Governor Reynolds Taps Three From Plymouth County To Serve On State Boards And Commissions
(Des Moines) — Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds announced in a news release that she has named several people to serve on various state boards. Three are from Plymouth County. Don Kass of Remsen has been named to sit on the State’s Mental Health and Disability Services Commission. Scott Kovarna of Hinton
will serve on the Fire Service and Emergency Response Council. Amy Crouch of Remsen has been asked to serve on the state’s Preserves Advisory Board.
Reynolds Sets Up Carbon Sequestration Task Force
(Des Moines) — Governor Reynolds announced members of the Agriculture and Energy Working Groups of the Carbon Sequestration Task Force. On June 22nd, Governor Reynolds signed Executive Order 9 launching a task force to explore
carbon sequestration and the opportunities it presents for further economic development in the state of Iowa.
“Iowa is a recognized leader in renewable fuel and food production, making us a natural place to capitalize on the growing nationwide demand for a more carbon free economy,” said Gov. Reynolds. “I’m proud to expand our carbon sequestration task force with additional members centered around two main working groups. I know they will hit the ground running and I look forward to working alongside them to drive economic growth and sustainability in energy and agriculture production.”
The Carbon Sequestration Task Force, chaired by Gov. Reynolds, will be supported by two working groups focused on Agriculture and Energy. Members of the working groups are comprised of diverse subject matter experts and stakeholders representing industries and interests integral to the carbon sequestration supply chain in the state of Iowa.
Le Mars Mayor Writes Letter To The Community For The Support Demonstrated During RAGBRAI Event.
(Le Mars) — Le Mars Mayor Dick Kirchoff has written a letter to the people of Le Mars thanking them for their support and assistance to making the recent RAGBRAI event a huge success for the community of Le Mars. In his letter, Kirchoff says, “We were honored that RAGBRAI selected Le Mars, as it validates all of the hard work and effort put into make Le Mars the great
community it is. Many compliments were received regarding how friendly, clean and organized our city is. With an estimated 20,000 bicyclists, plus their support staff, friends and family descending on our great city for the first night. I could not be prouder of our community and the unified efforts of each group to bring it all together. Congratulations on a job well done!
The overnight stop allowed participants to spend time in our community and to take in and experience all that Le Mars has to offer. What a wonderful opportunity to showcase “The Ice Cream Capital of the World” and leave a lasting impression on not only participants from Iowa, but from across the U-S, and the world, and encourage them to visit us again. We can all be very
proud of Le Mars! Thanks again for your part in making it possible! Another great example of “Public, Private, Partnership.” Signed Dick Kirchoff, Mayor of the city of Le Mars.
Life Skills Training Center Depends On The Fair For Fund Raising
(Le Mars) — Life Skills Training Center relies heavily upon the Plymouth County Fair for three of its fundraisers. Shelly Thomson serves as the Development Director with Life Skills and says the fair plays a major role for the adult handicapped center’s financial survival. Saturday afternoon will be the annual quilt auction. Sunday is the cow-chip or Bossie Bingo, and
throughout the fair, Life Skills serves flavored snow cones as another means of raising money. Thomson says this year’s quilt auction that is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. at Century Hall will feature a variety of colorful and warm quilts.
Thomson says Life Skills is glad to be back at the fair, after last year’s fair was cancelled due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak.
Thomson hopes several people will want to invest in a quilt during the annual quilt auction.
At last check, Thomson says only a small number of land parcels for the cow-chip Bossie Bingo were still available for purchase. Interested people wanting to purchase a chance for the Bossy Bingo ticket should visit with their local bank. The winning entry will win $1,000. The Life Skills official says last year was a financial struggle for the local organization since there wasn’t a Plymouth County Fair.
As mentioned, the Life Skills Quilt Auction is scheduled for today (Saturday) beginning at 2:00 p.m. at the Century Hall, and the Cow-chip Bossie Bingo will also begin at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday near the clock tower at the Plymouth County Fairgrounds.
(photos are from previous years events.)
92-Year Old Shows Off His Hobby Of Making Wooden Farm Replica Models At Plymouth County Fair
(Le Mars) –– Visitors to the famous round barn are always anxious to view the array of models as displayed by Jim DeBoer of Orange City. DeBoer has featured his hand-made toy replicas of farm equipment for at least ten years.
From a distance, a person would naturally assume DeBoer has a collection of toys, similar to many other people that have taken up the hobby of collecting farm-related toys. However, upon closer observation, and viewers will notice the delicate, and intricate specific details of the models. Upon even a closer look and you will notice these models are not made of die-cast metal
like many toys, but rather each of them is constructed of wood. DeBoer, who is 92 years young, says he enjoys his hobby of creating farm-related equipment from wood, and has been doing it for several years.
DeBoer says all together, he has created more than 100 pieces, with many of them taking hundreds of hours to build, and requiring a great deal of patience.
DeBoer says his collection is not yet complete, and he has plans to create additional models.
DeBoer likes to share information about his hobby with others, and many people shake their heads in disbelief when they view the models and listen to DeBoer’s story.
Anyone that views DeBoer’s creations will quickly notice he favors the colors of green and yellow and features many John Deere scaled models. However, you can’t help but notice there is an older style orange colored Case tractor with the same colored square hay baler. DeBoer says he created those pieces
because of his brother’s insistence.
As mentioned, DeBoer has displayed his unique wooden model farm tractors and other farm-related equipment for more than a decade, but folks still look forward to seeing his display. DeBoer also had the display on exhibit during the recent RAGBRAI bicycle event, which lead to people from all parts of the
country amazed at his hobby. Many people often take a second look, especially when they realize that not only does DeBoer create an exact scaled replica, but he also has moving parts on his models.
DeBoer enjoys showing a model John Deere tractor with a three-point hitch that actually moves when you move a tiny lever. He demonstrates how the wooden creation can be hooked up to a model field cultivator that raises and lowers simply by moving a small lever. When visiting the Plymouth County Fair, I encourage you to visit the famous round barn and start up a conversation with Jim DeBoer. You will walk away amazed at all of his creations, and of his spirit.
UI Epidemiologist Concerned About Iowa’s Vaccination Rates
(Iowa City, IA) — COVID-19 hospitalizations in Iowa hit a record low of 46 in late June — but they’ve been spiking this month with 158 reported this week. University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics epidemiologist Melanie Wellington says she’s concerned Iowa is headed towards a surge in hospitalizations like the one in Missouri. Wellington says community transmission is definitely on the rapid rise, and vaccination in the state
remains relatively low. She says that is a recipe for a lot of people getting infected and those who are not vaccinated at high risk for being hospitalized. Wellington says she’s more worried about those who are not vaccinated than she is of the threat of COVID variants. She notes the vaccines are still very effective at preventing most infections.
Teen Receives 50-Year Sentence For New Year’s Party Fatal Shooting
(Sioux City, IA) — The sentence is 50 years in prison for a Sioux City teen who pleaded guilty to a deadly New Year’s party shooting. Eighteen- year-old Anthony Bauer will have to serve 70 percent of the sentence before he will be considered for parole. Bauer pleaded guilty last month to the second-degree murder of 18-year-old Mia Kritis and three other counts.
Police say Bauer and two others fired more than two dozen shots into a home during a New Year’s party, killing Kritis and wounding three others. The other victims have since recovered.
Urbandale Native Schweizer Qualifies For Olympic 5000 Meter Finals
(Tokyo, Japan) — Urbandale native Karrisa Schweizer will be running in the five-thousand meter women’s Olympic final Monday in Tokyo. The Dowling High School grad finished seventh in her qualifying heat Friday morning at the Summer Games. Schweizer will also compete in the ten-thousand meter final early Saturday. She was the five-thousand meter champion at the 2018 Drake Relays and won multiple N-C-A-A championships at Missouri. The Drake Relays are hosting a watch party for the ten-thousand meter final in Des Moines Saturday morning at 5:45 am.
Rare Partial Albino Goose Spotted in Northern Iowa
(Titonka, IA) — A rare bird has been spotted in northern Iowa. Erich Gilbert with the Union Slough National Wildlife Refuge near Titonka says there’s a partial albino among the Canada geese that have settled in for the past few weeks. Gilbert says it looks almost like a ghost or a hologram.
This is the time of year for Canadian geese to molt — lose their feathers. Albino birds are rarely found in the wild. Gilbert says “they say that bird watchers — are likely to see this maybe a
couple of times in their lifetime, but it may be a cardinal, it may be a sparrow, it may be any kind of bird.” He says the albino goose is visible from the county highway that passes along the south end of the refuge. The drought has made the refuge more attractive to birds.
