Recipes for Living Jean Lundquist

I was born in Illinois on July 11, 1980, the first child of Jim and Anne Lundquist. We moved to Tucson, Arizona, where my brother, Eddie, 1 year younger than I, was born. I really don't remember anything until we moved to Osceola.

I started pre-school in Sunshine Corner and went on to kindergarten. There I had one of my favorite teachers. I don’t even remember why I thought so much of her, but I remember giving her hugs or wrapping my arms around her neck when she was sitting and she would just say, "Oh, you kids!" She was one of the greatest people! It was in kindergarten that I met my best friend, Missy White. She still is one of my best friends. We like to remember things from school.

Another favorite teacher was Mrs. Dixon. She was real fun. She set up a little club and we came to know one another really well in that group. The club I was in was called Self Helpers. We were kids who could do work on our own and we had good class behavior. We got our homework done on time. Because of that, we could be at the head of the line and things like that. One month at Christmas time we got to make a gingerbread house. Another time we went to Indianola and had an over-night at her house. We went shopping and had all sorts of fun. One of my friends from that time was Kylie Parmer and she is still a good friend. At the end of the school year Mrs. Dixon made memory books for the entire class. She told things that had happened during the year. She had written in mine, "I'm so sad that you will be leaving. It will be like losing a daughter."

When I was in about 4th grade, I started taking lessons from Susan Connolly. She's my mom's best friend, so I've known her forever. She took over my mom's studio in Lamoni. For years my parents would drive me there to take lessons. In kindergarten, I also took from my father's sister, my aunt Nancy, who had a studio here and now lives in Corning.

The whole family was and still is interested in dance. My brother took a few years; as did my Uncle Alan's children, Amy, Ashley and Ryan; and my Aunt Nancy's children Brad, Courtney and Alexis. All of my cousins on my mother's side of the family, also, take dance lessons. Even the tiny ones are taking lessons.

I can't really say exactly what it was that interested me in dance in the beginning but now I couldn't imagine being without it. It gives me a way to express myself. It has helped build my self-confidence so that I don't mind performing in front of people, whether it is in dance or standing up before a class to make some kind of presentation.

We spend holidays with families. We always wonder which grandparents to be with - my grandparents in Des Moines or the ones in Osceola. Wherever we go, it is always fun. I remember one time we were at Grandpa and Grandma Lundquist's when we kids decided that we wanted to perform. We choreographed a dance and were popping out of bushes and everywhere. That was so much fun!

The outstanding part of junior high was football cheerleading. That was so much fun. But school kept getting better and I love high school even more than junior high. This is the best time so far. I continued cheerleading and this year I will have cheered for six seasons in a row.

There have been so many teachers who have influenced me. Mr. Lampe is one of the best. A lot of kids really respect him and his teaching. He always wants us to feel that we have done our best. This is especially true in marching band. He does get upset with us, but then he explains that it is because he knows we can do better. After practice when we have gone inside and put our stuff away, he lets us know that he is not angry. He never holds a grudge.

Another teacher that has made an impression on me is Mrs. McDonough, who really cares about her students. One day when I went in, she saw a look on my face and she could tell that I wasn't in my usual good mood. If we are a bit under the weather, she always knows it. She jokes around a lot and the kids joke back with her.

Another teacher that really understands kids is my Spanish teacher, Mr. Tokheim. He knows that we have full schedules, with other things to do besides Spanish. I've been in Spanish for four years and went to Mexico when I was in Spanish III. Mr. Tokheim and Mrs. Kimes take turns making the trips and they both know how important they are.

Going to Mexico was wonderful - one of the best trips I have taken. I learned a lot there, and when we came back, we wanted to learn more. We had home stays and Jaime Tokheim, one of my good friends, and I were with a family who didn't speak a word of English. Well, the father knew a handful of words; but we soon found out that we needed to know more Spanish in order to communicate with them. We weren't sure the family understood our schedule and we were terrified that we wouldn't get back with the group. We had to get out a pad of paper and figure out how to tell them what we had in mind. About that time we were saying "We will have a week of this!" But, when we were leaving, the mother, Alba, put her arms around us and gave us a hug. Mr. Tokheim said we must have done all right.

Every day we went on sight-seeing trips, got sunburned and in general had a good time. Merdia was our primary stop, and we went shopping there. Then some days we went to other towns, saw ruins and climbed the pyramids. There is a little island off Cancun where we went for our relaxing period. We got to stay in a hotel room and go snorkeling. Jaime and I had a room to ourselves. We were to have stayed with one of the chaperones, but she decided she would like some time to herself. That meant that Jaime and I could each have our own bed! That was a luxury! We have fun now getting together and remembering what a good time we had.

One of my favorite classes is drafting. I think maybe it is because my parents built our house and I could watch what went into its development. I enjoy designing and think I may want to go into architecture. I will probably go to Iowa State University, with a major in architecture or interior design.

I haven't really gotten into art like my mother has. When I was younger, she bought me a whole lot of art supplies. I had an entire drawer full and for awhile I did some drawing and painting but I haven't done any for some time. She is awfully good at the potter's wheel and I like to do that. But that is about the extent of my art.

I have never had any problem with discipline in school and I credit that to my having a really good upbringing and relationship with my parents and grandparents. I can look at myself and see something in me that they have given me. Mom is really well organized and so am I. I think that is where I get it. She pushes me to do my best. Sometimes I think she is being hard on me and she assures me that I will be glad about that some day. That's the same thing Dad tells me when he watches my table manners. The thing I love most about him may be that he watches and corrects my manners and mannerisms. He can be very conservative, tending to hang back but he is not really shy. That is what makes my parents a good pair. My dad is more reserved, whereas Mom jokes around with me a lot more, so I get the best of both worlds.

My grandmother Jeanne is a person I respect a lot. I was named after her and the more Iget to know her, the more highly I value that. She's a great influence. I think she is a little bit like my dad. They have a lake house at Clear Lake and I love to go there. I spend a lot of time with my grandmother. On rainy days we play Yatzee or King's Corner and I love to do that. I've learned how to shop from Mom and my two grandmas. They are great teachers!

My grandpa Jerry, Mom's father, has influenced me, also. He knows that I am trying to decide what I want to be in order to know which classes I should take. He has told me that I could do anything I want to do. He tells me what different fields would be like, the pluses and minuses of this and that career. He is a wonderful man. When we go somewhere, he speaks to everybody he sees. He is very friendly.

Grandpa Ed and Grandma Darlene have also been important in my life. Grandma Darlene is one of the most giving people I know. I love to go shopping with her. They have a lake house at Sun Valley and when a bunch of us go there, Grandma Darlene will set us up in the basement in our sleeping bags. One of my favorite things is when she takes us to her drawer and lets us have our choice of her pretty nightgowns. When I was young, the gowns were so long that I would trip over them, so she tied them up to my shoulders. I would walk around feeling like a princess. Grandpa Ed always has a big garden. He helped me plant a garden at their house because we don’t have room for one. I enjoyed doing that.

My brother, Eddie, and I are also good friends. As we were growing up, we played house or rode bikes. I remember playing with little tiny ponies and that he'd have to have one specific pony if he was going to play. We have our little brother/sister tiffs but I know I can trust him. If there is something I want to talk about, I know I can talk to him. He will listen to me. I expect him to grow up to be a great businessman some day because he is always bargaining with me for something. One of our special times is at Christmas. Whichever one of us wakes up first, wakes the other to go open packages.

Church has been an important part of my life. Rev. Miller was our pastor when I went through Confirmation. For one session of confirmation class, our parents were invited. We were to tell something about ourselves and how we felt about the church. The way I feel is that church is like another home. The atmosphere is so home-like that, when I walk in the door, I feel warm and comfortable.

Rev. Miller taught me a lot. I count her as one of my great friends. I know that, if I would go to her today, she would welcome me with open arms. I just know she would. A year ago last November, Mike (Haub), Jaime (Tokheim), Dennis (Cole) Bryan (Lloyd) and I went to see her. We got to drive up by ourselves. She didn't know we were coming. We went into church and sat a pew. She didn't see us until she started the service. She was surprised! We spent the day with her and had a wonderful time. I miss seeing her.

We are in church about every Sunday. This year Jaime and I have started teaching Sunday School. We have some of the neatest children! We started with 1st and 2nd grades, and now have Kindergarten through 2nd. We love working with them and decorating the classrooms. It is fun having them do such things as figuring out the disciples. Working with Jaime is good, too. We know we can depend on each other. I have thought of working with kids when I get older.

Before I was teaching Sunday school, I went to the high school Sunday school class when our teachers were Mark and Vicki Binning. They are some of the most fun people in the world. They always tried to make it fun for us and at the same time taught us a lot.

Is this a hard time for young people to grow up? In some ways it is easy because of opportunities. There are so many things offered in school and in church. People want youth to be involved. On the other hand, it is hard to know what you want to do with your life and what you want to stand for. Of all the choices, what do you finally believe in? It may be difficult, but you have to figure it out. People say to me, 11 This is the best time of your life" and I would agree from what I've gone through so far. Some of the happiest times of my life are memories. I may hear a song and it reminds me of a special time. It feels like I am reliving it, and sometimes I laugh out loud as I think about those fun times.

One I will always remember is the week of June 14-20, 1997. On Saturday we drove to UNI (University of Northem Iowa), Cedar Falls, for the American Legion Girls' State. I was really anxious to meet my roommate, which I did after an hour of waiting. It was amazing to discover that she was surprisingly like me! We were both cheerleaders, both in dance. We even had the same toothbrush and perfume. Both of us, also, had thought we might get roommates with whom we would have nothing in common so this started our week well!

There were eight "wards", or floors, and four cities. Each city made up of two wards. There were 16 precincts and I was in Hanson #1, precinct #1. There were 40 girls in a ward and I got to know a lot of them. They had come from all over, southwest, northwest and every comer of the state. After a week I could say I knew someone from every part of the state. It was so interesting that we could go up to anybody and say "Hi" and start talking. The over-all atmosphere was very open. We had each come with a blank slate. Nobody knew if you were shy or outgoing. You could be whatever you wanted to be. The girls on my floor became my closest friends. It was neat how close they came to be. The last day, at the inaugural banquet, one of the girls talked about that, saying, "I’d do about anything for you guys!" That was how we all felt.

Another thing I couldn’t believe was that the first night I discovered that I could run for mayor, in which case I had to have a speech ready the next day. Anyone who made it to being the last two on the ballot would have to have another speech by Monday. There was another ruling, that if we decided to run for mayor, we couldn’t run for any other office because the mayor's job required a lot of time and was difficult. This was great because I like to be centered on one thing. I had gone with a positive attitude, wanting to get the most out of the experience, and decided
that being active in government would be a good way to do that.

The theme of my speech and campaign was based on my name, Jeanne, building on the fact that the most unique part about my name is that, when I was smaller, people would say "if you are a genie, grant me some wishes." So I said that I would grant Hanson’s wishes. That helped people remember my name and we voted right after speeches. I made it onto the ballot so on Sunday night I had to come up with campaign signs and another four-minute speech. I needed a campaign slogan and I had to call Dad at home to have him fish around my room to find the quote I wanted. It was on a keychain that said, "Success is the difference between what one is and what one can become." That said a lot about what I was after and I put it in my speech.

I had already made some good friends, and they were more than willing to help with the campaign signs. I went into the lounge to get some tape to hang them and the girls there either said, "Give me your slogan and I'll make you a sign" or volunteered to tape up signs. The support was· wonderful! People really helped. One of my friends came up with "Hanson dreams of Jeanne as mayor" which went along with my speech.

The next day I gave the speech and the one who ran against me also gave an outstanding speech. We were to get the results back from the election later in afternoon. Before that Congressman Jim Nussel spoke to us. He was one of our featured speakers that week. When he left, a lady came to give results, and I had won! The Congressman swore us in. Everyone started cheering. There were a total of 320 girls and always before I had been with about 80, so this was different. Then I got to swear in the councilmen who were also elected that day.

After the swearing in, pictures were taken and cities went into meetings, filling out appointment papers. When I passed through the city of Hanson, pretty much all of ward were screaming and singing the "Jeanie" song.

The council members and I went into the city meeting. They gave me a gavel and books on parliamentary procedure. I had to read through about 50 appointment papers and choose seven to appoint for city seats. All this was on Monday and we had our first meeting with 80 girls. I had to conduct the meeting and it was pretty hectic. I wasn't familiar with all the parliamentary procedure. I'd do one thing wrong but then the next time I’d do it right. In the second meeting, things began to get out of hand. We were to discuss ordinances and there were lots of different opinions people wanted to discuss. I had to quiet them down. But I really learned a lot, which was what I’d hoped. Basically, that was the end of my duties. I still got called Mayor Lundquist. Everybody knew me. I had fun with the police chief who lived next door. I would do things like running down the hall like I was speeding and she would have to arrest me.

The very last evening was a huge banquet. We were all in formal dresses. Governor Branstad was there at the head table. He was our keynote speaker. I got to meet him. Most of the state people got to run the inauguration but the mayors got to stand up and be recognized. It all was a great experience. I am so glad I had the opportunity!