Stories from Wednesday, September 21, 2011

March 28, 1917 -- Sept. 13, 2011 Bennie T. Moland, age 94, of Estherville, passed away Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011, at Rosewood Manor in Estherville. He was born on March 28, 1917, in Kasson, Minn., to Tharwald and Betsy (Svardal) Moland. Bennie served his country in the United States Army, from 1941 until 1945. He was united in marriage to Dorothy Kliner on June 16, 1948, in Tabor, Minn. Bennie worked all of his life as a meat cutter for Fareway and John Morrell, retiring in 1981...

Nov. 28, 1919 -- Sept. 12, 2011 A funeral service for Clara Turner, 91, of Spirit Lake formerly of Bourbonnais, Ill., was held Saturday, Sept. 17, 2011, at Turner Jenness Funeral Home in Spirit Lake. Burial was at Okoboji Cemetery. Clara B. Turner was born Nov. 28, 1919 at Hartford, Ark. to William and Monte Crabtree Steele...

Aug. 16, 1932 -- September 2011 Combined services for Jackie Deets, 79, of Perry and her son, Frank Deets, 46, of Slidell, La., -- who passed away three days following his mother -- will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 19, 2011, at the Carris Family Funeral Home in Perry...

Nov. 21, 1923 -- Sept. 10, 2011 Funeral services for Joyce Lockwood of Spirit Lake were held Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011 at the United Methodist Church in Spirit Lake. Burial was at Cedar Cemetery in Larrabee. Joyce A. Lockwood, the daughter of Opal Sigrid Mae (Swanson) and Edward Louis Ducommun, was born Nov. ...

Dec. 13, 1950 -- Sept. 8, 2011 A funeral service for Pete Hegeman, of Spirit Lake, was held Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2011 at Good News Community Church in Okoboji. Burial was at Lakeview Gardens in Spirit Lake. Peter Hegeman was born Dec. 13, 1950 in Noordwijk, Netherlands, the son of Henry and Helen (Van Diggelen) Hegeman. ...

May 2, 1937 -- Sept. 18, 2011 Ruth A. Bak, 74, of Newton, previously of Spirit Lake, died on Sunday, Sept. 18, 2011, at Careage of Newton. The daughter of Marguerite (Stokesbery) and Clayton Babcock, she was born May 2, 1937 in Mason City, and spent her childhood in Garner...

Aug. 26, 1916 -- Sept. 16, 2011 Sally Brown Tatman, 95, of Spirit Lake, passed away Friday, Sept. 16, 2011, at Hilltop Care Center in Spirit Lake. She was born on Aug. 26, 1916, in Graettinger, to James and Ellen (Sherlock) Brown. Sally graduated from St. Mary's High School in Emmetsburg in 1935, and Capital City Community College in Des Moines. She was united in marriage to Ralph Tatman on Nov. 3, 1949, in Graettinger. Ralph passed away on Nov. 22, 1961...

Nov. 2, 1909 -- Sept. 12, 2011 Funeral Mass for Viola Kramer was celebrated at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2011, at St. Cecelia Catholic Church in Algona with Father Edward Girres officiating. Burial was in Calvary Cemetery. Viola Elizabeth Kramer was born Nov. ...

Once upon a time there was a papa rooster and a mama hen, and they had a cute little baby chick. "This little chick is never going to scratch out his living like I did," declared the papa rooster. "We shall see that he has all he needs to grow up and be a fine chick."...

Casey Miller hadn't even touched a bicycle since elementary school, and yet here he is, riding his recently purchased road bike, not even two months old, all the way to Boston, Mass. "I never really liked riding a bike," Miller said. "But I moved to San Francisco and I was trying to figure out what to do. I don't know anything about biking, but this is the best thing I've ever done."...

I saw the movie "Contagion," this weekend with my daughter. I have to say, it's a good flick, good actors, fast-paced and slickly shot. Without realizing it, the film makers may have inadvertently endorsed America's modern hog farms. For one thing, raising hogs indoors protects them from disease-carrying wildlife, the very kind that caused the cross-species viral contamination featured in the movie...

A recent report from the State Auditor confirms that work by Republicans and Democrats in the Legislature over the past several years has helped keep Iowa's state budget in good shape. Since 2005 we've balanced the state budget without raising taxes. The Fiscal Year 2011 ended with a surplus of $264 million, plus $594 million in our savings accounts. This means Iowa has a total of $858 million in the bank...

I heard the buzz all summer long, practically from the first moment I stepped into my office ... "Wait until the Clay County Fair," "It's awesome," and "'It's the best county fair in the nation." At times, I found myself wondering: What could be so great about a county fair? Having spent my last four years living in eastern Iowa surrounded by Chicago natives, fairs were the farthest thing from their minds. ...

The Bedell Family YMCA has announced new arts and humanities classes, available for young and old, as part of a relationship with the ArtsLIVE Youth Festival and other local artists. "The goal is to give kids an experience of something they normally wouldn't," Anderson said. "Give them a taste of the the arts and maybe they will go on to more advanced classes."...

Ever thought of becoming a judge for a speech event? Have the desire to evaluate some of the best talent around? The Okoboji High School speech department will be hosting a speech judge certification clinic at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 28, at the high school. Five dollars will provide certification, a copy of the speech constitution and a take-home test to determine the judges' ability...

University of Okoboji Octoberfest Bike Ride is enjoying its last few moments as a teenager as the weekend arrives. Rounding out the third leg of the University of Okoboji "Triple Crown" Octoberfest once again returns to the Iowa Great Lakes. Beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday at the Arrowwood Resort, local bike enthusiasts as well as numerous out-of-towners, will take off on the third leg of the University of Okoboji "Triple Crown."...

Laker women make some soccer history It was a record setting day for the Lakers, with seven goals in the game and a third win this season, as the Iowa Lakes women's soccer team rolled to a 7-0 victory over Indian Hills Sept. 15 on its home field. The previous goals scored record came in a 3-0 shutout win over Anoka Ramsey earlier this season. ...

The top ten teams in the Associated Press Iowa high school football polls of the 2011 season with first-place votes in parentheses and win-loss record, total points and position last week at right: CLASS 4A Others receiving votes: 11, Cedar Rapids Xavier 12. 12, Marshalltown 5. 13, Iowa City West 3. 13, Ames 3. 15, Des Moines Lincoln 2...

The Spencer girls swim team, which features several swimmers from Spirit Lake, placed first in all events except the 200 freestyle relay Thursday, Sept. 15 in Algona on its way to an easy victory over Algona and Charles City. Freshman Taylor Sieperda added a second school record to her resume in the 100 freestyle with a time of 54.95. It broke a 2003 record...

Meet by meet the the times of the Okoboji girls cross country team have continued to plummet, and the Sioux Central Invitational proved to be no different, as the Pioneers raced to a season-best third place finish Thursday, Sept. 15, in Sioux Rapids...

The Spirit Lake volleyball team found itself on the short end of a couple of competitive matches, but still was able to show improvement against some tough competition Saturday, Sept. 17 at the Forest City Tournament. The Indians compiled a 3-2 record and improved to 11-4 overall, as they picked up victories over Forest City (19-21, 21-15, 16-14), Webster City (12-21, 21-17, 15-11) and Clear Lake (22-20, 21-18)...

Summer wouldn't be the same for Iowa Great Lakes business without a visit from Rod Janssen. He's among the volunteers who canvasses the region in search of items for the Annual Labor Day Fire and Rescue Auction. The event began 26 Labor Days ago at The Gardens, when organizers collected and began selling the decorative beer signs often seen on the walls and in the windows of local establishments. Proceeds, then and now, go to the Arnolds Park/Okoboji Fire & Rescue Department...

The Iowa Lakes men's golf team came away with first place honors at the Iowa Lakes Fall Invitational held Tuesday at Brooks National Golf Club. The Lakers came through in the end for a three-stroke victory over Buena Vista University, shooting a team score of 309 to BV's 312. ...

Fans saw the complete package from the Okoboji boys cross country team, as they proved to be the class of the field after finishing with six top-16 performers, surging to the team title at the Sioux Central Invitational for the second year in a row on Thursday, Sept. 15...

University of Okoboji Octoberfest Bike Ride is enjoying its last few moments as a teenager as the weekend arrives. Rounding out the third leg of the University of Okoboji "Triple Crown" Octoberfest once again returns to the Iowa Great Lakes. Beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday at the Arrowwood Resort, local bike enthusiasts as well as numerous out-of-towners, will take off on the third leg of the University of Okoboji "Triple Crown."...

For the better part of three decades, Spirit Lake seemed to always play the role of David trying to slay Goliath, but the tables definitely were turned against Sheldon in a top-10 battle last Friday at Hafer Field. The fifth-ranked (Class 2A) Indians used a trick play to set the tone with a touchdown 48 seconds into the contest and continued to pull away from the seventh-ranked Orabs en route to celebrating a 42-14 homecoming victory in front of over 3,000 boisterous fans...

The Harris-Lake Park volleyball couldn't put away West Bend-Mallard after building late leads in the first two games and ultimately paid the price, getting swept by the Wolverines in three sets on their home court Tuesday in a critical Cornbelt Conference match...

The Graettinger-Terril volleyball team was given everything they could handle and then some by Corwith-Wesley-LuVerne, but some scrappy play of the Knights allowed them to pull out a three-set victory over the Panthers Tuesday in Cornbelt Conference play. Games scores were 27-25, 25-14 and 25-23...

Spirit Lake used a dominant offensive performance to sweep a Lakes Conference volleyball match from Emmetsburg in three sets on Tuesday. Games scores were 25-11, 25-9 and 25-18. The Indians (12-4 overall, 1-1 in conference play) had three times as many kills as hitting errors and pounded down slightly over 10 kills per game. Kendra Stokke and Bailey Loveall combined for 17 kills and each hit at over a .400 efficiency in the match...

Numerous hogs die in semi crash Michael Brown, 22, of Sioux City, was cited for failure to maintain control his vehicle at 3:14 p.m. on Sept. 14 along Highway 86 near the Minnesota border. He was transporting a load of hogs in his semi-tractor trailer and rolled his trailer while attempting to navigate a curve. ...