Around Des Moines

Twice a year I regret living in central Iowa. January is one reason why. Its icy winds pierce any exposed flesh, curtailing all outdoor activity. August’s overbearing humidity is another. So every year about now, I rethink why I’m still here, some 20 years after moving to the state. It’s an annual exercise that warms my heart if not my hearth. And here’s why …

The main reason I’ve come to love Iowa is the people. That’s why I make no apologies for name-dropping. In Iowa I’m surrounded by visionary thinkers and solid pragmatists. At one end of this spectrum is Norman Borlaug, Nobel laureate and father of the Green Revolution. At the other end are my cousins, Larry and Lonnie, northeast Iowa farmers who have gone organic with their crops to take advantage of consumer trends. You can’t mistake these gentlemen for stereotypical hayseeds; indeed I’ve never met an Iowa farmer who wasn’t a savvy business person.

“Salt-of-the-earth” describes Iowans more than any other people I’ve met. This is a different breed of movers and shakers, made up of people who for the most part don’t need to see their names in the paper. Like Howard, the next door neighbor who all-too-often moves the snow off my front walk before sunrise. Or Louise the energetic schoolteacher who shakes things up by bringing our entire neighborhood together for potlucks twice each year.

I love Des Moines because here I find small town friendliness in an increasingly sophisticated city. I know my banker, Karen, by name and I know she’s looking out for my best interests. Same with my pest control guy, Aaron, who, it turns out, is also a neighbor. Even the staff at the Ace Hardware (in Beaverdale) are still small-town-friendly enough to post my “Found: Cat” posters on their front doors.

Each year I see greater diversity in the faces that make up Iowa’s population. But while the state’s ethnicity is changing, it’s character is not. And that’s what makes Iowans feel like family to me, and what makes Iowa feel like home.

Coming next … Why Iowa? The Diversity

Guest Writer: Brenda Friedrich is an Iowa-based writer and business communications consultant. You can also find her blogging at Enroute365.

Technorati Tags: Iowa, Des Moines, Des Moines News

To hear The New York Times writer Adam Nagourney tell it, you’d think that Des Moines hasn’t always been “cool.” In his words, “there was a time when being told that I would be spending New Year’s Eve in Des Moines would have, well, sobered me up in a New York minute.”

Times, however, have changed. And, as he considers his return to Iowa to cover the January third presidential caucuses, Nagourney is actually looking forward to spending New Year’s Eve in our fair city. He’s not alone.

Even those of us who were born within twenty miles of a cornfield have more to enjoy in this new, reborn Des Moines. Oh, we don’t have the lighted ball in Times Square. But we’ve got a Countdown Clock (albeit one the kids will enjoy at the Science Center) and we’ve got a downtown that’s set to rock (with a free New Year’s Eve Pub Crawl in the Court Avenue District). Citizens now have a wide variety of musical, theatrical and comedic acts to boot.

Des Moines now features four- and five-star restaurants, like Sage, that are still taking New Year’s dinner reservations. That’s cool. Yet we haven’t lost our hold on the past, on old-fashioned farm dinners at Living History Farms. Cooler still.

I’m glad Des Moines is stepping it up. And happy to believe that we’re doing so while keeping it real. Because while we may not yet be a vacation destination, more than ever we’re a better place to call home. And that’s a great thought for the new year.

Guest Writer: Brenda Friedrich is an Iowa-based writer and business communications consultant. You can also find her blogging at Enroute365.

Related Post: Des Moines Shines in the New York Times

Technorati Tags: Iowa, Des Moines, Des Moines News

If you haven’t gotten the chance to enjoy the holiday color in Des Moines’ East Village, Suwandi Chandra has made it easier. Check out these “capitol” Christmas shots taken in downtown Des Moines:

* Published in Photography Voice
* Displayed in JPG Magazine

Guest Writer: Brenda Friedrich is an Iowa-based writer and business communications consultant. You can also find her blogging at Enroute365.

Technorati Tags: Iowa, Des Moines, Des Moines News, East Village

If residential light displays don’t satisfy your desire for Christmas color, it’s time to turn up the wattage!

Since 1995, the most famous central Iowa light show has to be Jolly Holiday Lights at Water Works Park in Des Moines. Popular with the kids, this seasonal sight packs the power of some 75 moving-light displays featuring whimsical holiday characters and scenes. The tour is open nightly from 5:30 - 10 p.m. through Jan. 1. Admission is $9 per car or $45 per bus with proceeds going to the Make a Wish Foundation.

Photo from Flickr

Cutty’s Camping Club at 10500 N.W. 54th Ave. in Grimes is also back with a new and improved light tour. Now bigger and better than ever, the Cutty’s display features with five lighted themes:

• 12 Days of Christmas
• Santa’s Workshop
• Wilderness
• Toys of The Century
• Joy to the World

Hours are dusk - 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and dusk - 10 p.m. Saturday to Friday through Jan. 6. Admission is $13 per car OR $10 per car when you bring three canned food items for Food Bank of Iowa. Special pricing is available for buses.

If you enjoy the sounds of the season as well as the sparkle, consider a visit to Marshalltown. There you’ll find the musical mastery of Eric Rodemeyer, one of the pioneers who brought choreographed carols to holiday light shows in Iowa. This year, as a part of Optimist Holiday Lights, Rodemeyer will have Main Street dancing to tinsel-laden tunes from 5:30 - 10:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 5:30 - 11 p.m. Friday to Sunday through Dec. 31. Enjoy a sneak peek, or head to Marshalltown for this free event.

Guest Writer: Brenda Friedrich is an Iowa-based writer and business communications consultant. You can also find her blogging at Enroute365.

Technorati Tags: Iowa, Des Moines, Des Moines News

Central Iowa has no shortage of light displays this time of year. Several area venues keep carloads – even bus loads – of visitors streaming through and benefit good causes. But the ones that are nearest and dearest to my heart are those that show the warmth and unity of neighborhoods around Des Moines.

These residential light displays aren’t always picture perfect. At least they don’t seem that way to me. Whenever I see an illuminated inflatable snowman, I’m reminded of the StayPuft Marshmallow Man from the move Ghostbusters. And, worse, when the over-sized Frosty is leaning precariously over Baby Jesus – who by-the-way is just inches away from the sculptural reindeer, the lighted candy canes and the animated train scene – well, I just cringe. That is, until I remember that communities are made up of all kinds of people and tastes. While simple luminaries or icicle lights may cast the desired holiday glow for the couple next door, that may not be enough dazzle for the guy across the street. This is local color and it’s part of the charm and character of most neighborhoods.

With that in mind, I’ve begun plotting my holiday light excursion, detailed here. Please let me know if I’ve missed your street and feel free to share your favorite picks and pans.

Ankeny – The home at 2520 NE 97th Place features a light show with synchronized music (an eight minute show). Another residence at 222 N.E. 16th St boasts a Christmas light extravaganza (runs from 6 to 10 p.m., except on Saturdays.) Also experience lights along the 720 block of S.E. Richland in Ankeny.

Beaverdale – Neighborhood display includes the Church of the Open Bible on Beaver, Ashby Dr. and Ovid Ave.

Clive – Area around Country Club neighborhood

Grimes – The home at 200 N. Main St.

Johnston – The Green Meadows neighborhood off of 86th St

Urbandale – West of 86th St off of Meredith

West Des Moines – The Valley Junction business district on Fifth St.

Guest Writer: Brenda Friedrich is an Iowa-based writer and business communications consultant. You can also find her blogging at Enroute365.

Technorati Tags: Iowa, Des Moines, Des Moines News

See more video featuring the sequencing talents of Eric Rodemeyer who has taken holiday lights high-tech with choreographed carols in Marshalltown.

• Jammin’ Christmas lights, residential display
• News coverage of Rodemeyer
• 2007 light display in Marshalltown

Guest Writer: Brenda Friedrich is an Iowa-based writer and business communications consultant. You can also find her blogging at Enroute365.

Technorati Tags: Iowa, Marshalltown

Apparently some holiday light displays in central Iowa are so spectacular that visitors from outside the state are driving in for the view. Who knew?

Well, apparently blogger Michele Cheplic has had it figured out for about a year. And she’s from Wisconsin. Despite describing herself as a “rather dedicated” light aficionado for the three hours she and her husband have spent “on the road in the middle of winter to view a bunch of strategically strung lights,” Michele has realized she’s been outdone by those traveling hundreds of miles.

You heard correctly: hundreds of miles to Marshalltown and Ankeny in central Iowa. The attraction, it seems, is the added component of sound. The lights set to music are impressive. And, after finding a video of one on YouTube, I’m most impressed that I can enjoy it from my easy chair here in Des Moines. Of course by admitting this, I must acknowledge that I’m a “rather less dedicated” light display fan than Cheplic or the enthusiasts she tells of. But an admirer nonetheless. One that is willing to plan a long drive through the metro area to witness the neighborhood displays that have become legend. Check out my “must see” list tomorrow and add your own light show favorites!

Guest Writer: Brenda Friedrich is an Iowa-based writer and business communications consultant. You can also find her blogging at Enroute365.

Technorati Tags: Iowa, Des Moines, Des Moines News

Adel: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Alleman: Oct 31, 6:00-8:00pm
Altoona: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Ames: Oct 30, 5:30-7:30pm
Ankeny: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Bondurant: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Boone: Oct 30, 5:30-7:30pm
Cambridge: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Clive: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Collins: Oct 31, 6:00-8:00pm
Colo: Oct 31, 5:00-8:00pm
Des Moines: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Gilbert: Oct 30, 5:30-7:30pm
Huxley: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Indianola: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Jewell: Oct 31, 6:00-8:00pm
Johnston: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Kelley: Oct 31, 6:00-8:00pm
Madrid: Oct 29, 6:00-8:00pm
Marshalltown: Oct 31, 5:30-7:00pm

Maxwell: Oct 31, 6:00-8:00pm
Mitchellville: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
McCallsburg: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Nevada: (residential) Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Norwalk: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Ogden: Oct 29, 5:30-7:30 pm
Pella: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Pleasant Hill: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Polk City: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Randall: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Roland: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Runnells: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Sheldahl: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Slater: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Story City: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Urbandale: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Waukee: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
West Des Moines: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Windsor Heights: Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm
Zearing:Oct 30, 6:00-8:00pm

Guest Writer: Brenda Friedrich is an Iowa-based writer and business communications consultant. You can also find her blogging at Enroute365.

What do Des Moines and Dayton have in common?

Give up? The answer is “Beggar’s Night,” a substitute for the more commonplace tradition of Halloween. While the actual celebration dates vary from location to location, cities in central Iowa, central Ohio and along the New Hampshire seacoast stand apart from the rest of the nation when it comes to the holiday. Instead of featuring night-time activity on a day associated with pranksters, they moved it forward on the calendar. And rather than have children parade from home to home begging for candy in the melodious call, “Trick or Treat,” municipalities in these areas ask youngsters to “earn” their treats by sharing riddles, jokes or other “talent.” In the Des Moines area, the rules have been in place so long that by now they’re unspoken.

What Halloween and Beggar’s Night have in common is this: the children wait until evening, then descend upon their neighborhoods costumed as angels, vampires, story-book characters and more. I still remember the year my two nephews revved up the horror-quotient: one nephew as dressed as Death and the other as Taxes.

But costume isn’t the only similarity between the practice of Halloween and Beggar’s Night. With either celebration, the kids receive candy — or pennies, floss or boxed raisins — from friendly neighbors who’ve left the porch light on as a beacon to sugar-seeking youth.

How did it all begin? Well, in central Iowa the origins of Beggar’s Night are well-documented and stemmed from the need to curb vandalism associated with Halloween. Kids these days! There’s no respect any more, right? Except that, according to the oft-published facts by The Des Moines Register, the violence reached its peak in 1938, when “Des Moines police answered a record 550 calls concerning vandalism.”

We hope this level of destruction remains a thing of the past, but it still pays to take precautions, to safeguard children collecting candy. So, before allowing anyone to head out the door, be sure to review expert tips and advice offered by the City of Des Moines. Then, brush up on those jokes and riddles.

Guest Writer: Brenda Friedrich is an Iowa-based writer and business communications consultant. You can also find her blogging at Enroute365.

The 14-mile section of interstate running through the city is typically called “Interstate Highway 235” (as designated by the DOT) or “MacVicar Freeway (as dubbed by the 1960 Des Moines City Council). But the roadway received its nickname, the “MacVicar speedway,” because of the day-to-day antics of those who travel it. Drivers like area blogger Chris Moeller.

I don’t mean to pick on Moeller who considers MacVicar an “open-track.” It’s just that he’s just quite candid about reaching 85 mph on the roadway in his Grand Prix. At least he did in the past. Construction work may have slowed him down in recent years.

MacVicar wasn’t always seen as a race track, although it seems to have come with rules all its own. Back in 1965, Des Moines Register reporter Donald Kaul described a local man’s I-235 experience in these words: “He found the
freeway’s unhurried atmosphere and the general refusal there to bow slavishly to arbitrary driving rules quite charming, almost European in character.”

But why the name “Mac Vicar?”

The roadway was named after a father and son, both John MacVicars, who held political offices within the city for a span of over 50 years. Each served terms as mayor and streets commissioner.

Currently being rebuilt, the speedway has typically seen approximately 850 collisions annually in recent years. In fact, safety is cited as the number one reason for its reconstruction. Other factors include area changes since its
design. According to its website (yes, I-235 has its own site!) the freeway was designed in the 1950s and constructed in the 1960s. BOMA Iowa puts its completion date at 1968 and credits the route with opening up growth to the western suburbs.

As construction nears completion will MacVicar drivers pick up the pace once again? For your birdseye-view of traffic along I-235, visit DM Metro Trip Guide, choose a camera from along the route, and decide for yourself!

Guest Writer: Brenda Friedrich is an Iowa-based writer and business communications consultant. You can also find her blogging at Enroute365.