Category Archives: Tama County

Apr 27

Gladbrook school, pool sunk

Posted on Friday, April 27, 2018, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Almost completely unrelated to yesterday’s blog post, but definitely tied to one from last week, is some sad news from Gladbrook. The entire school complex is likely to be torn down, says the Grundy Register. That includes the swimming pool, … Continue reading →

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Apr 26

New Traer pool to open when summer starts

Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2018, at 10:02 AM by Jeff

A completely new pool will open in Traer on Memorial Day weekend, the Star-Clipper reports. This replaces the pool that opened in the late 1970s. On an unrelated note, the Star-Clipper has a new editor, who is three years out … Continue reading →

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Apr 18

Gladbrook school building: Now what?

Posted on Wednesday, April 18, 2018, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

July 7, 2015: Will all or part of the Gladbrook school complex come down? It seems inevitable. Of course, eventually, the question had to be asked. Now that the Gladbrook-Reinbeck school district will remain intact, what is going to be done … Continue reading →

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Apr 17

Traer shaker gallery featured on WHO

Posted on Tuesday, April 17, 2018, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Ruth Rasmussen’s massive salt-and-pepper-shaker collection was shown on WHO last week, along with some footage of the Winding Stairs.

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Apr 16

Prelude to a deluge

Posted on Monday, April 16, 2018, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Snows in very early April are routine enough. Anything on or after the first day of Iowa Spring (April 15), though, is something to record. Dad did that. Friday, April 16, 1993 … Last night we had an inch to … Continue reading →

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Apr 10

Tama County next to kiss its ash goodbye

Posted on Tuesday, April 10, 2018, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

A two-fer on the emerald ash borer front: Sites near each other in Le Grand served as the confirmation of the bug in Marshall and Tama counties. Strictly speaking, Traer and Dysart are not within the treatment radius from this … Continue reading →

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Mar 23

Traer Star-Clipper office closing

Posted on Friday, March 23, 2018, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

March 16, 2018/June 27, 1930: “The Traer Star-Clipper is still ‘the best weekly newspaper in the United States,’ according to the judges of the annual contest conducted by the National Editorial association for the promotion of better weekly newspapers…” Traer … Continue reading →

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Feb 20

Traer City Council majority female

Posted on Tuesday, February 20, 2018, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

Also majority people I know. A short item in the Traer Star-Clipper online calls to attention a historic first: Four of the seven people on the city council are women. Sometimes all it takes is a willingness to run — … Continue reading →

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Feb 01

Mike Pargeon, 1966-2018

Posted on Thursday, February 1, 2018, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

I mentioned I was at the Traer post office last Friday. That’s because I had jumped over to town to get an oil change on the car. It’s a little extra effort, but I support a local business that way. … Continue reading →

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Dec 20

50th anniversary of four-lane 63 in Traer

Posted on Wednesday, December 20, 2017, at 10:00 AM by Jeff

With the calendar ticking down toward 2018, I don’t have much space left to cover an anniversary I kept putting off. US 63 was four-laned through Traer in 1967. Structures were far enough from the road that there were no … Continue reading →

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