Gary Johnson, musician from Odebolt

 Some of you may remember Gary Johnson who, I think, graduated with the Odebolt-Arthur class of 1964. He is a very talented song writer and guitarist/keyboardist and is a great singer. At the bottom of this post is an article about him from 1977.

This is an excerpt about Gary from the Iowa RockNRoll Music Association: "His professional career as a vocalist and guitarist began in 1967 and he continued to perform in supper clubs, dance halls and other venues until 1984. He did 150-225 performances a year in Iowa, eastern Nebraska, southern Minnesota, and eastern South Dakota. Most of those performances were done as a solo act, with the exception of three outstanding years when his brother, Dean Johnson, played with him".

Gary has some of his music on-line and he has a channel on YouTube. Most of it is music except the first one. Be sure to use the arrow on the right to click to see all the songs!
Here is the YouTube Link.

 Click the article to enlarge it.

Odebolt School History

Added history from the 1916 school yearbook to the School History page on the Odebolt History Pages

1890s Horse and Wagon

We found the below photo on an auction site. It was taken by Odebolt photographer F.E. West about 1890. We believe it is on the corner of Main and Third Streets, looking north on Main. The photography studio was located at the corner of Main and Third, so this would be just outside it. 

Mr. West took over photography in Odebolt from the Lundquist Brothers, Swedish brothers who were the first photographers. West ran the business from about 1885 to September 1891, when, because of failing eyesight, he sold the business to W. C. Ross, Jr., who soon took in  E. S. Frey as a partner.

 

Read more about Photographers in Odebolt at the Odebolt History Pages.

Below is the same photo made clearer. 

The building on the right is the old photography studio.  

Men in women's dress

It's not often we receive a photo with identities! Pam (Rex) Hanson sent this photo in from her mom, Elaine Rex. 

Research in the Odebolt newspaper archives has revealed that the event was the "WOMANLESS WEDDING", presented in 1926 at the Princess Theater on Main Street on Friday, November 5th, Saturday, November 6th and, because it was such a big hit, another show was added on Monday, November 8th. About 70 Odebolt men took part in the presentation. The event was sponsored by the Odebolt Library Board. 

You can read the full story on the Odebolt History Pages.

Below is the photo. Click HERE to bring up the image - then CLICK AGAIN to enlarge it!