Category Archives: Christianity

Art, Black & White, Christianity, Nature, Railroad, Road Trip

Black Hawk County Aux – Vol. 1

August 24, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Several months back I cruised around Black Hawk County harvesting the balance of their town signs. It was somewhat of an abbreviated trip because I had to be in Marshalltown for supper with my friends from The Witch Hunt. Therefore there wasn’t a ton of auxiliary images from Black Hawk County. In fact, a good portion of the pictures from these posts are going to be from Buchanan County and Marshall County.

Here is the first collection of auxiliary images from the trip:

Cedar Falls – I did not.

Dunkerton

Fairbank

Their attempts to cover up some of the graffiti cracks me up.

Littleton – I feel like this used to be a town sign that these people appropriated.

Jesup – How is all this incredible stuff still up for grabs!

Raymond – Purple Hawks

Gilbertsville

La Port City

There is still another collection of images from this road trip to share.

Art, Christianity, Jesse, Road Trip

Woodbury County Aux – Vol. 2

August 20, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

These pictures were taken on a trip I took with Jesse to Woodbury County to harvest the town signs of Woodbury County. However, all of these pictures were taken in Carroll County. Most of them in Roselle, Iowa in a church we stumbled upon. We were there on a Saturday night and the church was open for a Bible Study Group that meets there. Other than that service, there is no weekly mass at the church. They do the daily Catholic stuff there, but there isn’t many people left in the congregation. The church was recently restored though. It is absolutely beautiful. One of the most beautiful churches I have ever been in.

Carroll County - Roselle - Holy Angels Church

The last three pictures are not of a Freedom Rock. There is only one Freedom Rock per county (except Polk County which has two) and the Carroll County Freedom Rock is in Manning. This rock is in Glidden. I think there are some alternate Freedom Rocks out there. But I haven’t looked into it.

The next time I share auxiliary images from THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT, they will be from Black Hawk County.

Art, Bill, Christianity, Jesse, Railroad, Road Trip

Woodbury County Aux – Vol. 1

August 17, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

A few months back I cruised around with Jesse harvesting the town signs of Woodbury County. I actually took hardly any auxiliary pictures in Woodbury County because we were in a time crunch. We were meeting Bill in Harlan for lunch. So actually hardly any of the auxiliary images on this trip were taken in Woodbury County. Most of them were taken in Carroll County.

Here is the first collection of auxiliary images:

There is still one more collection of these images left to be shared.

Art, Black & White, Christianity, Road Trip, Ruins

Plymouth and Sioux County Aux – Vol. 4

August 9, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

Time for another collection of images from my road trip through Plymouth and Sioux County to harvest their town sign. Most of these auxiliary images were taken in Le Mars. Le Mars has an incredible collection of murals to go with being the Ice Cream Capital of the World.

There is still one more collection of images from this road trip left to share.

Art, Christianity, Road Trip, Ruins

Plymouth and Sioux County Aux – Vol. 1

July 27, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Here is another reminder that Friday is the deadline to turn in your entries for the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest.

Here are the rules:

The foam board rule is important, as the heat in the display window is pretty intense. Pictures tend to melt in the heat if they don’t have a good backing.

Good luck!

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A few months back I cruised around Plymouth and Sioux County harvesting their town signs. I took a large collection of auxiliary images on this trip as I found many fascinating things. These pictures might not be in chronological order because I didn’t have the times of my two cameras synced yet. Poor planning on my part.

Most of these pictures were taken in either Orange City or Remsen. I loved Orange City and it is on my list to visit next year during or near their tulip festival. There are a ton more pictures from this trip to share.

Art, Christianity, Road Trip, Teresa

Clay and Lyon County Aux – Vol. 1

July 20, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

This collection of pictures are the auxiliary images taken when Teresa and I went on a road trip to harvest the town signs of Clay and Lyon County. The timing of some of these are off because it is the first trip I took two cameras on and I didn’t have their clocks synced. Also, a surprisingly large amount of these pictures were taken in other counties. Like Sac and Dickinson for example.

Here is the first collection of auxiliary images:

Auburn

Spencer

This is one of only 3 restaurants of its type in Iowa. I’ve seen all 3 and eaten at none of them.

I want to make a trip to the Clay County Fair this year. It is in September. Hopefully it works out.

Fostoria

At first I thought Wonder Whip must be a company that makes ice cream or frozen treats, but reading the sign closer, they make actual whips. Like what Indiana Jones uses. Probably other people too.

Wahpeton

Hawkeye Point

Lake Park

Dickinson County really has a thing going with Bigfoot.

I have questions…

There is still one more collection of pictures from this trip coming.

Art, Automobiles, Baby Got Rack, Boone County Fair, Christianity, Nature, Road Trip

Osceola County Aux – Vol. 1

July 13, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

I have big news! Big, big news! I would say news of a comeback, but don’t call it a comeback. I been here for years. Rockin’ my peers. Puttin’ suckers in fear. Makin’ the tears rain down like a monsoon. Listen to the bass go boom.

What I’m trying to say is for the first time since 2019, Baby Got Rack is dusting off their fedoras. Putting on their Hawaiian shirts and competing in the rough world of competitive barbecue! How do you like me now!

We will competing at the Boone County Fair this Saturday! So you should probably figure out a way to get there. And try some award winning barbecue, cause I can’t promise it won’t be another 3 years before Baby Got Rack is in full effect again.

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A few months back I went up to Osceola County to harvest their town signs. It was a trip that ended with me calling it a day prematurely because I ran into some sever weather. I originally intended to also harvest the town signs of Lyon County, but weather.

Here is the first collection of auxiliary images from the trip. Many of these taken in Clay County.

Greenville

Royal

Everly

May City

Harris

Ocheyedan Mound

One thing I’ve discovered one these trips is that if you want to leave a legacy behind after you die, create bizarre art in a small town.

Ocheyedan Mound was long thought to be the highest point in Iowa, but then Hawkeye Point was discovered a few miles away. That being said, Ocheyedan Mound is more impressive looking. But Hawkeye Point is more touristy.

There are still several images left to share from this trip.

Art, Christianity, Road Trip, Ruins, Still Life

Cherokee and O’Brien County Aux – Vol. 3

July 9, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Back in February I cruised around Cherokee and O’Brien County harvesting their town signs. Here is the final collection of auxiliary images from that trip.

Granville

Paullina

Calumet

Sutherland

Primghar – Look closely and you will see how Primghar got its name.

Sheldon

Sanborn

Hartley

The next time we look at some aux, it will be from Osceola County. Some from Lyon County too. It was a trip I stopped short on because I ran into a hail storm.

Art, Black & White, Christianity, Road Trip

Cherokee and O’Brien County Aux – Vol. 2

July 6, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Back in February I traveled around Cherokee and O’Brien County harvesting their town signs. This is the second collection of auxiliary images from that trip.

Quimby

Cherokee

Aurelia

Larrabee

Marcus

Germantown

Granville

There is one more collection of images from this trip left to share.

Black & White, Christianity, History, Road Trip

Jackson County Aux – Volume 2

June 25, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Back in late January I made a trip out to Jackson County to harvest the balance of their town signs. Here is the second collection of the auxiliary images I took on that trip:

Saint Donatus

La Motte

Zwingle

Cedar Rapids

Most of the pictures were taken in Saint Donatus. I did not walk the Way of the Cross there to the chapel because it was closed. It is on my list of things to do in the future. I have quite the list of places I want to visit again after I complete THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT.

The next time we hit the open road to look at auxiliary images from THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT, we will visit Cherokee and O’Brien counties.