Category Archives: Iowa Miscellaneous

This story from Stateline/Pew Charitable Trusts about disappearing rural grocery stores is mostly about areas with lower population density than Iowa, but there’s some Iowa stuff in here. An important quote comes from Drake University’s Jennifer Zwagerman: “How do you … Continue reading →

Despite the Sept. 28 “Saturday Night Live” sketch to the contrary, the World’s Largest Cheeto is not along I-15, but in Algona, Iowa. (At least, at last report?) Or perhaps “biggest” and “largest” are different categories? Fact-checking a comedy show … Continue reading →

(Oooohhhh….two of my favorite subjects in one.) Author/freelance writer Darcy Maulsby has a book coming out about Iowa’s connections to the Titanic, according to this story by KCHA Radio. (“Known author”? As opposed to “Unknown author?”) Maulsby, who previously wrote … Continue reading →

August 16, 2019: Bob Dorr (left) performs “Elvis in Paraguay” with three Elvis impersonators who crashed the concert at the MidAmerican Energy Stage at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. My Iowa State Fair day(s) have typically ended with hypnotist Ron Diamond (except … Continue reading →

With all the national media in Iowa this week, we were bound to get some dispatches from the frontier-style stories. Roll Call has a 15-minute audio experience of the Iowa State Fair. The reporter spent “a day in the deep-fried … Continue reading →

The Rice Krispie Bar on a Stick (that couldn’t be called that) is off the menu at the Iowa State Fair. The fair board discontinued selling the treat this year, the Register reports, because of falling sales. That’s even after … Continue reading →

I write about the Iowa State Fair Singers and Jazz Band, with a single-out of 1989, and then I find a barely-seen video of that very year. The thanks song comes at the end. (Those very benches, or similar ones, … Continue reading →

I loved watching the Iowa State Fair Singers and Jazz Band. It was something we saw at the fair at the stage by the Cultural Center at least a few times, if not every year. I certainly loved it when … Continue reading →

Our food scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should. Starting at 2:45: SIX meat patties, SIX strips of bacon, slathered with macaroni and cheese. God bless America. (But I actually might … Continue reading →