Wednesday, February 28, 2007

February/March 07 Discussion

Mission Statement of the Marcus Historical Society:
The purpose of the Marcus Historical Society shall be to preserve for public benefit, education and enjoyment, the historical heritage of our community.

There's a brand new website for the Society, created and maintained by June Dias. Check it out. http://www.marcushistoricalsociety.org

you can read below to catch up, but go to the current thread to continue the discussion.

22 comments:

  1. It's FREEZING!!! So let's hear some 4th of July stories at family picnics around Marcus. Any traditions? Memorable fireworks displays or 4ths? Picnic foods?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gina,

    A mailing address to send donations? Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Can anyone get me an email address, address or phone number for Jim Nielson. My husband (Terry Tarvin (Mead)) and I were in Marcus this last July and stopped in Jim's shop and didn't get a chance to purchase an item I would love to have here in Oregon. It sounds like we missed the fair by a week. Wish we could have been there. I also want to say that it was great visiting Marcus and seeing where my husband grew up and got to meet a few of his friends while we were there.

    ReplyDelete
  4. James Rae provided some image scans of a few of his late father's paintings. There's one with commentary posted here on the blog. A small photoset is available here.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Richard Haines who is the son of the late Dr. and Mary Jane Haines died today in the Des Moines area after being hospitalized recently.
    Richard was a great guy and beyond funny. Unfortunately this is the second of the 3 Haines boys that passed away wayyyyy to young!Bob died a few years back.
    Bob was a grade ahead of me and Richard was 3 behind me and there was many a summer night that the Dorr Boys and the Haines Boys along with tons of others in the neighborhood played kick the can and/or hide 'n seek........my heart goes out to the rest of the family and may God bless and be with them at this time!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for sharing the Earl Rae paintings. Any chance there are copies of this anywhere? My dad would especially like the train painting. His family used to run a dairy just east of town and he remembers picking up coal along the tracks, and he has stories about the gypsies who congregated there every summer.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Haven't been on the site for a few months due to work and travel. I was actually in Iraq for four days in December with the Harlem Globetrotters for one of my trips. Obviously, quite an experience.

    The purpose of my post today is to brag a bit, as a proud father. My oldest daughter, Kaitlin, is a freshman at Mountain View High School in Mesa. She is one of two freshman that made the girls' varsity basketball team this year.

    Her team is 31-2 overall, ranked No. 1 in the state and No. 8 in USA TODAY's West Regional rankings. Tomorrow (Wednesday, March 7th) she'll be playing for the Arizona's Class 5A State Championship at 5 p.m. at the Glendale Arena.

    For all of the Marcus folks in Arizona for the winter, the game is televised on COX-TV. She's #50 and is one of the first players off the bench. She must take after her Uncle Corey, as she's a three-point shooter and gets after it on defense.

    Go Mountain View Toros!

    Brett Meister
    Class of 1984

    ReplyDelete
  8. GO TOROS!
    Bob Reed

    ReplyDelete
  9. To Brett Meister and Kaitlin,

    We just want you to know that three Marcus couples, the Roeses, Nervigs, and Ducommuns listened to the Mountain View/Red Mountain ballgame on 860 AM radio. None of us have Cox-TV. Congratulations, Kaitlin, on doing your best.

    Pat Ducommun

    ReplyDelete
  10. It's been quite some time since I've posted anything here, but have been reading and enjoying continuously. Some might already be aware, but my younger brother, Lee, is really picking up steam lately as far as exposure for his artwork goes. He now has a website at www.leerainboth.com for any who are interested, and also has a show on display at the Sanford Museum in Cherokee this month. I'm quite proud of him and his achievements, so am doing all I can to help spread the word. Please leave him comments on his site if you feel so inclined.
    Thanks,
    Joe Rainboth
    Vermillion, SD

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks to the Roeses, Nervigs, and Ducommuns for your support. It was a tough game, they picked the worse time to have their lowest scoring output of the season.

    Not sure how the radio broadcast was, but the TV broadcast really had some kind words about my daughter. In addition, yesterday's Arizona Republic had this line: "Freshmen Jennifer Schlott and Kaitlin Meister provided a glimpse of good things to come for Mountain View, scoring eight and six points, respectively."

    Anyway, hopefully they can accomplish it in the next three years.

    On another topic, I received a photo via email from my folks in Marcus of all of the snow last week. The photo showed a lot of snow in the Roeses back yard and alley.

    Brett

    ReplyDelete
  12. Another former Marcus resident--Class of 1974 ... with a memorable laugh and a kind heart. Peace.

    Pamela(Weber) Bennett, 51, of Chariton, IA died Saturday March 3, 2007 at home. Graveside services will be at 2:00 p.m. Saturday March 10, 2007 at Memorial Gardens Cemetary in Cherokee. Luncheon to follow graveside service at the Cleghorn Communty Building, Cleghorn. Family left to cherish her memory include her husband, Terri, 1 daugher, Melanie Clarkson and her husband, Ray: 4 grandchildren, Ashley, Andrew, Larry, and Kristina all from Haysville, KS.

    She is also survived by 3 brothers, Larry and his wife Helen of Merril, iA, Greg Weber and his wife Sue, of Flagstaff, AZ, Kyle Weber and his wife Dawn of Fenton, MI - 1 sister Judy Gravenish and her husband Mike of Marcus, IA

    She was preceded in death by her parents Warren and Lorraine Weber. Pam was a 1974 Marcus Community School graduate.

    ReplyDelete
  13. My wife and I purchased a house in Marcus last April, and we Love our house, the location, and the majority of the small town atmosphere here. I am no stranger to this town, although before moving here I had only lived here for less than a year previously. My Great grand parents, Joseph and Mildred Brobleck, lived here for many many years. Also my grandmother Dorthy Norris has lived in Marcus and the Marcus area the majority of her life. I also have an great aunt that lives less than two blocks from my wife and I. I will admit that our house is definetly not the nicest house in the area, but we are re-siding and roofing our house this year. We have contacted many contracters from Marcus to give us quotes on what it would cost to redo our house, including our neighbor. Everyone that we have called has been very pleasent to work with except our neighbor. He claims to have othe projects that a bigger than ours, so he doesn't have time for our house. That is completly understandable except that now all of a sudden the town of Marcus is getting complaints of misc. little things that we are doing wrong. Also our garage is placed real close to the ally, and we drive a GMC Suburban and the only way to get into our garage is if we use a real little bit of the neighbors driveway. So we are no longer parking in the garage, and are now parking just outside of it. Now we are getting turned in to the town of Marcus for every little thing we do wrong, which is not very much at all.

    I'm just wondering if we are un-welcomed into your nice town or if we just have a bad neighbor.

    Thanks for taking the time to read this.

    The Dempster's

    ReplyDelete
  14. Dempster's:

    I use to deliver the newspaper to your great grandparents Joe and Mildred Brobleck. If you are half as nice as they were I sure hope you don't give up on Marcus!!!!
    They were the kindest people and there was many a cold winter day when I was delivering the paper that they gave me something warm to drink and a cookie to eat.

    Re your neighbors......good luck and don't let them get to you. I trust you find some folks in the community that will make you feel welcome and have even invited you to partake in a community activity of some sort to help you transition into the community!

    Phil Dorr

    ReplyDelete
  15. Saturday I stopped at the Sanford Museum in Cherokee to view Lee Rainboth's artwork. I would encourage you to stop by for a look. The artwork is even more impressive in person. Great Work from a very talented young man.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Tech note: Lee's website, http://www.leerainboth.com/ is hosted by blogger.com on their servers, the same service that hosts this discussion blog.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hello. My name is Amber (Hanson) Booth. As a lifelong (for the most part) resident of Marcus, it always amazes me at the kindness and generosity of our residents who reach out to others in their times of need.
    I am writing today to let you know about a benefit for Gracie Nelson. Gracie is the 22 month old daughter of Nic and Michelle Nelson of Pella, IA. Gracie is also the granddaughter of Jeff and Colleen Nelson of Clear Lake, IA. Jeff is originally from Marcus and graduated from MHS in 1973. Gracie is also the great-granddaughter of Dave and Shirly Nelson and Dick and Jacque Bird, who all live in Marcus.
    Gracie has Spinal Muscular Atrophy (info can be found at www.fsma.org)
    Gracie will be needing a wheelchair to get around and will have various medical bills throughout her life. Because of this, Gracie's aunt, Beth VanderZee, has set up a fundraiser that will take place during RAGBRAI this summer. RAGBRAI starts in Rock Rapids on July 21 (the actual start of the ride is on July 22). There will be booths set up and items being raffled, as well as t-shirts being sold. There is also a RAGBRAI team called Race4Grace that will spread the word of this fundraiser throughout the entire ride. If anyone is going to be in Rock Rapids for the start of RAGBRAI, or if anyone is planning on actually riding in RAGBRAI, please be on the lookout for the team and stop by our booths. Also, for anyone that is interested in supporting this effort, there has been an account set up at:
    Marion County Bank
    800 Main St.
    Pella, IA 50219
    Checks need to be made out to Race4Grace

    If you know of anyone who would be interested in this information, please pass it on to them.
    If anyone needs more information, please e-mail me at:
    amberleighhanson@yahoo.com
    and I will be glad to answer any questions.
    Thank you,
    Amber Booth

    ReplyDelete
  18. I am writing this blog so everyone knows what I am talking about. Like my husband said before, we are buying this house, and have only lived in Marcus for almost a year. Well, we don't move to towns to cause problems, we moved here to start and raise a family, we heard about the school and thought this town would be the best place to raise a family of our own. Ever since we have moved here we have had problems with a neighbor. We have even had the city called on us for our dog's barking. We do not let our dogs run wild, we do put them on chains, and the only time the dog barks is when he wants back in the house. We have had 3 complaints so far, and that is alot in a year! Like I said, we love this town and the majority of the people here, and we did not move here to leave in a few years, we are here to stay. I love the community and the fact that this is a very family oriented town, I was raised that way also. I would just like to know what problems we have caused to make our neighbor dislike us so much? We don't know anybody in this town, and we are usually in our home, or in Le Mars doing things. We don't really get much time to really check things out in Marcus, but, we would love to meet people, and get to know them. We go to Heartland Care to visit our grandma Norris as often as we can, and we are not nosy people, we mind our own business, and are very happy to be in this town and purchasing our home, we are very grateful for the things that we have.
    We would like to thank those of you who have welcomed us into this town.
    The Dempster Family

    ReplyDelete
  19. We hope you continue to enjoy Marcus. My recommendation: go talk to the neighbor. Let's get back to something a bit more positive.

    ReplyDelete
  20. The MMC Foundation which was established by the MMC Board of Education in 1993 is looking for mailing address for graduates of the current and prior community school system. If you have had a class reunion or have a current class mailing list please contact MMC Foundation member Rachel Holmes at fsmarcus@midlands.net

    The MMC Foundation provides educational opportunities beyond the scope of traditional school financing via annual grants to different academic programs. The Foundation is also an Affiliate of the Dollars for Scholars/Scholarship America a national organization. With this assocaition the foundation provides scholarships to MMC graduates.

    Knowing the importance of education in our lives and the excellent education received by all who have graduated please consider helping future graduates with a donation to the foundation. You can mail a can mail contibutions or inquires to
    MMC Foundation
    Po Box 412
    Marcus Ia 51035

    or e-mail MMC Foundation at

    fsmarcus@midlands.net

    Thank you for your time and consideration.
    Rachel Holmes
    MMC Foundation Board Member

    ReplyDelete
  21. I've been gone for awhile and just got back to the blogspot. I have lots of catching up to do, but this is first on my list. Thanks,Joe, for the bit about Lee and his remarkable artwork. I'm so pleased that he is having a show at the Sanford. I've been his ardent fan since I saw his first works. I have three of his remarkable paintings on my office wall. Everyone should look at his stuff. Those of us who have pieces are convinced that through years ahead, we will be proud to say we have "an early Rainboth" you know, the way collectors today refer to "an early Picasso"!
    Clark and Vicki have produced a mighty talented family ! Margaret Dorr

    ReplyDelete
  22. Just a note: After a recent computer crash that took us offline, the Marcus Historical Society website is now up & running again.

    ReplyDelete