THE
PIONEER
WEST FORK POST PLAYER KUHLEMEIER EARNS CLASS 1A INA ALLSTATE HONORS
ENTERPRISE
TEAM RADIO FREQ WINS TOP RELAY AWARD
SPORTS: 10
LOCAL NEWS: 2 WWW.PIONEERENTERPRISE.COM
VOL. 125 NO. 11 • THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2016
SERVING CERRO GORDO COUNTY AND THE COMMUNITIES OF ROCKWELL, SWALEDALE, MESERVEY, THORNTON & DOUGHERTY
The Sheffield Community Club will hold an Omelet Breakfast and Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, March 26. The Omelet Breakfast will be held at the West Fork High School, and the Easter Egg Hunt will be held in Sheffield City Park. The Omelet Breakfast will begin at 7:00 a.m., serving until 11:00 a.m. You can build your own omelet. A freewill donation will be taken. The Easter Egg Hunt will begin at 12:00 noon for children ages newborn and up. Please arrive by 11:45 a.m. for special announcements, and to sign up to win prizes. The Easter Bunny will also make a special appearance! Come and join them. There will be fun for everyone!
The Dougherty Easter Egg Hunt will be held Saturday, March 26, at the Dougherty Town Hall. The West Fork Winners 4-H group will be filling and hiding the eggs for the children. Larry’s Garage and Becky’s Mall & Greenhouse are sponsoring the fun event.
Rockwell Easter egg hunt The Rockwell Chamber of Commerce will sponsor the Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, March 26, at Zeidler Park. The hunt will begin at 10:00 a.m., with winners of the Easter Coloring Contest to be announced by Drs. Charity and Josh Baker, sponsors of the coloring contest.
Sheffield Care Center to hold cupcake fundraiser The Sheffield Care staff will be taking orders for “Scratch” Cupcakes from March 21 - April 8. The cupcakes will be delivered to the care center on April 28. The care center is raising funds for a newer facility vehicle. For more information, or to order, call the care center at (641) 892-4691.
WF Preschool registration West Fork Preschool open house and registration will be Thursday, April 7 at 6 p.m. in both the Rockwell and Sheffield school cafeterias. Please join the meeting at the corresponding school your child will be attending in the fall. For students to be allowed in the 4-year-old pre-school, they must have turned four on or before Sept. 15, 2016. Students must have turned three on or before Sept. 15, 2016, in order to be in the 3-year-old class. A Pre-kindergarten class, for students who are five and their parents would like an extra year of preschool, will be offered during the 2016-2017 school year if there is enough interest.
IN THIS ISSUE OPINION ..........................3 PUBLIC NOTICES .............4 CLASSIFIEDS ....................7 SPORTS ............................8
1 PER ISSUE
Thornton plans water rate increase
EASTER EGG HUNTS
Dougherty Easter egg hunt
$
BY TRAVIS FISCHER
Historian receives 130-year-old photo BY TRAVIS FISCHER Have you seen these teachers? That’s the question that local historian John Cunningham is asking after coming across a photo from 1885 that captures the image of a dozen upcoming teachers. The photo, taken by Kirk Studios in Mason City, shows twelve teachers upon their completion of the Cerro Gordo Teachers Normal Institute. It was given to Cunningham by Larry Fitzgerald of Rockwell, who found it in his mother’s belongings. Cunningham doesn’t know who the teachers in the photos are, but he has his guesses. He believes he recognizes a Ms. Donnelly, a Ms. Murphy, and a Ms. Cahill, though he doesn’t know their given names. The photo itself identifies one of the teachers as a Ms. McGahrean. All of the teachers were presumably unmarried, as was standard at the time. Cunningham says that not only were female teachers required to remain unmarried (this restriction did not extend to male teachers), but they could not go out with any man outside of their family, could not use face powder or paint their lips, dress in bright colors, or loiter in an ice cream parlor. According to Cunningham, by 1923 there were 105 country schools in operation in the county.
In the Dougherty Township alone there were nine school districts, nine rural schools, and nine teachers. “Today in Cerro Gordo County,
all country schools are closed,” says Cunningham. “In Dougherty Township, only district No. 1, a county school, and St. Patrick’s Parochial School remain standing.”
Cunningham has little hope of identifying the teachers in the photo, but would be happy to know if anybody recognizes them.
The Thornton City Council discussed municipal finances during their regular meeting on Tuesday, March 8 at City Hall. At the meeting the council approved the budget for fiscal year 2016/17. This year’s budget sees the end of the city’s debt service for the water tower, freeing up $42,000 for expenditures. Some of those funds have instead been directed to Community and Economic Development. The new budget allocates $6,500 to economic development, which has received no funding for at least two years. The estimated levy rate for regular property was set at $11.26 per $1,000 valuation, down from $13.71. The new rate for agricultural land was set at $3.00 per $1,000 valuation. Paying off the water tower and a reduction in work comp expenses are credited for the reduction of the levy. But while taxes are going down, water rates will be going up beyond the standard 3 percent increase. Well repairs and other expenses have diminished the city’s water fund, causing the council to consider options for rebuilding their reserves. The council discussed multiple options, but settled on an increase to the base rate and per gallon rate. The new base rate will be $15.00 with an additional $3.76 per 1,000 gallons, up from $12.35 base with $3.65 per 1,000 gallons. For a household that uses 5,000 gallons of water in a month, the water bill would increase from $89.51 to $92.94. Sewer and garbage rates will remain where they are. In other business, the council heard an offer from Chelsea Price to build and place a “Little Free Library” in town. The program involves placing a mailbox-like structure in town where people can take and leave books they’d like to share. Price has discussed it with the Public Library and hopes that it will encourage more reading in the community. The council approved the project and suggested the library be placed in Centennial Park to take advantage of the bench and proximity of the public library. Finally, the council discussed developing an ordinance to prevent the possibility of somebody starting an adult-oriented business in order to avoid a situation similar to the events unfolding in Nora Springs. The potential ordinance would likely adjust zoning rules to effectively zone out any adult entertainment business.
Thornton man joins NIACC Steckman announces run for fifth term in Foundation board iowa house
The NIACC Foundation last week announced the addition of new members to its board of directors. Chuck Schafer, of Thornton, is the general manager of North Iowa Cooperative. He earned a degree from NIACC in Agriculture Business and attended Winona State University. Schafer and his wife, Sherri, who also attended NIACC, have three daughters. Schafer is currently a Board member of Ag Processing, Inc. (AGP). He has previously served on the North Iowa Corridor Board, Cooperative Mutual Insurance in Omaha Board, First State Bank of Thornton Board, Executive Council for Land O’ Lakes and served on the St. Paul Lutheran Church Council in Thornton. Chuck was also previously involved with the NIACC Agriculture Department Advisory Committee.
Nancy Barnes, of Mason City, is currently employed by the Dental Center of Nor th Iowa. Bar nes and her husband, Bla ke, have three children. She is a graduate of Mason City High School, Cornell College Schafer and continued her education at the University of Iowa. Barnes currently serves on the Camp Tanglefoot, Inc. Board and the Mason City Country Club Board. She is also a member of Praise Community Church, P.E.O. Chapter OT, volunteers for MOPS and is a NIACC scholarship donor. Officers for 2016 were elected
at the December 2015 board meeting. Phil Garland will remain president with Kim Pang serving as vice preside nt. K at hy G rove w ill c o nt i nu e a s secretary/treasurer. Other memb e r s of t h e NIACC FounBarnes dation Board of Directors are Jean Brumm, Gene Christianson, Leon Christianson, Bill Cooney, Tom Edgington, Pat Galasso, Darshini Jayawardena, Karen Knudtson, Dave McLinn, Dave Moore, Jim Niemants, Nancy Prohaska, Larry Pump, Cathy Rottinghaus, Pat Sackville, Lewis Schaal, Emily Schmitt and David Zrostlik.
State Rep. Sharon Steckman of Mason City announced last week that she will seek re-election to the Iowa House of Representatives in District 53, which includes Mason City, Rockwell and central Cerro Gordo County. “I have been honored to represent North Iowa and want to continue to work to make sure we prioritize education for all Iowans, pre K-12 and beyond. I will keep fighting to make sure Iowans have the essential health and family services needed to ensure success in school,” said Steckman. “I strongly believe that we need to make sure Iowa is an environmentally attractive place to live, and that includes protecting and enhancing our waterways. With today’s rapid changes in technology, it’s also important to keep our kids safe online and make sure our small businesses and schools can access WI-FI and other technol-
ogy they need to succeed,” added Steckman. Steckman is currently serving her fourth term in the Iowa House and serves on the Education, Environmental Protection, Labor and Ways & Means Committees. She is also an Assistant House Minority Leader. Steckman spent 30 years in the classroom and has since retired from the Mason City Community School District. She serves on the Tax Credit Interim Committee, on the MHEC (Midwest Higher Education Compact) Council, the local RSVP Board, the State IJAG Board (Iowa Jobs for America’s Graduates), Una Vocis Board, and the Francis Lauer Youth Services Board and past member of the STEM Council. She and her husband, Alan, reside in Mason City.