We saw the Zoar Church today, a property on the National Register of Historic Places. It mostly meant looking around at the cemetery, as the church building was locked up. Many of the tombstones were in German as it was a church founded by those of German ancestry. It is about 10 miles outside the town of Newton on Highway 14. Last year we found the 6 properties inside the city limits. On the way back into town we stopped at the Emerson Hough Chapter of the Izaak Walton League, a coveted venue for class reunions. Unsure which class got it, I know my class wanted it. I got a picture inside of a banner with the chapter name on it, don't recall seeing it when visiting there to research Emerson Hough two years ago.
We also found the Maytag Guesthouse, near the former country club which just became public after it was bought out of bankruptcy. Good thing I had the address from the real estate listing online, as otherwise it would have been hard to find. I saw a sign up that said 'private drive' so we decided to park across the street. It was hard to get good pictures when standing behind the gate, as there were plenty of trees in the way. So we walked up about halfway to the house to get the pictures we wanted.
The Jasper County Museum was also on our list, the tour guide told us plenty of stories along the way. I hadn't seen the outdoor buildings in a while, on a previous visit in 2006 I just had the time for the indoor exhibit. There was a story about plans to replace the windmill.
The class reunion got a little crazy, I was nearly choked with the 'elephant tie' I was wearing. But it was fun, well worth it to be there. I made the day of two classmates by giving them copies of the media attention on their jobs in the alumni magazine. I liked knowing I could do something for them, even though the articles were from 1998 and 1999. One was about performing country music with Pam Tillis, the other about working for various professional sports teams. My date learned quite a bit about me while there, jsut from listening me introduce all of my classmates. I said some were ex-Monroe like me, others from Lincoln School. It was the elementary school I attended after my family moved to Newton when I was in the middle of third grade. We shared stories of finding the school site, which was demolished in 1992 and there is now plenty of houses on the site. The cornerstone was saved and was made into a sign at a little park, there are some basketball courts there. I made it a Facebook picture after last year's visit. Of course many of them were football teammates. One of them spoke of being divorced twice. Same classmate is a high school guidance counselor, and said he was sent a text message about the murder of Aplington-Parkersburg football coach Ed Thomas before it was on the news. He had been a football coach before becoming a counselor. Apparently it is a fraternity like being a police officer, when one of your own goes down it means plenty to the entire community. Some said they would like to see me do comedy, but they would have to travel some of course. One classmate now lives in Hawaii. At the end of the night at the American Legion there were some group pictures taken. There were about 100 of us there, including spouses. It was a little overwhelming to be in demand for most of the night. But I took it in stride as it is usually a good thing to be in demand. I know my classmates like to see me, but it still surprises me on some level as to how much. I've told myself how football is king in many small towns in the Midwest, and I was part of the team as equipment manager. Apparently that was enough. I just figured popularity was a fleeting and fickle thing. I had more beer to drink than usual, 3 cups. But it was furnished with the fee we paid, and I still drank way less than many did. The cake looked nice, got a picture before it was cut. There was a replica of the class picture on the cake. When I saw one classmate, I referred to him as 'my brother', as I liked how his family 'adopted' me. Hadn't spoken in a while, he's married and has 3 daughters, busy with his small business as well. Hopefully we can keep in touch more often soon. My date could tell how much he truly cared about me.
We also found the Maytag Guesthouse, near the former country club which just became public after it was bought out of bankruptcy. Good thing I had the address from the real estate listing online, as otherwise it would have been hard to find. I saw a sign up that said 'private drive' so we decided to park across the street. It was hard to get good pictures when standing behind the gate, as there were plenty of trees in the way. So we walked up about halfway to the house to get the pictures we wanted.
The Jasper County Museum was also on our list, the tour guide told us plenty of stories along the way. I hadn't seen the outdoor buildings in a while, on a previous visit in 2006 I just had the time for the indoor exhibit. There was a story about plans to replace the windmill.
The class reunion got a little crazy, I was nearly choked with the 'elephant tie' I was wearing. But it was fun, well worth it to be there. I made the day of two classmates by giving them copies of the media attention on their jobs in the alumni magazine. I liked knowing I could do something for them, even though the articles were from 1998 and 1999. One was about performing country music with Pam Tillis, the other about working for various professional sports teams. My date learned quite a bit about me while there, jsut from listening me introduce all of my classmates. I said some were ex-Monroe like me, others from Lincoln School. It was the elementary school I attended after my family moved to Newton when I was in the middle of third grade. We shared stories of finding the school site, which was demolished in 1992 and there is now plenty of houses on the site. The cornerstone was saved and was made into a sign at a little park, there are some basketball courts there. I made it a Facebook picture after last year's visit. Of course many of them were football teammates. One of them spoke of being divorced twice. Same classmate is a high school guidance counselor, and said he was sent a text message about the murder of Aplington-Parkersburg football coach Ed Thomas before it was on the news. He had been a football coach before becoming a counselor. Apparently it is a fraternity like being a police officer, when one of your own goes down it means plenty to the entire community. Some said they would like to see me do comedy, but they would have to travel some of course. One classmate now lives in Hawaii. At the end of the night at the American Legion there were some group pictures taken. There were about 100 of us there, including spouses. It was a little overwhelming to be in demand for most of the night. But I took it in stride as it is usually a good thing to be in demand. I know my classmates like to see me, but it still surprises me on some level as to how much. I've told myself how football is king in many small towns in the Midwest, and I was part of the team as equipment manager. Apparently that was enough. I just figured popularity was a fleeting and fickle thing. I had more beer to drink than usual, 3 cups. But it was furnished with the fee we paid, and I still drank way less than many did. The cake looked nice, got a picture before it was cut. There was a replica of the class picture on the cake. When I saw one classmate, I referred to him as 'my brother', as I liked how his family 'adopted' me. Hadn't spoken in a while, he's married and has 3 daughters, busy with his small business as well. Hopefully we can keep in touch more often soon. My date could tell how much he truly cared about me.
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