The Wright County
Monitor
Sports Pages 12 & 13 147th year Number 6
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Official newspaper of Wright County
$1.00 per copy
www.clarionnewsonline.com
The Class of 1949
Happy birthday, Helen Hilpipre!
By Kim Demory egeagle@goldfieldaccess.net There were 81 students in the Eagle Grove High School Class of 1949, and Mary Lou (Harrah) Caquelin was one of them. She was always very proud of her class and wanted to do something to commemorate their time as seniors in Eagle Grove, Iowa. She decided to make a quilt that featured a block with each students senior picture, as well as a youth picture. Caquelin, despite her best efforts, was not able to complete the quilt before graduation. But, that didn’t deter her from finishing what she set out to do. “It was hard to get the younger pictures,” she said with a little laugh. Not long after graduation, Caquelin moved to Texas. Her home had changed, but not her love of Eagle Grove and her classmates. As time allowed, and as pictures were collected, she kept working on the EGHS Class of 1949 quilt. Eventually, she in fact did complete it,
Kacey Ginn, editor wrightcomonitor@gmail.com On Tuesday, the Meadows Assisted Living held a birthday celebration for their oldest tenant, Helen Hilpipre, who turned 104. Helen, who is also one of Clarion’s oldest residents, spent most of her life here, and consequently got to see our area go through a lot of changes—and got to know many local people. “Everybody knows Helen Hilpipre,” said Ryan Lobdell, staff member at the Meadows. Helen was born Helen Berg on February 9, 1912. Though she was born in Ft. Dodge, Helen said she lived in Clarion almost all of her life, except for a period after WWII where she moved with her military husband. Some memories from her childhood are fuzzy, but Helen remembered how it was talked about for a long time when the Titanic sank, just two months after she was born. “That was big news, considering it was nothing but horse and buggy days. You really didn’t
Stitched together with love
to make sure it was hung on display at the Eagle Grove Museum. Christensen followed through with his promise, and the Museum committee was very tickled to receive such a unique remembrance of the class of 1949. “I made it because I was very proud of our class, and I decided (the people of Eagle Grove) needed something to remember our class by,” Caquelin said. At the age of 85, Caquelin is sad to have lost so many of her classmates, but she hopes that those who
get around much,” she said. She also remembers when Clarion had dirt roads. Helen lived through the 1918 influenza outbreak and the Great Depression. “When you got through with that, you were a different person,” she said. “It was tough.” Helen’s two brothers fought in WWII, and she herself was a “war widow” with her husband away fighting. Other things she remembers about life during the war include buying war bonds— “That was a must. They practically took it out of your pay,” she said, adding that people didn’t mind, since it was for a good cause—and ration stamps, which limited use of everyday things such as gasoline down to sugar, flour, and other food items. “You just made it work. You substituted,” Helen said of baking during the war. “It was sometimes pretty much a failure.” She remembers, however, that women would come together and share in
Ryan Lobdell with Helen just a few days before her birthday. “If they want you in the paper, they better put you on the front,” Helen said. and used it for many years, not only to stay warm, but to remember her classmates and all the good experiences they had shared. She also tried to keep it updated, placing a rose applique (their class flower) on each of the classmates’ squares as they passed away. Then, not so long ago, during the classe’s most recent reunion, Caquelin decided it was time for the quilt to have a new home. After asking each of the classmates in attendance to sign their squares, she gave it to Delbert Christensen and asked him
are still around will be able to stop in the museum and see it hanging on display. She also hopes other people in the community will enjoy her work and take the time to look at it; look at the pictures; and know that the Class of 1949 was very special. A display unit is being made to hang and protect the quilt. As soon as it is finished, it will be hung on the wall in the “School Room” of the Eagle Grove Museum. Please note that some classmates have passed since Caquelin was able to apply the rose appliques.
the hard times. They would also have to be resourceful; she remembers women making purses out of inner tubes and said she wished she had kept hers. Throughout the years, Helen did many different things. She was part of the “Isenberger Chicks” bowling team, sponsored by the Isenberger hatchery. For a while, she managed the Clarion locker but also worked at Dr. Klaver’s eye, ear, nose and throat clinic. “I got quite an education,” she said of her time there. What Helen remembers most, however, is time spent traveling and having fun with family. One of her favorite memories was taking a road trip with her niece, and when she was 90, a family member took Helen skydiving. Helen’s stepdaughters Mary and Jackie also come to see her, though Jackie lives in Texas and gets to visit less often. “I had a wonderful family,”
Helen said. Helen was asked what has changed the most over her lifetime. “People caring for each other,” she said. “They neighbored a lot, and everybody knew what everybody else was doing.” She added that when someone was sick, all the neighborhood knew, and everybody cared. “It just went around the circle,” she said. Helen said she doesn’t know why people these days choose to keep to themselves in their neighborhoods. “We never had one bit of a problem with our people who we neighbored with. I just don’t understand,” she said. “I always feel that I may need that neighbor.” At the Meadows, Helen says they make a point of being friendly with new residents. It ties into her most important piece of advice: “Love your neighbor,” she said.
Clarion city council potentially sets record for shortest meeting Kacey Ginn, editor wrightcomonitor@gmail.com Due to the caucus, last week’s city council meeting was moved up to 4:30 instead of 5 p.m. This precaution, however, was almost unnecessary—the following business was concluded within eight minutes. With the consent agenda, the council approved minutes, financial claims, and a liquor license for Chappy’s on Main, subject to Dram Shop approval. They then moved on to agenda projects. Ordinance 16-04 was created to revise Iowa Specialty Hospital’s
authority related to lease and purchase agreements. With this change, the hospital will be able to consider loan and purchase agreements without going through the city until the final approval is needed. “The statute is very unclear on how things should be done, and I think this cleans things up a bit,” said Greg Polzin, representing the hospital’s administration. Councilperson Barb Mussman motioned to waive the second and
third reading of the ordinance, and Councilperson Dave Maxheimer seconded. The council approved Ordinance 16-04 by roll call vote. The council then approved a resolution authorizing Polzin and Steve Simonin to enter into a leasepurchase agreement for $2,250,000. The resolution was a clarification of a previous resolution related to leasing software for the hospital. The last item of business was approving pay request #5 for HydroKlean in the amount of $110,591.97
for the sewer slip lining project. “This is close to our final payment. I think the only thing we have left is just 12 manhole renovations,” said City Administrator Dustin Rief. “We’re almost completed.” The payment was approved. With no committee meetings to discuss, the meeting was adjourned. “It’s probably a record,” said Councilperson Duane Asbe. The next council meeting will be held February 16 at 6 p.m. due to President’s Day.
Record turnouts for Wright Republican caucus; Wright Democrats gain new members
Kacey Ginn, editor wrightcomonitor@gmail.com Wright County caucus attendance followed the statewide trends of record-breaking numbers of Republican caucusers, and generally high, but not record-breaking, attendance for Democrats. According to the Republican party of Iowa, 186,000 voted on caucus night. The Iowa Democratic Party reported 171,517 voters statewide, lower than their approximately 227,000 turnout
in 2008. The Wright Republican caucus had an unofficial voter count of 607, beating the 2012 caucus’s record, which was less than 500. All precincts met at the Goldfield school building, filling the gymnasium with caucusers before they broke into separate precincts. Cruz received the most votes, 190. Donald Trump received the second-highest amount with 129,
closely followed by Marco Rubio with 124. This tallies fairly well with statewide votes of 51,666 for Cruz, 45,429 for Trump, and 43,228 for Rubio. Nancy Duitscher, member of the Wright Democratic Party, said that the party had approximately 50 new members registered with about 130 attendees total for the Clarion precincts, which she considered a
good turnout, though it was lower than the 2008 caucus attendance. Though all the Democratic precincts hadn’t gathered their votes together at the time Duitscher spoke, media outlets reported that Hillary Clinton received 273 votes in Wright County and Bernie Sanders received 226. This means that Clinton won by a slightly higher margin in Wright County than her very slim statewide lead.
The Republican caucus had record turnouts, both in Wright County and statewide. This photo (taken by Jon Ahrendson) shows caucusers filling the Goldfield school building gym.