Dexter Iowa Community Site

Consider this quote from Abe Lincoln

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

Visiting another part of the country is always interesting even when it’s for work, but there are times when visiting someplace turns into something more than you ever imagined and in some ways becomes its own extraordinary adventure. This is what happened to me the past week.

After a week spent on the shores of Lake Erie in Ohio for work, I finally made the connecting flight in Chicago and roared into Des Moines late Friday night. And boy, were my arms tired! I had supposed to spend the weekend helping with the Dexfield reunion in Redfield, but knew that I wasn’t going to be able to fulfill those duties so I agreed to play in a charity golf event on Saturday morning. After a few hours of sleep Friday night I drove to the golf outing and had a great time with a small group of Jaycee’s although my golf game has really suffered the last few years. In a word it was hot! Hot enough to make my skin show red through my farmers tan. Add that into what probably were a few too many beverages and I decided to see where the day would take me.

The invitation was extended to join this small group of four and hang out in the flag stand in the middle of the figure eight racetrack in Primghar that evening. That decision was tough, but I felt drawn to go and have fun and have the chance to experience something I wouldn’t regularly have the chance to. So away we drove up to tiny little Primghar in far northwest Iowa. It’s a place like any other small town I’ve visited across the state, and this was my first visit here. We arrived at the track and promptly were ushered in, given free food and drinks and taken into the middle of the track.

The races started up and the roar of the engines were incredible as they raced around us, the feel of the vibrations from the cars shaking the very insides of your body as though you were sitting in a whirlpool tub up against the jets. Every one of the Jaycee members who work to put these races on week after week all summer long were so very gracious and accommodating to our group, from a friendly hello, to taking the time to explain to us their duties and just what went into putting an event like that on.

At the beginning of the C main there was some rumbling that storms north of us were moving in fast and the local county sheriff would be shutting the races down soon, so the workers hurried and tried desperately to get as much racing in as possible, but it wouldn’t last long and the red and black flags waved in the middle of the D main as the word came down that there were tornado warnings north of us and moving in fast.

The stands cleared in an instant as I stood with the Iowa Jaycee vice president folding the American flag. They asked if I knew how to fold it without any red or white showing, which made me grin and think of David Kuhn and all the funerals I’ve worked for him. Dave taught me how to fold a flag up right, and that skill showed as we tucked the corners of the blue field in and handed a flag to the Primghar Jaycee president that any veteran would be proud of. I scrambled out of there with my friend Angie, who is more like a little sister and in fact refers to me as her brother enough that people who meet us just figure we’re siblings. We walked across the fairgrounds to her car as the sky turned dirt black to the north and the wind picked up. People scrambled to where we were and we rushed them into the small bathroom there in the park, one of the few sturdy structures there, as the tree limbs above us snapped and fell to the ground.

Along came a white knight in a Ford pick up in the guise of Cory, the wife of the Jaycee President Rose and they skirted us off to their house to stand and watch the storm and show us just what Iowa hospitality is all about. After a few hours there the storm subsided and we went on to the Thompson Arms Hotel in downtown Primghar to meet the other three people in our group. This quaint, antique filled hotel is right on the main drag near the down town in the former county jail building and as I was pretty much out of gas by that point I crashed into bed and quickly began snoring only to be awoken around 1 a.m. by a voice telling me that I had to get up the building was flooding.

So much rain had fallen in that area that the storm cities couldn’t handle any more water and every floor drain and toilet began to back up and overflow. Water ran across the carpet and into the hallways and the suites in the basement as we pitched in with the owners to move furniture, bail water, and laugh to ourselves about what a crazy adventure the weekend was becoming.

Around 4 a.m. I had nothing left to give and we had made a dent in the water, and it hadn’t gone down, but it wasn’t flowing in forcefully anymore, so I went outside and sat down on the steps in the cool night air. I was beat and tired and just ready to go to sleep. I got the chance as the five of us shared a common bond that night on the lobby floor laying on every clean piece of bedding we could find. After a few hours of sleep and a stop back at Cory and Rose’s where they once again welcomed us in their home and allowed us to use the shower, we finished up our day and I rolled back into town late Sunday night.

To my Dexfield friends and classmates, I apologize deeply for missing all of you. I had so wanted to be there and share that time with you, but the chance I took this weekend did something for me that I hadn’t expected. It renewed in me the belief that we as Iowans are a caring people, and that in every small corner of this state we give of our time, our talents and our lives in the hope that others will feel welcome, and that is something we should all strive for. Next reunion I’ll be there, promise you!

See you next week…remember, we’re all in this together.