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 shorter–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.
This week Kathy Lansman Young provides us with two of her special memories.
I attended school in Rippey from 1st grade (Evelyn Wilson) through 8th grade when we consolidated with Grand Junction and became East Greene. Some of my favorite memories revolve around Halloween, dressing up and meeting at the Rebecca Hall where we would go in groups to collect money for UNICEF, then come back to the Hall for a party. When parents showed up to pick us up, they had to be careful to get into town and back out again before the high school kids ~ and sometimes Sheriff Riley ~ would block off all the streets into and out of town, collect an outhouse or two and make a pile of lumber and tires in the middle of town with the outhouses on top. I remember one Halloween when they turned Burks’ horses loose.
I remember the skating at the roller rink ~ I’m not sure which night it was held during the summer, but a lot of us kids showed up to skate to the music. Norman Devilbiss could really skate, and we all wanted to emulate him!