Author Archive

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Volunteerism

August 20, 2010

Over the last several days I’ve pondered what kind of volunteerism I should partake in*, now that I won’t be spending time visiting Daddy (Deane Gunderson). I’m not sure if I’ll get involved in something brand new (new to me, anyway) or if I’ll go out on a limb with something unfamiliar.

Last night as I was just about to leave the farm to return to Perry, I decided to make a last-minute run into the Rolfe library. As I left the library I saw the as-all-American-as-apple-pie example of volunteerism: Glenn and Sarah Munson and their dog, Ranger, were watering the hanging flower planters that line Main Street. Sarah was driving the pickup down the street stopping at each planter long enough for Glenn to water each planter. And, Ranger was…supervising.

I know that Sarah also helps with the City of Rolfe’s web site, and their pickup has a “Fire Fighter” sign on it. I’m pretty sure that both of those things are just a small representation of their dedication to their community and beyond.

For most people reading this post about volunteerism, it is probably like preaching to the choir. But, I don’t sing in the choir.

.

This view is of Highway 15 (a.k.a. Main Street) in Rolfe, Iowa, looking north. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

.

If you look carefully, you'll see Sarah in the pickup driver's seat. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

.

(Click on photo to enlarge.)

* * * * * * * *

*Yes, a dangling participle here. If you have a better way for me to word it, feel free to let me know!

(Click here to go to Louise Shimon’s blog’s home page.)

Posted in Iowa, Rolfe | 4 Comments »

Rolfe, Iowa, in the ’40s and ’50s: The Wickre Story — Part IV

August 16, 2010

This Rolfe Homecoming pin belongs to my sister, Clara, who was in the same graduating class as Sharon. When this pin was sold at Homecoming time in 1958, Clara and Sharon were juniors; I was yet to turn three years old.

This post includes the fourth (of a total of five) segment of a conversation I had last spring with Sharon (Wickre) Rickard, Rolfe High School class of 1960.

To listen to Sharon elaborate about many topics, including her success selling Homecoming pencils in the early 1950s, click on the following link. This segment is 6 minutes long. SharonWickreRickardDPart4

.

Sharon is shown here in front of the office at Climax Mill and Feed, later known as Climax Feed and Grain, in Rolfe, Iowa. (Even later, the office location behind Sharon became the Farmers Co-op grain elevator office.) The mill was purchased by her parents, Barbara and Henry Wickre, in 1944. Can't you just see this little girl selling those Homecoming pencils in Rolfe's "beer joints" in the early '50s?! (Click on photo to enlarge.)

.

Last spring Sharon and I talked about former Rolfe Public Library personnel. This image is of page 219 of the 1981 Pocahontas County History. When Mother (Marion Gunderson, lower right in the above image) retired in 1998 after working 35 years at the library, Bette Brinkman became the library director followed by Karen Kerns. Penny Tilden is the current director. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

.

Sharon and several others mentioned that the Rolfe Public Library used to be at the location of Rolfe’s current post office (shown on the map posted with the third segment). From there, in 1954 the library’s collection was moved to the building pictured above.

One octogenarian said he thought, but wasn’t sure, that before it was at the post office location, that the library was in the basement of maybe the “old bank building” in Rolfe. If you have a tidbit or a lot of information specifically about that, or in general about the former libraries, if you would email that information to me (at mariongundersonart@gmail.com) or comment below, it could help satisfy inquiring minds. (When a person offers information to me via personal communication, I do not include it on the blog unless I have permission from that person.)

* * * * * * * *

To navigate to the posts that include the first three segments, click on these links: first segment (9 1/2 minutes), second segment (7 minutes) and third segment (6 1/2 minutes).

(Click here to go to Louise Shimon’s blog’s home page.)

Tags:, , , , ,
Posted in Iowa, Rolfe | Leave a Comment »

Rolfe, Iowa, in the ’40s and ’50s: The Wickre Story — Part III

August 7, 2010

Click on map to enlarge text.

In April I talked with Sharon (Wickre) Rickard about her years of growing up in Rolfe, Iowa. Today’s post includes the third of five segments of our conversation. It is about 6 1/2 minutes long and may be listened to by clicking on this link: SharonWickreRickardDPart3 (Links to the first two segments are included below.)

During this third segment, Sharon mentioned locations in Rolfe indicated on the map to the left. Before talking with Sharon, I didn’t realize there had been a public library in the location where the post office now stands.

Sharon also recalled band uniforms. I don’t know if the band uniforms in the photos below were the same that she mentioned; if they weren’t, surely they were similar.

The photo immediately below is actually two merged photos of the concert band from the 1960 The Ram, the official yearbook of the then Rolfe Consolidated School, Rolfe, Iowa. Notice that in the second photo (from the same yearbook), on the drum it says “Rolfe Consolidated School”…not “Rolfe Community School” which is what we called it when I was in high school in the ’70s.

1959-60 Rolfe Consolidated School Concert Band. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

LEFT SIDE of the above photo — Back Row: Mr. Gulbranson, Linda Rickard, Steven Hodoway. Third Row: Susan Lawton, Carol Jean Bennett, Judy Sime, Jim  Wilson, Mary Jane Truelson, Pam Jordan. Second Row: Joann Gaskill, Karen Kirchner, Rita Wax, Dallas Ives, Sara Olerich, Mary Ann Brinkman. First Row: Sandra Ives, Janice Hansen, Janis Loss, Judy Lieb, David Graaf.

RIGHT SIDE of the above photo: Back Row: Judy Jordan, Richard Farlow, Henry Olerich, Kenneth Graaf, Robert Dixon, Marvin Dornath, Linda Leadley, Bruce Beckord, Linda Robinson, Joann Loss, Mary DeWolf. Second Row: Nancy DeWolf, Sharon Wickre, Linda Hughes, Mike Brinkman, Janet Jordan, Helen Gunderson, Ben Lehnus, Rachel Heald. First Row: Mary Jo Lehman, Gwen Heathman, Carol Biedermann, Carol Sandvig, Clara Gunderson, Julie Bielefeldt.

1959-60 Rolfe Consolidated School Marching Band. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

In case you missed them, the first audio segment (9 1/2 minutes) and second audio segment (7 minutes) were posted with accompanying photos in July.

If you got all engrossed in the band photos and forgot to click on the link in the first paragraph (for the third segment), I hope you’ll listen to it now or sometime when you have 6 1/2 free minutes.

(Click here to go to Louise Shimon’s blog’s home page.)

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Splooshing and Rejoicing

August 2, 2010

Today I was home alone after having a tear-filled and fun-filled weekend with family and friends. We buried my dad’s (Deane Gunderson) ashes at a family service on Friday. On Saturday morning we had a community memorial service followed by unwinding with family and friends at Roger and Dan Allen’s Bud Barn* in Rolfe, Iowa. (Roger and Dan are such salt-of-the-earth very, very special friends of my dad; they were instrumental in helping make it possible for my dad to live on the farm until his first fall in May.)

In-between the two services, on Friday was the unveiling of a 3′ x 3′ granite plaque honoring my dad. (Roger and Dan had the idea of the plaque several months ago. The original plan, before my dad passed away, was that Rog and Dan and my family would surprise my dad with the plaque earlier this month.)**

Also, on Friday evening we had a “tour” of Gunderland (the farmstead where my dad lived) with Bill periodically being tapped as a tour guide. Later that night a bunch of us played the won’t-let-you-be-inhibited-game of Quelf.

So, today being at home by myself was the first opportunity for reality to start setting in. My emotions splooshed all over the place with me missing my dad yet knowing that I’ve always been so fortunate, including, well…just getting to comfortably be with him so much and learn from him. I know the bottom line is…..”This is the day which the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Here is my dad's 11 1/2-foot-tall statue of Cy located in Rolfe, Iowa. In the foreground are my dad's seven grandchildren. To the left is the 3' x 3' granite plaque that was unveiled this past Friday. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

On my t-shirt is an image of my dad's Cy statue...the same as the statue on the plaque. (Click on photo to enlarge plaque text.)

I’ll get on the ball and post the remainder of my conversation with Sharon (Wickre) Rickard. Over time I’ll certainly have more photos and information about my dad’s and mom’s lives, as well. (Obviously, I’ll post much more about my mom’s watercolors.) For now, here are a couple of photos from Friday’s plaque unveiling. (Oh, and…if you want a fun game, for sure, Quelf is it!)

* * * * * * * *

In case you missed my dad’s obituary, including links to various articles about him, click here.

*At the Bud Barn site’s home page you’ll hear song lyrics written in 1984 explaining a little about the Bud Barn. The Bud Barn was originally at the farmstead where my dad was born in 1918. The barn was moved into Rolfe in 1982.

**The plaque is there for all to see…up close and “personal.” If you have a chance, I hope you’ll stop by to see it. Even if you are a Hawk fan I think you’ll appreciate my dad’s art of design and welding.

(Click here to go to Louise Shimon’s blog’s home page.)

Tags:,
Posted in Deane Gunderson | 4 Comments »

Like Fawn, Like Ferdinand

July 24, 2010

Just like Ferdinand. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

I especially like the above photo. The fawn reminds me of Ferdinand, the bull in The Story of Ferdinand.

* * * * * * * *

Most mornings this summer Bill has seen a fawn and its mother come up the ravine past our house, move across the lot to the south, and disappear into the soybean field to the southwest of our house. I wonder if this fawn is the same that Bill has pointed out to me so many of those mornings. More photos…..

Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments »

Deane C. Gunderson (Obituary, 1964 Fort Dodge Messenger Article, and Links to Additional Articles)

July 21, 2010

Daddy at the age of 88 in 2007. He looked just like this (including the sparkle in his eyes) until within days before he passed away on July 1st, 2010. The only difference from this photo and seeing him in “real life” was he typically had his shirt collar buttoned and was a true blue Iowa Stater wearing his self-handcrafted ISU bolo tie! (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Deane C. Gunderson, age 91, died on Thursday, July 1, 2010, at the Israel Family Hospice House in Ames.

Deane Charles Gunderson, son of John Christian Gunderson and DeElda (Lighter) Gunderson, was born on September 16, 1918, in Roosevelt Township, Pocahontas County, Iowa.  He graduated from Rolfe High School in 1935 and received B.S. degrees in Agricultural Engineering (1939) and Mechanical Engineering (1940) from Iowa State College.

On July 23, 1941, Deane Gunderson and Marion Abbott were married in Ogden, Utah.  They resided in Waterloo, Iowa, for nearly four years while Deane worked as an engineer for the John Deere Tractor Company.  In 1945 Marion and Deane moved with their three young children to the farm southwest of Rolfe where they continued to live for six decades.

Deane was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity, president his senior year and president of the House Corporation for 24 years.  He was active in the Republican Party, Community Chest and Lions Club, and a Life Master in the American Contract Bridge League.

Deane was a member of the Shared Ministry of Rolfe.  He served on the Board of Directors of the Rolfe State Bank.  He was involved in public education for 25 years, having served on the Rolfe Community School District Board of Directors from 1966 to 1981, and as a Director and Treasurer of the Iowa Association of School Boards from 1971-1991.  He also served on the Board of Governors of the Iowa State University Foundation.

In 1980, Iowa State University awarded Alumni Recognition Medals to Deane and Marion.  He was an avid Cyclone fan and in 1975 created an 11½-foot, welded sculpture of Cy that stood at the north end of the ISU football stadium for many years.  In 1981 Iowa State named Deane as Cy’s Favorite Alum.

During 1975-1977, Deane wrote a weekly column, “Bubbles in the Wine,” for The Rolfe Arrow.

His interests included farming, education, mathematics, welding, land surveying and farm drainage systems.  He specialized in creating larger combinations of farm machinery* for increased production per farm worker.  He seemed to have friends wherever he went and enjoyed engaging them with his stories.  He was proud of his children and delighted in his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  He was a generous person, encouraged others in their endeavors and was noted for pointing out life’s wonders, including Sputnik, the Pythagorean theorem, bean seeds germinating, a fox den in a creek bank, and the West Bend Grotto.

Deane was preceded in death by his wife, Marion, his parents, and one son, Christian Gunderson.  He is survived by his son Charles Gunderson and wife Gloria; daughters Clara Hoover and husband Harold, Helen Gunderson, Martha Carlson and husband Michael, Margaret Moore and husband Jeffrey, and Louise Shimon and husband William; seven grandchildren: Christina Gunderson, Timothy Gunderson, Kevin Carlson, Joshua Moore, Jonathan Moore, Abigail Shimon and Kathryn (Shimon) Moon; three great-grandchildren: Michael Williams, Addison Valletta and Jackson Johnstone; and several cousins.

A memorial service will be held at the Shared Ministry of Rolfe at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 31.

In lieu of flowers, Deane requested contributions be made to the Rolfe Lions Club (P.O. Box 101, Rolfe, Iowa 50581).

* * * * * * * *

*If you have time, I hope you will click TWICE on this photo to read this 1964 Fort Dodge Messenger article about one aspect of my dad’s engineering. (With clicking on the photo just once, the text will likely be too small to read. This is posted with permission granted by The Messenger.)

Daddy’s obituary will be in today’s (July 21st) edition of the Pocahontas Record-Democrat. It will also be in this Sunday’s (July 25th) edition of the Fort Dodge Messenger, the Ames Tribune and the Des Moines Register. Sometime later I’ll post a bunch of photos of Daddy; in the same post as his obituary somehow just didn’t seem to work for me.

If you are able to attend Daddy’s service and luncheon afterward, please be sure to let me know you are there. (I felt so bad that I missed some people who were at Mother’s service.) Also, if you can’t attend the service but think you will be in Rolfe later in the day on the 31st or sometime that weekend, it would be nice if you’d email (mariongundersonart@gmail.com) or call me to let me know; maybe we could work out a way to have our paths cross.

(Cy’s Favorite Alum)

(Click here to go to Louise Shimon’s blog’s home page.)

Tags:,
Posted in Bubbles In The Wine, Deane Gunderson, Iowa, John Deere, Marion Gunderson, Rolfe | 6 Comments »

4 Minor League Games in 4 Nights: Burlington Bees, Quad Cities River Bandits, Clinton LumberKings, and Cedar Rapids Kernels

July 19, 2010

Yesterday (Sunday) Bill and I returned from our self-proclaimed “baseball and crop tour.” The baseball part was all in eastern Iowa; the crop part extended into Illinois.

Each evening of this past Wednesday through Saturday, July 14th-17th, we attended a Class A minor league baseball game. The first three were along the Mississippi River; the fourth was in Cedar Rapids.

These were the Class A Midwest League standings prior to game time on Friday, July 16th. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

While our primary goals were to attend a baseball game each day and to check out crops, we also tried to dine at a brewpub each day. On Monday we intended to go to a brewpub in Fort Madison, only to find out it was closed that day. At the recommendation of a local, we ended up at The Drake restaurant on the riverfront in Burlington. For both Bill and me, the favorite meal of the trip was at The Drake. There I had the “Oak Grilled Salmon” which was delectably complemented with my side choice of risotto. Bill had the “Slow-Smoked Brisket.”

We weren’t all that wild about the beer at any of the brewpubs where we stopped, but we did like the Bier Stube Bar & Grill in LeClaire. The pretzels and beer were authentic enough to stir fond memories of Germany.

Our favorite ballpark ambience was at the Burlington Bees’ Community Field; its atmosphere came the closest to being pure baseball. Although there was a brick and mortar stadium, a sense of Field of Dreams entered our minds. We sat in the third row on the third base side. While players were on deck we could listen to them talk with each other and/or talk with spectators. We liked that the atmosphere wasn’t as commercialized as at the other three ball parks. The only drawback was that we weren’t in the shade; we were at the other ballparks. However, even though temperatures had been into the mid- (maybe upper?) 90s the evening we were at the Bees’ ballpark, with the sun at our backs and the game starting at 7:00 PM, we were comfortable.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Burlington Bees’ regular attendee, Dancing Bob. Bill and I got a kick out of watching Dancing Bob dance to just about every song played over the Bees’ PA system. According to the woman sitting in front of me, Dancing Bob attends every (or almost every?) game and, with his brother, after the games cleans up the stadium. The night we were there, throughout the game Dancing Bob was surrounded by children who danced the night away with him.

Our “worst” ballpark food was our brats at the Quad Cities game. However, in hindsight that might have been because their brats are probably more like authentic German brats (definite casing to chew through, which I’m not fond of), indicative of the German heritage in that area.

On Friday, we went to the German American Heritage Center in Davenport. We didn’t stay long but were glad we stopped. The center’s web site says, “The GAHC building was built in the 1860s, and was originally the Standard Hotel where thousands of German immigrants stayed in the 1800s when they arrived in the area.”

Admittedly, the following photos of Bill and me aren’t all that exciting or telling. Basically we have about one photo from each ballpark, except for at the Clinton stadium where the Klement’s Sausage mascots were just too funny. The following links provide team/stadium information.

Wednesday, July 14th: Burlington Bees

Bill and me before the Burlington Bees game, July 14th.

.

Thursday, July 15th: Quad Cities River Bandits

During the Quad Cities River Bandits game. In the background is the bridge over the Mississippi River.

.

Friday, July 16th: Clinton LumberKings

At the Clinton LumberKings game.

.

Late in the LumberKings' game when things were slow, the three (two seen in this photo) Klement's Sausage mascots were hilarious as they livened things up in the stands. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

.

Saturday, July 17th: Cedar Rapids Kernels

In the 9th inning of the Cedar Rapids Kernels game.

.

(Click here to go to Louise Shimon’s blog’s home page.)

Posted in Travel, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Fit for a Queen

July 14, 2010

Fairfield, Iowa, July 14th, 2010. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

This tire store is next to a mattress store in Fairfield, Iowa. In the background is the sign for “Yummy’s Gourmet Cakes.”

If you are looking for information about my dad’s service and/or obituary, click here. I’ll post more next week about my conversation with Sharon (Wickre) Rickard.

(Click here to go to Louise Shimon’s blog’s home page.)

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Until next week ….. (unless I surprise myself)

July 13, 2010

In my most recent post I had said that by the end of this week I’d post the third segment of my conversation with Sharon (Wickre) Rickard.

I have so much fun posting that I hate to say this, but I need to go back on my word. My intent is to post again by Tuesday or Wednesday, the 20th or 21st of this month (i.e., next week). Maybe I’ll surprise myself and post before then, but I doubt it.

Several people have asked when Daddy’s (Deane Gunderson) memorial service will be, and have also asked when his obituary will be in the newspapers. His obituary (ooooooohhh, it is difficult for me to use that word in reference to Daddy) is intended to be in the Pocahontas Record-Democrat on Wednesday, July 21st. It is also supposed to be in the Sunday, July 25th edition of the Ames Tribune, the Fort Dodge Messenger and the Des Moines Register.

I’ll wait until his obituary is published in the Pocahontas paper on the 21st before I post it on this blog.

His memorial service will be at the Shared Ministry in Rolfe, Iowa, at 11:00 AM on Saturday, July 31st (right before lunch on the last day of the month…if that helps you to remember). Directly afterward will be a luncheon in the church basement.

During the several years before his passing away on July 1st, Daddy had said that if people wished to provide a memorial gift, he liked the idea of it going to the Rolfe Lions Club. If you would like to do so and want to mail your contribution directly to the Rolfe Lions Club, the address is: P.O. Box 101, Rolfe, Iowa, 50581.

If you do attend the service, please (if you don’t mind) be sure to let me know you are there…even if you think I might have seen you there. A few days after Mother’s service in 2004, I became aware that I had not been aware of a long time family friend who had attended the service. I hated it that I missed the chance to talk with him.

“See” you soon with a post sometime next week.

(Click here to go to this blog’s home page.)

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Rolfe, Iowa, in the ’40s and ’50s: The Wickre Story — Part II

July 9, 2010

According to Sharon (Wickre) Rickard, this photo was taken of the feed mill in Rolfe, Iowa, "After my dad opened for business." At the beginning of the Wickre ownership of this business in 1944, it was named Climax Mill and Feed. Later it was Climax Feed and Grain. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

.

Click here to listen to the second of five segments of a conversation I had this spring with Sharon (Wickre) Rickard (Rolfe High School, 1960). This segment is approximately seven minutes long.

The first two segments refer mainly to Sharon’s parents’ Rolfe business shown in the photograph above. All of the five segments have to do with Sharon being raised in Rolfe, Iowa, from 1944 to 1960.

If anything Sharon said conjures up any of your memories, I hope you will email them to me (mariongundersonart@gmail.com) and/or include them below in the comment area.

Sharon’s parents, Barbara and Henry Wickre, purchased Climax Mill and Feed in 1944, the same year they moved to Rolfe with Sharon and her sister Beryl. (Sharon was two years old at the time.) Because the functionality of the business changed at a later date, they changed the name to Climax Feed and Grain. That functionality change is explained in the first segment included in a previous post. That previous post shows two photos…including the “elevator” scale.

In the comment section of that previous post, my sister, Clara, asked me to tell my story about that scale. It IS a fun little story…..now! But, not then! You may navigate to that story by clicking on the following links.

Grain Elevators and Teenage Dating — Part I

Grain Elevators and Teenage Dating — Part II

Subsequent segments of my conversation with Sharon refer to several former and/or present landmarks in Rolfe, Iowa. I’ll most likely have the third segment posted by mid- to late- next week.

* * * * * * * *

(Click here to go to Louise Shimon’s blog’s home page.

Tags:, , , , ,
Posted in Iowa, Rolfe | 2 Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »