Did you get to the Albaugh Classic?

Told ya! I was one of thousands of car buffs in Ankeny on Saturday for The Albaugh Classic supported by hundreds of volunteers and sponsored by Karl Chevrolet. Besides the Albaugh Collection there were about 500 owners from the Midwest displaying their vehicles: classics; street rods; cars and trucks. Included were quite a few orphan cars – some with names that old-timers know like Nash, Hudson, Willys, and Packard, and some orphan brands that younger folks know too like Oldsmobile and Plymouth. There were more Corvettes than I had ever seen in one place. Below are a few of my favorites.

For the first time I saw Dennis Albaugh’s collection of 130 Chevrolets. What a collection! My favorite was the one-of-a-kind 1928 Chevrolet Camp Car owned by John and Dora McMullen and shown below. It came complete with a non-anchored wicker chair driver’s seat with a second for the front seat passenger. Imagine what a State Trooper would say about that! It also had a quilt rack to the left of the driver’s seat, drop leaf dining room table just behind the front seats, and roll down window shades. Move over Winnebago!

The Albaugh’s Collection represents a Chevrolet and a Corvette from every year, and some years with two. It’s a privilege to walk through. Watch for Dennis to open his garage again. You’ll get your chance and you don’t want to miss it.

Speaking of you don’t want to miss it, watch for the 2009 Salisbury Automobile Classic on September 13.

photos by James G. Lindberg

Swimming around Des Moines 2009

Lookin’ for a place to swim? You have lots of choices: indoors; outdoors; chlorinated and not. If you have never heard The Swimming Song, check out this YouTube video with Loudon Wainwright III (who wrote the music and lyrics). My favorite version is the somewhat quicker version by Kate McGarrigle.

Here’s a pretty good list of municipal pools, or in the words of The Swimming Song,

salt my wounds, chlorined my eyes
I’m a self-destructive fool, a self-destructive fool

• Altoona
• Ankeny
• Carlisle
• Clive
• Des Moines (Ashworth Pool, Birdland Pool, Nahas Aquatic Center, Northwest Aquatic Center, Teachout Aquatic Center)
• Indianola
• Urbandale
• Waukee YMCA
• West Des Moines Holiday Park Aquatic Center
• West Des Moines Valley View Aquatic Center and
• White Water University in Pleasant Hill

Maybe you would rather be in some of the natural waters. There are several. You can check the water quality (bacteria) in some through Iowa DNR but not Saylorville. Water quality seems to be better this summer than last.

• Big Creek State Park
• Lake Ahquabi just outside Indianola
• Saylorville Lake

photos by flickr by Northfield.org and peasap

July 4th 2009 around Des Moines

 

Lookin’ for something to do on the 4th of July? Maybe this will help. You can check out the Web sites for most cities and towns of Central Iowa for updates or try the selections below.

Why not start celebrating on July 2nd with the Des Moines Symphony’s Yankee Doodle Pops Concert?

• concert: Thursday July 2nd, 6:30 pm, west of the Iowa State Capitol Building, Roxi Copland Band
• concert: Thursday, July 2nd, 8:30 pm, same place, The Des Moines Symphony
• fireworks: following the concerts
• food, fun, fireworks, free
• bring food to donate

Urbandale always has some of the best of the metro’s 4th of July celebrations.

• parade: Saturday, July 4th, 10 am along 70th north to Aurora then west to Urbandale Middle School
• fireworks: Saturday, July 4th, 10 pm by Urbandale Middle School (rain date, Sunday July 5th)
• plenty more on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday; check it out! 

Waukee celebrations will be held on July 3rd and 4th.

• parade: Saturday, July 4th, 2 pm
• music by Standing Hampton: 6-9:30 in Centennial Park (west of Waukee HS, south of the stadium) 
• fireworks: 9:30 pm in Centennial Park

West Des Moines will celebrate for two days.

• parade: Friday, July 3rd, 6:30 pm starting (map) at Valley High School and heading to Valley Junction
• fireworks: Saturday, July 4th, dusk at Raccoon River Park, 2500 Grand Avenue, WDM (map)

Windsor Heights has a lot planned for July 4th at Colby Park at 69th and School with access off University Avenue (map)

• parade: 1-3 pm
• Bill Riley Talent Search from 2:30 – 4:30
• kids games, rides, food from 2 pm through 9:30
• music: Throwing Toast from 5 ’til 6:30 and The Blue Band from 7 – 10
• fireworks: 10 pm

The Iowa Cubs are out of town on the 4th but they are home on the 2nd and 3rd, and they’re promoting the Holiday Fireworks Spectaculars at Principal Park

• Thursday, July 2nd, game time 7:05 with the spectacular fireworks after the game
• Friday, July 3rd, game time 7:05 with the spectacular fireworks after the game

Heartland Nationals and the Good Guys Car Show will have fireworks, but it will cost you.

• fireworks: Saturday July 4th, 8 pm, Grandstands, Iowa State Fairgrounds Racetrack,with music by the VanDells 

If other cities update their websites and post their activities, I’ll try to keep up.

Here’s another!

Carlisle has plans that include

• kiddy parade on Friday the 3rd from 6 – 7 pm
• a bigger parade on July 4th at 9:30 am
• fireworks on July 4th at 10 pm
• and more

photos by flickr by brungrll and jmtimages

The changing face of Iowa: wind turbines

It’s windy in Iowa. (I didn’t have to tell you, did I?)

It’s hard to miss Iowa’s new wind turbines. They continue to spring up in Western Iowa along Interstate 80 in areas including one called Windy Hills. The turbines are on both sides of I-80 in Adair , Cass , and Pottawattamie Counties. 

Today we find that Mid-American Energy has over 100 turbines in Pottawatamie County alone where many of the pictures above were taken at the Walnut Wind Project.

Money is blowing in the wind.

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists each turbine will net the landowner $2,000 -5,000/year in royalties. That’s great news in counties where the average farm is near 440 acres and the crop value per harvested acre has been running between $205 – 225/acre.

How are we doing in terms of absolute capacity compared to the rest of the country? We’re doing well; currently we are even with California in absolute capacity. DOE puts us 3rd in the nation; citing Dirk Lammers Yahoo says 2nd, where Texas is first. 

•  Iowa has 2862 MW of capacity (with our population of 3 million that’s about 1 kW/person)
• California has 2868 MW with their population of 36 million
• In Iowa we’re producing 10% of the nation’s wind power. I’m impressed!

Resources for further information

• National Renewable Energy Laboratory (US DOE)
• energy matters (Australia)
• Wind Power A to Z
• You Tube videos on wind energy

photos by James G. Lindberg

Fridays at the Fountain in West Glen 2009

People are searching for Fridays at the Fountain. OK, then. Here you go!

Looking for something to do once the work week is over? Fridays at the Fountain started in May and you missed Dick Prall, but there is still time through the end of July to hear music, make friends, and unwind from the week.

Every Friday through the end of July, you can attend Fridays at the Fountain. More details at their website.

• $5 (and you’d better be 21 ‘cuz liquor, wine and beer are sold)
• 5:30 until 8:00 pm (Then what will we do?)
• Fountain Plaza in West Glen Town Center
• just off Interstate 35 and George Mills Parkway
• near Jordan Creek in West Des Moines

Live entertainment – from pop to jazz.

The 2009 band lineup taken from West Glen’s pdf file is:

• June 5:Towncrier (from Cedar Rapids)
• June 12: Standing Hampton (a local band)
• June 19: Hello Dave
• June 26: The Damnwells (a Brooklyn based band with an Iowa connection, Alex Dezen)
• July 3: Final Mix with Del Saxman Jones
• July 10: Tim Mahoney (with many Midwestern connections, especially MN)
• July 17: The Heroes
• July 24: Dazy Head Mazy (They look like Minnesotans to me.)
• July 31: Nelo (from Austin, TX)

Afterwards, go see Bomi Mistry for healthy treats at Fuel.

photo by flickr by MorBCN and by  James G. Lindberg

technorati tags: Home Turf Media, Iowa, West Des Moines, Fridays at the Fountain

2009 Greek Food Fair

It’s a great Des Moines event. Put it on your calendar.

2009 Greek Food Fair (their Web site is so good, I wouldn’t have to say any more, but)

• Saturday June 6, 2009 (always the first Saturday in June)
• 11 am until 8 pm
• Greek Orthodox Church of St. George
• 35th and Cottage Grove
• wonderful Greek food, lovingly prepared
• a la carte (eat what you like for individual prices) or a complete dinner ($12 ahead of time; $14 at the door)
• tours of the church (then or online now)
• Greek dancing (at St. George’s; elsewhere)
• free parking
• kids are welcome too

Your friends will be there!

photos by James G. Lindberg

Thomas Friedman at Grinnell College

Good message!

Become the generation that will be called the Re-Generation.

Thomas Friedman, New York Times world affairs columnist and prolific author, gave the commencement address at Grinnell College on Monday May 19, 2009. You can hear the entire address (in 3 installments totaling just under 25 minutes) courtesy of YouTube.

In his initial remarks Friedman related several issues cited by fellow journalist Kurt Andersen in his recent Time magazine article, The End of Excess.

Continuing, Friedman then focused on a generational theme, first on the The Greatest Generation (that of his parents and grandparents – the generation that survived The Great Depression then fought in World War II). He cited the qualities that characterized the greatest generation:

• hard work
• delayed gratification
• achievement oriented
• focused attention

Those were my parents too and I would add to that list

• frugal
• humble
• accountable

Friedman contrasted the Greatest Generation with his own generation, the baby boomers (post-WWII babies) and named that generation the Grasshopper Generation – eating through the fabric of the nation like hungry locusts. He credited the grasshopper generation with such dubious qualities as

• excess (over-consuming, over-building, over-borrowing, over-lending, over-eating) and
• dumb as we wanna be (delaying the solutions to Social Security, health care, energy, environment, and immigration).

He cited the subprime meltdown in particular as illuminating a decline in basic values, risk management, accountability, and ethics.

Friedman then challenged the Grinnell graduates to become the Re-Generation

that could restore the basic values of

• hard work
• accountability

and added that the graduates should carry with them

• ethics
• uncompromising idealism
• unbending convictions
• principled behaviors

and that they should create value through

• invention
• innovation
• imagination

all in order to do real engineering of materials, of services, of societal movement that fulfill needs, both seen and unseen.

It was great advice to the Grinnell College Class of 2009.

Friedman also told an interesting story with several Iowa connections. While studying in London in 1975 and dating wife-to-be Ann Bucksbaum, daughter of Carolyn “Kay” (a Grinnell alum) and Matthew Bucksbaum (an Iowa alum), Friedman (not a journalist at the time) was so stirred by the politics of the day that he wrote an op-ed piece. Ann carried it back to Des Moines. The piece made its way to The Des Moines Register editorial page editor who published it. Friedman received $50, and he was hooked as a journalist. Thus, Friedman’s exceptional career has a strong Des Moines connection.

If you’d like to read two recent Friedman books try

• The World Is Flat
• Hot, Flat and Crowded.

photos by James G. Lindberg

Lilacs in Ewing Park

With lilacs, timing is important. They bloom in spring and early summer, and they are just beginning.

When I got home on Friday, I saw that our lilacs were beginning to bloom in the backyard, and I knew that it was the perfect weekend to go out to Ewing Park and the Lilac Arboretum. I have been there many times.

From downtown drive out Indianola Road to the southeast; continue southeast past SE 14th St until you reach Easter Lake Drive then turn right (between the Ewing Park pillars) then park. (map) You will immediately see the lilacs and smell them too. You will see a few crab apples too (but not as many as in Water Works Park).

The Lilac Arboretum in Ewing Park is a welcoming place.

• it’s open and expansive
• it’s a good place for a picnic
• dogs are welcome
• kids can run
• grandma can walk
• Jim’s Johns are available

For Ewing Park the Lilac Arboretum is just one event. More happens throughout the year.

• frisbee golf
• the soap box derby
• BMX racing
• shelters and grills
• playground equipment
• playground

Des Moines is a great city. You will get to know another piece of Des Moines when you visit Ewing Park. The timing is right; the lilacs are just starting.

photos by James G. Lindberg

Iowa Cubs home opener 2009

Everything is right for the Iowa Cubs home opener.

• Friday, April 17, 7:05 pm
• Round Rock Express is coming
• Principal Park where the Raccoon and Des Moines Rivers meet; it’s a great ballpark!
• check the seating and prices then buy your tickets on-line
• pretty nice weather (It looks like 65 at game time with only a 10% chance of showers and 58 at 10 o’clock.)
• here’s the schedule
• and the 2009 roster

Just remember who you got to see last year, and don’t forget who has played in Des Moines in the past few years: Geovany Soto, the 2008 NL Rookie of the Year; Ryan Theriot; Micah Hoffpauir; Koyie Hill; Felix Pie; Eric Patterson. The Des Moines Register reports 15 returning starters from last season. It looks like we will be seeing Jason DuBois and Jeff Samardzija in Des Moines, at least for a while this year.

If you like baseball, it’s the place to be this weekend!

photos by flickr by Justin Brockie and Tim Patterson

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

I was in Salt Lake City for a national meeting of the American Chemical Society. Now while I love chemistry, the best moments of my visit were musical. On Sunday March 22, 2009, I heard The Mormon Tabernacle Choir as part of the 4149th broadcast of Music & the Spoken Word.

What a great moment! The Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang with a spiritual power that transcended religion.

• The late President Ronald Reagan called them America’s Choir.
• Since July 15, 1929 each broadcast of Music & the Spoken Word has begun with the words, “From the crossroads of the West, we welcome you to a program of inspirational music and the spoken word.“
• The general public is welcome in the Mormon Tabernacle as the choir performs for the broadcast, and the Purple Wren and I were two of them.
• You can get an impression of the choir by listening on YouTube, for example, to Consider the Lilies.

You can also hear broadcasts of Music & the Spoken Word around Des Moines too.

In the metro, early risers are in luck. KCOB in Newton (95.9 FM and 1280 AM) broadcasts the half hour program at 7:00 am on Sundays. The closest Iowa stations are

• Atlantic KJAN (1220 kHz on your AM radio) at 10 am on Sundays
• Cedar Rapids WMT (600 kHz on your AM radio) at 10 pm on Sundays
• Newton KCOB (1280 kHz on your AM radio or 95.9 MHz on your FM radio) at 7:02 am on Sundays
• Oskaloosa at William Penn KIGC (88.7 MHz on your FM radio) at 9 am on Sundays
• or you can find the others from Bonneville Communications

I know that I heard hundreds of radio broadcasts as a child because my father loved the music. I saw a few more broadcasts on black and white television. So when I walked into the tabernacle for the first time in 2009, it all looked very familiar. It should. The Tabernacle has been there (of course remodeled some) since 1867. The Tabernacle is known for its acoustics, but I was unprepared for the power and quality of music – an organ with 11,000 pipes; 360 disciplined, well-rehearsed voices (They rehearse or perform on 180 days/year). It was quite a thrill. If you are in Salt Lake City on a Sunday, don’t miss it.

Find a local Church of Latter Day Saints.

photos by Jim Lindberg

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