Stories from Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Never deprived of drama, the 2014 Iowa High School Track and Field Championships held Thursday-Saturday, May 22-24, failed again to disappoint as several Spirit Lake Park athletes brought hardware back from Des Moines. A total of seven Indian events placed in the top-8 at the famous Blue Oval of Drake University, as the SLP girls and boys squads represented their communities well...

A trio of talented tracksters piloted the Pioneers to a solid showing at the 2014 Iowa High School State Track and Field Championships last week, as Okoboji seniors Jordan Hanna, Tyeson Barnett and Brett Barthman put on a show for those in attendance at the famous Blue Oval...

Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven Ayrshire's state track tandem wrapped its season against the best athletes Iowa has to offer in Class 1A at the 2014 State Track and Field Championships last week. On Thursday,. Marcus Girres placed 21st in the 200-meter dash preliminary race with a time of 24 seconds. All but one of the finals qualifiers ran sub-23 second races in the prelims, and eventual champion Kyle Groeneweg of West Lyon earned the top spot with a time of 21.93 seconds...

Upson Downs can now lay claim to two rock 'n' roll hall of fame inductions. The long-time touring troupe was was one of 11 bands inducted into the South Dakota Rock and Roll Music Association Hall of Fame April 12 at the Ramkota Exhibit Hall in Sioux Falls, South Dakota...

Jim Hussong admits he didn't give the mayor's position in Arnolds Park much thought. But, the sudden resignation of Mike Mitchell and a recruiting effort from current city council members led the local businessman to consider a role in public office...

Tied 5-5 at the end of regulation, the Harris-Lake Park softball team hoped to earn a thrilling road victory over Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn in the season opener Tuesday. Unfortunately, those dreams were dashed as the Hawks connected on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth to steal a 6-5 victory...

While the Orabs made it interesting in the end, a young Spirit Lake baseball team hung on to earn its first victory of the season Tuesday, besting Sheldon 6-5 at home in the season opener. "I thought it was a really good first game for us," Spirit Lake coach Jason Schneider said. ...

It may have been the season opener, but the Spirit Lake softball team looked to be in midseason form Tuesday night, as the Indians walloped the visiting Okoboji Pioneers 13-1 behind a standout performance from Bailee Newman. The sophomore pitched all four innings, striking out four batters, and also had three hits and four RBIs at the plate, including a solo home run in the first inning to kick off the scoring...

With a meet medalist round of 75 Tuesday, Okoboji's Alex Mankle secured her third consecutive trip to the state golf meet. The junior recorded two bogeys and a birdie on the front nine for a one-over-par 37 and stayed remarkably consistent through the back, carding three bogeys and a birdie for a two-over-par 38...

The Harris-Lake Park and Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire girls golf squads' seasons came to an end Tuesday, as the Wolves and Titans closed out their years at the regional final in Hartley. Harris-Lake Park placed sixth with a total team score of 520, led by a gutsy performance by Macy Gunderson, who carded a 104 despite battling an illness...

At every turn this season, it seems like no matter where the Spirit Lake-Okoboji girls tennis team looks, across the net is Lakes Conference foe Le Mars. The same held true Saturday, as the SL-O girls yet again squared off with the Bulldogs, this time with a state tournament berth on the line...

The only county-level contest features a two-person race for the GOP nomination for District 4 supervisor. Incumbent Paul Johnson is seeking a fourth term and faces a challenge from Mike Wittrock. District 4 includes Lake Park, Okoboji and some rural portions of Spirit Lake and Milford. No candidates met the filing deadline to appear on the Democratic Primary ballot. Each Republican was asked a series of questions and provided the following responses:...

Nearly 40 area residents attended the update on the restoration project on Marble and West Hottes Lakes Tuesday, May 20, at Mini-Wakan State Park Shelter House. Sponsored by the Spirit Lake Protective Association, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and members of the Dickinson County Clean Water Alliance, the evening was highlighted by a power point presentation by Mike Hawkins, Northwest Iowa Fisheries Biologist. ...

The family of Melvin and Lorraine Reimers, Sioux Valley, Minnesota are hosting an open house from 2-4 p.m. Saturday, June 14 at the Lake Park Community Center in honor of the couple's 60th wedding anniversary. Melvin Leroy Reimers and Lorraine Joan Wulf were married June 27, 1954, at Sioux Valley Trinity Lutheran Church. Please let your presence be their gift...

On behalf of the American Red Cross Bloodmobile, we wish to thank all of the blood donors who took the time on a beautiful day to donate to the blood drive on May 20-21. Giving blood takes such little time and a gift is given -- another hug, another laugh and another life. We have four individuals who have given gallons of blood: Anita Early -- one gallon, Curtis Mohrman -- two gallons, Linda Rubis -- eight gallons, and Beverly Rush -- 12 gallons. What a deal!...

An aroma of hops, barely, yeast and grapes will be in the air, Saturday, May 31 at the Spirit Lake VFW. Local home brewers will showcase their latest and greatest concoction at the first the first ever VFW home brewer's contest from 3-6 p.m. at the local Canteen...

A two-vehicle accident caused a total of $7,500 damage and sent three people to the hospital, according to the Spirit Lake Police Department. The collison occurred around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 21 along Highway 71. Patricia Schuneman, 77, Okoboji, was eastbound on 41st Street in Spirit Lake, in 2005 Buick Lesabre. Schuneman pulled out from the stop sign at the intersection of Highway 71 and collided with Amanda Cox, 29, Okoboji, driver of a 1993 Mercury, who was northbound on Highway 71...

With runner-up finishes in both the girls and boys Siouxland Conference golf standings, the Okoboji Pioneers raked in six All-Conference selections. As a team, the girls finished behind conference champion MOC-Floyd Valley, but tied the Dutchmen for the with three All-Conference golfers on the year...

With a pair of wins over MOC-Floyd Valley on Thursday, the Spirit Lake Park-Okoboji boys and girls soccer teams enter postseason play on a high note after an up-and-down regular season schedule. The girls earned a 3-1 win over the Dutchmen thanks to senior scores by Carter Hassel, Hailey Roberts and Bailey Loveall. It was the first goals any of the trio had scored...

Finishing one-two in doubles action Thursday, Spirit Lake-Okoboji's Olivia Rohlk and Natalie Delaney, and Ryan Petievich and Hanna Schoning will all make the trip to the girls state individual tennis tournament in Iowa City. Rohlk and Delaney went 4-0 on the day, beating their teammates Petievich and Schoning in the finals 6-2, 6-7, 6-2, to earn first place honors...

For nearly 28 years Barbara Woodley has reported to work in the Dickinson County Zoning Office. On June 2 her life will undergo a drastic change. Woodley retires as office manager for Planning & Zoning and Environmental Health on May 30. She will no longer be handling building permits, zoning requests, septic tank applications and a vast array of other duties...

BY MATT HEINRICHS SPORTS EDITOR Of three Dickinson County boys golfer to advance to the district final, none will make an appearance at the state golf tournament, as Okoboji's Tyler Ohl, Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire's Ethan Petersen and Harris-Lake Park's Brady Van Iperen each ended their seasons on Thursday...

July 2, 1935 -- May 21, 2014 Shirley Jean Kabele was born July 2, 1935, in Arnolds Park, the daughter of Claude and Quintina (Hansen) Ritchie. She was raised and educated in Arnolds Park, graduating from Arnolds Park High School. Shirley was united in marriage to Chris Kabele, Sr. ...

June 27, 2013 -- May 24, 2014 A funeral service for Roman Rubeck, 10 month son of Ryan and April Rubek, was held Saturday, May 24, 2014 at Grace Lutheran Church in Spirit Lake. Burial was at Lakeview Gardens Cemetery. Roman Alvin Rubeck was born June 27, 2013 in Rochester, Minnesota, the son of Ryan and April (Becker) Rubeck...

May 29, 1911 -- May 22, 2014 A funeral service for Mabel Smith, 102, of Spencer, formerly of Terril, was held Tuesday, May 27, 2014 at the United Methodist Church in Terril. Burial was at Crown Hill Cemetery in Ruthven. Mabel Whitford Hanson Smith was born on a farm near Graettinger on May 29, 1911 to Henry and Grace Ann Brown Whitford. She grew up on a farm near Ruthven and was educated at Lake Center School...

Local birders Lee Schoenewe and Ed Thelen scoured the area on a partly cloudy Wednesday, May 14, for as many species of birds as they could find. From 5 a.m.-7:30 p.m., in temperatures from 36-65 degrees, the pair spotted 152 avian species, a record for both...

Alison Schmitz, chairperson of the 2015 University of Okoboji Winter Games, proudly presents Chief Chris Yungbluth of the Arnolds Park Okoboji Fire & Rescue with a check for $1,755. These funds were generated by the ever-popular Polar Bear Plunge held on Saturday, Jan. ...

Jan. 3, 1923 -- May 15, 2014 A funeral service for LaVerne Richard, 91, of Lake Park, was held Tuesday, May 20, at the United Methodist Church in Lake Park. Burial was at Silver Lake Cemetery in Lake Park. LaVerne Leon Richard, the son of Alma (Bergeson) and George Richard, was born Jan. 3, 1923, in Estherville. On Jan. 25, 1943, LaVerne was enlisted into the United States Army Air Force and served in Italy during WWII. LaVerne was honorably discharged in November 1945...

Tradition is a word that comes to mind frequently when referring to time spent in the Iowa Great Lakes, and one special tradition enjoyed by families is the area's Fourth of July fireworks show. Over the years, the phrase "Big Bangs Cost Big Bucks" has been used and it remains true today. Donations of any size are greatly appreciated and those over $100 will be announced on KUOO prior to the 10:08 p.m. display over West Lake Okoboji on Friday, July 4...

A fountain aimed at beautifying the area and battling algae outbreaks has been installed in a cove at Silver Lake. The town of Lake Park held a ceremony Tuesday night, May 20, marking installation of the fountain, which has been named Silver Spring. It is expected to generate water movement that will help break up summer formations of blue-green algae...

June 11, 1942 - Dec. 27, 2013 A memorial service for Bill Noehren will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 31, at Mini Wakan State Park in Spirit Lake. William Charles Noehren was born June 11, 1942, in Des Moines, the son of Alfred and Dorothy (Dahl) Noehren. William was raised and educated in Spencer. Upon graduating from Spencer High School, he attended the University of Iowa...