Stories from Tuesday, October 14, 2014

A centerpiece of a $20 million expansion at the Spirit Lake Polaris Industries plant is ready for the showroom. Company officials on Thursday formally launched its Slingshot three-wheeled motorcycle line. Polaris President and COO Bennett Morgan and Slingshot Vice President Mike Jonikas joined Spirit Lake Plant Director Brian Hines for the event...

Oct. 5, 1928 -- Oct. 6, 2014 A funeral service for Dolores Zimmer, age 86, of Milford was held Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014, at First Lutheran Church in West Okoboji. Burial was at Riverside Cemetery in Spencer. Dolores (Lorie) Darlene (VanHouten) Zimmer was born Oct. ...

Sept. 30, 1924 -- Oct. 5, 2014 Mark Eugene Campney, the son of James Elmer and Ethel (Corle) Campney was born Sept. 30, 1924 near Curlew. His childhood years were in the Palo Alto County, Iowa area, where he attended school, graduating from Emmetsburg High School in 1945. ...

Jan. 7, 1932 -- Oct. 6, 2014 Virginia Ann Swanson was born Jan. 7, 1932, in Sioux City, the daughter of Emil and Elizabeth (Tobin) Swanson. She was raised and educated in Sioux City and was a member of the first graduating class of Bishop Heelan High School in 1950...

A group of regional artists will soon be looking for a new location to showcase their work. A Piece of Work, Inc. gallery director Haley Rothstein said the Spirit Lake art retailer will close its doors on Oct. 31. More than 80 member artists displayed work at one time or another during the gallery's history. The gallery drew more than 48,000 visitors from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and 19 foreign countries...

The Spirit Lake school board named its newest member at the board's monthly meeting on Monday. Sonja Hamm will fill the open seat left by Julie Currell, who stepped down from her position in September. Currell was a three-year member of the board but moved out of the district...

With a straight-set victory over Storm Lake on Tuesday, the Spirit Lake volleyball team locked up a third place finish in the Lakes Conference behind Class 2A No. 3-ranked Western Christian and Class 4A No. 7-ranked Le Mars. "Placing third in the Lakes Conference is a very good accomplishment," Spirit Lake coach Beau Dielschneider said. ...

With three All-Lakes Conference runners and two more in the top 17 in Emmetsburg Tuesday, the Spirit Lake boys cross country team ran away -- literally -- with the conference title. Ryan Maris, Alec Harrington and Kyle Kueper led the way, as each earned all-conference honors. ...

Five Okoboji cross country runners earned All-Siouxland Conference honors in Sioux Center Tuesday, as the girls finished third and the boys finished fourth overall. Olivia Albright, Mari Stein and Mallory Gibson were each named all-conference for their performances on Tuesday. Albright finished in eighth place with a time of 17: minutes, .02 seconds, Stein placed 11th in 17:03.14, and Gibson placed 13th in 17:03.70...

A highly competitive volleyball match turned ugly in the fourth set Tuesday, as Okoboji was outscored 25-9 by visiting George-Little Rock in a four-set loss to the Mustangs. After falling behind 1-0 in a 27-25 loss in the opening set, the Pioneers rebounded to win the second game 27-25, but fell 25-21 in the third and, ultimately, lost the match in the fourth...

A pair of federal sentences were handed down at the federal courthouse in Sioux City and prosecutors say the Iowa Great Lakes Task force assisted with both investigations. Judge Mark Bennett handed down a prison sentence of just over five years to Ivan Lopez-Castelian on Wednesday, Oct. ...

West O Beer's CocO Stout bested 63 other entries in the sweet and cream stout category Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. In just their first year of entering, the West O Beer brewing company located in West Okoboji captured a gold medal. ...

Pink-clad fans packed the pool Monday night, as the Spencer girls swam to a clean sweep over visiting Storm Lake and Algona. After placing fifth at the 10-team Johnston Invite on Saturday -- in which the foursome of Taylor Sieperda, Erin Dau, Emma Dau and Madison Sieperda set the school record in the 200 freestyle relay -- the Spencer girls won eight of 11 events Tuesday to beat the Tornadoes 83-11 and the Bulldogs 63-31...

Iowa Lakes Community College men's soccer athlete Mohammad Awadallah was recently named Iowa Community College Athletic Conference Player of the Week. Iowa Lakes coach Ben MacRae praised Awadallah's performance. "Mohammad had a tremendous week, working extremely hard to capture his best form and adapting well to the level of play," MacRae said. "He scored two tremendous goals against Indian Hills and deserves this recognition for his superb finishing."...

A field littered with yellow flags was the only thing that could slow Class 2A No. 2 Spirit Lake Friday night, as the Indians trounced Sheldon in a 41-0 Class 2A District 1 road win -- their third shut out in four weeks. "We got started a little slow and we were doing some things to stop ourselves with penalties and turnover situations," Spirit Lake coach Josh Bolluyt said. ...

After living in the small city of Sioux City most of my life, I have always thought of a town like Spirit Lake to be "a small town." The Lakes Area, in general, is not a large area. It's easy to get from one place to another by car or sometimes by boat or snowmobile. ...

After a 37-yard field goal by Jake Dodge cut Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn's lead to four before halftime, Okoboji looked poised for a homecoming victory Friday night. However, turnovers cost the Pioneers dearly down the stretch, as the Hawks capitalized with a 28-16 win...

'Perplexing' was the word used by Harris-Lake Park coach Lane Gunderson to describe the Wolves' 49-0 loss to No. 7 Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn on Friday night, as the Eagles limited a usually potent offense to just 104 total yards and no points in a lopsided affair...

It was business as usual for the Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire football squad Friday night, as the Titans ran through, over, and around the Clay Central-Everly defense en route to 62-12 victory. The Titans racked up 401 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground, led by Michael Girres, who rushed for 187 yards and four touchdowns on just seven carries...

A 12,000 square-foot, $3 million expansion is underway at the Harris-Lake Park High School and Middle School. The three phase project, which has an expected completion date of August 2015, will add classrooms, new locker rooms, a new 24/7 wellness center and an expansion of the vocational ag wing...

Thousands of Liberian orphans will go without hunger for a few days thanks to a local Bible camp. Okoboji Lutheran Camp, located in Wahpeton will package 10,000 meals in two hours from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, with the small, West African nation as the final destination...

Harris-Lake Park picked up a War Eagle Conference road win Tuesday with a four-set victory over Remsen-Union. The Wolves jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-21 win in the opening set and a 25-22 win in the second. The Rockets battled back, however, earning a 26-24 win in the third, but H-LP was simply too much, winning the fourth set 25-14 to close the match...