Busy Pandemic Year+ for Winding Pathways

For the past fifteen months Winding Pathways has been busy with writing features for the Cedar Rapids Gazette and blogs for Hoover’s Hatchery and FB Live monthly events.  Catch up with our stories in The Cedar Rapids Gazette online.

Hoover’s Hatchery. Click on Flock Journey to read a variety of stories about all things chickens and other poultry. Or News From the Coop blogs.

Here is a list of the more recent features. Just click on the link and read away!

June 13, 2021. Alaska Recreation.

May 22, 2021. Museums of Quad Cities Area. https://www.thegazette.com/recreation/the-many-museums-of-the-quad-cities/

April 18, 2021. Finding Amelia. https://www.thegazette.com/recreation/an-unexpected-search-for-amelia-earhart/

April 11, 2021. Mississippi river Museum and Dubuque

March 25 , 2021 Cedar Falls_Waterloo. Memorable Museums

March 12, 2021. Time Travel. https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/outdoors/time-traveling-in-iowa-20210312

March 3, 2021 Entering the Battery Age (column)

February 19, 2021. Franconia Sculpture Park. https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/recreation/art-walk-in-a-park-20210219

February 2, 2021. Sprint Cars. https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/auto-racing/a-sprint-car-education-20210202

January 14, 2021. Embrace the Outdoors. https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/outdoors/embracing-x2014-and-enjoying-x2014-the-cold-outdoors-20210114

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December 20, 2020. Walking Cemeteries. https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/outdoors/a-peaceful-outdoor-walking-option-20201221

December 14, 2020 Iowa Meat Lockers: https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/outdoors/a-meaty-adventure-20201214

Nov 11, 2020 Iowa’s Inland Seas. https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/outdoors/enjoying-iowas-inland-seas-20201111

Oct 11, 2020. Barn Quilts. https://www.thegazette.com/article/barn-quilts-offer-brighten-up-the-countryside/

Sept 27, 2020: New Life to dead Trees.  https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/outdoors/dead-trees-give-life-20200927

September 20, 2020: Walk Outside Safely. https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/outdoors/get-outside-and-walk-but-stay-safe-20200920

September 9, 2020: Rebirth Amid the Rubble https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/outdoors/a-rebirth-among-the-rubble-of-trees-20200906

August 22, 2020: Iowa’s National Parks. https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/outdoors/iowa-national-parks-guide-effigy-hoover-20200822

July 27, 2020: County Parks. https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/outdoors/take-advantage-of-iowas-county-gems-20200727

July 11, 2020: Tenting. https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/outdoors/why-rv-live-isnt-for-these-senior-tent-campers-20200711

June 26, 2020: Bear Sightings in Iowa: https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/outdoors/why-rv-live-isnt-for-these-senior-tent-campers-20200711

April 12, 2020” Walk on Wilder side. https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/recreation/take-a-walk-on-the-wilder-side-20200412

 

What Do You Write About in a Pandemic?

Actually, 2020 has been incredibly busy for Winding Pathways writing in 2020. This winter we invite you to grab a warm beverage, curl up, and take in some of our features in the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

December 20, 2020. Walking Cemeteries. https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/outdoors/a-peaceful-outdoor-walking-option-20201221

December 14, 2020 Iowa Meat Lockers: https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/outdoors/a-meaty-adventure-20201214

Nov 11, 2020 Iowa’s Inland Seas. https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/outdoors/enjoying-iowas-inland-seas-20201111

Sept 27, 2020: New Life to dead Trees.  https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/outdoors/dead-trees-give-life-20200927

September 20, 2020: Walk Outside Safely. https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/outdoors/get-outside-and-walk-but-stay-safe-20200920

September 9, 2020: Rebirth Amid the Rubble https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/outdoors/a-rebirth-among-the-rubble-of-trees-20200906

August 22, 2020: Iowa’s National Parks. https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/outdoors/iowa-national-parks-guide-effigy-hoover-20200822

July 27, 2020: County Parks. https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/outdoors/take-advantage-of-iowas-county-gems-20200727

July 11, 2020: Tenting. https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/outdoors/why-rv-live-isnt-for-these-senior-tent-campers-20200711

June 26, 2020: Bear Sightings in Iowa: https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/outdoors/why-rv-live-isnt-for-these-senior-tent-campers-20200711

April 12, 2020” Walk on Wilder side. https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/recreation/take-a-walk-on-the-wilder-side-20200412

Who Attended Country Schools?

Authors’ Note: Below are replies from folks who attended country schools.  Some stories originally appeared in the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

“Many older people have fond memories of attending the typical one-room school. The image is quintessential often with a painting of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln up front, a row of wooden desks, a potbelly stove in the back, and a privy or two outside. Although the facilities were humble, memories linger in the minds of older people who launched their learning careers in a tiny school.

Veteran Day’s Blizzard 1040

“I remember the Veteran’s Day Blizzard of 1940. It was a beautiful morning but clouds moved in and soon the wind howled outside Flanagan School. We had a car by then, but Flanagan School was on a dirt road. Dad thought the car would founder, but that the horses might get through,” said John Regan who attended the one-room school between Holy Cross and Rickardsville in Dubuque County.

““My teacher was Miss Regan, Dad’s cousin. She was wonderful and in that small building I learned education basics,” continued Regan.   He went on to serve a successful hitch in the Army, repaired typewriters in New York City, and emerged as a dealer of John Deere equipment in Newton, NJ, and ended up as an executive VP. He now lives in a New Jersey senior residence but often reminisces about his Iowa childhood.

Quality of Teachers and Cooperation of Parents

“Idahoan, Bob Pratt, Rich Patterson’s former college roommate, drawled, “I didn’t go to a one-room school. Mine was a two-roomer.” He added, “Grades one through four were in one room and five through eight in the other.” His school was in remote Idaho and had only three employees: two teachers and a person who was both cook and custodian. After eighth grade, Pratt attended a tiny high school. After earning his teacher’s certificate, he devoted a career to teaching practical farming and mechanic skills in equally tiny schools in rural Idaho.

“Both Iowa native Regan and Idahoan Pratt enthusiastically agreed, “The education I received in tiny schools was superb. Maybe better than I’d have had in a big school.  My classmates and I were well prepared for college and successful careers in many areas.”  Pratt continued, “I taught in high schools with just a few students in each graduating class, but they went on to great success.  One is a cardiac surgeon.  Another is a skilled cabinet maker. It’s the quality of the teachers and the cooperation of parents that make students excel, not the size of the school,” he emphasized.

Antics and Airplanes

“Friends we know in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, area share similar stories, emphasizing that one-room school education worked for them. The side stories add richness to their experiences. One friend recalled her mother getting a piggyback ride to school after losing her boots in the mud. Pam Tegler Geraghty, a retired special education teacher in Cedar Rapids admits to being a “holy terror!” as a kid at the Lamont, IA, school in the mid-1950s. Slopping in the creek on the way home and locking a classmate in the outhouse among her antics.

“Pat Maas a retired teacher and health secretary at Grantwood Elementary in Cedar Rapids, remembers the students running outside to see an airplane overhead in the 1930s, back when planes were new.”

Other Stories?

If other readers have other stories of one-room school experiences, we invite you to share them so we can appropriately add to them. Learn more about country schools in Iowa and across the nation.

Winter Reading with Winding Pathways Gazette Features

Winding Pathways invites readers to enjoy past features in the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

Wandering Nebraska and South Dakota’s Rich Fossil Freeway. Follow US Highway 20 across northern Nebraska while exploring its fossil-rich history.  Along the way wet your line in trout streams, paddle clear rivers through sandhills, camp in a National Forest in the Great Plains, and bicycle parts of the Great American Rail-Trail. Then, end up in the enchanting Black Hills of South Dakota.

Alaska In Winter. Most folks experience Alaska in summer.  Winter has its rewards, too!  Plenty of activities for outdoor enthusiasts and mild-mannered indoor types. Museums. The Bear Tooth Theatrepub. Great eateries. Iditarod Ceremonial Start. XC ski races. Campbell Creek Science Center.  And, perhaps most wonderful of all – no skeeters or bears!

Indiana Dunes National Park.  A great stop while speeding along I-80 is the Indiana Dunes National Park.  A cooperative venture among city, county, state and federal government, this necklace of preserved areas rings the southern end of Lake Michigan. Soft sand beaches to explore, dunes several hundred feet high to scale, charming villages, bicycle trails to follow, and varied places to rest your head at night. This new national park can fulfill any family’s vacation dreams.

America’s Magnificent Mounds line the Mississippi River and many other waterways in North America.  While most mounds have been lost to “development” many remain. And, travelers can learn so much about ancient cultures and appreciate why preserving these mounds is important.

The Legacy of Baraboo

Iowans share history with Baraboo, Wisconsin. Two famous families began their lives and careers in Iowa and landed in Baraboo. This fall we toured the charming town of Baraboo, took in Circus World, and basked in the glow of the Leopold Center’s work on sustainability.  Read about Baraboo and plan your own adventure in the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

Driftless Area

Woman Sunset

Capturing the sunset.

Iowa may be the flyover region of the country and people are missing out on grand adventures, pastoral scenes and tasty home-cooked meals. Come along with us as we explore the Driftless Area of Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois.  This invitation especially includes the Presidential Candidates! Get out and see our country! Read about our adventures in the Cedar Rapids Gazette.