The
Ogden Reporter
DEDICATED TO MAINTAINING A VIBRANT COMMUNITY VOLUME 138
OGDEN, IOWA 50212 - WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2013
$1
NUMBER 29
Glenwood Cemetery’s lone Civil War Confederate soldier After decades of tension between the northern (Union) and southern (Confederate) states over issues of states’ rights, westward expansion and slavery, the conflict eventually exploded into a Civil War. The two sides battled for four years before the Confederacy surrendered. The American Civil War, fought between 1861 and 1865, is considered the costliest war fought on American soil with over 620,000 soldiers killed. A bronze marker recently placed in Glenwood Cemetery in Ogden marks the grave of one of the Civil War survivors. Confederate war veteran Jonathan Rinker moved from Virginia to Illinois before settling with his family near Beaver, IA. Rinker’s fascinating background is being shared with our readers by his great-great grandson, Mark Rinker, a 1981 OHS graduate. See his story on page three.
This marker designating Jonathan Rinker as a Confederate war veteran, was put in place Sept. 23 by Brian Heck. Heck had read about Rinker’s great-great grandfather on a school site and initiated the effort to get the war veteran officially recognized.
James Wheeler’s wall of assorted “specialty plates” issued in the State of Iowa. The “non-resident transit” plates (center of photo) were for companies with employees working out of state.
Wall to wall license plates by KATHY PIERCE
REPORTER STAFF WRITER
T
O mAnY, THEY ARE just old pieces of metal, discarded when new ones are issued, but to James Wheeler, old license plates are a treasure, a part of history. And for the past 10 years he’s been searching swap meets, antique stores, auctions and garage sales, looking for unique plates to add to his collection. “They are out there he says,” you just have to be patient.” In his upstairs “man cave” Wheeler estimates there are 700 plates on the walls, all from Iowa. That’s some heavy-duty wall covering. One niche of the dormered room is covered with Boone County plates. Dealer plates have their own special area as do several other sub-collections - truck, farm trailer, weight class, non-resident transit, grain dealer, commercial truck, motorcycle, official and even duplicate plates. When he sees one with his birth date, it is a must-have. He also favors No. 1 plates. Back when they issued new plates every year, Wheeler said if you went to the courthouse early, you could pick your own number. Wheeler started getting interested in license plates about 10 years ago. “I really got serious three years ago when researching the Internet for old Iowa plates and I discovered there was a plate club,” said Wheeler. Along with his membership came a subscription to “PLATES” the magazine, a bi-monthly publication that features articles from collectors around the country. Wheeler’s goal in the beginning was to get a Boone County plate for every year, and it snowballed from there.
Leather preceded the metal license plates. This one dates back to around 1906. According to Wheeler, Iowa first issued license plates in 1911. “Back then you wrote to the office of Secretary of State, and for $1 were issued a round metal disc with a number.” He then explained how you would take that number and find someone to make you a plate. Most were of leather with attached metal “house numbers.” Car owners even solicited the work of blacksmiths who would forge each individual letter. Wheelers colorful walls can be attributed to the fact that each year, when Iowa issued new plates, the color changed. In the 1920s Boone County had four different number designations (#13, 1922-24; #14, 1925; #16, 1926; and #7, 1927-29). Wheeler said they were trying to figure out a county code. “It took them a decade, but they finally found an efficient system, said the avid collector. “They went alphabetical after that and Boone County was assigned #8, a designation they held from 1930 until 1978.” How would World Wars I and II affect the license plate industry?
During the first war, plates were made without years so you could keep it until the war was over. And because massive amounts of metal were needed to build tanks, ships, planes and weapons in the second World War, anything using metal was rationed, including license plates. Americans were even urged to turn in scrap metal for recycling while schools and community groups held scrap metal drives. Stickers were handed out instead during that time period. When 1945 rolled around and the war had come to a halt, license plate production started up. Hanging off by itself, framed, is Wheeler’s oldest plate, a 1905 dealer license plate - black leather with hand painted white letters. Here’s a little bit of a history lesson to put this in perspective: German inventor Carl Benz built the first automobile in 1886; Henry Ford’s Model T, introduced in 1908, made automobiles more affordable thanks to mass production; the first license plate was issued in the United States in 1903! They were mounted on the front of open-framed, motorized
License plates such as this one were issued to Pearl Harbor survivors only. (note the historic date: License plate toppers were popular Dec. 7 -when Pearl Harbor was attacked.) This suin the 1940s, especially ones with a per rare license plate, one of Wheeler’s favorites, was only issued from 1986 through 1991. local flavor.
Holiday Lighting Contest Voting will take place Dec. 1-18 Ballots can be dropped off at Clark’s Food Mart and VisionBank.
carriages with spoke wheels. Wheeler mostly enjoys showing off his specialty plates, especially the super rare locking truck plate issued from 1936-1940. The unique design features a metal sliding tab, that locks into place. The interchangeable tab is stamped with the truck’s weight. He says there are still a few years missing from his collection. During the late 30s and early 40s “itinerant” license plates were issued for non-citizens. These, Wheeler said, are the rarest nonpassenger type. He is always keeping an eye out for dealer plates, ones with a “D” in front of the number. The lower the number the better. He’s proud of his 1911 and 1913 dealer plates (D18) and says he can’t imagine there would be that many dealers in Iowa back then. Grain dealer plates were issued from 1974 to 1983. Wheeler has them all on his wall, except 1979. Like all collectors, Wheeler looks for the ones in good condition, but once in a while he comes across an out-of-the-ordinary specimen deserving of restoration. These are sent to Conway, AR, restored, and returned looking like new. Collectors like Wheeler learn over time to be selective about their purchases. Sometimes, though, by being too cautious, you miss out. That’s his feeling about passing up a unique vertical leather license plate he found in an antique store in Walnut, IA several years back. “They wanted a lot of money for it - around $400,” said Wheeler. “It was super, super rare. Looking back, I know it was worth every bit of that. A friend who has been collecting over 40 years says he has never seen one.”
Reflective Pearl Harbor license plate topper.
Breakfast with Santa Saturday, Dec. 7, 9 to 11 a.m. Leonard Good Community Center. Watch next week for more planned activities.
JOnATHAn HEnRY RInKER 1841 - 1910
-Photos provided
Reserve your holiday food basket Patrons of the Ogden Food Pantry who would like a holiday food basket should call Sandy at 275-2385 or Karen at 275-2990 by Thursday, Nov. 21. The holiday baskets will be given out Saturday, Dec. 7 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. at Community United Methodist Church, 337 SW 2nd Street.
Youth group plans food drive St. John’s Catholic Church youth group is planning a food drive Wednesday, Nov. 20. Students will be going door-to-door from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. collecting goods for Ogden Food Pantry’s holiday gift baskets. For those who may not be home, items can be dropped in the giving basket at the church through Sunday, Dec. 1.
Ogden Lions Club pickup
Product Pickup Day for the Ogden Lions Club Fall Fundraiser is Thursday, Nov. 21 from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Ogden High School lunchroom. If you are unable to pick up your order Thursday, please contact Jerry Wiedman at 275-4314 to make other pickup arrangements. See ad on page nine today.
Give acreage reporting dates for 2014 Boone County USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Executive Director Lee Ann Davis announced that producers who file accurate and timely reports for all crops and land uses, included failed acreage, can prevent the potential loss of FSA program benefits. Please pay close attention to the acreage reporting dates below, as some dates have changed for 2014. “In order to comply with FSA program eligibility requirements, all producers are encouraged to visit the Boone County FSA office to file an accurate crop certification report by the applicable deadline,” said Davis. The following acreage reporting dates are applicable for Boone County: December 15, 2013: Fall seeded small grains and perennial forage July 15, 2014: All other crops The following exceptions apply to the above acreage reporting dates: • If the crop has not been planted by the above acreage reporting date, then the acreage must be reported no later than 15 calendar days after planting is completed. • If a producer acquires additional acreage after the above acreage reporting date must be reported no later than 30 calendar days after purchase or acquiring the lease. Appropriate documentation must be provided to the county office. • If a perennial forage crop is reported with the intended use of “cover only,” “green manure,” “left standing” or “seed” then the acreage must be reported by July 15 (cover crops only). According to Davis, Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) policy holders should note that the acreage reporting date for NAP covered crops is the earlier of the dates listed above or 15 calendar days before grazing or harvesting of the crop begins. For questions regarding crop certification and crop loss reports, please contact the Boone County FSA office at (515)432-4320.