We have another entry in the Courier’s annual Weird Veggies and Fruit contest.

Ten-year-old Zane Baty of Moravia had his photo taken with two “Siamese twin” sets of cucumbers he picked in his family’s garden. Both sets of two are solidly conjoined, said his grandmother, Vicki Baty of Moravia.

He is the son of (Ottumwa native) John and Stacy Baty. His great-grandmothers Normagene Robertson and Margaret Robertson live in Ottumwa.

Don’t forget us when you find something weird growing in your garden. Bring it in for a photo or send us a photo. Remember, there is a nice prize to the oddest of the odd!



q q q



The Leege family of Ottumwa recently took the Courier to new heights!

The photo shows Mike, Britt, Lindsey, Peggy and Nathan Leege at 14,110 feet on top of Pike's Peak during their recent visit to Colorado Springs, Colo. They look a bit chilly!

Mike Leege said that although they didn’t take the Courier with them at every stop, it was in the van the whole time. They visited the Cheyenne Mountain zoo, Seven Falls, the Royal Gorge, Buckskin Joes, Garden of the Gods, Manitou Springs, and Manitou Cliff dwellings.



q q q



Ottumwans Monica and Lynn Harter enjoyed their honeymoon at the Bahamas, and recently took relatives there. The photo was taken on Atlantis Paradise Island. It looks beautiful! And thanks for taking the Courier!



q q q



What a treat for Pekin Middle School eighth graders — they recently enjoyed a class trip to Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, Delaware and New York City. They, too, remembered to take a Courier with them!



q q q



Ron and Jody Downing of Ottumwa recently visited the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Their Courier photo with grandson Zach holding the newspaper was taken at the North Carolina and Tennessee state line in the park.



q q q



Mary Jo Blumer shared with us a family trip to Germany with a Courier. In the photo, they are in Mittenwald — the German (Bavaria) Alps near the Austrian border. The Alpen Rose was a traditional German bed and breakfast, “with wonderful food, awesome painted buildings, beautiful sunsets, great hospitality and authentic furnishing and atmosphere,” she said. They took a cable car into the snow-covered Alps and did some hiking about 8,000 feet high. Mittenwald is also known world wide for its violins that are made there. They visited Fussen and both Neuschwanstein (Sleeping Beauty) Castle and Hohenschwangau Castle. The rest of the trip was spent in Munich.

One of the highlights was visiting 2004 OHS foreign exchange student Teresa Woerther and her family. Teresa is studying graphic design in college. “They prepared us a wonderful traditional Bavarian meal,” Blumer said, “The red cabbage was ‘to die for’.”



q q q



Katelyn Morett of Ottumwa recently traveled to Oslo, Norway for a visit with Thea Harnes and Ellen Margrethe Skogseid of Norway and Jana Conrady of Germany. The three girls were foreign exchange students in Ottumwa this last year, so they all got together in Oslo.



q q q



Dennis and Karen Massey are pretty excited about the TV show, “America’s Got Talent.” Dennis’ first cousin, Marcus Collins, is a member of The Texas Tenors who recently passed the audition in Houston, Texas, moving up in the competition and will next perform in Las Vegas, Nev.

Marcus flew in from his job on a cruise ship to Texas July 13 for the talent show, Karen said.

Web site information relates that the three singers — Collins, JC Fisher and John Hagen — formed their vocal group by first holding rehearsals by phone until they could finally arrange to rehearse together. During NBC’s America's Got Talent competition, “the crowds in Houston went wild!” They were the first group to audition on the TV show.

A native of Washington, Iowa, Collins is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in numerous plays, television shows, films, and musicals including “P.S. I Love You” (film), “Delirious” (2006 film), One Life to Live, It’s Karate Kid: The Musical, and The Karaoke Show. He also was the face of Edward Carnby in the Eden Games/Atari video game Alone in the Dark: Near Death Investigation.

As a teenager, the now 34-year-old lived in Seymour, Iowa. He now splits his time between Houston and Sun Valley, Calif.

You can see The Three Tenors’ audition on the America’s Got Talent web site.



q q q



We love it that so many of you remember to take a Courier when you go traveling. It’s really enjoyable to see where everybody goes on vacation and how our newspaper gets spread far and wide. Think of all the guests coming tomorrow from all over the world. Hope they enjoy the Courier, too.



q q q



And don’t forget to look for weird veggies.

Iowa’s famous sweet corn is being sold around town, so the tomatoes must be getting ripe, too. There has to be some weird-shaped ones in some gardens.

***

Judy Krieger may be contacted at (641) 683-5365 or by e-mail at — j.krieger@ottumwacourier.com