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Volume One Hundred Twenty Two Number 41 14 Pages October 9, 2013
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Inside this week
News Events
Tom Balvance, left, and Tom Holland of the Rake Fire Department move the Rake tanker truck into position to drop off a load of water, as they assisted at a fire in rural Buffalo Center last Thursday.
Run, Walk or Push rescheduled for October 10
Buffalo Center firemen douse the flames at a garage fire northeast of town last Thursday, Oct. 3.
Crews contain blaze on Buffalo Center acreage
Due to weather, the North Iowa Physical Therapy Run, Walk or Push has been rescheduled for Thursday, October 10 from 6:30 to 7 p.m at the High School Track.
Appreciation Party at Screaming Eagle Screaming Eagle in Buffalo Center will hold an Appreciation Party on Saturday, October 12 for all its customers over the past few years. There will be drink specials all night, and DJ Silb will begin at 9 p.m. until close.
Jeff Johnson accepts the Pinnacle Achievement Award on behalf of Johnson’s Food Center at the Affiliated Foods Midwest Fall Food Show in Omaha, NE.
Johnson’s Food Center holds Anniversary Sale
Johnson’s Food Center honored at Fall Food Show
Johnson’s Food Center will hold an Anniversary Sale starting Thursday, October 10. Check out all the specials listed in this weeks’ edition of the Buffalo Center Tribune.
Johnson’s Food Center in Buffalo Center was honored with an award on Friday, Sept. 13 at the 82nd Annual Affiliated Foods Midwest (AFM) Fall Food Show in Omaha, NE. Johnson’s Food Center was proudly recognized with a Pinnacle Achievement Award among a crowd of fellow retailers, vendors, and Affiliated Food Midwest management and staff. The Pinnacle awards are provided to a select group of retailers at the reception due to their growth and performance during the 2012-2013 Fiscal Year. Martin W. Arter, Affiliated Foods Midwest President/CEO stated, “These retailers have went above and beyond by developing and enhancing their services, store, or performance and we were very excited to honor them this year.� “It’s an honor to have it,� said store owner and manager Jeff John-
Content Page 2 ................................. Opinion Page 3 .................................. Society Page 4 .................................. Church Page 5 ......................Local/Obituary Page 6 ................. Legals/Classifieds Page 7 ..................... Fire Prevention Page 8 ..................... Fire Prevention Page 9 .............................Classifieds Page 10 ........................ Marketplace Page 11 ........................ Marketplace Page 12 ....................Business/Local Page 13 ..................................Sports Page 14 .......................... Area News
son. “It takes a collective effort to make it happen.� He notes that AFM supplies about 900 grocery stores, and only two stores in each of six size categories received the award. The category Johnson’s competed in was the largest, making the honor particularly significant. “There are lots of stores out there that will never get one.� Johnson says there has been a lot of progress at the store in the last year or so, including a new floor, deli case, dairy case and freezers. Affiliated Foods Midwest is a member-owned cooperative providing independent grocers with a full range of foods, supermarket supplies and services throughout several states in the Midwest. AFM is a member of the Topco Cooperative, the second largest procurer of grocery goods in the United States.
Family Fall Festival to be held October 13 Winnebago County Extension and Outreach, 4-H clubs and area businesses will sponsor the 7th annual Family Fall Festival Sunday, October 13 from 2-4:30 p.m. at the Winnebago County Fairgrounds in Thompson. 5K Run/Walk begins at 12:45 p.m. Information is available at www. extension.iastate.edu/winnebago or call the extension office to register. There will be activities for young and old, including a haunted hayride, kids’ games and crafts, balloon animals, inflatables, horse drawn hayride and much more. This year, there will also be a chili cook-off, free hot dog roast and apple cider, with local entertainment. The event is free. For more information, call the Winnebago County Extension office at 641-584-2261.
Farmers hitting the fields
Harvest is finally underway, following a growing season that was delayed this spring due to exceptionally wet weather. Several farmers were out in the fields last week, including Tracy Adams, who was harvesting corn northwest of Buffalo Center on Wednesday before rain moved in on Thursday and lasted into the weekend. Harvest will be in full swing for many farmers this week, with the forecast calling for clear skies and highs rising back into the 70s.
All units from the Buffalo Center Fire Department responded when a garage was engulfed in flames last Thursday, Oct. 3. at 3696 440th St., northeast of Buffalo Center. The call came in shortly after 10:30 a.m., and the department called on the Rake and Thompson Fire Departments for assistance while en route to the scene. Buffalo Center Fire Chief Brian Blodgett says there was no saving
the garage, so the firemen focused on preventing the fire from spreading to any other structures on the property; including the nearby home. “That worked, and we were able to protect everything else,� said Blodgett. No one was injured in the fire. With the additional manpower and tanker trucks from Rake and Thompson, the fire fighters were able to set up two collapsible water tanks and attack the fire from two
sides. “We very much appreciate the help from the neighboring departments,� said Blodgett. “We work well together.� Fire fighters worked at the scene for about three hours. Blodgett says the cause of the fire is still under investigation. Also assisting at the scene were the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Dept. and the Buffalo Center Ambulance.
Bethlehem installs new pastor Bethlehem Lutheran Church has called a new pastor to the pulpit after a year-long search. Pastor Mark Brickzin led his first service at Bethlehem on Sunday, August 25. Pastor Mark has been in the ministry for 36 years, serving churches in North Dakota and Minnesota. He most recently served as interim pastor at St. John Lutheran Church of Hatton, ND. “My strength is the pulpit. I love to preach,� he says. “I believe in a strong worship service. You feed people, and they’ll come back.� Pastor Mark started his preaching career as a Methodist minister; beginning in lay ministry before receiving his Master of Divinity degree from Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky. He says there are many similarities between the Methodist and Lutheran churches. One of the reasons he decided to make the change is that he wasn’t comfortable with the placement system for pastors within the Methodist church. Methodist pastors are placed at a church by a bishop, while Lutheran pastors are called to serve by a congregation and can choose where they would like to go. “I had worked in tandem with Lutheran churches over the years, and my wife was raised Lutheran, and so we just felt like that was probably a better fit,� said Pastor Mark. He joined Lutheran Brethren before becoming a part of Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC). He received his Doctor of Ministry Degree from Minnesota Graduate School of Theology in 2006. He and his wife, Sherry, met at Moorhead State University, where he earned his undergraduate degree in Elementary Education. He has also served as a substitute school teacher during his years as a minister. Pastor Mark helped his last church transition from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
to the LCMC, and Bethlehem is making the same transition. He says one key difference between the two organizations is that in the LCMC, the focus is on the local church, without bishops or bureaucracy. He says the LCMC has grown rapidly since he joined in 2005, when there were about 125 LCMC congregations. Today, there are more than 800. Pastor Mark is originally from Wahpeton, ND, and Sherry is originally from Pelican Rapids, MN, where they founded Christ Community Church in 2003. “It was very interesting,� said Pastor Mark of the experience. “When you’re starting a church, it’s great, because you don’t have a building, and you don’t have traditions, and you don’t have a lot of things, and you find out you don’t need much to have church. We set up a card table for an altar and pulled out tablecloths that matched the colors of the church year, and somebody donated a cross, and we had a Bible in the center. We met in a senior citizen’s center, so we’d put everything away each week and set it up on Saturdays.� Sherry has served over the years as a choir director, piano teacher, Bible teacher and as a prayer counselor. She has degrees in piano performance and choral conducting, and she also sat in on all of her husband’s classes at seminary. “She’s a good Bible teacher, and she’s a very good preacher when she gets in the pulpit, too,� said Pastor Mark. “We’ve been kind of in team ministry most of our marriage.� Sherry will be involved at the church by leading the Bible studies for the women’s circles, teaching an adult Bible class on Sundays, serving on the organist rotation and helping with the children’s Christmas program. The Brickzin’s have two children: a daughter, Laura, who is 30, and a son, John, who is 27. Moving can be a bit of a challenge for the Brickzins, as Pastor
Pastor Mark and Sherry Brickzin Mark has a collection of more than 9,000 books. He says the church was kind enough to acquire the former Leibrand TV & Appliance store on Main Street as a place for him to store his collection. The books fit in 165 boxes for the move; weighing in at about 12,000 pounds. “Books are my tools. I just happen to have a lot of them,� laughed Pastor Mark. He buys books on a regular basis, but he’s also received books from retired pastors and others. His books mostly pertain to ministry, but he has lots of different categories. He estimates he’s read 75-80% of them. This is the Brickzins’ first time living in Iowa, and Pastor Mark says they’re thrilled to be Iowans. “We’ve had a lot of friends over the years who came up from Iowa, and they spoke very highly of Iowa,� he said. “We feel very much at home here.� The Brickzins have served in both big cities and small towns, and they specifically wanted to live in a rural setting. “We really liked our years in the small town ministries and just decided that’s where we wanted to be. There’s just a level of intimacy in a smaller, close-knit congregation. People care about people in small towns.�