Thursday, June 8, 2023
Vol. 158, Issue 23
Decorah, Iowa 52101 www.decorahnewspapers.com
As the youngest of four sisters raised on her family’s 400-cow dairy farm, Avery Humpal is no stranger to hard work and long days. Even as I geared up to leave Decorah to interview her at the family’s Humpal Farm near Ridgeway, she texted me, saying she had to finish helping her dad with bedding cow pens before our interview could take place. I navigated my way along gravel dirt roads, cutting straight and long through green fields, making my way to Avery’s address. As I arrived and exited my truck, the
Avery Humpal, 2023 Winneshiek County Dairy Princess alternate, is pictured at the Humpal Farm near Ridgeway. (Driftless Multimedia photo by Denise Lana)
phone: 563-382-4221
fax: 563-382-5949
17-year-old, clad in jeans and dark shirt, greeted me with a brilliant unassuming smile, straight flaxen hair framing her youthfully dimpled visage. We sat and chatted without pauses or uneasy hesitations, and it was immediately obvious that Avery was very comfortable talking about her family and the farm, her hobbies and past times, but mostly her deep love for all things dairy and cows. Her blue eyes lit up as she talked about her favorite cow, describing to me how this cow had come to the farm when Avery was five or so. Every time she works near where the cow is, the cow always comes over and bumps her with her snout, prompting Avery to give her scratches and pets. “She’s the only one I can go up to. As a calf, she would come up to me and was never scared of me.” Avery laughs when I ask what the cow’s name was. “I just refer to her as 3621, since that’s her tag number.” Being chosen as Winneshiek County Dairy Princess Alternate seems a natural choice to me, as I observed Avery discussing how the family’s dairy farm has been passed along from one generation to the next. “It’s a third-generation farm, started in 1806,” Avery explained. Grandfather and Grandmother Humpal started with fewer than 100 Holsteins. Her dad, Darryl, the youngest of eight children, worked the farm until he was old enough to step in and take it over. Darryl married Avery’s mom Michelle in 1992, and along the way, Darryl expanded the farm’s free stall barn, and gradually more and more cows were added.
Avery Humpal is pictured with her favorite cow, 3621. (submitted photo)
Confessions of a Royal Watcher:
King Charles III in the top job
Another trip in my lifetime I do not worship British royals. I don’t yearn to see one in person and snap a selfie. I would never kit up in a tasteless t-shirt, socks, or hat ensemble mimicking the Union Jack flag. When a friend from the United Kingdom, who visited us for a week last October gushed, “Rachel, I need to do the coronation with you,” I cooly demurred, “That probably won’t happen.” My spouse and I had just spent a festive June
email: news@decorahnewspapers.com
By Denise Lana
h t n o M y r i a D
Let’s get straight to the confessions. King Charles III claims he’s modernizing the monarchy, but it’s feudal. Contrary to popular belief, I wasn’t one of approximately 2,200 people invited to be physically present at the coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey on May 6, 2023. I was invited to sit on a sofa in England, at times next to a dog.
Price One Dollar
Princess is anything but secon-Dairy
Saluting dairy producers during
By Rachel Faldet
One Section
celebrating Queen Elizabeth’s 70 years on the throne. We needed to rebuild our pin money. And, truth be told, some of rainbow-palette-coat-dressed-pearland-diamond-clad Queen Elizabeth’s surviving relatives seemed a tad self-serving, boring and less-cherished than the dearly-departed family matriarch. Within three days, my mad-keen Anglophile hubby had booked mid-April to mid-May plane tickets to a nation about to bring in the Carolean Era and size up its hereditary, constitutional head of state. You know, the septuagenarian King formerly known as Prince.
Dairy royalty continued on page 5
Three royal watchers and a dog view the coronation of King Charles from the sofa during a coronation watch party. (Photo courtesy David and Rachel Faldet)
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Taking the pulse of the United Kingdom When I thumbed through heaps of glossy and tabloid magazines and newspapers after my descent into jet-lag a few weeks before Opera-
tion Golden Orb (for high security reasons, royals and their minions use codenames) reached its “awesome” pinnacle, the United Kingdom seemed to be clinging to its record-breaking-longest-reign-in-British-history Elizabethan Era. Charles’s mum – whose codename when out
in public, reportedly, was “Sharon” – graced more covers, front pages, and souvenir inserts than Charles did pre-coronation. It made me
Royal Watcher
continued on page 7
Winneshiek Medical Center becomes WinnMed This week, Winneshiek Medical Center officially transitions to WinnMed. The Board of Trustees approved the new name and brand in March launched June 5, and continue roll-out efforts through the end of the year. A new tagline to support WinnMed was also adopted by the Board of Trustees: “Excellence lives here.” Chief Administrative Officer Steve Slessor said, “The new name closely connects to the current identity, but is shortened to be easy to see,
say and remember. The “Winn” portion gives respect to Winneshiek County citizens to whom we are so deeply connected, and t h e “Med” portion broadens our scope from a physical place or “center” to a larger medical system that encompasses the entire region. The tagline speaks to the ideal that every patient receives the absolute best care here, and that care is inspired by the patients and health care providers who choose to live, work and care for each other locally.” Chief Medical Officer Thomas Marquardt,
D.P.M., said, “Our strategic long-term vision points to growth and expansion of our Mayo Clinic Health System specialty services. We wanted to roll out this plan under a new and modern name and look. During the rebranding process, we also worked closely with our colleagues at Mayo Clinic to ensure compliance with their updated brand standards. The resulting logo change and future use of the MCHS logo when referring to our physician group reflects the new standards for both organizations.” As under the legacy name and brand of Winneshiek Medical Center, WinnMed’s partnership with Mayo Clinic Health System for physician services is strong. Marquardt said, “Our nearly 20-year partnership with Mayo Clinic Health System continues to grow. The leadership and physician services we receive from Mayo Clinic
JUNE IS DAIRY MONTH THANK YOU DAIRY PRODUCERS!
Health System will help keep WinnMed on the cutting edge of health care.”
Background In 1992, the first of all Mayo Clinic Health System clinics opened in Decorah and worked in partnership with the local hospital, then Winneshiek County Memorial Hospital. In 2005, Winneshiek County Memorial Hospital entered into a Professional Services Agreement and Management Services Agreement with Mayo Clinic Health System, and rebranded itself to Winneshiek Medical Center. The medical center continued to grow and evolve, adding service lines and
WinnMed continued on page 3