A few week backs I ran up to Grundy County after work on a Friday and harvested their town signs. Here are the auxiliary images from that road trip:
Holland
Grundy Center
Morrison
Dike
I didn’t spend as much time exploring Grundy County as I do most counties since I was racing the light, but there are a few towns I’d like to visit again.
A few Saturdays back I cruised around Butler County with Carla harvesting their town signs. Here are some facts about Butler County:
+ Population is 14,628 (2019 estimate). That makes Butler County the 54th most populous county in Iowa. Below Kossuth County and above Harrison County.
+ The county seat is Allison.
+ The largest town is Parkersburg.
+ Organized in 1854.
+ Named after William Orlando Butler a U.S. Army general and a congressman from Kentucky.
+ Major highways are IA-3, IA-14, IA-57, and IA-188.
+ Adjacent counties are Floyd, Bremer, Black Hawk, Grundy, Franklin, Chickasaw, Cerro Gordo, and Hardin.
+ Population peaked in 1940 at 17,986.
The Butler County Courthouse isn’t much to look at:
The Butler County Freedom Rock is located in Greene, Iowa.
With Butler County conquered, this is the updated Photography 139 Conquest Map:
31 counties completed. 31.3% of the Cyclone State conquered.
Here are the town signs of Butler County:
Clarksville, Iowa
EST. 1853
CLARKSVILLE
Population: 1,439
Shell Rock, Iowa
Shell Rock
Population: 1,296
Greene, Iowa (Also Floyd County)
WELCOME TO GREENE
Population: 1,130
Aplington, Iowa
APLINGTON
Northeast Iowa’s best-kept secret
Population: 1,128
Allison, Iowa
Welcome To ALLISON
Population: 1,029
Dumont, Iowa
DUMONT
SMALL TONW BIG HEART
Population: 637
New Hartford, Iowa
NEW HARTFORD
City of Gardens
Population: 516
Bristow, Iowa
BRISTOW
Home of Iowa’s Smallest Church
Population: 160
Aredale, Iowa
WELCOME TO AREDALE
It’s not your Dale,
It’s not my Dale,
it’s Aredale.
Population: 74
Butler Center, Iowa – Ghost Town
Site of BUTLER CENTER
BUTLER COUNTY SEAT
1860-1880
Butler County has this weird phenomenon where the larger a town gets, the worse its sign gets. It is hard to pick out the worst in show because it could go to any of the larger towns in the county. But I have to give it to Shell Rock. Their sign is even more disappointing when you juxtapose it with a mural in the downtown area that I will share at a different date.
I think there are 3 contenders for Best in Show for Butler County. Bristow, Aredale, and New Hartford. with Aplington being a dark horse contender. However, I have to give it to New Hartford and not just because I love their gardens. Which I do, I love their gardens.
A few towns did have alternate signs, including a fascinating one in Bristow, where the man who was the father of moder hot air ballooning was born. Here is an article from the Iowa History Journal I found on him:
Though brothers Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier in Annonay, France, are credited with successfully launching the first free flight hot air balloon carrying human passengers in 1783, the invention of the first modern hot air balloon and the popularity of competitive ballooning is tethered to mid-20th century Iowa.
Gas-powered dirigibles made appearances in Iowa in the early 1900s at county fairs and other events. Some were shaped like teardrop hot air balloons seen today floating over Iowa, while others were designed like airships with propellers. Most, however, were crude by today’s standards as pilots often had to parachute to the ground as they were unable to control their landings.
Improved safety, maneuverability and distance were ushered in when the first modern hot air balloon was developed in 1960 by a native Iowan inventor.
Paul E. “Ed” Yost, who was born in Bristow in 1919, is considered the father of modern ballooning. He devoted his life to flying, particularly balloons. He was employed by the U.S. Army Air Corps from 1943 to 1945; he flew airplanes in Alaska after the war until 1948; and in 1949 worked as a senior engineer and tracking pilot for the High Altitude Research Division of General Mills in Minneapolis, Minn., where he worked on many scientific high altitude balloon projects, including launching a 3.2 million-cubic-foot balloon carrying U.S. Navy instruments into the stratosphere to study cosmic rays in 1952.
Four years later, Yost and three others from General Mills formed Raven Industries. The U.S. Navy Office of Naval Research commissioned Raven Industries in Sioux Falls, S.D., to develop a hot air balloon capable of carrying one man and enough fuel to fly for up to three hours, reach an altitude of 10,000 feet and be reusable.
He worked with gasoline, kerosene, coal, oil and other fuels until he found propane worked best. It’s what pilots still use today.
“The first balloon didn’t have a basket; just a seat that looked like a lawn chair,” said Becky Wigeland, director of the National Balloon Museum in Indianola and co-author of “Indianola: Ballooning Capital of Iowa.” “It had upside down tanks on two sides and a small burner. It totally changed ballooning because they’d never had something that was reusable, and the only balloons people then had seen were gas balloons.”
The new balloon, with a nylon envelope, had its first flight in Bruning, Neb., on Oct. 22, 1960. Yost went on to develop a number of items related to ballooning, and he held 21 patents on balloons and lighter-than-air mechanisms. Among them, was a lightweight, disposable balloon that was used to send U.S. leaflets behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War and a balloon that carried a camera to photograph enemy territories. Another invention of his was a fast-deploying parachute used to deliver supplies to U.S. troops during the Vietnam War. He never sought compensation for his inventions because he saw them as necessary to solve problems and create techniques and devices that would make ballooning safer and possible.
Just three years after his invention, Yost and Don Piccard flew a modern hot air balloon nicknamed “Channel Champ” over the English Channel from England to France in a little more than three hours. The publicity generated by the flight brought worldwide attention to the fact that dependable, practical and relatively inexpensive balloons were now accessible to anyone.
Almost immediately, a new sport was born thanks to Yost. In 1961, the Balloon Federation of America, the ruling body of balloonists in the United States, was developed. The first National Hot Air Balloon Championship was held in Michigan in 1963 and the rest, as they say, is history.
Ballooning takes flight in Iowa
The first person in Iowa to own a modern balloon was an attorney from Fort Dodge named Don Kersten. He purchased a balloon from Piccard, who brought it to Iowa in July 1965 and taught him how to fly it.
“After three lessons, Piccard told him, ‘Ok, you’ve got your license,’” Wigeland said with a laugh.
The balloon was named “Merope” after his wife and that year he competed in the U.S. National Championships where he took third place. In the late 1960s, he was one of about a dozen hot air balloonists in the U.S. and he was instrumental in bringing the U.S. National Championships to Iowa.
So suck on that Indianola!
Here are the alternate signs of Butler County:
Clarksville – Alternate (Yes Mollie B.!)
Parkersburg – Alternate
Greene – Alternate
Greene – Alternate
Dumont – Alternate
Bristow – Alternate
Here is the current list of Best in Shows:
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 – Clarke County
Best in Show – Crawford County
Best in Show – Dallas County
Best in Show – Franklin County
Best in Show – Greene County
Best in Show – Grundy County
Best in Show – Guthrie County
Best in Show – Hamilton 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 – Polk County
Best in Show – Poweshiek County
Best in Show – Sac County
Best in Show – Story County
Best in Show – Tama County
Best in Show – Union County
Best in Show – Webster County
Best in Show – Wright County
The next time we check in on THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT, we will visit Warren County. Yes, the county so many of you have been wondering about. Finally on the docket.
The theme TOY really spoke to a ton of people this week. There were a bunch of submissions and I didn’t even send out any reminder texts this morning because I was dealing with wrapping up the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest. My first one as a chair was some mixed and melty, but I’m already flush with ideas (mine and others) on how to make improvements for next year. But I’ll get into a Pufferbilly Days recap at a later date.
But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or Pufferbilly Days. You came to see the submissions:
Micky Augustin
Teresa Kahler
Elizabeth Nordeen
Jesse Howard
Linda Bennett
Christopher D. Bennett
Bill Wentworth
Joe Duff
Cathie Raley
Kio Dettman
Lori Backous
Kio Dettman
Lori Backous
Shannon Bardole-Foley
Michelle Haupt
Amy Peterson
Tamara Peterson
Amy Peterson
Mike Vest
A great week 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:
MOVEMENT! What a great theme! But what is a MOVEMENT photo? Simply put, a MOVEMENT photo is a picture of something that is in motion. There are two different ways to capture movement. Use a quick shutter speed to freeze movement. Use a longer shutter speed to blur motion.
When you are thinking about creating your MOVEMENT image, think on the following quote:
Light in nature creates the movement of colors.
-Robert Delaunay
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 MOVEMENT in this place that is little more than my motions next Monday.
A few weeks back Jesse and I toured Poweshiek County and harvested their town signs. Here are the auxiliary images from that road trip:
Brooklyn
Guernsey
Montezuma
Barnes City
Searsboro
Malcom
Grundy County is the next county I need to share auxiliary images from.
The folder 2010-10-25 includes pictures of a vacation I took to Minnesota. It is mostly pictures of a trip I took to the sculpture garden in Minneapolis with Becca, but it also includes pictures of Bethany and an old beau. I will be sharing the sculpture garden pictures and not the pictures of the old beau.
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:
Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve Iowa State Football.
I need to start this post by encouraging you (if you have a pet) to enter the Pufferbilly Days Pet Show. It is this Sunday at 11 AM. Registration begins at 10:45. It is located at Veterans Park (9th and Story). Awards are given to the dog that is the Best Beggar, does the Best Trick, and had the Best Tail Wag. For Misc. pets, prizes are given to the Most Unique, the Most Colorful, and the pet with the Most Appropriate Name. There is a prize given for Most Look-Alike and Best in Show. Also some awards for cats, I assume.
Here is a flyer that has the ratio way off.
The Pet Show is open to all ages of humans and pets. As you can tell, this isn’t a super serious competition. So grab Fido and come on down for some fun with your four-legged (or two legs if it is a bird) friend! Also, no poultry.
I haven’t taken Rodan139 out hardly at all this year. In fact, probably less than 5 times. I need to start stretching its wings more than I have. But here is a tiny collection of the last 2 extremely brief flights that it went on. One was just to look at all the fireworks going off around town. The others are alternates for my THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme of PATHS.
I’m laying down my pick and taking about a week long sabbatical from the Computer Mine starting next week, so hopefully I’ll get Rodan139 out of the hangar at least once in that time frame.
This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is TOY:
TOY! What a great theme for Year 8 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!
But what is a TOY image? Simply put, a TOY image is a picture of something that you use for recreation. It isn’t used for work. It is used for play. However, what one person might consider a TOY, another person might consider a TOOL. What is considered a TOY might be more personal than one thinks at first glance.
Happy photo harvesting!
Time to share another collection of pictures I have taken of my Mom’s flower. This is a larger collection than normal. Almost exclusively tulips. Including a pink tulip that is probably my favorite flower in my Mom’s yard. One I will definitely try to transplant to my yard. These pictures were taken on April 27.
I have lots of other flower pictures to share in the coming weeks.
Today I’m sharing the balance of the images from when Jesse and I drove around Benton County and harvested their town signs. But first I want to share another bit of family history that I found amongst the genealogy papers when we’ve been going through stuff at my Mom’s house.
I think this episode of family history is called, Grandpa Bennett goes Straight Gangsta on a Teacher.
This Elegy poem was written by John W. Bennett in 1920. The poem was sent to his teacher named Mr. Jefferson. The reason for the poem goes like this:
First, J.W.B. had received an “A” on a Sociology test from Mr. Jefferson. Later the teacher wanted him to do some errand or problems he had done before. They got in an argument over this and John refused. The teacher took away his A and told him he would not graduate unless he would apologize. John wen to the principal and found out he could graduate without this credit. He never returned to class, but sent this poem to Mr. Jefferson.
Ellen Leininger
Gerald D. Bennett
2-16-78
Here is the poem:
Elegy Written to P.S.J.
Do you really know what happened
Twas just the other day
Jeff got real kind-hearted
And in Sociology gave me “A”
But to tell the truth about it
It di me little good,
For he and his partners changed it
For the worse not for the good.
Poor old Jeff got real angry
But to me said not a word,
But let it in on the Juniors and Seniors
When he to them in a herd,
And he told them all about me
In that cowardly way of his,
And to them gave all my characteristics
When I wasn’t there to tell them his.
Oh! he told them how I needed
His old credit in Sociology,
But I’ve got along alright so far
And don’t need his help By Gee!
And when he leaves Old Luther High
Oh! won’t it be just fine
As I’ve got eight more just like him
And with him they just make nine
And he said to get back into his class
I would have to apologize,
But before I’ll stoop before him
He’d better grow in size
By J.W.B.
Here are the scans of the documents:
Straight gangsta!
Here are the rest of the auxiliary images from Jesse and I’s trip to Benton County:
Norway
Watkins
I love that the lights are inside the fence.
Blairstown
Luzerne
Belle Plaine
Jumbo Well info below.
I want to eat here someday.
The Jumbo Well was a well that was once considered “The Eighth Wonder of the World”. The short version of the story is that they drilled a well in Belle Plaine into and they hit the wrong part of the aquifer and they couldn’t stop water shooting out for fourteen months. The well shot out water at 3,000 gallons of water per minute.
Here is a little interesting tidbit on the guy who dug the well and then promptly fled the town:
William Weir
The town of Belle Plaine, Iowa, contracted a well digger from Monticello, Iowa, to drill an artesian well to provide water and fire protection to a section of the town. The sum of $175 was offered to “bring in” the well and work by William Weir and his sons began upon receipt. They were not strangers to the citizens of Belle Plaine for they had recently successfully drilled several other artesian wells in the same city.
What happened thereafter made the news, not just in Iowa but from coast to coast! The Belle Plaine artesian well erupted into a monster — more than 3,000 gallons of water per minute boiled into the streets, threatening to flood the homes and businesses in its path. Weir and his sons worked frantically to stem the flow and cap the well, until all their supplies were exhausted and darkness was falling. William Weir and his sons left Belle Plaine, presumably the terrified townspeople thought, to gather necessary material with which to stop the furious flow of water. Weir and his sons were never seen again in the town of Belle Plaine. Fourteen months and many thousands of dollars later “Jumbo” was brought under control by experts from as far away as Chicago.
By [the spring of] 1890 William was drilling in Cherokee, Iowa, so apparently the Belle Plaine disaster had not harmed his business. Custom at that time demanded the well digger must drink the first cup from any newly dug well. He honored this tradition, contracted typhoid fever, and died June 1890 of what was often called in those days, “the well digger’s disease.
The maximum flow of water is estimated to have been at 5,000,000 to 9,000,000 gallons per day. This enormous flow of water caused the surrounding wells to stop flowing. The attempt to control the well continued from August 26, 1886 to October 6, 1887 when it was finally accomplished. The well was finally tamed by sinking one large pipe with a smaller one inside it, the space between was caulked, and the outside cavity filled with rock and cement. A granite marker now identifies Jumbo at the intersection of Eighth Street and Eighth Avenue, Belle Plaine, Iowa.
Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of the rock, but I’m sure I will go through Belle Plaine again on a future town sign harvesting trip.
We also harvested the towns of Poweshiek County on this trip. Those pictures will be shared in a separate entry.
A few Saturdays back I cruised around Ida County with Teresa harvesting their town signs. There aren’t many. Ida County only has 5 towns. Ida County might be best known for the castle buildings in Ida Grove.
Here are some facts about Ida County:
+ Population is 6,901 (2019 estimate) making Ida County the 92 most populous county in Iowa. Below Fremont County and above Pocahontas County.
+ The county seat and largest town is Ida Grove.
+ Ida County was formed on January 15, 1851, but nobody lived there, so there was no government. The county government was formed in 1858 when there were about 40 residents.
+ Named for Ida Smith, the first child of European immigrants born in the region.
+ Major highways ae US-20, US059, IA-3, and IA-175.
+ Adjacent counties are Cherokee, Sac, Crawford, and Woodbury.
+ The population peaked in 1900 at 12,327.
The Ida County Courthouse is a cool old looking courthouse:
The Ida County Freedom Rock is located in Holstein, Iowa:
With Ida County conquered, this is the updated Photography 139 Conquest Map:
30 counties completed. 30.3% of the Cyclone State conquered.
Here are the town signs of Ida County:
Holstein, Iowa
Holstein
WILLKOMMEN FREUNDE
Population: 1,396
Battle Creek, Iowa
WELCOME to BATTLE CREEK
Small in size, Big in HEART
Est. 1865
Population: 713
Galva, Iowa
Galva Welcomes You
the friendly town
Population: 434
Arthur, Iowa
WELCOME TO ARTHUR
EST. 1881
Population: 206
I don’t think that there is a bad town sign in Ida County. So rather than giving away the award for worst town sign in the county, I’ll just say that I found Holstein’s sign to be the most disappointing. It isn’t a bad sign, but with a name like Holstein how do you not have a cow on your sign? If you haven’t figured it out yet, I like signs with animals on them.
I do think the best town sign is pretty much a no-brainer. It is Ida Grove. Their town sign is a castle, with the state slogan, bird and flower on it. At first, I have to confess I wasn’t sure it was “the” town sign. But after examining it and thinking on it, it clearly is the town sign.
A couple towns did have alternate signs:
Ida Grove – Alternate
Holstein – Alternate
Here is the current list of Best in Shows:
Best in Show – Audubon County
Best in Show – Benton County
Best in Show – Boone County
Best in Show – Calhoun County
Best in Show – Carroll County
Best in Show – Clarke County
Best in Show – Crawford County
Best in Show – Dallas County
Best in Show – Franklin County
Best in Show – Greene County
Best in Show – Grundy County
Best in Show – Guthrie County
Best in Show – Hamilton 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 – Polk County
Best in Show – Poweshiek County
Best in Show – Sac County
Best in Show – Story County
Best in Show – Tama County
Best in Show – Union County
Best in Show – Webster County
Best in Show – Wright County
The next time we check in on THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT we will visit Butler County.
At least a few people were able to figure out what PATHS they are walking for the theme of PATHS.
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
Teresa Kahler
Teresa Kahler
Micky Augustin
Micky Augustin
Elizabeth Nordeen
Kim Barker
Kim Barker
Shannon Bardole-Foley
Kio Dettman
Kio Dettman
Cathie Raley
Mike Vest
A great week 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:
TOY! What a great theme for Year 8 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!
But what is a TOY image? Simply put, a TOY image is a picture of something that you use for recreation. It isn’t used for work. It is used for play. However, what one person might consider a TOY, another person might consider a TOOL. What is considered a TOY might be more personal than one thinks at first glance.
Think on these words when considering your subject for this week’s image:
As men get older, the goys get more expensive.
-Marvin Davis
Heed these words and there is no doubt you will create a most playful TOY images.
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 TOY in this place that is little more than my plaything next Monday.
