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.

The Smithsonian Institution's "Hometown Teams" exhibit is now in its fourth week at our Greene County Historical Museum in Jefferson. The national part of it explains the role of sports in our society, and there are also terrific displays of local sports history. One photo that caught our eye was this one of old Jefferson High School's state champion half-mile relay team in 1930. We asked if there were five runners on relay teams back then, but Rick Morain, son of Fred Morain (the relay member second from left), said he believes a couple runners here rotated in and out of the 4-man combination, depending on what the team wanted to accomplish in any particular meet. The "Hometown Teams" exhibit continues through Sept. 23, on Wednesdays (1 to 6 p.m.), Thursdays (3 to 9 p.m.), Saturdays (10 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and Sundays (noon to 6 p.m.) It is free.

One of the six "History Chats" that the Greene County Historical Society presented during the Greene County Fair in July covered the amazing life and sports career of the late Jim Doran, of the Paton area. Despite going to a high school in nearby Beaver that had no football, Doran became an All-American in the sport about 1950 at Iowa State College and an All-Pro in the National Football League. Moderators for the discussions were Chuck Offenburger and Jerry Roberts of the historical society, shown here on the left and right. Special guests for the Doran chat were Bernie Saggau, who was briefly a teammate of Jim Doran at Buena Vista College before Doran transferred to Iowa State, and his son Jim Doran Jr., who farms near Paton and who had his own distinguished football career at Paton-Churdan High and Iowa State.

"It was about 1983, so over 10 years since she'd shot," Don Orris recalled about Doreen Wilber, when she was teaching him archery. "When I got there one day, she had her equipment out and I said, 'Doreen, are you actually going to shoot today?' She said, 'Yes, but just three arrows.' So she got her bow sighted, then from 40 yards, she put the next three arrows in the target within a circle the size of a quarter. Boom! Boom! Boom!" In a June 1 program for the Greene County Historical Society, Orris told this story and many other amazing ones about Doreen Wilber, of Jefferson, the 1972 Olympic gold medalist in women's archery, and her husband Skeeter, who was her coach.

The annual Pleasant Hill Memorial Homecoming, held Sunday, May 27, at the 1881 Pleasant Hill Church, featured these two Greene County natives as speakers. Wallace Teagarden (left), 95, of Ames, again did a booming patriotic oration (without notes) from the Declaration of Independence, the whole Preamble to the U.S. Constitution and the entire Gettysburg Address. David Yepsen, host of the "Iowa Press" show on Iowa Public Television, gave a call to all citizens to become more active in their communities, state and nation -- honoring the freedom that we enjoy from the sacrifices of so many military men and women who gave their lives in service to the nation. There are 25 more photos from the Pleasant Hill event on the Facebook page of the Greene County Iowa Historical Society.