Marshall County

The kids thought we were going to "Marshmallow-Town" and made me stop at a grocery store to get a bag of marshmallows. This is how we get them to go along with this thing.

 

Marshalltown erected a statue to their favorite Harry Potter character ... Cornelius Fudge

Jasper County

I went to college in the 90's when Newton Iowa was part of a frantic scientific debate over Charles Murray's book "The Bell Curve". I won't comment on that book here other that to say you shouldn't be surprised when someone of specific political views verifies those views in data.

 In any case, Newton was quite nice. I expected it to be a little run down since they lost Maytag but that was not the case. Things were hopping. Newton now has the Iowa Speedway, a wind turbine company in the old Maytag factory, and is close enough to Des Moines for commuters.

Newton getting ready for Christmas.

Nice veterans memorial