Stories from Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Senior Maureen Owens played like the seasoned veteran she is, shooting 2-under-par on the first six holes playing before even par on the final three holes en route to a first place performance April 11 in a head-to-head showdown with Jackson County Central's Kaylee Benson...

On a special night that saw the Spirit Lake Park boys track and field team break five meet records, one school mark and one freshman record, senior Alec Baldwin still managed to stand out in the crowd. The Northwestern College signee set the all-time Class 3A 1600-meter run record with a clocking of 4:15.4, running 400 splits of 59, 65, 67 and 63. ...

The Spirit Lake Park boys track and field team took advantage of some outstanding weather on its home track, sprinting to five meet records and one school mark while wowing the crowd along the way Tuesday at the Indian Relays. "No, I haven't (ever seen anything like I did tonight)," said SLP coach Brad Travis. ...

The Spirit Lake Park and Okoboji girls track and field teams came away with solid team showings Tuesday at the Indian Relays. The Indians placed second behind meet champion Spencer, closing the gap down to 13 points with a final tally of 144 points...

The Spirit Lake girls golf team continued its impressive start to the 2011 season with a triangular win over a pair of Lakes Conference foes, taking down Emmetsburg and host Storm Lake April 11 at Lake Creek Golf Golf Course. The Indians finished with a team total of 193, topping the E'Hawks by 29 strokes and besting the Tornadoes by 80...

The Okoboji boys track and field team is now 10-1 this season in head-to-head competition after securing a second place team finish April 8 at the Western Christian Invitational. The Pioneers won five races, scored 12 top-three finishes and beat out third place Western Christian by 19.5 points. Okoboji tallied 108 points while Sioux Center grabbed the top spot with a total of 137...

The Spirit Lake-Okoboji boys tennis team rode early momentum in singles play to a dominant overall performance in a season-opening 9-0 dual victory over Estherville Lincoln Central April 7 in its Lakes Conference and season opener. They recorded three shutouts and never trailed in all nine matches, gaining a 60-7 advantage in singles play and 30-6 edge in doubles action...

Entering the season with lofty expectations didn't seem to bother the Spirit Lake-Okoboji girls tennis team as they disposed of rival Estherville Lincoln Central in impressive fashion, downing the Midgettes 9-0 April 7 to open up the 2011 season. Annually one of the top teams in the Lakes Conference, ELC never stood a chance against a deep and athletic SL-O squad that gave fans a glimpse of what to expect. ...

Things went pretty smoothly with Graettinger-Terril and Ruthven-Ayrshire programs competing on the track together for the first time April 8 at the Maverick Relays in Spencer. The R-A/G-T boys scored points in eight events led by a first place finish by Colton Bakken in the shot put (49-7), while the girls squad finished with top-five performances from four relays. ...

The Spirit Lake Park boys track and field team took a gigantic leap forward, letting their actions do all of the talking, outscoring defending Class 3A state champs Sioux City Bishop Heelan by 11 points April 7 at the Tomahawk Relays in Cherokee. "We have a strong team throughout from the sprints to the distance and into the field events and that's what it takes to have a quality team," said SLP coach Brad Travis. ...

Le Mars certainly proved that they definitely had the athleticism to match up with the front end of the Spirit Lake-Okoboji lineup, but in the end the SL-O girls tennis team showed off too much experience and expertise en route to a 9-0 dual win April 11 in Lakes Conference play...

Sophomore Kendra Stokke captured the lone race championship for the Spirit Lake Park girls track and field team April 8 at the Tomahawk Relays in Cherokee. The meet featured two Class 4A schools and six Class 3A teams. Stokke was challenged all the way to the finish line by Spencer's Nicole Kramer, but clipped her at the last second by half a second with a winning time of 1:15.03...

For the second straight game, the Spirit Lake Park-Okoboji boys soccer team started out in an offensive funk, but when all was said and done the results were completely different than game one as they booted three second-half goals on the way to dismantling Unity Christian 5-0 in Lakes Conference play...

It wasn't exactly a thing of beauty or a work of art, but the Spirit Lake Park-Okoboji girls soccer team still managed to get into the win column with a 1-0 road victory over Unity Christian April 7 in Lakes Conference play. "We played very well against Spencer compared to this game," said SLP-O coach Jessica Cannova whose team dropped a 3-1 match to the Tigers Monday. ...

The Okoboji boys track and field team needed every point they could muster, overcoming a late deficit to scurry past Unity Christian by two points for the team title April 5 at the Dutch Relays in Orange City. "In recent years a good stretch of the meet (for us) has been the 400 hurdles, medley and 800," said Okoboji coach Brad Peter. ...

The loss of three key pieces of their team allowed varsity newcomer Emily Scott to shine April 8 at the Western Christian Relays. Scott was part of two top-five relay teams and also placed sixth in the 100-meter dash, finishing just a second behind her teammate Bryanna Wittrock (fourth in 13.33). Freshmen Clare Eckard and Darby Jones also stepped up in the absence of injured runners Taylor Poppema, Jordan Duncan and Abbi Dana...

The Harris-Lake Park and Sioux Central boys golf teams competed in the third annual Tin Cup competition April 11 at Little Sioux Golf & Country Club in Sioux Rapids. The Day 1 format was 4-ball and after the first day of battle, the Wolves took the lead with 2.5 points compared to 0.5 points for the Rebels. H-LP shot a 170 team score and Sioux Central finished 17 strokes behind them...

Gerking garners MVC Player of the Week honors Senior outfielder and team captain Rachel Gerking has been named the Missouri Valley Conference player of the week after her outstanding performance at the plate this past week. The native of Spirit Lake, Iowa, has returned to her all-conference form of 2010 recently. In six games last week, Gerking terrorized opposing pitchers to the tune of a .500 batting average. She registered ten hits...

AT A GLANCE: What -- Benefit carnival and fundraiser for Brayden Tolan When -- 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 23 Where -- Dickinson County Expo Building, Spirit Lake Normally, an 8-year-old on a baseball diamond has enough energy to power a small city...

Two familiar faces of northwest Iowa's CAASA program are about to make an exit, but remaining program operators assure the public that the essential victim advocate services the program supplies will still be in place. Rachel Partello, CAASA coordinator for Dickinson and Emmet counties joins CAASA Executive Director Rhonda Dean in the list of CAASA employees who will depart from the organization by late spring...

As the musical revolution has continued, the same problem has plagued me. Whether wearing through a New Kids on the Block cassette tape, a 311 CD, or draining the battery on the more new-fangled iPod, the problem persists. The one track, one song kicks. I'll stumble onto a new tune, and find myself enamored in its melody. Days -- and admittedly, at times, weeks -- later, I'll notice that one singular track, at first so intriguing, has become the singular melody filling my ears...

Her day-to-day duties may involve keeping infections at bay, but Milford resident and Spencer Community Hospital infection control nurse Dee Vaage is now welcoming an award as a top 100 nurse with open arms. The 100 Great Iowa Nurses awards are handed out each year in the first week of May, at a celebration honoring nurses throughout the state at a Des Moines ceremony. The sixth annual ceremony for the state also kicks off the beginning of Nurses' Week...

ONE ISLAND, ONE OCEAN Photography by David Thoreson May 5 - July 3, 2011 Monte Pearson Gallery The Pearson Lakes Art Center is proud to announce that "One Island, One Ocean," the new exhibit by environmentalist and photographer David Thoreson, will be exhibited in the Monte Pearson Gallery May 5 through July 3, 2011...

We are now entering the final month of the 2011 legislative session which means we are focusing almost entirely on the budget. Budget committees have been working all session on preparing these budgets and we are now in the process of debating them on the House floor. ...

Recently Upper Des Moines Opportunity, Inc. in Dickinson County was the recipient of two very generous food drives! The area Kiwanis clubs co-sponsored a peanut butter and jelly drive. A huge thanks to all who chose to put those items in the designated boxes placed in area food stores by the Kiwanis. The response was great, and we appreciate the Kiwanis clubs working together to make it happen...

Your lengthy March 30 front-page article about Steve Brooks, predicting a Judgement Day of May 21 is at variance with a statement in the Bible, attributed to Jesus, where he claims "no one knows of the day or the hour" of Judgement Day. Mainstream science has also demonstrated that "creation" occurred billions of years ago, rather than the 11,046 years as the author suggests...

On behalf of our 187 Post members, I just want to publicly thank everyone who came into the Spirit Lake VFW Post 4514 for our Friday Night Family Fish Fry fundraisers this past season. The funds you've donated this year will go a long way in supporting our ongoing remodeling and community service efforts. ...

Air Force Lt. Col. Michael A. Day has been selected for promotion to the rank of colonel in the U.S. Air Force. Day, a resources and transformation division chief with 20 years of military service, is assigned to the U.S. Transportation Command at Scott Air Force Base, Belleville, Ill...

Terry and Teresa Abbas of Spirit Lake are pleased to announce the engagement of their daughter Diana Rose Abbas to Brandon Lee Lemke, son of Scott and Jody Lemke of Spirit Lake. Diana's grandparents are Ray and Diane Egan of Spirit Lake. Brandon's grandparents are Skip and Diane Miller of Wahpeton; Rick Reed and the late Carol Reed of Emmetsburg; Sylvan and Delores Lemke of Armstrong, and great grandma Marvis Reed and the late Ronald Reed of Spirit Lake, formerly of Ringsted...

Sept. 26, 1931 -- Dec. 16, 2010 Shirley L. Olson, age 79, of Denton, Texas, formerly of Spirit Lake, passed away Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010, at the Presbyterian Hospital in Denton, Texas. She was born on Sept. 26, 1931, in Burlington, to Louise and Frieda (Thye) Wiemer...

Jan. 15, 1935 - April 1, 2011 Funeral services for Roger Rygh, 76, of Milford were held Wednesday, April 6, 2011 at Spirit Life Fellowship Church in Spirit Lake. Burial was at Little Sioux Lutheran Cemetery in Milford. Roger Rygh was born on Jan. 15, 1935 and died April 1, 2011 at 76 years of age. ...

July 8, 1928 -- Jan. 31, 2011 A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 20, for Charles Richard "Dick" Currell of Estherville at the United Methodist Church in Estherville. Interment will be at Oak Hill Cemetery in Estherville. The Rev. Lynn Elrod is officiating...

April 3, 1929 -- April 6, 2011 Pat Brown died in Des Moines on April 6, 2011, after a long bout with happiness and fulfillment. She was born Patricia Josephine Craemer in Cedar Rapids on April 3, 1929, to Nicholas and Florentine Craemer and had two sisters, Pamela Gearhart and Cynthia Zievers, both deceased...

Oct. 23, 1914 - April 1, 2011 Services of Inez Estrem, 96, of Spirit Lake were held Saturday, April 9, 2011 at Fjeldberg Lutheran Church in Huxley. The burial was at Palestine Lutheran Cemetery in Huxley. Inez Estrem was born Oct. 23, 1914 in Huxley, the daughter of Isabella (Dobbe) and Lewis Larson. She completed high school in Huxley. On March 23, 1935, Inez was united in marriage to LeRoy Estrem...