Looking at the southern Iowans who make a difference

BY JEFF HUTTON Courier associate editor

March 31, 2008 01:44 pm

— OTTUMWA — There are 56 remarkable people featured in today’s Progress special section — Snapshots: Southern Iowans Who Make a Difference.
Take for example the Snodgrass Sisters.
The comedy troupe from Unionville has entertained southern Iowans for years, creating a lot of laughter and better yet, memories.
Fred and Carolyn Jenkins are also profiled.
The couple owns KMGO FM and KCOG AM radio stations in Centerville and are active members in the area, including the Wapello County Fair Board, Wapello County Trails and Iowa Great Places.
Steve Roe continues to keep the old Rock Island Railroad Station in Eldon operating. He and three other co-owners are responsible for maintaining the station, now a museum, and keeping alive Eldon’s railroad history.
Nancy Henderson of Albia helps choreograph the Dancin’ Grannies and is responsible for scheduling performances and helps design outfits for the dancing troupe.
Jim Keller, also of Albia, is working hard with others to create the “Welcome Home Soldiers” monument west of town.
The Vietnam veteran believes southern Iowa is the perfect place to pay tribute to all men and women who have or will serve our country.
Brendan Keegan recently became an American citizen.
He met his future wife on the Internet and he came to Bloomfield from Ireland to begin a new life. He now feels at home and is making his American dream come true.
There are young people featured in this year’s Progress edition.
Alex Kuberski is a future broadcast journalist, who helped to create “Mustang Media” at Davis County High School. Over the past two years, Kuberski works on a daily morning show, creates videos and covers Davis County athletic events.
Ashley Salgado is the Evans Middle School class president and is active in a number of activities, including serving as a student member of the Ottumwa Human Rights Commission.
Many southern Iowa towns have a number of volunteers who work hard on improving their communities.
Jim and Lois Proctor only moved to Hedrick about six years ago, and yet they are very active members of the community who want to see the town thrive.
Whether it’s their work on the Carl Craft Civic Center, the church or for Lois as a city council member, they are both passionate about their love of Hedrick.
Betty Dilley is the same. She loves Oskaloosa and is active in local politics, the Oskaloosa chamber, the community’s Lighted Christmas Parade, the Delta Unit of the American Legion and more.
These are just a sampling of some of the stories you’ll read.
We hope that you’ll sit back and enjoy the opportunity to meet all of these fascinating people who are southern Iowans who really do make a difference.

•••

I did it, finally.
After several months of deciding whether or not I should purchase a new car, I traded in the old Chevy Impala for a new Dodge Charger last weekend.
The Impala was a good car and after 90,444 miles, I finally conceded it was time to retire her.
It was difficult. After all, we’ve been through some awfully good times and even some bad ones.
The Impala helped me make the trip back home many times. She plowed through many snow and ice-covered roads (although the car struggled climbing up the driveway to my home this past winter).
She carried me to interviews, trips around the Midwest, a couple of weddings and a funeral.
But in the end, it was time to say goodbye.
Of course, buying a new vehicle makes one a bit anxious. After all, there are all those horror stories about the slick car salesmen out to take advantage of poor unsuspecting car buyers.
Fortunately, I was lucky that Todd Smithhart at Vaughn Automotive was my car salesman.
No pressure tactics, very amiable and a nice guy. While on a test drive, I discovered that Todd not only sells cars and trucks, but he is very active in the community, including the Mars Hill Church restoration project.
He called last week to ask how everything was going with the Charger and I got the impression he was genuinely interested. It’s nice to discover there are people who really do care.
The people in our Progress edition certainly do, and now you can add Todd’s name to the list as well.
Jeff Hutton is the Courier’s associate editor. He can be reached at (641) 683-5380 or via e-mail at: jeff@ottumwacourier.com.

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