Fall equinox on the train with volunteers

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By Cindy Toopes, Courier staff writer

OTTUMWA — “Blinded by the light” isn’t my favorite song, not even if Manfred Mann sings it.

I’m never singing in the early morning when I have to head east at this time of year. Driving due west in late afternoon causes the same reaction — I don’t like it. The sun is right in my eyes and there’s no escape.

Jack Horkheimer, my favorite “Star Gazer,” often issues a “driver’s alert” for people who travel east-west roads Sept. 4-24.

The fall equinox is the culprit. The sun rises and sets exactly due east and west in the weeks before and after the official start of autumn.

An equinox occurs in the spring and fall and, as Horkheimer has said, “equi” means equal and “nox” means night. It’s the time of year when darkness has gained the same amount of hours as daylight.

For our area, the equinox will be 4:18 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22.

• • •

This is the longest correction I’ve ever written. No one told me I had to but I want to set the record straight.

After I wrote about Engine 3001, I heard from two people who told me I’d made an error. I wrote, “Engine 3001 is one of 14 locomotives that made up the Burlington Northern Railroad’s S-4 class of 4-6-4 Hudsons ... “

Sam Cook in Milan, Mo., e-mailed me. “Burlington Northern did not exist until March 2, 1970,” he wrote. “In 1959 this engine was of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (CB&Q;).”

David Lotz is editor of the Burlington Route Historical Society’s newsletter, “The Zephyr,” and lives in Pooler, Georgia. In his e-mail, David said what Sam did.

Then, David elaborated, ”The Burlington Northern wasn’t created until the 1970 merger of the CB&Q;, GN, NP and SP&S; railroads, which in 1995 was merged with the AT&SF; to create the Burlington Northern Santa Fe, and was recently renamed to just its initials, BNSF.”

Whew. I sure didn’t stay “on track” with all the mergers and changes in railways. I thank Sam and David for keeping an eye on the Internet and letting me know.

“While a minor error to the majority of your readers who are under the age of 40, it is still important to those with an interest in the CB&Q;!” David wrote.

David also said the article was “very good” otherwise and asked for permission to reprint the article and photo in a future issue of “The Zephyr.”

Now that turns my frown into a smile.

• • •

Speaking of a smile, Solid Waste Director Jody Gates knows how to make her volunteers do that from ear to ear. She sent out a recap of the 2009 Make Ottumwa Shine (MOS) activities to all her volunteers.

“I've never done this type of letter before, but thought you might find it interesting and reflective,” she wrote.

Jody commented on several MOS events. First was April’s spring cleanup and free landfill day, which is a huge event.

“More than 300 volunteers cleaned up 105 areas around the city. During free landfill day, about 1,000 vehicles stopped by the Market Street parking lot or the landfill to get rid of more than 261 tons of unwanted junk,” she said.

There was one frown from me, though. Jody said Marti Whelan, one of Make Ottumwa Shine’s most faithful volunteers, moved from the Ottumwa area this year.

“Marti worked tirelessly making West Second Street shine and she will be sorely missed,” Jody said and I totally agree.

In February, volunteers attended the Keep Iowa Beautiful Affiliates meeting at Riemann Gardens, Ames. Ottumwa presented information on the MOS annual cleanup event, with an emphasis on best practices.

“Thanks to a grant from Keep Iowa Beautiful and Diamond Vogel Paints, more than 60 volunteers painted five houses Aug. 8 in Ottumwa,” she said. “Cy McMahon coordinated the volunteers and was the driving force in making Paint Ottumwa Beautiful a one-day event, a success.”

“Given the success of the Paint Ottumwa Beautiful event,” Make Ottumwa Shine might want to support it annually, she said.

Lastly, anyone wishing to perform mini-cleanups this fall can pick up purple bags at the Recycling Center.

“Just let me know when you plan to clean up and I’ll arrange collection of the bags,” Jody said.

She ended her letter with “Best regards to a wonderful group of volunteers.”

There’s the smile.

Cindy Toopes can be reached at (641) 683-5376 or via e-mail at cindy@ottumwacourier.com.

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