Katie Kruse is a dedicated community leader in Carroll, Iowa, recognized for her extensive volunteer work and commitment to enhancing local initiatives. In February 2024, she was honored with the Humanitarian Award at the 60th Annual Carroll Chamber of Commerce Banquet, acknowledging her significant contributions to various community programs. (1380kcim.com)
As a member of the Carroll High School Foundation, Kruse has been instrumental in organizing annual kindness fundraisers aimed at promoting positivity and supporting academic programs within the Carroll Community School District. These events encourage students to perform acts of kindness, fostering a culture of compassion and community engagement. (1380kcim.com)
In 2023, Kruse co-chaired the Carroll RAGBRAI executive committee, playing a pivotal role in organizing the city's participation in the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa. Her efforts included coordinating volunteers and enhancing the city's decorations to welcome thousands of cyclists, showcasing Carroll's hospitality and community spirit. (carrollspaper.com)
Kruse's leadership and dedication have left a lasting impact on Carroll, inspiring others to contribute to the community's growth and well-being.
SPEAKER 01 :
It is must-know people. It is a look at local people here in the Carroll area that are making a difference. Happy to have with us today a great guest. I mean, she is the queen when it comes to involvement in the community and deep ties to the community, too. It's Katie Kruse, Katie Onken, as many people would probably know you, right, Katie? Yeah, yeah. Let's talk about that a little bit. The Onken family in your heritage really is Carroll. Talk about that.
SPEAKER 02 :
It really is. First of all, thank you for having me. Yeah, absolutely. I never thought I would be one of the must-know people.
SPEAKER 01 :
You are. You absolutely are.
SPEAKER 02 :
I'm quite honored. Yeah, going back for as long as I can remember, I was born here, raised here, and chose to move back here.
SPEAKER 01 :
But your family has deep, deep roots even before, long before you were around.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, deep roots. My great grandparents were some of the founders of Farner Bocken and Carroll. My grandparents worked there. Both my mom and my dad graduated from Carroll High School. And so this is my place.
SPEAKER 01 :
It's crazy because that name is synonymous with Carroll Farner Bocken. What's it like to grow up with that kind of history to your name?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, I can tell you I never could get away with anything growing up. So if I would shop at the wrong gas station, my parents would find out. So, yeah, there was no getting away with anything. But really, it's a joy to growing up in such a community like this where, you know, everybody knows you and everybody helps everybody out. And it's it's a really neat thing. And that's why we chose to come back here and my husband and I and raise our family here. So.
SPEAKER 01 :
You know, we're recording this at the Carroll Public Library, and just outside this study room is a picture of your great-grandfather.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, yeah. That's ironic. When we chose where to record, we said the library, and I walked in, and I was like, wow.
SPEAKER 01 :
Fate put us here.
SPEAKER 02 :
This is where we're meant to be, yeah.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, and this stuff. So talk about growing up in Carroll. What was it like? What were your parents like? What was your family like?
SPEAKER 02 :
I grew up, my mom and dad and my younger sister, Lindsay. I was lucky enough to have both sets of grandparents in town, so I spent a lot of time going to my grandma's and my grandpa's and... My parents had built-in babysitters, I like to say, so I got to go and hang out with them all the time. I also have a lot of other extended family around, so when we were playing sporting events or had music concerts or anything like that, everyone was around, which is really special. Maybe I didn't realize that growing up, how unique that is, but... really lucky to grow up around around all the family and all the support with two boys now you know exactly how busy it is yep and then um I also have an adopted brother named Cory so when I was later in life my parents became foster parents and uh I had two foster brothers growing up so Tim and Cory
SPEAKER 01 :
Where did you guys grow up? What street would you live on? Where did you?
SPEAKER 02 :
1815 North Main is my first.
SPEAKER 01 :
North Main was home.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yep, right there. And then we moved out to the Collison Addition on Ashwood Drive. So that's where I spent a lot of my childhood and have a lot of memories from.
SPEAKER 01 :
Give me a great memory of childhood. That only could happen here in Carroll. Ooh, that's a tough one.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, some of my fondest memories are when we were growing up. Collison addition was hardly developed at that time. So we were one of the first houses out there and in our backyard was cornfields. Well, as the neighborhood continued to grow, there was constantly houses growing up and constantly big piles of dirt all around. So we would spend our summers riding our bikes around, carrying shovels, digging holes, making forts. And that was...
SPEAKER 01 :
That was pretty awesome. You probably had BMX before there was BMX. All those dirt piles to ride on. That was before the high school was built. Long before that, right? Yeah, I think that. When was that? Early 90s? Yes, I think early 90s.
SPEAKER 02 :
So kind of about the same time around when we moved out there. But yeah, it was a lot of fun. A lot of fond memories.
SPEAKER 01 :
Did you have a lot of kids in the area? We did. Did you? We did, yep. Who did you get in trouble with?
SPEAKER 02 :
Oh, I never got in trouble.
SPEAKER 01 :
Never? You're the first person I've ever interviewed that admits never got in trouble, right?
SPEAKER 02 :
The Halbur boys, when they moved in, they were always up for a good time. So I remember it was dark and a couple of people had golf carts out there. And so we would play flashlight golf cart tag. This was when I was a little older. And that was always that was always interesting. So I'm sure that wasn't legal.
SPEAKER 01 :
What were some of the rules in your house?
SPEAKER 02 :
Rules in our house? We didn't have any. My mom was really lenient. Yeah. I remember she didn't make us do chores or anything like that. But I remember the neighbor kids, they had to do chores all the time and they had to practice piano and do their math homework and read. And so we were actually just joking about this. Kristen Paulson was my neighbor, Dr. Eric Paulson and Linda. And I used to go over and say, hey, let's go play. Like, oh, we have to do all of our chores. I said, well, I'll pick the weeds, not water the flowers. You do your reading, you practice your piano, and then we'll get there sooner. So that was OK with their parents. So we got it all done and we could go play.
SPEAKER 01 :
Cooperation works well there. You were involved with a lot of sports, right? I was, yeah. What sports were you involved with? When did you get involved with all that?
SPEAKER 02 :
You know, I think my first memory of playing sports was T-ball. You know, T-ball and Little League growing up, that was about all we had. We had rec league basketball. And then in junior high, to add on to the softball and the basketball, I played volleyball and I ran track. So all through high school, I did those four sports. And, you know, I know education and everything you learn in school is really important, but what I learned through sport is... what made me who I am today, so.
SPEAKER 01 :
I was going to say, it was important in your life. You really loved it.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, I loved it, and I had so much fun. My best friends were my teammates, and, you know, there was never a dull moment. We always, we found our own fun. We drove the drag, did silly things, but, you know, we stayed out of trouble, and we just had a lot of fun.
SPEAKER 01 :
Who were some coaches that you remember from back there that maybe had an influence on you? I had a lot of really good coaches.
SPEAKER 02 :
I was really lucky. Coach Olsen, Ole. Mm-hmm. Everybody loves him and Keith Peterson. So those are my two basketball coaches. And I was really blessed when I was in seventh and eighth grade were the two years that our girls were the state champions. And so that's a pretty crucial part of your life when you're watching these girls go on, have all the success and all the fun. And so... Being able to come in and play on a team, not necessarily with them, but for the Tigers and for Ole and for Coach Pete was a really neat thing. So that was kind of a dream come true when I got to put on the Tiger uniform and do that.
SPEAKER 01 :
Drop some names for us. Who was on the teams? Oh, on, on the, who are you closest to on the team?
SPEAKER 02 :
Oh, on my teams we had, well, I'll use maiden names cause that's what I still call them. But Sarah Dirkx, Lindsay Fishbach, Jenny Seabrook, Angie Hogue, Kristen Molitor, Amanda Prescott, Nicole Peterson. Yeah. Yeah. You know, Facebook is really a great thing. You can see what everybody's up to. We're all kind of in the same phase of life with, we are all running the rat race with our own kids right now, but that's a really cool way to keep in touch.
SPEAKER 01 :
When you think about them, what's the memory that comes to mind? Is it like riding on the bus to the games or something like that? Or is it the games themselves? Practice? What do you think about?
SPEAKER 02 :
It's crazy because it's not the games. I mean, I think there's about... I couldn't tell you the score of any game we played. There's one game I really remember. Well, there's a couple of games I remember losing, you know, that really stung. But that's not what comes to mind when I think back. It's the laughter and the fun and the jokes and the screwing around. You know, it was before cell phones. And so we, in softball, for example... You'd go to hitting practice in the morning, and then sometimes you'd play an eighth grade or freshman game late morning. And you'd go to hitting practice again, and then you'd play a JV varsity game at night. So you were together all day and just having fun. So it was a great time. Another coach I had was Coach Erin Schiebel, which is Erin Huffman now. But she came in during high school and... became our varsity volleyball coach and our softball coach. And she is someone who is very influential in my life. And she just was so dedicated to us as a team and really helped us grow as individuals and helped us fall in love with sport, but also really grow with each other. So she was she was awesome to have.
SPEAKER 01 :
Did sports get you into being involved? Is that what started all of that for you?
SPEAKER 02 :
I don't know really what kind of spurred that for me. I actually, I had to go talk to, or I got the chance to go talk to the Carroll County Leadership Group, and it was about volunteering. And they kind of asked, just explain why you volunteer, how you get into things. And one really influential thing that happened to me when I was younger is, I think I was in high school, and my dad, it was Christmas Eve, and he said, hey, tomorrow morning, We're going to get up and open our presents, but we're going to go deliver meals for the Moose Lodge. I was like, what do you mean? Like, no, we're not going to do that. It's Christmas. You know, you sit in your pajamas, you relax. He's like, no, it's important. We're going to do that. So I was like, oh, OK. And I'll never forget. what that meant to people going and delivering these meals to shut-ins and the reactions on their face and seeing, wow, like, I take things for granted, you know, when you see those people sitting there alone. And so that really, that struck something with me. And that's kind of the first I really remember giving back. Then How old were you when that happened? I want to say I was in high school. So I was older, old enough. I should know that by now, but you know, it was an eye opening experience.
SPEAKER 01 :
So it was just something beyond your radar. I'm sure that just wasn't registering with you, but it did after that. I'm sure. Most definitely. Do you think about that memory every time you come to Christmas? I do, and I keep thinking, man, my kids and I need to do that.
SPEAKER 02 :
So my kids get drug along with me a lot, so they're learning as well as we go.
SPEAKER 01 :
That's what they're there for. They get drug along a lot. Yep. What was your first car you ever had?
SPEAKER 02 :
A white Toyota Camry. Very cool. Rob Naberhaus and I had the same cars. I remember that. I accidentally got into his one time leaving school. I'm like, this isn't my car. Yeah.
SPEAKER 01 :
Remember driving out of the driveway the very first time, your car, like on your own?
SPEAKER 02 :
Very first time. I can picture it. I drove to the neighbor's, which was right next door. Picked up my friend Kristen and we went driving. It was actually, I have a really late birthday compared to everyone. I was really young for my grade. So everyone else had had their license. And then I got mine finally. And it was state baseball week in town. So, you know, back in the day, again, no cell phones, anything like that. When state baseball came to town, all the girls were really excited so i went and picked up my friends and we were scooping the loop and there used to be that putt putt golf course at motel 7130 right by nw and so we were cruising around we were we were on the prowl so that was a good day when i got my license
SPEAKER 01 :
Talk about high school, too. Were you a good student? What did you really love about high school?
SPEAKER 02 :
Strangely, I was a good student, but I wasn't always. In junior high, I didn't get great grades, but all of a sudden in high school, I really applied myself and tried. It was neat to be able to choose your courses a little bit. I took a lot of business courses that I really liked.
SPEAKER 01 :
Was there a certain minute that you can say, that's what changed me?
SPEAKER 02 :
No, not really.
SPEAKER 01 :
Just growing and maturing.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, I just think growing and maturing and realizing, again, I had a lot of good role models when I was in junior high to look up to those girls ahead of me. Sarah Stribe, Kim McCaffrey, they were doing really great things. And so I would hear about that and hear what they were doing, and I wanted to be them. So... They kind of paved the way, set the example, and that's, I guess, what I tried to do is just follow along.
SPEAKER 01 :
What were your goals in high school? Did you have any, like, I want to go into this, or I want to go to this college, do this, and anything like that?
SPEAKER 02 :
College-wise, I really didn't have any goals. You could say I still don't know what I want to do with my life. So, yeah, college was just kind of a thing. I loved my life here. I never really thought about anything outside of Carroll. I never worried about anything outside of Carroll. Always my goal was to be able to go to the state tournament and especially for basketball. We never I never personally achieved that. But after me, they did so. And my younger sister got to go in volleyball and basketball and then in track. I did go on track, but another coach that was influential, Kirk Christensen. Oh, yeah. Yeah. We could talk about him forever, but track was not my favorite sport. But is it anyone? No, it's not. I'm going through that battle with my son right now. And he's like, I'm going to quit. I'm like, oh, sorry, you're not.
SPEAKER 01 :
I know all the track coaches will cringe at that, but yeah, that's, that to me was punishment in high school. They had to go, you had to go run track if you wanted to play the other sports.
SPEAKER 02 :
Absolutely. I actually, I gave a speech my sophomore year in Ms. Fielder's class and it was called the PWHTC people who hate track club. It had to be a persuasive speech. And so I remember the day I gave it and coach Christensen came up to me, who was a track coach. And he's like, I hear you gave a speech about how much you hate track. I'm like, well, yeah, you know, I don't like it, right? He's like, but a speech? I was like, yeah, it was really easy to write.
SPEAKER 01 :
You had to graduate early 2000s. When was it? Yeah, 2001.
SPEAKER 1 :
2001.
SPEAKER 01 :
So you had your 20th class reunion. Yeah. Did you go to it?
SPEAKER 02 :
We actually didn't have one. So no, no, we didn't. Yeah. It was COVID time. So that kind of changed things. So maybe we'll do a 25 here, but we kind of had one planned and then everything kind of fell through.
SPEAKER 01 :
So you probably still talk to a lot of those folks anyway. You'd probably see there.
SPEAKER 02 :
And again, with Facebook, it's nice. You can kind of keep, keep tabs on people and see what they're up to.
SPEAKER 01 :
How about your first job? What did you do? Ooh, real job, real job.
SPEAKER 02 :
This in high school.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 02 :
well that one so i was busy a lot of times with all the all the sports and extracurricular activities so in the summer i got a part-time job and it was for farner bakken and it was they got they had just moved into the new warehouse and so they got all new these green totes if you've seen them around at gas stations different things and all each green tote has three barcodes on it So it was an all automated system. Well, the totes didn't come with the barcodes on them. You had to stick them on there. So they actually dropped pallets of these totes off at the old Farner Bocken, which is now game one. And there were about... seven of us who had to take three stickers and make sure all the barcodes matched on each tote. So it was hot, but it was very flexible. I could go when I could, but we had a lot of fun doing that too. So pretty unsupervised.
SPEAKER 01 :
Uh, yeah. Okay. Yeah. That's, that's, that's a, that's a different job.
SPEAKER 02 :
It's different. Yeah. So next time you see those barcodes, think about putting those on thousands of, of totes.
SPEAKER 01 :
I ask everybody, what did you learn from your first job?
SPEAKER 02 :
That I wanted to go to college and not put barcodes on totes.
SPEAKER 01 :
That's exactly.
SPEAKER 02 :
There you go. That might be the moment.
SPEAKER 01 :
That's what a lot of people learn is what they don't want to do when they got that first job. So you go to BV. Why, why Buena Vista?
SPEAKER 02 :
That would go back to, I said my softball coach, Aaron Hoffman, was very influential. Our assistant coach in high school, her name was Lisa Dukes, and she grew up in Storm Lake and played softball at Buena Vista. I really didn't know what I wanted to do. Like I said, I never really thought much about it. And she said to me, oh, you should go play softball at BV. I know the coach up there. That'd be great. Go visit. So I did. And I just remember there was a lot of Carroll people there at the time. Nolan Stribe, Landon Stribe, Kara Rowedder and Craig were there. Maybe not necessarily people I was super close to at that time, but became good friends with. And so I took my visit. I met with a softball coach and. That was that. I didn't even visit anywhere else. So that's how I ended up there.
SPEAKER 01 :
BV had quite the pipeline to athletes from Carroll. They didn't do it and not so much anymore. But back in that time, yeah, they got a lot of Carroll kids out there.
SPEAKER 02 :
There was a lot of Carroll kids, a lot of Harlan kids, a lot of people who are a lot like me, you know, when I went there. So that was a lot of fun to be surrounded by. Pretty much everyone who went there was involved in some sort of athletics or some extracurricular. So it was it was a good mix of people.
SPEAKER 01 :
Was that your first time really mixing with a lot of people outside of Carroll? Was college? For sure. Yeah. So what did you guys talk about? And what did you tell them about Carroll?
SPEAKER 02 :
I was pretty quiet. I didn't say a whole lot. The joke is that my first two years, even on the softball team, the parents were like, oh, we didn't know you talked. And then I don't know what happened, but all of a sudden... You're on the team? Okay. Yeah, yeah. Then all of a sudden, they're like, what happened to you? I'm like, I don't know. I found my voice and... I had a lot of fun. So we just, I don't know. We had a good time again. We just, nothing's too serious. I just always look for fun. And that's, that's what I did.
SPEAKER 01 :
So what did you do going to business?
SPEAKER 02 :
I assume since that was kind of your, I majored in business management and entrepreneurship and ended up after college. I, uh, Worked for this company called Orange County Chopper Energy Drink of Iowa. Do you remember the show?
SPEAKER 01 :
Do you remember? OK, so this was to customize motorcycles and stuff.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, yeah, exactly. They customized motorcycles, but there was some kind of spoof energy drink and he ran with it. So it was it was like a Red Bull, but it was blue raspberry flavored and he was selling them to all Hy-Vees. And it was a very interesting job. So that didn't last long. But then I worked at a bank, Wells Fargo and Ames. And I remember sitting in the drive-through and it was getting nice out. So it would be about that time when softball would normally be starting when I was in college. And I'm like, oh, man, I wish I was outside right now. And my softball coach at BV, her name was Marge. Marge called me up one day and said, hey, I just got approved to get a full-time assistant softball coach. Would you be interested in the job? And I had coached high school ball when I was in college. I came back and coached Carroll. And I was like, absolutely. So I didn't use that business degree, but I went back and I moved back to Storm Lake and coached softball for about six years.
SPEAKER 01 :
Were you involved with the recruiting of kids and doing all that stuff?
SPEAKER 02 :
Yep, all of it. So that's kind of the beauty of a D3 college. You do it all. So you recruit, you coach, make sure they stay, you try to retain.
SPEAKER 01 :
It is a full-time, year-round job. It is. That coaching.
SPEAKER 02 :
And definitely, I loved it at the high school level. At the college level, it's a little different because... You know, when you're recruiting, you don't just meet the athlete and the student. You meet the parents. And so everything's great. They decide they want to come. Well, it's move-in day. Well, then the parents leave. And so you feel, I felt a huge sense of responsibility. Like, these are my kids now. You know, I'm the one who said, hey, come here, come look at this, come do this. And now it's like, okay, now I got to make sure they're okay and take care of them. And so that was pretty special.
SPEAKER 01 :
How did you draw the line between that and having to push them as athletes? Because you're going to have to get on them at some point and say, you got to play harder. You got to play smarter. We got to win at this level.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, you know, it was pretty easy. When they move it in the fall, at the time, I should say, I don't exactly know the rules now, but we were only allowed to have 10 practices in the fall. So that was our conference rule. So it wasn't... essentially a whole lot of pushing at that point. It's more meeting each other, growing, getting to be a team. And then we had a couple months off where you do the team builders, you do the fundraising and you, you work out in the weight rooms and do those things, but you don't really have to push too hard then. So we usually, we started practice February 1st each year. And by that time, everybody was pretty settled in. So you could push differently then.
SPEAKER 01 :
Six years. What made you decide to leave that after six years?
SPEAKER 02 :
Oh, I had every intention of staying. And then I got married and had my first son Madden on December 22nd. So my intention was to take the time with him and then go back February 1st and be ready to go. And I just I couldn't go back. So I've been a stay at home mom since then.
SPEAKER 01 :
Were you living in Carroll at that time? Storm Lake. Okay. So tell me about your husband, how you guys met, so forth.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. He was actually an assistant football coach at Buena Vista. Oh, okay. So my senior year was his first year as an assistant football coach, but I didn't know him then. And then when I came back and started coaching, obviously it's a small campus. All of us were friends and... Eventually we ended up together. So yeah, he coached football and I coached softball and we had a lot of fun, a lot of good friends up there.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah. What brought you back to Carroll?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, I got pregnant with my second child, Miller, and as much as coaching is really fun, it doesn't pay the bills very well. So we kind of figured, you know, we better get real and try to get a job that makes money. So that's what brought us back here. Coaching is still both of us love it. It's our passion, but we enjoy being here and raising our family here.
SPEAKER 01 :
The reason I wanted to talk to you is because you're involved in so many different things around the area. You got the, what was the public service award from the Carol Chamber?
SPEAKER 02 :
Humanitarian of the Year, yep.
SPEAKER 01 :
Humanitarian of the Year. And they said during the presentation, they were just peeling off one cause t-shirt after another, you know, and that just kind of drove home the point of how many different things you're involved with. What started all that? You had two kids at home, you're a stay-at-home mom, but then all of a sudden you started getting involved with everything.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah, I don't know. My husband always says I don't know how to say no. That's one of my questions.
SPEAKER 01 :
Have you ever said no to something?
SPEAKER 02 :
He said that's the problem. And then he goes, the next time you say yes, just make sure you ask for money. You know, it just kind of happened organically. I... From growing up, my mom was always really involved. My grandpa was involved, my great-grandpa, my great-aunt, my great-uncle. Just everyone I'm around, I see them going and doing their best and helping wherever they can. And so I guess I just have been surrounded by those types of people and those role models. And so... I'd just go back to maybe like vacation Bible school if my kids were old enough to go. Well, do you want to help? Sure, I'll help. So there I started to get involved in the church. And then, all right, youth basketball. Hey, we need a coach. Okay, yep, I'll do that. And so those are kind of the ways that I get involved. I remember vividly having a conversation with my Grandpa John when he was alive. And I told Dave Bruner this, that... out of everything that my grandpa accomplished, on his counter in his basement sat his Carroll Citizen of the Year Award, always. And so that's just something that was really important to him. And my grandpa and I were having a conversation about me and what I want to do. And, you know, all right, my kids are in school now. I should get a job and start, you know, contributing a little. And he said, you're doing exactly what you need to do. Keep making the community better. Keep doing these things as long as you can. So whatever it is, that's what you need to be doing. And so that's always... struck and stayed with me. And so as long as I'm able, I'm going to keep doing those things to make this town what it is.
SPEAKER 01 :
So what has been one of the more memorable things you've been involved with? When you think about, you know, volunteering your time, things like that, what really stands out?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, everything I do with my kids, I love. And I love being able to be with their friends and see who they're hanging out with. And that's really those are memories that I'll hold on to and I'll cherish forever. The one event that really stands out is probably RAGBRAI.
SPEAKER 03 :
Really?
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. Yeah. That was a that was one of the bigger undertakings.
SPEAKER 01 :
50th anniversary of RAGBRAI.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. Yeah. That I did not know what I was getting myself into.
SPEAKER 01 :
Had you been around RAGBRAI much at all?
SPEAKER 02 :
On the fun side of it, yeah. Yeah, I wrote it a little bit a couple times and did not understand what it took to put that on. But I remember it was... It was October, the year before they came in, and there was a meeting they had up at, it was at Avala Bank. And I was like, I don't know. It was a really random list of people. I thought, hmm, what is this meeting for? I don't know. So I go and I sit down and, you know, the public safety people are there, the mayor's there, city managers, some chamber people. I'm like, hmm, what could this be? well it was that we had been approached carol had been approached and asked if we wanted to would be willing to host on the 50th anniversary of reg bride and so we had to decide if we're saying yes or no so i i was just kind of the odd one out as a community member sitting there listening and going back and forth and i just remember thinking you're like well what do you think i was like i think yes we should do it like no brainer let's bring people here let's show off what we have and they're like all right, well, will you be on the committee? And I was like, sure, yeah, because I don't know that word no. And that started it, and it ended up being a lot of fun.
SPEAKER 01 :
There's nothing probably like serving on a RAGBRAI committee.
SPEAKER 02 :
No, it was wild. But I knew some people who were on the committee with us already, and having a chance to work with them was great. Some good community leaders, Mike and Lynda Franey,
SPEAKER 01 :
By the way, she swore she would never become involved with RAGBRAI again.
SPEAKER 02 :
I know. That was number two. And then, you know, it might happen again. You never know.
SPEAKER 01 :
What inside information do you have for us?
SPEAKER 02 :
I would definitely call her none. None. Okay. See, they got to find another sucker like me next time. And they say, do you want to say yes? Was there any pushback at that meeting saying, no, we don't want to do this? Yeah. Yeah, there was definitely. Was there? We were joking, Rosie and Nace. She's like, I spent that whole day loading toilet paper and, uh, and do a port-a-pots. And, you know, I think everyone thinks back on, well, that was a lot of work, but, um, we all said it was awesome. It was fun. We do it again, but yeah, you're glad it's over when it's over.
SPEAKER 01 :
I believe Roseanne's exact words to me are, I'm going to retire before that. Yes. Yep.
SPEAKER 02 :
And that's what she said before this one, too. So we need to keep her around. She knows what she's talking about.
SPEAKER 01 :
She's still there at the chamber helping out and doing all that stuff. So what are some things that maybe were a lot more work than you thought they were going to be? When you first volunteered, you thought, wow, maybe I should have thought twice about this.
SPEAKER 02 :
For Regbrae? No. Or for anything. Yeah. Well, maybe RAG. Yeah. you know what, I don't really have any regret or anything like that that I'm overwhelmed with. You know, COVID kind of came and I don't even remember what I was doing before that happened. But all of a sudden, anything I was volunteering for was just gone. And so after COVID, I kind of got a fresh start. And my kids were a little bit older, and I picked some new things to be more involved in, maybe less involved in some other things.
SPEAKER 01 :
It had to be hard on you not to be involved, have things not going on. It was weird. It was weird.
SPEAKER 02 :
Definitely played a lot of trivia online with my friends. We would gather in our driveway and, you know. At first, we started by staying 10 feet apart or whatever it was. And by the end of the week, we're like, whatever.
SPEAKER 01 :
So tell me what Carroll is doing right. You've got a unique perspective on the town of Carroll with your family history, being so involved in community events and activities. What's something that the town of Carroll is doing correctly?
SPEAKER 02 :
You know, that's something I don't think about a lot. I don't know. I just love it here. I can't imagine... living anywhere else. I love being able to shop local. We just started, I shouldn't say we just undertook, but we've been doing a big house remodel in addition. Everything we've done, we've done it with local people, contractors, supplies, and everybody's so amazing to work with. I think the people we have here are right. They care about each other. They're honest, hardworking, and I think they care about the community. So I just I always feel blessed to live here. Even I'll go back to when I was raising money for different for different causes. And I know I shouldn't be surprised every time because the same thing happens. But I'm blown away at the support that this community gives to each other, businesses, individuals, whatever it is. It's just we help each other. And that's what's really cool.
SPEAKER 01 :
What do we need more of? Flip that around. I would say, what are we falling short? But it's a lot of times it's just you just need more of something rather than what we're doing wrong.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, I miss Uptown. I miss Larry at Uptown. Let's see, what else? I mean, and I think we have great restaurants, but I don't like to cook, so I could always use a few more restaurants, but... Uh-huh, see, that was a question for later on.
SPEAKER 01 :
Was it?
SPEAKER 02 :
Okay, okay, well... I'm going to ask it again. Okay, yeah, but no, other than that, I... I don't know. I love like my kids. My youngest son, Miller, he's nine and he turns 10 in eight days. And his biggest wish is he can now get dropped off at the rec center and stay there by himself because he'll be 10 years old. So having that facility where kids can grow up and go hang out and have I don't know if you spend much time down there, but it is fun to look in the gym and see all the kids playing together, Carroll kids, Kemper kids. They're just having a ball. And so I think we're really blessed to have that here as well.
SPEAKER 01 :
That's a big moment for a kid when you get to be dropped off by yourself and you get to go in without mom and dad.
SPEAKER 02 :
I'm not going to lie. He has been kicked out a couple of times because he's conned people into bringing him there. And I get the call from Danny's, the guy who works at the desk. And he's like, Miller's here again. I'm like, really? I'm not even in town. How did he get there? So his only wish next Thursday is that he can go down and be dropped off and go to the rec center by himself. And he really hopes Danny's working.
SPEAKER 01 :
So what do you try to instill in your kids through all your volunteer work? Do you kind of mention that to them or do you just want to lead by example?
SPEAKER 02 :
I just, I'd like to lead by example, but there's a couple of times where I do need their help. And I say, come on, you know, it'll be good. It's good for you to do this and to be a part of it. And again, they're teenage boys or young boys. They're like, oh, mom. But I notice them also starting to take care of things and do things. You know, if they see someone with a need, they go try to help and try to fix it. And so I'm hoping what I am doing is leading by example, but I also don't want to make them hate community service either. So no, they're, that's just all I hope is that they want to, they want to do good for Carol too. And I hope they want to live here someday and raise their family here someday.
SPEAKER 01 :
Like I said, you had your moment in high school delivering the Christmas meals. Yeah. They're going to have their moments. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Coming up. Do you ever see you or your family leaving, Carroll, for any reason?
SPEAKER 02 :
No, I don't. Now, I will say this. When I was in college and after college, I thought I'd never come back. I thought, oh, it's too small. You know, I think every... teenager, early 20 year old gets that idea. But when it came down to it and I really thought about where I wanted to raise a family and be this, this is the place.
SPEAKER 01 :
So did you have any place in mind that you wanted to maybe go?
SPEAKER 02 :
No, maybe Des Moines. I don't know. You know, just not, yeah, just not home. Right.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, exactly. So let's talk about what puts you in a good mood immediately. What would you say that is?
SPEAKER 02 :
My friends, food, being together, hanging out. I love sports. Anything that involves that, those things I'll do. Sunshine.
SPEAKER 01 :
What's the ultimate vacation spot then?
SPEAKER 02 :
Ooh, that's tough. We just got back from Arizona. We went over spring break, and I saw some old friends, which was great. We had sunshine, pool. We relaxed. It's hard to beat that. It's hard to beat that. I know. I don't necessarily need the water, so I just need sunshine and warm.
SPEAKER 01 :
What's one bad habit you wish you could break?
SPEAKER 02 :
Oh, gosh. I'm kind of a perfectionist. So I wish that there was times where I could just like, for example, we're doing touch up paint on our walls after our remodel. And I can't just like touch up a spot. It's like I got to do the whole wall. So I just that that I wish I could shake for a perfectionist.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, you can't just do touch up.
SPEAKER 02 :
No, you can't touch up. You're just repainting it.
SPEAKER 01 :
You will see it every single time.
SPEAKER 02 :
Every time I decided to hire that done.
SPEAKER 01 :
Does it bother you when like pictures are crooked or you go into somebody's house and it's like you just want to go over and fix it?
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes. And I will say this, since we've been doing this remodeling project at our house, I've really had to learn to let go of all of that because we've been living in a dusty project mess. And so I'll be excited when that's done and I can get back to a sense of like keeping those pictures straight and...
SPEAKER 01 :
I'm sure your husband loves the fact that you're a perfectionist.
SPEAKER 02 :
Oh, yeah. Just ask him. He can't load the dishwasher right for sure. That's, you know.
SPEAKER 01 :
Do you have to go in and reload it after he does?
SPEAKER 02 :
Of course, yes, because I could fit like 10 more dishes in there.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, yeah, clearly. Who is somebody you really look up to in town? You don't have to necessarily know them all that well, but you just kind of go, yeah, I really look up to them.
SPEAKER 02 :
You know, there's a lot. I think Carol has a ton of a ton of great leaders around. Dave Bruner, I got the chance to work with him on some state baseball stuff. He does amazing things. Ryan Milligan, I've got to know through some work, and I think he's a wonderful asset to Carroll, a good promoter of our town, has good ideas, and the town's best interest in mind. My great aunt, Sara, Sara Anderson, she's she's amazing. I don't know how she does what she does, but she's still so involved and helps everyone. And I really do look up to her for everything she does.
SPEAKER 01 :
How about what's some of the hardest things that you think you've had to go through here in Carroll? What were some times where you say, I really struggled with this? You're asking some tough questions. It's my job.
SPEAKER 02 :
It's good. I don't I tend to block out bad things that happen. So I just forget.
SPEAKER 01 :
You seem like you always have a smile on your face every time I've ever seen short term memory.
SPEAKER 02 :
You just got to forget that stuff. Goldfish is not. Yep. There you go. I love that show. I don't know. Just for me personally, I don't know the town of Carroll, but when my grandpa passed away, that was tough for me. And I helped take care of my grandma, which is wonderful. She's self-sufficient, but just kind of helping her through that, that's been a challenge, but a good challenge. I'm glad I could get to be with her and do those things.
SPEAKER 01 :
What's one goal you're still working towards?
SPEAKER 02 :
Ooh, another tough one. I don't really have anything. Like I was telling you before we started, my aunt Deb's always asking me, she's like, well, what are you going to do now that this is over? What are you going to do now that this is over? I was like, I don't know. Something usually finds me. And so I don't really have to have too many goals. I feel like things just kind of find me and projects do and whatever they are, I'm usually hopefully able to help.
SPEAKER 01 :
And let life come to you. That's right. Take me through your daily routine. What do you do? What time do you get up in the morning? Is there something you got to have your coffee or something? Oh, I got to have coffee for sure. Well, what time do you get up in the morning?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, my alarm starts going off at about 6.15, and I like to snooze a couple times. So then it's usually a rat race, getting my kids ready, trying to make what they want for breakfast, because what they like one day isn't what they like the next day, and then I don't have the right thing. So I usually try to get them out the door by 7.50 and drop them off at school. Then I have my coffee. So I got it. I got to get through that. Maybe I should have my coffee before then. Probably. I would probably be happier. You might want to switch that. I might. I might. I might try that tomorrow. So then I have my coffee and I have two dogs and they're kind of like my kids. So they need a little attention after I drop my other kids off at school, take them on a little walk, let them out. And then I get to work. So it's. I like to say that I'm the busiest stay-at-home mom there is. I don't really sit around and watch TV like my son thinks I do. But I stay busy with the Carroll High School Foundation. church, youth basketball. Those are kind of the three things I'm doing right now. Um, like I said, I helped take care of my grandma, Sally. I have another grandma in town too. So, you know, just different things. I get a lot of calls and I get to go help people. And, and that's, that's what I do.
SPEAKER 01 :
So you established that you don't like to cook. Correct. Just not something you ever wanted to do or no. So I was going to ask you what your specialty is for cooking and
SPEAKER 02 :
Pick up to go. No, actually, my husband is a pretty good cook. So that works well. And I, like I said, I'm really good at loading the dishwasher. So he usually cooks. I clean. So that works out well. Hey, that works. It does.
SPEAKER 01 :
It's opposite of my house. I clean up. My wife cooks.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. Yeah. He makes a really big mess when he cooks, but. It's good. He's a good cook. I am not. I like to have a recipe and to follow it. Exactly. So I'm better at baking, but he can just find stuff in the fridge and the cupboards and throw it together and make something really good.
SPEAKER 01 :
So what are your favorite foods?
SPEAKER 02 :
I'm a big fan of Mexican. So Las Tarascas is like my favorite place to go eat in town. And I like Italian pasta. I love to grill. I love grilled food. So I'm really not too picky. Love ice cream. Yeah. Pretty much. Yeah. Food's my love language.
SPEAKER 01 :
Okay. Do you like to go camping or glamping?
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, I have to tell you, the last time I went camping, a raccoon who seems... who evidently was very humanized by people camping. I don't even know where we were. We were over by Dubuque somewhere. Just kept coming to our campsite. So we were zipped up. He knew where the food was. Oh, my gosh. But it's one of those where you're like, okay, is he nice and he just wants food? Or what's going on here? So we ended up being zipped up in our tents by 8 o'clock that night. So if I had a choice, I would go glamping.
SPEAKER 01 :
Bring the satellite dish out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Just some other quick questions that we kind of wrap things up here. What would you rather do? Would you rather throw a party or attend a party? Both.
SPEAKER 02 :
Any party I'm down for.
SPEAKER 01 :
You're a control perfectionist. I am throwing the party to me would be your specialty.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes, I am. Definitely love to be in control. But yep. And I will say my house is kind of the gathering spot. So that's that's typical. That doesn't shock me at all.
SPEAKER 01 :
What's your favorite day of the week and why?
SPEAKER 02 :
Friday for sure. Just ready for the weekend.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yep. Household chore that you hate the most.
SPEAKER 02 :
Oof. That's a tough one. I would say cooking. So cooking or dusting. I also don't like folding socks. Hate folding socks.
SPEAKER 01 :
Just socks in particular.
SPEAKER 02 :
Just, yes, because the kids all look alike and yeah, just can never find the pairs. I don't know. It's a thing.
SPEAKER 01 :
What's something you learned in the last week or a fact that you just recently learned?
SPEAKER 02 :
OK, this isn't really a fact, but it was a it was a saying and it was I might screw it up, but it was something about don't worry about. Don't spend too much time worrying about making good life for your children that you forget to make today a good day. And so that just really struck a chord with me. And I think, you know, we spent all this time trying to, you know, see big picture down the road, do all those things. You know, especially I think with like for us right now doing this home renovation, like you try to get the painting done and do all these things because you want to have this nice house for your kids. But it's like, you know what? They really just want to go play catch with you in the yard. Don't worry about getting that done. So. So that was just kind of a quote that really struck a chord with me. What makes you nervous? Not being in control.
SPEAKER 01 :
For sure. True perfectionist. For sure. Yeah.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yep. I'll never forget when I was pregnant with Matt and I went to childbirth class and that's what they, they're like, what's your biggest fear about this? I was like, not being in control. And I haven't been in control for a second since my oldest has been born. So that was a, he's, he's in control for sure.
SPEAKER 01 :
I have one more question for you and it's the most important one of all. Okay. What has been your favorite thing about recording this podcast?
SPEAKER 02 :
Ooh, I liked your questions. Those are deep thinking. Those are like, I'm going to go home and lay in bed tonight and think about what my goal is and what, what things I would do differently. So, uh, yeah, really, yeah. Real thinking. And then you have to have me back. So then I can, I can come up with some better answers for you. But yeah, those were, those are some good. Good deep thought questions. I like them.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, I tell you what, it's been great catching up with you and talking to you, but I love the involvement you do in the community and things. Every community needs someone that's involved in everything. And so, I mean, that plays a huge role here.
SPEAKER 02 :
So thank you. Thanks for having me. I love it. I love that I can be here. I love that I live here and can give my time and hopefully help others and help them love this place too.
SPEAKER 01 :
So you're a must-know person. I guess I am. It's Katie Cruz on Must Know People here with me, John Ryan.
