Libertyville Savings Bank

Here recently I had the experience of a lifetime. Both of my girls play travelling softball and, of course, on two different teams.    This past fall my eldest, Alexia, went to play on a team out of Ottumwa which was a great experience for her.    Her teammates consisted of girls 12 and under from Ottumwa, Moravia, Eddyville and Fremont. She developed new relationships and found friends for a lifetime. This spring playing ball has been pretty good. We started the second weekend of April and will finish the middle of July. The scheduling has been really pretty good. They have played opposite weekends or at the same tournaments, where I can bounce from field to field catching a little of one game and then get back to help coach my youngest daughter, Nicoa’s, team or leaving her team to go catch the end of Alexia’s game. Nicoa’s team consists of ten girls. Nine out of the ten go to Cardinal and one girl from Ottumwa. We recently played at Coralville at the state ASA tournament which h

                One of my favorite memories as a kid was strawberry season in early June.   My Grandma Johnson had a large strawberry patch.   We’d go down to her house on the weekend when the berries were ripe.   We would help pick berries, and then always have fresh berries and ice cream.   There are not many simple things in life that are better.             8 to 9 years ago my future wife moved down here from Des Moines.   It was May when she moved and a couple weeks after she had arrived the strawberries would be getting ripe.   Grandma and Grandpa had moved to town so they no longer had a patch to pick.   Instead, when the time came I just stopped at the Farmers Market and picked up a couple boxes.   It was just enough for a young couple.   I remember sending Katie a text as I headed home that said, “I bought you a present”.    I’m not sure what she had in mind, maybe flowers, jewelry, but not strawberries.   She was anything but thrilled when I arrived at home.   In fact,