Under the radar connections to Iowa

Oelwein and Charles City were the location of major tornadoes when I was in grade school. Huge news story at the time.







There used to be a town called Jordan between Ames and Boone that was leveled by an F5 tornado in the late 70s. The satellite tornado that formed near the large one was the first video ever of an anti-cyclonic tornado. Dr. Fujita called it the most intense tornado he ever studied.
 
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One for contestants on the new season of BBQ Showdown on Netflix is from Oelwein, Iowa, which I had never heard of, northeast of Waterloo.
It's in Fayette County. You don't have to say Oelwein, Iowa. It is the only Oelwein in the whole world.

At least that is what they say.

It's nickname is The Hub City because back in the day it was where several railways crossed paths. My dad worked in the railyards there for a few years.

It was nailed by a F5 tornado in 1968, the same day that another F5 hit Charles City and a few other smaller tornadoes pelted NE Iowa.

EDIT: I guess I should have kept reading...
 
It was Hawthorne Court at the time. The building they lived in is about where building 21 is now.
Where Freddy #21 currently is was Pammel Court not Hawthorne Court. Pammel is older and was closer to Stange Road. Hawthorne was East of there. I lived in both.
 
There used to be a town called Jordan between Ames and Boone that was leveled by an F5 tornado in the late 70s. The satellite tornado that formed near the large one was the first video ever of an anti-cyclonic tornado. Dr. Fujita called it the most intense tornado he ever studied.
I never knew of this until this post. I'll have to ask my Dad about it. He grew up in Ames and then moved to Hudson in the early 70's but I'm sure he remembers this vividly.
 
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I never knew of this until this post. I'll have to ask my Dad about it. He grew up in Ames and then moved to Hudson in the early 70's but I'm sure he remembers this vividly.
It’s the area where Farm Progress show is held. There is a coop location and a house or two where the town used to sit. Calling it a town may be a stretch as I don’t believe population was ever above 30.

My dad was at the fertilizer shed that is now a Nutrien location when it hit. Been awhile since we’ve talked about it but said it was scary.
 
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It’s the area where Farm Progress show is held. There is a coop location and a house or two where the town used to sit. Calling it a twin may be a stretch as I don’t believe population was ever above 30.

My dad was at the fertilizer shed that is now a Nutrien location when it hit. Been awhile since we’ve talked about it but said it was scary.
I drive by there a few times a week. Maybe I'll check out the Ames Historical Society to see what they have on it. My Uncle was living in Boone at that time so I'll ask him about it too.
 
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Source? No mention in Wikipedia. My wife attended his high school two years ahead of him and is in the famous "National Honor Society" yearbook picture that is blacked out. I would have thought that we would have heard of a strong Iowa State connection like this in our 20 years in Ames.

"Jeffrey Dahmer was born May 21, 1960, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,[10] the first of two sons to Lionel Herbert Dahmer, a Marquette University chemistry student and later a research chemist, and Joyce Annette Dahmer (née Flint), a teletype machine instructor."


Well, well. Look at what I found. The things I learn on this site!

"Dahmer’s father, Lionel Herbert Dahmer, a research chemist with a reputation as hard working, earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from Iowa State University in 1966."

 
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When we first moved to Ames in 2003, I heard about this presentation on campus about Sudan. I thought it was very interesting that there would be such a presentation in the middle of Iowa. Turns out that the speaker was John Garang and he essentially showed his plans for the new African country of South Sudan.

"Garang, who was and is regarded as the founding father and symbol of unity in today's South Sudan . . . he went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics in 1969 from Grinnell College in Iowa . . . received a Master's degree in agricultural economics from Iowa State University and in 1981, he earned a PhD in Economics from Iowa State University (ISU)."

"Over 15 months, starting in September 2003, Ali Osman and Garang met in private in Naivasha. Their secret meetings and negotiations lasted up until the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was initialed on New Year's Eve 2004. The CPA appeared to embody the vision of the "New Sudan" that Garang wanted."

 
I drive by there a few times a week. Maybe I'll check out the Ames Historical Society to see what they have on it. My Uncle was living in Boone at that time so I'll ask him about it too.
210th st between T and U Ave. still a few houses there.
 
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There used to be a town called Jordan between Ames and Boone that was leveled by an F5 tornado in the late 70s. The satellite tornado that formed near the large one was the first video ever of an anti-cyclonic tornado. Dr. Fujita called it the most intense tornado he ever studied.

June 13, 1976. Watched the storm from the 4-H camp
 
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