THURSDAY, DEC. 26, 2024 • VOLUME N0. 124 • ISSUE NO. 15 • 1 SECTION • 8 PAGES
Serving Colfax • Mingo • Baxter • Western Jasper County
Christopher Braunschweig/ Jasper County Tribune Lynn Harnden, center, shares a moment with Joe Giannini of Midwest Aerospace after a Huey helicopter was installed Sept. 30 in Baxter. The helicopter serves as a memorial for Vietnam veterans and was a project spearheaded by Harnden, a 90-year-old retired lieutenant colonel.
HUEY HAS LANDED IN BAXTER Symbol of the Vietnam War era gets turned into a monument to honor veterans, spearheaded by passionate 90-year-old Army man By Christopher Braunschweig Jasper County Tribune Lynn Harnden spent 1,200 combat hours in the cockpit of a Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter, known by its nickname “Huey” during the Vietnam War, and for many soldiers on the battlefield it was a welcomed sight to see one of them up in the sky providing air support or landing near a smoke signal for a swift rescue. It has been 50 years since the Vietnam War ended, and the Huey was still a welcomed sight to behold in the small town of Baxter, Iowa. The helicopter was unarmed and unmanned, and although it didn’t
look it from the outside it was sorely out of commission. Harnden made sure the chopper got one last fight. Instead of piloting the Huey manually — which was impossible in its current state — he and the Baxter American Legion Post 493 spearheaded the fundraising to get the helicopter to be put on display on a raised platform, permanently in flight and overlooking other veterans memorials on the north end of Main Street. Veterans set a goal for $75,000. In just 16 months, they exceeded their goal and were staring at a tried and true Huey being assembled on the streets of Baxter. It took a few hours for Midwest Aerospace to in-
stall the tailplanes, the main rotor and the tail rotor onto the body of the Huey, but it proved to an entertaining show. Baxter residents unfolded their lawn chairs and sought shelter under the shade of downtown shops, enjoying bottled water and chips or the occasional ice cold beer from Baxter Family Market, the staff of which eventually grilled hotdogs for the hungry onlookers unwilling to give up their front row seats. Harnden brought along a chair of his own, but most of the time the 90-year-old was on his feet admiring the aircraft and taking pictures MONUMENT | 2
Forever a Bolt
After 28 great years, Baxter High School Principal Rob Luther calls it a career By Jamee A. Pierson Jasper County Tribune If there was ever a “Mr. Bolt,” it is Rob Luther. For almost 30 years, Luther has led not only the high school as principal but the football team as a coach, making him a certified fixture in the community. Having been in Baxter since 1998, Luther walked through the doors for his final last day of school May 24, marking the end of a memorable career. A Maxwell High School graduate, Luther attended Missouri Southern State University where he played basketball and participated
in theater. It was the latter where his dreams lie, not the path of education he would eventually follow. “No one would believe it if I told them,” Luther said. “I’d always loved doing the musicals and plays in high school. I was a theater major in college and as soon as I graduated I went to New York to go be famous and make a life on Broadway. I worked out there for about two-anda-half years, did some plays, did some shows and had another job. I learned quickly that missing family and a lot of reasons brought me back.” Upon returning from the LUTHER | 3
Jamee A. Pierson/Jasper County Tribune A principal, a coach and many more titles along the way, Baxter Principal Rob Luther is retiring after 28 years serving the district.
Mayor David Mast cuts the ceremonial A new downtown Colfax ribbon at the new pocket park next to city hall destination location in downtown Colfax Aug. 27 By Jamee A. Pierson Jasper County Tribune When the City of Colfax remodeled the building that became the new city hall location, city leaders also had their eye on the alleyway next door. After years of work, that space is the newest pocket park for the community to enjoy and is a bright spot in downtown Colfax. “We always planned on this when we bonded for city hall. When we were building city hall it was a time of high inflation, and with any project of this magnitude
there are change orders that come along. So funding ran out,” Colfax City Administrator Wade Wagoner said. “We had kind of an ugly alley next to the beautiful city hall so I set out to try to find grants.” After working with Main Street Iowa to develop drawings of what the park would look like, Wagoner set out to make it a reality. He struck gold with the T-Mobile Hometown Grant which gave $46,000 to the project. “The main one was T-Mobile. They gave us almost $50,000,” Wagoner
Disc golf is back in Colfax By Jamee A. Pierson Jasper County Tribune
Jamee A. Pierson/Jasper County Tribune Colfax Mayor David Mast cuts the ceremonial ribbon at the new pocket park next to city hall in downtown Colfax Aug. 27.
said. “Jasper Community Foundation kicked in al-
most $5,000, and that was enough to buy the furni-
lized alley and now it’s a great outdoor ‘living room’ space for the community to hang out at,” Patterson said. “There’s still potential to add cool features in the future like outdoor string lights, murals and more. We’re looking forward to seeing how the project continues to evolve.” The new park was full of people to celebrate the new addition to the city. It is a space that is poised to see continued use and become a desti-nation spot in downtown Colfax. “It is beautiful — I love it,” Wagoner said.
WHOTV 13 RVTV continues to be all about people of small-town Iowa By Troy Hyde Jasper County Tribune
A favorite activity is back in Colfax. The disc golf course, which had to undergo a design change due to the construction of the Colfax-Mingo stadium, will re-open to the public Oct. 19 with a tournament scheduled the next day, Oct. 20. “There was an original 9-hole course that
RVTV started as a three-person excursion that took place outside of Cyclones Stadium in Ames back in 1995. It has evolved into a mass television production and the street party of the year in small towns all across Central Iowa. “There was no buzz or enthusiasm at that time,” WHO-TV 13 Sports Director Keith
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ture, lay the brick, make the sculpture and plant all of the flowers.” Work started last fall and continued throughout the spring and summer. A ribbon cutting was held Aug. 27 to celebrate the official opening of the pocket park. A unique addition to the park is a sculpture designed by Colfax Main Street Director Stuart Patterson and fabricated by VS Fab Works. Featuring waves passing over each other, it brings the community’s past and present together in one space. “This was an underuti-
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Jamee A. Pierson/Jasper County Tribune Baxter Cheerleaders perform on the downtown football field during WHO13 RVTV Sept. 5 in Baxter.
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