If the sight of golden corn on rolling hills in summer evening sunlight doesn't make your heart glad, Sac County, Iowa, might not be the place for you. If you don't think the sound of a combine rolling through a distant soybean field has a kind of mechanical magic to it, stay out of Sac County in the fall. And if you don't like friendly people who know how to get things done, don't slow down when you see the Sac County highway signs.

Sac County is as Iowa as Iowa gets—corn and soybeans as far as the eye can see. Cows and hogs. Clapboard farmhouses and big barns.

For having fun, you can't beat the nationally known Farmall Promenade, based in Sac County's Nemaha (town population: 120; slogan: "A Mighty Small Town"). Nine years ago, some tractor-driving jokesters decided to perform a square dance using antique Farmall tractors (see photo above). They merrily mixed traditional dance "steps" with comedy. For the sake of authenticity, half the guys dressed as women. The event was a hit, and now the group performs several times a year at fairs in the region. It's good, clean, Iowa-style fun.

Kind of like the sign in Hazel's Café in Nemaha, which says: "Get your own damn coffee." Might sound rude, but it's an Iowa kind of rude you use only with friends, family and strangers who can appreciate a sense of humor.

It's this sense of community that makes Sac County a good place to live, says Kim Muska. Four years ago Kim and her husband, Brian, moved—with some trepidation—from the East Coast to Sac County. They had never been to the Midwest and didn't know what to expect.

Sac County's big heart won them over, Kim says. "I feel like a person here. People know me, and they want to know me. Everyone waves. It's like one big family."

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