Spend some cash to save some money

My mind recalls the policy of the admissions office at the University of Okoboji in Milford, Iowa: “In God we trust, everyone else…cash.” 

I’ve been programmed to shop local and patronize our home-grown businesses. 

I found it interesting that on back-to-back shopping days in August, local merchants offered the option of a “cash price” or a “credit card price.” The plastic option included an additional “processing fee.” Hmmm. 

One day, I was purchasing “new shoes” for my automobile…so it would pass the state inspection. Another day, I was buying a “retro” kitchen table and four chairs (one poor chair was of the “special needs” variety). Most recently, I was shopping for fresh vegetables at a local farm. 

For all three purchases, I opted to “save” and pay with cash…but that required advanced planning of going to the bank to get the “cash money.” 

Thank goodness, on this particular visit, the ATM was fully stocked and could spit out the required number of fresh $20 bills. 

Is there a developing trend here about businesses preferring cash payments? Could be.

The tire store displayed multiple signs to alert customers: “Helen Waite is our new credit manager. If you want credit, go to Helen Waite.” 

Back at “cash college,” the founders of Okoboji (U of O) are brothers Emil and Herman Richter of The Three Sons, a clothing store. (Their younger brother Jimmy suffered from diabetes and died in 1969, at age 21.)

 

The Richters came up with the playful idea “to start a nonexistent university” in 1971. They created the U of O crest and printed up a bunch of collegiate merchandise. It clicked. Everyone wanted an Okoboji-branded sweatshirt. 

The university was “chartered and accredited” in 1977 and gained a reputation as “a strict school – strictly for laughs.” 

Julie Gammack, a former Des Moines Register columnist, who now hosts an annual Okoboji Writers’ Retreat, refers to Okoboji as the “Tooth Fairy of higher education.” 

Okoboji’s trustees voted to re-establish U of O’s founding date as 1878, so that in 1978, supporters could have a big “centennial celebration.” 

Not just anyone can enroll. There’s a required entrance examination – 20 rebus brainteasers. Here are just a few: 

Calm __ storm

G * e * n * e * r * al

Em4bassy

Keet keet

Taste __ bitter

 Emil serves as the university chancellor, and Herman is dean of students. Between them, they have 158 years of “life experience.” 

“We don’t mind growing old; we just don’t want to grow up,” Herman said.

 

“Naturally, there is research work, as students attempt to break new ground in physics by making beer flow faster than water. We warn graduates of our law school that they’ll have a tough time passing the bar,” Herman said. “There are 42 of them here” in Iowa’s “Great Lakes Region.” 

The main lakes are named Big and Little Spirit, East and West Okoboji, Upper and Lower Gar and Minnewashta. 

Okoboji is a word from the Dacotah tribe of Native Americans. It was originally written as “Okoboozhy” and is loosely translated as “place of rest.” 

Okoboji tourism is a year-round economic engine. In northwest Iowa, just below the Minnesota border, the lakes provide recreational opportunities in all four seasons. Winter, however, is the longest. 

At The Three Sons, the torch is being past to the next generation – Emil’s son, Brian, and Herman’s sons, Matt and Mark. 

(Answers: Calm before the storm; 5-star general; foreign embassy; parakeet; bitter after taste.)