Iowa Life Episode 401

[CHARITY NEBBE] Coming up on this episode of Iowa Life, we'll step onto the court with women who prove that you are never too old to play ball.

[TAMARA FRIDAY] I just love the friendships that she's made from this and they get to stay active. It's great. 

[NEBBE] We'll meet an Iowan who has spent more than 20 years making sure veterans are remembered.

[MIKE ROWLEY] I just think everybody makes a mark, and sometimes their impact isn't understood until much later, or maybe never. But there should be an opportunity to see what they've done.

[NEBBE] And we'll meet a young champion who is confidently taking her sport to the world stage.

[GWEN MAIERS] I would say we're very closely related with dancing and track and field combined.

[NEBBE] It's all coming up next on Iowa Life.

[ANNOUNCER] Funding for Iowa Life is provided by – 

[ANNOUNCER] The MA Martin Everist Foundation founded by Margaret Ann Martin Everist, is proud to support arts, culture, public media and education in the Siouxland community in northwest Iowa. 

[ANNOUNCER] The estate of Wilma and Kenneth Groe of Burlington, Iowa, dedicated to helping bring entertaining, informational and educational programs to the people of Iowa.

[ANNOUNCER] The Lainie Grimm Fund for Inclusive Programming at the Iowa PBS Foundation. 

[ANNOUNCER] And by Friends, the Iowa PBS Foundation. 

[NEBBE] Hi, I'm Charity Nebbe and this is Iowa Life. I am in Woodland Cemetery in Des Moines, where one Iowan has spent decades making sure that veterans who were buried without headstones are remembered. But first, we are talking basketball, which is a big deal in Iowa. Generations of women grew up playing six on six. And that tradition lives on through a nationwide league that was started right here in Iowa. It's granny basketball.

[NEBBE] This isn't your average game of pickup. This is granny basketball. 

[TEAM] Go Grayhawkers!

[NEBBE] It's a national league with more than 800 players. And it got its start in Iowa more than 25 years ago. There's a lot to learn and love about this culture, and I had to see what it was all about for myself. 

I've touched a basketball for at least five years, but I'm 51 now, so it's time to play with the grannies. 

[NEBBE] So I'm a guard over here, right? 

[SHARON JAESCHKE] Yeah. 

[NEBBE] I'm guarding you.

[SHARON JAESCHKE] So you guarded in high school.

[NEBBE] In junior high. I don't know what the rules are. 

[NEBBE] Oh, no. I left her wide open. 

[SHARON JAESCHKE] Thank you. 

[NEBBE] Do you think people have some misconceptions when they hear granny basketball?

[SHARON JAESCHKE] I think that they probably think it's too slow to be fun. The misconception probably is that we're just doing it because we have to or just to stay healthy. We can do a lot of things to stay healthy. We can pool walk, we can walk, you know, we can do a lot of stuff. We do this because we love the sport. It's so fun. Basketball has always been my best friend, so I'm just so lucky I still get to play. 

[NEBBE] There are a handful of rules for granny basketball, some of which hearken back to the six on six game, while others are strictly for safety. First, the court is split into thirds. Each team has two guards, two centers and two forwards. Players cannot move out of their designated area. You can't run or jump, though you can hurry. There are two dribbles allowed per possession. Granny shots are worth three points. 

[NEBBE] And any kind of physical contact is prohibited. 

[NEBBE] Ope sorry. 

[NEBBE] Though it's not a requirement to join, many women who play granny basketball have prior experience playing in high school or college. Some grannies love the sport so much they've stayed in the league for decades. 

[NEBBE] Do you mind if I ask how old you are? 

[JEAN MINAHAN] 83. 

[NEBBE] 83. You are amazing. Have you been part of this team from the very start? 

[JEAN MINAHAN] Yes. 

[NEBBE] Wow.

[JEAN MINAHAN] Well, one year later. One year later. 

[NEBBE] Okay.

[JEANA SMITH] This is my 20th year.

[NEBBE] How did you find out about it?

[JEANA SMITH] I had a friend that knew I was six feet tall, and the minute I turned 50, she was on me to come to practice.

[NEBBE] We need you. 

[JEANA SMITH] That's all it took. I loved it.

[NEBBE] Of course, these women don't just get together and practice for fun. Every year the national championship title is on the line.

[NEBBE] You may have noticed by now that there is a specific uniform that each woman wears. That's by design.

[PATTY DYAR] These are the uniforms that we wore in 1920. And you couldn't expose, show any skin. So that's why you see the bloomers and the tall socks. And at that time they wore a three quarter length sleeves. But a lot of ladies now will wear the full length. And then your number was on a collar. So every team wears the same thing. The only thing that's different are the socks. You get to pick your team socks.

[NEBBE] Certainly the competition is fierce. These women play to win.

[TEAM] Go Stars!

[NEBBE] But with team names like the old glories, the hot flashes, the old rips and the pacemakers, they're mostly here for a good time.

[WOMAN]  Go, heifers! Moo! 

[TAMARA FRIDAY] My mom is 70. She plays for the Cowtown Heifers. And she's been on the team for two years. You know, they're older, so sometimes they've lost their spouse, like my mom, my dad died a couple years ago, and I found this league. And I just love the friendships that she's made from this and they get to stay active. It's great. 

[NEBBE] Several teams have mother daughter pairs like the ICT Aerobelles out of Kansas. 

[PAT CONNER] We're in the championship bracket. The first time we've ever been there and we're just having a ball. So my goal is to live to be 100 and still be on the court. I'm 94 now.

[PRODUCER] And do you mind me asking how old you are?

[DEBBIE PUGA] No. 6, 7. 67.

[WOMAN] Go up, go up. Yeah. 

[BARBARA TOMLINSON TRAMMELL] It takes care of a lot of needs of women our age. You know, women our age, you know, they're empty nesters, and maybe they're widowed or divorced, and it just fills in a void that they've never had before. 

[MELISSA GENTRY] It's just so much fun. And truly, anyone 50 or older can play. There are teams that are super competitive and there are teams that are just out for a Sunday stroll, so you don't have to be some championship hooper to be able to play.

[DEBBIE PUGA] Her mantra is, all you got to do is what, mom?

[PAT CONNER] Walk, hold your hands up like this and be able to walk. And that's all you have to do. 

[DEBBIE PUGA] Catch a ball. That's about it. 

[BARBARA TOMLINSON TRAMMELL] I hope that it will keep going and that more and more women can understand the benefits of team sports. You know, there's the camaraderie and not only the exercise, you get to travel, you have a support system and people applaud when you do something. So that's the best part. How many people get applauded for baking cookies? Especially if you make a three point shot, you get applause.

[NEBBE] We all want to be remembered, to know that our lives meant something to someone. There are veterans buried across the state of Iowa whose graves have never been properly marked, and for more than 20 years, Central Iowa native Mike Rowley has been finding them, researching their service and making sure they receive the recognition they earned.

[MIKE ROWLEY] There's an old quote that says there's three deaths. The first phase is when life leaves the body. The second phase is when you're interned in your final resting spot. And the third and final phase is the last time your name is spoken. I just think everybody makes a mark, and sometimes their impact isn't understood until much later, or maybe never. But there should be an opportunity to see what they've done. Walking in the cemeteries, not only do you see the history, but all of a sudden you see an empty grave and you wonder, why isn't that person marked? If it's in a military section, you think, well, they're eligible for a stone, why not? I never intended to do as many as I have. I thought if I could mark one guy or five guys, it would be a way to remember them. 

[MIKE ROWLEY] So I grew up in Des Moines, you know, middle class, I guess, in the in the 60s. I was born in ‘57. 

[MIKE ROWLEY] One of the things that impacted my childhood is my father was a World War Two veteran, and he came back from the war, but he died of a of a service related situation in 1965. I was eight years old then. Maybe a result of that, we went to cemeteries a lot. John Montgomery is the individual that we’ll be putting the stone in today. As you can see, he was in the war of 1812. But a lot of these guys, their service was just a small part of their life. John was also a judge. He was also a preacher, so had a very colorful and very full life. And his grave will finally be marked in Boone, Iowa today. We find unmarked veterans graves. And if we can get permission from the local cemetery and the family, we mark their graves with a stone from the VA. They're all eligible for it. And us doing that is just a small part to complete their lives. 

[MIKE ROWLEY] I find a veteran that might not be marked. I research to prove their military service. Then we get all the documentation together. We contact the cemetery. The cemetery says yes, if you can get the stone, we'll allow it to be put in. We contact the family through ancestry.com or different things. They usually give approval. Then we submit it to the VA. Typically it's about 2 to 3 months, and then once they approve it, it's another month till they deliver it to your house. So I throw it in the back of the car, take it to the cemetery and go put it in. 

[MIKE ROWLEY] You know, we probably put our first stone in maybe 20 years ago, but we really ramped it up and started doing a lot of them around 2019, 2018, after I had retired, I had a little more time. You know, I never kept count of the number of different cemeteries, but I'd say we're probably near 40 or 50 cemeteries and probably 20 or 30 counties across the state.

[MIKE ROWLEY] It's always an honor to remember a forgotten veteran. And I know people always ask us sometimes, why do you worry about putting down a stone for somebody that died 150, 175 years ago? I think it's not only important to honor the veteran, but as a real show to their families and their descendants that they're still cared for and thought of. 

[MIKE ROWLEY] So these ones that are four inches thick are about 240 pounds.

[MIKE ROWLEY] I think it's also very significant to the people that are active military and the younger people. It gives them a real sense and place that, hey, these guys served like I serve today, but they did it 150 years ago and they're still being remembered. So maybe what I do is important.

[MIKE ROWLEY] I started out with a goal of five. I don't even have a number anymore. As long as I'm healthy and and can do it, I hope to do so.

[MIKE ROWLEY] Nobody should really be forgotten. This is just such an easy way, and hopefully it encourages other people to realize they could do the same thing. 

[PERLA CAMACHO JIMENEZ] Hi. How are you? 

[PERLA CAMACHO JIMENEZ] We take pieces of clay – 

[NEBBE] After being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, ceramicist Perla Camacho Jimenez found healing through clay and connection. She is sharing that power of healing with others through her therapeutic ceramics class for people living with rheumatic conditions including arthritis, fibromyalgia and gout. 

[PERLA CAMACHO JIMENEZ] The first thing that I thought is how can I make a community? How can I know more people with what I'm dealing with? 

[PERLA CAMACHO JIMENEZ] It's a workshop for rheumatic patients working with clay. They are healing through clay. It's a very broad spectrum of people that are dealing with pain and stiffness, joint problems and through clay it's like a little workout for the hands. It helps a lot to get rid of the stiffness that happens with rheumatic conditions. The ability to do something in clay doesn't come too naturally at the beginning, especially if your hand is shaking or if you're having trouble squeezing the material. So, there are ways that they have found that work for themselves. 

[RITA HOLM] When you work with clay, you need strength in your hands. It's dealing with arthritic situations and so my hands are arthritic. The movement, the creativity, it helps. 

[RITA HOLM] Give him a real sneaky black eye.

[KERRI MEAD] I immediately thought of my friend Pamela who I know has tendonitis in her thumbs and could no longer create through her hands. 

[KERRI MEAD] And so I thought it would be a great opportunity to remind her of who she is and what she used to be able to do. 

[PAMELA BULMAHN] I enjoy it a lot, just listening to the conversation around me and watching what people create. It's really fulfilling. 

[KERRI MEAD] We came to the first class and Perla really gave us all a hand and helped give us exercises to how to warm up your hands and get them ready to do some work. And then the techniques that she teaches are easy on the hands. You don't have to have so much hand strength to be able to do the things that we're doing.

[PERLA CAMACHO JIMENEZ] I can see an improvement in how confident they are about approaching the clay. 

[PERLA CAMACHO JIMENEZ] It's something that can make them feel accomplished. 

[NEBBE] Up next, you might be surprised by how far you can go with just a stick horse and a little imagination. Gwen Maiers of Dubuque has turned her love of hobby horsing into a competitive sport, traveling from Iowa to Finland to compete. Along the way, she's found something even more valuable -- confidence.

[GWEN MAIERS] I quit hobby horsing. It was about when I started freshman year of high school. I was just getting whispers in the halls. Just that feeling of people are staring at me. I would hear people say weird horse girl, because that's kind of like the stigma, I guess. No one ever wants to be called names or know that they're being talked about behind their back. I didn't outright quit or say I was quitting on any of my social medias. I'm more just like faded out of it. One of the girls who organizes the US championships had messaged me saying, hey, we're doing the first ever championships in Michigan. We'd love for you to be there. And I, I hadn't touched a hobby horse in like six months, but something in my brain when I saw that text just clicked like, why did I stop doing this? You know, I missed it so much. And so as soon as I got home, I picked up my horses, I put my stable back up and I started training. 

[GWEN MAIERS] I have 17 hobby horses. I have my two original horses, which are actually just sticks from outside that I glued yarn on because I didn't have a real hobby horse at the time, but now I have nine main horses and that would be Goldie. Terho. Domino. Robin. Kara. Aura. Freya. Luna and Cleo. 

[GWEN MAIERS] Today we are at Swiss Valley Park, and today we're going to be doing a smaller hobby horse competition. 

[GWEN MAIERS] Hobby horsing was started in Finland. It's a competitive sport where we mimic riding a horse. It was about 2020. I was really interested in like the model Schleich horses, so I would always watch videos about it on like YouTube. And after one of those videos stopped playing a hobby horse video popped up and started playing and I was just hooked instantly. I just thought it was the coolest thing. 

[GWEN MAIERS] Someone wanted me to prove that hobby horsing is a sport, I would give them my Apple Watch and show them that in 30 minutes hobby horsing I burn more calories than 30 minutes of riding a real horse, which real horse riding is in the Olympics, it's considered a sport, so I wouldn't see why something that burns just as many calories isn't also sport. It's a lot of physical activity.

[GWEN MAIERS] We have different gaits like walk, trot, canter, just like a real horse, and the trot is very similar to running. And the canter is also similar to running. And we also jump like a hurdler would. So I would say we're very closely related with dancing and track and field combined. 

[GWEN MAIERS] At the first championships, which was in 2024, I won the two foot show jumping category and the two foot hunter jumper category. Then last year's championships in 2025, I won the flat class category. 

[GWEN MAIERS] And then most recently and most excitingly, I've been to Finland to compete. I went to like what we would call the World Championships, the Finnish Hobby Horse championships.

[GWEN MAIERS] Heading to the train station. 

[GWEN MAIERS] It's the biggest event. There was about 500 competitors. There's thousands and thousands of spectators or hobby horsers that maybe didn't get into a class.

[KIM MAIERS] Gwen has been a person who has unapologetically done this very confidently, very joyously.

[CHRIS MAIERS] I'm kind of blown away. It doesn't seem real, I guess. I've never had to deal with, like, “celebrity status” and she has that. Over in Finland, this girl from Slovenia, 4000 miles plus away from where we're at, knows my daughter and is inspired by her. And it's kind of overwhelming to really think about. And that's just what the beauty of what this has brought to us. You know, she has friends from all over the world.

[KIM MAIERS] What's probably been the most fun and prideful for me as a parent is just her confidence with it and the fact that she's instilled this confidence in other hobby horsers.

[CHRIS MAIERS] It's not like a cutthroat competition. Everybody is cheering each other on, which is so awesome to see the sportsmanship.

[GWEN MAIERS] I don't feel the need that I have to win, and I have to show that, you know, I'm still good. I know I'm still good, but I feel like my mind set has changed from being the one who has to win to being the one who, like, wants to be surrounded by people that look up to me because I have big social media pages, so I have a lot of girls who look up to me that have like said, oh, I've started hobby horsing because of you. And that one just really touches my heart because, you know, I love the sport so much, so I'm glad that it touches others and makes them want to do it. 

[GWEN MAIERS] My mindset is just telling me now that I don't have to win, but rather I want to be surrounded by people and lifting them up too. I would say, my number one piece of advice for people who want to get into hobby horsing or are, as my parents say, hobby horse curious, just get out there, go on YouTube. There's lots of fun videos. Get inspired by others, you know, take inspiration when you're making jumps or you're making your own horse for the first time. You know, have fun with it. 

[NEBBE] That's all for this week. Thank you for joining me as we meet people who remind us that there is no one way to make a difference, find your people or simply find something you love. I'm Charity Nebbe. See you next time for more Iowa life. 

[ANNOUNCER] Funding for Iowa Life is provided by – 

[ANNOUNCER] The MA Martin Everist Foundation founded by Margaret Ann Martin Everist, is proud to support arts, culture, public media and education in the Siouxland community in northwest Iowa. 

[ANNOUNCER] The estate of Wilma and Kenneth Groe of Burlington, Iowa, dedicated to helping bring entertaining, informational and educational programs to the people of Iowa.

[ANNOUNCER] The Lainie Grimm Fund for Inclusive Programming at the Iowa PBS Foundation. 

[ANNOUNCER] And by Friends, the Iowa PBS Foundation.