harvest Preserve has welcomed many visitors, including children participating in the Taproot Nature Experience. “This place is a treasure,” says Zac Wedemeyer, who leads Taproot, an area organization offering environmental education experiences. “We let kids do what kids in my generation did on our own. We give them freedom to be outside, to relax and let down.”

The Meeting Place Visitors to Harvest Preserve are welcome, but permission is required in advance. Email julie@harvestpreserve.org to obtain a visitor code. Learn more online at harvestpreserve.org.

“I like to sit and watch,” says Zac’s 7-year-old daughter, Iris. “Once I saw a deer bounding. Just bounding right in front of me.” “We saw a deer bounding!” confirms her 6-yearold sister, Ani Willow, wide-eyed as she relates the encounter. “The best validation of what we’ve done is seeing children enjoy this space,” says Doug. “It’s a blessing to be able to preserve property like this — so it’s still here for people to enjoy.”

Doug Paul and one of his big ideas.

Writer Carol Bodensteiner finds quiet each day in the prairie she and her husband planted on their acreage near Des Moines.

May/June 2013 | THE IOWAN

Come Touch the Heart of America From dairy farms and museums to vineyards

and tractor assembly tours, the story of American agriculture is brought to life at more than 100 sites and attractions in this 37-county region of Northeast Iowa. An Affiliated Area of the National Park Service.

Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge Prairie Point BookstoreTheaterClassrooms Exhibit AreaTeacher WorkshopsWildlife BirdingBikingHikingHuntingMushrooming

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The Prairie Learning Center facilities include a visitor center with bookstore, theater, classrooms and exhibit area. Miles of trails radiate from the Center. In addition, the public is welcome to drive through an approximately 700 acre enclosure in hopes of seeing bison or elk. The Prairie Point Bookstore 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 Prairie Learning Center 9981 Pacific Street | Prairie City, Iowa 50228-0399 (515) 994-3400 | www.fws.gov/refuge/Neal_Smith/

• Heirloom Display Gardens • Free Audio Tours • Hiking Trails • Weekend Guided Tours • Ancient White Park Cattle • Historic Apple Orchard • Heritage Poultry • Trout Fishing • Heirloom Seeds, Plants, Books, Garden Tools, Gifts & more Open daily March-December Lillian Goldman Visitors Center

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Hawkeye Buffalo Ranch www.hawkeyebuffalo.com Tours (563) 237-5318 Fredericksburg, Iowa

615 First Ave SE Cedar Rapids (319) 362-1501

Hours: 10am - 4pm Tuesday through Saturday Suggested Donation: $5 Adults / $3 Children

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Iowa’s Dairy Center — Making a Difference

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• Milking Parlor • Freestall Barn for milk herd housing • Special Needs Barn for calving (may see a calf being born) • Calf Barn (pet a calf) The Northeast Iowa Dairy Foundation • Iowa’s Dairy Museum 1527 Hwy. 150 South, Calmar, IA 52132 563-534-9957 ext. 107 | 866-474-4692 • Coming soon in 2013 – 2 Lely www.iowadairycenter.com robotic milking machines!

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Iowa Gold Star Military Museum Honoring Iowans’ Military Service to Our Country

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To honor and depict the military experience of Iowa Citizens in all wars, homeland defense, and Iowa service. 7105 NW 70th Avenue Johnston, Iowa 50131 P 515-727-3211 | F Fax: 515-727-3107

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Have fun and explore 300 years of history at Living History Farms! Travel at your own pace through our 3 working farms and 1875 town.

Heartland Acres Agribition Center “Interactive Museum of Agriculture” HeartlandAcresUSA.com Phone: 319.332.0123 Independence, Iowa

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American Pop! Selections from the CU Art Museum Collection May 4-September 1, 2013 Sponsored by Wayne Thiebaud, Boston Cremes, 1970, linocut, Gift of Polly and Mark Addison to the Polly and Mark Addison Collection, CU Art Museum, University of Colorado at Boulder, © Wayne Thiebaud/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

Davenport, Iowa • 563.326.7804 www.figgeartmuseum.org

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Refresher Course Passion Still Drives the Lincoln Highway It’s the year of Abraham Lincoln. His nation-building works, the Emancipation Proclamation and Gettysburg Address, are both 150 years old. Doris Kearns Goodwin’s best seller Team of Rivals inspired the Steven Spielberg film that garnered 12 Oscar nominations. Some 16,000 books have already been written about the 16th president; more are scheduled to hit shelves in time for summer reading lists. Highway buffs are revved up for a more memorable milestone — traveling the Lincoln Highway as it twists and turns 100 this year. In June drivers will depart from New York and San Francisco, retracing the path blazed across the country in 1913. Communities along the historical thoroughfare have been driven all along, of course. The story of the Lincoln Highway is one of self-initiative and collective strength. Residents of small towns along the chosen alignment promoted the road, raised funds, contributed labor, and became $5 card-carrying members of the original Lincoln Highway Association. Their determination and their vision for the future built a road across America. It’s now time for the road to go further, says John Mazzello, statewide coordinator of the Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway, the state-designated route running 460 miles through some 40 Iowa communities. A corridor management plan, he says, aims to deliver a coordinated narrative of an old road in a present-day Iowa. “We’re highlighting remaining points of interest, but there are also new points,” stresses Mazello. “We want to show welcoming, vibrant places today.” The story of the Lincoln Highway is still being written — five score years with many miles to go.

CAR-FRESHNER perfumes the interiors of automobiles the world over. The ubiquitous Little Trees air fresheners (little-trees.com) are produced in its two U.S. factories, one in Watertown, New York, and the other right here in Iowa — in the Lincoln Highway community of DeWitt. Photography by Paul Gates (unless otherwise noted). May/June 2013 | THE IOWAN

In Gear

with Progress Bridging Centuries in Greene County story by CaroL BoDenSteiner

Bob and Joyce Ausberger took to the road in 1994, paintbrushes in hand, wrapping utility poles in each community between Clinton and Council Bluffs with bands of red, white, and blue. Segments of Highway 30 through Greene County — vestiges of the Lincoln Highway — had been recognized a year earlier with a listing on the National Register of Historic Places, and the recently resurrected Lincoln Highway Association was headed to Iowa that summer for its annual conference. Preservation of America’s Main Street was gaining nationwide attention.

Out Of the

Mud MAP

OntO the

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The Ausbergers’ awareness campaign was doublepronged: While Bob splashed color and the trademark blue L roadside, Joyce alerted the local media. “A reporter almost always came out to do an interview and take pictures,” recalls Bob of their effective public relations strategy. One of those painted utility poles stood near Greene County’s Eureka Bridge, a 1912 five-arch concrete structure built by F.E. March Engineering using the patented design of J.B. Marsh (see page 31). The bridge predated the Lincoln Highway and most likely figured in routing

Iowa’s 100–Year Journey Along the Lincoln Highway story by Catherine Collison

The Lincoln Highway founders promised a “Coast-to-Coast Rock Highway” — a route stretching from New York to San Francisco that travelers could drive with ease as the age of the automobile emerged. Road boosters in Iowa touted progress that would not only pull the state out of the mud but also move crops to market more swiftly. Eager Iowans were a driving force in the founding of what many referred to as Main Street Across America, which

Joyce and Bob Ausberger (middle and right) trade stories with other Iowa Lincoln Highway Association members visiting the Iowa Lincoln Highway Interpretive Center/Greene County Museum in Grand Junction.

the original road through Iowa. Its more prominent role came nearly eight decades later. The early Lincoln Highway was steered by a group of road boosters whose efforts helped spawn an automobile culture. As travel and traffic increased across the country, wider and faster roads were considered the path to the future. In 1990 Greene County’s engineer proposed rebuilding county road E53 (the old Lincoln Highway), widening the 60-foot right-of-way to 120 feet and replacing all the old bridges. To complete the proposed project, the county needed to take 65 acres of private property, cut

down the trees in a wetland, straighten the road — and demolish the historic Eureka. Bob Ausberger understood the value of good farmto-market transportation, but he also saw economic development potential in the old road and bridges just as they were. “Economic development leaders say to work with what you have, to treat historical and cultural resources like natural resources,” says Bob, who sat on the Greene County Board of Supervisors at the time. “We don’t have mountains and oceans [in Iowa], but we do have cultural resources.” linColn highway Digital image ColleCtion/University of miChigan

largely skirted big cities and instead strung together small towns with the enthusiastic support of community leaders, women’s clubs, civic groups, and forwardthinking farmers. A hard-surfaced, well-marked transcontinental highway was the brainchild of Carl Fisher, ➢➢➢ May/June 2013 | THE IOWAN

Power Drive you knew there was an app for this. travelers driving electric vehicles (ev) can now search and locate ev charging stations using their smartphones. Cedar rapids is currently iowa’s only lincoln highway community to offer public 220-volt stations (capable of taking a battery from zero to full charge in four hours). in partnership with the city of Cedar rapids, Kirkwood Community College took a proactive approach, installing a charging station at the campus’ hotel at Kirkwood Center

march

2012.

automotive

technology instructor Brian Brownfield says

service

infrastructure

and

consumer demand create a chickenand-egg scenario, but he wants his students to be prepared for the changing pace and face of car travel. “we are collecting real-world iowa cold-climate data,” he says of useful information that can steer future college curricula and

city

investments.

the

hotel’s station has averaged 20 charging sessions per month so

far

this

year,

saving

approximate accumulation of over 500 kg of greenhouse gas. Learn more online at thehotelatkirkwood.com and kirkwood.edu/industrialtech. Brian

B ro w

History, he argued, could have an economic impact because educated people — people with money — would seek out the Lincoln Highway. Protecting the two-lane experience was a strategy for the future of communities along the old road. Preservation was its own kind of progress. Bob made an unsuccessful plea to the Board of Supervisors. When local opinion couldn’t be swayed, he went to the Iowa Department of Transportation. Though some engineers at the state agency supported preservation, officials deferred to county-level decision making. The Ausbergers sought federal input, and officials in Washington agreed there were ways to achieve safety without sacrificing the old bridges but took no action. “They had us running back and forth,” recalls Bob. The Greene County engineer wouldn’t give in. And neither would the Ausbergers. A 1990 lawsuit filed by the property owners (John and Doris McGregor) and supported by local neighbors brought the situation to a head. Though generally ignored up to that point, Iowa legislation passed in the late 1980s requires that historic and environmentally important areas in the state be preserved and protected during road building when reasonable alternatives are available. (The Iowa law came on the heels of a 1970s federal law requiring similar protection for projects receiving federal funds.) As the lawsuit progressed, Bob and Joyce formed the Greene County Lincon Highway Preservation Group and brought in environmental and historic preservation experts to bolster the case that the old Lincoln Highway was valuable.

nfielD

OntO the Map

(continued)

an Indiana entrepreneur and leading force behind the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. For Fisher, chief of the Prest-O-Lite headlamp company, good roads meant good business. In 1912 he recognized the upcoming world’s fair as an ideal anchor for a public relations campaign targeting a nascent automobile culture. He would use the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco to generate interest in a 30

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single designated route that motorists could follow all the way across the country, coast to coast. Fisher assembled a group of like-minded businessmen — including Henry B. Joy, president of the Packard Motor Car Company, and Frank Seiberling, president of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (auto czar Henry Ford declined) — and on July 1, 1913, in the Dime Savings Bank Building in downtown Detroit the ➢➢➢

The old bank building in Grand Junction now houses pieces of Lincoln Highway history, but the road itself, says Bob Ausberger, is the larger museum.

The lawsuit “wasn’t a fun time,” remembers Joyce. “Bob was called some really awful names in the courthouse.” “I was the ‘aginer,’ according to the county engineer,” says Bob, recalling a label that marked him as someone against change and accused him of opposing progress. Eventually he resigned from the Board of Supervisors. Copyright©2010, iowa Department of transportation. all rights reserveD.

The lawsuit was decided in 1991 by the Iowa District Court in favor of the McGregors, saving the Eureka bridge and preserving a Lincoln Highway experience. The decision set a new standard for road building — not only in Iowa (impacting, for instance, how both the Avenue of the Saints and sections of Highway 20 were laid through wetland

eureka! winning the contract to build a bridge was as competitive in the early 1900s as it is today. then, as now, design was often a deciding factor. in the early 20th century one of the leading bridge designers was J.B. marsh of Des moines. marsh held proprietary rights for the distinctive rainbow arch design, as well as the concrete-filled spandrel arch bridge design — an architectural type recognized for its beauty, lower cost of construction, and strength. six of marsh’s rainbow arch bridges remain in iowa — in Boone, Calhoun, and Kossuth Counties. nearly a century after they were built, several of marsh’s spandrel arch bridges still carry traffic, among them the first avenue Bridge in Cedar rapids, the Court avenue Bridge in Des moines, and greene County’s eureka Bridge.

May/June 2013 | THE IOWAN

areas) but across the country. It was “a wake-up call” for county engineers, says Bob. The stipulations guiding use of federal and state funds on projects of historic and environmental interest had to be taken into account as never before. “That wasn’t a popular thing to do. But if Bob hadn’t stepped up, I don’t think there’d still be a Lincoln Highway across the United States,” says Joyce. “Bob’s background as a farmer tells his character. He did no-till and farms environmentally. Stepping in to preserve the highway goes along with his persona.” “They thought we would go away,” adds Bob. “But neither one of us was willing to give up. We knew the Lincoln Highway could be developed into a tremendous economic development tool.” With victory, the Ausbergers drove on, helping to preserve other historic bridges in Greene and Clinton Counties and devoting their lives to preserving all of the Lincoln Highway. Today they travel coast to coast, organize conferences, and serve as an historic resource through the Iowa Lincoln Highway Interpretive Center, housed in an old Grand Junction bank building that at one time served travelers on the highway. The couple is currently working with numerous Iowa communities to maximize the recent Lincoln Highway Scenic Byway designation. That, they PH agree, is progress. EA s AN

OntO the Map

FA R

Faced with high land prices, Benton County farmers Ann and Eric Franzenburg chose diversification over size. To Pheasant Run Farm’s traditional corn and soybean operation, they added greenhouses in 2000 and began experimenting with culinary and medicinal herbs and select vegetables.

Growing

cycles

meant

the

semicircular tunnels sometimes sat empty, so in 2008 Ann began to fill the valuable real estate with lisianthus and dianthus, lilies and gladiolus, and a growing assortment of ornamental flowers. “We had attended the Great Lakes EXPO, and there was a cut-flower track,” says Ann. “It was eyeopening. People were earning a living.” Ten miles away in Lincoln Highway town Belle Plaine, Teresa Hermsen opened Timber Gate Gardens, a fullservice florist, in fall 2010. With just-cut stems in tow, Ann pulled up at the door of the floral shop the following spring. “To walk out and look into the back of that van — all the fresh and gorgeous flowers,” says Hermsen of the bounty Ann carries, including more unexpected blooms, wispy foliage, even uncommon seedpods that enable Teresa to create unique combinations. “People have noticed.”

Learn more online at pheasantrunfarmiowa.com and timbergategardens.com.

(continued)

Lincoln Highway Association (LHA) was born. It was Joy’s idea to name the road after Abraham Lincoln. In a memo to the Good Roads Association about the money Congress planned to spend on a Washington, D.C., memorial to honor the president, Joy grumpily declared, “It could be so much better expended for the good of all the people in good roads. Let good roads be built in the name of Lincoln.” 32

Fresh Arrangement

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Fisher wanted to connect Manhattan’s Times Square with San Francisco’s Lincoln Park. Joy wanted the most direct route possible. Their combined aspirations put Iowa in the Lincoln Highway’s path. It helped that Clinton had the bridge deemed most suitable for carrying the road over the Mississippi River. Thus would the Lincoln Highway take motorists smack through the middle of the state. ➢➢➢

Intersecting LiVes

the Journey Continues in DeWitt story by Suzanne KeLSey

Linda Snyder packed her bags and her new MBA in 2003 and headed to DeWitt, where her husband, Art, a civil engineer, would be closer to his job in Illinois. Concluding her own work as a medical speech pathologist and community foundation director, Snyder was poised for a new direction in life. What she needed was a little inspiration. What she encountered were unexpected health challenges. Through several years of tests and procedures, Snyder turned to books for strength and encouragement. She especially liked true stories of ordinary people overcoming obstacles to achieve the extraordinary. Art Snyder watched as his wife found hope in her reading and zeal in her flair for interior design, transforming their new house into a home. As Linda’s recovery progressed, he pitched an idea that would tap her creative and organizational Copyright©2010, iowa Department of transportation. all rights reserveD.

Each purchase made at The Crossroads is sent off with a finishing touch of earthcolor ribbon and a mission to inspire.

talents: Why not start a business in DeWitt to sell products that inspire others, just as she was being inspired? “I didn’t like the idea of buying and selling,” recalls Snyder, who had no retail experience. “But I did like the idea of encouraging others. And then it occurred to me that I could do that by offering products and experiences that bring beauty, joy, and meaning to people’s lives and their environment.” When the longtime owner of Martha’s Café decided to retire, Snyder saw possibilities in the stand-alone building in the heart of the downtown — across from a 19thcentury German hausbarn and city park, just south of a 21st-century bronze sculpture celebrating native artist John Bloom, and marking the site of what was in the early 20th century dubbed “the busiest crossroads in the country.”

Vista from the Vehicle . . . We are passing beautiful farms. Here we see a group of splendid dappled grey Percheron draught horses, the pride of a stock-farm. There we pass reddish-yellow shocks of oats. The country is more wooded now. We see maples, oaks, ash, willows, and black walnuts. Here and there are yellow wild flowers, somewhat like black-eyed Susans. . . . — effie price gladding describing a portion of her journey through iowa in Across the Continent by The Lincoln Highway, 1915

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A bite to eat, a glimpse of the past: Garden Café patrons are served by manager Deb Monroe in front of a circa 1940s photo of “the busiest crossroads in the country.”

Over a dozen gas stations along with several cafes and hotels once lined what was known to the nation’s travelers as the intersection of the east-west Lincoln Highway and the north-south U.S. Highway 61 — the “Palms to Pines” route that ran from the pines of Wyoming, Minnesota, to the palms of New Orleans. Locals knew the busy crossroads as the corner of Sixth Avenue and Tenth Street, where area farmers added to the bustle on Saturday nights, selling cream and eggs and buying groceries; shopping at the flagship department store, W.H. Walker & Co.; and dancing to live big band music at Armory Hall, now the Knights of Columbus Hall. “It was like a weekly carnival,” recalls Bill Homrighausen, now 88, a resident of DeWitt since age 5. Copyright©2010, iowa Department of transportation. all rights reserveD.

Eventually Highways 30 and 61 were rebuilt, bypassing DeWitt and intersecting outside of town — a fate that befell many small towns. Walker and Co. closed after over 60 years in business. Grocery stores dwindled from six to one. In 1981, after the Texaco station sitting at the famous crossroads burned down, there was no need to replace it. When the Snyders arrived in DeWitt in 2003, a comeback was underway — a $7.5 million renovation of downtown streets, restoration of the 1878 Operahouse Theater, improvements to an outdoor gathering space at the crossroads (aptly called Lincoln Park), and plans for an 800-seat performing arts center. Snyder decided to add her momentum to the town’s, purchasing the former diner in 2010. Soon after, while culling through old photographs of

trailblazers ames has been growing road engineers for a long time. anson marston joined iowa state College in 1892 to direct the Department of Civil engineering. he designed the school’s sewage disposal system and supervised the building of the Campanile, among many projects, but his driving force was better road construction. he established a highway commission in 1904, which became the iowa highway Commission — a state body with enforceable powers — in 1913. thomas macDonald studied under marston and went on to become commissioner of the then federal Bureau of public roads, a post he kept until 1953, overseeing the early stages of president Dwight eisenhower’s interstate highway system.

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the famous intersection at the DeWitt Historical Museum, she realized she had not only an opportunity but also a responsibility: She was now one of the keepers of the crossroads’ history. “DeWitt is just a little dot on the map in the center of the country. But we still are really in the heart of the heartland,” she remembers thinking. Excited, she threw herself into the project and drew a design for the new shop. With their son, John, the Snyders proceeded to gut the building, filling 13 Dumpsters, and then rebuild from the framing inside and out. Art built a tower for the center of the building, filling both the ground and lower levels with natural light. In 2011 her shop was predictably christened The Crossroads, with the Garden Café located on the lower level. Customers enter on the main floor and can browse unique, handpicked gifts ranging from inspirational books to teas to interior decor to clothing accessories. Some follow the open stairway underneath the tower to the Garden Café, a quiet gathering spot for lunch and tea. A gurgling water fountain and soft music provide a soothing backdrop. A large photo mural of the famous intersection fills one wall. Smaller photos and artifacts from DeWitt’s era as the country’s crossroads — such as a key from the former Texaco gas station — hang on another wall. An elderly customer gasps. “My father started that company!” she cries, pointing to a vintage photo of the gas station Go Gas. Patrons also register for special events held throughout the year and tuned to inspired living — a mother-daughter tea, a workshop on growing and cooking with herbs, a

Return flight the osprey is back. the raptor — with its 6-foot wingspan, third eyelid, and opposable rear talons (used to aerodynamically carry fish head forward) — was nearly eradicated in the state by settlers in the 19th century and further depleted by pesticide in the 20th. the species has recently been making a comeback due in part to the dedication of iowans like John Bahrenfus. volunteering with the iowa Dnr and the Boone County Conservation Board from 2002-2006, Bahrenfus took part in “hacking,” a process that involves releasing young osprey into the wild from manmade nests where they can be monitored while learning how to fly and hunt fish. “it was really interesting to watch the hatchlings adapt to their environment,” says Bahrenfus. “those birds are pretty darn good fishers.” fish represent about 99 percent of an osprey’s diet. osprey release program Director pat schlarbaum says a growing osprey population is an indication of a healthy water system — which is why he’s dubbed them “sentinels of clean water.” the program has been a success: Boone County has released 25 of the birds and gained a nesting pair in 2006. nearly 200 ospreys have been released statewide.

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hUe Bill sC

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A mapped route was not necessarily a drivable one. Early road guides produced by the LHA admitted to the “sporting proposition” of highway travel, and writer Emily Post used her sharp wit and pen to capture the experience. On assignment for Collier’s in 1915, she delivered essays from her road experience en route to the Panama-Pacific Exposition, including her challenging trek across Iowa:

As an illustration of what rain in Iowa can do, twenty-five minutes of drizzle turned the smooth, hard surface of the road into the consistency of gruel. Not only that, but as though it were made in layers, and the top layer slid off the under layers and the under layers slipped out between, or the reverse. Our wheels, even with chains on, had no more hold than revolving cakes of soap might May/June 2013 | THE IOWAN

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Linda Snyder (center) chooses books for her customers that might offer help and encouragement.

chartered bus excursion to a garden near Chicago. The shop has become an important new gathering space, a new crossroads for DeWitt and surrounding areas. Snyder acknowledges additional layers of meaning embedded in the name of her shop. “The word ‘crossroads’ indicates an individual’s journey toward personal growth, particularly at a crucial point in one’s life. It’s also part of the marketing tag used by local development leaders — ‘Crossroads to Opportunity.’ And the word helps preserve the town’s place in history as an important crossroads for the country.” Elements of the past are valuable for perspective, she says. “They were here at that point in time, and now we’re here to live out our mission. And while we’re here, we have work to do — to follow whatever inspires us.”

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have on slanting wet marble. . . . [T]he mud championship of the world belongs to Iowa. Illinois mud is slippery and slyly eager to push unstable tourists into the ditch, but in Iowa it lurks in unfathomable treachery, loath to let anything ever get out again that once ventures into it. . . . Leighton Christiansen, librarian for the Iowa Department of Transportation, says many Iowans at 36

She encourages others to use their passions for the good of the community. “Anything that happens in a town is because of a vision of what a community can be,” says Snyder. “If you have a vision, you have a potential for a future.” Octogenarian Homrighausen continues as the town’s most vociferous cheerleader for the can-do spirit in his community. Author of They Call Me Mr. DeWitt, a collection of essays about the town published in 2008, his thoughts combine reminiscences of the past with expectations of the future: [T]he city of DeWitt has progressed with the times and continues moving forward. It is a wonderful community of which residents can be very proud and is becoming better with age. Stand by.

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the time already recognized the critical need for better roads because Iowa was already a net exporter of grain. “The need to have better roads, even to get to the railroads, was clear to the farmer.” Yet battles ensued. Iowa’s antiquated method of financing roads was proving burdensome for the state’s property owners. “It wasn’t uncommon for signs to say ‘Bonds Mean Bondage,’” says Christiansen. ➢➢➢

Community, Food & Lodging Both Locals and travelers Pull over in Colo story by JiM HiLL A side of history, sure, but don’t forget the Niland’s Cafe peanut butter pie!

The aroma of bacon and biscuits wafting from chunky ceramic plates delivered to red Formica tabletops greets visitors at the door. A white-aproned waitress moves briskly between patrons with a coffeepot — “Warm it up?” The regulars are focused on their breakfast and their morning conversation, and few seem to take notice of the road memorabilia on the walls, the photo and newspaper displays, the road signs, even the polished front end of 1939 Cadillac. When a newcomer gazes around at the scene seemingly out of the 1950s, Sandii Huemann-Kelly can always spare a few minutes CoUrtesy national arChives anD reCorDs aDministration

— even in the midst of the breakfast rush — to introduce them to Niland’s Cafe. “We have road meals,” says the cafe’s manager, noting the favorite dishes of travelers from earlier days, “and healthy choices.” The menu affirms the crossroads of two distinct eras. The historic restoration of Colo’s roadside complex — filling station, cafe, and motel — marks the crossroads of two great highways. Adjacent to Niland’s Cafe, the L & J service station still stands at the juncture of the old Lincoln and Jefferson Highways, much as it has for 87 years. Built in

Ike’s Inspiration in 1919 a young Dwight eisenhower was on duty with a military convoy as it rolled across the country on the lincoln highway in an effort to assess how well america’s roads worked for the army. not that well, it turns out. his trip included a brief visit with mamie’s relatives in Boone, but it was the long haul on the bumpy, largely unpaved road that made a lasting impression. almost four decades later, president eisenhower signed the federal-aid highway act of 1956, establishing the program for funding and building what some have called the greatest public works project in history — the national system of interstate and Defense highways, better known as the interstate system.

May/June 2013 | THE IOWAN

Big fish, Little Pond anglers will have a new place to drop their lines when a new pond in Carroll County is filled with bluegill, bass, and channel catfish in time for the 2014 season. the future 1.9-acre outdoor recreation destination will be on iowa’s map sooner — and cheaper — thanks to new technology. a set of online tools developed by Carrollbased agren, inc. was used by the Carroll County Conservation Board to convert complex data collected through optical remote sensing and eliminate the often

lengthy

and

expensive

process of physical site evaluation for conservation practices and other projects related to agriculture and the environment. “it makes a lot more sense,” says Conservation Board Director mark river of

the

software

use

throughout the midwest. “it’s more efficient to sit behind a desk and work with the software than it is to send an engineer into the field over a period of hours or even days.”

nate

B ro w

1926 by Colo farmer Charlie Reed, the square brick and wood-frame building with its wide canopied roof and skinny fueling pumps was one of hundreds of service stations that sprang up along America’s first coast-tocoast highway in the early years of travel by automobile. In the late 1940s and through the 1950s, at the high-water mark of travel along the Lincoln Highway, Reed’s filling station — joined by the cafe and cabins in the 1930s and a motel in the 1940s — was as much a part of the commercial roadside as the automobile culture that drove it. By the mid-1960s, however, business was being drawn away to a newer alignment of Highway 30 located south of Colo and, farther south, to Interstate 80. Traffic past the L & J slowed to a trickle, and in 1967, following Reed’s death, the station closed. The cafe continued under the ownership of Reed’s grandnephew, John Niland, until 1991. Four years later he shuttered the motel. From the front step of his home just across the old highway, Niland had a good view of his property at Reed/Niland Corner — as the Colo intersection had become known — and the businesses he’d run for nearly 30 years. Fully retired in 1995, he had time to think about what to do with buildings that sat derelict. Bulldozing and replacing old structures with new storage units was an option. “About that time people from the movie Twister were in the area,” he recalls. “They were looking for some buildings to demolish in the film’s tornado.”

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“Iowa’s early road funding was based on property taxes, and the farmer paid if the property abutted the roads.” The Lincoln Highway plan of private funds raised by communities along the route was appealing. What put the Lincoln Highway Association ahead of all other road associations, according to Richard Weingroff, information liaison specialist with the Federal Highway Administration and unofficial 38

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historian of roads, was the publicity machine that grew up around it. While Fisher, Seiberling, and Joy got the wheels turning in an effort to generate a proposed $10 million investment, their LHA achieved headlines in every newspaper along the highway (and along connecting routes), recruited town boosters and women’s groups, and bent the ear of every citizen to become a $5 member of the association to help grow the road. ➢➢➢

Sandii Huemann-Kelly (standing) enjoys sharing food and stories with customers. Prominently displayed are the names of volunteers and donors who brought back the Reed/Niland Corner.

Another option emerged when the Iowa chapter of the resurrected Lincoln Highway Association (LHA) began to take an interest in buildings along the old road. During its 1997 economic development seminar, then-President Bob Ausberger promoted Colo’s old roadside complex as an ideal candidate for renewal. “Cultural tourism featuring the 400-plus miles of the Lincoln Highway in Iowa — including restoration at Reed/Niland Corner — was a natural economic development opportunity.” linColn highway Digital image ColleCtion/University of miChigan

Colo City Clerk Scott Berka was at the seminar and recalls how Ausberger’s enthusiasm “planted the seed” for the new era of Reed/Niland. By the summer of 1998 the Colo Development Group had convinced Niland to donate the land and the buildings, which the city would restore and maintain. A small state development grant enabled landscape architect Adamson and Associates of Des Moines to draw up the master plan, and historic preservationists at LHA helped lay out the rationale for

field of determination Enclosed you find my check for five dollars — I think my fourth payment of dues as a Sustaining Member. I am glad to be able to pay it, as the Lincoln Highway will be the greatest memorial in the world in memory of one of our greatest citizens, and of the greatest world power. I am one of the Civil War soldiers. Lost a foot at Mission Ridge — glad to be yet alive. Will be one (of) if not the heaviest taxpayer towards paving the Lincoln Highway, having two miles of the route through my farm in Greene County, Iowa. — J.e. moss, 1921 moss was both a consul (a county representative) to the lincoln highway association and a farmer who supported paying for and paving the highway. his dedication to lincoln still stands in two lincoln busts in a field at a crossroads near scranton.

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By 2008 the clock at Reed/Niland had been turned back 50 years. The filling station was restored as an exhibit, faithful to an even earlier time in all details but pumping gas, and the site was landscaped and furnished with interpretive displays. Best of all, the cafe and motel, bright in their fresh paint and postcard-pretty, were open for business again.

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In Iowa, towns lucky enough to be on the chosen route held celebrations when the Lincoln Highway was dedicated, October 31, 1913. A three-block-long automobile parade rolled through downtown Clinton, a children’s chorus of 200 sang at the opera house in Belle Plaine, flags decorated the route through Glidden, the Carroll and Mount Carmel bands led a procession through Carroll. Council Bluffs enthusiasts 40

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started a day early with a banquet, stage show, and blaring factory whistles, claiming a place in history as the first in the nation to recognize the highway’s commencement. Weingroff says the founding of the Lincoln Highway was a transformational moment. “Carl Fisher and his associates really had two goals,” he explains. “First was to build and promote a

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restoration. Sitting at the crossroads of the two great highways, the east-west Lincoln Highway and the northsouth Jefferson Highway, the site, they argued, presented an ideal teaching opportunity. Visitors could stop and learn about highway development in the United States. And enjoy a slice of peanut butter pie. In 2000 an Iowa Department of Transportation grant awarded the Reed/Niland Committee $252,000 toward a $360,000 project — on the condition that Colo provide the remainder in matching funds. A sixfigure match was a tall order for a little town of 900 residents, most of whom were more concerned about a budget for schools, streets, and trash pickup. The Reed/Niland Corner Committee, which led the planning, fund-raising, and the restoration work itself, was fortunate to have retired teacher Joe Harper as its head. Outgoing and energetic, Harper took to the work with a passion. “Joe could talk to anyone,” recalls Berka. “He wasn’t afraid to ask for help, and he wouldn’t take no for an answer.” That’s how a dozen people were rounded up on Saturday mornings and driven over to Ames to park cars for Iowa State football games, how others found themselves swinging clubs along a 21-mile stretch of the Lincoln Highway in a golf-a-thon stretching from State Center to Nevada, and how more volunteers paged through the Colo High School directory, tracking down alumni, near and far, and soliciting donations.

george preston family

A Sign of the times those familiar with lincoln highway lore probably know of the near-legendary george preston, who was famous both for his stories and his Belle plaine filling station — purchased for a total of $100 in 1923. Both achieved national recognition when preston appeared on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in march 1990. although some of the station’s vintage lincoln highway memorabilia and signage was auctioned off after preston’s death in 1993, the building still stands as a tribute to both the highway and one of its biggest advocates.

May/June 2013 | THE IOWAN

Get Your Goat Cheese Her first goats served as hiking companions and comic sidekicks. Since Sharon Oamek and her husband, George, took over his family’s 160-acre century farm on the Lincoln Highway in Honey Creek 14 years ago, she’s grown the Nubian, Saanen, and Alpine herd to about three dozen, half of them milking goats (and, yes, all individually named through negotiation with daughter Paige). Flavored by the unique Loess Hills vegetation that’s nourished by that distinctive soil, the milk produced by free-roaming goats becomes small-batch fresh chèvre in Honey Creek Creamery’s four-day process, operating from May to November. Oamek

came

Iowa

from

Pennsylvania by way of Colorado, and says she wasn’t sure what to expect in Iowa but was delighted by the hills, rivers, fertile soil, and natural beauty that greeted her. A career transition to local foods felt natural, she explains, ticking off the area restaurants, grocery stores, and farmer’s markets she serves. Complementing her chèvre with fresh organic herbs grown by a neighbor half a mile away is just

The $189,000 raised far exceeded the amount needed for the first of three matches for three restoration grants. By the time Reed/Niland Corner stood fully restored in 2008, the total project cost was in the neighborhood of $1 million, to which Colo had contributed nearly a third. Volunteers and donors who helped in the fund-raising efforts have a special place of honor in today’s Niland’s Cafe. Huemann-Kelly points with pride to a large black and silver board with row after row of names mounted near the front door. “They made it all happen with their contributions of cash and labor.” The Reed/Niland Corner is expecting many visitors during this centennial year of the historic road. “It’s a great time to drive the Lincoln Highway,” says Huemann-Kelly, who ticks off a list of travelers who have already contacted the complex, including groups from New York City following the route as well as a group of Norwegian auto buffs driving the distance in antique automobiles, a touring club of deaf motorcyclists, Corvette and Model A owners, even the Red Hat ladies. She guarantees that they’ll find a touch of the past in homemade pies, hamand-bean soup with corn bread, and a bottomless cup of coffee. “We call it good food with a side of history.”

one example of the entrepreneurial culture and strong collaboration in the area, says Oamek. “Everybody wants you to succeed.” HO NE

y Cr E Ek

Cr E A M

Ery

Honey Creek Creamery is open to visitors as part of Living Loess every third Saturday, May–October. Learn more online: honeycreekcreamery.com, livingloess.com.

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transcontinental highway from New York City to San Francisco. Second, they wanted the Lincoln Highway to be an object lesson that would demonstrate the need for similar roads around the country. The Lincoln Highway Association achieved both goals.” Funding would fall short, as would the 1915 timetable to finish the paving. Within a year, Lincoln Highway boosters shifted the ambitious mission of upgrading road surface to promoting the highway 42

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(encouraging state, county, and municipal officials to improve the road), marking it, and educating the public. Combating confusion over a growing number of named trails, the Bureau of Public Roads (later the Federal Highway Department) — led by Iowan Thomas MacDonald — established a new route numbering system in 1925 as federal road financing and oversight replaced private dollars and

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Chasing the Future Meskwaki Strength travels a Familiar road story by JiM DunCan Traditional bone dice are used in a game of chance.

It looks like a land developer’s dream. Geese fly in formation over a mix of dog walkers, pickup trucks, and late-model SUVs. Nearly everyone waves at passersby. In its southern parts, the Meskwaki Settlement boasts beautiful, new homes on large acreages overlooking the Iowa River valley from wooded hills. Some provide glimpses of Tama County Road E49, once known as US 30 and before that the Lincoln Highway. A little farther north, gravel roads reveal the fruits of tribal council initiative, a virtual civic center of government. Modern facilities house the Tribal Copyright©2010, iowa Department of transportation. all rights reserveD.

Center, health services, a job-training center, public works offices, youth and senior activities, and a new museum. In far northern parts of this nearly 8,000-acre settlement, industrial farms announce the 21st century, while the breathtaking architecture of Meskwaki Settlement High School marries tribal culture and environmental design. Today’s US Highway 30 divides those newest settlement properties from the older lands. At night, neon signals beckon travelers from miles away to the highway’s south edge, where Meskwaki Bingo Casino & Hotel drives an economic dynamo that spites

Celebrated Bridge when the highway was originally routed through tama on 5th street, county supervisors chose to cross mud Creek with distinct style. the concrete bridge built in 1915 by strawberry point’s paul n. Kingsley — perhaps the most phototgraphed bridge on the entire cross-country route — is sculpted with chunky letters in its side rails announcing the memorial road. tama hosts the 34th lincoln highway Bridge festival may 16–18 with events on 3rd street, two blocks from one of the lincoln highway’s “living” relics. visit tamatoledo.com or phone 641-484-6661 for details.

May/June 2013 | THE IOWAN

Economic success has brought back tribal members and driven new developments, such as the Senior Center where Marie Lasley Davenport (center) often gathers with friends for a game of bone dice.

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direction. The following year Route 66 was officially commissioned as a Chicago to Los Angeles road, soon to become one of the nation’s principal east-west arteries. With its namesake redesignated Highway 30, the LHA was to disband — but not before one final publicity effort. The Association ordered reinforced concrete markers, each embedded with the 16th president’s bronze portrait and red, white, and blue cast44

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concrete stripes. At 9 a.m. on September 1, 1928, Boy Scout troops across the country erected nearly 3,000 markers as a final dedication to Abraham Lincoln. More than six decades later, a newspaper notice in the Ames Daily Tribune caught Margaret Elbert’s attention. She had a love for history but not much knowledge of the Lincoln Highway Association’s roots. The first formal meeting of a newly

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the fickleness of transcontinental highway designers. “We’ve been chasing that highway for a long, long time,” Meskwaki Historical Preservation Director Jonathan Buffalo muses with sly allusion to a larger, ironic perspective. For the Meskwaki, the land where that highway intersected their settlement was the end of a long, hard trail. Living in Iowa since 1735, Buffalo’s ancestors had been chased out of Canada by a genocidal French king and out of the Mississippi River valley by the manifest destiny of white Americans. They had been ordered to a reservation in Kansas, but the divine music of chance — and Iowa liberalism — intervened. An unprecedented 1857 Iowa law permitted the Meskwaki to buy land in the state, giving the tribe rare independence. “There are things you can imagine and things you can’t. Who back then could imagine walking on the moon? Well, selling land to Indians was like that,” says Buffalo. “Except in quirky Iowa.” A quirk in time, he adds, also contributed to this fortunate arrangement. “It could not have happened in 1847 or in 1867, but in 1857 the first Germans, Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians were settling here. They did not speak English, and they needed us to teach them survival skills,” he explains, citing stories about Meskwakis helping the Europeans with midwifery, hunting, and foraging. “After the Civil War, the federal government had become all powerful. States could no

longer make their own Indian policy.” The tribe selected 80 acres along the Iowa River bottoms. Though living out of sight, the Meskwaki were impacted by the country’s progress. The Lincoln Highway sliced through the settlement’s midsection in 1918 (the beginning of the great influenza, just 39 years after a federal court ruled that Indians were human, 18 years after the tribe’s traditional food and clothing — buffalo, deer, and elk — had been rendered extinct in Iowa, and 17 years after white men brought them smallpox and then burned all their dwellings, clothes, and possessions), delivering more change — and opportunity. The Meskwaki’s Powwow, descendent of an ancient harvest celebration, was first held in 1913. By 1935 it was attracting over 35,000 tourists. Travel ads started claiming that “the wild West begins in Tama County.” The tribe was no longer off the national radar. Seeking additional ways to benefit economically, the Stone House was built on the highway in 1941 as a gas station and an outlet to sell Indian crafts. “I would go there every day for the traffic. I had a bead stand outside,” recalls 92-year-old Marie Lasley Davenport, playing bone dice in the Senior Center cafeteria. “I’d sell rings, necklaces, bracelets. It gave me the money I needed because I already had a family.” In 1955 the highway was relocated several miles north to its present location. The tribe owned some land around the new alignment but didn’t have the resources,

Growing Better Roads shortly after a route was established, the lincoln highway association began a series of projects intended to promote concrete paving as a method of improving highway travel. paved sections of the highway known as seedling miles soon began appearing across the nation. after several years of competition and debate over funding and location, iowa’s seedling mile (actually 200 feet shy of a mile) was constructed between august 1918 and June 1919 after george Killian, successful Cedar rapids businessman and lha county consul, coordinated a donation of concrete from northwestern states portland Cement Company. today’s travelers can find the historic section of road halfway between Cedar rapids and mount vernon in linn County.

May/June 2013 | THE IOWAN

says Buffalo, to move infrastructure — waterlines, gaslines, electricity. Disconnected from the economic drivers of midcentury auto traffic, the Meskwaki faced decline. Tough economic times forced many, including Davenport, to move away for jobs. Things didn’t begin to change for the better until 1986, when a successful bingo hall opened inside the Tribal Center gymnasium. By 1989 the bingo operation was making enough money to finance a stand-alone bingo hall on the new Highway 30. That operation evolved into the casino, hotel, and spa that today attracts thousands of visitors each year. Diversifying its economy, the tribe bought its own bank — Pinnacle Bank — in 2009 and now provides 1,200 jobs for its 1,400 members plus others. The tribe’s past is now prologue, displayed and protected like exquisite jewelry. In both the casino lobby and the new museum, tourists gaze through glass display cases at old Meskwaki crafts: ni-Ha-ba (dolls), No-ni-qwe (love flutes), drums, bone dice, cattail mats, hammocks, and beadwork — much like the wares crafted by Davenport in her younger days and the small decorated disks she tosses with friends in the Senior Center. The Meskwaki have a storied history. Jonathan Buffalo works to preserve it.

IOWA LINcOLN HIgHWAy INTErprETIvE cENTEr/ grEENE cOuNTy muSEum

Cementing the Future The temptation to leave a personalized mark in freshly poured concrete was perhaps too great for one individual in Ogden. Those 10 footprints, dating back to 1929 — when this section of the Lincoln Highway was poured — have been preserved throughout numerous road improvement projects on the 500 block of Walnut Street. The motive or destination of the mystery walker was never determined, but the footprints continue to invite others to literally step back in time on this historic roadway.

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Green Light

a Sustainable approach Steers Woodbine story by DouG CLouGH

In the 1920s, as the first coast-to-coast road continued to weave its way across America and through many of its downtowns, workers in Woodbine laid bricks to surface Walker Street, the city’s main street, setting this Lincoln Highway community apart from others. Eighty years later, Woodbine’s determination to steer a sustainable future began by unearthing the timeworn bricks in 2003 and relaying them to look as pristine as the day the highway was reshaped in 1922. The six-block recycling feat was just the first shade of green cast in this town of 1,460.

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Sustainable revitalization in Woodbine includes new energy-efficient street lighting.

During the past five years a combination of state and federal grants as well as private donations from local businesses and individuals has propelled 23 downtown business renovations, each beginning with an energy audit. Jeff Geerts, special project manager with the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA), calls the audits “a sound baseline” for facade renovations and Woodbine’s inclusion as one of only two Green Pilot Communities in Iowa. “Since planning began in 2008, Woodbine’s focus has been on protecting and revitalizing historic structures,” says Geerts, describing sustainable practices that build on

(continued)

incorporated nonprofit bearing the same name was scheduled in the fall of 1992. The Ames resident joined more than three dozen passionate preservers of heritage on, fittingly, a Halloween Saturday in the basement of the City Bank of Ogden. The day began with rolls and coffee and a map taped to the wall. It ended in a sweep of enthusiasm. The LHA was back with its mission of

education and promotion and, this time, historic preservation. Chapters formed in each state along the highway propelled annual road tours, restored markers and buildings, and crafted new murals and interpretive sites. Elbert recruited her husband, Jeff Benson, a city planner with Ames whose knowledge of government workings helped the Iowa chapter win designation of May/June 2013 | THE IOWAN

➢➢➢

Cooperative spaces in Woodbine offer efficiencies and opportunities. Tiffannie Blum (center) demonstrates jewelry making with Patty Reisz (left) and Brooke Croghan at Artisan.

OntO the Map

(continued)

the Lincoln Highway as a heritage byway — the first in the state. It was a labor of love, says Elbert, that connected the couple to people they would never have met otherwise. Jeff LaFollette of Davenport, current Iowa state director of the LHA, hopes future generations will look for Lincoln in Iowa. “Getting youth involved is one of the goals.” LaFollette used to travel historic 48

THE IOWAN | iowan.com

Route 66 with his father, and he now takes his dad’s classic Mustang convertible on Lincoln Highway tours. As soon as his 3-year-old grandson is old enough, he says, he’ll introduce him to Iowa’s main streets and Lincoln Ways and two-lanes in between. Thanks to the Special Collections Library of the University of Michigan and the Iowa Department of Transportation.

local assets. “The building stock was showing its age, and five of the final 23 facade renovations were in the act of being completed. The Green Streets Initiative provided the leverage to complete nearly 20 more.” The 1891 Swain Building, former home of Woodbine Savings Bank and now housing Randy Pryor Real Estate & Auction, is just one example of the success associated with the initiative. “The greenest building is the one that is already built,” says Geerts. “The energy used to put up a new building is so much greater. When a building is reused, we ask owners to emphasize what already exists with energy and water efficiencies.” Woodbine Main Street Director Deb Sprecker is coordinator for the initiative. She works with 80 volunteers, who have given over 9,000 hours to a grassroots strategy for downtown revival. “The challenge was to find modern materials that fit the look and design of the buildings,” she says, pointing to high-efficiency insulation, thermalpane windows, and geothermal heating and cooling units included in the revitalization. “It helped that historic buildings already have green components such as awnings and shared walls to control cooling and heating costs.” Both the Swain and the catty-corner 1878 Whitmore Building have been renovated using mixed-use design, con-

BlUm family & linColn highway nat. mUseUm anD arChives

structing apartments above businesses to generate additional revenue and traffic in the downtown area. Woodbine is unique, says IEDA’s Geerts, in its comprehensive approach and in its community commitment. “The city and the municipal utility became partners, pooling funds for very attractive grants and no-interest loans. Property owners identified opportunities for energy-efficiency improvements over kitchen table conversations.” Replicating the Green Streets approach of using resources efficiently to meet community needs, two different cooperative spaces are now part of the downtown mix. Bracinda Blum opened Artisan in April 2012. Her studio space and gallery, which exhibits and sells work by artisans from surrounding communities and some as far away as Storm Lake, share a renovated building on Walker Street with Back Alley Glass, operated by glass blower Simeon Lisk. Movers and Shakers — another business duo around the corner in a renovated building on 5th Street — brought together tae kwon do and dance instructors a few months earlier. The idea of “bundling” businesses to efficiently use space made business plans more attractive to the owner and developer of the buildings. “If we had pitched our own separate goals, we would have been pitted against one another,” says Blum. “Together we’re bringing people from other towns to Woodbine.” The community’s older established businesses — some of them as old as the highway itself — are also valuable resources in downtown’s green revitalization.

Scouts’ honor as part of the old Lincoln highway association’s final memorializing effort, thousands of members of the Boy Scouts of america from across the nation simultaneously — at 9 a.m. on September 1, 1928 — placed some 3,000 concrete markers along the route at intervals of nearly one per mile. each stout marker was 7 feet long (standing 3 to 5 feet above ground when positioned), weighed 275 pounds, and featured colored concrete, directional arrow, and a bronze medallion displaying the bust of abraham Lincoln. Many have been lost to theft, neglect, or vandalism, but some have been preserved and can still be found near the highway. Linn County Consul Van Becker says that out of the 300 placed in Iowa, 95 survive today; markers at the city park in Logan and at the harrison County visitor center are in their original locations.

May/June 2013 | THE IOWAN

Artist Simeon Lisk’s glasses mirror his creation in his Back Alley Glass studio, part of a multi-business bundle.

“At first I was skeptical,” says Robert Eby, third-generation owner of Eby Drug, the pharmacy his grandfather purchased in 1916 and where his father worked until 1990, when the current generation took over the store. Eby and other downtown business owners eventually contributed to the initiative over a three-year period. “We’ve seen other plans come and go throughout the years. With this go-round, we’ve seen some improvements with a couple new businesses. Retail feeds off itself.” Beyond building and business efficiencies that are preserving and strengthening the economy and community, the Green Streets Initiative includes more, well, green. “We’ve also focused on enhancing our beautiful and prosperous community in ways that both our visitors and residents will find appealing,” says Sprecker. “At our gateways, we’ve planted wildflowers, native trees, and shrubs — all natural, recurring Iowa landscaping.” Sprecker’s own wildflower garden, located behind her office, receives moisture from alleyway rain runoff, a conservation method used in other gardens around town. As a sentinel to Woodbine, the town’s original grain elevator still stands to the north of the Lincoln Highway, and here, too, recycling has been employed. On one side of the elevator, a 60-foot cornstalk sculpture designed by Emily Brodersen of Lincoln, Nebraska’s TMCO Metal and Art has turned what was an eyesore once targeted for demolition into a landmark. Created from Cor-Ten steel, the artwork doesn’t require paint; its rusty surface protects it from deeper corrosion, a picturesque exclamation point to sustainable Woodbine.

LINcOLN HIgHWAy DIgITAL ImAgE cOLLEcTION/UNIvErsITy Of mIcHIgAN

Lincoln Logs Share your Lincoln Highway adventures, memories, discoveries, and stories with us.

iowan.com

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Highway Happenings 2013 Wayfinding

Twin Tours

The lincoln Highway underwent two realignments

The lincoln Highway Association’s East and West auto

during its first two decades, and today’s travelers face

tours meet in kearney, Nebraska, June 30 through July

modern detours and hard-to-reach or even eliminated

5 for a celebration, conference, and workshops. Iowa is

segments. The lincoln Highway Association offers a

part of the Eastern tour, departing from New York on June

handy interactive map covering every mile, coast to

22; stopping for lunch in Mt. vernon, dinner in colo, and

coast (though not every town is marked). Drivers using

an overnight stay in Ames on

smart phones or notebooks can follow

June 28; and hitting Woodbine

the highway, locate Iowa’s numerous

in time for lunch on June 29.

roadside interpretive sites, and avoid

for details on tour stops, visit

that pesky task of refolding the paper

lincolnhighwayassoc.org and

roadmap (lincolnhighwayassoc.org/map).

iowalincolnhighway.org. MIkE kEllY

CRAWFORD CARROLL GREENE Denison

HARRISON Missouri Valley

Woodbine

Carroll

BOONE

STORY

MARSHALL

TAMA Tama

Grand Junction Boone Ames Colo Marshalltown Meskwaki Settlement

BENTON Belle Plaine

LINN

Marion Clarence Cedar Rapids Mount VernonCEDAR

CLINTON

Clinton

DeWitt

Crescent POTTAWATTAMIE Council Bluffs

Singing Travelogue Mezzo-soprano cecelia Otto adopts the persona of a young woman in 1920, telling stories and singing songs of the era as she travels coast to coast as part of American Songline. Her song list — including the era’s music by songwriters and musicians from Woody guthrie to Al Jolson as well as classic offerings such as the opera carmen that entertained patrons in concert venues — will be heard in every state along the lincoln Highway this year. “American Songline celebrates the roads that our ancestors made and allows them to live again

Dual Celebrations The Iowa Department of Transportation celebrates its own 100th anniversary this year. The photographs, maps, timelines, and artifacts that make up Iowa DOT: A Journey in Transportation will be on exhibit June 7–August 4 at the Octagon center for the Arts (octagonarts.org). Traveling displays will make stops in DOT locations, museums, and public libraries throughout the state, and the 75th anniversary time capsule will be unveiled on May 14 at DOT headquarters (iowadot.gov).

through music,” says Otto.

Otto’s only scheduled Iowa appearance will be June 7–8 at Jefferson’s Bell Tower Festival. americansongline.net.

MIkE SMITH, PHOTOgrAPHIc SErvIcES INTErNATIONAl

May/June 2013 | THE IOWAN

Explore Iowa’s Heritage

IowaHeritage TourismGuide 2013

Whether it’s visiting a century farm or standing in a one-room schoolhouse it’s your opportunity to learn about Iowa’s rich cultural heritage and the people, places and experiences that make Iowa the great state it is today. Use this guide to help you plan trips around Iowa to visit these heritage attractions as well as find great places to eat, shop, and stay.

Manning Heritage Park Take a walk through our history and celebrate our festivals and traditions.

Be sure to visit...  1660 German Hausbarn moved from

Germany and reconstructed in Manning in 1999.  Historic Leet-Hassler Farmstead circa 1917 farmhouse and outbuildings on the national Register of Historic Places.  Century-old Trinity Church  And more!

Hausbarn-Heritage Park Manning, IA | 712.655.3131 www.germanhausbarn.com

Lucas County’s Eco-tours are Fun by naturE!

Crystal Lake Cave A LIvInG unDerGrounD mIrACLe!

nArrATeD GuIDeD TourS

new! Gem mInInG SLuICe

Red Bud Tours  Agri-Farm Tours Hay Bale Art Tours  Amish Tours For eco-tour seasonal availability call 641.774.4059.

Three miles south of Dubuque on Highway 52 6684 Crystal Lake Cave Drive, Dubuque, Iowa

Lucas countY tourIsM

563-556-6451 www.crystallakecave.com

www.lucascountytourism.org

The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: Lucas County Tourism Section: Heritage Tourism Date: 4-3-2013

A Great American Show Cave

On-site picnic grounds & gift shop

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

CLIENT: Crystal Lake Cave SECTION: Heritage Tourism PROOF #: 2

GERMAN AMERICAN HERITAGE CENTER Exhibits, Facility Rentals, Programs, Education, Events, Classes, Gift Shop Group Tours Welcome!

712 W. 2nd Davenport, IA gahc.org • 563.322.8844

Explore Iowa’s Heritage

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Explore Iowa’s Heritage

muscatine

Convention and Visitors Bureau 563-343-8587 VisitMuscatine.com

The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: Muscatine CVB Section: Heritage Tourism Date: 3-25-2013 Proof #: 2

May 11-October 27

SWAP M EET Third Wee kend in Au MONONA COU

gust

NTY FAIR Just 38 mi. South of Sioux GROUNDS & GAU KEL PARK City. . .68 mi. North · ONAWA, of Omaha on I-29 and IOWA Hwy. 175

BUY·SEL Something

L·TRADE

for Everyo ne

Concessions

on Grounds

Welcome to Onawa, Iowa Street Rod

stuff for the

guys. . .

· FREE PA RKING · . . .crafts FREE PU · FREE OV BLIC AD & collectibles for the ladies!! ERNIG

MIS HT CAMP E 20’ x 20’ Vendor Spac ING for VE SION · · Auto Parts es just $10.0 & Accessori NDORS · 0 EACH – es · Vehicles · Tractors LOWEST PRIC · Toys · Die for Sale · ES AROUND Cast · Furniture Liter !! · Petroleum · Dolls · Sports Cards ature · Tools · Equip · Glassware Memorabi lia · Crafts · Antiques · Collectible ment · · Clothing · Exhibits · · HUG

& Displays

ALL WEEK

Woodcraft Baked Good · Meta s · Conce

s·

lcraft · END. . .Vend ssions on the Groun It’s ALL at ds · the SWAP ors & Buyers from Six State Like One of s Last Year! MEET. . .and Us, becaus ! Check e YOU MORE!!

We Treat You

ARE!!. Call Us 712-4us out at: http:// www.webspa . .A Swap Meet 23-2411 For Enthus wner.com/u or 712-4 23-2062 sers/classic iasts, By Enthus e-mail us: iasts!! keeponcruis scarclub/ in@hotmail. com

Onawa is the gateway to Loess Hills and just 30 miles south of Sioux City. Come visit us and cruise down the widest main street in the USA!

2013 Calendar of Events

Farmer’s Market Big Blue Run at Lewis & Clark State Park Crazy Day and Garage Sale Loess Hills Prairie Seminar Lewis & Clark Festival Art in the Park Graffiti Night Monona County Fair Swap Meet 21st Annual Onabike Poinsettia Ball

June–October

June 1 June 7–8 May 31–June 2 June 7–9 June 8 June 15 July 10–14 August 18 August 24 December 7

Home of the Eskimo Pie! For more information call 712.423.1801 or email chamber@onawa.com

www.onawachamber.com SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Portrait by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders

Travel along the Mississippi River to connect with 180 years of fascinating Mississippi River history as it unfolded in Muscatine County. From pioneers with indelible spirits, to wealthy lumber barons making their marks, to pearl button industry laborers who revolutionized manufacturing — they all were drawn to the river, they were inspired by it, and they made history. • Pine Creek Grist Mill www.PineCreekGristMill.com • Muscatine Art Center www.MuscatineArtCenter.org • Muscatine History & Industry Center www.MuscatineHistory.org

Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection

Dragon and Sword; Designer Unknown (Turkey); Circa 2004 Photo by John Bigelow Taylor

visit muscatine the Great river road celebrates 75 Years!

Located in Czech Village www.NCSML.org Cedar Rapids, IA 319.362.8500

Explore Iowa’s Heritage

See the largest collection of National Bank Note issues on permanent exhibit in the U.S. Come see America’s commemorative paper money depicting: * Landing of Columbus * Embarkation of the Pilgrims * Signing of the Declaration of Independence * Other great events in our history

FREE ADMISSION

Open mid-May until mid-September Tues. - Sun., 11 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

The Handcrafted Escape

Your experience begins at

Not Another Cookie-Cutter Getaway

800-579-2294

www. AmanaColonies.com

1390 Hwy 141, Coon Rapids, Iowa www.whiterockconservancy.org guestinfo@whiterockconservancy.org 712-684-2964 Ext. 112

Discover The Treasures of Amish Country Open Daily 9-5 • i-90 exit 14 (605) 642-West (9378) • COWbOys, RanCh life, histORy Of RODeO • ameRiCan inDian CultuRe anD aRtifaCts • GOlD mininG, fORestRy anD bentOnite • authentiC antique WaGOns anD faRm implements

• fuRnisheD lOG Cabin anD RuRal sChOOlhOuse • live lOnGhORn Cattle • bOOk stORe & Gift shOp • live COWbOy musiC anD pOetRy

see OuR viRtual tOuR at WWW.WesteRnheRitaGeCenteR.COm

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

CLIENT: High Plains WHC SECTION: HERITAGE TOURISM PROOF #: 1

Iowa’s Best Kept Secret

715 D Ave, Kalona, IA 52247 319-656-2519 www.kalonaiowa.org

Explore Iowa’s Heritage

Tm LincoLn HigHwAy Assoc.

Lincoln Highway Centennial

Harrison County Historical Village & What was Africa like before the slave trade began? Find out in...

New Lincoln Highway/Loess Hills Interpretive Center

Featuring Films, a Scenic Overlook and Trail, Road Demonstration Area with Smartphone Interpretation, Children’s Transportation-Themed Playspace, and More! Between Missouri Valley and Logan, Iowa on Hwy. 30 712-642-2114 • www.HarrisonCountyParks.org/welcome

Happy 100th Birthday Lincoln Highway

Greene County helped build you and you have served us well for the past 100 years.

Eureka Bridge over the Racoon Moss Marker

Bell Tower and Statue of Lincoln

Jefferson Oldest working water tower in Iowa

Open Monday - Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. 55 12th Ave. SE Cedar Rapids, IA 52401 319-862-2101 www.blackiowa.org

The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: Harrison County Conservation County Section: Greene Lincoln Highway Lincoln Highway Museum Date: 3-22-2013 201 E.#:Main Proof 1 Street, Grand Junction, Iowa

Exhibits from the DOT special collections: historic photographs, transportation artifacts, and stories of discovery all on display in the Octagon galleries.

June 7 - August 4, 2013

The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: Greene Co. LH Museum Lincoln HOURS: TUES-FRI 10AMSection: TO 5PM , SATHighway -SUN 1-5PM .ORG | 515-232-5331 WWW.OCTAGONARTS Date: 4-1-2013 427 DOUGLAS AProof VENUE, AMES, IA 50010 #: 2 SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Greene Co. Lincoln Highway Museum

PHOTOS MIKE WHYE / FRANCIE O’LEARY

Grand Junction

Scranton

Explore Iowa’s Heritage

Tom ApgAr

michAel Kelly

miKe Whye

Discover Iowa's history along the

Explore the Lincoln Highway

Lincoln Highway

Celebrate the 100th anniversary of “Main Street Across America”

319 2nd Street • Gladbrook, IA 50635 Open April 1 thru Nov. 30 7 days a week from 1–5 p.m. www.matchstickmarvels.com

www.iowalincolnhighway.org The Iowa Lincoln Highway Association

55th

The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: Matchstick Marvels Section: Lincoln Highway annuaL Date: 4-2-2013 Proof #: 2

Rose Festival

Lincoln Highway Heritage Byway

For events, attractions and custom itineraries:

www.iowabyways.org/lincoln-highway

EXPERIENCE C A R R O L L SHOP! Small town atmosphere

with big city selection & savings!

OUTDOOR EXCITEMENT!

33 mile paved trail Swan Lake State Park • Fishing & Camping • Aquatic Center with Speed Slides • •

June 13–16

Tom ApgAr

EXPERIENCE! Delicious Cuisine

Rose Queen Pageant • Parades • Carnival KCBS Barbeque Competition Truck Pull & Car Show Quilt Show • Wine Tasting Bike Races • 5K Run/Walk Petting Zoo • Chili Cook-off • Fireworks Lip Sync Contest • Street Dances • Concerts Softball & Baseball Tournaments Community Church Service and more!

& Local Wine Tasting!

ERIENC EXP E

Located on the historic LincoLn highway

The Rose Capital of Iowa

State Center

641.483.2559 | statecenteriowa.org

The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: State Center Dev. Section: Lincoln Highway Date: 4-5-2013

SHOP DIN E

For event schedule and registration forms visit statecenterrosefestival.com | bbqstatecenter.com

Check our website for

EVENTS & BUSINESSES! Carroll Chamber of Commerce 712.792.4383 carrolliowa.com

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: Carroll Co. CVB Section: Lincoln Highway Date: 4-1-2013

515.232.0048 A program of Prairie Rivers of Iowa

in focus

In the Moment

I Hate You! I Hate You! I went to the 2008 Iowa State Fair specifically to take photos — and get myself some deep-fried Oreos. Standing beneath the Slingshot, I saw these two girls. Strapped in and holding hands, they rode together through the air. One looked to be having the time of her life. The other looked terrified. If she had been able to speak, her words would have likely been a scream directed at the friend who urged her to ride: “I hate you! I hate you!” Terry Kruse, Clive

THE IOWAN | iowan.com

in focus

hat’s exactly where a great photograph places us. The reality of our own space and time and even mood is suspended, and a vision — captured and sometimes crafted — transports us. The staff of The Iowan always looks forward to the journey we’re privileged to take each year as we review and choose our favorite moments from the hundreds on display at the Iowa State Fair’s annual Photography Salon. (Last year 1,280 photographers submitted nearly 4,000 images; three Salon judges chose 855 photographs for exhibit in the Cultural Center.) Once again, we discovered a vast and varied collection and couldn’t possibly limit our top pick to just one. We settled on six extraordinary images, and we’ll present them in the pages of The Iowan over the next year, starting here and now. The photographs of all finalists in The Iowan’s State Fair Favorites can be enjoyed on our website: iowan.com.

Entry rules for the 2013 Iowa State Fair Photography Salon will be posted online at iowastatefair.org/premiumbooks by April 1. The 2013 theme class is Iowa Waterways. The deadline for entering is Sunday, June 16.

May/June 2013 | THE IOWAN

discover discover discover discover

Lost CiviL War Treasures Found!

TO ELK HORN, IOWA'S

Authentic 1848

DANISH WINDMILL NEW to the Mill Grounds900 A.D. VikingHjem

Visit this 60-foot windmill built in Denmark in 1848, dismantled & shipped to Elk Horn, Iowa in 1976

OPEN DAILY Visit our Danish Import Shop

• Vicksburg Battle flag, found and restored, hangs in remembrance. • A poem, written by young Thomas Gray, relates the tragedy of the Civil War. • Jennie and Becky, two Civil War Mules, buried with honor in the only Mule Cemetery in Iowa.

Commemorating the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War

Nelson Pioneer Farm and Museum

2211 Nelson Lane, Oskaloosa, IA OPEN MAY THROUGH OCTOBER Tues–Sat 10–4; Sun noon–5 www.nelsonpioneer.org • curator@nelsonpioneer.org A non-profit educational institution operated by the Mahaska County Historical Society.

The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: Nelson Pioneer Farm & Village Section: IMA Treasures Date: 4-1-2013 This unique display is now open in the c1905 Study Hall. Proof #: 1 (third square)Anatomically correct, these 81 hand-carved “Dollies,” also known as the “Firewood Floozies,” are 5/8ths human size and complete with handmade clothing, jewelry, and furniture. The artist, Robert Smith, farmed near Battle Creek and created the collection over 20 years. Visit one of the Midwest’s largest county heritage museums to see these treasures and more!

The Dollies

Plymouth County Historical Museum

Danish Windmill • Elk Horn, Iowa

335 First Avenue SW, LeMars, Iowa pchmuseum@gmail.com

I-80 to exit 54, go north 6 miles

www.danishwindmill.com 60

THE IOWAN | iowan.com

The Iowan May/June 2013

Iowa Museum Association Client: Plymouth County Historical Museum

Section: IMA Treasures Date: 4-1-2013 Proof #: 3

Special Advertising Section

discover discover discover discover discover discover discover

Pella Historical Village features many unexpected treasures including the Street Organ Goliath, Wyatt Earp’s Boyhood Home and the tallest working Mill in the United States. Pella Historical Village / Vermeer Mill Pella, Iowa 641-628-4311 www.pellatuliptime.com

The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: Pella Historical Society Carnegie Section: IMA Treasures HistoriCal Date: 4-4-2013 MuseuM Proof #: 3 an iowa Century Museum NEW: Union Cavalryman, James Hopwood Nesmith’s 1863 field diary. A transcription is accompanied by historic maps, his sword, rifle & other personal effects. Hours: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday 1:00–4:00, and the first Friday of Art Walk 6:00–9:00.

112 s. Court street, Fairfield, ia 52556 641.472.6343

carnegie@lisco.com www.FairfieldMuseum.com

The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: Carnegie Historical Museum Section: IMA Treasures Date: 4-2-2013 Proof #: 3 Clay County Heritage Center Clay County History is “Smokin’ Hot!” Learn about Spencer’s 1931 fire and more at the new Clay County Heritage Center! 7 Grand Avenue Spencer, IA 51301 712.262.3304 parkermuseum@smunet.net www.parkermuseum.org

The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: Clay County Haritage Cneter Des Moines Section: IMA Treasures County Date: 3-22-2013 Heritage Proof #: 1 Center Revisit history at the Des Moines County Heritage Center. Visit www.dmchs.org for more details. 501 N 4th Street Burlington, IA 52601 319.752.7449 info@dmchs.org

The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: DSM County HC Special Advertising Section Section: IMA Treasures Date: 3-26-2013 Proof #: 2

Belle Plaine Area Museum & Henry B. Tippie Annex Come experience Belle Plaine’s history along the Lincoln Highway. Visit the Belle Plaine area museum and Henry B. Tippie Annex. 901 12th Street, Belle Plaine, IA 52208 319.434.6093 info@bpiowahistory.com www.bpiowahistory.com

The Iowan May/June 2013 Carrie Lane Client: Belle Plaine Section: IMA Treasures Chapman Catt Girlhood Home Date: 3-22-2013 and Interpretive Proof #: 1 Center Key coordinator of the woman suffrage movement, Catt played a leading role in the successful campaign to win voting rights for women. Open Memorial Day–Labor Day, 10–4; Sunday 12–4; and by appointment. 2379 Timber Avenue Charles City, IA 50616 641.228.3336 www.catt.org

The Iowan May/June 2013 The Danish Client: Carrie Lane Chapman Catt Immigrant Section: IMA Treasures Museum Date: 3-27-2013 Danish Modern: Proof #: 2

Design for Living — unique furnishings of the 1950s & 60s, 30-acre prairie restoration park, fabulous gift shop, open year round. I-80, exit 54, 6 miles north 2212 Washington Street Elk Horn, IA 51531 712.764.7001 www.danishmuseum.org

The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: Danish Immigrant Museum Section: IMA Treasures Date: 4-1-2013 Proof #: 2

The Iowa Children’s Museum Family attraction for hands-on, minds-on fun. Interactive exhibits, including Take Flight!, inspire all children to imagine, create, discover, and explore through the power of play. 1451 Coral Ridge Avenue Coralville, IA 52241 319.625.6255 www.theicm.org

The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: The Iowa Childrens Museum Section: IMA Treasures Date: 3-22-2013 Proof #: 1 Catich Gallery Saint Ambrose University Art exhibitions featuring works by regional and national contemporary artists, SAU Senior Honors students, and the late Fr. E.M. Catich. Located in the Gavin Fine Arts Center. 518 W Locust Street, Davenport, IA 52803 563-333-6444 www.sau.edu/catich

The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: Catich Gallery Section: IMA Treasures Date: 3-26-2013 Proof #: 2

Delaware County Historical Society Nine Buildings (Restored Lenox College): Civil War Monument and Resources. Local, School, Farm, Railroad, Pharmacy and Natural History displays.

Listed on Iowa Scenic Byway and National Register Historic Places 563.926.2639 www.delcoiowahistory.org

The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: Delaware County Historical Society Section: IMA Treasures Date: 3-28-2013 Proof #: 2

Family Museum

The Figge Art Museum

Operate a crane, shop for groceries, sort mail, and climb in a tree house in this fun-filled, interactive museum for kids.

Put a little art in your life and visit today. The Figge is known for art exhibitions, education and some of the Midwest’s finest collections. 225 West 2nd Street Davenport, IA 52801 563.326.7804 www.FiggeArtMuseum.org

2900 Learning Campus Drive Bettendorf, IA 52722 563.344.4106 www.familymuseum.org

The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: Family Museum Section: IMA Treasures Date: 3-25-2013 Proof #: 2

The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: Figge Art Museum www.IowaMuseums.org Section: IMA Treasures Date: 3-26-2013 Proof #: 2

discover discover discover discover discover discover discover The University of Iowa

Pentacrest Museums Doorways to Discovery

Old Capitol Museum and the Museum of Natural History Celebrating history, culture and nature through exhibits, events and public engagement.

On the historic Pentacrest in downtown Iowa City www.uiowa.edu/oldcap • 319.335.0548 www.uiowa.edu/mnh • 319.335.0606

The Musser The Muscatine History Museum‘s and Industry Center rooms host We proudly tell the town’s story in becoming the collections of Pearl Button Capital of the World and continuing paintings, sculpture, and Oriental carpets. today in the 21st Century as a thriving manufacThe Stanley Gallery hosts national, traveling turing and entrepreneurial center led by many art exhibitions. The Iowan May/June 2013including C. Maxwell Stanley, Roy J. Carver and 1314 Mulberry Avenue Client: U of I Pentacrest Museums Stanley M. Howe. Muscatine, IA 52761 563.263.8282Section: IMA Treasures 117 W. 2nd Street, Muscatine, IA 52761 563.263.1052 Date: 3-26-2013 www.muscatineartcenter.org www.muscatinehistory.org Find us on Facebook andProof Pinterest #: 1

National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library The NCSML inspires people from every background to connect to Czech and Slovak history and culture. 1400 Inspiration Place SW Cedar Rapids, IA 52404 319.362.8500 www.nCSml.org

The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: National Czech and Slovak Museum Section: IMA Treasures Date: 3-27-2013 Proof #: 2

The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: Muscatine History & Industry Center Section: IMA Treasures Date: 4-1-2013 Proof #: 4 Porter House Museum Experience the world adventures of a naturalist and his wife, amidst the Victorian elegance that was their home and heritage. 401 W Broadway Decorah, IA 52101 563.382.8465 PorterHouseMuseum@gmail.com www.PorterHouseMuseum.org

The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: Porter House Museum Section: IMA Treasures Date: 3-25-2013 Proof #: 1

Wapello County Historical Society

Carnegie Cultural Center

Wapello County Historical Museum presents exhibits for all ages: railroad memorabilia, doll and toy collections, 1920 fire engine and John Deere exhibit. 210 W. Main Street , Ottumwa, IA 52501 641.682.8676 wchs@pcsia.net www.WapelloCountyMuseum.com

models . . . models . . . models Circuses • Toys • Tractors Trains • Road Builders • Horses & something new every time! 7 North Water Avenue New Hampton, IA 50659 641.394.2354 www.carnegieculturalcenter.org

The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: Wapelllo Co. Historical Musem Iowa Museum Association Section: IMA Treasures Date: 3-25-2013 Proof #: 1

Stroll through historic buildings, quilt galleries & museums to see vintage treasures & rare antiques, or take an Amish Countryside tour. Groups Welcome.

715 D Ave, Kalona, IA 52247 319-656-2519 www.kalonaiowa.org

National Balloon Museum

Muscatine Art Center

The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: Muscatine Art Center Section: IMA Treasures Date: 3-22-2013 Proof #: 1

Iowa’s Best Kept Secret

The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: Carnegie Cultural Center Section: IMA Treasures Date: 3-22-2013 Proof #: 1

• Participative quizzes • Family-oriented • History of Ballooning • Gift Shop • Kid’s Corner in the U.S. from • Video Presentations 1783 to present • Interactive displays • Research Library 1601 Jefferson Way Indianola, IA 50125 515.961.3714 museum@NationalBalloonMuseum.com www.NationalBalloonMuseum.com

The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: National Balloon Museum Section: IMA Treasures Appanoose Date: 4-3-2013 County Proof #: 2 Historical & Coal Mining Museum

David Plowden’s Iowa: A Sense of Place A photographic exhibit July–August 2013. 100 West Maple Street Centerville, IA 52544 641.856.8040 www.appanoosehistory.org appanoosehistory@yahoo.com

The Iowan May/June 2013 ExploreMuseum Iowa’s past at the Client: Appanoose Co. Historical State Historical Museum Section: IMA Treasures with artifacts, programs, Date: 4-1-2013 exhibitions, and more! Proof #: 2

600 East Locust St. Des Moines, IA (515) 281-5111 www.iowahistory.org

Special Advertising Section

www.visitindianola.com  www.visitindianola.com  www.visitindianola.com

www.indianolachamber.com Indianola Chamber of Commerce (515) 961-6269 or 1-866-961-6269

2013 EVENTS Sunday tunes @ Summerset Winery year round Bike Down To I-Town 3rd Friday Apr–Sept Figure 8 Races April–Sept Starlight Cinema Outdoor Movies May–August Wacky Winey Wed @ La Vida Loca May–Sept Indianola Classic Car & Truck Cruise Night (Every Saturday in Community Bank’s Parking Lot) May 18th through September 21st 4-9 pm Farmers Market Saturday June–Oct Wednesdays July–Sept Spring Fling Corvette Show June 1 Bluegrass Tuesday June 4–July 16 Indianola Bike Fest June 8 Chamber Golf Classic June 19 Des Moines Metro Opera June 21–July 14 Romeo and Juliet / Peter Grimes / Elecktra. For tickets or more information please contact the DMMO box office. P: 515.961.6221 www.desmoinesmetroopera.org Warren County Fair July 24–July 29 National Balloon Classic July 27–Aug 4 Open Air Market (on The Square) July 28 Fall into Savings Downtown Merchants Sept 10 Warren County Log Cabin Days Sept 28–29 Halloween Costume Party & Parade Oct 26 Pre-Tour Luncheon, Fashion & Fun Oct 26 Holiday Extravaganza & Lighted Parade Nov 22 Holiday Taste & Tour Dec 13–14 For a complete list of events & attractions in Indianola go to www.indianolachamber.com

Burlap & Roses

“Tastes Like Home Cookin” Family owned since 1946

Vintage and New for Home. Garden. You. Located on the SE Corner of the Square at Salem & Howard Indianola, Iowa 515-238-7720 www.BurlapAndRoses.com t.w.f. 10–5, th. 10–7 sa. 10–4 Facebook/Burlap & Roses

The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: Burlap & Roses Section: Indianola Date: 3-27-2013 Proof #: 1

New Styles. New Look. New You. Let us create a distinctive style that works best for you with quality fashions and unique accessories while providing personalized service! 110 N Howard Street | Indianola, Iowa Mon–Fri 10–5 | Sat–10-4 | 515-961-5991 www.facebook.com/jreneia

The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: J René Section: Indianola Date: 4-8-2013 Proof #: 4 FINE JEWELRY

Treasure’s

115 East Salem Indianola 515/961-3362

(Closed Monday) Tue.-Thur. 6 AM-8 PM, Fri. & Sat. 6 AM-9 PM, Sun. 8 AM-2 PM, Sunday breakfast buffet 8-10:30 AM

Flowers and

Creative Touches

Full service florist, gift shop, silk flowers, plants. Specializing in funeral flowers.  LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED  Open 9–5 M–F / 9–12 Sat / & By Appointment On the square at the corner of E. Ashland & N. Howard, Indianola, Iowa 515.961.2100  www.kerrysflowers.com The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: Kerry’s Flowers FLAVORED FOUNTAIN DRINKS Section: Indianola SANDWICHES • ICE CREAM Date: 4-1-2013 Proof #: 2

Corner Sundry Indianola

• Des Moines

Indianola is just 12 minutes south of Des Moines!

Dean Knudson & Tonya Hedeen 38 years combined experience! 102 North Howard Street, Indianola 515-961-2883

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: Treasure’s Fine Jewelry Section: Indianola Date: 3-27-2013

LIKE US!

—EST. 1949—

101 N Buxton, Indianola M–F 7:30am–6pm • Sat 9am–5pm • Sun 1–5pm

The Iowan May/June 2013 Client: Corner Sundry Section: Indianola Date: 3-27-2013

parting shot

Marking Time Known locally as the Gregory Markers, the concrete indicators stand near the Carroll and Greene county line. Bob Gregory guesses that his great-grandfather placed the markers around the time the Lincoln Highway passed in front of his 1902 farmstead. Bob and his wife, Mary Ann, still farm the 200 acres and maintain — with help from their grandchildren — the unique markers that remind today’s travelers that they are cruising a piece of two-lane Iowa history. Photo by Nancy Schmitz.

THE IOWAN | iowan.com

APR MAY

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JUNE

8 15 21 22 29

AUG

JULY

6 12 13 16 18 20 27 1 2 3 4 7 8 9

SEP

10 16 17 24 7 26 27 28

Practice Night Lucas Oil Knoxville Championship Cup Series Season Opener #1 plus 305’s Pella Motors Race For Your School Night/Lion’s Club Night Lucas Oil Knoxville Championship Cup Series #2 plus 305’s 2nd Annual Hobby Stock, Sport Mod, Modified and Stock Car Shootout

MAY 11 JUNE 15

Lucas Oil Knoxville Championship Cup Series #3 plus 305’s – Slideways Karting Center/Pella Printing Night World of Outlaws Mediacom Shootout Sprint Cars plus 360’s #4 Lucas Oil Knoxville Championship Cup Series #5 plus 305’s – McKay Insurance/Allied Insurance Night Lucas Oil Knoxville Championship Cup Series KCCS #6 plus 305’s Lucas Oil Knoxville Championship Cup Series #7 plus 305’s – Pella Corp & JDRF are Racing to a Cure for Diabetes Night, National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Induction Banquet Lucas Oil Knoxville Championship Cup Series #8 plus 305’s – Pizza Hut Night World of Outlaws Mediacom Shootout plus 360’s #9 Nostalgia at Knoxville Lucas Oil Knoxville Championship Cup Series #10 Mid Season Championships plus 305’s – Farm Bureau Night, Knoxville Raceway Hall of Fame Induction Banquet Lucas Oil Knoxville Championship Cup Series #11 – Marion County Cattlemen, Corn and Soybean Growers Night, 360 Twin Features Night Lucas Oil Knoxville Championship Cup Series #12 & #13, Town Crier 410 Twin Features, Fill the Stands for Hospice Night Marion Co. Fair Entertainment – Hairball in Concert Lucas Oil Knoxville Championship Cup Series #14 plus 305’s HyVee Night, Marion County Fair Marion Co. Fair Entertainment – Full Blown Rodeo Harris Clash – Modifieds and Sport Mod’s Lucas Oil Knoxville Championship Cup Series #15 plus 305’s – 3M Night Lucas Oil Knoxville Championship Cup Series #16 plus 305’s – Candi’s Flowers Night

AUG 1-3

AUG 7-10

23rd Annual Arnold Motor Supply 360 Knoxville Nationals 23rd Annual Arnold Motor Supply 360 Knoxville Nationals 23rd Annual Arnold Motor Supply 360 Knoxville Nationals plus 305’s Knoxville Championship Cup Series Capitani Classic 410’s #17 53rd Annual Knoxville Nationals – RacingJunk.com Qualifying 53rd Annual Knoxville Nationals – Qualifying Night 53rd Annual Knoxville Nationals plus Speed Sport Knoxville World Challenge Pella Motors Night 53rd Annual Knoxville Nationals – Finals Monster Trucks Monster Trucks Lucas Oil Knoxville Championship Cup Series Finals #18 plus 305’s – Walmart Night Knoxville Extreme Enduro 10th Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Store 10th Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Store – Ideal Ready Mix Qualifying Night 10th Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Store – Finals

Schedulee subject subj to change. g Check ec website e for schedule updates. p

SEPT 26-28 Scan to view race videos on YouTube!