Show time! It’s an honor & privilege for us all to present the story of the “Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey” in the Civil War. (Even if it’s been waking up a bunch of us at night!) This story has updated lists of events, times & details. Read it right here: bit.ly/4zCIndR.

Atten-HUT! Meet the “Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey”! Greene County high school students asked for help bringing proper public recognition to an inspiring but mostly forgotten local Civil War story. Here’s the schedule of when and where to see them: bit.ly/3VFwGEA.

The columnist is once again a Des Moines guy: His “home plate” has been with him since 1965 on Shenandoah’s baseball diamond, and it’s now moved again, to the RicheBurgers’ patio in the capital city. Read about the move, right here: bit.ly/3VLmRF1.

Come see how Jefferson, Iowa, does things: There’s a celebration Oct. 4 of the 150-year anniversary of one of our most iconic uptown buildings. The columnist says it’s really a “house of five miracles.” Read it free, right here: bit.ly/4hzxMJr.

Until Marilynn Hoskinson, “…that cute cheerleader from Junction,” recently died at 99 years old, she was an MVP citizen of Greene County, Iowa. She kept herself and all the rest of us moving! My column on my late, great friend, right here: bit.ly/4iFfhp8.

Willis David Hoover, a native of my hometown of Shenandoah IA, was a small-town storyteller, as good as they come. “Once more I was headed to God only knows where,” Hoover wrote in one song, “and that’s when it hit me: I was already there.” A requiem: bit.ly/4cEOjtR.

As another football season begins: I’m learning again that while any actual game might over-promise & under-deliver, there’s always something interesting on the sidelines! Here’s my column from the season openers at Drake U and Greene County High School: bit.ly/4y1xqBC.

It’s really all about opportunities: Oelwein’s high school Class of 1966, during their 60-year reunion, reminded me there can be real advantages in growing up in and around small town Iowa. Read the column free, right here: bit.ly/4wG0gqk.

What’s Tom Vilsack is getting into now? The World Food Prize CEO, former governor & U.S. Ag Secretary is the “celebrity judge” for our Great Iowa Cinnamon Roll Challenge at the Iowa State Fair. Read my column free, right here: bit.ly/4i7Uyd0.

Our “Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey” project is to be featured Monday 10 a.m. CDT on Iowa Public Radio. “Talk of Iowa” host Charity Nebbe chats live with 4 of us about 32 young soldiers & 2 teachers from a pioneer school serving in Civil War, 11 dying: bit.ly/4wMwZLe.

He’s bowing out of bicycling & RAGBRAI, and will “stick to taking walks, porch-sitting and telling stories.” He asks for kindness for an old man if you catch him repeating some of them. Read it free right here: bit.ly/3RzvxfV.

Like a call to the bullpen: When you love sportswriting, and you see an ad that the sports job at the Carroll Times Herald is opening up, you feel the ol’ spirit stirring. Or at least your imagination. Read it right here: bit.ly/4w6gs4Q.

Let’s get (cinnamon) rolling! Here’s the news release on the “Great Iowa Cinnamon Roll Challenge” of 2026 at the Iowa State Fair. Get this: Total prize money is $5,500, with the best single roll getting $2,000! Get the details right here: bit.ly/4vjp9Y4.

Here’s our annual discussion of farming as we check on the corn crop of Doug and Karen Lawton, outside Cooper, Iowa. We always want to make sure their corn is at least “knee-high by the 4th of July,” as the old standard required. Read it right here: bit.ly/4eZt9a2.

A farewell after 96 years together: That’s how long my alma mater Shenandoah High has been playing in the Hawkeye Ten Conference. Now, as our old-time SHS motto urges, “We go!” To the Western Iowa Conference. Read the column right here: bit.ly/4p0I74o.

Who is the most notable American in 250 years? We RicheBurgers are asking after an inspiring trip to the nation’s capital city. (The history, art, restaurants, and basketball were great, but what a mess around the White House!) Read it right here: bit.ly/4xIFZ59.

Civil War soldier Pvt. John H. Toliver reports from Jefferson IA for Chuck Offenburger: What must the “Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey” thought 165 years ago when some gave their lives in that bloody war. Was it worth it? The longgone soldier’s thoughts: bit.ly/4ebBJ6E.

Here they come again! “The Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey,” made up of Greene County High School students paying tribute to a Civil War troupe from here 165 years ago, will be marching in the Churdan Day parade this Saturday, June 6. The parade starts at 10 a.m.

The columnist is a “celebrations” kind of guy. And now there’s a new one upon us: “America 250 Iowa.” Yes, our society is seriously divided right now. But taking time to celebrate our common heritage & accomplishments might help. Let’s make it memorable: bit.ly/4x6jA1w.

The Civil War’s “Schoolboy Soldiers of Rippey” are coming home: Memorial Day this year, May 25, will be very different in the Old Rippey Cemetery in southeastern Greene County, Iowa. History will come alive! Read it right here: bit.ly/4drVQf4.