The rotunda of the Greene County Courthouse was full on Sunday, March 10, for our historical society program featuring Nick Sorensen, the City of Jefferson building, zoning & special projects coordinator. He talked about the ongoing project of saving the historic buildings in Jefferson, especially those around the courthouse square. The success of the work is reflected not only in new businesses moving in, but also other communities across the region inquiring how Jefferson is doing it.

Nick Sorensen, 38, told his audience on Sunday, March 10, that he's "been in construction since I was in diapers," and he showed a photo to prove it! While growing up in Exira, he was part of a work crew of teenagers his grandfather hired to do fix-ups on houses and commercial buildings. In his professional life, he started in law enforcement, and came to Jefferson as a police officer. But when the position of building inspector, zoning official, and code enforcer opened, he decided he wanted to get back to construction. And now as special projects coordinator, he is leading the city's effort at renovation and redevelopment of historic buildings.

David John, of Jefferson, is the newly-elected president of the Greene County Iowa Historical Society for 2019. He succeeds Dale Hanaman, of Rippey, president the past three years. You can read more about John in a story below here. He is shown here in the museum in Jefferson, in front of the portrait of Greene County native Eva Leonard, an early Broadway musical star, and several pieces from our extensive collection on President Abraham Lincoln. Other officers for the new year are Margaret Hamilton, program chair; Joyce Ausberger, secretary; Becki Cunningham, treasurer, and Hanaman, as past-president. Other board members are Dallas Schrader, Paul White, Cindy Deal, Chuck Offenburger, Nick Foster, Nancy Hanaman and Carol John.

Brothers Tom (left) and Rick Morain took a Greene County Historical Society audience on a tour "of 160 years of Greene County politics in about 45 minutes," on Friday, Nov. 2, in a program at the United Methodist Church in Scranton. They called their presentation “Greene County Politics Thru The Years: The Pendulum Always Swings.” Tom is a top Iowa historian who is still on the faculty & staff at Graceland University in Lamoni in south central Iowa. Rick, of Jefferson, is the retired publisher & editor of the Jefferson newspapers, and he still writes the weekly "Geenery" column for the Jefferson Herald.

The Greene County Historical Society, meeting Friday, Oct. 5, at the United Methodist Church in Rippey, heard the story of the largest gathering of people in county history -- the 2-day "Agri-rama U.S.A." which attracted more than 150,000 people when it was held in September, 1966 on several farms just east of Jefferson. That event, like a farm progress show, also included the state and national plowing competitions for that year. Sharing the stories were (left to right) Steve King, a native of Rippey now living in Ogden who is a national plowing champion; Robert Huber, Rippey native now living in Cedar Falls, whose father Lawrence Huber was an avid plowman and coach; John Bass, now of Fontanelle, Ia., who lived on one of the farms where Agri-rama was held in '66, and Roger Norgren, of Rippey, who is also a national plowing champion.

Ada Ross, of Jefferson, secretary of the Greene County Pioneer Cemetery Commission, spoke Friday, Sept. 7, at the Greene County Historical Society program held at St. Patrick Catholic Church, Cedar, located west of Churdan. Ross reported the county has 10 "pioneer cemeteries," defined as having five or fewer burials in the last 50 years. At least three of the cemeteries were plowed before the commission became active in the year 2000, but now all have been restored as completely as possible. The commission, which receives funding from the county's board of supervisors, is charged with overseeing the protection and preservation of the pioneer cemeteries, where many of our earliest settlers are buried. Ross is shown here with a county map showing the location of the pioneer ceremonies.