Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
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There's no doubting Jerry and Carole Klein's Christmas spirit. The couple's home has become legendary in Hartley thanks to its elaborate holiday displays each December. You can't miss it, either. A quick drive through the Kleins' First Street Southwest neighborhood will prove they're the perennial Christmas cheer champions in Hartley, a title in which they take pride. "I don't want to put it up the same exact way every year. I try to change it up," said Jerry. "I like to see if people notice."...
Just like their fishing lures, Dave and Cindy Hennings aren't letting the big one get away. The Hartley couple has grown their small tackle business into quite the catch over the past decade. Dave started dabbling in creating his own lures roughly 15 years ago, and eventually spun his hobby into Hennings Tackle. "The business is kind of growing itself, and we're just going to ride with it and do what we can," he said. "It's still very much a mom and pop deal." Dave has been an avid outdoorsman...
Nobody can say Tara Patrick doesn't believe in herself. The owner of Backroads Biker Leather Shoppe in Everly was told by a small business expert in 2006 that her store would never make it in a town with a population of 600. Fourteen years later, she's still laughing. "He said I was stupid to do it in Everly and it wouldn't last six months," Patrick recalled. "He said, 'Don't you understand that location is everything for retail?' I laughed at him and said that he didn't understand bikers. If bi...
The end of the COVID-19 pandemic came closer to reality in Hartley this week. Community Memorial Health Center received its first shipment of the Moderna vaccine on Monday. According to administrator Dr. Janette Simon, CMHC was the first nursing home in O'Brien County to receive doses of the vaccine. One-third of the staff and all consenting residents received their first shots Monday afternoon. The second dose will be administered 28 days later. "It is difficult to express to you how relieved...
Blood drive to be held Dec. 30 in Hartley LifeServe Blood Center will be conducting a blood drive in Hartley on Wednesday, Dec. 30, from 12:30-5:30 p.m. at the Hartley Community Center, 820 2nd Street NE. New donors are welcome. Donors are asked to bring a valid form of identification and masks will be required. If you do not have a mask, one will be provided. No walk-ins are accepted at this time. To schedule your blood donation appointment, text LIFESERVE to 999-777, call (800) 287-4903 or visit lifeservebloodcenter.org. Blood drives...
Prairie Lakes AEA receives grant to train more computer science teachers Teachers within Prairie Lakes Area Education Agency (AEA) will be able to enhance their computer science teaching skills thanks to a grant awarded recently by Gov. Kim Reynolds. Prairie Lakes AEA was one of 167 urban, rural and suburban school districts, nonpublic schools and Area Education Agencies receiving an award from the Computer Science Professional Development Incentive Fund, which is intended to expand computer...
Responding to the impact the coronavirus pandemic has on Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn High School students' ability to complete community service hours, revisions to the citizenship credit requirement were approved by the board on Dec. 21. According to board policy, students must accumulate a minimum of 40 "citizenship points" in order to graduate. Each point is the equivalent of one clock hour a student expends in performing uncompensated "service for others." Additionally, criteria for admission...
There’s a good chance we’ll have a brown Christmas this year. That’s fitting, because 2020 has been one long brown streak after another. Everyone could use a little holiday cheer right now. Some folks put up their Christmas lights and decorations earlier than normal hoping to spark some joy, while others have attempted to spread the spirit of the season in different ways. Hopefully everyone has been able to find some December magic regardless of the method. This season is often hectic and stressful, what with the shopping, church events and oth...
A Christmas Gift Jesus Christ came to earth That wonderful Christmas Day. Nothing’s been the same since His birth. He has guided us to see the way. Jesus has helped us to believe In the God who loves us so. And though in time he had to leave, His life and love we’ll always know. Jesus gave us another way To accept God as our own. Even to this very day His love for us is shown. All we ever have to do To have life forever more, Is to have faith that is true That faith will have you at Hea...
My oldest brother was born on Dec. 11, about eight and a half years before I showed up. Since I’ve been old enough to take note, he has requested a pineapple upside down cake every year to mark the occasion. In the years that they’ve spent his birthday together, my mom has always been happy to oblige. When counted among the things our children want, possible or otherwise, cake preferences seem to be among the more reasonable. As I write this, I cannot recall the most recent occasion where my...
• Traffic Harmony Jene Cooley, Archer, Registration Violation. Jenny Lynn Baier, Royal, Failure to Maintain Control. Joshua David Sybesma, Archer, Speeding. Joshua James McPeek, Sheldon, No Proof of Insurance. Kimberly Jo Howell, Ashton, No Proof of Insurance. Ashley Nicole Van Briesen, Sioux Center, Speeding. Katie Jean Rohlfsen, Paullina, Registration Violation. Amanda Jo Dessel, Paullina, Failure to Use Child Restraint. Scott L. Steinbeck, League City, Texas, Speeding. Elissa Alverda Elaine Frederes, Cleghorn, Speeding. Melanie Neufeld Funk...
Above-normal temperatures have permitted several maintenance projects by the City of Royal to either be completed or still done this winter. With no snow to plow, city employees Sherman Nielsen and Lance Kruse have tackled tree trimming and removal at the site of a proposed street near the Great Hall of Royal. With trees removed there as well as at Memorial Park, stumps remain and Nielsen suggested they be taken out while the ground is dry and frozen. “Stumps from those we cut last winter weren’t done in the summer,” Nielsen explained. “One...
Approximately 60 homes in Everly were lit up to spread holiday cheer to neighbors and friends this month. Five judges had a very difficult time choosing winners, and when the results were tabulated, it looked they were in different communities. Judges included Neila and Miles Rohan, Dave Hoye, Kate Tewes and Kristi Fliss. Thanks to them and their drivers. They judged only those houses that registered and felt badly about not being able to consider some of the other homes. First place: John and...
Last week was filled with holiday cheer and merriment when the Clay Central/Everly Elementary staff made things extra festive for students. The week kicked off with a teacher in-service where teachers spent their staff development day focusing on the topic of social and emotional learning. The remainder of the week was full of holiday activities. On Tuesday students walked the halls in their favorite color for "Buddy the Elf: What's Your Favorite Color" dress-up day. Wednesday was a Christmas...
Last Thursday a Clay County conservationist came to Clay Central/Everly for an outdoor presentation on caribou. Students learned how caribou differ from our local whitetail deer. Students learned about caribou antlers and how they are much larger and their fur is far thicker than local deer, noting that caribou and deer antlers are dense, not hollow. Caribou's antlers are typically shed during different months – males during the months of November and December while females keep theirs until M...
I love to hunt. I love hunting pheasants, turkeys, geese, ducks and deer. I enjoy the hunt for the challenge and the adventure while experiencing God's gift of Creation. However, in my hunts I am not desperate to bring home game. This year I sense people hunting, often in desperation, to have something on which they can rely. The year of COVID-19 has been an unexpected surprise that has thrown life into disarray. People seem to be hunting for Hope. Some people hunted for Hope in the election or...
America has changed over the years in the celebration of Christmas. More Americans probably know the story of Santa Claus than know why Christians celebrate Christmas. Gifts, evergreen trees and outdoor lights seem to be more important than the true meaning behind Christmas. Very rarely will any county courthouse in America dare to put up a nativity scene featuring Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus. Many county governments fear being sued for putting up a nativity scene. The state capitol...
Private family services for Mildred M. Klett were held Friday, Dec. 18, 2020, at the Warner Chapel in Spencer, with Pastor Perry DeGroot officiating. Casket bearers were Allison Cooke, Shanda Hummel, Leah Lupkes, Austin Klett, Jon Hummel, Mitch Lupkes and Adam Cooke. Interment was in the First Reformed Cemetery of rural Everly. Warner Funeral Home assisted with the arrangements. Mildred Martena Klett, the daughter of Marten and Anna (Bleeker) Roskens, was born July 15, 1922 on the family farm north of Everly. She attended grade school in...
A memorial service for Dorothy J. Selby was held Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020, at Grace Fellowship Church in Hartley. Pastor Lynn Dau officiated. Interment at a later date will be at Pleasant View Cemetery in Hartley. Hartley Funeral Home assisted with the arrangements. Dorothy Jeanne (Jobes) Selby, daughter of Arthur and Viola (Dreller) Jobes, was born in Melvin on April 4, 1929. She spent her childhood years in Melvin helping her father in the grocery store and at the meat counter, along with her siblings. She attended Melvin High School,...
4 on her parents’ farm outside of Woden. The daughter of Harry and Jenny (Oster) Renicker, she was the youngest of six children. While raising her own two daughters, Becky and Donna, Betty met Norm Ottman who also had two daughters, Deb and Rhonda. Betty and Norm were married in August of 1980. Together they became the parents of Gary and Todd; sadly, Todd died shortly after birth. Norm and Betty divorced years later. In 2000, Betty met Jack Newton. When he retired they relocated to Hartley where Betty’s daughter was living. Jack and Betty enj...
Virginia Ethelyn Garner, 85, passed away peacefully in Los Angeles, Calif., on Monday, Dec. 14, 2020. A private graveside service was held on Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020, at Oak Hill Cemetery in Lampasas, Texas. The daughter of Wilhelm and Ethelyn Andrie Lorenzen, she was born on Jan. 29, 1935 in Hartley, where she also grew up. After graduating from Hartley High School in 1953 she pursued an airline career with American Airlines in the 1950s and 1960s, working in reservations and as a stewardess....
Sounds of Christmas were heard during the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn High School Music Department's holiday concert on Sunday, Dec. 13. The concert band performed "A Wonderful Christmastime," "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" and the traditional "Christmas Sing-a-Long." Jazz band members treated the audience to "Big Noise from the North Pole," "The Christmas Song" (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) and "Angels We Have Rocked the House." Featured soloists were Lydia Harders on alto saxophone, Olivia...
• Dec. 27, 1945 The third school bus that was to be used on Route 3 south of Hartley arrived and was scheduled to be placed in operation when school opened after the holidays. The bus was a Superior body mounted on a Chevrolet chassis purchased from Burns Chevrolet Co. Bill Powers was the bus driver. All those servicemen who had been wishing for a white Christmas certainly got their wish in a big way. While there was no official register in Hartley, it was generally agreed over a foot of snow fell with drifts piling three feet deep. Fourteen s...
The Iowa Constitution requires that every 10 years following the census there must be a drawing of congressional and state legislative districts based on changes in population, also known as redistricting. In Iowa, the responsibility of drawing the map of proposed districts lies with the nonpartisan bill drafting agency, known as the Legislative Services Agency (LSA). The plan developed by LSA is required by Code to have each Senate and House district have a population as nearly equal as practic...
Iowa Great Lake water temperatures are around 35 degrees or lower with many areas starting to ice over. Walking out on the ice is not recommended; ice is not thick enough in most areas to hold a person. If you go out on the ice, bring a friend along and a form of flotation and ice picks. East Okoboji Lake: The walleye season is open. The water temperature was 37 degrees last week. All hoists and docks have been pulled out for the season. Bluegill, fair. Yellow perch, fair. Lake Pahoja:...
