Star Trek in Riverside

Riverside, Iowa is connected to the legend of Star Trek. The best part of the 2009 Star Trek movie around here was that Riverside, Iowa was officially established as canon as where James Tiberius Kirk will be born (or in this version where he grew up). Local Riverside community leaders 25 years ago saw a reference to Kirk being born in Iowa and they decided to declare themselves his birthplace. They wrote to Gene Roddenberry and asked to be named the official site. Roddenberry sent them an official certificate. The Iowa part of the story was reaffirmed in one of my favorite lines from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home “I’m from Iowa, I just work in outer space.” The 2009 movie actually shows some of the action of Kirk growing up in Iowa and even expands it as Riverside Shipyards is now where the Enterprise herself was built and where Kirk signed up for Starfleet Academy. Who says great things don’t happen in Iowa?

Riverside celebrates its connection every year with a hometown celebration called Trekfest. This year was the 25th anniversary and in recognition of the fact they had 3 of the remaining 5 major cast members here as joint grand marshals (they normally have someone at least slightly connected with the show).  They are still working on getting the money for getting a statue to Kirk put up and have homes of having a real museum some day, especially the town boasts a casino who is willing to help contribute to tourism projects. They picked a spot behind the old barber shop to be his actual birthplace and for $3 you too can own a vial of official Kirk Dirt from the spot. (Check out the store on their webpage below.)

http://www.trekfest.com

William Shatner himself visited the town and shot a mockumentary there called “Invasion Iowa.” Everyone thought he was coming to shoot a real show the emphasis was the reactions, but most Iowans feel the comedy was pointed as much at Hollywood as them, so there aren’t many hard feelings. Stop and visit on your next drive through town and start making plans for what I’m sure will be another big blow out for the 30th anniversary of Trekfest.

Call for papers: 2010 Country School Association of America

Tenth Annual Country School Association of America Conference
June 21-23, 2010 Chickasha, Oklahoma
Blazing the Trail: Education Among the Earliest Americans 

 

 

 

The 2010 CSAA Conference will take place on the campus of The University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma on June 21-22 with an optional bus tour to several one-room schools in the Oklahoma City area on June 23. Visit a fully restored African American one room school in Chickasha, Oklahoma.

You are cordially invited to participate in and/or lead a panel discussion, present a research paper, conduct a workshop, present a play, organize a symposium, or give a demonstration on country schooling. Decide which topic most interests you and submit a brief proposal. The following topics may spark your creativity. 

 

 

 

Preservation:
volunteers, promoting the project, collecting artifacts, preserving a restored school, preparing for and/or recovering from a natural disaster, etc.

Envisioning the restored country school, raising money, recruiting and managing volunteers

 

Native American and African American one-room schooling, teachers and the rural community reenactment or living history programs, etc. Videotapes and other resources are welcome.

 

Executive Director Lucy Townsend (815-753-1236 or ltownsend@niu.edu). Proposals are due March 1, 2010.

 

Loretta Jackson Lewis lyjackson1@suddenlink.net and Richardrichard.lewis@nasa.gov Or send 2 copies of your proposal and two self-addressed, stampedLoretta Jackson, P.O. Box 2044, Chickasha, OK 73023.

For updates on the conference, visit our website at:
www.countryschoolassociation.org

 

 

 

Memory Makers:

Come and share your memories, photographs, artifacts, books, facts and fiction. Stories, camp, holiday celebrations, music schools, musical instruments, dramatic interpretations related to country schooling, etc.

 

Presentations related to the conference theme will be noted in the program.

 

 

 

 

Proposal Formats

E-mail your cover sheet & proposal to:

Proposals should not exceed three double-spaced, printed pages. Add a cover sheet with title of the proposal, names and affiliations (if any) of participants, and the address, email address, and phone number of each participant. If you want to discuss your topic before submitting a proposal, contact CSAA Research:
community, the process of digging up the history of a school, oral history-making, the architectural significance of one-room schools, the supervision of one-room schools, teacher training for one-room schoolteachers, the consolidation movement, educational methods (maps, music education, nature study, reading charts), etc.

Looking for a Book Title

Ok, this is officially driving me nuts. I’m trying to remember the name of a Western I read about 10 years ago. I thought it was a Zane Grey, but none of the descriptions on Amazon of his books sound anywhere close. (I checked Louis L’amour and just using keywords from the plot too and no dice.) The story was about a spoiled brat of a young woman who is kidnapped and taken out into the wilderness. Eventually we find out that her father hired the kidnapper to keep her from marrying this total idiot in a fit of rebellion. They end up having to stay out in the wilderness longer than originally planned because of a flood. She resists, but they fall in love. She finds out her father was behind it all and pretends she doesn’t really love the guy who kidnapped her, but makes him marry her “to protect her reputation.” She then hires some thugs of her own to kidnap him and throw him on the train with her of the end, to get them back on an even footing. It’s a true love happy ending. I know I read it at least twice and I think it may have had Canyon in the name somewhere, but I’m just hitting dead ends. It was a book on tape. Any ideas anyone?
I hope this rings a bell with somebody who puts me out of my misery.

Iowa One-Room School Workshop

The 10th annual Iowa One-Room School Workshop, sponsored by the Iowa Historic Preservation Alliance will be held Oct. 2-3, 2009. It will be held at the Heartland Acres Agrihibition Center in Independence, Iowa. The first day is sessions and the second is a tour of nearby schools. I’m going to be presenting a version of my school lunch program.

Friday, Oct. 2 AGENDA

8:00 a.m. Registration – Events Center, lower level

9:00 a.m. Welcome and Conference Overview -

Bill Sherman, IHPA Board Member

9:15 a.m. Country School Preservation in Norway

- Leidulf Mydland. Norwegian Institute

for Cultural Heritage Research

10:00 a.m. Creating a Country School Curriculum

and Generating Visitors – Dale Williams,

Reed School Director, Wisconsin

Historical Society

11:00 a.m. How Networking Can Help Your Country

School – Caroline Bredekamp, Jackson

County Preservationist

11:30 a.m. What’s for Lunch at the Country School

- Sarah Uthoff, Country School

Researcher

Lunch

12:30 p.m. Tourism and Implications for Country

Schools – Carrie Koelker, Eastern Iowa

tourism Director and Candy Streed,

Program Coordinator Silos & Smokestacks

1:00 p.m. Amish Schools Today – Mark Dewalt,

Winthrop University, South Carolina

1:20 p.m. Rewards and Incentives in Country

Schools – Susan Webb, Birmingham,

Alabama

1:45 p.m. Planting Around a Country School -

Sheryln Hazen, Buchanan County

Roadside Manager

2:00 p.m. Creating the Agribition Center and

Tour – Mike McGill, Evens Manager and

Leanne Harrison, President of

Buchanan County Historical Society

3:00 p.m. Tour Summit School

3:30 p.m. Visit Wapsipinicon Mill and Little Red

Schoolhouse Antique Shop in

Independence

5:30 p.m. Dinner and Country School Video

Program

Saturday, Oct. 3 TOUR

8:15 a.m. Meet in Heartland Acres Parking Lot to

Begin Tour

We will visit a public and private Amish school and

travel north to Fredericksburg where we will visit a

country school museum. Lunch will be at the Farm

********************************************

CONFERENCE COSTS:

$30 Includes Friday lunch, museum tours

and handouts

$15 Includes Saturday tour, lunch and

wine tasting

Please return registration form with

check made out to the Iowa Historic

Preservation Alliance (IHPA), by Sept.

24th to:

Mike McGill

Heartland Acres

2600 Swan Lake Blvd.

Independence, IA 50644

For questions or more information contact:

Bill Sherman (IHPA), 1-800-434-2039,

or email wsherman41@gmail.com

or

Amy (Heartland Acres), 319-332-0123

MOTEL INFORMATION:

Country Inn & Suites

2100 Swan Lake Blvd., 800-456-4000

Rush Park Motel

1810 First St. W., 800-429-2577

Super 8 Motel

2000 First St., 800-800-8000

Camper parking available in Heartland Acres

parking lot

 

 

 

 

Reading Rainbow Ends Broadcasts

Although this is one show that I can remember beginning to broadcast, “Reading Rainbow” has long taken its rightful spot alongside “Sesame Street” and “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” as both a classic of children’s television and a powerhouse of broadcasting on PBS. However, making new episodes stopped several years ago and host LeVar Burton was interviewed at the time saying he couldn’t believe they couldn’t get funding for a program that had done such a successful job of promoting children’s reading. I’m very sorry it’s come to this. I hope they will continue to be available in some format and that a new program will eventually come and take its place.

http://www.current.org/education/education0915rainbow.shtml

Schwan Historical Museum

I just found out about an unusual food museum. The Schwan Food company was founded in 1952. It has grown from a one-man operation to a global reach. Their brands include Schwan’s, Red Baron, Tony’s Pizza, Freschetta Pizza, Mrs. Smith’s Pies, Edwards Pies and Asian Sensations. The museum is located at the Schwan Food Company headquarters at the corner of West College Drive and Saratoga St. in Marshall, Minnesota.

I have recently run into a number of pretty good company museums, especially food related ones. So next time I’m in Minnesota. I hope to look this one up.

http://www.theschwanfoodcompany.com

Disc Golf Coming to De Smet

For those of you who are looking for something non-Laura to do next time you are in De Smet, they are planning a new Disc Golf course. They’ve completed the fundraising and will be putting in 9 Disc or Frisbee holes in Rose Vincent Memorial Park. So be sure to bring along your Frisbees during your next visit.

Gulf Hypoxia Zone Smaller Than Predicted

It seems like all the news about the environment tends to bad. So here’s a bit of good news from the Farm Bureau Spokesman.

Scientists from the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium and Louisiana State University found the size of this year’s Gulf of Mexico hypoxia zone to be just over 3,000 square miles, about 5,000 square miles smaller than predicted. An interagency task force’s goal is to reduce the hypoxia zone to a size of 2,000 square miles or less by 2015, based on a five-year running average. The hypoxia zone is an area of ocean where oxygen levels have been depleted by an 0ver-growth and decay of algae and is often blamed on fertilizer funoff from the Midwest. Soil and water conservation measures by Iowa farmers have contributed to a 21 percent decline in nitrogen delivery to the Gulf. Aug. 5, 2009 p. 1

De Smet Pageant

After a major falling off last year, Laura tourism seems to be recovering. A case in point is the De Smet pageant. This season 6,348 people attended this year up from 4,228 in 2008 and 5,077 in 2007. That’s an increase of 51 percent since last year as reported as the “De Smet News”.  Walnut Grove seems to be increasing this year, too, and Burr Oak is also up from what they expected. So good news all the way around on the visitor front which can only add to the likelihood that the sites will continue to exist.

Dunn plein air event slated

The Harvey Dunn Memorial Society is hosting a plein air event Aug. 14-16 at the Ingalls Homestead. The society is inviting artists of all experience levels to come and paint in the open air with natural light (the French term is plein air). There is no registration fee for artists. The event is open to the public without charge. A wet sale will be held Aug. 16 at the Homestead. If you want to participate , call 1-800-880-3383 and ask for Cheryl or Diane. Sponsoring the event are the Dunn Society, the Homestead, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society and the South Dakota Art Museum of Brookings.

Besides Laura Ingalls Wilder and Rose Wilder Lane, Harvey Dunn is the other big name associated with De Smet. He was an artist of some note. He was best known as an illustrator and was one of the leaders of his field. He also was one of a half dozen artists chosen to be an official government artist during World War I and was for many years a professional artist mentor of some note. The newly formed society is among other things supporting art projects in De Smet.