Comments here are now closed, but you may follow the links below to catch up with the conversation. And BTW, happy two year anniversary of the Marcus blogspot!
Thursday, November 02, 2006
November 06 Discussion
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38 comments:
Happy Birthday!
I have a column from Margaret Dorr to pass on. I think I have another one too. I'll have to search through my overloaded e-mail account to find it though. This column is on Brian Peavey.
Last time I promised to tell you more about Brian Peavey, our present link with the National Aeronautic and Space Agency, so here goes. On his mother’s side, there is a long history of pilots and navigation, so it might be said that flying is in his blood. His father, Dennis Peavey, tells me that as a youngster he would often lie out on their lawn staring up at the sky, pointing out airplanes that the rest of the family couldn’t even see. He took flying as an elective science class during his senior year in high school in Westport, CT. While living there, his father commuted each day to midtown Manhattan where was a CPA and partner with Pricewaterhouse Coopers, the international accounting and consulting firm.
But back to Brian – his instructor was a retired navy airman and he and Brian hit it off well. Perhaps it was because the teacher was tough and his pupil liked to be challenged. For example, the final exam for the course was the FAA ground school test. Brian was the only one in the class to even sit for it, and he passed it “with flying colors.” (Sorry, I just couldn’t resist that one.) Meanwhile, his parents had given him flying lessons – his early graduation gift. According to his dad, they spent many a Sunday afternoon flying up and down the Hudson, over West Point and the Hampton mansions on Long Island.
His instructor, the retired navy man, convinced young Peavey to apply for admission to the Naval Academy, which he did. He won an appointment from, then Senator, Lowell Weicker, but to his deep disappointment, he was denied admission because he wore glasses.
Brian, who sounds like a “never say never” kind of guy, soon picked himself up and started checking out aerospace-related college programs. Almost by accident he stumbled onto Embry Riddle University in Prescott, AZ, which is known as the “Harvard of the Skies”. They offer only two degrees, Aerospace Science (pilots) and Aeronautical Engineering (rocket scientists.) He started out in the former, hoping to become a commercial pilot, but soon transferred to the latter. Another clever comment came when his dad said that his favorite T-shirt was one Brian used to wear which said “I really am a rocket scientist.”
The young man was hired by NASA immediately upon graduation, and assigned to their EVA unit. That means Extra Vehicular Activities, or to us laymen, space walking. He trains astronauts in the use of space suits – spending time in the world’s largest swimming pool that emulates weightlessness. US astronauts must be trained to use Russian suits and vice versa, so he also spends a lot of time at Star City (the Johnson Space Center of Russia.) He is fluent in Russian and serves as an interpreter for our astronauts.
Dennis proudly tells me that he has twin Russian grandsons, Max and Daniel, now 7 years old. They are able to spend 2-3 months each summer in Houston with their father, Brian, his present wife, Courtney, and their wee half-brother, Aiden, who was born this past July.
This concludes my two-part account of western Cherokee County’s strong connections with the prestigious NASA program. I hope you have found it as fascinating as I have.
A Sense of Place
"I discovered that my own little postage stamp of native soil was worth writing about and that I would never live long enough to exhaust it." William Faulkner
When asked, I usually offer wannabe writers that hoary old advice, “write what you know.” For a lot of people who put pen to paper do just that. Many of those, who practice the most solitary of professions, seek in their writing a search for home.
They try—in the words of Norman Mailer—“to come up with a sense of place as large as one’s birthplace or as small as the thought that takes place in a room.” Eudora Welty once spoke of place as “a gathering.” “It conspires with the artist,” she said, “we are surrounded by our own story—we live and move in it.”
That place is not confined to the Mississippi scenes of Faulkner and others of the southern school, or to the tales of Larry McMurty’s cowboy country. The Midwest stories of the early Mark Twain or his successor, Garrison Keillor, embrace their location.
There are the Nebraska poems of our recent Poet Laureate, Ted Kooser. And closer to home, the novels of "Moo") or Phil Strong, who published "State Fair" the year I was born. And even closer to home, MacKinley Kantor and his "Spirit Lake"—based on the massacre in the 1800s, or Remsen-born Curtis Harnack and his "Gentlemen on the Prairie."
These authors speak to us mind to mind, heart to heart. They provide a tide of words with thoughts that live in the feeling of place.
In my instance, Iowa—and Marcus—grabbed my heart. It’s a place I return to in my reading and writings. It’s a place to warm my being in the years of involuntary exile.
For we have lived all over in my career travels—Michigan, Georgia, Wisconsin, Hawaii (my South Dakota wife’s spiritual home), Indiana, Washington D.C., and crazy New York. (My wife’s relatives have always speculated that all that moving around was because I couldn’t keep a job).
But Iowa keeps calling me back—perhaps because it’s full of friendly folks. Perfectly sane strangers say “Hi!”
So I feel comfortable in reading and writing about my beloved place—even though I don’t live there any more. I often think that examining your sense of place just deepens the mystery of it.
And anyhow, writing about someplace else requires research. I’m too old for that anymore.
What Iowa authors have touched you?
Bob Reed
I am reading a memoir called The Horizontal World: growing up wild in the middle of nowhere by Debra Marquart. Marquart is a professor at Iowa State University, but she grew up on a farm in North Dakota ... and writes about that world and how she tried to escape it for many years, but kept getting drawn back to that wide sky and endless land.
It's always amazing to me how some people are forever rooted to a place even though they have been gone for years and how others develop no bonds despite living in a place forever.
Marquart is an incredible writer. North Dakota seems a bit more unforgiving, and everything about her farm life was much more demanding, but she grew up in the same times I did. Here is something I earmarked. It's from a scene where she returns to ND for her father's funeral and gets lost of back roads...
"Here was someone's forty acres and a mule, a hopeful beginning followed by an anonymous, tragic ending. The Midwest is full of them. Take any back road off a paved highway and you'll see this scene repeated again and again. The peope who once lived here are known forever to no one, and they belong nowhere--the land spread around us too capable of returning all stories to silence.
While we who survive on this land fear losing ourselvs to it, those of us who run away are never free of it..."
She's even related to Lawrence Welk ... wunnerful, wunnerful book!!
Anyway, it's getting a lot of buzz ... even out here. I suggest it to all your former farm girls out there!!:)
Just a guess but one reason McClain does not like govt supports....according to a friend in Phoenix, 10 miles out of town the farmers are still toiling new soil to plant cotton and tobacco..???
Not an Iowa author, Bob, but one you and your spouse would love is Kathleen Norris. I believe she still lives in Lemmon, South Dakota. My favorite is her "Dakota:A Spiritual Geography".
One chapter starts with this quote from The Wizard of Oz:
The scarecrow sighed. "Of course I cannot understand it," he said. "If your heads were stuffed with straw like mine, you would probably all live in the beautiful places, and then Kansas would have no people at all. It is fortunate for Kansas that you have brains."
And then a little sample from "Dakota":
"Or a vivid double rainbow marches to the east, following the wild summer storm that nearly blew you off the road. The storm sky is gunmetal grey, but to the west the sky is peach streaked with crimson. The land and sky of the West often fills what Thoreau termed our 'need to witness our limits transgressed.' Nature, in Dakota, can indeed be an experience of the holy."
And so in Iowa, Kathleen - also in Iowa. Fred
Ditto. Norris is excellent! I have been wanting to go to a reading of hers for years. I've listened to her Dakota tape and others while walking. Good stuff.
Sorry, Iowa, but another SD author that I enjoy, who is not quite so well known as Norris, is Linda Hasselstrom. She is a poet and writer of memoir ... she has a ranch in western SD where she invites writers to spend time in writing retreats. Clear, vivid writing...
And I know this may seem weak to some, but as a little girl I ate up Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie books before they ever became commercialized and serialized. The namby-pamby TV series made them sound simple and trite, but the books really did depict a harsh existence that didn't always end happily. Her books had me reading on the upstairs landing while the rest of the house was sleeping...
Oh! Just a little aside about reading. If you subscribe to Psychology Today, check out the article called "Novel Delights" in the Nov/Dec issue. I'm the reader example that introduces the article in the first paragraph!
The following article was just published in the Nov. 13, 2006 issue of Business Week.
NOVEMBER 13, 2006
SPECIAL REPORT
Harvesting Green Power
Farmers are sowing the seeds of an alternative energy future. But how much of the country can we fuel on corn?
Slide Show >>On a still October afternoon, David Kolsrud is gearing up for the harvest. Today, he'll reap some 30 acres of soybeans on his 500-acre farm in Beaver Creek, Minn. His son, Chris, mans a 12-ton combine, a mechanized harvester that sweeps up whole plants and shoots out a steady stream of beans. This evening, Kolsrud will head off to a grain elevator over the border in South Dakota to deliver 1,100 bushels of them.
Slide Show >>As if all this weren't enough to manage, the 58-year-old Kolsrud also runs a burgeoning energy business. Steering his John Deere tractor with one hand and clutching a cell phone in the other, he discusses his stake in a new biodiesel plant in Delaware. Earlier today, Kolsrud played host to a group of Canadian bankers and business developers at a local ethanol plant he co-owns with 220 area farmers. Now there are follow-up discussions, and he's consulting on potential projects in Saskatchewan.
Slide Show >>Tomorrow will be just as hectic. Kolsrud has to rise with the sun to make the 105-mile drive northeast to Granite Falls, Minn., for a breakfast meeting with Ron Fagen, a leading builder of biofuel plants and windmills. Before sundown he must squeeze in a few more hours in the field. He's been so busy this year that some of last year's crop is still sitting in silos on his farm. "Corn prices are up, so I guess I'll just have to sell it for more money," he deadpans.
With his mop of white hair and sunburnt cheeks, Kolsrud may be the new face of American agriculture. Alternative energy, once a cause célèbre for bands of tree huggers, has emerged as a pillar of the nation's strategy for energy independence, economic security, and the battle against global warming. Much is riding on efforts like Kolsrud's. For all the talk of green rooftops on Chicago's skyscrapers and wind farms off the coast of Nantucket, there will be no national transition to "green power" without a widespread conversion of our rural farm economy, with its unparalleled abundance of wind, sunlight, and energy-rich crops.
The first wave of energy farming has paid off brilliantly for early adopters like Kolsrud. Based on the value of just his green-energy assets today, he's a millionaire several times over, and the same may be true for hundreds if not thousands of energy farmers across the Midwest. But this transformation of the farm belt raises a host of concerns. To make even a small dent in imports of oil from the Middle East, an increasing portion of food crops will have to be converted to fuel. That could push up the cost of food on the dinner table. And global warming? Critics of America's budding ethanol economy say that if you factor in all the natural resources needed to cultivate corn and transform it into ethanol, the environmental gains are less than meet the eye.
Pioneers in agricultural biotech say they will soon be able to address some of these worries with better biofuels. But such breakthroughs require heavy investment in research. And given the wild fluctuations in oil prices, which have fallen by more than 20% in the past several months, research funding may not continue at today's heady pace.
"THE NEW CASH CROPS"
Right now, on the rolling prairies of Minnesota, the future of energy farming seems bright. Towering over the fields of corn and soybeans that stretch to the horizon are majestic wind turbines and colossal industrial plants. Most of those facilities are pumping out ethanol, an eco-friendly additive to gasoline; a few are making biodiesel, a clean fuel used to help power trucks and buses. Similar structures already dot the landscape on farms across the U.S., from the fertile valleys of California to the orange groves of Florida. Texas ranches are now home to 2,631 megawatts of wind power, roughly 25% of the country's total wind capacity and enough to power more than 650,000 homes. Iowa, America's biggest source of ethanol and a major player in wind, now produces so much biofuel and green electricity that it has gone from a net importer of energy to a key supplier to other states. And Pennsylvania, a big soybean exporter, hopes to have 11 biodiesel plants up and running in the next five years. "Clean energy and biofuels are the new cash crops for farmers," says Howard A. Learner, executuve director of the Environmental Law & Policy Center, an environmental and economic advocacy group.
If Americans start to buy more energy from the Midwest rather than the Middle East, green energy boosters say it will eventually help stabilize energy prices and shrink oil imports. Over the long term, wind power could grow from less than 1% of the U.S. power supply today to 20%. Ethanol and biodiesel, now around 4% of transportation fuels, could go to 20% or more.
Admittedly these are optimistic projections. Still, in Washington, lawmakers trumpet them as they tout the merits of energy independence. But to farmers, long at the mercy of fickle commodity prices and woefully dependent on government handouts, green mainly means money. Suppose the U.S. were to reduce imports of oil and oil byproducts by 20% and replace that with homegrown biofuels: In the course of one year--assuming prices average about $50 per barrel--farm communities and other biofuel players would reap some $50 billion that, in the past, would have flowed to foreign oil producers.
Wind also brings a payoff. The American Wind Energy Assn. estimates that by 2015 this resource could put an extra $100 million to $200 million in the pockets of farmers and rural landowners who rent out land to wind turbines. Green energy is "the biggest new market we've had for rural America in a long time," says Thomas C. Dorr, the Agriculture Dept.'s head of rural development.
BANDING TOGETHER
Few places have embraced energy farming as heartily as Kolsrud's home of Rock County, Minn., population 9,520. It's a community so intimately tied to agriculture that the local radio station updates commodity prices, not stocks. The farm supply store, M&M Distributors, is the major chain, not Home Depot. Buffalo are a more common sight than people.
Kolsrud's transformation from traditional farmer to energy entrepreneur began in the summer of 1995. After an exhausting day weeding his soybeans by hand, he realized the years of hard work and unpredictable pay would break his will, if not his back. Then, as now, the typical farmer's life played out like a sad country song. While a 500-acre farm like Kolsrud's could pull in more than $135,000 in revenue a year, equipment, fuel, and other costs would eat up practically all the profit. That dynamic forced many farmers to expand aggressively, take on second jobs, or get out altogether. "You could hardly support a family," says Kolsrud, a fourth-generation farmer who bought his first 140 acres in 1972, after returning from military service in Berlin during the Vietnam War.
Despite initial skepticism, Kolsrud ultimately saw ethanol as an ideal lever to shift his prospects. So he and a handful of others scraped together $3million from 220 farmers in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Iowa to build one of the first ethanol plants in the area. It took two years of arm-twisting, and dealmaking--and they also had to find $18 million in loans and other personal guarantees. "We were a bunch of Forrest Gumps trying to come up with a business model," says Kolsrud.
By 1998, their 12 million gallon factory was up and running. Today, that 100% farmer-owned cooperative, Agri-Energy, has expanded capacity to 21 million gallons, much of it bound for gas stations in New Jersey. The plant is also part of a growing empire. In 2002, some members of the co-op branched into wind energy with MinWind, a partnership that operates 11 wind turbines and produces enough electricity for 3,800 homes. Also in their portfolio of green investments are sizable stakes in biodiesel plants and in another dozen or so ethanol factories. In all, Kolsrud and his neighbors have plowed $65 million into green energy projects.
The partners never imagined the rewards they'd reap. The first $1,600 dividend check was such a shock that one farmer actually returned it, thinking the plant had made a mistake. Since the plant opened in Luverne, Minn., eight years ago, a $10,000 stake has earned a total of $54,000 in dividends, and such an investment itself is now worth $55,000.
Demand from the local ethanol plant is also propping up corn prices in the area. Since Rock County is situated far from major corn transport hubs, added freight costs mean that farmers here usually got 40 cents to 50 cents less per bushel than the going rate in Chicago. Thanks to increased demand for corn from Agri-Energy and other nearby ethanol plants, that gap has been cut in half.
It's not unusual for farmers to be millionaires, but typically the money is tied up in land. So extra cash from ethanol and higher corn prices is a blessing, helping people pay off debt on their land or fund their kids' education. Some farmers are splurging on equipment--like the latest tractor with a satellite positioning system and auto-steering. "The biggest complaint now is about the tax bill," jokes Kolsrud, who recently took his family to Aruba and drives a blue Ford Explorer that runs on E85, a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gas.
Few people in the two-stoplight town of Luverne have been left untouched by the green-power boom. Locals originally griped about the yeasty smell of the emissions from the plant, but special gear was able to remove the fumes. Now, a big topic of discussion is who in town failed to buy an early stake in the plant and how badly they regret it. Local tax coffers are also looking healthier: Agri-Energy will pony up around $280,000 in taxes to Rock County next year. The semis and train cars rolling into town to deliver the corn or haul the ethanol to blenders also boost commerce on Main Street.
Still, there are harsh reminders that the fortunes of alternative energy remain tethered to oil prices. At $70 for a barrel of oil, it costs $2.60 to make a gallon of gasoline, vs. around $1.25 for ethanol, estimates Paul Ho, a director at Credit Suisse First Boston's (CSB ) energy group. But the gap shrinks as oil prices fall. Most experts figure that oil would have to duck below $30 for months at a stretch before the economics of ethanol stop making sense. Yet even with oil trading at just $60 and ethanol giant Archer Daniels Midland reporting bumper profits, Wall Street is getting skittish. Ethanol stocks like Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings (AVR ) and VeraSun Energy (VSE ) are 42% and 20% off their initial public offering prices, respectively, while producer Hawkeye Energy has delayed its IPO. "People are forgetting the high energy prices in the summer. It's crazy," says Jacob Golbitz, research director for consulting firm HighQuest Partners.
It helps that alternative-energy markets are propped up by state and federal mandates to push more ethanol into fuel tanks and more green power onto the grid. The new nationwide renewable fuel standard, for example, calls for 7.5 billion gallons of ethanol production by 2012. Most experts think demand will far outpace those government-set levels, driven in part by state requirements for biofuels and the growing consumer preference for cleaner gas.
There are, however, some much darker scenarios, including speculation about a coming ethanol glut. Today, about 106 ethanol plants are operating, with a combined capacity of 5.1 billion gallons. Another 3.5 billion gallons in new capacity is under construction in the U.S., according to the Renewable Fuels Assn. If supply far outstrips demand and prices crash, you could see an archipelago of bankrupt distilleries scattered across the Great Plains. Older, smaller, and less efficient plants, many built by farmers, would be the first to go under, says Ho. Asked about the risk of a price crash, Kolsrud appears unfazed. There's a bit of homespun wisdom he saves for such moments: "You have to accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue."
Wind power follows a somewhat different dynamic. Whether there's a drought or deep snow on the ground, it pays off so reliably these days that farmers call it a second crop. In return for hosting a single turbine, they get $2,000 to $5,000 a year from wind developers. It's not uncommon for a typical family farm to have three or four of those turbines. And if you own the windmills, you can really make a killing. Paul and Alice Neppel originally put up a turbine to offset the $200,000 annual electricity bill on their livestock and crop farm in Dolliver, Iowa. Last year, they made $150,000 selling the energy wholesale back to the local power company. "You wake up in the morning and you're so happy the wind is blowing," says Alice.
Farmers have other ways to play in emerging green markets. One is trapping carbon emissions by planting long-lived trees that lock up carbon dioxide as they grow. Many companies believe that, in the near future, the U.S. government will soon start to impose caps on greenhouse gases, following the lead of governments in Europe and Asia. If that happens, a market will emerge enabling companies to buy and sell credits--essentially rights to emit.
To get a sense of how this will work, U.S. companies have already begun trading credits through a body called the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), and paying up in real currency. Farmers can join the CCX to become registered providers of these greenhouse gas emission offsets. Credits equal to the emission of 100 metric tons of carbon were selling recently for about $4.25. It's not hugely profitable right now--a 600-acre farm that sequesters 1,500 tons of carbon dioxide a year would collect little more than $60 in return. But the hope is that those prices will rise sharply if the U.S. goes the way of other countries.
On farms with big populations of chickens, pigs, or cows, even manure can work as an alternative energy source. Using a system known as an anaerobic digester that transforms manure into methane, a farmer with a herd as small as 300 cattle or 2,000 pigs can produce enough biogas to meet a farm's entire heating and electricity needs, with some left over to sell back to the market.
New forms of ethanol may also put extra bucks in a farmer's pocket some day. Most experts agree that cellulosic ethanol, made from nonfood crops such as switchgrass as well as corn stalks and other biowaste, will be the next driver of growth for the industry. The technology to make this is still a few years off, but in Luverne, farmers are already placing their bets. Loren Forrest, age 64, is cultivating a small plot of Giganteus Miscanthus, a kind of grass that can shoot to 12 feet tall in a year. He estimates that he could someday up his profits by $25 per acre growing and selling next-generation energy crops, in addition to his regular corn and soybeans.
SHRINKING SUBSIDIES?
While farmers wait for the cellulosic revolution, they're enjoying the spike in commodity prices caused by demand for biofuels. Corn has sold for an average of $2 to $2.50 a bushel since the 1970s. But agrarian economists predict corn prices will hit a new long-term level north of $3. Across a typical year's crop, that's an extra $9billion going to farmers.
That means that Uncle Sam won't have to kick in as much money to support them, since some of the current corn subsidies are based on the price of commodities. "It depends on how high prices go, but subsidies could be cut by $5 billion to $10 billion a year," says professor Christopher Hurt of Purdue University. Still, he admits, some of those savings will be offset by the increasing amount of money the government is spending on biofuel. Today, fuel blenders receive a 51 cents-per-gallon tax credit for ethanol.
Economists welcome evidence that the green energy boom is slowing the migration of young people away from the farm. The outflow has stopped in North Dakota. After nearly three decades of losses, the population grew in the past two years. Across the country, over the next 10 years, biofuel and wind investment are predicted to create more than 250,000 jobs, mostly in nonurban areas. Luverne's 21 million gallon ethanol plant, for example, employs 28 people, with most of the salaries ranging from $35,000 to $75,000 before profit-sharing.
Numbers like those offer real hope to locals like Shannon Mulder. For the affable 22-year-old who grew up outside Luverne, farming means family. And while she was determined to stay near home following high school, sky-high land costs made farming impossible. The town's nonfarm jobs offered little promise. By age 20, Mulder had reached the top hourly wage as a nursing assistant in the maternity ward at the local hospital.
So she entered the renewable energy program at the technical college in Granite Falls, Minn., funded in part by local ethanol plants. Like similar initiatives popping up at community colleges and technical schools across the farm belt, the two-year curriculum covers everything from biology and robotics to chemistry and fluid technology. It also complements the school's programs in wind energy. Nearing graduation, Mulder sees herself operating an ethanol plant someday or working in sales. "The industry is so raw, so open," says Mulder, in her Minnesota drawl. "I want to taste it all."
Kolsrud and the other farmers at Agri-Energy face their own rite of passage. Ethanol's high profit margins, even in light of the recent drops in oil prices, have attracted the attention of Wall Street and other corporate types. But at 21 million gallons, Agri-Energy's plant is just a bit player, and the business model has limitations. For one thing, it's a co-op, making it difficult for farmers to cash out. And co-op rules require members to supply the corn, so investors must be nearby farmers.
So lately, the board and co-op members are discussing a possible merger between Agri-Energy and up to six other producer-owned ethanol plants in the Midwest. It's a deal that could create a massive ethanol player--perhaps second only to Archer Daniels Midland (ADM ). In time, the plan is to go public with a stock offering. Rumors are now flying about a potential sale. Some say that if the deal goes through, a $10,000 stake purchased when the plant opened could be worth $240,000.
Kolsrud declines to talk about the value of Agri-Energy, but he supports the stock offering. Others are content with the current structure--and its steady flow of dividends--and don't want to upset the apple cart. One fear is that they will lose control of the operations and the local community may not benefit as much once outside investors flood in. Given the recent performance of stocks in the ethanol business, there's also a chance that the offering could fall flat. Kolsrud understands the risk, but thinks the farmer-owners must adapt or get left behind as the industry consolidates. The members are expected to vote on the proposal by the end of the year. "They're arguing about whether to be rich or very rich," he says.
A second column from Margaret Dorr:
# 28 Walter Miller
A reader recently encouraged me to write more about people from the past, claiming it was fun to be reminded of days of long ago. As you have probably guessed, it doesn’t take much to get me going on that sort of tale. However, rather than going way back, I am talking today of a gentleman who is still with us, at least during the warmer parts of the year. He is my neighbor, Walter Miller, who will soon be leaving these cold climes for his winter place in sunny Florida. You may know Walt as that big older guy often seen on the golf course where he can outdo many of the younger players, I’m told. Or perhaps you know him for his somewhat erratic driving that can get him into a bit of trouble at times. But how many of you know that he retired from a remarkable career which ended in management engineering with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ?
Walt Miller was graduated from Marcus High School, Class of 1935. Then off to California to attend the Polytechnic College of Engineering and to become a civil engineer. He followed this career on the west coast with both the air force and the navy until the institution of the NASA program. At that time he became one of the civil service engineers responsible for setting up the Florida installation.
These people, with varying specialties, were selected and then given post-graduate courses in business administration at Florida State University. In this way they became the management engineers responsible for the research and development required to build and administer everything at the Kennedy Space Center, with the exception of the actual space vehicles themselves.
It is extremely interesting to engage Walt in conversation concerning the intricacies of that amazing project which was the culmination of America’s efforts to take the leadership role in space exploration. It is moving, too, each time you watch the ponderous passage of a space vehicle onto the launch pad, to recall the major role one of our fellow citizens had in making that a possibility.
But, wait a minute, I just realized that our area has another very close connection with the international space program. Brian Peavey of Houston TX is the grandson of Marcus resident, Dorothy Peavey and her late husband, Howard. Then how about this? My research reveals that Howard was a high school classmate of Walter Miller. I do love those small-town connections !
Howard’s son, Dennis, who also lives in Houston, is the father of Brian. When I contacted him to learn exactly what Brian does, I received a fascinating story. In a nutshell, young Peavey is employed by NASA to train astronauts in the use of space suits. The “rest of the story,” to coin a phrase, is grist for another Gray Matter. But isn’t it exciting to have our own people, through the generations, so deeply entrenched in such a major national endeavor?
Now I am wondering if there are any other Cherokee County folks with space program connections. If there are, would someone please let me know, for I would like to give them equal recognition.
A little story that my sister Nancy Sinnwell of Des Moines sent to me ... speaks to that sense of PLACE that Bob wrote so eloquently about...
I went to the U. of Iowa game last Saturday. We had a good time even though they lost. It was family weekend and Chuck Knudson was named Father of the Year. (Betty was Mother of the Year last year. )
It was funny when they introduced Mother and Father of the Year between the first and second quarter. I didn't know until then that Chuck had received the honor. I got up and yelled "Way to go Chuck!" after he was introduced. Then two people behind me asked if I was from Marcus. The guy directly behind us had gone to breakfast with Mike Bird that morning, and a another lady to the left said she had played basketball with Jane Bird (she had grown up in Hinton).
By the way, is it true Chuck's been to every home UI game in the last 50 years?????????!!!!!!!!
Now THAT's one for the record books!
Gary Sanow was a machine!!
Some scans of Gary Sanow
As a young kid I never got tired of watching Gary Sanow run........absolutely the most amazing thing I saw sports wise while I was growing up in Marcus. Has the athletic department at Marcus High ever recognized him or given him an award for being one of the best if not the best athlete to ever come out of Marcus? If not it seems to me like the Gary Sanow Award would have a nice ring to it and maybe spur another young Marcus individual to great success as an athlete.
Gary, I know you read this board and for the record the only other time I have ever had the same chills watching a track event was when I saw my Baylor's very own Michael Johnson and Jeremy Wairner run........that is how big of an impact you left on this Marcus kid!!! Thanks for the great memories!!
I just discovered this blog last night. I have to admit, I have spent at least 2hrs checking it out. It's really fun to read so many comments on Marcus life and past lives. ie:comments about how impressive Gary Sanow was when he ran. I really liked the Peavey slides. Howard was a major player in Marcus history for me.
My wife and I visit Marcus now and then, mainly to see Mom & Dad and Jim and his family. When I see changes like the Little Sioux CP and the truck stop I can see that the future will create more great memories for the young kids of today.
Earlier this year Trish and I went to Portland, OR to visit Susie (Nielsen) Luokkula and her husband, Ray. We had some good conversations about old Marcus life. Names like Denny Delaney, Bill Birch, Dick, Chuck, Patty, Thelma & Charlie Nielsen came up often. Thanks to all for a pleasant trip down memory lane.
Dave Mayer
Dave, are you Carl and Betty's son? If so, how is Bruce? Tell Susie to post on here.
Yeah, you've got that right. Bruce is right now in his 3rd of 5 consecutive chemo cycles. He did have a PET scan after the 2nd cycle and no sign of cancer could be found! Wahoo! His Dr. wants to continue with more cycles though since he is responding so well to the therapy. The chemo really does drag him down but Bruce is remarkable in his positive attitude and inner strength. He asks the Dr. about all the details of each proceedure and he can talk the talk of oncology. When I look at Bruce now, it seems the tables have turned and my younger brother is now my role model. Well I'm running on... I did email Susie. We'll see if she comments.
Dave Mayer
Wow! That is great news about Bruce. I spoke to your folks at the Marcus Fair this past August and they told me about Bruce. I am very glad to hear he is doing better.
DREAMERS, BELIEVERS, AND DOERS
The Marcus Historical Society is up and running. The challenge now is turning dreams into reality.
More members are needed to support the initial efforts. Progress is being made in acquiring a building and exhibits. Committees have been formed. Meetings are being held.
Any place that inspires so many memories has just got to be special. Marcus is special. If you haven’t joined the Society, NOW is the time to do it. Make sure you have a voice in the dreams to be realized.
The dreamers have done their work. The believers have done their work. The doers are at work. Join them.
It’s simple. Just fill out the membership application here, and send it in along with a check.
Sunday's NY Times (11/19) has another interesting story about Iowa. You have to be a registered user, but it's free to do ...
Iowa Finds Itself Deep in Heart of Wine Country
By SUSAN SAULNY
Across the Midwest, wineries are thriving, both as tourism magnets and profit-making businesses.
Focus is on Adel and Indianapolis wineries...
HOLY NAME REUNION DVD OR VIDEO TAPE
FRANK ZANGGER IN INDIO,CALIFORNIA HAS PUT TOGETHER A DVD AND VIDEO PRESENTATION OF THE HOLY NAME ALL SCHOOL REUNION HELD IN AUGUST. I HAVE COLLECTED MANY PICTURES FROM PEOPLE THAT ATTENDED AND SENT THEM TO FRANK FOR THIS PRESENTATION. HE HAS DONE A GREAT JOB WITH PUTTING THIS TOGETHER WITH THE MUSIC THAT GOES ALONG WITH THE PICTURES.
THIS WOULD BE A GREAT MEMORY FOR THOSE WHO ATTENDED AND FOR THOSE WHO COULD NOT ATTEND IT WOULD BE SOMETHING YOU ALSO WOULD REALLY ENJOY SEEING.
THE TWO DAYS OF THIS REUNION WERE GREAT. FRIDAY NIGHT THE GOLF COURSE WAS PACKED AND SATURDAY NIGHT WE HAD ALOST 300 AT THE DINNER AND PROGRAM.
TO ORDER EITHER THE DVD OR VIDEO TAPE CONTACT FRANK AT:
FRANK ZANGGER
80707 VIRGINA AVE.
INDIO, CALIFORNIA 92201
PHONE NUNBER: 760-775-1239
E-MAIL: frankz@dc.rr.com
THE COST OF THE DVD IS $15.00 AND THE VIDEO IS $16.50 AND ALLOW ABOUT TWO WEEKS DELIVERY. THIS COST IS WITH POSTAGE INCLUDED.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE CONTACT ME AT:
JACK CLARKSON
BOX 543
MARCUS, IOWA 51035
PHONE: 712-376-2511
E-MAIL: jfclark@midlands.net
HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING AND A BLESSED CHRISMAS SEASON.
JACK
MYSTERY SOLVED!
Remember the old postcard picture of an MHS basketball team (see September 2006 Discussion)? The caption stated that they were “Champions”—but of what?
It’s possible—probably probable—that they were the Iowa State Champions in 1908!
That would account for the picture taking.
I ran across a clipping I had saved—but forgotten—from a Marcus News of 1997; it quoted from an issue in 1953. In the “Past Files,” we read:
“Marcus High School’s basketball team of 1908 laid claim to the state championship. Their coach was R. A. Fenton and the five players were Ralph “Midgie” Margeson, Victor Naffziger, Charles Nield, Floyd Knox, and Ivan Lonergan. The team defeated all opponents and all three challengers for the state title: Sioux City, Fort Dodge, and Rock Rapids.”
There were six players photographed, so there was a sub who wasn’t credited. And the mystery of the different uniforms remains. There may be more about the team in that early issue. Perhaps Thelma Gravanish could look it up and tell us more.
To my knowledge, only one other organization from Marcus ever won a state championship. That was the MMC Jazz Band in the late 190’s. Anybody know the date?
Bob Reed
Bob, there was a picture in the Marcus Quasquicentennial book very similar to the one you posted. I skimmed the article related to it but don't remember what it said. If someone has a copy maybe they can look it up and post what the article in the book states?
BTW, Bob, I read your latest book, "They Were Only Here On Loan", while I was visiting my mom a couple months ago and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
You can find it on Amazon.com. It's a great read, I highly recommend it.
Bob,
You are correct, the only other organization to win a state title (to my knowledge) is the MMC Jazz Band. I know for sure state titles were won in 1998, under the direction of Jerry Bertrand, and in 2000, under the direction of Kevin Massey. I think there may have even been several wins before those dates but my yearbooks don't go back that far!
Jake Taylor
I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy reading about Marcus, Iowa. In fact, the happenings and dialogue could be from almost any small town in the US.
With so much happening in this great, big old world, it's so nice and pleasantly refreshing to read that people still visit the city or county Fair during the Fall; and that life still offers many of the simple pleasures of life.
Coming from a small East Texas town, I can certainly appreciate the fact that you, as dear friends, do stay in touch. The words written here are history in the making. From your discussions, I can tell that you truly care for each other and that the well-being of others is of the utmost importance to you. I beg you to never let that small, hometown feeling disappear.
I have a mind's eye view of each of you. Although I do know a couple of people on this blog, I can see and feel the warmth and concern that each of you have for the other and for your beloved Marcus.
Big cities and bright lights dim when compared of the glow of compassion of small town folks.
All the best to you and yours,
Always a Small Town Girl
Small Town "East Texas" Girl...
BTW you write I would think you were a relative of my mom's who actually has family in central Louisiana. We know that isn't the case but just know that the folks in small town Iowa are very much like the folks in small town "East Texas" as I know that area well. Thanks for the kind words and know that my parents love/loved "dad is deceased" TEXAS as it had/has a very special SPIRIT which came from those TEXANS who lived in those rural towns much like most Iowans did for years.......... Now that Iowans have ethanol maybe they can dream those big dreams that Texans have been able to do for years because of their good fortune of having "BLACK GOLD" in their backyards.
This is one Iowan who is glad I had the opportunity to live "TEXAS" and will always be grateful for all it offered to this Iowan.
Y'all come back now.....and SIC 'EM BEARS...:)
Jacob's right - MMC's jazz band did win the Iowa Jazz Championships in 1998 and 2000. If memory serves, the band also brought home first place in 1992, 1993 and 1995.
Sorry - I forgot to sign my name on the last entry...
Jenn Smith Hoesing
MMC Class of '98
Bob: I think there is some sort of mix-up about the 1908 BB team. The postcard you refer to is a different pose of the same people as the one that is in the QQCBook, p.694. When I did research for a column on Bill Bass recently, Tete and Jean said this team, of which Bill was a member, won the first Northwest Iowa Championship. One of my kids researched this a bit and found that the first State Tourney wasn't held until a few years later. I note,too, that the teams they played were all from NW Iowa. And I wonder if the pic wasn't taken in Cherokee possibly where the games were played.
I know Thelma has spoiled us these last years with her accuracy, but now and then, before her time and after Spin Lighter's, people who did the Past Notes got things a bit confused.
I hope this is making sense.
Maybe I missed the news that said it, but is Thelma not doing one of her columns anymore? I will be disappointed if this is true! Thelma, maybe you can tell us stories on our marcus blog?
Julie, I understand that Thelma is retiring from her position at the News, but has offered to continue writing her column, for which we are all most pleased! Max Reed
Thelma has retired from The News. She is voluntarily continuing her "Vines" column but the "Personal Mentions" are no longer being published. The "Past Files" are now being compiled by Lori Frederes.
THE POSTCARD MYSTERY
The Centenial book does indeed contain a picture of the same 1908 Marcus High School basketball team that appears on the old postcard. As Margaret Dorr notes, it's on page 694 and is accompanied by a little story. The pic was taken by the same guy from Cherokee who took the postcard pic. The six boys and superintendant/coach are posed in a different manner and in different uniforms, but they are the same guys and in front of the same building. So we now have three sources to help us solve the mystery of this 1908 team--the Marcus News, the Centenial book, and the postcard. The Centenial book names the guys (as does the News) but for the first time lists Bill Bass as the 6th boy. The caption under the pic notes that they are "Basketball Champions of N.W Iowa." According to a note under the story, Bill Bass was the only local guy remaining at the time of the Centennial and was probably the source of the tale that accompanies the pic.
The story notes that "this was before the days of organized state tournements--and before the days of rules."
The team went undefeated. "They played outdoors until winter arrived and then moved into the manual training room in the old school building. This allowed standing room for only for 10 players and another 10 fans in a tiny balcony. Since the game got very rough under such circumstances,it was necessary to have a strong bench consisting of one utility man, probably a fullback."
(ed note: A FULLBACK? Man, that must have been a rough basketball game!)
The story (Bill?) continues:
"Officials took the easy way out as a rule, tossing up the ball and standing back, until somebody got it through the hoop. Often a team who had the gall to win away from home had to be escorted out of the town by the police."
Baskets were "hard to come by and scores of less that 10 were common and 18 was a runaway game." The story ends on a poignent note. "The basketball itself was passed down from year to year."
So, the caption on the Centenial pic says "Champions of N.W. Iowa." The Marcus News says that the team "laid claim to the state championship" and "defeated all three challengers for the state title" (Sioux City, Rock Rapids, and Fort Dodge) As everyone knows, those towns are all in NW Iowa.
So--what to believe? Perhaps the recent jazz bands are our only true state champions. But I prefer to believe those young fellows looking sternly out at us in the pictures from nearly 100 years ago, out-muscled the opposition and were state champs! Go Eagles!
Bob Reed
Knowing that, I'm surprised there are no shiners or fat lips in the bunch! I'm wondering how the other teams looked afterwards...
Hey Julia -- Neener, neener! I got my Tom Wurth CD autographed! :0D
Tom is currently on a 4-month radio tour, but he came home first and played a free concert (just him & his guitar) in Cherokee on November 11. Lots of Marcusites were there of course. Tom was good enough to stick around afterward and talk to everyone and sign autographs. He is one *very* talented musician.
("And a good time was had by all.")
For those of you still in NW Iowa, Tom's concert will be rebroadcast on KCHE radio on Thursday, November 30 at 5:40pm. Of course KCHE has a website... you can see it here:
KCHE Radio
Bob: I don't mean to be beating the matter to death, but if you Google the IHSAA it says there that state championship games were first held in 1912 and that Supervised IHSAA Tournaments began in 1923.
An interesting bit of trivia: Bud Legg, who is an official with the IHSAA is the brother of Marcusite, Joyce Peavey Legg. They live in Tama, where he is retired after a very successful coaching career.
Oh dear! It isn't safe to leave me alone with a keyboard. I meant that Bud Legg, of the IHSAA, is the brother of Joyce Peavey Legg's husband, John. It is she and John who live in Tama. Margaret Dorr
Hey Margaret!
Yep,as you point out,the Marcus High School basketball boys in 1908 never participated in a state tournament because such a tournament didn't begin until 1912. But evidently as "N.W. Iowa Champions" in 1908, they did "lay claim" to the state championship ---according to the Marcus News.It was a bit of boosterism, I guess by the News.
Hi everyone. My name is Michele Hanson. My parents are Ray and Margie Hanson (not the farmer Ray but the mechanic). I have followed the Marcus blog for quite some time now. I find it interesting that there are Marcusites in all parts of the USA. I now live in Perry, IA and teach at Woodward-Granger HS. It's nice to be close to Des Moines, but miss my family terribly.
One reason that I am contributing to the blog is that some of you may have known my uncle, Ray Wankum. Uncle Ray was diagnosed with cancer last spring I believe. He used to work for Sand Seed at the elevator. He lost his battle yesterday afternoon.
Please keep his wife Kathy and their 2 daughters Kim and Mallory in your thoughts and prayers.
Michele Hanson
Thank you for letting us know Michele. I do remember Ray. I used to haul grain up to Sand's as a kid and I always remember Ray working at the elevator. He always had a smile on his face. Very sorry to hear of your loss. Will say a prayer for him and the family.
Michele:
Likewise thank you for letting us know about your uncle Ray's death. He was a great guy and as nice as they come. I will most definitely keep his wife and two daughters in my prayers. BTW, Ray raised a wonderful young daughter in Mallory. She is as kind and personable as her father......that is a great legacy!
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