Merry Christmas from Old Coralville

Here we are today, a couple days BEFORE Christmas.. Read that CHRISTMAS!! Nobody will take that away from me... CHRISTMAS!!

Lots of fun memories from back in the day here in Coralville...At Coralville Elementary we always had a big Christmas music day. We (all grades I think) got herded into the MASSIVE (way small) Gymnasium,,, the Wade Russell Room for you old guys like me.. ( I knew Wade Russell).. The north 15 feet of the 'gym' was a Stage area.. Lots of big wooden doors underneath for access to folding chairs etc.....Certain classes would go UP on the Stage and sing Christmas songs. They always rolled a piano in, and a Teacher would play,, Jingle Bells. ,, etc, and other fun songs, and the WHOLE place would be rockin'! It was great fun.. NOW we can't do stuff like that...NO WAY! Might alienate some poor kid in the 3rd grade who is not a 'believer' in CHRISTMAS.. Did I say 'MERRY CHRISTMAS" yet?...I also remember that each Home Room had a CHRISTMAS tree, and we would make little ornaments ( I still have some that I made in Kindergarden, 2nd grade etc,, they are REAL nice.....(right)), etc, AND we had a gift exchange once in awhile. Moms brought cookies, treats, etc..BET that doesn't happen now! THEN CHRISTMAS break would start. No school for several days.......Here in Coralville back in the 50s, and early 60s,, that's all we had.. SO, during this time we went to school to play in the gym at nite, we went ice skating on the ice rink, east of the school and down the hill), and we walked around town throwing the ever present snowballs etc.. BIG fun was to go to lower Finkbine on a Saturday afternoon and go sliding, OR over to Melrose Lake for ice skating.. (not as much fun as in Coralville),, we played hours and hours of crack the whip, red rover, capture the flag, HOURS and HOURS!! We were all pretty good skaters, with guys like Rodney Lynch and Terry Oakes being REAL good!! Let's see, MarySue Gatens was a good 'girl skater', Betty Crandall too, and of course others!! We played hockey, and made it a point to skate until we were tired!! What fun. NO place to 'shop' in Coralville, except for the Gift Shop on 5th street, so we went Downtown Iowa City.. Lots of good stuff! Always took time to see the Schwinn bikes at Novotny's bike shop downtown.....Spent several afternoons building snow forts in the neighborhood, followed by HUGE snowball fights...Ah yes the days in Old Coralville!

Can it be November?

Hi fellow friends...Really, can it be November.. I have always wanted to make a deal with God,,,I want him to make the Winters 'go' as fast as the Spring and Summers go.....Seriously, seems like just a couple days ago it was July 4th.. You know, HOT, sticky, sunny, bright.., long days, lots of sun..NOW look at it..It's 4:45 pm, dark, windy, mix in the air,........The kids would say, 'this weather sucks'........I agree, but not a thing to do...............But WAIT,, there were plenty of things to do when I was a kid...Rake those leaves into BIG piles, then run and leap into them. It made for better theatrics if you were a Cowboy that just got 'shot', and you fell into the pile, OR better yet, a Hawkeye scoring the game-winning TD.. THAT was the best.. I still can remember the cool smell of the leaves. Fun stuff.. On crappy days like this, not much happened, but we had 'after school' stuff..Marshall J was on, and he had the 3 Stooges,, OR we had Cub Scout meetings, or Boy Scout meetings! Man, we had it all! This was just in the Fall and Winter,, course when we hit 8th grade or so we had the Coralville Teen Center. It was open in the evenings from about 6-9 or so..Get home, do any homework, eat, and walk with a bunch of guys to the Teen Center. Bumper pool, a stack of .45 records that WE could play on the beat up old juke box, pop was .15, ping pong, and just have fun...HALF the fun was walking, talking, messing around with my friends on the way and on the way home.. I don't see kids doing that anymore. They all get a ride to school even on NICE days!!. NO WAY! Our school yard had about a million bikes in the bike racks.. Not these days....Drive past a grade school about 'let out time' and see for yourself. NO wonder kids don't know anything about puddles and how to stomp on them and get your pants wet AND the pants of your buddy!, or how to roll a big snow ball and leave it in the middle of a Coralville street while you are on your way home......or to wave at the neighbors when they drive past, then unload on their car with snowballs,,..........good innocent fun, but in my mind, part of growing up....Too bad, their loss.

About this of year I always think of 'where did the sun go'....I used to look at a globe that I had at home, and it had the Tropic of Cancer and the Equator, then the Tropic of Capricorn on it.. Do you think today's kids have a clue? I don't either, do you think they know the importance of December 21 or 22,, the equinox day?......I doubt it.......The probably think it is all controlled by Daylight Savings Time.................geez, maybe their parents don't have a clue either....Hmmm.
Well, all for now, have to go get ready to stomp in a puddle!

JULY fun and hot times

..JULY is a great month in Iowa and in Coralville! NOT many students around, the trees and FULL of leaves and waving in the breeze, and it is HOT.. SO WHAT. IT is JULY in Iowa....Not sure we need THIS kind of heat, but think back to last February when we had 18" of snow, high winds, ice,...terrible NEVER complain about the heat...............................man it's hot.........
The Johnson County Fair is just around the corner, and that makes me think of.............lemonade shakes, (water and sugar and lemons) the Johnson County Pork or Beef Producers depending on the nite, and lots of people! FUN at the Fair....But it hasn't always been 'fun' for me at the Fair..You see my Dad ALWAYS had a booth at the Fair....The Muscatine County Fair, the Johnson County Fair, the Cedar County Fair, and once in awhile the Scott County Fair.. You see, in his 'mind', EVERYBODY needs a vacuum cleaner, and they might as well buy it from HIM. SO, he got a 'booth', set up a table, had a couple vacuums in the booth for people to try.. usually women..........He had a registration form that asked for Name, Ph #, (in case you won his drawing for a new vacuum) address, and best time of day to 'call'..........The people filled them out in droves......Oh yes,, he always had a fun thing in his booth....One year in the back of the booth he had an old barrel with a large piece of chicken wire over it,, a sign that said, "IMPORTED RED BATS", and a little 2 step in case kids wanted to see them.................Adult men and women would inch over, lean in, then roll their eyes,..........kids would slowly walk up go UP the step,,,, or get lifted up by Mom or Dad,...............................what were they? Where did he get them....?....Let me know IF you are totally in need of knowing.. It is fun. People had a good time, as it was the FAIR. Good innocent fun................BUT old Dad was smart. He would have HUNDREDS of names, numbers and addresses, and during the next year, he would 'call on them' and give them a 'demonstration' (demo as he called it) on the vacumms,, and he sold ZILLIONS of them.. A door to door vacuum cleaner salesman! He LOVED it, he was good at it, he had EXCELLENT products, he was honest, and he 'took care of his customers'....Customer Service!!.....My brother and I often got 'stuck' working at the Fair.. we always ditched out and got a lemon shake, played those stupid games where you crank around a crane, trying to get the crane to pick up a prize!! We got robbed.........................The IMPORTED RED BATS...??...........................bright red plastic wiffle ball bats,,,,,,,,,,,,,,made in Japan...................thus, IMPORTED RED BATS.... GO have some FUN at the Fair.

MId Summer's Day Dreams

Ah yes,, it is almost the MIDDLE of Summer in Iowa. I have alwayss considered JULY 15 to be the middle of Summer. When I was a kid, school was out roughly June 1, and we went back roughly September 1, so the middle would be JULY 15.....The other reason is that JULY 15 is my birthday. It is always hot on my birthday. Back in the day my buddies and I ALWAYS went swimming on July 15.. The river, (sorry Mom) OR we rode our bikes to the Iowa City pool. Such great fun!..We were absolutely in fear of drowning from the cramps, and our Red Cross swimming lessons had taught us to wait ONE HOUR after eating to swim..Believe me, we did....The pool opened at 1, but the line could be long.., and we had to ride our bikes...so we either ate at 11:30 ish, rode to the pool, got in line, and usually into the pool at 1:15 or so..If we cut in close, I can remember standing on the side of the pool watching the clock above the 'basket room' as the second hand made it to 12, thus signalling that 1 hour had officially past since I took my last bite of lunch...NOW I hear that the 1 hour thing is only a guideline and not a real 'set in stone' thing.........Damn!! We had discipline! The bike ride TO the pool was fun. We were instructed by our Moms that we could NOT get on the 'highway' (Strip) and that we HAD to ride along the northside on our way to the Pool.. Thus we rode down 5th street, south on the sidewalk in front of Coral Lanes, Briskey Cabinet etc, across Clear Creek, TO the Superior 400 gas station, THEN we crossed unbusy (in those days) 1st avenue, and rode in back of the Carousel Restaurant, into the BIG half moon driveway of the Hawkeye Lodge, across the front of the Hudson gas station, Henry's hamburgers, Dog N Suds, UNDER the canopy of the Alamo Motel, in front of the Zesto Ice Cream stand, cut a 45 degree angle thru the lot of Kobes Motel, UNDER the CRANDIC trestle, and along Rocky Shore Drive..It was NOT as nice as it is today. It was gravel, some chip and seal, but not real busy....around the corner and, and, and, UP the big hill.. Weenies had to get off and push, and 'studs' could hack it up the hill. Depended on the day, temperature etc....,, on to the pool, paid our fee (.25c) and into the open air lockerroom, took a QUICK shower, tried to jump across the little pool that has stuff in it to sanitize your feet against Athlete's Foot, dropped off our basket with clothes, and beelined it to the water...WHAT FUN!!
............Did we ever get home? How long did we swim?, did we go 'off' the high dive?......Hmm, next time......................Enjoy the 2nd half of Summer!!

POST July 4th Celebration

Great time in Coralville over the July 4th weekend! Fun times on Friday nite trying to beat the record heat! 97deg AND 75 points on the humidity scale! NICE...!!....OFF to Iowa State Fairgrounds on Saturday in the family 1970 Pontiac GTO 'JUDGE" muscle car, then still had Sunday and Monday left!! BIG concert on Sunday nite in the park.. Grass Roots, (did you know NONE of the guys on stage were with the Roots in the 60's!!??)..They were really good, BUT then we were entertained by Peter Noone and his Hermans Hermits!.. I have seen them in concert previously, and knew what to expect. HE is a true showman..! They have a LOT of memorable hits, and they played them all, closing with a truly fun rendition of "Henry the VIII) which was a #1 hit back in the day. People are still talking about Peter Noone and the Hermits today, July 5.. BIG July 4th Parade weaved thru town with 130 entries, including fire trucks, church groups, candy-tossing walkers, Scouts, big as in BIG trucks, military units, and lots of kids! It was a LOT of fun. We did our annual 'live taping' of the Parade, and it will be on Coralvision Channel 5 in a few days. I did my best as the 'color analyst' again this year.. Pay is low, and I know why!!...My broadcast buddy Brent Balbinot is the pro and I am local yokel who figures out the local 'angle'.. WE have fun doing it, hope you see it!
The fireworks were HUGE, LOUD, and long.. 235 years of freedom can't be celebrated without a BIG LOUD fireworks show!, and we do it right ,, right here in Coralville, IOWA!
We used to go to City Park in Iowa City to see fireworks, but the best show is in Coralville these days! ..................rightfully so! .See you in Coralville!

JUNE 6: AKA ,, D-DAY in American lexicon.......Operation Overlord was instituted, and THOUSANDS of our GIs, ships, planes, etc, stormed onto several beaches in N. France, a move that signalled the road to Berlin and the defeat of the Nazis in due time....THANKS to all those who served and protected the U.S., our freedoms, and our independence...

I grew up in Coralville, Iowa, .. small midwest town, and all the Dads in my neighborhood were in WWII....Later in life I learned that one of the men was at Guadalcanal, another was at Iwo Jima, my Dad chased Rommel around Africa, another Dad was on a Sub in the S. Pacific,. on and on....Normal, reguluar guys, and some of them were in these famous battles..They never said much, so it was pretty 'normal' for me to later learn that these guys had served in WWII..'they never said a mumblin' word as the song goes'......One of my friends learned later in life that his Dad was at Normandy, the first landing....Wow............Who knew..........I don't care if a Veteran peels potatoes or slugs it out in a foxhole, they are all heroes to me....I never had a chance to serve, but I sure 'thank' those men and women who DID and who ARE serving..

Coralville soldiers did their part then, and they are doing their part now.. No more no less...My Dad bought a lot in 1950 to build a new house here in Coralville, and the lot price was $250. This lot is at the corner of 7th ave and 8th street.. Common belief by my Grandpa was 'my Dad would never get the lot paid for'!!..........................let alone build a house......Well, as the American Spirit p provided, he DID get the lot paid, and he DID build a house and make payments on the GI Bill, and got the house paid!! How refreshing,, hard work, no frills, just hammer down and work! Nothing new on that, as those scenarios are and have been played out in this country since 1776. Sickening to see/listen to these whiners today talk about 'government entitlements, free housing, free 'cheese', etc....................Sure makes you sick....Stand UP for those who served, especially today, the anniversary of D-Day.

Memorial Day 2011

MONDAY is Memorial Day... Established by Pres. Abraham Lincoln to honor those killed during the Civil War. ( Yankees)....Our Soldiers, Sailors, Pilots, etc, come from every corner of the U.S. ALL small towns can stand tall and say 'our boys (and women too) stepped up and helped out'!,, ....for any conflict, any war, any skirmish since 1876...REMEMBER,, this all is possible due to the unthinkable bravery by men standing up to the King of England over taxes!..Hmm, kind of sounds familiar again....They shot from behind trees, under piles of logs, from behind the corner of the barn and so forth to thwart the dreaded Red Coats who did there best to 'control' the new civilization/nation as to the best wishes and desires of the King of England.. We all know how we got to where we are today.. Battles, War, death, invasions, etc.....TODAY, as we speak, our men and women are FIGHTING for you and I.., they fight to protect the hippees, the rich, the poor, the students, the moms, the dads, and yes, even those who speak out against our leaders, past and present., as we fight to the end to protect the freedom of speech for ALL.. SO, take a minute to visit a Memorial Service this weekend, or send $20 to your local American Legion, or Veteran's organization in your town... but don't forget,,, YOU can go about your daily life THANKS to those who have served to protect your butt!...any and all butts.

Is it over?

HI,
RUMORS running rampant (I saw one person who wrote on this) that the World will END on May 21...Right.....A man and wife from rural Johnson County say 'the bible says the world will end on that date)........Need some swamp land in Florida?
It ended for me when I was told that my knee had been wrecked so bad in football at Coralville Jr. High in 1963, that I would not be allowed to play f-ball in high school. That was the end of the world!..But wait!,, the sun came up the next day, and voila! ,, the world did NOT end!! My football world ended, but other 'worlds' stepped up...OR was it when I flunked the Iowa Driver's Test the first time...I missed ONE too many! ONE!!..The world ended that day for sure.. I had to go back the next day, and did it right!!...No, the world ended for me when the Dodgers got beat in the World Series in 1978.. Damn Yankees,, no it really ended when backed into parking lot post in the north parking lot of City High with my Dad's 67 Ford Galaxy....I wanted it to end rather than tell him how the post had just 'jumped' in front of the car.....( I was doing donuts)..So you see, a 'world' can end anytime and many times in life.., but for things like this that we ALL have to 'face' ,, the REAL WORLD just keeps going on!! NO way it will end while I still owe Hills Bank some $ on a mortgage.., and NO WAY the world will end before Cubs win or get to a World Series, so we still have time......
How many times and for 'what' did/has your world ended?...TRUST IN REX, you will see me in Coralville on Sunday, May 22, 2011!!!!......................unless the world ends on Saturday, May 21 as predicted by these goofballs!!

It's SPRING!!! (?)

ONLY the julien calendar says so!.. The outside temperature and weather say "early March'..This is not acceptable.. WHAT can we do? We can complain to each other, and that is all. OH we would pretend that global warming is part of this, but that is a total 'reach'.....Not a chance. This is WEATHER. You win and you lose....
I have a crabby-ass Robin making a nest in front of my office, near the front door. I normally ask (force) them to move along, but the little idiot has really worked to build a nest. A couple of dive bomb raids on me or customers of the other businesses in this building, and they will be history. Do you know the scientific name for a Robin?.....turdus migratorious.........Kind of says a lot.
We can now see the exterior of the new commercial building/Coralville Center for the Performing Arts onclave at the NW corner of 5th Street (Historic U.S. Highway 6) and 12th avenue. I am thinking that a roof top view of Coralville from this building would let one see,, Don's Bicycle Shop, the Drive-In Theater, the Malt Shop, Blue Top Motel, Iowa Motel, Pine Edge Motel, Brandy's Vacuum, Twetten's Furniture Store, the Farm Bureau, Dairy Sweet, Diamond Mil's, Coleman's BBQ, Redwood Garden Center, Martinek Upholstery, Lantern Park Care Center, Coralville Bank, Herky's Sporting Goods, Drs. Skaugstad and McLaughlin, Dr. Arnold, Fox & Sam's, Dutchway, and so many more.. Don't you agree? Don't you wish some of those were still here?
You can't go back, but we can try to never forget!......ALMOST,,,yep, 1st avenue is ALMOST ready. They made the last cement 'pour' the other day.. This will be a HUGE 'plus' for traffic when it is open to a full 4 lanes. People have been very (kind of) patient at rush hour in the morning and at nite.... How long is 'Opening/Coming Soon' supposed to be?....The new Chinese restaurant on the corner of the Strip and 1st Avenue/Hayden Fry Way has a sign that has been saying this since the Flood of 08.....SOON is now obvious.
My hat is off to our Coralville Police and Fire Depts for doing a great job through a long cold winter.!
See you in Coralville!........................Panera Bread is on the way to 1st avenue!...Did you hear that the unions are going to strike the new UIHC Hospital project on 1st Avenue?.....figures.

Winter won't leave!

My dad Brandy used to say, "Old Man Winter has the guts to come early, and doesn't have the decency to leave on time'............Truer words were never spoken. GO HOME Old Man Winter. We appreciate (?) your visit, now get the hell out of here......Back in the day we Coralville kids knew when it was Spring..., the Spring rains filled the ditches in front of our houses! Huh, well of course this was waaaaay before paved streets. All the streets were chip/seal, and each side of every street had ditch for the water from the streets to drain to......Under each driveway was a culvert to help the water 'flow' to the low spots and 'down the street'.. BUT, in a BIG rain, the ditches filled up, the culverts either filled up with too much water, or they were plugged with weeds grass, rabbit nests etc....This created a wonderful opportunity! Most fun was jumping from the yard TO the street or vice versa... Sometimes you had to get a run to jump and clear the water, and best of all, .........sometimes you made it, then lost your balance and leaned/fell backwards and got your tennis shoes, jeans, etc, wet and muddie in some cases.. This was a riot! On your way back to school at 'school', (now known as Central Elementary) it was a constant jump across ditches all the way.. IF you got wet or muddy,, too bad, AND,, NOBODY cared! We now have paved streets, underground storm sewer drainage, and all these fun things are gone. Speaking of fun, walking to and from school was a LOT of fun! I don't know if kids still do this, but I sure see a lot of cars in front of schools in the morning and in the afternoons.. Too many kids not experiencing the fun of walking to school with friends and the 'fun little experiences' that we had!!! Bring on Spring, we are ready!!

New 'look' coming!

Hi,

A 'new look' is on the way! Will it be my face, my car, my job,,,,NO, it will be the local landscape! SPRING is here! That means green grass, leaves, flowers, bushes, etc. About time! No, not me. I am in Coralville and don't want to leave, change anything, move, or anything. Just love my job, (it's NOT a job! ) my friends, (except those to whom I owe $ for lost bets on Iowa games), and good old Coralville..Can't wait for Bridge #4 to be completed on 1st avenue over Clear Creek. You DO realize that the creek got its name for the clarity of the water don't you ? Yep.. What would we call it now!!.. Ol' Muddy, or Black Creek, or Crappy Creek (it's down stream from the Coralville "Plant" you know)....Oh well..............We attend two birthdays for friends turning 70. In both cases, both guys (honorees) had to leave early. Neither could make it thru the entire evening. What the hell!! 70??!! ....I thought maybe 80 could be hard, but hardly able to make it at least until 10 or 11 at 70 is a shocker. WHAT do we 60s people have to look forward to??!! Damn. One day I sat down and made out a timeline of my Mom, Dad, Grandparents etc.. I was kind of shocked.. My Dad was 30 when I was born, so he was 48 when I graduated from high school. I thought he was old! He was 36 when I started Little League.. I remember asking my grandpa 'what was it like back in the good old days' and he was 62 or so at the time. THAT is my age!! Try that. Make a timeline for your folks. We thought they were old, decrepit, 'out of it' when we were in 8th or 9th grade, and THEY were really only in their late 30s or early 40s usually.. I have sold many houses here in Coralville for the parents of my friends from Coralville school.. I always thougtht THEY were old back in the 60s.. Guess not.
Here is a good one, and a TRUE one...........Sit back and THINK this thru..........This is ME saying this and it is true........" I was talking to a guy, who talked to a guy, who was in the Civil War.".........Is that possible? Is Rex full of .....uh..crap?? (yes, but let's move on)...I am saying that I talked to a guy who actually talked to a guy who was in the Civil War. IT's true, and the Civil War Veteran was with Sherman on his March to the Sea........Huh??....Well, here is the scoop,, When I was a kid, I knew my Great Grandpa real well. He was an old man back in the late 1950s and early 1960s.........HIS Dad, my Great Great Grandpa, was in the Civil War.. Company B out of Iowa City matter of fact......SO,, I talked to my Great Grandpa, (many times) and HE had talked to his Dad, ( my Great Great Grandpa).. so there is the link.. Just does not sound possible does it......but it's true..........

So, have a little fun, do a timeline on your gang and see what you come up with. Hope nobody does a time line on me. They will find that I grew up on 8th street, 11th avenue, and now work at my office next to the good old Coralville Post Office, about 2-3 blocks from where I grew up. Guess I never got out of Coralville..........................

BIG fire BIG scare

The BIG fire in Coralville on Monday, March 7, was a scary site. TONS of smoke billowing out of the the big commercial building on the south side of the Coralville Strip, next to UPS, or for you old timers, across from the old Purple Cow. NOW you know right?...Fire started when some brain surgeon car 'repairman" was supposedly using a drill to drill INTO a gas tank of a van or car. SEE, I said 'BRAINSURGEON'.. Fire damage will easily exceed $1.5 million. (MILLION) Several people out of work due to this cab company and their idiot staff.
I own a garage door (commercial condo) in this complex, and I got a call letting me know that the place was on fire! I sped to the scene and rounded up a couple guys to help me get my cars out of there. NO fire damage in my unit, but a little smoke, soot, maybe..TONS of damage to 3 brand new Toyotas in a business next door to the fire, and they are 'gone', a HUGE speed boat with all the toys and whistles and tons of stereos, wheels, etc are 'gone' in Auto Toyz.
Lucky nobody got hurt, not even the Brainsurgeon as far as that goes. It can be repaired, but it won't be forgotten by all those who own a unit or work in this building. .....As a 20 year retired veteran of the Coralville Volunteer Fire Dept myself, I can tell you that the Coralville F.D. along with firemen and equipment from Iowa City, North Liberty, Tiffin, and Solon did a great job! It was cold and windy, but they 'got er done'.....GOOD job guys!

Some day I will tell you about the time I reported a fire while sitting on the front porch of Koser's store! Stay tuned!!

HINT of Spring and MORE!

I do say, a 'hint' of Spring today. No wind, and it is about 40 deg. NICE for us....When the snow melts it sure leaves a mess. Coralville looks its WORST this time of year. Bad. BUT,, BUT, the next phase is good......Flowers, green, leaves, grass, and best of all, warm air.. Bring it on, HOWEVER we all know that March is a doozy, and as Yogi might have said, "it ain't over till it's over'........
I saw some construction guys working on the new sidewalk along 1st avenue again. This is their first time back since last November when the weather got too cold for cement guys to work. I also stopped and scoped out the bridge over Clear Creek... Slow, methodical, but sure is looking good. The job is to 'raise' this bridge, thus helping water in Clear Creek to NOT back up against the bridge like it did in Flood 08.. With the HIGHER bridge we will have a bike/walking trail under the bridge.. Lots of neat things coming in that area in the next couple years and sooner!

Coralville got I-JOBS money for a lot of the 1st Ave projects., JUST in time, as now those funds are NOT available.. Whew!! Next BIG project is a giant earthen berm from the Marriott to Rocky Shore Drive.. This should be fun to watch.......

Also, good rumors about some 'fun' kind of businesses to be locating in Iowa River Landing area near the Marriott.............??/ Have you visited the Johnson County Historical Museum and/or the Old Car Museum across the street from the Marriott.... Take time to do this. Those two museums are really interesting..VERY INTERESTING..

Hope to see you in Coralville!!

MORE snow on the way later today! Everybody run/race to HY-VEE, we might get snowed in!!.....about 3-5" on the way,, but HY-VEE will be packed! I think the HY-VEE Liquor store right next door (Coralville) also does a land office business when snow is on the horizon. Makes sense I guess... LOTS of things going on around town. NICE to have a lot of the snow piles and windrowa melted so we can SEE the lanes of the streets. They seem so much w i d e r now. I helped the new (1st) Director of the Coralville Center for the Perfoming Arts find a house. Megan and her family will rent for now, and when their home in Chicago area sells, they will look for a house to buy. She is excited about her new job.. That building (5th street and 12th avenue) is really HUGE!!..Lots of new tenants and condo owners will be moving in upon completion..Hmmm, wonder if the RAGBRAI participants can sleep inside?....NO!!! Speaking of the bike tour, we will have approx 20,000 people INVADING our fair city on that day! This is a good deal for lots of merchants, suppliers, vendors, etc, and a big headache for police, security, city Staff etc.......BUT, we will do a great job and will have fun!! The Coralville American Legion will be hosting a BBQ for biking riding Veterans and their friends at the Legion on that date. HOW fitting! .. I plan to get on a good Committee and do my part! YOU should consider this too, I find RAGBRAI to be a jewel in the crown of IOWA activities....I have never been on it, but I think the USA knows about it and likes it!!

I have always kind of liked Mondays...First day of a new week, a little lift in my step as I do what I love, being a Realtor......Sundays CAN be fun, but I gotta tellya, a little sun would help once in awhile!! We need some bright/cheery days!..My cousin, who grew up in Iowa City lived in Seattle for many years, and now lives in rural Washington..(state) I once asked him about 'winter' in Seattle, and he said,,;'well it isn't as cold as Iowa City, but it is cloudy/rainy, dank, damp, and foggy the FIRST 300 DAYS of WINTER'.,,,,,,,,,,....Ha!!..NOT to worry, the sleepy /crabby ground hog did NOT see his shadow this year, so Spring is JUST around the (far) corner!...This melty snow is perfect for snowmen.. Back in the day in Old Coralville, down on 8th street in the old part of town, lived a giant army of SnowBall Experts....The names Seemuth, Kron, Vacik, Shaffer, Teeple, Lenoch, Anderson, etc, were synonymous with snowballs. WE threw 34.94 MILLION snow balls in our day...Honest to God, at the end of a good day with wet snow, my throwing arm would be so sore I could hardly lift it..I always had 2-3 pairs of brown jersey, cotton gloves every Winter. After a big snowball fight I would race into the house and put a pair on top of the water heater and get a new, dry pair, and go back outside. The inner liner of those gloves was died red, so our hands got red too!! For days!! We had snowball 'successes' and snowball 'failures'.... The failures involved windows, cars, kids,, the successes involved street lights, cars, other kids,,............almost the same.............WHAT kid didn't / doesn't throw snowballs, althought I gotta tell ya that you just don't see kids outside making snowmen, snow forts, throwing snowball, sledding, doing snow angels like you used to back in the day. Probably too cold for the little weenies, OR too busy playing on the computer etc.....MOST of these kids have NO CLUE on how to entertain themselves if they were not on the computer....Sign of the times....For me,, every once in awhile I yearn to make a perfect snowball and nail some car!!!

FINALLY!! l. GLOBAL WARMING!!! I think/thought it was a bunch of hooey, (it is) but I LIKE this round of global warming.. Sure beats the global cooling and global freezing and global snowstorm of a couple weeks ago..Man, THIS is living.. Why just a week ago I paid a ton of $ to have snow moved out of a couple of my parking lots. I should have known that global warming would take care it...damn Don't know if your street got plowed.. but, most streets did get attention in a reasonable amount of time.....Most street seem a little skinnier though..I keep lookin UP at the new condo/office/performing arts building. This thing is HUGE.. WHO would believe that the teeny weeny little lot could 'hold' a BIG building like this!! Not me.. WAY more than I envisioned. This will be an icon for Coralville. The City has leased the second floor, several of the condos have been sold, and the Performing Arts Center has hired a new director!! My observation is that I will NEVER be invited onto the stage!! That makes sense!! I have NO outwardly talents that anyone would pay to see/hear...none. Wait,,, I DO have a zillion tidbits of Coralville history rumbling around in my brain.....' An evening with Rex Brandstatter'...never. MY wife Michele wouldn't even show up for that!! That does it.. I will be on that stage someday!

Groundhog Day Snow 2011

..WOW.... GOD really impressed me with his 'winter power'.....We surrender!! Don't make it snow anymore!.....For many years I have had the honor of being the "Unofficial Official Coralville Historian'....SO, here is my Unofficial report: THIS is Coralville's biggest snow storm since approx 1952 or 53'...WE just got an 'unofficial 15" on Groundhog Day, February 2, 2011.. Enough. Back in 1952+-, we got about the SAME....HOWEVER back them we did not have the number of buildings, parking lots, streets, developments etc.. NOT many people in Coralville back in those days......BUT here's more,,,, we did not have much equipment either..Nope, the City of Coralville (town in this days) had an old roadgrader, a small Ford N tractor, and an old dump truck with a plow. THAT was IT..,, and, and, they followed each other around. So if the dump truck went down your street, the little tractor was close behind.....They started at the City Shop, (about where Golfzilla is located today, and worked the 'avenues', 1st , 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc, unitil they got to Hemphill Road, and lower 11th Avenue.. Then the streets, 5th, 6th, 7th etc, until they got to 8th, then they were done.. Any problems here? Nope.. The guys who plowed teh streets were also the 'garbage guys'.., so if it snowed on garbage day, they came the next day for your garbage. Easy and simple. Life can be complicated, but in "old Coralville' it was NOT.
THIS snow storm on Groundhog Day 2011, is probably our biggest and most 'complicated'. LOTS of streets, lots of long streets, (12th ave, 5th street, 10th street, and Coralville is a BIG, spread out town.....Not sure how many plows we have,, never enough in a snow like this.
SO, sit back, let your Florida dreams begin, and remember,, GOD will take this all away,,,,but not soon!! See you in Coralville.

Coralville Winter Fest 2011 is history!. Lots of fun, lots of people and a LOT of kids. This is good, as the kids got to ride in the horse drawn trolley, taste roasted chestnuts, ('poi' with a crunch, at best), see and go IN a real teepee, watch an outdoorsman show them how to cook outside in the cold weather,, and they had an indoor snowball fight with rolled up socks, they got to see the BIG train setup and tour the Johnson County Historical Society Museum, taste cookies, etc...WHAT a big, fun, FREE afternoon...It is rather low key, but the real secret is that people are willing to volunteer their expertise so others can observe. I personally prefer a Summer FEST, but, this was fun. KCJJ had their radion booth OPEN and ON THE AIR so people could see firsthand, some announcers/disc jockeys at work...This is Coralville, so we sure appreciate the people, businesses, and organizations that took part.. Other towns can sit on their butts all winter, but at least Coralville is trying!!!..Oh man,,, RAGBRAI 39 comes to Coralville.. Let's see, RAGBRAI, 4th Fest, FryFest...........Should be plenty to do if you would like to volunteer this summer.

See you in Coralville!!

January waning!

Just thinking that we almost have January 'in the bag'...Great news! January is the rock bottom month for temperature.. NOT that it can't get cold in February, but January is the worst. WE just might be looking better.. at least the wind has not been blowing as much as it could IF it wanted to do so!!
Speaking of cold and wind,, I really think that the East Coast is getting OUR weather...Sorry, I am not willing to trade, but they are really getting it! A few years ago a friend of mine here in Coralville called and said, 'my wife got a really good job out of state, so we are moving'...I said 'no way',, 'you have both lived here for a million years'....'Where are you going?"...NO RESPONSE.. then he said 'out east',,, then NOTHING..............................Finally I said, 'surely you aren't moving to somewhere cold and snowy like Buffalo.....??.....................................YEP, 'we are moving to Buffalo'.................so, off they went. They are still there. Once in awhile I get an email telling me that most of the snow they get is 'lake effect'...., what the heck, I don't care where or how you get it, you get it!!..Ha!! Better them than me!..Do you ever remember seeing the Coralville snow plows on Monday, January 17?.. We had a BIG snow and not many plows were out.. Seems the city guys had the day off, and if they got called in to plow, it is double or triple time on a holiday.. SO, on that day only a skeleton crew was plowing.. Come the next day, Tuesday, January 18, all the plows are guys were back....Now you know!

Alert

Wow,, -12 or whatever it is IMPRESSES me,, but God doesn't have impress me with a cold blast, he can kindly make it +30 and would REALLY be impressed! The eagles are really fishing this morning at the Coralville dam....Tasty, fresh shad for breakfast........So what does a guy like me have for breakfast on a COLD day..........??.............Just what Mom used to make my brother Rox and I eat,,, Oatmeal!!.. Hot and sticks to your ribs...........,or fat..............................

BIG day for me today, I have been asked to be a speaker at the annual Hawkeye Area Council BOY SCOUTS of AMERICA banquet in Cedar Rapids tonite......This works for me...I asked for 30 minutes and was told they would cut ME off after 5 or so...Guess they know me!!

Tried to pull a For Sale sign out of a yard this morning at 7am....right.... froze solid, so I just took out the sign and had to leave the frame. I will go back in July or so..........................s

Do not despair,, biologically speaking, mid-January is to low point of the season. THINGS start to turn after we bottom out for a few days.. The slow, gradual increase in sunlight causes things to change......SOONER than later!!

Think of those poor soldiers in our own Colonial Army who spent a winter at Valley Forge,, some had NO shoes, no coats, etc.. When their feet turned black they were amputated,, and that was soon the be fatal.....Thank them for their perseverance!

Brrrrrrrr......

COLD weather is a pain...

HI,
January is the coldest month we have in Iowa. IT is living up to its expectations. At least the wind is not too bad, but give it time.......YOU need to keep an eye on the eagles at the dam here in Coralville. There are a LOT of them fishing below the dam. COOL! They sit, (hunker) in the trees along the river and when they see a fish, KABOOM!!, they nail it. They take it to a tree and 'enjoy' fresh fish......Eagles are 'dating' at this time of year. They will be working on their nests in the next 3-4 weeks, and in the middle of February or so, they will lay eggs! One year there was a nest just across the river from the Iowa River Power Restaurant....Take some photos. I never saw eagles at the river when I was a kid here in Coralville in the 50s....never.
The Coralville dam has become a real 'home' to eagles, ducks, and tons of Canada geese. We really have crowd down there on a dailybasis. HEY, geese aren't the only ones who like Coralville. I get lots of emails and phone calls from people who used to live here...Everybody wants to know 'how is Coralville doing'...??!!..............Doing just fine thank you! We are right at 18,500 people...WAY bigger than when my family got here in 1923......They came from their house in Iowa City when their NEW HOUSE was ready,, in 1925.. They actually lived in the garage they built BEFORE the house was completed!..This is true. Grandma/pa and 4 kids in the garage for a year, INCLUDING a winter!!.......................The old Brandstatter house is still in its glory at 509 6th avenue in Coralville. I drive past once in awhile just to 'say
hi' to it. LOTS of great family history at this address.. The sun is shining AND getting closer everyday! Makes you want to whoop it up!! See you in Coralville..

Brand new 2011 !!

It IS a new year, and I was at the office bright and early on Monday, January 3. Just think, if we can get January behind us, we can make it til Spring gets here!..Lots of snow, wind, and cold ahead, but we can do it!. Another year comes to Coralville. So many local projects under way. Lots of new buildings coming to town in 2011. BIG news is the University of Iowa hospital/clinic to be built near the Marriott, but there are more. Another Hy-Vee grocery store is on the way, and I think we will see a lot more activity down by the Marriott in the River Landing area. This will be really something. And to think, when they built the Coralville Post Office in 1961, we had 2200 residents...Geez, we have the same post office and now we have 18,500 people!!!! What is the Postal Service thinking!! (they aren't) WE NEED A NEW POST OFFICE!!!
The new year came right on time, (go figure) and I THINK I was actually watching a tv show and realized it was 'the time'...No hoopla for me this year...Just another nite. We went to the annual Year End Party, which was at Flannigan's this year. Nice crowd, 80-100 coming and going. Then we had 12 people or so at Iowa River Power Restaurant (we walked down the hall from Flannigan's!!) and we had a nice dinner. Try the mushrooms!
Can you believe that the Big 10 lost all 5 bowl games on New Year's Day??.. I thought sure that Wisconsin would win. Glad I did not offer a bet! I DID accept a bet from a MIZZOU fan, and I won! That guy has to wear a Hawkeye hat to a business meeting on January 24. It will be fun!
Dust off your Coralville hat and do your best to take part in events this year, and as always, 'See you in Coralville'!.