For some strange reason, Blossom only escapes from her pen when Ginnie and I are gone, like she knows we’re away and it’s time to romp. The first time she escaped was last summer when [Read More…]
Seven hundred sixty-three days and counting. Pen City Current will enter its third year of writing about the people of north Lee County on Dec. 6…. and we couldn’t be happier to still be here. [Read More…]
Tim Smith, basketball coach of Sweet Springs High School in Missouri is a busy man. In addition to coaching both the girls and boys varsity basketball teams, he is also Athletic Director and Physical Education [Read More…]
I stopped by to visit with Kumar Wickramasingha at the Elliott Test Kitchen on Monday after Sunday night’s heavy snow storm. He was in back shoveling about six inches of snow off the small sidewalk [Read More…]
Just in time for Christmas, I will be doing a book signing in Burlington at Burlington By the Books, 301 Jefferson St., on Saturday, December 15th, from 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. Books will be [Read More…]
I’m going to toss out four books for consideration or consumption, like tossing out bones for the canine to choose from—one, two, maybe three, or all of them? It’s going to be cold and the [Read More…]
I can’t drive 55…or 65 for that matter, there’s just too much to do. This week I’ve made the mind-numbing trek to the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids on what will be three straight [Read More…]
November 3rd, 1989, 2:00 a.m., all alone, and blind drunk, I fell through the glass top of my coffee table, cut myself to smithereens, and almost bled to death. Like an Iowa tornado ripping through [Read More…]
Ginnie and I recently celebrated our three-year wedding anniversary. On October 10th, three years ago, Ginnie stepped out of the back door of our garage, strolled across the grass, to the music and singing of [Read More…]
Lee County Supervisor Gary Folluo rubbed his head in frustration at Tuesday’s board meeting as the county leaders worked through an issue about a maintenance shed that sits between two properties in Argyle. The building [Read More…]
Have you ever heard of both a mother and daughter having breast cancer at the same time in the same breast? It happened to Linda Pohren and Tammy Mumme of Mt. Pleasant. Linda’s husband, Jim, [Read More…]
National Dog Day, which was in late August, right around Ginnie’s birthday, found Buddy a little worse for wear. It has been a bummer summer for the ole Buddy Boy. First of all, in July, [Read More…]
Brad Heald was still weed eating 45 minutes before his daughter’s wedding. He wanted everything to be perfect for his only daughter, Coral. To the wedding guests, everything was perfect. There was a beautiful display [Read More…]
In my generation, a four-year degree was the path often taken. “Get your degree” my mom would say. It took me a while to get my crap together, but I got it done. I graduated [Read More…]
Kimn Hassenfritz looked up from the breakfast table. “What is that awful noise?” she asked. There it was again. The noise sounded like a cross between an elk bugling and a sick goose. It was [Read More…]
I’m going to recommend two books for fall-fest reading. One is “Vinegar Girl” by Anne Tyler, and the other is “Long Haul, A Trucker’s Tales of Life on the Road” by Finn Murphy. Anne Tyler [Read More…]
When I was a kid my father ran a gas station in Monroe. I loved “helping” my father with his business. I swept the floor and washed windshields—albeit I had to stand on a five-gallon [Read More…]
It was snowing so hard Michael Lanman, from Keosauqua, could hardly see beyond the hood of his Schneider truck. Semis were crammed into the parking lot of the truck stop in Clear Lake every which [Read More…]
Dr. Joel Ryon was headed for Mt. Pleasant’s swimming pool for a workout. He is a triathlete having competed in Ironman triathlons and also the Boston Marathon. It was his day off from his busy [Read More…]
I had fielded one-too-many quips about my weight: “Really pack’n it on there, aren’t you?” This hurt my feelings, so I decided to do something about it. We have plenty of eggs with our dozen [Read More…]
Ginnie came to me bright and early the day before my birthday. “There’s an issue with Buddy.” “Ah, oh.” I didn’t like the sound of the word ‘issue.’ “Oh, what’s that?” I asked, trying to [Read More…]
To Pen City Current readers: It has recently been announced that the University of Iowa intends to dissolve their Labor Center. For almost seventy years the University of Iowa Labor Center has been built up, [Read More…]
Ginnie told me to rent the metal detector again and search for the ring one more time before she bought me a new one. My 70th birthday was fast approaching (70!) and Ginnie was going [Read More…]
A nice story of locals pulling together to keep a local business alive unfolded right in front of us here in Lee County. Keokuk radio KOKX (AM 1310) and Z93 was on the chopping block [Read More…]
I went puddle jumping Thursday afternoon. Literally. But I wasn’t dressed for the occasion. I was busy at the computer as usual in the afternoon and got up to stretch my legs. I walked through [Read More…]
We moved Annie, along with her brother, to Mt. Pleasant from Colorado, completely against their will when they were teenagers. They thought we, the parents, had lost our marbles. They would attend a Christian school [Read More…]
Editor My name is Kim Fehseke and my daughter McKenna Fehseke was involved in the senior prank at Fort Madison High School Sunday, May 20th. In recent days there has been much miscommunication and speculation [Read More…]
Editor (This is a copy of the letter FMCSD Tim Wondra has been sending to those emailing regarding the banning of students from graduation. We are running this intact as a letter to the editor) [Read More…]
Linda Pohren of Mt. Pleasant, and her daughter, Tammy Mumme (pronounced “Mummy”), have always done things together. But, according to Linda, “This is ridiculous!” Both Linda and her daughter have breast cancer—Linda, Stage II, and [Read More…]
Randy Tebo was my friend. He was an American Indian of the Ho-Chunk Tribe. Like many people, I’d never heard of Ho-Chunk. Patiently, Randy explained that Ho-Chunk were originally from Wisconsin. Like most tribes, they [Read More…]
We had put this off for as long as possible. The hen house needed cleaned out bad. The hens were staging daily walkouts carrying signs: “Dirty straw, dirty eggs!” “How would u like to live [Read More…]
Rebuild Nepal Education Namaste!!! Thanks to you Chuck and Lee and your staff for your continued support for my educational mission in Nepal. Rebuild Nepal Education Foundation. As most of your readers know the difficulty [Read More…]
Ginnie’s been having a rough go lately. The other night she was delivering a dozen eggs to my son and his family. She had a nice chat with my son and his wife at their [Read More…]
Not doing enough for you? Fellow citizens: the next time you are sitting at home wondering about things the city should be doing for you, please stop are read Chuck Vandenberg’s article “Close to 100 [Read More…]
A heated conversation started last week toward the end of the Lee County Board of Supervisors meeting when Supervisor Ron Fedler suggested that the county not backfill a full-time and part-time correctional officer for the [Read More…]
By Bob Gardner, Executive Director of the National Federation of State High School Associations and Alan Beste, Executive Director of the Iowa High School Athletic Association Many parents across America are trying to live the [Read More…]
Ginnie is becoming a farm girl!It was Easter Sunday (also April Fools Day). We walked into church and the first thing Ginnie and I heard from the door greeters was, “We have a calf for [Read More…]
Dear Editor There were lots of reasons Fort Madison school district voters rejected the elementary school bond referendum. It would behoove supporters to contemplate some of them before bringing this up for a fourth round [Read More…]
Dear Lee County Voters, I respect all voters on both sides of the school bond referendum because I believe there are legitimate concerns on both sides. However I have been disturbed with the responses from [Read More…]
Letter to the Editor I was elected to the Fort Madison Community School District Board of Directors in 2015. I moved into the district in 1976 and my three children attended and graduated from our [Read More…]
I needed Ginnie to help me string the electric chicken wire fence—her to hold the roll while I shoved the stakes in the ground. I figured it would be a good time for her and [Read More…]
Serving the Public Trust People in paid community leadership positions serve the people who pay their salaries. Included in that salary is a pre-ordained obligation to be unambiguous and accommodating when it comes to doing [Read More…]
Please vote YES for the new school on April 3rd. This is for our future generations, that hopefully will stay and raise families, start businesses, work in our industries and help this town prosper. To [Read More…]
Dear Editor; I am a parent of two kids in the Fort Madison Community School District and an active member of the KIDS Committee. To keep Fort Madison moving forward I believe the residents of [Read More…]
Dear Editor, To all my friends and FMCSD, please make your voice heard at the polls April 3rd for the future of Fort Madison with a new elementary school. While my youngest is a student [Read More…]
How can folks vote yes? Taxpayers should be seeking (and getting) a lot more clear answers about the proposed new elementary school. I’ve heard it said the reason the bond referendum failed twice so far [Read More…]
Tonight I reviewed two letters about the new school Tonight I reviewed two letters in The Daily Democrat letters to the editor. Both letters have many good points in them. The first was written by [Read More…]
Ginnie and I may be entering our second childhood. We actually went out after dark three nights in a row. Can you believe it?! The first night, a Thursday, we went to a stand-up comedy [Read More…]
BY CHUCK VANDENBERG Sitting at a table Friday night at the Elliott Test Kitchen eating some of Kumar’s fresh-smooshed guacamole with chips, some hors d’oeuvre meatballs, and finger sandwiches with about 60 members of the [Read More…]
Tim Olson, a well-known mortician in Mt. Pleasant, could also be a standup (or lay-down—get it?) comedian. He likes to tell people he has a PhD—Professional Hearse Driver. Tim’s ancestry and history are colorful. His [Read More…]
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