Posted February 28, 2018in Collections & Hobbies
State champion pinball wizard will represent Iowa in Las Vegas at national tournament HISTORY LESSON: Pinball machines were originally made without flippers. Winning was a matter of chance, thus the flashy games were little more than well-lit gambling devices functioning as slot machines. During the 1940s, these flipperless diversions were deemed hazardous to society
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Posted January 31, 2018in Collections & Hobbies
Possibly Iowa’s largest collection of frog figures This started with a gift from her mother. Charlotte Loter was in seventh grade. It was a frog made of cloth and stuffed with something similar to whatever it is they put into Beanie Babies — although it pre-dated Beanies by years. If you had asked her
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Posted January 03, 2018in Collections & Hobbies
Local veteran Julia Wearmouth wins gold at the 2017 National Veterans Creative Arts Festival During the Vietnam conflict, Julia Wearmouth’s older brother was a lurp. That’s military speak for long-range reconnaissance patrol or LRRP. LRRP teams are small and heavily armed reconnaissance units that patrol deep inside enemy territory. “Most of
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Posted December 06, 2017in Collections & Hobbies
Boyhood friends replicate a Wagon Queen Family Truckster “This is a damn fine automobile, if you want my honest opinion,” said the car salesman to Clark Griswold before concluding his bait-and-switch in the 1983 comedy, “Vacation.” “You think you hate it now,” the slickster adds. “But wait’ll you drive it.”
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Posted November 01, 2017in Collections & Hobbies
West Des Moines collection of sequential art is still growing Stored in the heart of Scott Wirth’s West Des Moines basement are 18,000 comic books. Wirth, now in his 40s, began collecting as a child, and during the last four decades he has amassed quite a collection. His lifelong passion
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Posted October 04, 2017in Collections & Hobbies
Stay-at-home mom uses her garage studio to make ceramics Shorty after ancient nomads discovered fire, historians suspect mankind began using clay to form water-carrying vessels. As such, pottery is millions of years old, and it is one of the oldest decorative arts known to man. Pottery is also known as
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Posted September 06, 2017in Collections & Hobbies
The mystery of how to stay warm, cozy and calm is unraveled They knit with each other, on their own, online or as a social activity. They knit at traffic lights, while watching the big game, at home, on the road and anywhere in between. Wherever these yarn lovers are,
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Posted August 02, 2017in Collections & Hobbies
Krav Maga allows a man to walk in peace “Krav Maga is not necessarily a fighting system but a problem-solving system when the problem is violence,” says Paul Noreau. Noreau, 50, lives in Ankeny and works downtown in the insurance industry. Seven years ago, as he entered middle age, he
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Posted July 05, 2017in Collections & Hobbies
A one-of-a-kind cello As a 6 year old, Ashley Sidon’s cello was bigger than she was. The youngster despised practicing, and she resented her instrument. She often daydreamed of destroying her big wooden burden. In her mind, she would carry it to the highest point of her childhood home and
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Posted June 01, 2017in Collections & Hobbies
Eyes on the prizes Lew Arntz, if you are looking for your glasses, they aren’t on the top of your head. Instead, they’re on display at the home of Charles Ericson. Arntz’s eyewear isn’t Ericson’s only extra set, either. The Ankeny optician sells eyewear in his working hours, and he
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