SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
May 2, 2019
Sullivan’s Salvos 5/7/19
In this edition:
*Dems Hall of Fame Event
*Farm Roots
*The Candidates – Pete Buttigieg
*Did You Know?
*Dems Hall of Fame Event
The Johnson County Democratic Party is holding our Annual Hall of Fame Awards on Saturday, May 11 at 7pm at Brown Deer in Coralville. 2019 marks the 9thconsecutive year that the Johnson County Democratic Party has held a separate Hall of Fame event.
Please join us for coffee, desserts, and plenty of old war stories! A cash bar will be available.
The Hall of Fame inductees for 2019 are: Sarah Swisher and Gary Smith, Valerie Kemp, Orville and Billie Townsend, and the late Kurt Friese. We hope you can join us in recognizing this remarkable group!
Tickets are available for a $25 suggested donation. People who cannot afford that amount should still feel welcome, but please call 354-7199 so we can get a count. Sponsorships are available at the following levels:
$100 includes two tickets
$250 includes 4 tickets
$500 includes a whole table (8 tickets)
$100 includes two tickets
$250 includes 4 tickets
$500 includes a whole table (8 tickets)
*Farm Roots
Anyone who has known me long knows that I grew up on the family farm. It is not just any family farm; both my maternal grandmother and maternal grandfather came from families that settled in Iowa prior to statehood. We have two family farms that have been in the family seven and eight generations, respectively. My family has been on the same land since 20 years before the start of the Civil War! So yes, I am proud of my family farm roots.
After growing up out on the farm, on a gravel road, miles from the nearest town, I moved to Iowa City. And while I love the things city life offers, I often miss the farm. One small connection that I maintain is my screensaver.
Both home and at work, my screensaver is a photo of my Grandpa, Ed Jack, winning the 1960 State Corn Picking Championship. I love the photo for a lot of reasons, but primarily the way in which he holds his hat in his hands. Though he had become quite wealthy through farming, he was a very humble man. The photo really captures that. And despite the fact that he had been using a mechanical combine for several years, he obviously had not lost his touch when it came to picking corn.
We used to pick a lot of sweet corn when I was a kid. If you have ever seen anyone pick corn by hand, you know that it is not easy. And my Grandpa was a perfectionist – you had to do it right! I knew intuitively why he won that contest – he had the cleanest row and fewest deductions. Sure enough, that was true.
My Grandpa loved to enter contests. He liked to experiment, and he had a competitive spirit. So his house was full of trophies and plaques. Only one, however, was first place. That was the State Corn Picking Championship.
Also on a shelf were about a dozen trophies earned in various statewide competitions. There were 5th, 4th, 3rd, and 2ndplace trophies – in some cases, multiples. Most of the awards were in yield competitions.
He got second in a highest yield contest in the late ‘50s, and once averaged 200 bushels per acre, which was the farming equivalent of breaking the 4-minute mile. The Eastern Iowa average now is 222 bushels per acre, so technology has certainly caught up.
I remember the importance he placed on watching the markets. The guys who were working on the farm came into the house every day at EXACTLY 11:55. They washed their hands with Lava soap, filled their plates, and started to eat dinner. There was no “lunch” – dinner at noon, supper for the evening meal!
Then they put on the WMT noon news, with the volume cranked, because years on the tractor (no cab) had ruined my Grandpa’s hearing. (KCRG showed a soap opera at noon and had no noon news. That was an unforgiveable heresy in the eyes of my Grandfather!)
They would intently watch the markets, then decide what to do that afternoon. Maybe you got things ready to go to town and sell. Maybe not. The whole plan for the next 24 hours depended upon the market.
Nowadays, the commodities are presold on contract. There is no need to closely monitor prices and react. It is probably a lot less stressful. But at the time, it certainly seemed exciting to a kid watching it all unfold!
My Granny played a different role, and we kids were her helpers. Each family had HUGE gardens – between the 5 families, the garden space (not counting sweet corn and fruit trees) was probably an acre. We spent all summer picking strawberries, asparagus, beans, peas, carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, apples, pears, lettuce, cabbage, radishes… then Granny showed us how to clean them, cut them, and store them.
Farming has changed a lot since I was a kid. I was recently asking my Mom who was renting the family’s various plots of land. She reported that there are only 3-4 people farming in the whole area, and that these operations have become so large that what used to be considered a sizeable farm (say, 200 acres) is barely worth their time to rent!
I never wanted to go into farming – I realized right away that I was a people person, and agriculture could get lonely. But I miss those days, and remember them fondly.
*The Candidates – Pete Buttigieg
Today we are going to take a look at Pete Buttigieg, the Mayor of South Bend, Indiana. The man known as “Mayor Pete”is also a Lieutenant in the US Naval Reserve and a veteran of the War in Afghanistan. Buttigieg is the first openly gay man to seek the Democratic Party nomination, and if elected, would be the youngest President (37) in our history.
I will admit, I think I have not adequately weighed the importance of Mayor Pete’s sexual orientation. It really is groundbreaking, and the fact that I pay it very little mind is pretty remarkable. We have come a long way in a short time!
A number of my friends are very impressed by Pete Buttigieg. And I understand why. You only need to hear him speak for a few minutes before you are struck by his intelligence. This makes sense; Buttigieg is a Harvard Grad and a Rhodes Scholar. He is clearly bright, and he does not talk down to the public.
The main concerns I hear from Buttigieg detractors is that South Bend is smaller than Cedar Rapids and not much bigger than Iowa City – about the size of Davenport. Does the experience as Mayor of this small city really qualify a person to be President?
Honestly, the answer is, “It depends”. Could some of the Mayors of our mid-sized cities serve well as President of the US? I have no doubt that some could do so. Is the number large? I am guessing it is not.
The other big concern you will hear about Buttigieg is his age. Can a person this young really do the job of President?
Again, the answer is, “It depends”. Could some 37-year-olds serve well as President of the US? I have no doubt that some could do so. Is the number large? I am guessing it is not.
Buttigieg does have a couple question marks in his otherwise-stellar resume – one being his management consulting work for McKinsey and Company. This company’s list of misdeeds is long and appalling. Buttigieg will need to answer for any role he played in their bad works.
In addition, some feel Buttigieg has not done nearly enough to address poverty, disproportionate minority contact, and other issues at home in South Bend. Mayor Pete talks a lot about Democrats ignoring middle America. But what, as Mayor, has he actually done to improve the lives of South Bend’s neediest residents? Many in South Bend say not nearly enough.
In my mind, the biggest issue is pretty simple: there are better candidates – including a few women. You will notice that the first 5 candidates I featured were all male. There is a reason for that. So long as these qualified women remain in the race, I see no reason to spend a lot of time on Mayor Pete, or the other male candidates I have featured to date. It really is time to break the glass ceiling!
Would Pete Buttigieg be a better President than the current occupant of the White House? There is no doubt. And if he wins the nomination, I will work my tail off for him. I just think America has better choices right now.
I will be writing about more candidates in the very near future! Stay tuned!
*DID YOU KNOW? The July 2018 Census estimate counted 151,260 people in Johnson County.
Anyone interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the County website-
"Sullivan’s Salvos" is sent once per week to any interested party. It will give a brief update on issues of interest to Johnson County residents.
These messages come solely from Rod Sullivan, and neither represents the viewpoints of the whole Board of Supervisors nor those of groups or individuals otherwise mentioned.
If you do NOT want the weekly E-mail, simply reply to this message, and type "unsubscribe" in the subject line.
If you know anyone else who might be interested, just forward this message. They can E-mail me at rodsullivan@mchsi.com with "subscribe" in the subject line.
As always, feel free to contact me at 354-7199 or rodsullivan@mchsi.com. I look forward to serving you!
---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 1:34 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home