Stories from Wednesday, May 29, 2013

A caravan of motorcycles, cars and a giant, friendly bee made their way through the streets of Milford last week in support of a resiliant newborn. The Shayla Bee Fund showered the family of Pete Schmitz and Felishia Rardin with gifts as the 68th Shayla Bee family on Tuesday, May 21. ...

June 12, 1936 -- May 7, 2013 Joan Wilson, of Longboat Key, Fla., and formerly of Des Moines, died on Tuesday, May 7, 2013. Funeral services were Thursday, May 16, at Dunn's Funeral Home in Des Moines, with burial at the Masonic Cemetery. Joan was born June 12, 1936, in Des Moines, and was the daughter of Joseph I. ...

Paul Rhoads and Fred Hoiberg have both brought an incredible amount of excitement to Iowa State after signing longterm contract extensions after three years as Cyclone coaches. "I grew up in Ames and have been going to games at Hilton Coliseum since I was five years old," Hoiberg said after signing a 10-year, $20-million deal in March. "To have that opportunity to coach in front of the people that have supported me my whole life is a dream come true for me."...

Assistant basketball coach Kirk Speraw still gets excited when talking about Iowa's deep run to the 2013 NIT championship game at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Now it's time to see if the Hawks can take the next step of the Fran McCaffery Era and do some damage in the NCAA Tournament with a talented and experienced squad back next season...

Spirit Lake-Okoboji senior Brandon Stoll made a run to the quarterfinals in the single bracket of the Class 1A state tennis tournament before faltering in back-to-back matches this past weekend at the Veteran's Memorial Tennis Center in Cedar Rapids...

Eighth grader Houston Hawkins tossed a complete game, 14-strikeout gem and freshman Jakob Fritsch hit a walk-off sacrifice fly to propel Okoboji to a 4-3 victory in eight innings over Harris-Lake Park Tuesday night in a Dickinson County rivalry meeting on the baseball diamond...

Meghan Kirkwood needs help -- and property owners are in the best position to lend her a hand. The artist-in residence at Iowa Lakeside Lab wants access to a range of landscapes as part of a local history project. She would like to blend her large-format photography with stories about the land from local residents...

I would like to publically express my appreciation to the Spirit Lake Hall of Achievement for my recent induction. As I have expressed on numerous occasions, there is nothing I could have done in my professional life that was more important than the time I spent with students of the Spirit Lake Community School District. ...

ECHO PLUS would like to thank the generosity of the Good Neighbor Fund for their continued support of our mission and our programs. The Good Neighbor Fund has been very generous to ECHO PLUS again this year, with a donation of $15,360.81, which will be used to update some of our technology...

I observed an interesting argument the other day. The question was, "Is the NBA better today than it ever has been?" I feel the answer to that is a resounding "no." In no way is the game better than it was 20-25 years ago, at the peak of its popularity. For the sake of simplicity, I will separate the two eras into 15-year time frames, 1983-1998 and 98/99-2013...

October 5, 1927 -- May 21, 2013 Natalie loved to reminisce to her family in later years that when she was 16, she visited the old gypsy palm reader in Arnolds Park who told her she would have great luck throughout her life. Natalie did. She was born Oct. ...

Sept. 24, 1916 -- May 16, 2013 Lester O. Wyatt passed away peacefully on Thursday, May 16, 2013. He died at Concord Care Center in Garner. Lester was born on Sept. 24, 1916, in Manning. He married Margaret Collier in Fremont, Neb. on Oct. 8, 1938 and was happily married for 71 years. ...

June 5, 1956 -- May 15, 2013 Jackie Jeffrey, age 56, of Storm Lake died May 15, 2013 at Methodist Manor Retirement Community in Storm Lake. Funeral services was held Wednesday, May 22, at the United Methodist Church in Storm Lake. Burial will be in the Storm Lake Cemetery. Visitation was Tuesday, May 21 at the Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Storm Lake is in charge of the arrangements...

July 3, 1932 -- May 20, 2013 A funeral service for Glen Peters was held Thursday, May 23, at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Spirit Lake. Burial was at Pleasant View Cemetery in Hartley. Glen Edward Peters was born July 3, 1932 in Hartley to Edward and Helen (Kruckenberg) Peters...

Jan. 1, 1941 -- May 17, 2013 A funeral service for Bruce Vodraska, 72, of Spirit Lake, was held Thursday, May 23, 2013, at Turner Jenness Funeral Home in Spirit Lake. Bruce Benjamin Vodraska was born Jan. 1, 1941, in Des Moines to Benjamin and Vera (Rossow) Vodraska...

Jan. 22, 1927 -- May 22, 2013 A funeral service for Mr. Bernard Hart was held on May 25, 2013, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Milford. Interment was at St. Jacob's Cemetery in Graettinger. Mr. Bernard L. Hart, 86, of Milford, passed away Wednesday, May 22, 2013, at Lakes Regional Healthcare in Spirit Lake...

Whenever you see Rob Tvedte, chances are you're going to see Lucy. The eight-month-old black lab will hop from a dock for a ride on the family boat. She'll join her master as he fires up his backhoe to dig a trench. And, if they seem especially close, it's because they've been helping each other through a pretty tough year...