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Posted August 03, 2022in Collections & Hobbies

American Ninja Warrior

Jackson Twait is a four-time veteran on “American Ninja Warrior” (ANW), a sports reality show that pushes elite athletes to their limit on obstacle courses of insane difficulties. The 24-year-old [...]

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Posted July 06, 2022in Collections & Hobbies

From paralysis to the Paralympics

At age 18, Justin Phongsavanh was shot in the parking lot of an Ankeny McDonald’s and paralyzed from the waist down. Today, the 25-year-old javelin thrower is a medaled Paralympian. [...]

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Posted December 01, 2021in Collections & Hobbies

Life-long hippie and music lover

5-plus decades of concert-going results in two books for James Taylor. Once upon a time, it was 1972 or so, and, in a bar in Fairfield, a man, who was [...]

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Posted September 01, 2021in Collections & Hobbies

Until ‘checkmate’ do we part?

Dangerous on the board, this couple’s life mission is to “fix” chess.  GIRL MEETS CHESS Her ride home from school was delayed. Bored, the 15-year-old Ankeny High School student looked [...]

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Posted August 04, 2021in Collections & Hobbies

Stand-up comic collects comics

Dan Umthun excels at finding and accumulating action figures and comic books.  Meet Dan Umthun.  “When I was 8, I brought a Superman figure with me to Grandma’s farm house [...]

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Posted June 30, 2021in Collections & Hobbies

Seeing Iowa slowly

Waldorf professor retraces 300 miles of Dragoon history. Road signs for Iowa’s Dragoon Trail are a common sight in central Iowa. As a boy, Kevin Mason couldn’t help but wonder: [...]

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Posted June 02, 2021in Collections & Hobbies

No cheat days! 

Local wonder woman wows at bodybuilding competition.  The backstage atmosphere before a bodybuilding competition is unlike almost any other.  “You go in the competitor entrance, and you see all these [...]

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Posted May 05, 2021in Collections & Hobbies

Rich Hoidahl collects pro golf memorabilia

The Principal Charity Classic is a definite “go” for this year, and the annual PGA Champions pro golf tournament is scheduled to be held June 1-6 at Wakonda Club in [...]

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Posted March 31, 2021in Collections & Hobbies

Twinkle, twinkle

Psst! Wanna know about a century-old local secret? Have you ever wondered about the copper-domed building with limestone walls that sits between fairways on Waveland Golf Course? That’s the Drake [...]

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Posted March 03, 2021in Collections & Hobbies

Bam!

Jackpot. Mushroom hunting has been a passion for Steve Roberts since a young age, but in May of 2019, he and a friend hit the motherload. Combined, the duo bagged [...]

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