Oskaloosa Herald: June 2023 Senior Lifestyles

LIFESTYLES SENIOR

SUPPLEMENT TO THE OSKALOOSA HERALD

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LIFESTYLES SENIOR

June 2023 Edition

Senior Lifestyles is a free magazine published by the Oskaloosa Herald

All rights reserved, Copyright 2023

CREDITS

Contributing Writers

Channing Rucks, Staff Writer

Advertising Representatives

Ashley Coyne

Tylor Durbin

Magazine Layout/Design

Axel Vazquez

Photography Ayrton Breckenridge

Magazine Editor

Emily Hawk

Learn more about our newspaper by visiting our website: Oskaloosa.com

On the cover:

Vinnie Provenzano, Oskaloosa resident and recepient of the “Mr. Oskaloosa” award, puts his hand over his heart during the playing of our National Anthem.

4 Mr. Oskaloosa

One man’s life-long love for his community

8 Patchwork Pella

Keeping a time-honored tradition alive

12 A lifetime of music

Seven decades as a local saxophonist

Mr. Oskaloosa

STORY

BY: CHANNING RUCKS, STAFF WRITER

The world is full of experts in just about every field imaginable. There are experts to predict the weather, provide medical care and teach children who will one day grow up to be the experts of tomorrow. The Mahaska Chamber and Development Group decided that 2023 was the perfect year to honor Vinnie Provenzano for his expertise in a very special and unique field — Oskaloosa itself.

Provenzano has been an Oskaloosa resident for most of his life. He moved to Oskaloosa in 1973, graduated from Oskaloosa High School in 1982 and worked as a custodian in the city’s school system since 1986, celebrating his retirement after more than 30 years of service in 2020.

It should come as no surprise that the Mahaska Chamber and Development Group chose to honor him with a special “Mr. Oskaloosa” at their annual award ceremony on Jan. 30 of this year.

“Every fall, we see nominations for businesses or individuals that have made an impact across Mahaska County,” says the chamber’s executive director, Deann DeGroot. “We always include a special award category, and that award is for exceptional achievement in a category that might not necessarily fit in one of our other categories that we have every year.”

Every chamber member is entitled to submit an idea for what the special award should be.

“It’s always fun to see what people think of for an award,” DeGroot says. “This was kind of a unique award, just because we’ve never had one like this, but when it was called Mr. Oskaloosa, it was like ‘Yeah, Vinnie.’”

“Those who know Vinnie know that he’s just everywhere,” she says. “He’s always stopping in here [at the chamber] and showing us the Hy-Vee deals and going around town, and he just knows everything that’s going on. It was just kind of a fun award, just a new category and a unique person to give an award to.”

Provenzano, for his part, sees the award as an opportunity to promote Oskaloosa.

“I think of myself kind of as an event planner for the town,” he says. “I said, ‘Now what’s the title [of the award] mean?’ They said, ‘It’s like the social mirror, the social emissary of the town. You do the fun stuff.’”

That description suits Provenzano well. He’s a self-proclaimed movie buff who likes to keep Oskaloosans “in the know” about new films that will be showing in town, posting trailers to his Facebook page. He’s the driving force behind “Vinman’s Movie Therapy Gathering,” a group of dedicated movie-goers who attend the Penn Central Theatre on Sunday nights, capping off the experience with a selfie.

The Mahaska Chamber and Development Group award Vinnie Provenzano the “Mr. Oskaloosa” award at their annual awards ceremony on Jan. 31. Pictured from left to right are Deann DeGroot, Mahaska Chamber; Vinnie Provenzano and Ryan Van Dalen, Mahaska Chamber.

One man’s life-long love for his community

“I’m a movie buff, a movie guy. I love movies,” he says, and true to form, one of his favorite movie venues is right here in Oskaloosa.

“The theater has brand new seats,” he says “They have leather-back seats … heated, reclining … If you went to Des Moines, you’d pay $10. You’re only paying $6 to $8 here, and there’s free popcorn on Tuesdays [with the purchase of a drink.]”

After unofficially beginning his “social emissary” work years ago as Oskaloosa’s resident movie critic, Provenzano expanded to posting about special events like city band concerts in the bandstand. Today, his city-wide coverage of “the fun stuff” has expanded to include new business openings and school award ceremonies. He also highlights useful resources like the city’s “Lawyers in Libraries” event, which provides free legal information to attendees, and even novelty events like an upcoming session of “Alpaca Yoga,” set to feature real alpacas.

Provenzano is also thrifty, always out to help his fellow Osky residents save a dime by scooping the loop for daily deals in Oskaloosa’s grocery stores.

“They don’t put Fareway ads in the Shopper, so I walk around and I’ll drop them off [at Smokey Row,] I’ll drop them off in the mall, I’ll drop them off in my square area so people could pick up a flier,” Provenzano says.

He also circulates the Hy-Vee fliers.

“I’m always like ‘Hey, this is what’s going on. Take advantage. Save that cash. I’m trying to save people some money in the pocketbook,” he says.

A few minutes spent scrolling on Provenzano’s “Mr. Oskaloosa: What’s Going On” Facebook page is a little bit like taking a walk through downtown Oskaloosa. It’s filled with news about the latest deals in town, promotional material for local businesses and fun events happening in the area. Provenzano’s savvy for highlighting most useful, entertaining and downright quirky events, combined with his long history in the community, has made him a much-loved figure in Oskaloosa.

Provenzano is especially loved by Oskaloosa’s school children, who still remember him fondly after his retirement.

“I was sitting here [at Smokey Row] my first year of retirement,” Provenzano says. “There was a white minivan, the window rolls down, and it’s one of my [school] kids from the middle school … He said ‘Vinnie, we don’t want to go back.’ I said ‘I’m sorry. You’ve got to learn.’”

Vinnie Provenzano (right) tries his hand at a friendly game of “Operation” during a Tuesday night wine tasting at Osky’s Rosso and Wine.

Vinnie Provenzano has his tablet on hand to post the event on his Facebook page.

After working for more than 30 years in the city’s school system, Provenzano places great importance on education.

“I try to preach to the youngest. I say ‘That education right there — get that education. Get that map. Do that thing,’” he says.

Imagination, Provenzano says, is the key.

“Keep growing your imagination,” he says.

“Your imagination is the best tool in creativity in this world to make it a better place.”

And that’s just what Provenzano tries to do in his own corner of the world — Oskaloosa. DeGroot says that his hometown pride and passion for community is what makes Provenzano stand out from the crowd in Osky.

“I think Vinnie just has so much pride in his community,” DeGroot says. “I think that’s the one word that comes to my mind, is pride. When you see him or you talk to him, he’s always so positive. He always sees the positive side and all the things that are happening, and is willing to go the extra mile too.”

DeGroot says that Provenzano’s pride and care for Oskaloosa

has been known to spill over into volunteerism and enthusiasm for lending a hand, which is part of what makes him so special to the community.

“I know there’s several times we’ll be working on a project, and if he sees us on the sidewalk delivering something, he’s always willing to lend that hand,” she says. “He’s a great volunteer and he takes pride in his community.”

Provenzano is without a doubt an expert in all things Oskaloosa, but he’s also an expert in something even deeper — his love for community and desire to help people. For the one and only Mr. Oskaloosa, those might just be the best character traits of all.

Left: Vinnie Provenzano, “Mr. Oskaloosa,” salutes for the Pledge of Allegiance at Oskaloosa’s annual Memorial Day Ceremony.

Below: Provenzano socializes with friends at Rosso and Wine.

PATCHWORK PELLA KEEPING A TIME-HONORED TRADITION ALIVE

STORY BY: CHANNING RUCKS, STAFF WRITER

Heritage. Craftsmanship. Thriftiness. Pella is a town rich in all these qualities and more. The Pella Area Quilters Guild is an organization working hard to keep alive a longstanding tradition that embodies all three — the art of quiltmaking.

Founded in 1985 by three women with a passion for quiltmaking, the guild now has a membership of more than 50 people and supports its member quilters by providing education, accountability and fellowship throughout the quilt making process, working hard to keep the cherished tradition alive for generations to come. The guild’s members say that the intersection of creativity and practicality is what makes the traditional skill so appealing.

“The best quilters tend to be very creative types,” says Carol Jankowski, the guild’s current vice president. “They’re people that like to learn new things. They like friendships, so you can kind of bring those things together.”

Jankowski’s grandmother was a garment maker, so sewing has always been an important part of her life.

“I’ve been around sewing all my life … I’ve always liked textiles. I just was interested in sewing, and that became a creative outlet for me,” she says. “People would describe quilting a little bit like a puzzle, because you’re putting all these pieces together, and each one is different.”

To Jankowski, that puzzle-like quality that makes each quilt one of a kind is part of what makes quilting such a distinct branch of sewing.

“Each quilt has something different and unique. They can be different shapes, different sizes, different techniques. And of course, then there’s the colors … with quilting, you’re bringing several colors together, scales and the size of things. So I would say that’s why it’s probably a little bit different [from other types of sewing,]” she says.

Kelly Van Vliet, one of the guild’s former presidents and owner of The Quilted Windmill, Pella’s very own quilting store, wholeheartedly agrees.

“There is some creativity with color and so forth in fashion sewing, but I think that’s upped a complete notch with quilting,” Van Vliet says. “It meets a creative and constructive need for a lot of people.”

Van Vliet, who first began her quilting career 25 years ago, says that quilting shares many skills with other crafts, such as woodworking.

“Over my tenure of working with quilters, I find a commonality between woodworkers and quilters, engineers and quilters. Those personality types often really thrive on quilting. A lot of the same skill sets,” she says. “But then they’re not all that way either. There’s as many personalities of quilters as the general population.”

Pella Area Quilters Guild Vice President Carol Jankowski (right) poses with the guild’s former president and current owner of Pella’s Quilted Windmill, Kelly Van Vliet in front of one of the store’s displays.

Both Jankowski and Van Vliet say the history of quiltmaking is part of what makes the tradition so fascinating.

“Quilting is a long, long tradition,” Van Vliet says. “I think it’s gone through phases. Possibly 100 years ago or better it was more of a functionality thing. They used their old clothing. They used feed sacks. They used whatever resources were available to them to construct quilts for a functional purpose. I would say today it’s more of a creative outlet; more of a passtime, a hobby rather than a functionality, just because of our economy differences and so forth.”

That early emphasis on practicality hasn’t been entirely forgotten, however. The intersection of artistic inspiration and practicality is part of what makes the skill so special.

“I went to a presentation in Illinois on Amish quilts,” Jankowski says. “Even if you look at that, they were using all their scraps from their clothing that was primarily dark solids, but they did some really artistic things, because that was their creative outlet. It was still very functional, but that was the one little part of it in their chores that can become a little bit of art for them.”

Today, the guild offers a variety of educational events for its members, covering a range of topics from mastering new techniques, such as “paper piecing,” to learning how to approach quilting as an expression of art.

The guild also presents an annual quilt show in conjunction with Pella’s Tulip Time Festival. The show boasts approximately 130 unique quilts that guild members have worked hard on throughout the year.

“I do love the quilt show at Tulip Time because people really do bring out their things. It’s really great to see everybody work, and to walk around and read the stories of what inspired them to do that piece,” Jankowski says.

Though quilting can sometimes be seen as an intimidatingly complicated branch of the textile arts, Jankowski encourages those interested to give both the craft and the guild a try.

Quilts arranged as part of the 2023 Pella Area Quilters Guild Tulip Time Quilt Show.

One of the guild’s newer members, Heather Roth, inspects her Tulip Time quilting entries “Summer Solstice” and “Winter Solstice” to make sure she didn’t miss any stray threads.

“There’s a lot to learn,” Jankowski says. “You need to learn your machine … You need to learn pattern selection, how do you pick a pattern that is your level so you’re not getting into something that’s so hard that you can’t be successful, and then there’s color selection.”

Jankowski says that the Pella Area Quilters Guild can help with all that and more. It also provides inspiration from seeing what fellow quilters are working on.

“Everybody has different tastes and what they like to do. When you come to guild, you have all these people in the room that have all these different tastes, and so you can see other things and you can see what they’re working on, because we do have ‘Show and Tell’ during our guild meetings, so people can bring what they’re working on,” she says. “You can hear about what they learned, or why they did it, or if they liked it.”

That shared creative experience is part of what keeps historical skills like quilting alive — not just for today, but for many, many years to come.

“This is not just for people who’ve been doing this for a long time. That’s exactly who should be coming, too, because you can just learn so much.”

~Vice President Carol Jankowski

The guild’s raffle quilt from the 2023 Tulip Time quilt show. The pattern is called “Tulip Time” and was used with permission from designer Bonnie Hunter. The blocks were made and donated by guild members. Guild member Aleta Gustavson pieced the blocks together and quilted it.

A LIFETIME OF MUSIC

SEVEN DECADES AS A LOCAL SAXOPHONIST

STORY BY: CHANNING RUCKS, STAFF WRITER

Some passions can last entire lifetimes — a truth that Oskaloosa resident Ila Ruby is living proof of as she steps down from her regular position in the Oskaloosa City Band after more than seven decades of music.

Ruby played her family’s saxophone for the first time when she was just a girl. Ruby began her career in music at Cedar Consolidated School as a fifth-grader, under the direction of Ron Steddom.

“I started when I was in school, which has been a long time ago,” Ruby says. “I’ve probably been playing 70-plus years.”

Ruby began her career with a hand-me-down instrument from her older brother and still plays the same saxophone today. The daughter of a farmer, she remembers first playing the saxophone sometime in the 1940s.

“My parents were farmers, or my dad was a farmer, [with] not a lot of money,” she says. “I’ve read something back in the old Cedar history stuff that my older brother, who was 11 years older than I am, started playing when he was a freshman. I never knew that … I think maybe they had the saxophone. Money wasn’t all that easy to come by, and so since it was what we had, it’s what I played.”

In her impressive seven decades of music-making, Ruby

certainly had ups and downs, with family life and motherhood sometimes forcing her saxophone to take a back seat. But, her love of music has been an enduring theme throughout her life.

“I suppose, you know, when my boys were growing up I probably didn’t do it as much, but I’ve pretty much stayed with it,” she says.

Ruby, who grew up near the Cedar Township area, first played for a municipal band in Ottumwa after being put forward as a prime candidate for the group by her high school band director, Bill Young.

“My band teacher, between my junior and senior year in high school, he was a part of the Ottumwa City Band, so he got me in there. So then, when I moved to Oskaloosa, I just kind of migrated there,” she says.

Ruby’s move to Oskaloosa took place back in the 80s, and she’s been a fixture in the Oskaloosa City Band ever since. Ruby feels that playing in a city band is an experience unique from playing in a school group. There are fewer rehearsals, which make it more challenging, and the camaraderie is invaluable.

“I enjoy just the challenge of playing, the fun of playing, the fellowship with other musicians,” she says, adding that participation in a municipal band is an incredible opportunity for

Ila Ruby poses with Oskaloosa City Band director Bruce Peiffer after completing her final concert as a regular member of the band.

young musicians to take advantage of.

“For a young person, it is an invaluable experience of sight reading,” Ruby says. “If you know anything about music, for city band, you get one rehearsal and then the next time you see the music you’re playing in a concert. So it teaches you something that you don’t necessarily get when you’re in a school setting, because schools, you know, they practice several times before they play a concert.”

Young people are just what’s motivating Ruby to finally step down from her saxophone chair after all this time. She says she wants to give a young player the same opportunity she was afforded as a highschooler in the Ottumwa City Band all those years ago.

“I don’t think [Oskaloosa City Band Director Bruce Peiffer] was real happy with me when I said I wanted to step aside, but I wanted a younger person to get in and get the experience, and I told him I’d be willing to sub in if he needs somebody,” Ruby says.

Peiffer says the band will be replacing Ruby with upand-coming Oskaloosa High School musician Sage Adam. Ruby, who describes her time as a member of the band as an “adventure,” won’t be stepping away from music altogether. Ruby plays in groups all across the community.

“City band isn’t my only adventure,” she says. “I play with the William Penn Concert Band too … and I play in praise band at Gateway Nazarene Church, even yet.”

Ruby is correct when she implies that Peiffer will miss her now that she’s stepped down. The current Oskaloosa City Band director has only good things to say about his long-time saxophonist.

“Ila is one of the most giving people I’ve ever met,” Peiffer says. “Strong Christian faith drives her whole persona. She would rather always take the backseat to the next person. I always tease her that ‘As long as Ila has first chair, she’s happy,’ and she always looks at me and says ‘You know better than that.’”

Peiffer says Ruby is a kind mentor to the band’s younger players, always trying to help them find their feet.

“Ila would just be one of those that, if there was a question by one of the younger players, she would make it so there’ll be no way that the young person would be embarrassed,” Peiffer says. “She would do it in a gentle, loving manner by pointing out maybe something that needs to be addressed. I couldn’t think of a better mentor, because she would have the persona to just gently guide.”

Lindy Slocum, a young saxophonist in her third summer with the Oskaloosa City Band, agrees. “She’s just a treat to be

Above: Oskaloosa’s Ila Ruby has been playing saxophone for more than 70 years. This year’s Memorial Day Ceremony in Oskaloosa marked her last regular performance with the Oskaloosa City Band. Left: Ila Ruby has been playing her brother’s old saxophone since the 1940s, when she began learning the instrument in fifth grade.

around,” Slocum says. “She’s so kind to everybody. No matter what you do or where you came from. She’s been a joy to work with for the past few summers. I look forward to coming back and being able to see her.”

Ruby, for her part, wants to acknowledge the people who have made her career in music possible.

“I want to give homage to Mr. Ron Steddom, my first band teacher, Mr. Bill Young, my band teacher who introduced me to my city band experience, and the multitude of conductors I have been privileged to play under during my time in the Oskaloosa City Band,” she says.

For the young musicians who are just beginning their musical journeys, Ruby has one word of advice.

“Practice,” she says. “That isn’t a word they’re probably going to want to hear, but they’re going to have to practice and listen to their teachers and do what their teachers ask them to do … Just practice.”

As Ruby puts the finishing flourish on her time with the city band, she’s rooting for all the young students who are just starting to learn and might one day take her place.

Above: Oskaloosa City Band director Bruce Peiffer says that Ruby is an excellent mentor for the band’s younger members. Right: Ruby contributes to the city band section with her saxophone