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Town Sign Project: Osceola County

April 12, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

A month or so back I made a trip to Osceola County to harvest their town signs. It was a trip that I ended up having to cut short because I ran into a hail storm. It wasn’t the most fun.

Here are some facts about Osceola County:

+ Population is 6,016 making it the 96th most populous county in Iowa. Below Taylor County and above Audubon County.
+ The largest town and county seat is Sibley.
+ The newest county in Iowa. The county government met for the first time on January 1, 1872.
+ The smallest county in Iowa by total area and third smallest by land area.
+ Named for Seminole chief Osceola.
+ Home of Iowa’s highest natural point, Hawkeye Point. Elevation of 1,670 feet.
+ Major highways are: US-59, IA-9, and IA-60.
+ Adjacent counties are Dickinson, O’Brien, and Lyon.
+ Population peaked in 1940 at 10,607.

The Osceola County Courthouse is mostly blah looking:

The Osceola County Courthouse in Sibley, Iowa.

The Osceola County Freedom Rock is located in Ashton, Iowa:

With Osceola County conquered, here is the updated Photography 139 Conquest Map:

PURPLE=COMPLETED

66 counties completed. 66.7% of the Cyclone State conquered.

Here are the town signs of Osceola County:

Sibley, Iowa
WELCOME TO Sibley
The HIGHLIGHT of IOWA
Population: 2,860 (+62)

Ocheyedan, Iowa
OCHEYEDAN
HOME OF THE MOUND
Population: 439 (-51)

Ashton, Iowa
Welcome to ASHTON
Est. 1882
Population: 436(-22)

Melvin, Iowa
MELVIN
THE BIGGEST LITTLE CITY IN IOWA
Population: 199 (-15)

Harris, Iowa
Welcome To HARRIS
Est. 1889
Home of the Wolves
Population: 151 (-19)

May City, Iowa – Unincorporated
MAY CITY
Est. 1889
WORLD’S ONLY MAY CITY

Osceola County only has 5 incorporated towns and while there isn’t a great town sign in the county, there really isn’t a terrible one. So I’m not going to give out a last place ribbon. The purple ribbon I’m going to give to Melvin:

Melvin – Best in Show – Osceola County

Only Melvin had an alternate town sign:

Melvin – 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 – Bremer County

Best in Show – Buena Vista County

Best in Show – Butler County

Best in Show – Calhoun County

Best in Show – Carroll County

Best in Show – Cass County

Best in Show – Cedar County

Best in Show – Cerro Gordo County

Best in Show – Cherokee County

Best in Show – Clarke County

Best in Show – Clinton County

Best in Show – Crawford County

Best in Show – Dallas County

Best in Show – Decatur 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 Sow – Harrison County

Best in Show – Humboldt County

Best in Show – Ida County

Best in Show – Iowa County

Best in Show – Jackson County

Best in Show – Jasper County

Best in Show – Jones County

Best in Show – Kossuth County

Best in Show – Linn County

Best in Show – Lucas County

Best in Show – Madison County

Best in Show – Mahaska County

Best in Show – Marion County

Best in Show – Marshall County

Best in Show – Mills County

Best in Show – Monona County

Best in Show – Monroe County

Best in Show – Montgomery County

Best in Show – O’Brien County

Best in Show – Osceola County

Best in Show – Page County

Best in Show – Palo Alto County

Best in Show – Pocahontas County

Best in Show – Polk County

Best in Show – Pottawattamie 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 – Wayne County

Best in Show – Webster County

Best in Show – Winnebago County

Best in Show – Worth County

Best in Show – Wright County

What county we will visit next time we visit THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT is slightly open in the air at this moment. But we will visit somewhwere.

Andy, Becky, Bill, Carla, Cathie, Christianity, Dawn, Elizabeth, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Michelle, Micky, Monica, Sara, Shannon, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 343 – GRATITUDE

April 11, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

I’m proud to report that many people have found something in their live to give thanks for in photographic form.

As of 10:59 AM on Monday, April 11, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks:

+ Joe Duff – 1 week
+ Dawn Krause – 1 week
+ Mike Vest – 1 week
+ Linda Bennett – 2 weeks
+ Suzie Brannen – 2 weeks
+ Evie Gorshe – 2 weeks
+ Monica Henning – 2 weeks
+ Jesse Howard – 2 weeks
+ Logan Kahler – 3 weeks
+ Teresa Kahler – 11 weeks
+ Tamara Peterson – 11 weeks
+ Carla Stensland – 11 weeks
+ Michelle Haupt – 12 weeks
+ Micky Augustin – 13 weeks
+ Andy Sharp – 14 weeks
+ Bill Wentworth – 15 weeks
+ Cathie Raley – 19 weeks
+ Elizabeth Nordeen – 20 weeks
+ Shannon Bardole-Foley – 22 weeks
+ Kio Dettman – 25 weeks

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:

Becky Parmelee – 1 week

Dawn Krause – 2 weeks

Dawn Krause

Teresa Kahler – 12 weeks

Andy Sharp – 15 weeks

Monica Henning – 3 weeks

Suzie Brannen – 3 weeks

Sara Lockner – 1 week

Sara Lockner

Carla Stensland – 12 weeks

Carla Stensland

Kio Dettman – 26 weeks

Kio Dettman

Linda Bennett – 3 weeks

Linda Bennett

Michelle Haupt – 13 weeks

Cathie Raley – 20 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett

Elizabeth Nordeen – 21 weeks

Joe Duff – 2 weeks

Micky Augustin – 14 weeks

Logan Kahler – 4 weeks

Logan Kahler

Bill Wentworth – 16 weeks

Kim Barker – 1 week

Kim Barker

Tamara Peterson – 12 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley – 23 weeks

30 submissions from 21 participants! That is a solid week!

There were only 3 streaks snapped this week. Vest couldn’t extend his streak to two weeks. Evie and Jesse had two week streaks snapped.

Here are the current top streaks:

1. Kio – 26 weeks
2. Shannon – 23 weeks
3. Elizabeth – 21 weeks
4. Cathie – 20 weeks
5. Bill – 16 weeks

26 weeks in a row for Kio! That is 6 straight months of submissions!

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:

ORANGE

ORANGE! What a great theme for Week 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is an ORANGE image? An ORANGE image is simply and image where the subject of the image OR a major compositional element of the image is the color ORANGE.

While considering possible subjects for your ORANGE theme meditate on the following quote:

Orange is red brought nearer to humanity by yellow.
– Wassily Kandinsky

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 your idea of ORANGE in this place that contains a little bit of yellow humanity next Monday.

Formal Portrait

Kyle – Volume 4

April 10, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Time for another Formal Portrait Sunday. This Sunday we are revisiting Kyle’s Fall Summer Shoot:

Here are some of my favorites:

Next Sunday, we will revisit the Baugher Family Photo Shoot.

Animals, Black & White, Camping, Commercial, Cousin Amy, Flowers, Formal Portrait, Funk, Jesse, Macro, Night, Photoshop, Road Trip, Sara, Still Life, Willy

2011-06-13, 2011-06-14, and 2011-06-17

April 9, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

The grand majority of the pictures in the folders 2011-06-13, 2011-06-14, and 2011-06-17 are from a trip to Kalona to eat an authentic Amish meal with Funk, Sara, and Cousin Amy. This was before Funk became a total badass and started spending her free time climbing mountains in Peru. There are also a couple pictures here from a camping trip to Ledges and a pictures I took and poorly photoshopped for the United Way of Story County.

I miss Kalona. I will need to go there at some point this year, and not just for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT.

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

RWPE Y2 #23 – DEPTH OF FIELD

GUYS’ NIGHT

LIVE UNITED

KALONA ROAD TRIP

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve a trip to a baseball game.

Jesse, Logan, Naima, Photo of the Day, Teresa, WPC - Reminder

Fat Mum Slim – March 2022

April 8, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Last Thursday I completed another month of the Fat Mum Slim Photo A Day Challenge. I don’t know how many winners are this month, but I think there are at least a couple of them in there.

Here are the pictures from March:

March 1 – the weather

March 2 – something in my kitchen

March 3 – skyline

March 4 – makes you feel nostalgic

March 5 – books

March 6 – a corner

March 7 – a bus stop

March 8 – sunset

March 9 – from inside the car

March 10 – a meal you made

March 11 – somewhere with a good view

March 12 – an insect

March 13 – a close-up

March 14 – something you’ve never photographed

March 15 – a playground

March 16 – a local café

March 17 – something you think is boring

March 18 – flowers

March 19 – a grocery store

March 20 – something weird

March 21 – a colourful place

March 22 – a garden

March 23 – a leaf

March 24 – a sunbeam

March 25 – graffiti

March 26 – an empty road

March 27 – a tree

March 28 – a shop window

March 29 – an old building

March 30 – a stranger

March 31

I post these pictures daily on my Fat Mum Slim Instagram account. You can follow that here:

@fmsbennett

The April prompts are all food related:

April 1 – ON MY PLATE
April 2 – A VEGETABLE
April 3 – A FRUIT
April 4 – BREAKFAST
April 5 – LUNCH
April 6 – DINNER
April 7 – RAW
April 8 – COOKED
April 9 – IN MY PANTRY
April 10 – DESSERT
April 11 – A GREEN FOOD
April 12 – SNACK
April 13 – A FAVE RECIPE
April 14 – INGREDIENT
April 15 – KITCHEN
April 16 – 2 THINGS
April 17 – A DRINK
April 18 – A WHITE FOOD
April 19 – HEALTHY
April 20 – INDULGENT
April 21 – A RED FOOD
April 22 – SAVOURY
April 23 – SWEET
April 24 – IN MY CUP
April 25 – ON MY FORK
April 26 – YUK!
April 27 – I EAT HERE!
April 28 – THIS IS DELICIOUS
April 29 – UTENSIL
April 30 – IN MY BOWL

Hopefully there are some winners in this month too!

+++++++

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

GRATITUDE

GRATITUDE! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what exactly is a GRATITUDE picture? It is simply a picture of something or somebody that you are thankful for. It could also be somebody showing thanks as well.

Happy photo harvesting!

Andree, Angie, Baier, Basketball, Becky, Brandon, Carla, Dawn, Derrick, Elizabeth, Faust, Flowers, Jason, Jesse, Jill, Jorge, Linda, Lowell, Macro, Michelle, Micky, Pastor Sarah, Robert, Russell, Sara, Shawn Lockner, Tim, Toby

Fall Apart Again

April 7, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Year 17 of the Roundball Oracles has come to an end. On Monday night, Kansas used a flaw in the court that injured North Carolina’s best player to help them overcome the Tar Heels in the last minute of the game. It was an otherwise great game and it is sad that it was partially decided by an injury due to a flaw in the court construction.

Ben Baier was the winner of this year’s pool. He is the youngest to ever win it. He joins this list:

PAST ROUNDBALL ORACLE CHAMPIONS

2022 – Ben Baier
2021 – Micky Augustin
2020 – No Tournament
2019 – Becky Parmelee
2018 – Paul Golden
2017 – Paul Golden
2016 – Michelle Haupt
2015 – Derek Dohrman
2014 – Brandon Kahler
2013 – William McAlpine
2012 – Lowell Davis
2011 – Carrie Baier
2010 – Mark Wolfram
2009 – Mark Wolfram
2008 – Mark Wolfram
2007 – Tim Peterson
2006 – William McAlpine
2005 – William McAlpine

Where there is a champion, there also has to be a last place. This year’s The Sara “winner” was Joey Randazzo.

Past “The Sara” Winners

2022 – Joey Randazzo
2021 – Rachel Gildersleeve
2020 – No Tournament
2019 – Russell Kennerly
2018 – Robert Henning
2017 – Shannon Bardole
2016 – Laura Priest
2015 – Derrick Gorshe
2014 – Sara Lockner

Note, Olivia Baier actually finished below Mr. Randazzo, but as she is a child, she is not eligible for The Sara.

Here are the Final Standings:

1. Ben Baier – 273 points
2. Sara Lockner – 271 points
3. Shawn Lockner – 242 points
4. Rachel Gildersleeve – 242 points
5. Linda Bennett – 232 points
6. Becky Parmelee – 231 points
7. Carla Stensland – 229 points
8. Angie DeWaard – 224 points
9. Humble Narrator – 224 points
10. Tim Peterson – 223 points
11. Jason Baier – 217 points
12. Lowell Davis – 215 points
13. Derek Dohrman – 215 points
14. Carrie Baier – 214 points
15. Sarah Karber – 210 points
16. Micky Augustin – 209 points
17. Elizabeth Nordeen – 206 points
18. Jorge Rios – 203 points
19. Brandon Kahler – 203 points
20. Will Baier – 197 points
21. Jordan Toot – 197 points
22. Corey Faust – 197 points
23. Andree Jauhari – 192 points
24. Jesse Howard – 191 points
25. Dawn Krause – 182 points
26. Derrick Gorshe – 181 points
27. Michelle Haupt – 179 points
28. Jackson Faust – 176 points
29. Jason Stensland – 168 points
30. J.J. Baier – 164 points
31. Russell Kennerly – 161 points
32. Toby Sebring – 157 points
33. Robert Henning – 151 points
34. Jill Gorshe – 147 points
35. Joey Randazzo – 143 points
36. Olivia Baier – 141 points

I’m already looking forward to next season. Iowa State will have to replace a lot from this year’s team and one of their assistant coaches, but could be a good team. You never know. This year’s team definitely wasn’t supposed to make the Sweet Sixteen!

+++++++

Seems like a good time to share some flower pictures from last year:

I still have some flower pictures left to share from last year.

Art, Black & White, Christianity, History, Railroad, Road Trip, Ruins, Vest

Decatur and Wayne County Auxiliary Images Vol. 1

April 6, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Several months back I cruised around Decatur County and Wayne County with Vest harvesting their town signs. This is the first collection of auxiliary images I took on this trip:

Weldon

Le Roy

Humeston

Garden Grove

Leon

You may recall a few weeks ago I talked about a sweet free gift I picked up in a strange park in Bremer County. It was on this trip, that I decided to pay that gift forward.

Free gift’s new home.

I left it on a picnic table in a nice park in Garden Grove. What happened to it from there? I will never know.

Art, Road Trip, Town Sign Project

Town Sign Project: O’Brien County

April 5, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

A month or so back I made a trip to O’Brien County to harvest their town signs.

Here are some facts about O’Brien County:

+ Population 13,796 making it the 56th most populous county in Iowa. Below Harrison County and above Allamakee County.
+ Largest town is Sheldon. The county seat is Primghar.
+ Named for William Smith O’Brien an Irish revolutionary.
+ The county seat was named from the initials of the eight persons involved in platting the town.
+ Home of an Indian Village State Preserve.
+ Major highways are US-18, US-59, IA-10, IA-60, and IA-143.
+ Adjacent counties are Osceola, Clay, Cherokee, and Sioux.
+ Population peaked in 1940 at 19,293.

The O’Brien County Courthouse looks an awful lot like Boone’s Courthouse:

The O’Brien County Courthouse located in Primghar, Iowa.

The O’Brien Freedom Rock is located in Sanborn, Iowa:

With O’Brien County conquered, here is the updated Photography 139 Conquest Map:

PURPLE=COMPLETED

65 counties completed. 65.7% of the Cyclone State conquered.

Here are the town signs of O’Brien County:

Sheldon, Iowa (Partially in Sioux County)
Welcome to Sheldon
Population: 5,512 (-495)

Hartley, Iowa
Hartley
the city with a heart
Population: 1,605 (-67)

Sanborn, Iowa
SANBORN
ESTABLISHED 1878
Population: 1,392 (-12)

Paullina, Iowa
PAULLINA
Population: 982 (-74)

Primghar, Iowa
WELCOME TO PRIMGHAR
Population: 896 (-13)

Sutherland, Iowa
Welcome to SUTHERLAND
Est. 1881 & Inc. 1883
Population: 629 (-20)

Calumet, Iowa
CALUMET
Population: 146 (-24)

Archer, Iowa
ARCHER
QUASICENTENIAL
JULY 5, 6, 7
125 YEARS OF SMALL TOWN PRIDE
Population: 117 (-14)

Germantown, Iowa – Unincorporated
Welcome To Germantown
SETTLED 1882

I think that O’Brien County has a very solid set of signs. There isn’t any giant boring rock monstrosities. But the worst one is very evident. It is Calumet.

The purple ribbon this week is a little bit harder to decide. I do like Hartley’s sign. I also really like the sign for Germantown. Sutherland and Sanborn also have solid signs. But I’m giving Best in Show to Paullina.

Paullina – Best in Show – O’Brien County

There are several alternate town signs in O’Brien County:

Sutherland – Alternate

Sanborn – Alternate

Primghar – Alternate

Paullina – Alternate

Calumet – 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 – Bremer County

Best in Show – Buena Vista County

Best in Show – Butler County

Best in Show – Calhoun County

Best in Show – Carroll County

Best in Show – Cass County

Best in Show – Cedar County

Best in Show – Cerro Gordo County

Best in Show – Cherokee County

Best in Show – Clarke County

Best in Show – Clinton County

Best in Show – Crawford County

Best in Show – Dallas County

Best in Show – Decatur 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 Sow – Harrison County

Best in Show – Humboldt County

Best in Show – Ida County

Best in Show – Iowa County

Best in Show – Jackson County

Best in Show – Jasper County

Best in Show – Jones County

Best in Show – Kossuth County

Best in Show – Linn County

Best in Show – Lucas County

Best in Show – Madison County

Best in Show – Mahaska County

Best in Show – Marion County

Best in Show – Marshall County

Best in Show – Mills County

Best in Show – Monona County

Best in Show – Monroe County

Best in Show – Montgomery County

Best in Show – O’Brien County

Best in Show – Page County

Best in Show – Palo Alto County

Best in Show – Pocahontas County

Best in Show – Polk County

Best in Show – Pottawattamie 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 – Wayne County

Best in Show – Webster County

Best in Show – Winnebago 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 visit Osceola County.

Andy, Bill, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Evie, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kio, Linda, Logan, Michelle, Micky, Monica, Naima, Shannon, Still Life, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 342 – FRAMED

April 4, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

FRAMED has proven to be a theme that is fair in popularity.

As of 10:59 AM on Monday, April 4, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks:

+ Kim Barker – 1 week
+ Linda Bennett – 1 week
+ Suzie Brannen – 1 week
+ Evie Gorshe – 1 week
+ Layla Gorshe – 1 week
+ Jesse Howard – 1 week
+ Sara Lockner – 1 week
+ Monica Henning – 2 weeks
+ Logan Kahler – 2 weeks
+ Becky Parmelee – 2 weeks
+ Teresa Kahler – 10 weeks
+ Tamara Peterson – 10 weeks
+ Carla Stensland – 10 weeks
+ Michelle Haupt – 11 weeks
+ Micky Augustin – 12 weeks
+ Andy Sharp – 13 weeks
+ Bill Wentworth – 14 weeks
+ Cathie Raley – 18 weeks
+ Elizabeth Nordeen – 19 weeks
+ Shannon Bardole-Foley – 21 weeks
+ Kio Dettman – 24 weeks

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:

Evie Gorshe – 2 weeks

Monica Henning – 3 weeks

Dawn Krause – 1 week

Andy Sharp – 14 weeks

Joe Duff – 1 week

Joe Duff

Kio Dettman – 25 weeks

Kio Dettman

Tamara Peterson – 11 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley – 22 weeks

Bill Wentworth – 15 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett

Suzie Brannen – 2 weeks

Michelle Haupt – 12 weeks

Cathie Raley – 19 weeks

Linda Bennett – 2 weeks

Teresa Kahler – 11 weeks

Jesse Howard – 2 weeks

Logan Kahler – 3 weeks

Logan Kahler

Elizabeth Nordeen – 20 weeks

Micky Augustin – 13 weeks

Carla Stensland – 11 weeks

Mike Vest – 1 week

26 submissions from 21 participants! That is a solid week!

There were only 4 streaks snapped this week. Kim, Layla, and Sara could not build on their submissions from last week. Becky had her two week snapped.

Here are the current top streaks:

1. Kio – 25 weeks
2. Shannon – 22 weeks
3. Elizabeth – 20 weeks
4. Cathie – 19 weeks
5. Bill – 15 weeks

GRATITUDE

GRATITUDE! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what exactly is a GRATITUDE picture? It is simply a picture of something or somebody that you are thankful for. It could also be somebody showing thanks as well.

While considering possible GRATITUDE subjects, meditate on the following quote:

“Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: It must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all.”
– William Faulkner

I look forward to seeing your 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 GRATITUDE in this place that I am thankful for next Monday.

Black & White, Formal Portrait, Jesse, Kalista, Kelly, Saydie, Taylan

The Howards 2021 – Volume 2

April 3, 2022 Christopher D. Bennett

Time to share a second collection of photos from the Howard Family Photo Shoot from a few months back. The sun was super harsh that day. As it absolutely always seems to be. But I still think we managed to do some good work.

Next Formal Portrait Sunday will be another collection of senior pictures from Kyle.