Man On The Moon – Where Were You?

OK, so where were you July 20, 1969, when Neil Armstrong became the first human being to set foot on the moon?

I was 16, at home, watching on a black and white television. That didn’t matter because the images were broadcast in black and white, anyway.

It’s a day I’ll never forget. We heard phrases like “The Eagle (lunar module)  has landed” and “One small step for man .” It’s a day you probably don’t forget, either.

So, tell me where you were, what you were doing and what you remember about that day. And give me your name and the town where you live.

I’m writing a column for The Gazette on the 40th anniversary, July 20, 2009, and may include your comments.

Dave Schultz Remembered

When I wrote about longtime Manchester teacher Dave Schultz on May 13 (both in my Ramblin’ column in The Gazette and on a blog post here), I admired his courage.

Dave was a teacher known for being tough, yet loved by hundreds of students, former students and co-workers. And he stood in front of hundreds of them to say goodbye to teaching and to choke back tears because  he had received so much support from them as he fought aggressive esophageal cancer discovered after he had decided to retire.

Dave died at home Friday morning.

Dave and his wife, Janis, had hoped to retired to Missouri where they’d bought some land. Dave loved to hunt and fish and to build wood crafts in his spare time, all things he hoped to do more of in retirement.

As a teacher, Dave touched hundreds upon hundreds of lives. In life, he taught many a valuable lesson. In death, he will not be forgotten.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. Friday at the Hanson Auditorium in Manchester. Visitation will be from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday at Leonard-Muller Funeral Home in Manchester. Inurnment will take place at a later date.

Here’s is Dave’s obituary:

David Michael Schultz was born on May 3, 1951 in Postville, Iowa, the son of Ronald and Wilmarie (Huinker) Schultz. He graduated from MFL High School in 1969. He then received his BA at the University of Iowa and graduated in 1973.

On July 31, 1971, Dave was untied in marriage to Janis L. Grove at the St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Monona, Iowa. Two sons were born to this union. Dave then taught at West Delaware in Manchester for 36 years from 1973 until his retirement in the 2009 school year. He taught Social Studies, Government, and History as well as coached baseball and golf.

Dave passed away on the morning of Friday, July 10 at his residence in the presence of his family. He was 58 years of age. Dave was a member of the United Methodist Church, the past chairman of the Delaware County Democrats, president of Friends of Music, member of the Iowa State Education Association, past president of the Northeast Iowa Education Unit Board, and active with Boy Scouts. He enjoyed making crafts in which he developed Schultz Creations. He also enjoyed hunting, fishing, and the outdoors.

Survivors include his wife, Janis Schultz of Manchester; his sons, Caleb and Jordan Schultz of Manchester; and two brothers, Dennis (Michelle) Schultz of Corvallis, Oregon, and Tim (Carla) Schultz of Monona, Iowa; and other family members.

Dave was preceded in death by his parents; his paternal and maternal grandparents; and his sister, Nancy Wagner.

Online condolences may be sent to www.leonard-mullerfh.com.

“Alive at 125″

Yep, “Alive at 125.” That’s what the folks at Deep River decided to call their quasquicentennial celebration this weekend, not only because it’s easier to pronounce, but because it declares the philosophy of the 300 or so people who still call the community home. (See today’s Ramblin’ column in The Gazette.)

Deep River is located just west of Highway 21 about 8 miles south of I-80 in Poweshiek County. But, you might ask, where is the Deep River?

“We still have a creek.” jokes Ellen Zimmerman, one of the co-organizers of the festivities. “It’s still alive and flowing. Normally, it’s not that deep. The Indians named it because of the steep banks.”

History books say the Sac and Fox tribe named the creek Sap-Pom-Ah, which translates to Deep River. While the creek is 2 1/2-feet deep or less, its banks are 27 feet tall.

If you decide to go, here’s  the full schedule of events.

Friday, July 10: 4 p.m. flag raising, 4:30 p.m. 4-H supper, 7 p.m. Jes Rio Magic Show, 8:30 p.m. Jes Rio Hypnotist Show, 9:30 p.m. Clayton Brown Band, Fireworks at dusk.

Saturday, July 11: 9 a.m. mud volleyball, 9:30 a.m. little kids parade, 10:30 a.m. main parade, Noon Grimm Sisters, Noon to 6 p.m. inflatable carnival, Noon to 4 p.m. antique tractors display, 1 p.m. mini rod tractor pull and kids water fights and “Believers”, 2 p.m. local variety show, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. kids games, 2 p.m. firemen’s water fights, 3 p.m. Civil War band, 4:45 p.m. gold coin auction, 5 p.m. Brad Maxwell Band, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Alumni banquet, 9 p.m. Firemen’s Ball with “Rockin’s Flames” street dance.

Sunday, July 12: 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., continental breakfast, 10 a.m. tent services, 11 a.m. remembrance time, Noon “Ridgerunners,” 1 p.m. Deep River “Hee Haw Players,” 2 p.m. Kingdom Klowns, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Square Dancing, 3 p.m. Peggy Wardenberg, 4 p.m. closing ceremonies.

Golf Quotes – A Par Five

“Golf: A passion, an obsession, a romance, a nice acquaintanceship with trees, sand, and water.”  Bob Ryan

“If you’re caught on a golf course during a storm and are afraid of lightning, hold up a 1-iron.  Not even God can hit a 1-iron.”  Lee Trevino (pictured at right)

“It’s easy to see golf not as a game at all but as some whey-faced, nineteenth-century Presbyterian minister’s fever dream of exorcism achieved through ritual and self-mortification.”  Bruce McCall

“If profanity had an influence on the flight of the ball, the game of golf would be played far better than it is.”  Horace G. Hutchinson

“They throw their clubs backwards, and that’s wrong.  You should always throw a club ahead of you so that you don’t have to walk any extra distance to get it.”  Tommy Bolt

Putt, Putt, Putt — Pow

As Independence Day approaches, we expect to hear the pow, pow of fireworks going off. But, we don’t necessarily  expect to hear the putt, putt, putt, of old tractors.

But, that’s what Vernon Althoff of rural Coggon has been up to this time of year since the mid-1990s. He put out a couple of his tractors for his brother, Lawrence’s, homecoming after heart surgery and has been doing it ever since. (See my Ramblin’ column in today’s Gazette.)

A few tractors led to more including those of brother-in-law Ed Offerman and various neighbors. In all, about 50 tractors could be on display at Vernon’s farm along Highway 13 near the Linn-Delaware county line about midway between Coggon and Ryan.

Vernon adds flags to his tractors to show his patriotism. He also displays the tractors each Memorial Day and Labor Day even though it takes more than a day to move them out and another day to store them again.

Vernon has always been a Case man, which is why you’ll find a 1931 Case CC and a 1932 Case L among his collection that runs right up to the 1983 Case 2294 that he uses today.

The day I stopped, Vernon and Ed were going to work on a couple of 1940s Case VAC tractors to prepare them for the outdoor show.

“We kind of go back and forth from one shed to another,” Vernon said. “Whatever is cool.”

Let’s just hope that it’s a nice day this Independence Day because it’s pretty cool that Vernon and friends share their collection.

Comedian Is Off To Iraq

When you talk to a comdian who plays the national circuit of comedy clubs, you expect to hear a joke a minute.

Not so with Nathan Timmel, 39, of North Liberty, the subject of today’s Ramblin’ column in The Gazette. He’s a real down to earth guy, a Wisconsin native who left Los Angeles for North Liberty three years ago. Of course, love had something to do with it since he’s marrying Lydia Fine in August.

Nathan is preparing for another tour in Iraq to entertain the troops this month. He was over there in 2004 and went to Afghanistan in 2006. It was that trip to Iraq where he collected the string of glass beads from a chandelier that, as you’d expect from a comedian, he draped over his right ear for a picture. (left)

“It’s a ton of red tape, it’s a ton of contracts,” Nathan says about the process to entertain for the military. ”My case was lucky. I did a show and a guy walked up on stage and asked if I’d done any shows for the military. He gave me a card and told me to call this person and to use his name.”

Performing overseas for troops is a lot of long flights (commercial and military), hot weather and sand, and worth about $100 a show, not as much as Nathan can make in the states.

“I don’t care. That’s not the point,” he says. “Probably I’d do it for free.

“The point is to do something not everybody gets to do which is to perform in a war zone. The second point, whether I believe in the war or not, it’s visiting people stuck in the war zone.”

As a comedian who takes a humous look at life, Nathan listens to what’s going on in the camps and picks up some new material by listening to the solders’ gripes. “I can give voice to them, when they can’t do it themselves,” he says. “They seem to enjoy that.”

He knows he’ll also get material for future shows, too. For one, his wedding is scheduled for Aug. 8 after he returns — if he returns.

“So this is a way out from that,” Nathan jokes. “Oh, I got taken hostage. I couldn’t make it back.”

But, honestly, he’s looking forward to marriage. And to living in North Liberty, in Iowa, in the Midwest. It’s just that next birthday that bugs him — he turns 40 in November.

For more on Nathan click here to see his Web site. You can also find a variety of Youtube video clips of his performances.

Why Golf And Sunday Go Together

Golf is the perfect thing to do on Sunday because you always end up
praying a lot.

“Here’s Johnny,” Farewell Farah, Goodbye Jacko

A sidekick, a head of hair and a freak show?

Envelope please.

What were Ed McMahon, Farah Fawcett and Michael Jackson?

That’s what Carnac the Magnificent, played by Johnny Carson on the old Tonight Show, might have said to the deaths this week of three icons of entertainment.

Ed McMahon, of course, was Johnny’s sidekick who became just as well known for hawking the Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes.

Farah Fawcett was the young blonde bombshell who sold millions of posters posed in a red swimsuit, stared in ”jiggle TV’s” “Charlie’s Angels” and married a Six-Million-Dollar-Man. 

Michael Jackson was the cute front man of The Jackson Five who went on to thrill millions of fans with his top selling “Thriller” album and followed it up with “Bad.”

Say what you want about the later lives of all three. When they were at the top of their game, they were American entertainment at it’s best. For that reason, alone, they will be missed.

Pages of Iowa History

“Iowa: A Definitive Collection” edited by Zachary Michael Jack of Oxford Junction and the topic of my Ramblin’ column in today’s Gazette, is really a fascinating read, whether you read only one or two of the 90-plus entries or study them all.

“I wanted it to be big and diverse,” Zachary said in a  telephone interview, espousing how he likes the richness of actual accounts instead of sanitized history book versions. “I hope when you’re done, it leaves readers with a breadth and a scope of Iowa’s history.”

The book includes campaign platforms, creeds, diaries, editorials, ethnographic studies, fictions, government documents, history, humor, journalism, legal opinions, letters, memoirs, pamphlets, speeches and travel narratives from 1831 to 2007. The writers range from the unknown (just as interesting as  the known) to the likes of Carrie Chapman Catt, Bob Feller, Susan Glaspell, Herbert Hoover, Ted Kooser, Aldo Leopold, Glenn Miller, Wallace Stegner, Henry Wallace and Grant Wood.

You can hear Zachary read from the book at 7 p.m. Friday night at Prairie Lights Books in Iowa City (and buy a copy for $26.95 there). To learn more about Zachary Jack click here.

Also, you can learn more about publisher Steve Semken who published it under the Tall Corn Books label of his Ice Cube Press in North Liberty by clicking here.

Why Are You Late For Golf?

John, standing on the first tee: “Hey, Bob, you’re late for golf?”

Bob: I had to toss a coin between golf and church.

John: So, why are you late?

Bob: I had to toss it 17 times.