Nov. 21, 2013

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THE

Pioneer Enterprise Serving Cerro Gordo County and the communities of Rockwell, Swaledale, Meservey, Thornton & Dougherty

Vol. 122 No. 47 • Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013

P.O Box 203, Rockwell, IOWA 50469 • www.pioneerenterprise.com

$1 per issue

USPS No. 505-640

Thornton Merchants announce Christmas lighting contest

The Thornton Merchants are sponsoring an exterior Christmas light contest for the 2013 holiday season. This contest is open to any Thornton resident or business with an exterior lighting display. All exterior lighting displays are automatically entered. Cash prizes will awarded for first, second and third place. Holiday lights will be judged on Dec. 4 or 5, between 6-9 p.m. Winners will be announced on Saturday, Dec. 7, at the Town Christmas Party in the Thornton Fire Station at 1 p.m. Let’s make Thornton sparkle this holiday season!

Garden Club to host November 23 event

Submitted by Juliene Bramer Swaledale Federated Garden Club is hosting a tea party with a special speaker at 10 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 23, at the Swaledale Town Hall, 402 Main Street. A program “Wintering Birds” will be given by Ellen Montgomery of the Basic Birder. With over 18 years of experience, she is full of knowledge and humor about our feathered friends and will answer questions you may have. Did you know that across Iowa over $300 million is spent each year viewing wildlife, primarily bird feeding and birdwatching? Ellen will give us pointers on spending our money wisely while enjoying the birds outside our window. This event is free of charge, refreshments will be served and public is invited to attend.

Texas Hold ‘Em Fundraiser

The Sheffield Betterment Foundation will be hosting a Texas Hold ‘Em Tournament on Friday, Nov. 29 at Ridge Stone Golf Club. Entry fee is $50 with an additional buy-in option; social hour begins at 5 p.m. with the tournament starting at 6 p.m.. Tickets can be purchased from any of the Sheffield Betterment Foundation Board members: Sheri Bogue, Bob Jensen, Deb Hartman, Scott Sanders, Ron Simmons, Cheyene Peterson, Jane Weiland, Jill Rowe, Mark Reiter, Tracy Shreckengost, Shea Jensen, Tony Laudner or Tom Rooney at Pit Row Pub in Hampton. For any questions please contact Sheri Bogue at 641-892-4260

Thornton Merchants plan holiday activities The Thornton Merchants have planned Holiday activities. On Friday, Dec. 6, during business hours, the following businesses will host their annual holiday open house: Chit Chat Café First Gabrielson Insurance (9 am – 3 pm) First Security Bank & Trust (9 am – 5 pm) Jaspersen Insurance & Real Estate (9 am – 4 pm) K&H Classic Stop (6 am – 1 pm) Shear Traditions (9 am – 1 pm) Westy’s The West Fork High School music department will perform during the morning hours in Thornton businesses, starting at 10:45 a.m. at First Security Bank. Musicians will stroll through the local businesses and finish with a performance at the Chit Chat Café around noon. On Saturday, Dec. 7, at 1:00 p.m. the Thornton Merchants Christmas Drawing will be held at the Thornton Fire Station. Everyone is welcome to this event, sponsored by local businesses, American Legion, Thornton Lions and Thornton Fire Department. This is an opportunity to thank the Thornton Community for their patronage and support. Exterior lighting contest winners will also be announced. Mark your calendar and plan to attend and enjoy refreshments, prizes and a visit from Santa Claus.

Community Calendar

Monday, Nov. 25 Smart Choices: Options in the New Health Insurance Marketplace, 2:30-4:30 p.m., CG Co. Extension Office Smart Choices: Options in the New Health Insurance Marketplace, 5:30-7:30 p.m., CG Co. Extension Office Cerro Gordo County Extension Council Meeting, 7-8:30 p.m., CG Co. Extension Office

In this issue: Courthouse.................................... page 5 Public Notices ................................ page 5 Area Sports...................................page 10 Classifieds..................................... page 8

By Nick Pedley Smoke towered above Swaledale early Saturday morning as flames engulfed one house along the southwest part of town. After it was all said and done, the building was a complete loss. However, it was all part of the plan. The blaze was intentionally ignited by fire departments from Swaledale and Rockwell during a large-scale training exercise. The property’s owners, along with city and state officials, gave the two squads the OK to burn down the dilapidated house located just south of the fire department at 204 2nd St. The 35-year-old dwelling had remained vacant for years after a faulty foundation made it inhospitable. “It’s always good to get an eyesore like this cleaned up,” said Swaledale Mayor John Drury. “And honestly, it helps with vermin control.” The two fire departments began their exercises around 8 a.m. after they started a smoldering fire inside the house. According to Rockwell fireman Adam Wedmore, firefighters practiced search and rescue missions in

high heat and low visibility con- opportunities like this are few ditions. Wedmore said the fire- and far between. men entered the house in groups “We have to have so many of two and were charged with hours of training every year,” finding a human-sized dummy at explained Wilson. “This is good the opposite end of the building. training, especially for some of “Anytime we can get train- the new guys. We don’t get too ing like this, it’s great,” said many things like this.” Wedmore. “It’s essential, beThe blaze provided the two cause you don’t get any experi- departments with hose and truck ence like this training in aduntil you get a dition to their call for the real in-house exthing.” ercises. FireThe exermen manned cise also gave T h i s i s g o o d hoses around firefighters the the house and opportunity to training, especially sprayed water witness how for some of the new on airborne a fire spreads ashes and surthroughout a guys. We don’t get rounding evbuilding. After too many things ergreen trees both depart- like this. to avoid any ments completunwanted side - Fire Chief Blaine Wilson fires. ed their scheduled training Both Wilson exercises around 9 a.m., they let and Rockwell Fire Chief Kenny the blaze completely consume Nielsen said the fire was the first the house. It took only a short controlled burn for either departtime for the fire to reduce the ment in the past few years. Prior structure to charred ashes – most to Saturday, the house’s kitchen of it was gone in just over half floor had to be removed because an hour. it contained asbestos. After it According to Swaledale Fire was out and given the OK, all Chief Blaine Wilson, practice that was left to do was light the

Shake-up in Swaledale: Hanson turns down council seat, Reicherts next in line

By Nick Pedley It’s not often people taste both the bitterness of defeat and the thrill of victory in the same election, but that’s exactly what happened to Yvonne “Vonnie” Reicherts last week in Swaledale. Reicherts, who finished third in the Nov. 5 city election, was offered a council spot after second place finisher Darwin Hanson turned down his victory and forfeited his seat on Nov. 12. Hanson edged Reicherts 17 write-in votes to her 16 in the election, but the one-term councilman felt it was time for someone else to have a shot. “I drive truck, and I miss too many meetings,” Hanson explained. “I just don’t think it’s fair to the people and the city being gone from so many.” Hanson was honored Swaledale citizens re-elected him, and felt Reicherts would make a fine replacement. “I guess I enjoyed it, working on the council,” Hanson said. “I really enjoyed working with the other people, too. A of lot people say they hate doing it, but I really did like it.” Hanson said the majority of his four-year tenure was dedicated to basic council functions like infrastructure and maintenance upkeep. According to Mayor John Drury, Hanson brought valuable insight to the council. “Darwin was knowledge-

able with things like our truck that we had to deal with earlier this year, and he also knew a lot about construction – those types of things,” Drury said. The turn of events came as a surprise to Reicherts. She just recently moved to Swaledale from rural Ventura in July to help care for her ailing father, former Councilman Elmer Reicherts, who died at the beginning of November. “I was expecting less than that (16 votes), because I didn’t even know that many people knew me in town,” she said. “To lose by one and then win, it was kind of cool how that happened.” Reicherts has never held elected office before. She said she’s somewhat unsure about what to expect, but she’s started learning council procedure in the wake of her unexpected victory. Reicherts found a copy of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Robert’s Rules” at work recently, and she’s been skimming through it to prepare herself for her first meeting in January. “I’m kind of nevous. My dad had a lot of contacts and knew a lot of people that helped the council,” she said. “I’ve got no agendas, I’m just trying to learn what’s needed for a small town.” Reicherts joins fellow writein winner Roger Myhre, Jr., who won a council spot with

28 write-in votes. This is also Myhre’s first time holding office. He ran for the council in 2011, but came in fourth on the three-seat ballot. “A couple of the church ladies were talking about it, so I suggested they could write my name in,” said Myhre. “I guess it must have traveled by wordof-mouth.” Myhre said he’d like to investigate the possibility of bringing back the annual Swaledale Big Day celebration that went dormant, and also wants to expand opportunities for Swaledale’s children. “I think there needs to be more around here for our youth to do. I think there was a youth council a couple of years ago, and maybe bringing something like that back would help,” he said. Both Reicherts and Myhre said they were excited to start their terms. City clerk Judy Witte said she will swear in the duo, along with Drury, who was re-elected, sometime this month. All three terms officially begin Jan. 1, 2014. “I’ve got some pretty big shoes to fill, but I’m looking forward to it and I think it’ll be a good learning experience,” said Reicherts. “I want to thank the 16 people that voted for me, and I hope everyone has patience with me as I learn.”

fire. According to Drury, Swaledale will now move forward with plans to burn the next nuisance property on their wish list. Discussion between the owners of the old Catholic church and the city have heated up recently,

and Drury remained confident they’d come to terms on a controlled burn soon. “Now, it’s on to the next one,” he said. “Practice like this is always good. Hopefully, you never have to use it.” More Photos on page 2

Top: Firefighters watch the controlled blaze at its peak Saturday morning in Swaledale. Above: Spencer Nielsen wets down an evergreen tree to gain a little practice with the hose Saturday. (Photos by Nick Pedley)

Seeing Red: Nutrition fund deficit still causing headaches at West Fork By Nick Pedley The West Fork Board of Education left Monday night’s meeting feeling less than hopeful about one troublesome school account that’s remained in the red for quite some time. Debate over ongoing issues regarding the district’s nutrition fund got rolling during the group’s finance discussion. According to board secretary Lacey Weier, the account, which is connected to the school lunch program, is running a negative balance of around $3,600. Weier said recently deposited funds from the beginning of the school year somewhat reduced the deficit, but it didn’t solve any longterm woes. A handful of families have refused to pay their childrens’ delinquent lunch accounts, deepening the financial hole and creating a larger problem. Superintendent Darrin Strike reported that the district recently sent out letters to delinquent families with hopes of getting some sort of response. The tactic failed, and Strike felt his hands were somewhat tied on the issue. He explained the school district has the option to either completely cut off a student’s school lunches or keep feeding them despite their parents’ failure to pay. “I struggle to penalize the

child for the responsibilities of a parent,” he said. Strike and high school/elementary Principal Randy Bushbaum said they didn’t have a problem with cutting off high school students who were delinquent on their lunch accounts. However, their stance differed with elementary and middle school students. Strike said the district’s past method of providing a sandwich and milk to students with negative balances opened the door for unintended consequences. “Once other kids notice something’s different because one student can’t get lunch every day, then the questions start,” he said. Bushbaum agreed and also highlighted another problem with completely cutting students off. “We’re saying these kids can’t perform well if they don’t eat, so then we don’t feed them? Then we’ll start complaining about low test scores,” he said. Both Strike and the board felt a harder stance on delinquent accounts was needed. However, the group was unsure about how they should pursue the matter. “The administration and I, we take the brunt of that. I’m fine Nutrition on page 2


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