Speaking in Forest City

Monday, August 18th, 2014 | Speaking | No Comments

AUGUST 26 — The Winnebago Historical Society will celebrate Forest City’s own Bob Baker on Tuesday, August 26, with Iowa History Journal’s Mike Chapman, who will speak at several venues in town.

Chapman will speak at the Forest City Rotary Club at noon in Salveson Hall’s ballroom (106 S. Sixth St.) at Waldorf College. He will be at the Mansion Museum (336 N. Clark St.) from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. He will speak at Forest Plaza Assisted Living (635 Highway 9, E.) at 3 p.m. He will introduce and play one of Bob Baker’s films in the community room at Titonka Savings Bank (101 Highway 69, N.), starting at 7 p.m. Free admission with popcorn and refreshments.

Bob Baker, a singing cowboy in movies in the late 1930s, was born Stanley Leland Weed on Nov. 8, 1910, in Forest City. He was selected to star as a singing cowboy for Universal Studios in 1937, beating out several young men for the position – including Leonard Slye, who went on to become famous as Roy Rogers. Stanley’s parents were Guy and Ethel (Leland) Weed. He served in the U.S. Army, was a police officer in Arizona and ran a dude ranch. He died Aug. 29, 1975.

Mike Chapman is founder of Iowa History Journal, a magazine devoted to the preservation of history in Iowa. He retired from a 35-year newspaper career in 2002. He served as publisher of the Newton Daily News, as well as sports editor of the Cedar Rapids Gazette and executive editor of the Sauk Valley Newspapers in Dixon, Illinois. He has written 26 books, and his articles have appeared in dozens of national and regional magazines. One of his novels, Lowell Park (about Ronald Reagan as a lifeguard in Lowell Park in the summer of 1932), has been purchased by a major movie company and is in preproduction.

The Winnebago Historical Society is housed in the 1899 Mansion Museum at 336 N. Clark St., in Forest City, and it oversees Heritage Park, a 91-acre park on the south edge of Forest City. Its mission is to educate children and adults through the Mansion Museum, reintroduce families to their past through the Leibrand-Whiteis Historical Center, and recreate the lives and livelihoods of our ancestors at Heritage Park of North Iowa.

For more information, contact Becky Gjendem at info@winnebgohistoricalsocietyiowa.org or 641-590-5194.

Upcoming events

Wednesday, November 6th, 2013 | Speaking | No Comments

Nov. 3 — Mike will be the featured speaker at the 13th annual Excel Tribute Dinner and the Night of Champions ceremony in Des Moines. Excel Wrestling, owned by Steve Knight, offers elite style training at all levels of wrestling, in several states. Also honored at the event will be Doug Schwab, head wrestling coach at the University of Northern Iowa, a former NCAA champion and Olympian, and Arno Niemand, of Colorado Springs, a long-time supporter of wrestling at all levels and author the book The Dream Team (about the 1947 Cornell College wrestling team that won the NCAA team title). For more information, call Excel Wrestling at 303-931-3973.

Nov. 11 — Mike will give the keynote address for the American Legion Post Ladies Auxiliary Unit 1976 in North Liberty, to be held at the South Slope Communications Conference Center in North Liberty. He will talk about the lives and military service of Fred Becker and Nile Kinnick. Becker, from Waterloo, was Iowa’s first All-American football player (1916) and signed up to fight in World War I. He was killed in action along the Western Front on July 18, 1918, and was awarded the American Distinguished Service Cross, the Belgian War Cross for bravery and France’s top military honor. Kinnick is Iowa’s greatest football legend,winning the Heisman Trophy in 1939 and losing his life on a pilot training mission on June 2, 1943., during World War II. Mike’s book Triumph and Tragedy tells the story of Becker, Kinnick, Jack Trice and Johnny Bright. The event is open to the public.

Nov. 12 — Mike wil be the guest speaker at the Rotary Club Leadership Banquet in Webster City, honoring some of the top students in several local school districts. The event is not open to the public.

Upcoming Schedule of Events – Summer/Fall 2013

Sunday, May 19th, 2013 | Speaking | No Comments

May 30, 11 a.m. – Mike will be the featured speaker at the Iowa Hall of Pride annual volunteers celebration, in Des Moines. He will talk about the impact of such famous Iowans as Nile Kinnick and Fred Becker, both All-American football players at the University of Iowa who lost their lives during war time. The event is not open to the public.

June 13, 5:30 p.m. – Kirk Ferentz, Iowa head football coach, and Mike will be the guests at Fred Becker Day at the Becker-Chapman American Legion Post 138 in Waterloo, to help raise funds for a new sign in front. The post is named for Fred Becker, Iowa’s first All-American football player who was killed in action during World War I, and Carl Chapman, a pilot who was also killed in World War I. Both men are natives of Waterloo. Mike will give a talk about Fred Becker’s heroism on and off the field. Mike’s book Triumph and Tragedy: The Inspiring Stories of Football Legends Fred Becker, Jack Trice, Nile Kinnick and Johnny Bright. will be available for purchase and Kirk and Mike will sign items. There will also be a chill supper and silent auction. Admission is $5 per person and the public is invited. Doors open at 5 p.m. and the supper begins at 5:30 p.m. Call the American Legion Post at 319-234-8511 for more information.

June 28-30 – Bev and Mike will have a booth at Sturgis Falls in Cedar Falls, with Iowa History Journal magazines and many of Mike’s 26 books on display and for sale. Sturgis Falls began in 1976 to honor William Sturgis, who in 1845 settled the area that became known as Cedar Falls. There are a wide variety of events, attractions and exhibitors, and the entire event is free and open to the public.

July 9 – Mike will be giving a speech on the life and legacy of Frank Gotch, former world heavyweight wrestling champion, on Tuesday, July 9, at 7:30 p.m., at Joe Sheldon County Park in Humboldt. The talk is being sponsored by Project AWARE, which is a volunteer weeklong river cleanup. Each year, hundreds of Iowans join together for a week in canoes to remove trash from 80-90 miles of a different river. To date, more than 2,500 AWARE volunteers from across the state have cleaned up over 780 river miles, removing more than 250 tons of trash (70% of which has been recycled) from rivers all across Iowa. This year’s event will be held July 6-13 on the Des Moines River from Algona down through Humboldt and Fort Dodge.The event is open to the public.

July 19 – Mike will be the featured speaker at the Des Moines Metro Scandinavian group meeting at 7 p.m. at the Aldersgate Methodist Church located at 3600 75th Street in Urbandale. He will talk about famous Iowans and plans for the upcoming movie “Lowell Park,” based on his novel of the same name. The event is open to the public.

August 8-18 – For the fourth straight year, Iowa History Journal will have a booth during the Iowa State Fair. The booth is on the second floor of the Ag Building and will feature a wide variety of Iowa History Journal items, most of the 26 books that Mike has authored, and other Iowa related items. Stop by and say “hi” and purchase some of the back issues of Iowa History Journal or Mike’s books and have them personally autographed.

Fall of 2013 – Mike will be a guest at the grand opening of the refurbished movie theater in Forest City and will give a talk about the life and career of Bob Baker, the Forest City native who went on to become a Hollywood star during the golden age of “B” cowboy movies in the 1930s and ‘40s. Bob Baker was on the cover of the January-February issue of Iowa History Journal, and Mike wrote the article. That issue was very popular and helped create new interest in the career of Bob Baker. The exact date of the event is yet to be determined.

Upcoming Speeches and Appearances

Sunday, February 10th, 2013 | Book Signing, Iowa History Journal, Speaking, WIN Magazine, Wrestling | No Comments

February 20 — Mike will be talking to the Knoxville Rotary Club on Wednesday, February 20, at noon at the Swamp Fox Pub and Grille in Knoxville. His speech is about famous Iowans and Iowa History Journal.

March 21-23 – Mike and Bev will be appearing at the WIN Memorabilia Show between sessions of the NCAA Wrestling Tournament in Des Moines on March 21-23. Mike and Bev created the WIN show 23 years ago and they will be greeting wrestling fans and showing memorabilia, as well as selling books, posters and videos. Numerous Olympic champions will be the special guests and an estimated 10,000 wrestling fans are expected to attend the WIN show. It will be located inside of the NCAA Fan Festival in the HY-Vee Hall. There is no charge to attend the WIN show.

July 9 – Mike will be giving a speech on the life and legacy of Frank Gotch, former world heavyweight wrestling champion, on Tuesday, July 9, at 7:30 p.m., at Joe Sheldon County Park in Humboldt. The talk is being sponsored by Project AWARE, which is a volunteer weeklong river cleanup. Each year, hundreds of Iowans join together for a week in canoes to remove trash from 80-90 miles of a different river. To date, more than 2,500 AWARE volunteers from across the state have cleaned up over 780 river miles, removing more than 250 tons of trash (70% of which has been recycled) from rivers all across Iowa. This year’s event will be held July 6-13 on the Des Moines River from Algona down through Humboldt and Fort Dodge.The event is open to the public.

Tags: knoxville rotary, WIN Memorabilia Show