FFA Salute Pages 6-9
Vets thanked Page 3 Friday
February 19, 2016 OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF HARDIN COUNTY
E L D O R A, I O W A
641-939-5051
www.eldoranewspapers.com
V O L U M E 84
• N O. 3 •
$1.00
POW-CCC project becomes an information odyssey Everyone from the Boy Scouts to the Smithsonian has made a contribution By Rick Patrie News Editor ELDORA – No less than the Smithsonian Institute has lent her a hand on that long running project at the Eldora Fairgrounds. Becky Rose of near Conrad inherited the undertaking from her daughter, and now a few years and hundreds of contacts later, the transformation of an old POW Camp and Civilian Conservation Crops building is accumulating milestones. Daughter, Emily Rose originally envisioned it as a tribute to veterans, but it’s also become a recollection of hundreds of prisoners of war who once lived here in Eldora, and it has also become a celebration of the days of the Civilian Conservation Corps, which contributed such an
outsized share to the making of Pine Lake State Park. For years, the one remaining building testifying to the POW and CCC experiences had languished on the fair grounds. Then about seven years ago Emily came up with a 4-H project. It would enlist everyone in gathering memorabilia celebrating the area’s veterans. Quickly, the Civilian Conservation Corp chapter of the site was included. The idea was to fund raise and refurbish the building, and last year in particular proved a big milestone in that regard. But Emily went off to college and as luck would have it her mom stepped in with a devotion. Becky Rose says that the 4-H
project is all about making contacts and contacts and contacts. One of those contacts even opened the door to the nation’s history center, the Smithsonian, which had photos in its files from the CCC years, and had photos from the Eldora camp. What with the bounty from fundraising last year, now the carpenters are at work refurbishing the old recreation hall out at the fairgrounds. And they have the pictures from the Smithsonian to insure they restore with authenticity. “I am one of those people, that when I start something I just keep going and going and going,” Rose says. Since the project is a compilation of research, not surprisingly she has found herself sitting before a
computer often and long. The Internet feeds contacts and the contacts often provide other contacts. One of those contacts was a lady who had been researching art projects undertaken by CCC crewmembers. Rose learned she would travel to Washington DC regularly. She would call at the Smithsonian, and the woman agreed that while she was in the neighborhood, she would dig into the records of the Eldora camp too. There is a world of archives out there, Rose says, and so she expects the POW-CCC camp project to keep finding new memorabilia well into the future. Rose says that the best estimate she can make is that as many as 1,000 men worked for the Civilian
Conservation Corps here in Eldora. You can still find very prominent marks of their efforts all around Pine Lake State Park and some of their names are on the rec room walls. This was in the middle of the Great Depression, and such public service projects were part of an effort to put wages into the pockets of vast armies of unemployed men. The camp was active here from 1933 to 1942. Subsequently, World War II filled it again, but this time with German and some Italian prisoners of war. Now all that remains of the sprawling site out at the fairground is the one barracks, which had been a recreation hall. Rose has collected a large number of the twice-monthly newsletters
that the camps used to produce for workers. It was essentially the CCC community newspaper of the time. There are some periods unaccounted for, but the copies of the periodicals do give a pretty good picture of what life was like in the camps. Some of her research steered her toward Iowa State University, which in turn put her in touch with a large library service in Chicago, which also had a wealth of information on the period. The plan from the start was to engage people, military veterans, CCC veterans and anyone else who might have mementoes from time at the Eldora site. (continued on page 3)
This is FFA week by Rick Patrie News Editor SHHS – Whether it’s touring the ultimate in farm technology, John Deere, or competing for the coveted “Golden Cob” at home here in Eldora, the South Hardin FFA sets quite a pace throughout the year. This edition takes note of just some of it. Everything is collected, photographed, written and edited by the local chapter. Check inside on pages 7-9 for an annual report from the FFA here in South Hardin. For instance, the story shown to the right: Hardin County Farm Bureau recently invited the South Hardin FFA and members of the welding class along on its tours of local agricultural manufacturing industries. A tour of the John Deere Tractor Works Plant in Waterloo was held in late November and most recently, in February, a tour of Hagie Manufacturing in Clarion. The purpose of the tours is to give students and Hardin County Farm Bureau members a look into the manufacturing process of many of the common agricultural implements that can be seen in Hardin County fields. Students reported being amazed at how clean and organized the factories were
Newsbriefs ENP PTO Fundraiser to help playground improvements
Eldora-New Providence Elementary PTO is joining with Schwans-Cares for a fundraiser. Order online or by phone now through April 2 and PTO earns 20 percent of sales and 40 percent back with eGift card purchases. From April 2-July 27, PTO will earn 5 percent back. Please order online through our link: www. schwans-cares.com/c/25792 and click “Shop to Give” or order by phone: 1-855-870-7208 and provide campaign ID #25792 All money raised will go towards our playground renovations. Organizers as tha you please call Carey Winter at 641-939-9350 with any questions. (continued on page 4)
and equally fascinated by the vast number of careers available at each – not to mention what they found were good starting wage and benefits provided to employees. Students were also treated to a chartered bus ride along with a catered lunch for both tours. An added treat on the Hagie tour was being able to visit the Heartland Museum in Clarion and take a look at agricultural machinery of the past. Students were in awe at the collection of antique tractors that one farmer had and were able to talk with him about the various models he had restored. The first Hagie sprayer was on display and students could see the huge amount of change that had taken place in the last 50 years. John Deere Tractor Works in Waterloo manufactures the majority of the row crop tractors in John Deere’s line, including the 6, 7, and 8,000 series tractors. Hagie Industries is an industry leader in manufacturing four-wheel selfpropelled sprayers and other specialty applicator equipment. The South Hardin FFA Chapter would like to thank Farm Bureau for providing this opportunity for students to see first-hand careers available within Iowa in agriculture. (More on page 2 and pages 7-9)
Each year, FFA chapters around the country celebrate National FFA Week. The week-long tradition began in 1947 when the National FFA Board of Directors designated the week of George Washington’s birthday as National FFA Week in recognition of his legacy as an agriculturist and farmer. It is a good time to recognize the opportunities FFA affords lots of students, coming from the farm and from he city alike. Here a group of SHHS students are on tour at the Hagie Manufacturing sprayer plant in Clarion.
Spring work begins in Saxony by Rick Patrie News Editor IOWA FALLS – The old country ties of an Ellsworth Community College staffer, now from Wellsburg, are netting another half-way-roundthe-world experience for some of the students of the college. Two young men from northeast Iowa will be leaving for Germany in about a month, where they will help with the spring planting on a couple of Saxony region farmers. ECC social science faculty member Joerg Rochlitzer, a native of Germany, and now a resident of Wellsburg, has been involved for several years in bringing Dr. Peter Jahr to Iowa Falls and the ECC campus, where he has visited and lectured with local and state officials. Their efforts have resulted in educational exchange opportunities for both German and ECC students, which have now have expanded thanks to the scholarship
gift from the family of Todd Welden. Rochlitzer and retired Iowa Falls High School German instructor Don Rhude are meeting with the two ECC students each week to go over basic German phrases, customs and other “need to know” facts and travel tips. ECC Agriculture Professor Kevin Butt said, “Agriculture is a global business now, and our students need this kind of experience and exposure to really understand the impacts of all that. This German ag exchange program, which is just in its second year, is now opening doors for us in other countries … we’re talking about ag exchanges that might happen in England in the future. Pretty cool.” Ellsworth Community College sophomore Thomas Newhall of Dumont and freshman Blane Bark of Nashua leave March 20 for two(continued on page 2)
Blane Bark of Nashua (second from left) and Thomas Newhall of Dumont (third) are pictured with ECC faculty members Joerg Rochlitzer (left), a native of Germany who is coaching them on German language, customs and culture prior to their departure for a two-month work/study exchange in Europe, and Kevin Butt (right), ag instructor.