Posted July 01, 2026in Collections & Hobbies
If you have stepped inside a museum, a zoo, Bass Pro Shops or your hunting friend’s home, you have likely seen taxidermy. Step into Trinity Tattoo in Valley Junction, and it is impossible not to notice the taxidermy — and its quality — created by the hands of Jarod Embree.
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Posted June 03, 2026in Collections & Hobbies
“Super Smash Bros.” is a platform fighting game that first hit CRT (tube) TV screens via the Nintendo 64 in 1999. Since then, it has had a total of five iterations across multiple gaming platforms and spurred one of the most active competitive gaming scenes in the world. Local player
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Posted May 06, 2026in Collections & Hobbies
Rugby is a centuries-old sport that originated in England. The sport has grown in popularity over the years and has spread throughout the world. It has also grown in Iowa and the Midwest at large, eventually leading to the creation of the Des Moines Rugby Club in 1970. One player,
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Posted April 01, 2026in Collections & Hobbies
Iowa isn’t quite the land of 1,000 lakes like our neighbors to the north, but it’s still home to plenty of navigable waterways. Lakes, rivers, creeks and ponds alike are found all over the state. If those are a little too slow for you, the U.S. has it in high
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Posted March 04, 2026in Collections & Hobbies
The pickleball craze is no secret. It has been the fastest-growing sport in the country for the past four years, according to the 2025 Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) Participation Report. It makes sense that the craze has hit the Des Moines metro. After all, gyms and parks alike
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Posted February 04, 2026in Collections & Hobbies
When some people have a passion, it is something they can never get away from. And, quite often, it is something they have no desire to run away from. They run toward it, because, for them, it is comfortable. Marvin Freund’s passion for painting has survived several decades. Now in
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Posted December 31, 2025in Collections & Hobbies
The most well-known examples of stained glass are found in churches that draw eyes inside and outside of the building. As it turns out, it is easier than one might think to make stained glass creations, as David Johnston found out in his retirement. Johnston says it’s as easy as
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Posted December 03, 2025in Collections & Hobbies
Whether from inside a box in your basement, in your child’s collection of toys, or perhaps sitting on your shelf, you likely have held a Hot Wheel in your hands before. After all, the first Hot Wheels were introduced in 1968 by Mattel, and the total number produced is in
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Posted November 05, 2025in Collections & Hobbies
For most people, curling is a sport they tune into during the Olympics when one of the other major ones is not on screen. For others, it is their hobby. For Jacob Pitzenberger, it is one of several hobbies Pitzenberger grew up in Mason City and graduated from Iowa State
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Posted October 01, 2025in Collections & Hobbies
Geocaching is a hobby that can be enjoyed by people of all ages and skill levels. It is a real-life treasure hunt that can be played across the globe. Using GPS or a smartphone, participants search for geocaches in various locations. You could find the cache in a tree, behind
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