American Legion Retires Flags With Honor And Dignity By Burning Them
(Le Mars) — Each September, the different American Legion posts from Plymouth County gather for their annual meeting. In addition to holding a meeting, legion members also utilize the opportunity to properly dispose and destroy old flags. Jim Rolfes serves as the adjutant for the county legions and says the American Legion destroys old, worn, faded, and torn flags in a
dignified and respectful manner by burning them.
More than 1000 discarded flags consisting of the American flag, State of Iowa flag, military branches, and POW-MIA flags were properly destroyed during a burning ceremony held Wednesday evening.
He says the flags are given to the American Legion for the proper disposal, and they come in all different sizes.
Rolfes says as part of the ceremony, flags need to be inspected before they can be properly disposed and burned.
In addition to the September flag burning ceremony, Rolfes says the American Legion Wasmer Post #241 of Le Mars also holds a flag retirement ceremony in mid-June at around Flag Day. People with old flags wanting to have them properly retired and disposed with honor can leave their tattered flags with
the American Legion. There is also a hand-crafted wooden box, created by a local Eagle Boy Scout located on the northside of the Le Mars Fire and Rescue Station number 1, near the flagpole that accepts discarded flags.
Goodchild Concerned About Needed Street Repairs Soon After Street Paving Construction Projects Have Been Completed
(Le Mars) — During the latest city council meeting, Councilman Clark Goodchild expressed his concerns about the need for repairing streets that in his opinion were needing repairs way too soon after they had been paved.
Goodchild asked about what method of “checks” and inspections that are used by the city to determine the construction project passes, and will not need repairs within a short time frame after the project is completed? One street that Goodchild cited as an example is Business Highway 75, which required additional repairs one year after it was paved.
Councilman Ken Nelson says it may sometimes depend on an accurate soil boring testing to see if the ground is sufficiently compacted in order to handle the weight of the traffic. City Administrator, Jason Vacura says the city has not had an engineer for at least 12 years, so the city has to rely upon
contracted engineering services to make certain the street paving projects are done to the city’s standards.
Pioneer Village Winter Wonderland Is Cancelled For 2020
(Le Mars) — Organizers of the Pioneer Village Christmas Wonderland have decided to cancel the 2020 event due to the COVID-19 virus. In a Thursday news release it states: “It is with our deepest regrets that we are going to postpone the 2020 Pioneer Village Christmas Wonderland until 2021. With the
Covid 19 going so strong yet in our community, we feel we can’t safely hold our village, it would be very difficult to manage all the aspects and meet all of the safety requirements. We had a board meeting the other night and decided the best and safest thing to do this year was just cancel the event for the 2020 year. Hopefully things will change by next year and we can have
a bigger and better event than ever.
U-S News And World Report Ranks Dordt University #2 In Midwest For Undergraduate Teaching
(Sioux Center) — Dordt University has been ranked the second-best regional college in the Midwest for undergraduate teaching, according to the 2021 U.S. News and World
Report rankings. The “Best Undergraduate Teaching: Regional Colleges Midwest” ranking focuses on schools where faculty and administrators are committed to teaching undergraduate students in a high-quality manner.
“There’s a passion for undergraduate students here, and it’s affirming to hear that others are noticing,” says Dr. Teresa Ter Haar, dean of curriculum and instruction at Dordt. “Especially these days when students have so many institutions they could choose from, to hear that Dordt is one of the top places to go to get an undergraduate education should speak volumes to the
students.”
One of the ways Dordt is special is that faculty members come to Dordt because they specifically want to teach undergraduates, says Ter Haar.
“Often at a larger state school or research institution, the focus of the faculty can be divided. And that’s not to say our faculty aren’t interested in scholarship and research—they certainly are—but what’s wonderful is that our faculty take their research, scholarship, and community service and enfold it into the work they do with students,” she says.
Dr. Leah Zuidema, vice president for academic affairs at Dordt, says the Covid-19 pandemic has shown how resilient and innovative Dordt faculty are.
“Dordt University faculty show extraordinary creativity and care for our students, and that has become even more visible as we adapt instruction for safe face-to-face learning during Covid-19,” says Zuidema. “Faculty creativity is obvious in the ways that they work with the constraints of distancing and limited classroom capacity.”
For example, adds Zuidema, some who teach larger classes have designed lessons where half of the class attends in person and engages in a live discussion, while students attending remotely observe and then reflect on a discussion board about what they heard. Then, the next class period, students rotate and swap roles so all students have regular time for face-to-face
learning, as well as for speaking, listening, reflection, and analysis.
“Professors’ care for students is remarkable, too. Every faculty member spent the summer preparing ‘flex’ online or remote activities for their courses so that whenever there are students who are in isolation or quarantine, they can continue with meaningful learning,” says Zuidema. “Faculty want to help
students stay connected and involved, and they regularly go the extra mile to make that happen. They are great stewards of the opportunities that God has given us this semester for teaching and learning!”
As an institution of higher education committed to the Reformed Christian perspective, Dordt University equips students, faculty, alumni, and the broader community to work toward Christ-centered renewal in all aspects of contemporary life. For four years in a row, Dordt has been named number one in the nation for student engagement by The Wall Street Journal and Times
Higher Education. Located in Sioux Center, Iowa, Dordt is a comprehensive university named to the best college lists by U.S. News and World Report, Forbes.com, Washington Monthly, and Princeton Review.
