JEFFERSON, Iowa, July 24, 2023 — The Greene County Historical Society will present a free program, “A Railroad LIfe,” on Friday, Aug. 4, at the Grand Junction Community Center, 212 Main St.

Retired engineer John Valmaine of Boone will regale the audience with tales of his life on the rails. He worked for the Chicago Northwestern, which merged with the Union Pacific in 1995, for 40 years. He headed freight trains, rolling in Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska, and did many grain runs north out of Grand Junction.

For the last 10 years of his career, he drove the Boone Scenic Valley Railroad engine.

“I stepped into my first engine on Christmas Eve 1973,” he says. “It was 20 below. My last run for the Boone Scenic was on Christmas Eve 2014. It was only six below that night.”

Valmain recalls that when he began driving trains, the rules and regs book fit in his back pocket. “Now you need a briefcase,” he says. And, in1973, the engineer’s cab had a crew of four. Today, the crew is made up of two men, and there’s talk of going to a single engineer, he adds.

The 12:45 p.m. program is free. Lunch, provided by Grand Junction’s Horizons Club, will be served at noon. Cost is $10. Reservations are requested by Aug. 1

To assure a place at the lunch table, please call 515-386-4408, or your Historical Society community contact:

Churdan: Nancy Wessling, 515-389-3325

Grand Junction: Janice Gillley, 515-738-2642

Jefferson: Marilynn Hoskinson, 515-386-3490

Paton: Virginia Carlson, 515-386-2401

Rippey: Mary Weaver, 515-360-8046

Scranton: Dawn Rudolph, 515-370-5605

Historical Society program will offer tips for learning more about him

JEFFERSON, Iowa, July 15, 2023 — The Greene County Historical Society will present a free program, “Researching Your Civil War Ancestors,” at 2 p.m. on Sunday, July 23, at the Museum, 219 E. Lincoln Way.

David Connon of Earlham, a self-taught independent researcher, will offer hints in a workshop  on searching for information on Civil War soldiers. There will be time for questions and comments.

”Searching for information can often be hard and boring work, but if you stick your shovel in the dirt, you’ll hit something valuable or interesting,” says Connon. “I’ve spent a lot of time in those trenches.”
The descendent of two Union soldiers, Connon is the author of “Iowa Confederates in the Civil War.”

Ada Ross of Jefferson, a longtime member of the Greene County Genealogical Society, will inform the audience about how the society can assist people who are researching their family histories.
The group’s reference room, located at the Jefferson Public Library, 200 W. Lincoln Way, includes local census data as well as death and marriage documentation, indexed newspaper obituaries and county cemetery records.

JEFFERSON, Iowa, June 27, 2023 — The Greene County Historical Society will sponsor four chat sessions about county history on Friday and  Saturday, July 14 and 15, at the County Fair. All four discussions will take place in the Fairgrounds History Building,

Friday sessions:

11 a.m.—Rippey Baseball

1 p.m.—Country Schools

Saturday sessions:

11 a.m.—Evolution of Farming

1 p.m.—Fairgrounds Race Track

Jed Magee of Jefferson, who will manage the chats, says he hopes for lots of audience participation. “The chats are always a lot of fun,” Magee adds. “And, the History Building is a good place to sit down and cool off.”

Baseball chat leaders will be Mary Weaver and Nancy Hanaman of Rippey. Former players on Rippey and East Greene High School teams, as well as former members of the Rippey Demons (or Merchants) town team, also will be on hand. A representative of the Rippey Baseball Commission, which manages the town’s recently renovated ball field, will give an update on the new diamond. Prizes will be awarded to audience members wearing their team ball caps.

Weaver also will lead the Country School discussion, with Jefferson residents Virginia Carlson, Mike Piepel and Mike Minnehan, who all attended country school, joining in. Paton resident Becki Cunningham, who is the “marm” at the country school house at the Fairgrounds also will be present.

Farm Evolution discussion leaders will be farmers Roger Custer and Jerry Fields of Jefferson and Chuck Derry of Rippey.

Race Track panelists will be Gary Haupert, Ed Calvert and Frank Kozal, all of Jefferson.

Fairgoers can tour the large history site, which includes a country school house and a display of antique farm machinery and other ag artifacts, as well as a log cabin.

JEFFERSON, Iowa, June 18, 2023 — The Greene County Historical Society will present a program on important social movements of the 1950s, ’60s and ‘70s moderated by Chuck Offenburger of Jefferson on Sunday, June 25, at the Museum, 219 E. Lincolnway.

The free 2 p.m.program will be a panel made up of current and former Greene County residents who took part in the large social and political movements of those years that have lingering impacts on society today..

Attendees are invited to comment or ask questions of the panel members.

It’s part of the Museum’s “Dig It!” programs and displays, which were organized several years ago when the Museum realized that its historical offerings stopped with the end of World War II, says Offenburger.

Panel members will include Jack Bucklin of Cooper, a Viet Nam veteran, who will discuss his life as a pacifist. Retired from a career in conservation and natural resources management, he’ll also talk about his ongoing activism in the environmental movement.

Tim Heisterkamp of Jefferson, a financial consultant, community volunteer and political conservative, will discuss conservative movements. 

Former Jefferson resident Patti Miller of Fairfield who will relate her experiences in Mississippi as a freedom rider and teacher in the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

George Naylor, a Churdan farmer who is a University of California-Berkeley graduate, will talk about the student movement of the 1960s, plus the farm movement that began in the 1970s.

Mary Riche of Jefferson and Des Moines, a leading Iowa feminist with a long involvement in public issues, will speak about the women’s movement.

“Most fun of all,” says Offenburger, “is that Rick Morain, Jefferson’s piano maestro, will play a song that is emblematic of each of the movements as we begin our discussion of it.

“And at the conclusion of the program, he’ll provide the music as we circle the Museum’s big room, link arms and sing “We Shall Overcome.”

The program will last about an hour and a half, “but those who want to talk longer, march or picket can stick around afterward,” says Offenburger.