A Slice of Life
Bill Lites
Day 12 – Saturday August 3
My first museum this morning was the John Deere Tractor & Engine Museum there in Waterloo, IA. This is a large museum filled with tractors, all kinds of farm equipment, and engines of all types and sizes dating from the mid-1800s. Starting with his first steel farm plow design in 1837, John Deere improved his plow and farm equipment designs, and expanded his company, to include farm tractors beginning in 1907. The company has continued to grow and expand its product line, over the years, to include all types of farming and harvesting equipment. In 2019 the company was listed as being ranked the 87th American company in the Fortune 500 list.
Before leaving Waterloo, I swung by the Grout Museum to see what it was all about. This small museum honors the military service and sacrifice of all Iowa veterans from the Civil War to the present. The museum has an impressive display honoring the five Sullivan brothers, who hailed from Waterloo, and who were all sailors on the USS Juneau (CL-52) during WWII. Unfortunately their ship was sunk during the Battle of Guadalcanal in November of 1942 with the loss of 687 crew members, including all five Sullivan brothers.
The story goes that at the time, a standing naval policy was in effect restricting siblings from serving in the same unit. However, the Sullivan brothers had refused to serve (I don’t know how they got away with that) unless they were all assigned to the same ship, and the policy was overlooked by their commanders. Following this family tragedy, the U.S. Navy was mandated to strictly inforce the policy for all siblings.
Now I headed southwest on U.S. 63/30/65 to visit the State of Iowa Historical Museum located in Des Moines, IA. This museum’s Historical Collection of over 80,000 items includes artifacts, memorabilia, and displays, related to the state of Iowa dating from the early 1900s. These items are housed in the large State of Iowa Historical Building, along with the State Historical Library Collection and the State Historical Archives Collection. Way too much for me to see in one visit.
As I was passing thru Des Moines, on my way to the next museum, I drove by the Iowa State Capital Building and decided to stop for a photo of this beautiful edifice. I’ve learned that the building’s location in Des Moines was the third location considered for the Iowa State Capital after Iowa City and Monroe City. The building was constructed between 1871 & 1886, and is the only 5-domed capital building in the U.S. The building houses offices for Iowa’s Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Treasurer, and Auditor, as well as the State Senate and State House of Representatives.
—–(This day’s activities will be continued next week)—–
Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 61 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing. He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville. Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.
One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is: John 10:10
Old Things R New 
Thank you for your stories and most of ALL for JOHN 10:10
GOD BLESS
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