Stories from Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Nearly 250 Dickinson County students will accept diplomas later this month at commencement ceremonies throughout the Lakes area.

As the leading learning institution in the Iowa Great Lakes, the University of Okoboji is known worldwide for its dedication to recreational studies. The Fighting Phantoms are gearing up for another summer of fun in the sun during the school's hard-earned seasonal break in studies.

(Oct. 8, 1927 - Jan. 12, 2009) Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 16 at the First Presbyterian Church in Spirit Lake for Wilber T. "Bill" Butler, 81, of Spirit Lake, who passed away Monday, Jan. 12, 2009 at Hill Top Care Center in Spirit Lake.

(Aug. 27, 1928 - April 21, 2009) Services were held recently for Richard B. "Red" Griffith, who passed away April 21, 2009 in Mesa, Ariz.

(Jan. 24, 1922 - May 2, 2009) Funeral services were held May 5 at the United Methodist Church in Spirit Lake for John E. Louscher, 87, of Spirit Lake, passed away Saturday, May 2, 2009, at Lakes Regional Healthcare in Spirit Lake.

(Jan. 16, 1925 - May 1, 2009) Funeral services were held May 4 at Bethany Lutheran Church in Spencer for Lois Alice Kirksey, 84, who passed away May 1 at St. Luke Lutheran Home in Spencer.

(Nov. 8, 1928 - May 4, 2009) Memorial services were held May 7 at Calvary Lutheran Church in Willmar for Joyce E. Lovander, 80, of Willmar, Minn., formerly of Sioux Valley, Minn., who passed away Monday, May 4, at Rice Memorial Hospital in Willmar.

(Feb. 8, 1926 - May 7, 2009) Funeral services were held May 9 at the Estherville Lutheran Church in Estherville for Archie Tenner Sunde, 83, who passed away May 7 at Avera Holy Family Health in Estherville.

(May 21, 1955 - May 4, 2009) Funeral services were held May 9 at the Faith Lutheran Church in Coon Rapids, Minn. for Richard A. Watje, 53, who passed away peacefully May 4, 2009 at his home in Coon Rapids, Minn. A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 16 at the First Presbyterian Church in Round Lake, Minn. Pastor Robert Bartlett will officiate.

(Jan. 19, 1906 - April 30, 2009) Funeral services were held May 4 at Calvary United Methodist Church in Arnolds Park for Mabel Anna Wilson, 103, of Spirit Lake, who passed away April 30, 2009 at Hilltop Care Center in Spirit Lake.

Patrick and Julie Stanzel were married on Jan. 3 at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Spirit Lake.

In this crazy loud world of constant motion and emotion, I'm one of those people who often finds herself craving silence. Don't get me wrong. I'm a people person, and I love being social. I couldn't live without my friends and family. I'm always looking for new people to meet and converse with.

This week I have been reflecting on those that would choose to ignore the importance of dealing with domestic violence in America. After over 30 years of the modern domestic violence movement, we still struggle for funding, we face budget cuts and reductions when the economy goes bad (though domestic violence rises) and we rarely are the primary focus of public policy makers in America.

Spirit Lake letter carriers collected 2,800 pounds of food and $10 from customers along postal routes on May 9, and delivered it to our Upper Des Moines pantry for the needy in Dickinson County. This amount of food will help feed families for several months.

Do you want to meet interesting people from all over the world? Would you like to be part of a team of volunteers who show the wonders and excitement of Iowa's music history to young and old alike?

The Lakes area has always been a center for arts and entertainment enjoyment, especially during the summer months. However, over time, some entities may get taken for granted by the public with significant venue growth and improvement going unnoticed. Such may be the case for the Pearson Lakes Art Center.

After the Humane Society of Northwest Iowa's first year running the innovative PAWS with a Cause program, Executive Director Kate Whitrock and her group of staff members and volunteers have seen the benefits of the pet therapy program time and time again.

Ongoing stormwater discharge violations have resulted in a hefty fine for the developers of Bridges Bay Resort on East Lake Okoboji. On Monday, Dickinson County Judge David Lester ordered BBR, L.L.C. of Sioux Falls, S.D. to pay a $35,000 civil penalty for repeated release of sediment into the lake during construction of the water park resort and condominiums.

The Spirit Lake Park boys' track and field team showcased its talents in front of the entire conference in the long distance events -- placing 1-2 in the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs during the Lakes Conference Co-Ed Track & Field Meet Monday, May 11 in Hull...

The rest of the conference thought that Spirit Lake Park might come back to the pack after losing a solid class of seniors to graduation last year, but the Indians had other ideas -- coasting to their sixth consecutive league championship by a 57-point margin at the Lakes Conference Co-Ed Track & Field Meet Monday, May 11 in Hull...

The Spirit Lake boys' golf team missed out on a top-5 showing by four strokes, placing seventh out of nine teams at the Lakes Conference Tournament Monday, May 11 at Brooks National Golf Club. Spencer swept the top four spots to run away with the conference championship by 22 strokes with a 296. ...

Okoboji entered the meet with the expectations of bringing home some hardware, but came up just short of accomplishing that feat after finishing 11 points behind MOC-Floyd Valley at the Siouxland Conference Co-Ed Track & Field Meet Monday, May 11 in Hartley...

Okoboji's duo of Brandi DeMuth and Amanda Dunn were nothing short of spectacular, but it still wasn't enough for the Pioneers to overtake MOC-Floyd Valley for the conference title at the Siouxland Conference Co-Ed Track & Field Meet Monday, May 11 in Hartley...

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The Spirit Lake-Okoboji girls' tennis team defied the odds and won the Spencer Tournament despite being without two of its top three varsity players Saturday, May 9 at River View Tennis Courts in Spencer. "When the season started one of our goals was to win the Spencer Tournament. ...

The Spirit Lake girls' golf team continued its assault on the school record books, winning the Lakes Conference Tournament by 30 strokes with the lowest 18-hole score in the history of the program Monday, May 11 at Okoboji View Golf Course. The Indians also posted the third lowest team score in the history of the conference tournament with a 354, finishing just four strokes off the all-time record. ...

The Okoboji girls' track and field team finished second overall behind the strength of 10 top-2 performances at the South O'Brien Relays Friday, May 8 in Cherokee. The Pioneers beat out Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn and Sibley-Ocheyedan by a slim margin to earn runner-up honors with 101 points. ...

Unity Christian captured 11 event titles to pull out the team championship by 52 points over runner-up Okoboji at the South O'Brien Relays Friday, May 8 in Cherokee. The Knights scored 167 points with a full lineup while the Pioneers finished second with 115 points after not competing with its top lineup with the Siouxland Conference meet coming up in only three days. ...