Official Paper of Parkersburg, Aplington, New Hartford, Aplington-Parkersburg Schools, and Butler County
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clipse
NEWS - REVIEW
WEDNESDAY May 25, 2016 18 pages 144th Year • No. 21
$1
www.parkersburgeclipse.com
A-P Class of 2016 celebrates the places they’ll go
INSIDE Thorne among six named to Hall of Fame
Briefly. Eclipse News-Review office to be closed Memorial Day
The Parkersburg Eclipse News-Review office will be closed Monday, May 30 in observance of Memorial Day. To accommodate the closing, deadlines for the June 1 Eclipse News-Review will be moved up 24 hours to noon Thursday (May 26) for display ads and news submissions and 5 p.m. Thursday for classified ads.
5K Glow run/walk set for June 4
The AP to DC Committee will host a 5K Glow run/walk Saturday, June 4 at 8 p.m. Proceeds from the event will help defer the cost of Aplington-Parkersburg students traveling to Washington, D.C. in March, 2017. A discounted race fee will apply to those signing up before June 1. The cost of the event includes a glow necklace and two glow wristbands. For more information call 3476621.
Butler County Public Health announces foot clinic schedule
Butler County Public Health Foot Clinics for the month of June have been scheduled. Appointments are required for patients to come to the clinic to have their toenails trimmed by an RN on a monthly basis. Appointments will be taken beginning at 9 a.m. and may be made by calling Butler County Public Health at 319-267-2934. There is a fee for this service. Thursday, June 9 – Elm Springs Assisted Living, Allison Tuesday, June 14 – Parker Place Retirement Community, Parkersburg Thursday, June 23 – Clarksville AMVETS Hall Tuesday, June 28 – Maple Manor Assisted Living, Aplington
By JOHN JENSEN Eclipse News-Review PA R K ERSBU RG - “Oh the Places You’ll Go.” Not only was that the title of a Dr. Seuss book featured prominently in AplingtonParkersburg High School Class of 2016 Valedictorian Erin Folken’s message to graduates, but it could also sum up the theme of Sunday’s commencement exercises at the high school gymnasium. High School Principal Aaron Thomas touched on the theme as he talked about students having the foundation to go to great places. Salutatorian C.J. May touched on it, too, as he talked about memories of the past 13 years at A-P. Folken talked about not wanting to focus on the past because it is just that … the past. “To me graduation is about moving on,” she said. “My hope today is that you will leave this place with anticipation and motivation for the future. “Today you have everything you’ll need to succeed, and you’re in control of your own destiny,” she said. Thomas, in his second year as A-P’s principal after returning to the school five years before that, recalled back to his own graduation from the school. “Nineteen years ago I saw in that seat - not quite in this gymnasium, my gymnasium is no longer, - but when I sat there I was thinking back and I can’t remember one thing the principal said to me and I’m very confident that you won’t remember a single thing I say to you today,” he said. “But I hope you remember this - we’re proud of you, we thank you, we cherish you.” Thomas said he hoped every student – whether they loved school or hated it – found someone in the school that loved them.
“That’s what we’re about here,” he said. Thomas said being an AplingtonParkersburg High School alum brings great responsibility. “No matter what campus you go to, what work site or what branch of the Service, people will undoubtedly ask you, ‘Where did you grow up, where did you come from?’ And my hope for each one of you is that you say with pride, ‘I’m from AplingtonParkersburg.’” He said what the school has done for the students, however, is only a beginning, comparing it to the basement and subf loors that remained after the tornado destroyed much of Parkersburg eight years ago. “In my mind that is exactly where you young people are - your foundation is set,” he said. “I hope you know right from wrong, I hope you know how to make good decisions, I hope you can play nicely with others, I hope you know how to think for yourself and how to communicate.” May spoke of the successes that the Class of 2016 has had both in the classroom and away from it. “ W het he r it wa s bre a k i ng multiple school records in sports, ou t p e r fo r m i ng a l m o s t e ve r y other school in fine arts or even big successes in other things like Academic Decathlon or other clubs, the Class of 2016 has given a lot to this school,” he said. “But we also have to look back at what this school has given to us. The friendships and bonds with people here are some of the best we have. Whatever we do next year we all have people in our lives to support us because of people in this school that brought us together. “ T h o m a s r e m i n d e d t h e 76 graduates to be thankful.
High School Principal Aaron Thomas presented Erin Folken (above) with the school’s valedictorian award and Eleanor Uhlenhop was the Iowa Bar Association American Citizenship Award. Below is Salutatorian Christopher May. (John Jensen/Eclipse News-Review photos)
See GRADUATION page 3
New veterans’ memorial planned for Aplington By JOHN JENSEN Eclipse News-Review APLINGTON – As Aplington residents venture to Pleasantview Cemetery Monday for the community’s annual Memorial Day Ceremony, they will be greeted by a new monument. If things go according to plan in the next few days, a new memorial honoring those who served in all five branches of military service will take its place alongside the Iwo Jima Memorial that debuted at the cemetery a year ago. “Its really going to look nice,”
AmVets Post No. 102 Commander Paul Weber said. The memorial has been in the works for nearly a year. Weber said the new memorial was needed after the Iwo Jima Memorial was repurposed from its former home in Cedar Falls a year ago. “We decided we needed another one up there,” Weber said. “This is to finish off everything and to honor all the troops that served and died and all those that will serve and will die. This is giving back.”
MITCH KRMPOTICH
See MEMORIAL page 3
Krmpotich named Eclipse sports editor
IWARN to host monthly meeting
G RU N DY C E N T E R — IWARN, a group of Ham Radio operators serving Butler, Franklin, Hardin, Grundy, Marshall and Tama Counties will host a meeting Thursday, June 2 at the Grundy County Memorial Hospital in Grundy Center. Meet at 7 p.m. in the meeting room (Use Entrance No. 3 on the west side of the hospital). More Briefs on Page 3
In this week’s issue
Opinion.........................page 4 Aplington News...........page 5 Church News................page 9 Records................page 11=12
Classifieds........... pages 14-16 Sports.................. pages 17-18
Memorial Day services planned Plans are set for Memorial Day services in Parkersburg, Aplington and New Hartford Monday. Aplington — Services are planned for Sunday, May 29 at Washington Reformed Church Cemetery at 1:30 p.m., at Bethel Reformed Church Cemetery at 1:50 p.m. A parade will start at 10 a.m. Monday, May 30 and will be followed by services at Pleasantview Cemetery. New Hartford — The GeneBickner American Legion Post No. 0660 will place flags on the graves of veterans in Oak Hill, Beaver Grove and Fairfield Cemeteries Friday.
Services will be at 9 a.m. at the New Hartford Community Building (gather at 8:30) and will be followed by ceremonies at the Beaver Creek Bridge and Oak Hill Cemetery, where State Sen. Bill Dix will be the guest speaker. Parkersburg — A wreath ceremony will be held at Depot Park at 8:15 a.m. (gather at 8 a.m.) and will be followed by ceremonies at St. Patrick’s Cemetery at 8:45 a.m. and Oak Hill Cemetery at 9 a.m. The Parkersburg American Legion will also host a breakfast from 7 a.m. to noon at the Veteran’s Memorial Building.
May takes state meet 3,200-meter title Aplington-Parkersburg senior C.J. May became the school’s first-ever 3,200-meter champion at the state track meet Thursday, winning the Class 2A race. May also placed second in the 1,600 and fifth in the 800 while leading the Falcons to a top-five finish. Read about the state track meet on today’s sports pages. (John Jensen/Eclipse News-Review photo)
By JOHN JENSEN Eclipse News-Review A Wyoming native has been named sports editor at The Grundy Register and Parkersburg Eclipse News-Review. Mitchell Krmpotich brings an excitement for athletics into his first professional position after graduating earlier this month from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash. “I am extremely excited to join the Mid-America team,” he said. Krmpotich, 22, is a huge basketball fan and was a member of Gonzaga’s Bulldog Band throughout college, having served as both the band’s president and vice-president. While a member of the band he followed both Bulldog men’s and women’s teams to both the West Coast and NCAA Tournaments. Krmpotich is the first full-time sports editor employed by either the Grundy Center or Parkersburg papers since Mid-America Publishing See KRMPOTICH page 3