I bet you’ve never heard of Osceola, Iowa. If you’re not from around these parts, I bet you may have hard a hard time with the pronunciation of this delightful little town in south-central Iowa. It’s named, for reasons unknown, after a Seminole Indian from Florida. To residents, it’s Oh see OH la. If you visit, I don’t want you to be pegged as an out-fo-towner by calling it OS see oh la.

Be that as it may, Osceola is not unlike many small towns in the Midwest. Highways bring traffic to town, but almost always, people drive on through, on to larger, more romantic places like Davenport, Dubuque, or Des Moines. You’d like the people of Osceola. They are down-home, salt of the earth kind of folks, and I have collected some of their stories to share with you.