What Do You Remember About Rippey?
The Rippey, Iowa, Sesquicentennial will be held on Saturday, August 1, 2020. If you have personal remembrances of Rippey, you are invited and encouraged to share those memorable stories. Just send your remembrance via email and we’ll get it posted on the Rippey News Web site, as well as on Facebook sites of the Friends of Rippey and the Rippey Sesquicentennial. You write down the anecdote or story–a page or two–and we’ll do the rest. Phyllis McElheney Lepke is serving as our volunteer coordinator and stories may be sent to her at Rippey150@gmail.com.
Rippey’s Legacy Of Plowing Champions by Robert Huber
Mary Weaver has asked me for my recollections of the 1996 National Plowing Matches held on our family farm, near Rippey, Iowa. As much I thought I had remembered, I have forgotten, so up to the attic I went to find my Dad’s “history” of plowing matches. The contests originally were scheduled for far western Iowa, but after much previous optimism no site could be secured. Dad told the Iowa Plowing Association that he had 64 acres of hay ground that could be plowed, so in a rather last minute fashion the matches came to Rippey.
Some fifty-three (53) contest plots were plowed in state and national contests on September 5, 6, and 7. All the plots had to be staked out prior to the contests, including practice areas. Contestants were from several parts of Iowa, including the local boys, Steve King and Roger Norgren. The National contestants were from Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota. There were four categories of National contests including small plow, large plow, classic, and antique. The winners of the small plow and large plow would be eligible for the World Contest the following year.
It is estimated that 500 people attended the contests, a little smaller than the 150,000 who had attended Agri-rama at Jefferson in 1966. But the plowing conditions were great thanks to good weather and a great alfalfa crop. Dad’s small machine shed became headquarters for the plowmen. Every morning there was a short prayer service, and it was headquarters for eating and plowing meetings. His large shed was used to find plowing equipment the plowmen needed to borrow. The garage served as a nursing situation should it be needed. I laugh at a picture I have in the garage of Connie Neese taking Dad’s blood pressure as he could get nervous!!!
The west end of the farm field was used to organize the equipment and tractors. The ditch and driveways were used to unload and reload the trucks of equipments. The county oiled the gravel road in front of the farmstead. Prior to the event, Bob Muir provided a meal for the staking crews. The Rippey United Methodist Youth helped with refreshments and drinks on site during the contests.
Dad and Mom wrote a thank you published in the local papers and I will only list the Rippey folks mentioned, but there is also a wonderful list of Greene County contributions as well. This included the Rippey Savings Bank, Steve King Trucking, Rippey Farmers Co-op, the entire Bob Muir family, Brubaker Construction, Myron Rinker, Peoples Bank, Heater and Sons Farms, Roger and Colleen Norgren, Kevin and Haven Hick, Bardole Farms, Inc., Darwin and Ned Johnston, Dale Morse, Rippey United Methodist Youth, Rev. Eric Guy and Rev. Rich King. The Huber family had a full heart as a result of the support of the Rippey community.
Steve King plowed and finished second in the National Small Plow Class in 1996. Steve had won the National Matches in 1986, was a World Contestant representing the United States with one other U.S. plowman in 1987. At the 1988 World Plowing Contests at the Amana Colonies, Steve was selected to plow USA in a plot of land. A Russian plowed USSR. It was a grand sight for aerial photography.
Roger Norgren finished first in the National Large Plow Class using Dad’s contest plow in the 1996 contests. It was his second National Championship and he plowed in the World Contest in 1991. Roger elected not plow in a second world contest.
Dad would have liked 20,000 people to attend but most of the guests were familiar with good plowing. He had me daily send the results to WHO radio and report to KDLS. When everyone left for home after those three September days there was nary a can or paper plate to be found on the place.
Rippey has been a plowing contest hub in Iowa over the years as the following folks from Rippey plowed in state and national contests: Merle Coon, Bill Heater, Laurence Huber, Steve King, Bob Monthei, Roger Norgren, and Sterling Young. In the mid 1960’s Steve King caught the bug of plowing contests watching the first East Greene FFA contests held in the same Huber field as the 1996 event.
Dad plowed in competitions from 1954 until 1962. He helped a number of plowmen, several who were honored to serve the United States in world competitions. I asked him if he would like to give plowing contests another try in 2004 at Boone in the state plowing contests, 50 years after his first one. One of his pupils beat him by a point or two. But he was able to compete again in Boone in 2005 when he became a National Champion, something he cherished his remaining days. Maybe it helped that he was wearing his Rippey Lions Club cap during the competition or that Jerry Groves hauled his equipment to the site, rather than Dad driving to it.
When Dad placed third in the National Contests in 1962 he won a small amount of prize money. Merle Coon had hauled Dad’s tractor and plow to Ohio for the matches and Dad told him he wished he had a trophy instead. Merle got in touch with some folks in Rippey who presented him with the finest of all his trophies and plaques which resided as a center piece of the Huber living room for nearly 50 years. It is these acts generosity of a small town that makes you proud of your roots.
This photo shows Laurence Huber’s contest plow, which he first used in 1956. It originally was a 3 14 number 16 International which he expanded to a four bottom and used in the 2004 state match. This photo, taken in the same field used for the national contests in 1996, is likely from 2005 or 2006 after Huber won the national contest. Robert comments, “This is how Dad always plowed, like he was in a contest.”