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Official Paper of Calmar, Fort Atkinson, Ridgeway, Waucoma, Winneshiek County & Turkey Valley Community Schools
Volume 37, Issue 8
EVENTS Caregiver Support Group Decorah: The Caregiver Support Group will be held at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 701 Iowa Avenue, Decorah, Friday, February 27th at 2:00 p.m. Individuals providing care to an older adult are invited to come to discuss the many challenges and rewards of care giving in a confidential supportive environment. Sponsored by Northeast Iowa Area Agency on Aging. Contact Barb Labosky at 800-233-4603 for more information. RSVP is not necessary.
CFS preschool registration open house
P.O. Box 507, Calmar, IA 52132 | (563) 562-3488 | www.calmarcourier.com | USPS: 335-690
6 Ladies Vie for 2015 Beef Royalty These love birds used the new nest.
The Internet Celebrities have returned to their stage!
Jocelyn Bushman
Kenzie Hovden
Grace Gerleman
Alison Leibold
Morgan Moen
Emma Schmelzer
CFS preschool will be having registration open house on Thursday, February 26th from 5-7 down in the preschool. 3 yr old preschool is Tuesday and Thursday from 7:30-3:30 and 4 yr old preschool is Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 7:30-3:30. For more info give Angie a call at 563-562-3045.
Turkey Valley Kindergarten Round-Up for 2015-2016 Turkey Valley Kindergarten Round-up will take place on Friday, March 6th in the kindergarten classroom. Parents of all students who will be five years old on or before September 15, 2015, are asked to register their child for Round-Up. Please call the Elementary Office at 563-776-6011 to register your child.
Northeast Iowa Quilterʼs Guild Meeting The monthly meeting of the Northeast Iowa Quilter’s Guild will be held on Tuesday, March 3, 2015 in the community room of the Luana Savings Bank in Luana. Afternoon meeting is at 2:00 p.m. Evening at 7:00 p.m. The program will be presented by Jean Brink on Color, Fabric, and Embroidery. Jean is the owner of Queen Jean’s Quilting in Waukon. Guests and new members are always welcome to attend. Check our website at www.neiqg.com for more information.
Come Play Euchre for a Good Cause! 1:30 p.m. - St. Lucas Community Center. Sundays, March 1 & 8. All proceeds go to the St. Lucas Little League program. Matching funds by the Catholic Order of Foresters.
Waucoma Breakfast Waucoma Volunteer Fire Fighters Pancake & Sausage Breakfast, Sunday, March 1 at the new Waucoma Event Center. Serving begins at 9 a.m. until noon.
2015 Beef Banquet will be held at Nob Hill north of Decorah on Saturday, February 28 Trade Show and Silent Auction start at 5 p.m. • Beef Tips Dinner at 6:45, tickets are $15.00 Banquet to follow with Awards, 2015 Royalty Crowning, Scholarships and Live Auction Beef Queen Candidates Joclyn Bushman is the 17-yearold daughter of Chad and Manon Bushman of rural Fort Atkinson. Bushman is a junior at South Winneshiek High School where she is active in volleyball and was named most improved player. Joclyn was named the most improved female on the South Winneshiek Trap Shooting Team. In FFA she is very active being the 2014-2015 FFA President and being a past FFA co-reporter along with receiving her Iowa FFA degree. Bushman is also active in SODA at
South Winn. Her hobbies include Kenzie is very active in FFA where working with show cattle, horseback she was involved in conduct of riding, playing sports, trap shooting, meetings, ag issues, parliamentary showing and participating in FFA. procedures, greenhand quiz, chapter Joclyn is employed at the Zipper in display, 2013-2014 chapter officer Festina during lent. On the family assistant, and attended state leaderfarm they raise 40 to 50 head of dairy ship convention. Hovden served as steers. Bushman’s family also has Little Miss Cowgirl in 2010. Ken40,000 head of organic laying hens in zie’s hobbies include spending time addition to raising 4 million organic with family and friends, working commercial broilers per year. The with fair animals, four wheeling, family farms 1500 acres of organic and horseback riding. Kenzie is emcorn, wheat and alfalfa. ployed at Whippy Dip, Aase Haugen Kenzie Hovden is the 16-year- Home, and babysitting. In the future old daughter of Dale and Tina Hov- Hovden would like to go to college den of rural in an ag related field. Kenzie’s famDecorah. Hov- ily has a 45 head cow/calf herd in den has been an which they sell feeder calves, and active member farm 200 acres of corn and hay. in 4-H for the past 6 years ex- ROYALTY hibiting beef at to page 3 the county fair.
Lawler Irish Fest Receives $500 Donation for June Event LAWLER, Iowa – Feb. 18, 2015 – The Lawler Irish Fest committee has received a $500 donation to help support the festival in Lawler, June 19-21, 2015. The donation from local natural gas utility Black Hills Energy is in keeping with the company’s desire to give back to the community by improving life with energy. “We enjoy serving as a partner with local community and economic development leaders and organizations, and supporting local causes that benefit everyone in the communities we serve,” said Sandy Koenig, operations supervisor for the Lawler area.
The festival begins at 5 p.m. Friday, June 10, and runs through noon Sunday, June 21. Organizers are expecting 4,000 to 5,000 people to attend the three-day event. “The incredible mix of music, food, family, friends, stories, games, and nostalgia for Lawler-past all come together for a wonderful weekend of Lawler-present!” said Pat Sheridan, committee member for the Lawler Irish Fest. “It is no small task to undertake this Lawler project, and we can’t do it without assistance like this.” To learn more about the Lawler Irish Fest or to make a contribution, contact Pat Sheridan at 563-238-2402
or by email at pat.sheridan@windstream.net. You can also visit the organization’s website at www.lawlerfest or find them on Facebook. Black Hills/Iowa Gas Utility Company, LLC d/b/a Black Hills Energy Black Hills Energy, a subsidiary of Black Hills Corp. (NYSE: BKH), serves 153,000 natural gas customers in 132 Iowa communities and is a recipient of the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2013 ENERGY STAR® Leadership in Housing Award. Black Hills Corp. is a growthoriented, vertically-integrated energy IRISH FEST to page 3
Northeast Iowa Family STEM Festival, April 30 In this Issue: Obituary ................................ 4 Worship/Opinion ................... 4 Legals .................................5-6 Classifieds ............................. 6 Sports .................................7-8
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Families throughout northeast Iowa are invited to attend the Northeast Iowa Family STEM Festival on Saturday, April 30, from 4:00 – 7:00 p.m. at Northeast Iowa Community College, Wilder Business Center, 1625 Highway 150 South, Calmar. The festival is free and open to the public.
Over 30 activities and organizations will be at this hands-on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) festival created especially for 3rd-8th grade students and their families. Attendees can view the night sky from a star lab, fly a flight simulator, conduct amazing science experiments and much
more! The goals of this festival are to increase students’ interests in STEM and to promote awareness and understanding of the importance of STEM-related educational and career opportunities. The Northeast Iowa Family STEM STEM FESTIVAL to page 2
By Joyce Meyer and Decorah Eagles website The internet celebrities have returned to their stage-or should we say nest? The whole country is watching our own Decorah eagles on the webcam or standing out in the freezing weather below the nest by the Decorah Trout Hatchery lately. Why you may ask? Well, first those pesky owls tried to claim the nest and, according to the Raptor Resource Project, whoever laid the first egg would claim the nest. On Wednesday, February 18, the first eagle egg was laid at 6:07 p.m. Normally the eagle lays three eggs, so this is the beginning of the laying period. Most of the time each egg is laid three days apart. The incubation period for an eagle egg is about 35 days. Last year’s first egg was laid on February 23rd and hatched on April 2nd. In the middle of winter, it’s good to know the signs of spring are just around the corner as the eagles begin to mate. For many of us, watching the eagle cam by the Decorah Fish Hatchery each year has become a tradition. Can you believe there were 308 million total views on the
live streaming webcam last Thursday morning? The webcam, which is run by the Raptor Resource Project, captured the mother laying an egg on Wednesday night for all who missed the big event. Decorah Eagles website stated that the egg is the 21st for the pair of bald eagles. Prior to the latest arrival, the parents successfully raised 20 eaglets into juvenile eagles. The Decorah Eagles website explains, “In late fall and early winter, the Decorah Eagles visit the nest often to do seasonal ‘nestorations’ preparing for the coming eggs later this winter. In mid to late February the first egg is usually laid.” The Decorah Eagles Facebook page had a refresher course on the egg process. As we watch the parents keep busy rolling the egg over every couple of hours during the incubation period you may be curious why. “The purpose of the egg turning is to make sure the lighter yolk does not rise to the egg surface and the delicate blood vessels that cover the yolk touch and stick to the shell DECORAH EAGLES to page 2
Decorah Eagles.
Northeast Iowa Community College Foundation Receives Grant to support Financial Fitness Initiative CALMAR—The Arlin Falck Foundation has awarded a grant to the Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) Foundation to support a Financial Fitness initiative at the college’s Calmar campus. The grant, in the amount of $27,440, will provide assistance to the NICC Financial Aid Office’s Financial Fitness project that is designed to increase students’ financial skills and strengthen their financial futures. The Arlin Falck Foundation’s grant funding will support four major objectives of the two-year Financial Fitness project, including: • Events and learning opportunities for students, such as workshops and financial aid-related presentations during new student orientation • Money Smart Week activities, a collaborative effort by NICC, area banks, libraries, service organizations and youth programs, that brings financial education and personal development to students and northeast Iowans • Loan default prevention measures and outreach education to students to teach effective loan repayment strategies and reduce loan default • Strategic communication efforts and information about financial aid fitness to a diverse student body that includes full- and part-time students, online, traditional and non-traditional students The primary learning outcome of the NICC Financial Fitness project is for students to demonstrate financial responsibility and planning skills to achieve financial goals for a lifetime of financial health. The development of the project was prompted by a spring 2014 survey of NICC students indicating that the financial topics of most interest to them included budgeting, saving, investing, loan and debt management and credit. The survey also revealed that 75 percent of students are only somewhat sure or unsure about managing their finances. The Northeast Iowa Community College Foundation is committed to enFINANCIAL FITNESS to page 3