4 minute read
From the Publisher
Good Sports The world doesn’t revolve around sports, but try telling that to someone over the next few weeks as brackets are filled out, busted and promptly shot across the room into the circular file…clank!
Ok, I’ll think positively…swish! Over the course of my 44 years, I’ve been fortunate to be around a lot of good sports.
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Basketball was one of my very first loves as a kid—from the hoop that still hangs in the old machine shed on our farm in rural Winfield, Iowa, to the Hawkeye teams I cheered for when I was young. Popping popcorn and tuning into the games on the Raycom Network (with Larry Morgan and Mac McCausland calling the games and players like BJ Armstrong, Andre Woolridge, and eventually my old high school teammate Jess Settles)— yep, I was hooked.
It started with my parents putting me on our local small-town team when I was in fifth grade. I remember the smell of my first pair of red and black Sky Jordans (the smaller kids’ size that had no “Air,") and my dad taking me to “open gym” as I moved on to junior high on Sunday nights at Winfield Mt. Union, where we’d play against older kids (and some of the parents) from our high school.
I started out with my junior high coach, Terry Rodgers, and Coach Coble and Gerling, and moved on to JV and varsity with Coach McGowan and Coach Mike Koelker. I looked forward to grabbing a copy of the new Street & Smith’s Basketball Yearbook every winter at Hy-Vee to see who the top college and high school teams and players across the country were. (This was before the internet.) I went to hours of games, practices, team camps at UNI and summerleague games across the Eastern part of the state.
Eventually, our teams went on to play in three state tournaments, from 10th to 12th grade, finishing runner-up, third and fourth in the state—losing in OT of the state semi-finals before our 1995 team took the championship the year after I graduated. Coach and those guys deserved that.
We never lifted the big trophy at the old barn, but the friendships and lessons and everything else I learned during those years were invaluable. I’ll always enjoy the memories of all the different people I played with and against, including future college and professional players at a number of different levels.
The Iowa girls’ and boys’ state tournaments will be taking place as this issue is coming off the press, and kids from towns that many of us have never heard of, all across our state, will make their way to our community. Nine teams will succeed in what they sought out to do, and dozens of teams will fall short of even making it to Des Moines, but win or lose, there’s a lot to gain from the time spent in getting knocked down and pulling yourself up and doing it all over again—in front of huge crowds, or with no one watching at all.
Jason McArtor
MyTown Magazines Publisher & Partner jason@mytownmagazines.com / 515-314-1321
MARCH / APRIL 2020
Publisher & Partner Jason McArtor
Creative Director & Partner Zachary Kern
Content Kellyn Pappas
Photos / Creative / Layout FARMBOY Marketing & Web Development
Copy Editor Marjorie Sandner
Advertising 515-314-1321
Distributor Goldfinch Media
Event Photography & Social Media Curator Igor Dimitrienko
Address 8527 University Blvd Suite 7 Clive, Iowa 50325
Email info@myTownMagazines.com
myWaukee Magazine is published bimonthly, six times annually, by myTown Magazines, a division of Goldfinch Media. For subscription and advertising information, go to myTownMagazines.com. ©2020 Goldfinch Media
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HIGHLIGHTS
06 CITY OF WAUKEE Triumph Park
Triumph Park will feature a sports complex with 12 softball/baseball fields, practice areas, concessions, accessible restrooms and 800+ parking spaces. The complex will serve local teams as well as large tournaments.
09 COMMUNITY First Lady Lou
Special Free Performance of “First Lady Lou” Celebrates the Life of First Lady Lou Henry Hoover. Waukee’s Prairieview Theatre Arts Center on Thursday, March 26 at 7 p.m.
18 FACES OF WAUKEE Ryan West Meet local Podcaster and Entrepreneur Ryan West, who is all about creating a community for motivation, wellness and health. Ryan created a platform to help people realize that they can defeat adversity and how to prepare for it, and this all comes from his own personal experience.
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15 STORY Waukee Lacrosse It may still be cold and slushy outside, but make no mistake, spring is on its way back to Iowa. With spring comes the usual sporting events—track meets, golf, and soccer, baseball and softball games. And as of last year, there's another option for Waukee athletes: lacrosse.
21 STORY FarmHer Traditionally, the image that comes to mind when most of us picture a farmer is that of a man—a male farmer out in the fields, in the tractor or climbing a grain bin. But local resident and Iowa native Marji Guyler-Alaniz, through her multimedia business, FarmHer, is working tirelessly to change that.
28 WAUKEE LIBRARY 19th Amendment This year marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. After 70 years of protests, marches, rallies and hard work by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Susan B. Anthony, Carrie Chapman Catt, and countless other women, this Amendment, passed on August 18, 1920, granted women the right to vote in U.S. elections.
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SECTIONS
04 From the Publisher 06 Your City of Waukee 09 Your Community Spotlight 13 Your Waukee School District 26 Your Waukee Chamber 28 Your Waukee Library
