By Cindy Hadish In 1934, a bugle was thrust into 10-year-old Bob Steuber’s hands after his mother brought him to try-outs for the Musketeers Drum & Bugle Corps at a second-floor ballroom in downtown Cedar Rapids. “I couldn’t blow it. I was in tears,” Steuber, now 95, recalled of his first efforts at playing the […]
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Month: July 2019
Quaint Iowa town hosts vibrant Czech cel...
Like many small Iowa towns, Clutier helps keep its community alive with an annual celebration. With a population of just over 200 people, Clutier is located in east-central Iowa, in an area fondly dubbed the “Bohemian Alps” and more formally as the Scenic Czech Trail. Related: Find three cultures along the Iowa Valley Scenic Byway […]
Cedar Rapids neighborhood: “We’re litera
UPDATE: Following a public hearing, the Cedar Rapids City Council will vote Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2019, on allowing Cargill to build a railyard in a residential neighborhood. Unlike the typical rezoning measures that require the council to vote three times, designating an “essential service” allows the council to only vote once. The meeting is at […]
Nature watch: cicada emergence
Large-scale cicada emergence, with periodical broods crawling out of the ground every 13 or 17 years, capture widespread attention when tens of thousands can mob en masse onto a single tree. But even one cicada, emerging from its shell, is fascinating in itself. Related Cicadas: Sounds of summer The process can take an hour. Cicada […]
Photos: Presidential field at Progress I...
CEDAR RAPIDS – Thousands of Iowans withstood sweltering heat to hear from nearly half of potential Democratic presidential candidates during the fifth annual Progress Iowa Corn Feed on Sunday, July 14. Though initially with 12 confirmed candidates, two didn’t make the event: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who left Iowa to address a […]
Celebrating 150 years: Photos of Czech S...
CEDAR RAPIDS — In its early years, the Czech School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, ended sessions with an ice cream social, a tradition that continues today. Past students recalled the socials held along the banks of the Cedar River, behind the school on Second Street SE. The school building is no longer used for Czech […]
Hosta and Dessert Social serves special ...
INDEPENDENCE, Iowa — The Spece family has held their Hosta and Dessert Social for nearly 15 years, but the event later this month offers up a different type of treat. “We’ve never brought in a famous speaker before,” said Josh Spece, co-owner of In the Country Garden & Gifts, in rural Independence, Iowa. “This is […]
Cicadas: sounds of summer
The buzzing of cicadas provides the quintessential sounds of a midsummer’s night in Iowa. A bulk of periodical cicadas, which emerge en masse every 17 years, is scheduled to make an appearance in Iowa again in 2031, but annual cicadas can be heard every summer in many parts of the state. Entomologist Donald Lewis, of […]