Official Paper of Parkersburg, Aplington, New Hartford, Aplington-Parkersburg Schools, and Butler County
e
clipse
NEWS - REVIEW
WEDNESDAY March 9, 2016 16 pages | 2 sections 144th Year • No. 10
$1
A-P vocalists building Star Spangled tradition INSIDE NICL East All-Conference
Briefly. Aplington Fire Dept. to host breakfast
The Aplington Fire Department will host a pancake breakfast Sunday, March 20 from 7 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. Cost is a free-will donation.
Aplington AmVets to meet Saturday
The Aplington AmVets Post No. 102 will meet at 9 a.m. Saturday, March 12.
Auxiliary 285 to meet March 15
American Legion Auxiliary Post No. 285 will meet Tuesday, March 15 at the Vets Building in Parkersburg for fruit and silverware. A meeting will follow. Members will meet at 11:30 a.m. for lunch at the Falcon’s Nest.
Golf is just around the corner
The Legend Trail Men’s League will play on Thursdays this spring and summer. Watch for an organizational meeting in mid-April.
Butler County Genealogical Society to meet in Clarksville
The Butler County Genealogical Society will meet at the Clarksville Public Library on Saturday , March 12th at 10 a.m.
Aplington-Parkersburg junior Trevor Haren sings the National Anthem before the second round of the state dual wrestling tournament Feb. 17 at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines. (Photo courtesy Matt Gengler/Missouri Valley Times)
By JOHN JENSEN Eclipse News-Review PARKERSBURG — The next time you hear someone singing the National Anthem before a state-level high school event you might want to take a second look. There’s a good chance that person could be a young person you know ... perhaps even a student or group of students from Aplington-Parkersburg High School A-P is quietly building a tradition with its National Anthem singers. This year no fewer than six solos or groups from the school have or will be performing at the state wrestling, girls’ basketball and boys’ basketball tournaments. A-P vocal director Jeff Bieber said the tradition actually started at home and then grew to the point where many students were singing at state tournaments. “For all of our home events our students sing the National Anthem — at a lot of schools it’s recorded — and when I came here four years ago we decided we were going to sing every anthem we could for our home events,” he said. “From our point of view, as the music department, that’s the biggest audience we’re ever going to get is the athletic events. They fill the gymnasium, you get visiting schools that are here — it’s great exposure for what we’re doing in the music department. What a great way to showcase all the talent that we have.” Junior Trevor Haren has been sining the National Anthem at the state wrestling tournament since he was a freshman. That year he sung before the semifinal round of the tournament while as a sophomore he performed before the state finals. This year Haren sung at the state dual tournament.” “I was surprised to get selected (as a freshman) and I knew after do-
ing that that I wanted to do it all four years,” he said. He said it was initially hard to fathom the number of people who would be watching him before last year’s state wrestling finals. “I remember thinking not to freak myself out by looking around, just try to stay centered,” he said. “It just happened so fast - I didn’t have a ton of time to overthink it or get too nervous about it. It’s definitely nerve-wracking once you get done and look around and see how many people are there.” “It’s really amazing having all those people get to listen to you,” senior Sidney Groen said. “When you singing it’s so quiet and you’re the only people singing in that huge area.” Kiersten Truax, who sung in a groups at the state track meet two years ago and at the state basketball tournament last year said one of the challenges of singing in a large venue is the echo or reverberation that they get. “When I sang at state track a couple of years ago with our sextet there was like a two-second delay and that was really difficult,” she said. “We had to watch each other and make sure we were all in sync so that we didn’t get messed up hearing ourselves a couple of seconds later.” The National Anthem is the first thing that A-P vocal music students work on each year. Bieber said it is usually a simple review for his older students though it’s all new for the freshmen. “I picked a really traditional fourpart arrangement of the National Anthem and they learn four-part harmony in that,” he said. “It’s so often that we’re asked to sing the National Anthem, beyond even our school.” “I remember my freshman year coming into the high school choir —
it’s a lot different than middle school choir — we really focused right at the beginning on the National Anthem and just everyone learning their specific part, whether it’s tenor, alto or whatever,” Haren said. “There’s a lot of focus on that because it is an important song that we need to know.” Singing the Anthem at local sporting events got the students ready to sing at the larger events. Bieber said the Iowa High School Music Association asks for state tournaments singers each year. He said he puts together several groups, soloists and duets and makes recordings. “I write a letter of recommendation for each of the students involved and the groups, talking about all the different things they do for the school ways they are involved in the school and community and they pick the top 25 recordings.” Six selections is the most that A-P has had. Bieber said five were selected a year ago, one of which performed at the Governor’s Scholarship Recognition Ceremony. “We go down to the state tournament and they announce Aplington-Parkersburg will be singing the National Anthem in front of these huge amount of people and it brings great pride to our community,” he said. Bieber said a key to making the Anthem sound good is to do it with a sense of style that makes it sound different than what someone would ordinarily hear.” “I work a lot with style, a lot with bringing out the words,” he said. “As singers we have the blessing of the words — we get to communicate that text. And so really making sure that those words are really brought out and that they’re shaping their words so that it’s very musical and artistic. Making sure they are singing it with beauty of voice.”
Aplington-Parkersburg’s National Anthem Singers State Dual Wrestling Tournament Solo — Trevor Haren
Ostfriesen Heritage Society to meet
Girls’ State Basketball Tournament Quartet — Rebecca Mulder, Sidney Groen, Andy Smith, Leeland Seys
The Ostfriesen Heritage Society will meet at 7 p.m. in the Wellsburg Public Library’s Ostfriesen Room on March 14. The meeting will include watching a DVD about European travels. The evening will include fun and fellowship, including a little Platt speaking.
Boys’ State Basketball Tournament Quartet — Rebecca Mulder, Kiersten Truax, Grant Truax, Caleb Self Solo — Caleb Self Girls’ Sextet — Rebecca Mulder, Emily Russell, Kirsten Truax, Avery Groen, Sidney Groen, Ivy Nolte Quartet — Emily Russell, Ivy Nolte, Trevor Haren, C.J. May
Knights of Columbus to host fish fry
The Knights of Columbus of Holy Family Parish (which includes the Parkersburg and Dike areas) will be holding a fish fry Friday, March 18 at St. Gabriel Church (located corner of T-55 and D-35, rural Reinbeck), serving from 5 to 7.
Butler County Soil, Water Commissioners to meet
The Butler County Soil and Water Conservation District Commissioners will have their regular meeting on Thursday, March 17 starting at 8:30 a.m. at the USDA Service Center in Allison. The agenda includes: District activities, NRCS report, CRP Plans & revisions, CSP, EQIP, and State and REAP cost share applications. The meeting is open to the public.
Haphazardly Ever After The Aplington-Parkersburg Drama Department presented “Haphazardly Ever After” Friday and Saturday at
the High School Auditorium. Pictured is Prince Hairgel (Liam Houlgrave) talking to potential suitor Princess Ambrosia (Erica Daniel). (John Jensen/Eclipse News-Review photo)
A-P Food Pantry sets March distribution date
The A/P food pantry will distribute food on Friday, March 18 from 9 to 11 a.m. Please call 3461076 to reserve your food box by Wednesday, March 16. Reservations must be made to receive a food box.
In this week’s issue
Ed Thomas Mr. Football Award featured in Iowa Hall of Pride
Pages of the Past..........page 2 Obituaries.....................page 3 Aplington News...........page 4 Church News................page 9 Classifieds........... pages 12-14
Sports......................... page 16
Wolverines stunned at State Dike-New Hartford’s magical boys’ basketball season came up short of the big prize Monday, as the Wolverines fell in the first round of the Class 2A State Tournament. Eighth-seeded Pella Christian topped No. 1 seeded D-NH 59-52 to snap the Wolverines’ 25-game winning streak. After the game, the Wolverines were presented their trophy for qualifying for the state tournament. (John Jensen/Eclipse News-Review photo)
The Ed Thomas Mr. Football Award, which is presented each spring by the Iowa Newspaper Association, is new featured in the Iowa Hall of Pride. The award, which has been presented since 2011, was named in honor of former Aplington-Parkersburg High School football coach Ed Thomas. The award, which is selected by members of the Thomas family and members of the INA All-State Committee, honors student-athletes who are both outstanding football players and fine individuals off the field. (Courtesy photo)