BY ALAN SMITH

What does it mean for a World War II veteran to have an opportunity to visit the war memorials and Arlington Cemetery in the nation’s capital as part of a group of a planeload of other veterans?

If the three veterans from Ringgold county who made the Honor Flight trip earlier this month are any example, it means a lot.

As Marvin Sobotka of Diagonal said, “It was beyond belief, I just can’t put it in words.”

Honor Flights are part of a program to take free day trips to Washington, D.C. for veterans to honor them for their service.  Along the way they get to share again with fellow veterans as well as visit the World War War II memorial and other memorial sites in the nation’s capital.

Taking the trip when a Central Iowa Honor Flight was offered Tuesday, Aug. 11, were Calvin Adams of Mount Ayr, Jake Dailey of Mount Ayr and Marvin Sobotka of Diagonal.

Adams served in World War II from March 1943 to January 1946. He served in the Air Force, flying B-29 bombers in the South Pacific and Japan.

Dailey served from July 1942 to  December 1945 with the U.S. Navy. Dailey served in the medical corps at the Brooklyn Naval Hospital and then in surgery installations in the Admiralty Islands in the southwest Pacific.

Sobotka went into the Air Force right after graduating from Benton high school in 1941 and served until the end of the war in 1945.

He served with the 98th Bomb Group and flew 50 combat missions in a B-24 bomber in the war in Europe. His group flew the most missions of any bomb group in the war, he remembers.

For the veterans, the whole Honor Flight program is free. Groups and individuals make donations to pick up all the costs for the trips.

The Heartland Honor Flights have been organized with the help of Bill and Evonne Williams of Omaha, NE. The couple wanted World War II veterans to be able to see the National World War II Memorial while the veterans could still make the trip.

Jeff Ballenger of Council Bluffs and his father Bill were the organizers of this latest flight. HyVee Food Stores picked up the $250,000 price tag for the flight that took the Ringgold county veterans to the nation’s capital and provided a meal for the group beforehand.

Efforts are being made to make other trips from Iowa in the future and already more than 700 veterans have expressed interest.

“We can’t thank all the people who helped organize the trip enough,” Marvin Sobotka said.

For the Ringgold county group, the trip began on Monday afternoon when they registered at the Holiday Inn near the airport in Des Moines, where they would spend the night.

There were 350 veterans and 55 volunteers who escorted the veterans, most of whom have passed the 80-year-old mark as it has been 64 years since the end of the war in 1945.

In fact the youngest traveler on the trip was 82 and there was a 100 year old who made the trip this time as well.

After checking in at the Holiday Inn, the veterans were taken to the HyVee Conference Center in Des Moines for an evening meal. The meal was for veterans who would make the trip and family members who brought them to Des Moines. Veterans from further out in the state were flown to Des Moines for the trip.

The bus trip to the meal was an experience in itself as thousands of people were standing along the route to cheer, wave and hold flags thanking the veterans for their service.

“There were lots of tears on the bus, I’ll tell you,” Jake Dailey said. “It was really touching to see those people take time to thank us for our service.”

Calvin Adams said the procession of motorcycles, police cars and buses up Fleur Drive was one of the highlights of the trip for him as well.
“Their being out there just made you feel that your service was appreciated,” Adams said.

At HyVee headquarers, the veterans and volunteers were fed efficiently and several groups sang World War II era songs. There was a Baptist Church choir and a group who entertained like the McGuire Sisters. Dailey was impressed with all the HyVee volunteers on hand who served the meal so quickly.

Then it was back to the hotel for a short night’s sleep.

At 2 a.m. the veterans were up for breakfast and volunteers from the Des Moines Police Department and Des Moines Fire Department helped with security checks as luggage was loaded. By 4 a.m. the veterans were loaded on buses for the airport, where bands and more people met the veterans for another welcome sendoff.

The Honor Flight used a 747, which was parked out on the tarmack away from the regular terminal. Governor Chet Culver and his wife were among dignitaries on hand as the veterans loaded the plane.

The steps up the plane were lined with volunteers who helped the veterans onto the plane and their bags were taken and loaded.

The Mount Ayr travelers recognized Ron Brand, a Mount Ayr boy as Dailey put it, among the people helping get the plane loaded.

The flight to Washington, D.C. was special for Adams, who flew the biggest planes in the service during World War II, the B-29 bombers.

“Those planes were midgets compared to the 747 we flew on,” he said. “

A 747 weights 180 tons without any passengers or baggage,” he marveled.

How did the plane get to Washginton, D.C.?

Sobotka and Adams remembers all the details as they were in the Air Force during the war.

“We were flying at 34,000 feet above sea level where the temperature outside was 68 degrees below zero,” Adams remembers. “Our cruising speed was 673 miles per hour.”

Sobotka said that the temperature was near the 72 degrees below zero the air temperature reached outside his bomber on a bombing run to Lenz, Austria during the war.

The airplane landed at Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C., where there were another couple thousand people on hand to greet the veterans, lining the way the veterans took to buses.

“I don’t know where they would come from on a Tuesday morning, but they were giving high fives and  saying things like ‘God bless you,” Dailey said.

Among the people there were staff members for Congressman Leonard Boswell, who greeted and helped the veterans.

The veterans were loaded on buses which took them to the World War II Memorial as their first stop.

Former Senator Bob Dole was one of those on hand at the memorial, and he had his picture taken with Dailey and  Adams.

The World War II Memorial was one of the highlights of the visits for Sobotka. 

“We found the Iowa marker and had our pictures taken there,” Sobotka said. “I held up a HyVee bag for one of them because I appreciated their helping fund the trip so much.”

The veterans visited the Iwo Jima Memorial, the Vietnam and Korean Memorials, stopped by Arlington Cemetery for the changing of the guard, and visited the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials in a day of sightseeing.

The memorials got the veterans to talking about their experiences with each other and with the volunteers and helpers at the sites.

One of the veterans had served on Iowa Jima and the stop at the memorial there got him to talking and soon there was a large group standing around listening to his remembrances.

“There were a lot of stories told to each other by the travelers,” Dailey said. “Some of them may have been exaggerated a little by the years, but they were all important to hear and tell.”

Sobotka met a 100-year-old veteran on the trip -- Dale Johnson of Gretna and they visited quite a bit.

Sobotka had made several bombing runs on Munich during the war and had flown over a town 40 miles away that had red crosses on the roofs signifying that it as a hospital.

It was anything but that. It was the Dauchau prison camp were many Jews and other prisoners went to their deaths.

He was interested in his discussion with Johnson because Johnson helped shoot off the locks of the prison compound that the Germans had abandoned on May 9, the day after the war in Europe was called to an end on May 8.

Like other veterans, they shared the connections that tied their stories together.

The buses had the visitors back to Dulles Airport by 5 p.m. for their 8:30 flight. Because there was only a handful of TSA personnel to handle the security checks instead of the flood of law enforcement and military personnel who helped in Des Moines, the plane didn’t get off the ground until almost 11 p.m. and the plane didn’t arrive back in Des Moines until 1 a.m.

After unloading there, the veterans had the two hour ride home to Mount Ayr. Dailey and Adams were riding together and Dailey’s daughter, Martha Landphair, said the two were just chattering away like school boys about the experience the whole way home.

From the time the veterans had gotten up on Tuesday morning to the time they made it home early Wednesday morning, it was a 25-hour day for the travelers. They they felt it was well worth it.

“When they have another trip I think anyone who is eligible should try to go,” Adams said. “They treated us like kings the whole trip.”

Dailey had been to Washington, D.C. three or four years ago, but making the trip with other veterans was a different experience than  his other trips to the nation’s capital, he noted.

The Honor Flight program is a non-profit organization that is making  a point of allowing World War II veterans, especially, to make trips to the nation’s capital and to remind them that the nation is still thankful for their service.

In the month of August alone, almost a dozen flights with 350 or so veterans flew into Washington, D.C. from all over the country.

Dailey said he saw a piece about the program on television and looked for an application and got it sent right in. The veterans are chosen for the trip on a first come, first served basis once applications for a trip are available, he said.

He said he would recommend the trip to any veteran and hoped that more Ringgold county veterans would have the opportunity for the trip in the future.

“It was a very enjoyable trip,” Adams said.

 The first annual “Gala at the Princess,” a fund-raiser to help with the endowment fund to keep the theater functioning for years to come, is scheduled Saturday, Aug. 22 at 7 p.m. and again Sunday, Aug. 23, at 2 p.m.

“A Musical Family Affair” is the theme for the event, which will present a number of area families in concert.

Families taking part include Mike and Susan Greene, Nathan Smith, the Lawhead family, the Doug Greene family, the McCreary family and the Crausen family.

Mike and Susan Greene, who now live in Saint Peters, MO, will be performing four songs. They include “Give Me Jesus,” “Since I Fell For You,” “Georgia On My Mind” and “Grace.”

Representing the family of Alan and Valle Smith will be Dr. Nathan Smith from Independence, MO, who will be returning to play a classic piano solo -- “Variations  Sérieuses” by Felix Mendelssohn.

The Lawhead family will be performing “We’re Pirates, We’re Not Scared,” “Let Me Go Blubber,”
“Bugler’s Holiday” and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” among other numbers.

Family members participating will include Florence Lawhead from Mesa, AZ; Dick and Camille Jackson, Dr. Collus and Jane Lawhead, Dr. Carlin, Vicki, Chris and Connor Lawhead of Muscatine; Dr. David, Dr. Lauran and Ashton Hoffman of Missouri Valley; Dr. David and Paula Lawhead of Saint Paul, MN, and Randy, Theresa, Nicholas and Eleanor Jackson of Des Moines.

“Light From Heaven,” “You’re Something Special” and “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” will be the songs performed by the Greene family including Doug, David, Charlene, Ashlie, Shelbie and Myles Greene, Danny Ray, Alexa Anderson, and Darin and Darla Dolecheck.

The McCreary family will be performing “Have A Little Talk With Jesus, “Oh What a Savior,” “His Love” and “Happy Birthday Jesus.”

McCreary family participants will include Faith Shinkle, Carol Anne McCreary, Grace Warin, Jim McCreary, Barbie Belzer and Laurie Anne Belzer.

The Crausen family will include Mary Davenport, Margaret Bickers, Kary Crausen, Keith and Andy Trullinger  and Melonie and Allie Knapp performing.

They will do “Some Days You Gotta Dance,” “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” “Why Baby Why” and “One More Summer in Virginia.”

Tickets are on sale at the Princess Theater and the Mount Ayr Record-News. Refreshments will be served for a freewill donation.

An advertisement in today’s Mount Ayr Record-News gives details.

The Mount Ayr Lions Club will be serving a pancake supper in the shelter house on the courthouse lawn Saturday night between 5 and 7 p.m. before the event.

The proceeds will go to purchase kids rides for upcoming community events and additional donations will be accepted.

An advertisement in today’s Mount Ayr Record-News gives details.

Ringgold county will be represented at the Iowa State Fair in many ways when the fair opens for its annual run in Des Moines today (Thursday).

The fair is scheduled to run through Sunday, Aug. 23, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines.

Many 4-H and FFA members will participate, there will be people active in open exhibit competition and residents will take part in many other ways as well.

Taking part in the state fair parade Wednesday night was Ringgold County Fair queen Jamie Novak. She will also take part in the state fair queen contest.

The county junior cowgirl queen Morgan Quick will also be participating in state competition at the fair.

Members of the Clearfield Lions Club will again be shuttling people around the fairgrounds for the 45th year of providing this service to fairgoers.

Many local people will be helping man booths and exhibits during the fair as well. Among places where familiar faces will be seen are the tourism, Cattlemen and Pork Producers booths.

Several area residents will be showing livestock and participating in food classes beyond the 4-H and FFA competition, but no pre-fair information was available about these entrants.

4-H projects at state fair

A total of 26 4-H entries were chosen to advance to the Iowa State Fair following judging from the Ringgold County Fair.

Projects in home economics, expressive arts, science and engineering, ag and natural resources and personal development were to be judged by the time the fair opened.

County 4-H members who had projects advancing to the state fair included:

Tom Hosfield, Sunshine Workers, cattail photograph and rake photograph; Tyler Becker, Twin River Tornadoes, spiderweb photograph; Holly England, Junior Farmers, 1948 Dodge car photograph; Matthew Shervheim, Sunshine Workers, Museum of Science and Technology photograph; Hannah Glendenning, Maloy Shamrocks, spring flower photograph;

Erin Dolecheck, Ringgold Rockets, strawberry jam; Laura Shervheim, Sunshine Workers, crescent rolls; Brett England, Michael Bentley and Ryan England, Twin River Tornadoes, brick laying citizenship project; Elisha Doubleday, Ringgold Rockets, Hospice volunteer citizenship project; Brook Rychnovsky, Crooked Creek, oak secretary; Peter Shervheim, Sunshie Workers, “The Science of a Spud Gun;” Leah Klejch, Crooked Creek, handmade cards; Taylor Still, Crooked Creek, Mother of May pencil sketch;

Laura Shervheim, Sunshine Workers, movies; Shelby Reger, Junior Farmers, quilt; Kaci Stackhouse, Maloy Shamrocks, quilt; Allison Fooken, Tingley Toppers, keepsake box; Taylen Abarr, Ringgold Rockets, barn citizenship project; Tom Hosfield, Sunshine Workers, blueberry pie;

Elisha Doubleday, Ringgold Rockets, clothing selection; Bailey Cameron, Crooked Creek, recipe in frame; Madison Mobley, Maloy Shamrocks, Maddie’s Calendar; Shelby Comer, Tingley Toppers, wagon wheel flower box; Quency Vos, Tingley Toppers, office organizer.

Claire Andresen of the Ringgold Rockets had a perfect white bread entry and Tom Hosfield of the Sunshine Workers had a pinwheel cookies project that were named alternates to state.

Share the fun entry

One Share the Fun entry will be taking part in activity at the state fair.

Tom Hosfield will play a trumpet solo as part of the Share the Fun session held at noon  Thursday, Aug. 20.

4-H livestock entries

A number of county 4-Hers will be taking livestock projects to the state fair as well.

Shows and the days they will be participating include:

Tuesday through Thursday, Aug. 11-13 -- Horse show: Morgan Quick and Logan Wimer.

Monday, Aug. 17 -- Market sheep show: Tyler Becker; breeding swine and derby pig show: Johnathan Triggs and Tyler Triggs.

Tuesday, Aug. 18 -- Breeding beef show: Taylan Abarr, Claire Andresen, Tyler Becker, Bailey Cameron, Kaitlyn Holmes, Katelyn Warin, Hagan Willis and Chloe Yoder; breeding sheep show: Tyler Becker; market swine show: Johnathan Triggs and Tyler Triggs.

Wednesday, Aug. 19 -- Market beef show: Holly England and April Shields.

Thursday, Aug. 20 -- Dairy goat show: Allison Fooken and Sarah Reasoner; market goat show: Tyler Hayse and Shelby Reger.

FFA participation

Two FFA members are participating with projects at the state fair.

Kelsey Meester will be showing horses at the horse show Thursday, Aug. 13.

Amy Weeda will be showing sheep at the sheep show on Thursday, Aug. 13 as well.

Talent show 

Jesse Ricker will be participating in the Bill Riley Talent Show at the state fair as the winner of the show at the Ringgold County Fair.

The date for the performance was not available at press time.

One more review of how Gooseberry Lake might become a reality in Ringgold county will be done in a series of meetings in September.

That was the news from the Gooseberry Lake Agency meeting held Thursday, July 23, the Mount Ayr city hall.

Details including naming officers were also handled in the annual meeting and a project review included in the meeting.

Dennis Hilger from the Southern Iowa Resource and Conservation and Development presented a project review to the group.

He noted that the Magellan Pipeline Company has estimated a cost of $3.2 million for pipeline replacement and $144,000 for right of way purchase to move the pipeline from under the lake site.

The November 2007 projection of costs for the project was $18,215,200, up from $10 million in October 2004.

With the newer estimate the maximum from the federal government would be $7,921,000 or 40 percent of the cost.

The project had originally been set for taking 2,365 acres but for the lake pool and 400 feet buffer area which is the maximum that can be taken by imminent domain, the amount of land needed would be 1,320 acres.

Under the minimum land scenario, the project would cost $16.9 million with $7.1 million for local sponsors including Ringgold county, the city of Mount Ayr and the Southern Iowa Rural Water Association.

If  a USDA Rural Development loan and grant program were used for the program and 40 percent of the amount was a grant, the costs for the project for the county could be in the neighborhood of $1.34 million and the cost of the project for the city of Mount Ayr in the neighborhood of $720,000, Hilger estimated.

Dan McIntosh from the Southern Iowa Rural Water Association noted that there would need to be some re-engineering costs for the dam because of changes in regulations and possibly some more legal expenses than in the original scenario.

McIntosh also noted that progress is being made on the Clarke County and 102 projects and if these projects moved ahead first the Gooseberry Lake project might not be needed to meet SIRWA’s water need expansion and so would not be buildable.

Dennis Hilger presented a possible scenario on how the project could move forward.

The plan would be to build the  structure with 1,320 acres, which would mean $7.1 million for local sponsors. 

Discussion would be made with Seantor Tom Harkin’s office  about the possibility of getting a Rural Development loan/grant to do the pipeline work and purchase the land needed for the lake. Having an estimate of the probability of getting the funding for the lake project through the Soil and Water Conservation Service once the preliminary work was done would be very important.

In Hilger’s scenario, step one would be to buy land first for an estimate of $2.53 million. The city of Mount Ayr and Ringgold county would do that using a Rural  Development loan with  40 percent grant and a $1.5 million loan.

The next step would be to get the pipeline moved and this $3.28 million cost might be picked up by SIRWA with  a Rural Development grant and  $1.9 million in loans. Once the land was bought and the pipeline moved, the city and county would contribute the rest of their part of the funding to help the construction of the dam and lake.

The recreational aspects of the project would be worked out last, with the Ringgold County Conservation Board seeking grants and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources providing funding as well.

It was pointed out that if a request for appropriations was approved for the project after being made by Senator Tom Harkin’s office and other legislators, the project would need to move forward or there would not be an effort by the legislators again to help the project.

The question was if the people at the meeting would like to hold some future meetings to look at the feasibility of the project now or to leave the project on the shelf, where it was put at the March meeting of the group.

All three groups -- the city, county and SIRWA -- would need to review what portion of the project they would be willing to fund under the new scenario.

Mount Ayr mayor Don Solliday and county supervisor chairman Larry Ford said they felt that before they could commit the city or county to their shares they would like to see a public vote of some kind.

After a good deal of discussion, the Gooseberry Lake Agency board voted to set up a meeting Thursday, Sept. 10, at 7 p.m. at the Ringgold county courthouse assembly room to include the Mount Ayr city council, Ringgold county board of supervisors and SIRWA board.

At that time an up-to-date scenario for the possibilities of the project would be presented to all three groups in a meeting where no action would be taken.

The boards would then make a decision on their possible participation at regular meetings and their representatives would report back to a Gooseberry Lake Agency meeting to be held Thursday, Sept. 24, at 10 a.m. at the Mount Ayr city hall.

A decision not to move forward at that point could be the final one for the lake if SIRWA finds other sources for its water needs.

Also at the meeting, Mark DePoy, the new coordinator for the Southern Iowa Resource Conservation and Development office, was introduced to the Gooseberry Lake Agency board.

DePoy originally comes from Lafayette, IN, but has worked around the country in positions with the Soil Conservation Service, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management.

DePoy told the board that he was happy to be in the new position where he would influence economic development as well as conservation issues.

The board also heard a treasurer’s report that it had $21,583.68 in funds, so would not need to have any dues for the coming fiscal year.

Decisions on insurance and other matters were also put off until the September 24 meeting.

Annual meeting

Three items were handled at the annual meeting of the agency which preceded the regular meeting.

Elected as officers for the Gooseberry Lake Agency included Randy Bishop, chairman; Don Solliday, vice chairman; Larry Ford, secretary, and Dan McIntosh, treasurer.

Depositories for the coming year for agency funds were also set. Great Western Bank of Mount Ayr was set again as the group’s depository.

The board also determined that any two of the four principal officers could sign checks, the same policy as in the past.