Still thinking about stuff!

First of all, HI to everyone. (anyone who reads this that is) I am still working all day everyday here in my hometown. My office is 2 blocks from the house I grew up in...Worldly eh?. Well, think of this....Within 5 miles of my house at 702 11th avenue, I went to grade school, (Coralville Central is it called now) High School,, ( City High, as West was NOT built) and the University of Iowa. (I even graduated!!) AND I met my wife Michele in Downtown Iowa City, (yes at a bar), we got married Downtown, (yes at a CHURCH, not a bar), I started in the real estate business in 1974, after a 1 year stint with the Boy Scouts of America, ( I worked mainly in Iowa City/Coralville, and I STILL am in the real estate business....ALL of this WITHIN 5 miles of home..AND I had no desire to move, change anything etc....Now that I think about it, my Dad and HIS Dad, and my great grandpa and great great grandpa NEVER left Johnson County .....Man, are we 'locals'...............Good or bad, that's us!!!..Now my brother Rox has wandered off....................to Cedar Rapids..........and his son Joe Brandstatter, and gone totally 'global' and lives in Des Moines......................................damn kids.............................
I am preparing to leave on my annual fishing trip to Hayward, WI, on October 1. ...Last year my cell phone rang, which is a monumental/historic event in UPPER Wisconsin, AND I had it on,,it was my wife Michele, and she said,' what are you doing?', in a friendly/wifely voice..,, 'well, I said, we are all just getting ready to into the famous Mocassin Bar here in downtown Hayward".....(for the 3rd time that week!)......"Oh, just thought I would call and say 'hi'......NEVER answer the cell phone when fishing, as your wife will know where you are and what you are doing...!!!Course all the other guys were yelling, "massage parlor, beer joint,', so I could not say anything other than the truth!!!..I have all the gear I need, plus fishing ensemble. My brain needs a break...(as IF I had one)......My biggest decision from October 1 to October 7th will be 'do I need another beer, do I want to play cribbage for another hour, should I buy more minnows now or in the morning, did I leave my poles in the boat, where are my sunglasses, should I buy another case of Blatz Beer for my friends back home, do we need more potoatoes sliced for the fish dinner etc.......ALL I can handle at this point...............................Michele WANTS me to leave, as she wants some peace and QUIET at home......
SO, have a great week October 1-7... I will!!!

I figured it out!! A NEW blog!! Geez, what an idiot. (me) Probably already figured THAT didn't you. Man it it hot today. WHO cares! Remember the last 2 Winters?!! No complaining from me. Years ago in the late 50s early 60s we Coralville kids had a few ways to beat the heat. First, we could swim in the Iowa River. The water actually got pretty warm, but if you dived deep enough it would cool off quick! I mean quick. I jumped off Lover's Leap a few times, and it is COLD down deep! Where is Lover's Leap?? It is still there today. Across from Edgewater Drive homes, (flooded homes) you will see a BIG limestone outcropping.. THAT is Lover's Leap. At one time there was a 2 x 12 as a diving board. Neat stuff! OR, we could ride our bikes to the Iowa City pool in Upper City Park. Great fun! We rode all the way, BUT we rode along/thru all the parking lots of the businesses on the North Side of the Strip.., then under the CRANDIC trestle on Rocky Shore and along Rocky Shore ( NO big sidewalk on the west side back then) UP the big hill on Park Road, to the pool.. On the way back we ALWAYS stopped at the Zesto.. THAT was a neat little ice cream 'stand' where Tom Riley Law Firm is. (was) The Zesto sat below the street level, and had a gravel parking lot. GREAT place! We could also stop next door at the Dog 'N' Suds too! What a great Strip back then.. Coralville sure looks better when all the trees are in full regalia. The old part of town where I grew up looks a little 'old' these days, and the trees, flowers, and yards sure look better this time of year. Another way to cool off was to head to the Gift Shop.. That was on the southside of 5th street at the south end of 8th avenue. It is now a 2 story office building, but back then it was a one story building. They sold the frozen popsicles in a long plastice tube!! Those were great!! 10 cents if I recall. We also bought our Revel models there. Cars, planes etc. I remember buying my Mom a birthday gift there one time. It was a little statue that said "World's Greatest Mom'... ( such a nice kid!!) She still has it. If we needed cold pop and a candy bar AND baseball cards there was only one choice,,, Koser's Store. It was at the corner of 1st avenue and 5th street, NW corner.. A legendary store. Opened in about 1903 or so, it was then purchased by the Koser Family and opened as Koser's in about 1912 or so. They sold Red Rock Cola. THEE choice of the Coralville Kids. 7oz (SEVEN) bottles for 5cents. A BIG Snickers was 5cents, baseball cards AND gum was 5cents, a donut out of the box was 5ents.. BUT wait, there was ice cream, popsicles, ice cream bars,, AND AND AND,, Kalona bars!! Ice cream bars with chocolate AND nuts on the outside. Outstanding. Koser's only got about 2 boxes a week so you had to be there!! I think they were a dime.....Did I mention the Village Pharmacy, or the Purple Cow, or C & D Grocery or the little ice cream motorcyles that used to drive up and down the streets...Maybe next time! Keep cool.. I do every day!!

Blogger Rex here. I survived cinco de mayo.. Wandered into Old Chicago and had a burger and a couple of beers from 'old mehico'..Hope I don't get swine flu! Michele also enjoyed a beer or two. We had worked up a thirst after watching IOWA beat U-W Milwaukee in baseball. Man, IOWA is not very good.. Neither is UWM, but IOWA is a Big 10 team. (no it isn't) My heart is there, my enthusisam is there, but the team is not there. Injurys yes, but I am not sure the talent is there. Why our old Coralville Little League had some good talent.. Best player EVER EVER EVER to come out of Coralville Little League AND Babe Ruth was,...,,,,,(no contest)....Davd 'Speedy' Forbes. Speedy lived at 601 10th avenue. What a nice guy. Great pitcher, great speed, ( duh, his name is Speedy) HUGE bat. Stud. He now lives in the Cedar Rapids area and owns a huge company named Hunter Specialties. They make camo stuff for hunters, and the U.S. Government, including lots of stuff for soldiers etc. Speedy was the best, but how about John 'Peachy' Cochran??!! He and Speedy were buddies, and never on the same team, as they would have waxed everybody off the map. Peachy live in the 700 block of 6th ave, about 612 6th or so. Nice house. I sold it once.. I also sold Speedy's house once. ....Pitcher with the fastest fast ball? Easy,, Craig Wheeler. Craig could 'bring it'.. Man, little kids used to HATE to bat against him. He also could launch a wild one or two and hit a few kids. Lots of kids went home crying BEFORE they even got hit!! Not me. I stood in there and tried! Never got hit but I was always ready to bail!! Little League is an important rung in the ladder of life in my opinion. It is organized, teams practice, teams have competition for positions, teams compete to win. We had some great times back in the 50s and 60s in Coralville. Did you know that our BEST diamond was located in the backyard of the 'old school'/ Johnson County Historical Old School on 5th street1!?? Yep, it was a great location. BIG shade trees, bleachers, etc. We played lots of games there. We also had a Coralville "Town Team'. We played Lone Tree, Solon, West Branch, Williamsburg, North Liberty, Maquoketa!!!, Riverside etc. Funny, as my Dad, 'Brandy' Brandstatter, played for the Coralville Kittens in the 20s and 30s, and they played on this site. Their diamond was on the westside of the school, and ours was on the southside. Interesting history there. Our other diamonds were in the back yard of Central School. 2 games a nite, twice a week for years. Later Little League moved to S.T. Morrison Park when it was purchased in 1970 or so. Coralville was growing and growing to the west, so diamonds were moved...Coralville "Central' was just Coralville School.. LOTS of Coralville kids ( including me) attended that school K-9. YES, K-9. 10 years at one school. BUT we loved every minute. We were the Coralville Cougars, just like the are today. IT was THEE central meeting place for the WHOLE TOWN of Coralville. Boy Scout Blue and Gold banquets, Girl Scout events, Jr. High band concerts, PTA meetings, annual student carnivals, Halloween parties, and lots more. ALL the kids and parents in town loved our school. I have visited Coralville "Central' many times. NICE school, NICE teachers, NICE place to be a student. It may be older, but there are NEW additions! Speaking of new additions.., Gary Anderson and I STILL chuckle about the 'new addition' to the school.. Next time you are going into the 'Office' at Coralville Central, look at the cornerstone next to the door.. It says./ '1959' on it. It was called and known as the "new addition' back then. STILL the new addition according to Gary and I !!!!..Same kids in the classes every year unless someone moved in or out of town. Great place!!
Remember some of the rules: 1. NO street shoes in the gym. .. BUT WHY?? The floor was floor tile? Dumb rule back then! 2. NO throwing of snowballs TO or FROM school on your way home....HUH? Can't throw a snowball 4 blocks from school??? THAT was the rule... Of course we tested and re-tested this rule a LOT. We paid the price too. We once (about 5 or 6 of us) threw a huge barrage at an old yellow pickup truck on our way TO school one NOON hour....Seems the old truck turned around and the PrinciPAL, Mr. Peters was driving!! "Get in". We did.. 2 hours of detention.. Cleaned erasers, swept floors, help Matt Matthews and Al Gerdes, the janitors. It was fun actually! MORE LATER!!

Rex's FIRST blog!!

To make sure I can get a lot of Coralville info out of my pea brain and into your brain, I have started this blog. ( rhymes with b.s) I will talk about lots of things that I like, (it's MY blog) and I am hoping to have some fun along the way. I know that many people remember things in Coralville that I don't know, and I WANT to hear from you! There is a slight chance that I can be wrong on things, ( slight) and I hope you can help with the 'facts' if I am off a little. I will do my best to keep things going. So as the old GTO sales pitch goes.." get in, sit down, buckle up, and hang on!!"
Let's start today, April 28, 2009. My most pressing issue in Coralville is that our post office sucks. Too small, too packed in tight, too crowded, run down, hard to access.......How is that for a first shot across the bow! The post office opened at its present location in 1961. SIXTY ONE! That was 48 years ago. ( I remember the day!) WE have the SAME post office, same place, same size etc. Coralville was about 3000 strong at that time and it is now 18,500 or so. See any problems here?? Nice people work there, but the Postal Service doesn't give a crap about Coralville. It is so handy, but so worn out. WE NEED a NEW POST OFFICE! I know we can talk about more things next time. Let me know your thoughts on this OR feel free to ask questions, bring up ideas, etc..I hope to have fun!