Stories from Wednesday, July 13, 2011

As a boy, David Thoreson seemed to have a camera with him wherever he went. These days, Thoreson's camera has taken him to the far reaches of the planet. That young boy who would take pictures of almost anything grew up with a passion to go almost anywhere...

Sept. 17, 1938 -- July 3, 2011 Robert "Ed" Blackburn, 72, passed away Sunday, July 3, 2011 at Avera McKennan Hospital, Sioux Falls, S.D. Funeral services were held Wednesday, July 6, 2011, at New Journey Community Church in Milford. Ed was born in Stone, Kentucky to Andrew and Noleeka Blackburn on Sept. ...

Sept. 15, 1954 -- June 23, 2011 Funeral services for Jeffrey Downing, of San Antonio, Texas, and formerly of Milford were held July 5, 2011 at Turner Jenness Funeral Home in Milford. Burial was at Milford Cemetery. Jeffrey Lynn Downing was born to Dean and Beverly (Lander) Downing on Sept. ...

Feb. 7, 1926 -- July 2, 2011 A Celebration of life for Kenneth R. Cable, 85, of Milford, will be held Sunday, July 17, 2011 from 2-4 p.m. at the Milford Community Center. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to the Lake Park Care Center or Iowa Hospice...

June 14, 1916 -- July 1, 2011 Funeral services for Lawrence F. Lambert were held Thursday, July 7, 2011 at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Milford. Interment was at Calvary Cemetery in Milford. Lawrence passed away Friday, July 1, 2011 at Hilltop Care Center in Spirit Lake...

Oct. 5, 1955 -- June 29, 2011 Funeral services for Linda Ratcliff, 55, of Arnolds Park, were held Wednesday, July 6, 2011 at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Milford. Burial was at Okoboji Cemetery in Arnolds Park. Linda Jo Ratcliff was born in Estherville on Oct. ...

Tim Nelson, 44, of Jackson, Minn. passed away at his home on Saturday, July 9, 2011. A celebration of life service will be held for Tim at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 13, 2011 at Good News Community Church, 1010 Julia Street in Okoboji, with Pastor John Messer officiating...

Jerry and Judy (Vint) Stukey will celebrate 50 years of marriage on July 22. They were married at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Spirit Lake in 1961. Jerry and Judy were long time residents of Sprit Lake and recently moved to Albertville, Minn. They have four daughters, Jackie Millea, Julie Norton, Jerene Olivas, and Jennifer Bemis and have 11 wonderful grandchildren. To mark this occasion, they will be celebrating with their children and their families in Minnesota...

WHAT! ANOTHER LOCKOUT? American sports fans this summer are experiencing a double dose of abandonment from two of its four major sports. The NBA now joins the NFL on the sidelines, as owners and players square off for the right to continue playing at revenue percentages they hope they can both live with...

It can often be said that one victory can make or break a season, and that is what the Harris-Lake Park baseball team is hoping for after they stunned Class 1A No. 9 Storm Lake St. Mary's 2-0 July in non-conference play. "We had a couple of outstanding defensive plays to keep us where we were," said Harris-Lake Park coach Jared Rahe. "I'm just pretty pumped for our kids...

Harris-Lake Park certainly came to play but they just didn't have enough firepower to keep up with Siouxland Conference champion West Lyon for all seven innings, suffering an 8-1 loss to end the season July 8 in the quarterfinal round of the Class 1-A regional softball tournament...

Two local competitors won their divisions and another placed second in the inaugural Spirit Lake Days' Wakefest Wakeboard Tournament held Saturday on the north end of East Lake Okoboji. The Spirit Lake Chamber of Commerce would like to thank everyone that participated and helped with new event that featured 34 competitors from all over the state as well as California, South Dakota and Minnesota...

Something eventually had to give after Spirit Lake and Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley battled through three ties and four lead changes in a classic seesaw affair for seven innings. The Nighthawks gained the upper hand in walk-off fashion after the Indians charged back ahead twice earlier in the contest, pulling out a 9-8 victory in their final at-bat in the quarterfinal round of the Class 3-A regional softball tournament...

Needing every single run they could muster, Spirit Lake used some clutch hitting from the bottom half of their batting order to hold off Okoboji 3-0 in the opening round of the Class 2-A district baseball tournament July 9 in Estherville. "We're real happy to play another day and that's the goal," said Spirit Lake coach Jason Schneider...

At the time of its creation in 1992, the Harris-Lake Park Education Foundation likely never envisioned a donation approaching half a million dollars. But a recent donation has foundation officials reaching for their adding machines. The Dorothy Boyer Estate has left $450,000 to the western Dickinson County school district, which graduated 25 seniors in the Class of 2011...

The Dickinson County Sheriff's Office has joined in the search for a missing Worthington, Minn. woman. Investigators say 41-year-old Lucia Chilel Perez may have been in Lake Park searching for employment on Monday, June 27. She was reported missing at the end of June. Authorities say she also may have traveled to Rock Valley with a friend, on the same day she may have been seen in Lake Park. The car they were traveling in, a maroon Buick Century, was eventually located in Worthington...

I am writing this letter to commend a patient, caring and very professional Spirit Lake police officer; Officer Tirevold. As visitors to Spirit Lake, our family was very grateful of the service Officer Tirevold offered our family in our time of need...

Anybody have an idea what the worst major in golf is? Nope, it's not the PGA Championship. In my mind, it is the British Open for various reasons. First of all, the weather is always very gloomy, windy, and cold. It's not enjoyable for me to watch professional golfers in the middle of summer dress in long sleeves and fight the rain. ...

The 32nd annual University of Okoboji World Tennis Class was held Saturday, July 9-Sunday, July 10 in the Iowa Great Lakes region. Over 80 players participated with singles, doubles and mixed doubles champions crowned in 16 different divisions. Men's Open Singles...