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November 28, 2009 |
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Ruth Virginia Feldman, 91, formerly of Rolfe and Ames,
died on Thursday at Bethany Manor in Story City. A
private family service will be at Bethany Manor Chapel
on Sunday, November 29. Burial will be in Riverside
Cemetery in Spencer on Monday, November 30. Adams
Funeral Home and Cremation Service in Ames has been
entrusted with the arrangements. Ruth was married to Lou
Feldman, former Rolfe veterinarian. They are the parents
of three Rolfe graduates: Jack, Mark, and Shari. |
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October 22, 2009 |
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Geraldine H. Zeman, age 81, of Rolfe, passed
away on October 20, at the Pocahontas Community Hospital.
Funeral Service will be at 10:30 a.m., Friday, October 23, at,
St. Margaret's Catholic Church in Rolfe, with Fr. Andrew
Hoffmann officiating. Burial will be in St. Margaret's Catholic
Cemetery near Rolfe. Visitation is from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday,
Oct. 22, at the Powers Funeral Home of Rolfe, with prayer
service at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Funeral Home.
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October 17, 2009
September 17, 2009
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Although this Web site focuses on Rolfe High
School and the Rolfe community, we thought it appropriate to
give a little attention to the history of Pocahontas. It's
now the locus of the school district that includes students from
the Rolfe area. In 1992, our editor, Helen Gunderson, worked
with Ruth Ahlrichs, director of the Pocahontas Public Library,
to produce a 28-minute
video about that town, focusing on its Main Street. We've
divided the show into three segments since the YouTube limit is
10 minutes and have posted here.
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August 3, 2009 |
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Verle Duane Howard, age 85, died on Saturday,
August 1, at the Rolfe Care Center. Verle and his wife
Velma and their children lived in the
Philippine Islands in the 1950s, where he was a
power plant supervisor for Voice of
America until 1962.
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They returned to the Howard homeplace southwest of Rolfe. Verle and Velma lived there until the 1990s, when they
retired and moved to a home in Rolfe. He had been in declining
health for the past few years and moved to the care center a
week ago.
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Velma and Verle are the parents of six RHS alumni who graduated
in the 1960s and 1970s: the late Joy, Randy, and Monte, and the
surviving siblings Hope, Kelly, and Karen.
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We thought visitors would enjoy two new YouTube
videos by editor Helen Gunderson about an
informal group of bicycle enthusiasts in Ames who
helped friends move to new homes last month, using
bikes and trailers. And maybe some of you will get ideas for
how you, your family, friends, and community could
put bikes and trailers to work and rely less on
cars, pick up trucks, and vans.
Bicycles and trailers would be great for errands such as
getting groceries or delivering them for someone
else; taking casseroles and cakes to a
church dinner; hauling coolers of ice, beer,
lemonade, hot dogs and beef patties to a picnic;
and making business deliveries.
Also, it doesn't seem like gasoline needs to be
burned in order for athletes to work out. A
school district could have a small fleet of
bikes and trailers to take athletic equipment
and sports beverages to football fields and
softball diamonds for team practices. (Same
would be true for the likes of a youth baseball
program.)
Most of the trailers in the videos are made by Jim
Gregory of Ames who operates a business called
Bikes at Work
out of his home and constructs the trailers in his
basement. One of his services is that of
transporting interlibrary loan materials from the
Iowa State University library to the Ames Public
Library. Otherwise, if the materials went via the
postal service, they would go to Des Moines
first, then back to Ames, with at least a one day
delay. Check the
Bikes at Work
Web site for all sorts of information and links
related to using bicycles and becoming less
dependent on gasoline-powered vehicles.
Perhaps communities such as Rolfe (especially
where there is such a flat terrain, short
distances from one side of town to the other,
and uncomplicated traffic) could
invest in a few trailers and hire folks (young,
retired, and others) to
use them to pick up recycling materials.
The trailers
also work well in the winter, especially when the
bicycles pulling them are outfitted with studded
tires. Just ask Helen who uses her bicycle and
trailer for almost all her in-Ames travel. She
swears by studded tires and sees many advantages
to getting about without a car. At the top of
her list is her perspective that urban biking is
fun and personally rewarding. |
July 19, 2009
July 15, 2009
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We've received word from Glenn Markley (RHS
1955) that fellow classmate
Larry Snook passed away
early this afternoon. Funeral arrangements are
pending and we will attempt to post them in a timely
manner. Mr. Markley also stated he has plans on
attending Larry Snook's funeral.
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We identified three more photos in the Greater
Rolfe Days parade
gallery.
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On January 30, we posted some
thoughts about corn
bread and said that editor Helen Gunderson would be
writing an essay about corn issues. Well, she never
did write the article, but today, she submitted her
favorite corn bread
recipe.
If any of you have a corn bread recipe to post,
please send it to us.
Thanks.
July 14, 2009
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Chris Simonson (class of 1979 and our "memorial
board" editor) sent information about the photo of
one of the Farmall entries in last week's Greater
Rolfe Days parade. Mark Leubenthal, head mechanic at
West Bend International, drove an 806 Farmall
tractor that his family restored. Mark is related
through marriage lines to Connie Nelson (RHS 1978).
parade photo
gallery
July 13, 2009
July 11, 2009
July 9, 2009
July 8, 2009
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Editor Helen Gunderson again has dug into her
video archives and this time, she found footage of the 2000 Greater Rolfe Days parade. And since the 2009 event is this
weekend, we decided to post the following YouTube
video. Enjoy. She has also revamped the video of
RAGBRAI parading through Rolfe in 2007 and posted it
on YouTube.
Click here
to go to the RAGBRAI video.
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July 7, 2009
- The death of LaVonne Howland reminded
editor, Helen Gunderson (RHS 1963), of wonderful video footage in her archive of LaVonne handing out
balloons at the last worship service at the Rolfe
Presbyterian building. That was in 1995 shortly
before the facility was razed. With the current ease
of editing video and posting programs on YouTube,
Helen decided to post a video of the last service
as well as the lunch and commemorative service that
same Sunday. Recently departed Barbara Olerich has a
cameo role in the video as do other folks who are no
longer with us.
July 6, 2009
July 3, 2009
- Posted obituaries for
Jerry Loss
(RHS 1970) and
LaVonne
Howland (RHS and Rolfe resident).
- Later in the day, we posted some of LaVonne's
reflections about her rural heritage that she
shared in an oral history interview with RHS editor
Helen Gunderson. The interview was part of the
project Helen has conducted about the rural
neighborhood where both both women grew up.
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The popular
soda fountain at Calligan Sundries circa 1978.
Women left to right: LaVonne Howland, Rose Calligan, Erla Howland.
LaVonne died this past week. Rose is also
deceased. Erla is now Earla O'Neil and continues
to live in Rolfe. |
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June 26, 2009
- Fran Chambers Measom (RHS 1946) notified us that
her sister
Mary-Isabelle Chambers Flanigan (1943)
died on July 3, 2007. Fran is sending us the
obituary, and we will post it when it arrives.
June 25, 2009
- If you are interested in learning more about the
FoodInc documentary that was released this month,
check out
one of the on-line reviews that includes an
interview with the producer.
June 24, 2009
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There is a new
documentary about agriculture that was released
this month titled
FoodInc.
Check out the
trailer
on the film's official site and
another version of the trailer on YouTube.
It sounds like there are many showings in East
Coast theatres but few in the Midwest. But there
will be an opportunity to see it in Des Moines
at the Fleur Cinema, beginning on July 10, the
only scheduled opening in Iowa. See the complete
schedule for showings across the country.
You can also visit the
Fleur Cinema Web site. There are also a
couple of on-line corporate critiques of the
film. One is by
Monsanto Corporation. Another is a blog
entry dated June 10, 2009, and the
American Farm Bureau site. This should be of
particular interest to Rolfe-related people
because the town is in the heart of the
agricultural belt and since agricultural issues
are cultural issues that affect people across
the nation and around the world, whether living
in small towns or cities. People vote with their
pocket books when they buy food, and it is
important to be informed to be able to make
informed choices. If there are Rolfe-related
folks who would like to submit thoughts
regarding this film, please contact editor
Helen Gunderson (RHS
class of 1963). |
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June 4, 2009
Here's a note from our editor, Helen Gunderson (RHS
1963), about some places to shop in the spirit of
the slogan "reduce, reuse, recycle."
| Yesterday,
I went to Iowa State University
Surplus, which is a great place
to find lots of things,
including used computers and
filing cabinets. I was there to
get filing cabinets for my
church and personal use. A
friend had brought his pickup
truck to transport them, but it
wasn't big enough to carry all
of them in one run.
A friendly fellow with van
and trailer, who operates a
consignment store in Ogden,
Iowa, said he was driving to
north Ames for an appointment
anyway and volunteered to
deliver my cabinets to my house.
What a deal. I felt the best way
I could thank him would be to
let people know about his place.
It's the
Iowahub.
I also know of a store called
Consignment Gallery in
Gilbert (four miles north of
Ames) that provides a great
service.
ISU Surplus is open from
noon to 3 pm on Wednesdays
except the occasions when it is
closed due to holidays such as
it was the Wednesday after
Memorial Day. Also, the
Iowa Department of
Transportation located in
Ames has vehicle and small
equipment auctions. The next one
will be September 19. And Ames
has great Salvation Army and
Goodwill stores.
So if you want a little
vacation excursion, drive the
back roads of Iowa and see the
scenery, avoid the big box
stores, stop at some of these
places, and find a good place to
eat--perhaps even having a
picnic at Dolliver Park
southeast of Fort Dodge, McHose
Park in Boone, or some other
park on your route. And if you
want to know my favorite Ames
restaurants, drop me a
note.
I would be willing to create
a list of auction, consignment,
and thrift store places and
publish it on this site. So if
interested, please send me your
recommendations with pertinent
contact information and Web site
addresses. Then we could
encourage Rolfe expatriates to
take a central and northwest
Iowa excursion with site-seeing,
shopping, picnicking or dining
out in the Rolfe area. |
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May 24, 2009
- Today we discovered an
on-line transcript of the 2009 commencement
address of Paul Hawkens at the University of
Portland and wanted to share it with the rest of
you. Hawkens is a renowned entrepreneur, visionary
environmental activist, founder of
Wiser Earth
and author of many books—most recently
Blessed
Unrest.
May 7, 2009
May 5, 2009
April 16, 2009
- We have heard of other recent deaths of RHS
alumni:
Kenny Pederson of the class of 1953 and
Garth Smith of the class of 1959.
- Also,
Melba Jones, age 87 and former owner of the
Sunny Brook Cafe, died. Her memorial service is at 11
am on Monday, April 20, at St. Paul's Lutheran
Church in Rolfe with visitation at 10 am.
- Also, here is the
link to the obituary for John Rickard.
- Thanks to all you who have sent use relevant
information. Your eyes and ears and submitting
material is important to the success of this site.
We have a backlog of names and obituaries to add to
the
Memorial Board, but hope to get that job done
within a few weeks.
April 5, 2009
- Kathleen Rickard Gentes wrote us today to report
the death of her cousin, John Rickard. He was a
member of the Rolfe class of 1968 and died at his
home in Colorado on March 31 of cancer. One of his
sisters,
Arlene Rickard Steele, a member of the class of
1965, died on April 10, 2008, in Saint Charles,
Missouri. Thank you Kathleen.
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March 26, 2009
We posted a
column by our web site editor, Helen Gunderson (RHS
1963) proposing the formation of gardening circles. The
following is an excerpt:
| The White House garden is a reminder of the
Victory Gardens that American families grew
during World War Two. In that era, victory meant
defeat of Germany and Japan. In this era,
victory can mean finding successful strategies
to deal with the dire social, economic, and
environmental challenges that confront the
nation and world. Gardening and the use of
locally-grown food have many values–some that
can be important in facing those challenges.
The taste is exceptional; the nutrition,
superb. There is more control over food safety,
less waste in packaging, lower consumption of
fossil fuels to transport the food, and benefits
to our state’s environment, economy, and
communities. The use of locally-grown foods can
also counter the trend of parts of America, even
our Midwestern rural areas, becoming like
colonies dependent on urban and corporate food
producers. It is scary to imagine a future era
when Iowa would have no farmers in the business
of raising quality food for those who live here.
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January 30, 2009
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In last week's Pocahontas Record-Democrat newspaper, there
was a two-page spread that saluted the area's corn growers. It's
an annual piece of advertising with much, if not all, of the
material coming from the Iowa Corn Growers Association. (Of
course, it was not listed as advertising but was published in
the news section.)
The most intriguing aspect of spread was the
suggestion that people eat their corn. There was also a recipe
for cornbread, but it said nothing about a person obtaining
locally-grown corn and grinding it. The best corn for cornbread
might be some open-pollinated, yellow dent corn, or blue corn.
We wonder just how
many Pocahontas area farmers grow that kind of healthy corn and not
the high tech, bio-engineered corn that costs around $230 bushels
per bag of seed for planting and demands the use of lots of chemical
fertilizers and herbicides. Our editor, Helen Gunderson, will be
writing an essay about the matter to post on this site. She
recommends that those people who wish to learn alternative views
about corn production in Iowa view the 2007 documentary film,
King Corn.
She also
suggests that folks who like cornbread find a source of
open-pollinated, yellow dent corn or blue corn and make their own
cornbread. One place for the yellow dent kind is
Paul's Grains in central
Iowa. But there may be others within Pocahontas County or nearby. We
look forward to learning about those sources of corn. Helen will
also be posting her favorite cornbread recipes and would like
visitors to submit theirs for posting on this site.
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January 24, 2009
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We thought Rolfe loyalists and other visitors to
this site might be interested in viewing a short
video and
portions of a book that our editor, Helen Gunderson (RHS 1963),
has done for her project The Road I Grew Up On. She posted
the files today, but seeds of the project were sown 20 years ago
when she lived in California and returned to Iowa for a series of
photo forays. She now lives in Ames, Iowa.
January 14, 2009
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We have learned from a college classmate of Dick
Gray that Dick died of cancer in 2008. He had taught vocational
agriculture at Rolfe from 1952 to 1954. In 2005, he posted an
entry in the "where they are
now" database. When we get further information about Dick, we will
post it.
January 8, 2009
January 2, 2009
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