"When I first saw it I thought, is this for real?" Watertown walker Lynn Langner said.

It's not too often you see a sign for something free right where you need it most.

"I can't believe this is really what it is," Langner said. "It's ice cold, it's always ice cold."

But over the past four summers, people in Watertown have come to rely on a cooler of free water along a quiet stretch of the bike trail.

"On June 12th of this year, we put in the 100th case of water," the water cooler guy Earl Baumgarn said.

The water cooler is a passion project for Earl Baumgarn after experiencing his own serious case of dehydration.

"I ended up spending the night at the hospital getting fluids, the next day I'm sitting out here relaxing and people are going by and I noticed that nobody's got any water with them, so, the cooler was born," Baumgarn said.

The trail goes on for miles in Watertown; it's why Earl wants to make sure that everyone walking or biking along the trail stays safe, especially in the summer heat.

"I think it's nice and I like where he can help people, where if people are working really hard on their bike they can stop and get a cool drink," 11-year-old walker Tai Le said.

Earl's cooler is also stocked with juice boxes for the kids thanks to the community's help.

"It's all donated, all of it, even the ice," Baumgarn said. "People have left money in the cooler, on top of the cooler...the County Fair showed up with 12 cases of water someone had bought and had it delivered, no names or anything, just out of the blue there's 12 cases of water."

It's become a community project...

"He's the cooler man," Watertown resident Lynette McFarland said.

...made all the more special by the man keeping the free pit stop well stocked all summer long.

For Earl, the watercooler has become his job during retirement.

"That and the neighborhood watch," Baumgarn said.

Most days you can find Earl outside watching the cooler and keeping track of how many people stop by.

"People come across the road and visit or they wave, and you get to know them that way, it's enjoyable," Baumgarn said.

The 73-year-old retiree is providing much more than just an ice-cold drink to the people who cross his path.

"The best part is when you get the water the gentleman is always sitting there and he always waves and it just makes my day," Langner said.

Over the past four summers, he's stocked the cooler with more than 123 cases of bottled water and 100 juice boxes, something he plans to continue every summer as long as his health holds up.

That is one of the reasons veterans and their supporters are gathering at the Grand Falls Golf Resort today near Larchwood.

The Golf for Injured Veterans Everywhere, or GIVE Foundation is raising money to provide area veterans with the empowerment, fellowship, and accessibility they deserve. Jeff Delvaux is the Executive director of the GIVE Foundation.

"They get ten hours of PGA professional coaching for five weeks, two hours a week, we give them a set of clubs, we give them a shirt and a hat, just like I'm wearing here all the things they need but the best thing is after they finish their ten hours in five weeks they get a card that lets them golf at 64 courses across Iowa," said Delvaux.

Today veterans and supporters of the program golfed together. The veterans say seeing the support is special.

"We have this common bond. There is this brotherhood and sisterhood through the military. We've all been through the thick and thin, we've experienced very similar experiences through life through serving in the military, and it's just a time for us to reconnect and opportunity to talk," said golfer and veteran Troy Mergen.

Veteran Michael Fletcher went through the program in 2018. He says it has opened his life up to more possibilities.

"When people talk about vets coming back or being released from service, they don't realize that service changes you in a lot of ways. For some, it's a physical thing. For most, it is an unseen trauma that most people don't realize. A program like this allows us to get connected to people who truly understand versus somebody who is standing there saying, oh, I think I understand," said Fletcher.

Grand Falls Golf Resort tells us they work closely with the Veterans Administration in Sioux Falls. Injured veterans can apply for the program through the V.A. which screens who can qualify.

"Hey there, how are you," Dian Hoven greeted her guests Thursday morning.

Dian Hoven has near celebrity status with the kids of Colton.

"They all know where she lives and can spot her house," Colton resident Mary Weinacht said.

That's because she's been inviting all the children in town to a special event every summer.

"All I do is put the note out around Colton and they all show up," Hoven said.

"Word of mouth travels fast in a small town," Colton native Brooke Amundson said. "Everybody sees it, everybody knows about it."

With Balloons, Bubbles and biscuits, it's a special occasion that has many kids decked out in their finest dresses and hats.

"Because we came here to have a tea party," 7-year-old Grace Jensen said.

Over the past four decades of hosting, Dian has assembled quite the collection of tea cups.

"They're just so cute, I don't know how many she has, but there's a lot," Weinacht said.

"Would anyone like some more chocolate milk?" One of Hoven's great-grandson's asked her guests. 

While there's no actual tea at the tea party, Hoven's tiny guests get plenty of refills in their dainty cups.

"They're like this small," Jensen said of her tiny tea cup. 

But it's those little details that make Dian's tea party memorable for so many.

"I don't think it's changed a bit, the snacks early in the morning, always the chocolate milk, always coffee and water," Amundson said.

Brooke Amundson is one of many Colton natives who've enjoyed coming to these tea parties all their lives.

"I have been coming here for as long as I can remember, I started coming here with my grandma," Amundson said.

"There's a lot of kids that were little when they came and now, they're here with their children too, it goes generation to generation, so it goes a long time," Hoven said. 

A timeless tradition that's become even more cherished with each year the generous tea party host continues to celebrate.

"Every year I think oh, I'm 92, so I think maybe I'll skip it this year, but I get a lot of help, everybody pitches in," Hoven said.

A true testament of a tight-knit community and the nostalgia felt when inviting the next generation to tea.

"It's the first time I was able to bring her and if this is the last one, I wanted to make sure to have that memory, for me, I don't know if she'll remember it, she's two," Amundson said of her daughter.

"I just enjoy doing it and the kids always have fun doing it," Hoven said. "We all have fun."

For the past few years, many of Hoven's family members have helped host the tea parties each summer. This year she had four generations helping out, including her daughter, granddaughter and great grandsons who helped to serve the 'tea'.