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.
In this remembrance, John Rains reminds us of the Rippey grocery store in the 1960s and tells us of his personal experiences as a part of the Rippey School and the Rippey community. After college John worked 14 years for Massey Ferguson Farm Machinery Corporation, then 23 ½ years on Active Duty with the Army National Guard in the Recruiting and Retention Command. His final seven years before a 2005 retirement were at the rank of Sergeant Major.
Positively Memorable by John Rains
It was the 31st of December, 1959, and the Rains Family–Roy, Evelyn, Bob, John, and Jerry–arrived in Rippey, moving from a farm 6 miles south of Glidden, IA. Mom and Dad had bought the “Clover Farm” grocery store from the Saiters. This was a big move for the Rainses, after living on a farm for all our lives. I had just turned 14 a month earlier. On the farm there was something going on all the time and in town, not so much, other than working in my folks’ store. As time went on, working in the store wasn’t so bad, especially after Dad started teaching me how to cut meat. That became my duty on Saturdays when I wasn’t working on the farm.
New Year’s Day, 1960, was spent taking inventory of the contents of the store. Have you ever counted Kool-Aid packets, potatoes, and many other little things of mind boggling numbness? Not fun! I longed to be outside driving a tractor! Once summer came I started working for various farmers, which made life more bearable. The pay was $1.00 an hour, regardless of what I was doing, from driving a tractor to cleaning out hog houses. I loved working on the farm, regardless of my assigned tasks. Average income at this time was $4,000-$5,000 per year. The second spring I started working for Chuck and Ruth New house and worked for them the remainder of high school. My last day working for Chuck was the day before I left for Army basic training, June 14th, 1964.
The year before, I had joined the Army National Guard, June 13th, 1963, at the encouragement (talked into it) by Fred Grow. Fred and I joined on the “Buddy Plan” which lasted until we arrived at Ft. Leonard Wood, Mo. On the second day there we were separated due to my enlistment physical being 366 days old, so I had to have a new physical exam. Fred’s enlistment date was a week behind mine since his physical exam was delayed for a week from mine. Oh well, we both survived the rigors of basic training!
One of the things anyone dreads when they move during junior high/high school is making friends and wondering if you will be accepted in the new school. I was well received and accepted in the eighth grade class! Other than the first day, I don’t remember any frustration of not being accepted. High school was a lot of fun and many, many memories were created. Extracurricular activities were many – basketball, track, football (Senior year, 1st year for EG), chorus, band, small groups for chorus. My football career was pretty short, 2 ¼ games, because a kid from Ballard Huxley laid my nose over on my right cheek bone!
I could go on with many stories, but that would be boring. My years in Rippey were positively memorable. The class of 1964 was a good class and still has a great time of being together.