Stories from Tuesday, December 10, 2019

During this season of Thanksgiving, Americans gather with friends and family to count our blessings. Blessed to live in the land of the free and home of the brave, we give thanks to the courageous sons and daughters who put their lives on the line to secure freedom and liberty from one generation to the next...

Over the last several weeks farmers, homes and businesses who use propane for heat or to dry their corn have been experiencing a shortage due to significant transportation issues. This shortage is the product of a "perfect storm," of a late planting season this spring, early winter weather conditions and high demand for petroleum products throughout the Midwest...

March 5, 1921 — Dec. 7, 2019 Berkley Warren Bedell, age 98, passed away on Dec. 7, 2019, three days after suffering a massive stroke in Naples, Florida.  A third generation resident of Spirit Lake, he was born on March 5, 1921. Growing up with two loving parents, Walter and Virginia Bedell and a younger brother, Jack, his life was filled with fishing, hunting, and hanging out with the "South Side Gang" – a harmless group of neighborhood friends who loved fishing, hunting and the magical life in a small town surrounded by lakes and wildlife.. ...

Berkley was a true friend for 44 years. Berkley embodied in every way, both public and private, the essence of a good and decent and caring person. We sat side by side for 10 years on the House Agriculture Committee, and no one fought harder or cared more for the wellbeing of farm and rural families. He raised the specter of global warming long before it became widely acknowledged...

Dec. 24, 1938 - Dec. 1, 2019 A funeral service for John DeRuyter, age 80, of Milford, was held Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019 at Turner Jenness Funeral Home in Milford.  Burial was at Valley View Cemetery in Rock Valley.  John Gilbert DeRuyter, the son of Dick and Cora (Hoekstra) DeRuyter, was born Dec. 24, 1938, in Le Mars. He grew up in Sioux City and Sunnyside, Washington, later moving back to Iowa where he graduated from Rock Valley High School in 1956...

Oct. 5, 1945 — Nov. 24, 2019 On Oct. 5, 1945, in Sibley, Karen Kae Galema began a lifetime of making friends. The third and final daughter born to Frank and Gladys (Haack) Galema, Karen immediately won her parents' hearts and then set about the task of winning over her sisters, Nancy and Janet. She was, of course, successful and the three sisters remained close throughout their lives. ...

A Minnesota woman was booked into the Dickinson County Jail at 12:56 a.m. Thursday after authorities believe she took out substantial loans in another person's name. Jasmine Latrice Simmons-Brown faces a Class C felony charge for using a victim's personal information — including date of birth, address and social security number — to obtain $54,383 through a credit card and two vehicle loans in someone else's name...

Spaghetti and snow-laden celebration are on the docket this Sunday in Lake Park. Jane Heikens and members of the Lake Park Historical Society have again been busy organizing the annual Christmas in Lake Park. The event will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. ...

Jolly old St. Nick's home turf will be a little outside the Arctic Circle this Saturday, as downtown Spirit Lake is transformed into Santa's Village. The annual event is now in its second year under the umbrella of the Spirit Lake Chamber of Commerce, and the holiday happenings continue to grow. ...

Authorities in both Clay and Dickinson County responded to rollovers this week along different sections of Highway 71. Minor injuries were reported after the first of the week's accidents in Clay County, and no injuries were reported after the second accident, which occurred in the Lakes Area...

For the last two years, the Iowa Great Lakes Sanitary District like everyone in the area, has been dealing with high water issues. When the lake water levels are high, that leads to high ground water levels around the lakes. High ground water levels around the Lakes area means more water trying to get into private and public sanitary sewer systems...

Ice has been coming and going so far this year, but it’s for sure that eventually we’re going to have safe ice available to us. When that happens, the following ideas will help you be more successful when it comes to fishing through the ice. When fishing is slow, get as many lines in the water as possible. ...

The recent Iowa Great Lakes Fishing Club’s fall “DNR Night” held on Thursday, Nov. 14 drew one of the largest crowds I can remember. Held at the Oak Hill Outdoor facility located at the corner of HWY 71/86 across from Perkins Restaurant, I’d estimate close to 200 people were in attendance. What I appreciated the most (plus the free pizza and exchanging good fishing tales) is the chance to listen to a yearly update from DNR personnel...

Harris-Lake Park kicked off the 2019-20 boys basketball season with a dominant 79-48 road win over Akron-Westfield on Tuesday, Dec. 3. "I was really pleased with our performance at Akron in the season opener," Harris-Lake Park coach Jeff Sohn said. "We came out a bit slow, missing a few easy ones, but the guys really battled and went on some nice runs the last three quarters of the game. ...

The Okoboji boys basketball team kicked off the 2019-20 season with a hard-fought road loss against Sioux Center on Tuesday, Dec. 3. The Pioneers fell 85-76 to the Warriors. "Despite the loss, we were proud of our boys' resilience throughout the highs and lows of the game," Okoboji coach Ryan Stumbo said. ...

Harris-Lake Park struggled mightily in the girls basketball season opener on Tuesday, Dec. 3. The Wolves fell 74-15 to Akron-Westfield in Akron. "This was a tough season opener for H-LP girls basketball program," Harris-Lake Park's first-year coach Kirsten Noska said. ...

Eighth-ranked (3A) Okoboji earned a hard-fought road victory over Sioux Center on Tuesday, Dec. 3 to move to 2-0 on the young season. The Pioneers topped the Warriors 49-44 in Sioux Center. “We loved the energy and effort we gave on the defensive end of the court," Okoboji coach John Adams said. ...

After starting the season with back-to-back wins, the 12th-ranked (3A) Spirit Lake girls basketball team suffered its first defeat with a 48-43 road loss to Sioux City West. "As disappointing as the outcome was, a lot can be learned from this game," Spirit Lake coach Naet Hoaglund said. "I thought we came out and competed hard in the first quarter, especially on the defensive end. We really had to work for our opportunities on offense. ...

Spirit Lake Park suffered a pair of dual meet defeats to open the wrestling season Thursday in Sheldon. The Indians fell 57-18 to Sheldon/South O'Brien and 66-12 to Central Lyon/George-Little Rock. "I really thought our guys prepared themselves well for our first night of competition," Spirit Lake Park coach Andrew Lundgren said. ...

The Okoboji/HMS wrestling team went 1-1 at a double dual in Spencer on Thursday, Dec. 5. The Pioneers earned a 58-18 win over Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire, but fell 52-21 to the host Tigers. "We loved how our kids rallied around each other during and after matches," Okoboji/HMS coach Nate Dau said. "We saw a lot of fight from some of the new faces to the program also."...

Okoboji fended off a third-quarter comeback to down Sheldon on Friday, Dec. 6 in Siouxland Conference boys hoops action. The Pioneers earned a 70-49 win over the Orabs. "We were really proud of the way we competed tonight," Okoboji coach Ryan Stumbo said. "Our energy on defense was really solid and consistent throughout the game, and we were able to attack the floor well on offense for good looks."...

The eighth-ranked (3A) Okoboji girls basketball team improved to 3-0 on the season with a 23-point Siouxland Conference road win over Sheldon on Friday, Dec. 6. The Pioneers defeated the Orabs 61-38 in Sheldon, though the game was much closer early on than the final score suggests...

The Harris-Lake Park girls basketball team suffered a 37-point loss to Remsen St. Mary's on Friday, Dec. 6. The Wolves fell 51-14 to the Hawks. Ava Rasche led the Wolves with seven points, four rebounds and a steal. Allison Wallace had five points, four rebounds and a steal...

The Harris-Lake Park boys basketball team suffered a 51-43 War Eagle Conference road loss to Remsen St. Mary's on Friday, Dec. 6. The Wolves took an early lead, outscoring the host Hawks 14-10 in the opening stanza, and maintained their four-point lead at the half...

Okoboji wrestling standouts Hunter and Blake Abrahamson recently signed letters of intent to wrestle at Minnesota West Community and Technical College in Worthington, Minnesota. Both wrestlers have earned multiple trips to the Iowa High School Athletic Association State Wrestling Tournament. Hunter is a three-time qualifier, though he was unable to compete at state his freshman year due to an illness. The duo made the trip to Des Moines together in 2018 and 2019...

Fresh off the heels of a disappointing eight-point loss to Worthington (MN), the Spirit Lake boys basketball team bounced back with a one-point win over MOC-Floyd Valley on Thursday, Dec. 5. The Indians topped the Dutchmmen 61-60 in Spirit Lake. Luke Sidles led the Indians with a 20-point scoring performance. The senior was 7 of 11 from the field, making 5 of 8 shots from beyond the 3-point line...

Returning state qualifier and seventh-place finisher Jonathon Burnette earned a runner-up finish to lead the Spirit Lake Park wrestling team at the Okoboji Invitational held Saturday, Dec. 7 in Milford. The Indians — the returning Class 2A state runners-up — placed ninth overall...

Okoboji/HMS placed five wrestlers in the finals and earned a third-place team finish at the Okoboji Invitational held Saturday, Dec. 7 in Milford. Okoboj/HMS coach Nate Dau said it was a great team effort. "We had a great team effort throughout the day and got some big wins," he said. ...

Tickets for Music After Hours with Scott Larsen are on sale now. Scott will perform at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 12, in the Pomerantz Hall. Scott will present a fun-filled acoustic rock show guaranteed to please. Tickets can be purchased at the Pearson Lakes Art Center box office, or by calling 712-332-7029. Tickets also available the night of the show. For more information regarding the show or membership, please call the Pearson Lakes Art Center at 712-332-7029 or visit lakesart.org...

The Iowa Rock 'n Roll Music Association will present a special Christmas Rock the Roof Concert from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 19, at the Majestic Pavilion in Arnolds Park. Featuring live music from the Itty Bitty Boji Band, the evening's festivities will include an ugly Christmas sweater contest, with the winner of a season Rock the Roof pass to be determined by a panel of judges...

The Clay County Fair and Events Center announces the 2020 Winter Event Series, which will be held in the Clay County Regional Events Center: "PJ Masks Live!" on Saturday, Jan. 11; Arch Allies on Saturday, Feb. 8; Family Fest on Saturday, March 7; and Rock'n Bac'n Brew'n featuring The Dweebs on Saturday, March 28...

  In response to high levels of both personal and financial farm stress, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach is hosting a Farm Couple Getaway Feb. 21-22 at the Lakeshore Center at Okoboji in Milford. The program is designed for farm couples who want to improve farm family communication, set goals for the family and farm, work through farm succession or just spend the weekend off the farm discussing and working on their farm family issues...

  Arnolds Park Amusement Park recently announced two concerts in their new Roof Garden Ballroom during the 2020 University of Okoboji Winter Games.  The first concert will take place Friday, Jan. 24 with doors opening at 6:30 p.m.  The first performance will be AC/DC tribute band Thunderstruck.   On the following evening, Saturday night, Hairball will bring the heat to the cold winter weather with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. in the Roof Garden Ballroom...

The Iowa Navy Commodores helped celebrate as Kemna Okoboji Motorcars and AutoSmart set sail on a new course in Okoboji. The businesses are now located in the former Okoboji Harley Davidson Building along Highway 71 — not far from their former location on 41st Street in Spirit Lake...

The Iowa Navy Commodores logged a visit to F45 Training in Arnolds Park Saturday morning. The fitness center is the first of F45's world-wide network to be established in the state. Co-owners Patty Lahr and Todd Knutson held a soft opening for the business Nov. 16 this year...

Thank you to the Friends of the Milford Memorial Library for volunteering their time to make and serve treats at the Festival of Trees and Memorial Library's Holiday Open House. We would also like to thank Teresa Ortman for playing the piano during the Festival of Trees Friday night, to Santa and Mrs. ...

Blink Marketing in Milford hosted a pet food drive throughout the month of November to support the local Humane Society of Northwest Iowa. Needed items that were collected ranged from different kinds of pet food to general supplies like paper towels and cleaning wipes, plus some generous money donations. Blink Marketing would like to thank everyone who participated and joined the company to help support the local Humane Society this holiday season...

Northwest Bank locations in Milford, Arnolds Park and Spirit Lake hosted an effort to raise money and food items for the Okoboji and Spirit Lake Schools Backpack Programs. The programs help supply food to youth and families in need. Northwest Bank offered to match funds up to $500 for both programs. ...

The Iowa Great Lakes Chapter of Rotary visited local schools in early December to provide dictionaries to all third grade students. The dictionaries go to all students in Dickinson County including Lake Park, Milford, Okoboji, Spirit Lake and Terril. The project began in 2003 with the nonprofit Dictionary Project and aimed to inspire students to be better writers, creative thinkers and avid readers...

106 1st Place - Mikey Baker, West Sioux, Hawarden 2nd Place - Dylan Jones, Okoboji/HMS 3rd Place - Cam Borman, Central Lyon/George-Little Rock 4th Place - Denver Ash, Fulda-Murray Cty Central 5th Place - Carson Torreson, Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire...

  Spirit Lake Noon Kiwanis and fourth-grade Spirit Lake Elementary K-Kids packaged 30 complete Thanksgiving family dinners with turkey and all the trimmings Tuesday, Nov. 26, for Upper Des Moines Opportunity families in need. The K-Kids are a Kiwanis-sponsored elementary school age level club, run by the students with the help of their advisors, decide on fundraisers and volunteering projects. ...

In addition to YIP Grants, Youth in Philanthropy gives back with an annual community service project. To make Christmas even brighter for area children, the students brought Christmas stockings filled with gifts to their Dec. 4 meeting. Then, Youth in Philanthropy helped with several projects at the Bedell Family YMCA...

The eighth-ranked (3A) Okoboji girls basketball team improved to 4-0 on the season with a 57-45 road win over Rock Valley on Tuesday, Dec. 10. Magan Christopherson led the Pioneers in scoring with 17 points. She also had three steals. Kallyn Stumbo and Camry Jones both notched double-doubles...

The Spirit Lake boys basketball team kicked off its Lakes Conference slate with a narrow loss to Spencer on Tuesday, Dec. 10. The Indians fell 51-45 to the host Tigers. Creighton Morisch led the Indians with 14 points. Spencer's Gage Garnatz led all scorers with 17. Teammate Karter Petzenhauser scored 14...

Class 3A No. 12-ranked Spirit Lake earned a Lakes Conference girls hoops victory Tuesday, Dec. 10 in Spencer. The Indians topped the Tigers 58-41. Brooke Smith led the way with 15 points, four rebounds and four assists. Jordyn Hamm had 15 points and five rebounds...

The Harris-Lake Park boys basketball team picked up a second War Eagle Conference victory Tuesday, Dec. 10, as the Wolves defeated MMCRU 67-43 in Lake Park. Isaac Ihnen led the way with 25 points. Bubba Sohn chipped in 22 on the night. With the win, the Wolves improved to 2-1 overall and 2-1 in conference play...

The Harris-Lake Park girls basketball team's early season struggles continued Tuesday, Dec. 10 in a home contest with MMCRU. The Wolves fell 73-17 to the Royals in Lake Park. Zella Ingham led Harris-Lake Park with six points. Ava Rasche had four points and a steal. Allison Wallace had three points and a steal...

Not a fan of deer making a quick snack of your backyard plants in the fall and winter? Here are five tips to help homeowners make their trees and shrubs less desirable to deer from now to April: Prevent deer from getting into the area by adding snow fencing, electric fencing or woven wire. Try hanging burlap around young trees to hide them, or add a few lines of baling twine a few feet out around a tree. Leaning four palettes around a young spruce can be effective, too...