Fred Gratzon is an ideas guy. Entrepreneur and founder of two Iowa companies that took off like rockets back in their day—The Great Midwestern Ice Cream Company and TeleGroup—Fred is also one of the funniest fellas I know. We connected at a writers’ event a few years ago and he spilled the beans about a| Iowa Source - Iowa's Enlightening Magazine
On day two of distributing bundles of The Iowa Source a few months ago, I decided to take “the scenic route” from Ottumwa down to Van Buren County, cutting in toward the Des Moines River on Route 16. The two-lane highway shoots down a tree-lined hill and swoops east right into the heart of Eldon,| Iowa Source - Iowa's Enlightening Magazine
Sometimes it feels great to get outta Dodge, even if it’s just for a day. My headquarters are in Southeast Iowa, and I’ve got a good friend over in Springfield, Illinois, so about once a year he and I find a spot in between to rendezvous. It’s not like that. We’re just really good friends.| Iowa Source - Iowa's Enlightening Magazine
My dad was raised Catholic, but by the time he hit college had given up church for Monty Python. Mom was brought up Presbyterian, but the moment she’d been told that children who hadn’t been converted to Christ were going to hell, she knew something was deeply wrong about that whole situation. Because what about| Iowa Source - Iowa's Enlightening Magazine
I didn’t know I cared about jazz. Sure, I’d gotten caught in a “Heavenly” Harry Connick Jr. wave in the early ’90s—my teenage self swooned over his velvety voice and big-band sound—but it wasn’t until 1996, when a crew of chain-smoking college-age hipsters invited me to their poker game that jazz began to rewire my| Iowa Source - Iowa's Enlightening Magazine
February. That month when two people are better than one under the covers. When the dinner hour is still dark enough to eat your favorite dish by candlelight. When the piece of chocolate cake you order before the show is just the right size to share. You find your cozy seats. Your fingers accidentally touch| Iowa Source - Iowa's Enlightening Magazine
Meredith, an Iowa native, was baffled when she earned her high school's writing award in 1993. It wasn't until twenty years later that she discovered she actually enjoyed wordcraft. (Too bad she's still a two-fingered typist.) Thanks for reading, friends!| www.iowasource.com
“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.” —Nikola Tesla I was having a particularly rotten week. Anger was near the surface. And grief was bone deep. I was tempted to book a session at the local Smash Room when I remembered a new business| Iowa Source - Iowa's Enlightening Magazine
On my way back home from a wedding in northern Iowa last month, the ideal timing for a sandwich stop put me right about at my hometown of Ames. I thought to pop in on my Uncle Sam, who still lives there with his wife, but fresh colds put the kibosh on that plan—they’d caught| Iowa Source - Iowa's Enlightening Magazine
