Dear Editor:

I am a subscriber to the Tama-Toledo news and grew up west of Clutier, Iowa in Carroll township. I am very interested in news of that area and wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your write-up about the concrete fence posts on the Winterroth farm.

Your article helped me to answer a question I’d had since the summer of 2003 when I walked Clutier taking photos of every house and interesting object in that town. At that time I took a couple photos of two concrete fence posts that were still in their original location on an acreage on the edge of Clutier where a Simonson family once lived. I believe the Simonson family once owned the grain elevator in Clutier. This acreage was later owned by a Foley family and I don’t know the owner today.

Now I realize the connection of these fence posts to the Winterroth farm for Mrs Simonson was Kate Schlapkohl and no doubt her dad, Otto, made these S concrete posts for her and didn’t even have to change the sir-name initial.. The Clutier concrete fence posts have dates of 1908 and 1913 on them just like those on the Winteroth farm. Today I believe one or more of these posts may be on Clutier’s main street near the Carroll No 8 school house and Ardene Cross’ Clutier Museum.

I thoroughly enjoyed your well-written article filled with historical date and information. It was presented in such an interesting way, bringing the past to the present for us all to understand. I would love to see more historical articles about families and farmsteads. That type of information is much more appetizing to the reader than some fillers currently being used.

In 2000, I wrote a book, “20th Century Czechs in Central Tama County” and thoroughly enjoyed doing the research for it.

Keep up the good work to keep us out-of-town readers interested in our roots in Tama County.

Marcella Pults

Colorado Springs, Colo.