I have attended the Tulip Festival for many years in Siouxland which occurs over a three-day period. The community of Orange City celebrates its Dutch Heritage with sometimes well over 20,000 visitors in one day. A review of the various areas of the Netherlands are represented by folk in the regalia they wear which depicts what part of the country and the status of the folk wearing the outfits.
While that is educational, one of the better parts in my opinion is the street cleaning. It can never be clean enough.
The burgermeister or mayor, walks the parade route and then declares it untidy and a “band” of boys appear and begin to pour water onto the streets and each other followed by young and girls and often their mothers sweeping to make the street/parade route presentable for visitors to enjoy the parade.
I always love a nice parade, even if I need to drive a bit outside of Siouxland to see one. In early May a Cinco de Mayo parade was held in South Omaha celebrating Mexico’s victory of France in a battle that occurred in the 1860’s. According to a history site the celebration, while a minor kind of celebration in Mexico, Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of note for Mexican culture and heritage in the United States.
And like most parades these days, this one had its own pace to maintain, and also allow various organizations and parade participants a chance to perform and share their culture with those watching. One interesting side note is that candy and other items that are normally tossed with abandoned and the hopes it falls outside of the parade route at those parades I have attended in the past in Siouxland, was forbidden at this parade. Folk with stuff had to actually walk over to those on the sidewalk and hand the candy or items to the people so there would be no issues with kids running into the streets to retrieve the goods. Of many parades I have attended I have seen a few near misses of tires and small children colliding with no one apparently “minding the store” to ensure safety.
It was a nice way to spend a day and to appreciate another culture and heritage of this melting pot we call the United States.
Memorial Day in Siouxland is remembered by a large majority of folk. It always seems a bittersweet kind of memory. And with the recent spate of mass murder shootings the remembrance is not going to get any easier.
Originally designed to remember those who had fought during the Civil War, Memorial Day today seems to embrace remembering those who served their country and also for the loved ones who are no longer with us.
An organizer for the white cross and flag display explained this was something new this year for the community, in most part sponsored by the American Legion Bertram Post #276. The 197 with crosses represent those veterans buried in the Pleasant Hill Cemetery who served between WWI to the present.
Community volunteers came out early on a Saturday morning to add the flags to the crosses as well as putting up larger flags that would line a drive into the cemetery. And weather permitting, a service will be held Monday morning.
Ireton is a small northwest Iowa community with a population approaching 600. Memories in small towns are usually taken seriously by community members. Whether it be a remembrance like Memorial Day or when the high school (if there is one these days, and even if there isn’t anymore) won a state championship in whatever sport. All holidays are somehow noted and shared before folk move on to their own sharing with family and friends for that particular day. A time for thought and a silent prayer that maybe life can be better for those who remain.
Sometimes one has to have faith that you will find what you seek. Even if you feel you are walking in a dark wilderness and feeling your way, metaphorically speaking. But starting the day before sunrise looking for birds can feel that way. And in the end, one may or may not be successful in the endeavor.
Every Christmas the Audubon Society conducts an annual Christmas bird count where chapters of the Society, like the Loess Hills chapter, throughout the U.S. during a two-week period in December look for whatever species happens to be there and record their findings. These may be birds that are indigenous to the area as well as those migrating to another clime to winter at.
It was difficult photographing this bird count which I previously had done, but then it was later in the day and I actually had light to be able to accomplish the task. But two Audubon Loess Hills chapter members Jerry Probst and Warren Dunkle were looking for owls. At least they were “looking” to hear owls at Stone State Park and had brought along a small portable speaker to start a dialogue with these elusive creatures.
And one never really knows what you might find go bump in the night (dark) or, literally, stumble upon as the pair made their way along one of the roadways in the park.
A woman walking her dog in total darkness called out as she saw the red light the two used to check their footing and avoid fallen limbs that littered the roadway due to recent storm activity that brought some F1 tornado activity throughout Iowa and not that far from Sioux City, damaging buildings and downing trees and limbs.
She seemed genuinely surprised that other folk were out so early in the morning walking trails in the park, as were Probst and Dunkle. But then not many folk probably venture into the park in total darkness. And try as they may to get whatever owls might be around to respond to the calls made, not a sound could be heard, not even a “Merry Christmas to all and to all a Goodnight” from these furry creatures.
But with the recent weather activity with the recent warming periods and then dip into cold, it seems even these creatures have had to learn to adjust their formerly normal activity that might also include a new normal. But as an annual event, the bird counting folk can always look forward to next year.
It’s always fun attending various events in and around Siouxland, whether during the holidays or not. To see like-minded folk enjoying themselves and supporting something is always good. The Old Dominion Dance group of Omaha, NE again sponsored a Fezziwg Ball at the Lauritzen Gardens. Attending this year it was nice to see a larger mix of ages, and folk “dressing” for the occasion of an 18th century period.
Having participated in a folk dance group while in college, I always find it fun and enjoyable to see people relive history through some particular form. Most times it is theatre or music, but dance as I learned in college was happening during some very important historical dates and never really gave it much though until a college professor pointed out those facts. History can be illuminating as well as fun.
The dance group always performs a portion of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” involving Ebenezer Scrooge’s fond memory of the Fezziwg dance he attended as a younger man and before life’s intervening circumstances changed his path. The actors for this evening’s portion rehearsed ahead of time although I think after year’s of practice they have their parts down cold. One of these years I will have to stay for the entire evening. But an early morning appointment for bird watching the next day didn’t allow me.
I don’t know if there was any offering of mulled wine but the dance revelers probably didn’t need it to give their spirits a lift. Although, maybe later as the temperature dropped and the prairie breeze picked up.
Like many communities, Sioux City has a number of festivities that celebrates the Christmas holiday and season. One of which is the Festival of Trees, with decorated trees that are then available through a private bidding auction which helps support one chosen charity or organization that particular year. Various organizations and people decorate their tree and they are available for viewing for a week or so until the bidding process ends and people who win can pick up their very own Christmas tree for the holiday.
But during the first evening while the parade of lights is happening outside, folk who wander into the Ho Chunk Centre are also entertained. A local church bell choir, Grace United Methodist Church, perform a few numbers that is always amazing to hear. All the more I think because the bells always seem to be perfectly tuned. Making me wonder how exactly can bells be tuned.
And then to top off the evening, a local dance group performs various numbers or routines to renditions of holiday Christmas songs. Mostly jazzy version that matches the energy of the young dancers. Cute as they are, the younger ones making the best of it while not always hitting the mark or executing their cue. But no one cares. It’s a fun performance for the beginning of the holiday season and gets people into the mood for the season with a reason.
Growing up on a farm when I did I was lucky enough to experience the “coming future” but still see some of the past as a youngster. In Siouxland various places celebrate the past and its history like the Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve. In agricultural communities where I grew up it was no big deal for there to be hayrack rides for various reasons connected to all sorts of events. Something for from the city enjoy as much without knowing the heat, humidity and sweat that went along with baling hay. But this is a different kind of hayrack ride and it celebrated the Homestead’s fall festival which also included a threshing demonstration partially showing what it was like to harvest an oat crop.
There is nothing quite like riding a hayrack in early evening, with dusk coming on, the smell of a distant bonfire and hearing friends laughing and telling stories. A different childhood that most might encounter but as with anything, pluses and minuses, good or bad, depending on a point of view and whether one wants to embrace it or not.
In recent weeks the Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve in Siouxland celebrated its 24th anniversary as a state preserve. And the park, as it does every year, hosted a fall festival. One of the activities that always draws a crowd is the cow pie chip throwing contest. Having grown up on a farm and done my fair share of “tossing” cow chips with a shovel while cleaning out a barn I am always amazed at folk wanting to participate.
I noticed throughout the contest that there was no personal hand sanitizer available for participants and those volunteers who were retrieving the chips for other throwers. The nice thing about chips though is that the odor normally associated with cow pies was not noticeable. Small blessings.
Fall is arriving in Siouxland as it is in other places. The leaves on trees are beginning to change, slowly, although it is still unseasonably hot making one think that maybe the leaves will not be so colorful this year due to a drought, lack of rain, and changing temperature scheme that is needed to make the change.
But unlike the unpredictable weather, there are certain perennial activities that take place, like the Fall Festival at the Adams Homestead and Nature Preserve. One of the annual offerings is a look at how harvesting was done a couple centuries ago. Although not using horses for the demonstration, the use of an older threshing machine and seeing how it functions gives people an idea that technology has indeed advanced much further beyond this equipment.
Today large combines run through fields comprised of hundreds if not thousands of acres of planted crops. There is still manual labor involved but not as much as was needed in an earlier century. When farming operations consisted of maybe 200-300 acres along with some cows, pigs and chickens and horses that were used for earlier farming later replaced by tractors.
Science and technology has made farming easier and more precise, but like in a lot of things, it’s always good to know where one came from to understand how one got to the current place today and what might be expected in the future. Farming still depends on hard work and luck though, as weather conditions play an important part whether crops can be planted and then harvested without any devastating storms or conditions that can cost a small farmer a fortune because of no return on the investment for planting and harvesting, and who has little cushion unlike large conglomerate farming operations.
History can be a good teacher and give some insights into the past if one only takes the time.
The faith landscape of Siouxland as of other places across the U.S. has been changing in the last few years. While many folk continue to say they are believers in Jesus Christ and an afterlife, the attendance to formal institutions has been dwindling, not only for the Catholic faith, but Protestants, Methodists and other established religious orders. All have had their troubles with problematic faith leaders erring in their own lives and causing pain amongst the faithful.
The Diocese of Sioux City (Iowa) has been readjusting its “deployment” of personnel or priests the last number of years as attendance has dwindled along with men willing to heed the call of God and serve as ordained priests. So the diocese has been consolidating its parishes with one community serving as a hub for an area and is closing some of the smaller, less or least attended churches within its area of coverage.
Which then makes it most remarkable that a new church has been built for the Diocese to minister to the faithful in an area that is predominantly Reformed Dutch. With the closing of some of the smaller communities places of worship the priest for Christ the King church, Fr. Doug Klein, put together a pilgrimage that started and passed through a number of the areas now covered by the new church but will lose its own house of worship. Fr. Klein gathered artifacts from the various communities and made the almost 100 mile walk to the new church along with parishioners to show the commitment to faith and the continuing idea of community in one’s faith.
There is debate about the loss of faith in the U.S. and how godless it has become. But it seems the loss of faith is more directed to those overseeing the flock and some of those individuals loss of direction for personal gain or need of power and the feeling of importance, rather than actually ministering to the needy. And any judgement that might come from any for or against the idea of faith, will ultimately be decided on that one day for what some evangelicals call the “end of days”. And for those who truly believe, the only important judgement comes from the Trinity and not a self-appointed judge among the many now living on earth.
I live in the Siouxland area that encompasses a wide swatch of land in northwest Iowa, northeastern Nebraska and southeastern South Dakota. The people that inhabit this area are generous folk and your basic honest, Midwestern people you like to have as neighbors. I explore the area and share observations, mostly photographic, sometimes through video, and and short text. All images and video are copyrighted material of the author.
Jerry Mennenga, Sioux City, Iowa
jerrylmennenga@yahoo.com
lostinsiouxland 