Low voter turnout in local farm community. Good for a chuckle. :)

[John Schmidt]

In case you're not an AARP member, this is a little item that was in the latest AARP rag.  It's titled "Really Low Turnout."
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It was an election result that only a curmudgeon could love: a 0-0 tie.  In Riceville, Iowa, this fall, farmer and father of two Randy Richardson ran for a seat on the school board.  He ran unopposed, so his non-existent opponent go no votes--but no one in the tiny district voted for Richardson either. That included Richardson himself: "I didn't vote because I was too busy," he said.

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Hard to tell if he's over confident, or the township is sending him a message....or both. The booming metropolis of Riceville, IA is in NE Iowa with a population of 502. That's nearly 300 less than the 2010 Census. The only reason it caught my eye is because that's where all my family came from...both mom and dad and all their siblings. As a result, I spent a lot of time there during the summer months while growing up. I worked on various relatives farms during the week, but Saturday nights the place to meet some young corn fed gal was at the roller rink, even if you didn't skate. They always were willing to help you learn, holding you up close and all. Amazingly, with all the summers I spent there I never learned how to skate good enough to go-it alone.  A couple times (at least) my "teacher" felt obligated to continue her instructions after the joint closed for the night. That was in the early 50's and the town was much larger in population. But with nothing to keep them there, the younger set have gradually moved away. Great memories, if nothing else....especially learning to roller skate. 

[Patrick]

'Corn fed' ?  Now to what could you be referring ?   


It always nice to have a concerned 'teacher' looking out for you. Sometimes the benefits turn out to be wonderful.

[solo1]

John, it reminds me of the last time that I ran for city councilman.  The turnout was really low.

I was telling a friend that if it weren't for my family voting, I might've lost.  My son Chris (Psychotic Bovine) said  " What makes you think that we voted for you."   

[John Schmidt]

'Corn fed' ?  Now to what could you be referring ?   


It always nice to have a concerned 'teacher' looking out for you. Sometimes the benefits turn out to be wonderful.

Corn fed=strong robust gals. They get that way from feeding the cows and and milking the chickens.    If they didn't have milking machines on their farm, they were pretty strong gals. I've spent many an hour milking cows by hand, which was really tiring to do at the end of a day in the field. My cousins and I devised a method that made it easier for us. We taught the cows to jump up/down, then all we had to do was hang on. A real blessing if you're tired from baling hay all day.   

As for the last sentence; yes it was and....yes they were. 

[Jess from VA]

0 to 0 vote is funny.

But there are people who ran against an opponent who died shortly before the election, and the dead guy still beat him.  That's funnier yet.  I can't believe I lost to a dead guy. 

[Willow]

... My cousins and I devised a method that made it easier for us. We taught the cows to jump up/down, then all we had to do was hang on. A real blessing if you're tired from baling hay all day.   

Sounds like a clever idea, John.  Could get a head start on the straight from the bovine butter market. 

[_Sheffjs_]

For some reason I had to google map Riceville, maybe it was listening to your stories at the table Saturday. It is a sleepy little town for sure, the Google car passed Opie and Andy.  Ok no but it was funny as the Google car ducked into the BP Gas Station to the pumps on Main Street and kept the cameras going.   

[John Schmidt]

For some reason I had to google map Riceville, maybe it was listening to your stories at the table Saturday. It is a sleepy little town for sure, the Google car passed Opie and Andy.  Ok no but it was funny as the Google car ducked into the BP Gas Station to the pumps on Main Street and kept the cameras going.   

Jerry, I had to go look, my granddad's house is no longer there westbound on the main street. Was next to the water tower which is also gone. Back in the late 40's and early 50's the town was quite active, had about double the population except Mondays and Saturdays when things stayed open til 9:00pm. Then the town was closer to 2500 for about four hours. Doesn't seem like much but every store was occupied and busy. It was quite the draw for the surrounding area which isn't very heavily populated except by farmers. You have to go quite a few miles north or west to find a town that's larger, but they didn't have as many farm gals either, an important demographic. Had my first taste of beer in a cornfield about three miles south of town. Pabst Blue Ribbon, from the land of sky blue waters, tasted awful to a newbie. Never touched the stuff again until I was in the Air Force. I haven't improved much, my wife and I split a 7 oz. mini once in a while, I drink most of my half. 

[RDAbull]

'Corn fed' ?  Now to what could you be referring ?   


It always nice to have a concerned 'teacher' looking out for you. Sometimes the benefits turn out to be wonderful.

Corn fed=strong robust gals. They get that way from feeding the cows and and milking the chickens.    If they didn't have milking machines on their farm, they were pretty strong gals. I've spent many an hour milking cows by hand, which was really tiring to do at the end of a day in the field. My cousins and I devised a method that made it easier for us. We taught the cows to jump up/down, then all we had to do was hang on. A real blessing if you're tired from baling hay all day.   

As for the last sentence; yes it was and....yes they were. 

John,
When I was a youngon on the farm I figured out how get really rich, I just couldn't figure out how to breed a cow that took weekends and holidays off.  I knew exactly what you meant when you said "corn-fed gals"

[Cracker Jack]

'Corn fed' ?  Now to what could you be referring ?   


It always nice to have a concerned 'teacher' looking out for you. Sometimes the benefits turn out to be wonderful.

Corn fed=strong robust gals. They get that way from feeding the cows and and milking the chickens.    If they didn't have milking machines on their farm, they were pretty strong gals. I've spent many an hour milking cows by hand, which was really tiring to do at the end of a day in the field. My cousins and I devised a method that made it easier for us. We taught the cows to jump up/down, then all we had to do was hang on. A real blessing if you're tired from baling hay all day.   

As for the last sentence; yes it was and....yes they were. 

The secret to hand milking a cow to make the job easier. In Alabama, we just take a chicken feather and make a straw/quill about an inch long. Insert the quill in to the utter and the milk just runs out with a minimum amount of coaxing.