Town Sign Project: Bremer County

November 30, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

A few weeks back after the semi-annual Howard Family Photo Shoot, I tooled around Bremer County harvesting their town signs. Here are some facts about Bremer County:

+ The population is 24,998 making it the 26th most populous county in Iowa. Below Benton County and above Washington County.
+ The largest town and county seat is Waverly.
+ Named after Fredrika Bremer, a Swedish feminist writer.
+ Home of Wartburg College.
+ Major highways are US-63, US-218, IA-3, IA-27, IA-93, and IA-188.
+ Adjacent counties are Chickasaw, Fayette, Floyd, Black Hawk, Buchanan, and Butler.
+ Is currently at its peak population. Previous high was 24,820 in 1980.

Bremer County has a fair looking courthouse:

Bremer County Courthouse in Waverly, Iowa.

The Bremer County Freedom Rock is located in Readlyn, Iowa:

With Bremer County conquered, this is the updated Photography 139 Conquest Map:

PURPLE=COMPLETED

47 counties completed. 47.5% of the Cyclone State conquered!

Here are the town signs of Bremer County:

Waverly, Iowa
WAVERLY WELCOMES YOU
SISTER CITY EISENACH, GERMANY
Population: 10,394 (+520)

Sumner, Iowa (Partially in Fayette County)
Welcome to Sumner
Population: 2,030 (+2)

Denver, Iowa
Welcome to DENVER
The Mile Wide City
Population: 1,919 (+139)

Tripoli, Iowa
TRIPOLI WELCOMES YOU
Population: 1,191 (-122)

Janesville, Iowa (Partially in Black Hawk County)
EST. 1849
JANESVILLE
WELCOME
The Oldest City in Bremer and Black Hawk County
Population: 1,034 (+104)

Readlyn, Iowa
READLYN
“857 friendly PEOPLE”
& one old GRUMP
WELCOME TO READLYN
Population: 845 (+37)

Plainfield, Iowa
PLAINFIELD
THE HEART OF A RURAL COMMUNITY
Population: 393 (-43)

Frederika, Iowa
Welcome to Frederika
Est. 1896
Gem of the Wapsie
Population: 204 (+21)

Horton, Iowa (Unincorporated)
HORTON
Est. 1856

Maxfield, Iowa – Ghost Town
“Welcome to Maxfield”

I actually don’t think there is a bad town sign in Bremer County. Even the corporate art types like Sumner manage to be interesting. So I’m not awarding a worst town sign in Bremer County award.

Best in Show is very obvious. But if towns like Plainfield and Denver and Frederika weren’t in the same county as Readlyn they could very easily win Best in Show.

Readlyn – Best in Show – Bremer County

There is only one town with an alternate town sign:

Readlyn – Alternate

Best in Show – Adair County

Best in Show – Adams County

Best in Show – Audubon County

Best in Show – Benton County

Best in Show – Boone County

Best in Show – Bremer County

Best in Show – Butler County

Best in Show – Calhoun County

Best in Show – Carroll County

Best in Show – Cass County

Best in Show – Cerro Gordo County

Best in Show – Clarke County

Best in Show – Crawford County

Best in Show – Dallas County

Best in Show – Franklin County

Best in Show – Fremont County

Best in Show – Greene County

Best in Show – Grundy County

Best in Show – Guthrie County

Best in Show – Hamilton County

Best in Show – Hancock County

Best in Show – Hardin County

Best in Show – Humboldt County

Best in Show – Ida County

Best in Show – Jasper County

Best in Show – Lucas County

Best in Show – Madison County

Best in Show – Marion County

Best in Show – Marshall County

Best in Show – Mills County

Best in Show – Monona County

Best in Show – Montgomery County

Best in Show – Page County

Best in Show – Pocahontas County

Best in Show – Polk County

Best in Show – Poweshiek County

Best in Show – Ringgold County

Best in Show – Sac County

Best in Show – Shelby County

Best in Show – Story County

Best in Show – Tama County

Best in Show – Taylor County

Best in Show – Union County

Best in Show – Warren County

Best in Show – Webster County

Best in Show – Worth County

Best in Show – Wright County

The next time we hit the open road for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT we will end up in Kossuth County.

Animals, Carla, Cathie, Elizabeth, Kim, Kio, Micky, Monica, Nature, Shannon, Tamara, Teresa, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 324 – NATURE

November 29, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

NATURE photography turned out to be in the NATURE of several people.

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates. You came to see the submissions:

Elizabeth Nordeen

Kim Barker

Teresa Kahler

Elizabeth Nordeen

Tamara Peterson

Michelle Haupt

Christopher D. Bennett

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Micky Augustin

Teresa Kahler

Carla Stensland

Cathie Raley

Monica Henning

Kio Dettman

But enough dwelling on the past. Time to look to the future. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future! This week’s theme:

BLUE

BLUE! What a great theme for Year 8 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is BLUE photo? A BLUE photo is simply a picture where the color BLUE is a major compositional element of your image.

Think on the following quote while considering your BLUE possibilities:

Artists can color the sky red because they know it’s blue. Those of us who aren’t artists must color things the way they really are or people might think we’re stupid.
-Jules Feiffer

I look forward to seeing your BLUE interpretations.

RULES

The picture has to be taken between 12:01 PM today and 11 AM next Monday. This isn’t a curate your photos project. This is a get your butt off the couch (unless you are taking your picture from the couch) and take pictures challenge.

You can send your images to either bennett@photography139.com OR you may text them to my Pixel 5.

That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing our idea of NATURE in this place that I turn to when I’m feeling blue next Monday.

Boone FUMC, Candid Portrait, Event, Holidays

Boone FUMC Community Thanksgiving – 2021

November 28, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

Once again, this year my church hosted a free Thanksgiving meal for the community. Once again, due to the pandemic it was carryout only. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day:

You can look at all the images by clicking on the link below. They haven’t been edited or curated:

Boone FUMC Thanksgiving – 2021

Hopefully next year we will be able to have people dine-in for Thanksgiving again.

Animals, Art, Black & White, Candid Portrait, Christianity, History, Jesse, Sarah Toot, Travel

NYC – Two

November 27, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

Here is another collection of images from my trip to New York City with Jesse back in 2011. Most of these pictures are taken around Ellis Island, but some are taken where all the white collar criminals hang out. It was scary hanging out in such a bad neighborhood, but we got in and out without anybody getting us involved in shorting stocks.

By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entry to its original glory:

MORE RANDOM NYC – ELLIS ISLAND AND FINANCIAL DISTRICT

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will also involve New York City.

Animals, Flowers, Macro, Nature, WPC - Reminder

Late Morning Lullaby

November 26, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

I guess I should start by wishing everybody a Black Friday. Not one of my favorite days. A tribute to consumerism. Or as my boy Tyler Durden might say:

Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need, and the things you own, end up owning you.

But if you went out there and punched another human being in the face so you could save 10 cents on whatever. Good on you mate. I’m sure that thing that will be clogging up the landfill in 6 months was totally worth it.

Here is a collection of pictures I took in my yard back in May.

That mean I have actually edited every picture I took in the month of May now. WooHoo!

+++++++

This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is NATURE:

NATURE

NATURE! What a great theme for Year 8 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is a NATURE picture? A NATURE picture is simply a picture of something that wasn’t made by humans. Rivers, trees, ponds, wild plants, and wild animals are all examples of possible subjects.

Happy photo harvesting!

Flowers, Macro, Mom

Lovesick Blues

November 25, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett 3 Comments

I guess I should start by saying Happy Thanksgiving. I’m not going to count my blessings like I usually do on this entry this year. At least not today.

Here is another collection of pictures I took of flowers from my Mom’s yard. These pictures were taken on June 24, 2021.

There are still more flower pictures to come.

Art, Flowers, History, Jesse, Lensbaby, Movies, Music, Road Trip

Cerro Gordo and Worth County Auxiliary Images Vol. 1

November 24, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

A few weeks back Jesse and I traveled up north to harvest the town signs of Cerro Gordo and Worth County. This trip included a stop at the Music Man Square in Mason City. Music Man Square is devoted to the history of famous composer. Wilson is most famous for writing the Iowa State pregame song “For I, For S”. Some people recognize the name because he wrote THE MUSIC MAN too. I think there is some little ditty you hear coming out of Iowa City now and again that he also wrote. A song that is based on another one of his hits, “It’s Begging to Look a Lot Like Christmas”. But he is definitely best known for “For I, For S”.

Here is the first collection of pictures from the road trip:

Rockwell

Mason City

The starts the T and that rhymes with P and that stands for Pool!

If you think I was watching the inferior but still great Matthew Broderick version of THE MUSIC MAN that you can watch for free on YouTube while I was writing this post, well you would be right! One of the greatest musicals ever.

Art, Road Trip, Town Sign Project

Town Sign Project: Mills County

November 23, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

A few weeks back I made a solo town harvesting trip to Mills County.

Here are some facts about Mills County:

+ The population of Mills County is 14,484, making it the 54th most populous county in Iowa. Below Harrison County and above Butler County.
+ The largest town and county seat is Glenwood.
+ Was formed in 1851 and named for Major Frederick Mills of Burlington, Iowa who was killed at the Battle of Churubusco during the Mexican-American War.
+ The first settlement was founded in 1846 by persecuted members of The Church of Latter-day Saints.
+ Major highways are I-29, US-34, US-59, US-275, and IA-370.
+ Adjacent counties are: Pottawattamie, Montgomery, and Fremont.
+ Population peaked in 1900 at 16,764.

Mills County has a pretty ugly courthouse:

The Mills County Courthouse in Glenwood, Iowa.

The Mills County Freedom Rock is located in Emerson, Iowa:

With Shelby County conquered, this is the updated Photography 139 Conquest Map:

PURPLE=COMPLETED

46 counties completed. 46.5% of the Cyclone State conquered.

Here are the town signs of Mills County:

Glenwood, Iowa
Welcome to GLENWOOD
Population: 5,073 (-196)

Malvern, Iowa
MALVERN
Population: 1,046 (-96)

Emerson, Iowa
Emerson
NEXT LEFT
EMERSON DAYS SEP 11
Population: 403 (-35)

Silver City, Iowa
Welcome to Silver City
ESTABLISHED 1879
Where “This is Home”
Population: 245 (0)

Mineola, Iowa (Unincorporated)
MINEOLA
EST. 1880
Population: 154 (-12)

Hastings, Iowa
THE CITY OF HASTINGS WELCOMES YOU
EST. 1877
FOUNDED 1869
Population: 152 (0)

Henderson, Iowa
WELCOME TO HENDERSON
Population: 144 (-41)

Pacific Junction, Iowa
Welcome to Pacific Junction
Rise Above the Water
Population: 96 (-375)

Mills County has a pretty solid set of signs. There isn’t really a bad sign in the county. But if I had to pick the worst, I would go with Glenwood. Just boring corporate art.

I might actually surprise some people (even persons that might have to begrudgingly admit that I’m pretty much always right about the town sign each week) with my pick for my favorite town sign in Mills County. It is a little more corporate art looking than I usually pick and if the sign was standalone, I wouldn’t even give it a second look. However, they augment the sign with an incredible tree sculpture and that puts it over the top for me.

Malvern – Best in Show – Mills County

There is one alternate town sign in Mills County:

Malvern – Alternate

Here is the current list of Best in Shows:

Best in Show – Adair County

Best in Show – Adams County

Best in Show – Audubon County

Best in Show – Benton County

Best in Show – Boone County

Best in Show – Butler County

Best in Show – Calhoun County

Best in Show – Carroll County

Best in Show – Cass County

Best in Show – Cerro Gordo County

Best in Show – Clarke County

Best in Show – Crawford County

Best in Show – Dallas County

Best in Show – Franklin County

Best in Show – Fremont County

Best in Show – Greene County

Best in Show – Grundy County

Best in Show – Guthrie County

Best in Show – Hamilton County

Best in Show – Hancock County

Best in Show – Hardin County

Best in Show – Humboldt County

Best in Show – Ida County

Best in Show – Jasper County

Best in Show – Lucas County

Best in Show – Madison County

Best in Show – Marion County

Best in Show – Marshall County

Best in Show – Mills County

Best in Show – Monona County

Best in Show – Montgomery County

Best in Show – Page County

Best in Show – Pocahontas County

Best in Show – Polk County

Best in Show – Poweshiek County

Best in Show – Ringgold County

Best in Show – Sac County

Best in Show – Shelby County

Best in Show – Story County

Best in Show – Tama County

Best in Show – Taylor County

Best in Show – Union County

Best in Show – Warren County

Best in Show – Webster County

Best in Show – Worth County

Best in Show – Wright County

The next time we hit the open road for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT that open road will take us all the way to Bremer County.

Bill, Carla, Elizabeth, Kio, Micky, Nature, Shannon, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 323 – REFLECTION

November 22, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett

REFLECTION is starting out not that popular theme.

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates. You came to see the submissions:

CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT

CARLA STENSLAND

Bill Wentworth

Tamara Peterson

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Kim Barker

Micky Augustin

Elizabeth Nordeen

Kio Dettman

NATURE

NATURE! What a great theme for Year 8 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

While considering your possibilities for you NATURE photo, meditate on the following quote and I’m sure you will come up with a truly spectacular image:

Art is man ‘s nature; nature is God’s art.
-Philip James Bailey

I look forward to seeing your NATURE interpretations!

RULES

You can send your images to either bennett@photography139.com OR you may text them to my Pixel 5.

That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing our idea of NATURE in this place that that is little more than a sampling of my nature next Monday.

Art, Flowers, History, Road Trip

Pocahontas County Auxiliary Images Vol. 2

November 21, 2021 Christopher D. Bennett 3 Comments

This the second and final collection of auxiliary images I took while harvesting the town signs of Pocahontas County. Although almost half of these images were taken in Buena Vista County.

Marathon

Albert City

Pocahontas

I wonder if this is the same Bob from Bob’s Bench?

Don’t get me wrong. I hope the Pocahontas statue stands for a thousand years. I hope that when the apes inevitably taken over the planet from our failed species, that it is the head of this statue that Charlton Heston finds washed up on a beach before he damns humanity to hell. But man is it one ugly statue.