2016
EAGLE GROVE
2011
EAGLE
www.theeaglegroveeagle.com
Your local news media source
Volume 130
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Issue Number 50
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Cost $1.25
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Thursday, December 15, 2016
Kyle Marker is new Eagle Grove State Farm Agent by Kim demory egeagle@goldfieldaccess.net “We are excited to be back in our home area,” said Kyle Marker, the new agent at State Farm in Eagle Grove. A 2005 graduate of ClarionGoldfield High School, Marker has been working with the State Farm company since 2012. He began in Des Moines as a team member for the Todd Rettenmeier agency working on customer care. Four months later, he moved into a sales role where he worked to promote their agency as a one-stop-shop for all your protection plan needs. This was a great learning opportunity for Marker as the Des Moines agency was ranked as one of the top agencies in the entire enterprise. After two years working with Rettenmeier, Marker was approached about filling an open agent spot in Clarion. “It was hard to say ‘no’ because it was a chance to get back home,” said Marker. He and his wife, Skylar, decided it was best if Marker got a little more experience in Des Moines before taking on his own agency. A year later came the opportunity to take a position in Eagle Grove. Again, the couple felt the timing wasn’t quite right. Then the Rettenmeier agency became available as he was moving on, but the Markers knew they didn’t want to stay in Des Moines to raise a family, so again they decided to pass. A hiring freeze at State Farm followed, which meant they had to wait a little longer than hoped, but eventually, on April 1, 2015, the hiring freeze was removed.
“That’s when I threw my hat in the ring for the Eagle Grove location,” said Marker. He interviewed for the location on April 19. On April 21 he accepted the offer. On May 30 he began his 17 week internship which was the first State Farm class to go through the new condensed internship to make sure he had all his licenses and certifications. On October 1, 2016, he officially opened the doors to his own agency in Eagle Grove and he hasn’t looked back since - only forward, excited to see what the future has to hold. He said his agency offers a wide variety of services - some that people are very familiar with like home, auto, and life insurance; and others that people might be a little more surprised about like bonds, beautician and commercial contractor policies, and even banking - offering savings and checking accounts. Marker can also assist you with your supplemental health policy needs, and is studying to be able to do home loans, with more services he hopes to add as he becomes certified. Although his Eagle Grove agency is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Marker stated that he is available nights and weekends by appointment, or 24/7 via email. He wants the people to know that he is here to meet their needs. “We want to be 100 percent transparent. The only dumb question is the one that doesn’t get asked...so people should ask us what they want to know about...and be comfortable doing so,” said Maker. If there’s one thing Marker valued most from his three-and-a-half years
working at the Rettenmeier agency in Des Moines, it was how he developed other people in the agency. Five of them in his office have gone on to owning their own agency now. “I want to be able to follow suit,” Marker stated. He has hired three other team members in his office. They include Kaycee Busma, James Alesch, and Katie Manthey. “I haven’t been able to get out into the community yet as much as I would like to, but I’m hoping that will happen soon,” said Marker. He’s been busy dealing with office and administration duties. He and Busma have also been developing a training manual for their office. With that nearly behind them, Marker and his team are ready and excited to start getting out to help serve the people of the Eagle Grove area. The Markers, along with their two-month-old son, Kruz, live on an acreage just north of Holmes. They are happy to have found a place to rent that is located in the middle as Skylar (Dorr) is originally from Belmond - a 2006 graduate of the high school. They are hoping in the future to buy a house, preferably an acreage as Marker grew up with an agricultural background. Marker invites and encourages the public to stop in and introduce themselves if they didn’t already do so during the open house held last week. He wants to hear your ideas, suggestions, encouragement, and expectations of the Eagle Grove State Farm Agency. “I’m excited to be in the Eagle Grove community,” he said.
Peterson, with the idea. She loved it. “I thought this way the gift could be for the wives AND the firefighters,” said Chelsea. All it took from there was one conversation with Eagle Grove High School Art Teacher Ann Wilde, and the project was off and running. Ann said she was sure her students would love the opportunity to make the gifts, and decided to assign it as a class project. Chelsea dropped off the bricks, and the students did the rest from there, and it only took them two weeks to complete the 24 bricks featuring the firefighter emblem personalized with the family name. “Every single one of the guys loved their brick,” said Chelsea. As an added bonus, it’s something they can keep out all year round and proudly display that they are a member of the Eagle Grove Volunteer Fire Department. The bricks were given out at the fire department’s party on Saturday, Dec. 3. They were also proud to
A surprise for EG fire fighters Page 1 Breakfast with Santa Sneak Peak Page 2 Owner Occupied Housing Rehabilitation Program Page 3 Sip & Stroll Page 3 Fourth and Fifth Grade Concert Page 5 Iowa Farm Bureau’s Renew Rural Iowa program marks 10-year milestone Page 8
Kaycee Busma, Kyle Marker, and James Alesch are ready to help you with all your protection plan needs at State Farm. Missing from the photo is Katie Manthey. Photo by Kim Demory
Breakfast with Santa
Basketball Action Page 14 Youth Wrestling takes first Page 15 Golden Stars present trophies to EGHS administration Page 15 Fareway Open House specials Page 16
Briefly Fareway Holiday Open House Wednesday, Dec. 14 5 - 9 p.m. Eagle Grove location
Pictured above are some of the bricks Eagle Grove firefighters received for a Christmas gift this year. Photo provided present the bricks to Bill Baker and Steve Woodbeck who are retired from the Eagle Grove department. Junior Firefighters The Eagle Grove Fire Department is also happy to say that Dawson Lalor joined their service
this year as a Junior Firefighter. Payton Woodbeck has also been accepted into the Junior Firefighters, but has to wait until his 16th birthday which is Christmas Day. As Junior Firefighters, the boys will play an important roll outside
of the scene. Although they are not allowed to go into burning buildings, they will perform other important duties such as rolling up hoses, getting tools, and more.
When Christmas comes to town - Eagle Grove area families enjoyed a variety of holiday activities this past weekend Sophia Alecia and Toshia Hill enjoyed their visit with Santa
You’ll find More than 100 Faces inside this week’s Eagle Kyle Marker is new EG State Farm Agent Page 1
A surprise for Eagle Grove fire fighters by Kim demory egeagle@goldfieldaccess.net It’s tradition for the Eagle Grove firefighters and their families to get together to celebrate the Christmas season. They look forward to it every year. It’s fun to be together, but it’s also fun because the women put their names in a bucket to receive holiday gifts. This year, however they decided to change things up a little - thanks to the help of the Eagle Grove High School art class students. It all began this summer when Chelsea Woodbeck, wife of Eagle Grove Assistant Chief Travis Woodbeck, saw the bricks being made at the Eagle Grove Family Aquatic Center and one that had been made for another firefighter family. “I thought, that’s such a cool idea,” said Chelsea. But it wasn’t until this fall that she thought about it as a gift for the Eagle Grove Fire Department families. So she approached Denise Peterson, wife of Fire Chief Tom
In this week’s Eagle
Shoppers came through white and drifting snow
EGHS Holiday Concert Monday, Dec. 19 7 p.m. RBMS Auditorium Open to the public Eagle Grove Eagle Christmas Greeting Section Thursday, Dec. 22 Filled with holiday stories, photos, and greetings from area businesses EG Eagle Closed Monday, Dec. 26 and Monday, Jan. 2 Egg Council Eggs on display Now through Dec. 31, 2016 Eagle Grove Memorial Libray
“City of Lights”
Sip & Stroll
EG Chorale
EG Memorial Library Holiday Hours Christmas -- Closed Saturday, Dec. 24 and Monday, Dec. 26. New Year’s -- Closed Saturday Dec. 31 and Monday, Jan. 2.