Homecoming and a successful writers’ conference

The 2025 Montezuma Homecoming Week took on an extra special meaning in the Parker household.

Our youngest nephew, Peyton Tindle, a senior at Montezuma, was crowned Homecoming King during Braves Night activities Sept. 18.

It was a special moment watching him being crowned.

It was especially touching since it has been about a year since Peyton rang the cancer free bell at Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines.

Peyton got a spin around town on the back of a bright red Corvette with Queen Claire Erselius during the Homecoming parade. And he was also a starter on the Braves’ football team in the game Friday night against Moravia.

Peyton is playing on the line and doing a great job. He last played flag football in elementary school.

We are quite proud of Peyton as we are of all our nephews and family.

Debbie played a big part in taking care of her nephews through their school years. I can remember going to Sam’s Club and purchasing school supplies many times that Debbie used to hold school during the summer months for all three of the boys.

I always enjoyed stopping at McDonald’s midweek after my newspaper editorial meeting and buying lunch for everyone.

And I can’t forget about spending the day with each nephew doing something different that they each liked.

And there have been so many memorable family and holiday gatherings through the years.

And a few years ago, the entire family spent four nights at the Lake of the Ozarks where we rode go-carts, went bowling, played Monopoly, went antiquing, visited the Route 66 Museum, stopped at an outlet mall and enjoyed lots of good food and fellowship.

And I can’t forget about all the good birthday meals we have enjoyed together as a family, thanks to the grandmas.

Time spent with family is always good for the soul.

Writers’ Conference

In addition to attending Homecoming activities, Debbie and I held our 13th All-Iowa Writers’ Conference in Montezuma Saturday, Sept. 20.

This year’s conference included a presentation by Jay Goodvin, better known as the Iowa Gallivant. Goodvin has written a book, “Rural Iowa Sausage: History & Tradition of Brats on the Back Roads,” which he spoke about.

Many know the Iowa Gallivant from his huge social media following where he travels the state eating at all types of restaurants and ma-and-pa eateries looking for the best tenderloins and all sorts of foods. He records the sessions and posts them to his social media pages.

The Gallivant just returned from a tour of my home state of Oklahoma, where he visited about 20 different eateries. I enjoyed talking with him about Southern foods such as okra, meat chili, black eyed peas and sloppy Joes.

I first heard of the Iowa Gallivant in January, and I reached out to him, which led to me doing a column on the food taste tester in overalls. He said the Iowa Gallivant was born out of a family album bet. That column led to Debbie and me inviting him to speak at our conference.

Also presenting was Steve Sherman, a Grinnell native, who is a real estate agent and great writer. He has published seven books with one of his latest, “Beer Money,” about the Iowa City Beer Mafia, being made into a movie. Shooting of the production was completed in August with a release date in early 2026.

Other speakers included Bethany Kriegel, author of “Buffalo In The Bucket,” and co-owner of Sunset Hills Bison Ranch north of Malcom. She shared how she used AI to help her design the book, which is based on a real-life baby buffalo rescue at the ranch.

Other presenters included Lisa Lucero and Winter Austin, and we held a panel featuring Judge Joel Barrows, an author and sitting judge from Scott County, who joined forces with Poweshiek County Sheriff Matt Maschmann, to answer attendee questions.

I served as the panel moderator, and we explored several topics. It was a huge success for our conference.

We appreciate all the support we receive for this event and to the many people who drive from all across the state to attend. We also thank the Community Hope Church in Montezuma for allowing us to use their facilities for our conference.

Plans are in the works to host the 14th All-Iowa Writers’ Conference Sept. 19, 2026 in Montezuma. We hope you can make it.

Have a great week, and always remember that “Good Things are Happening” every day.