01/18/24: Area Happenings & Accomplishments

Hartley snow ordinance reminders

The City of Hartley is reminding residents of snow removal and street parking ordinances during winter.

See the ad on Page 2 for complete information.

Nearly 200 units of blood donated in ’23

The community of Hartley hosted five blood drives during 2023. The 197 units of blood that were donated saved and potentially sustained the lives of 591 people in need.

LifeServe Blood Center recognized the following donors who achieved milestones during the past year.

Darrel Dodge, 21 gallons; Carl Puhrmann, 18; David Ericksen, 16; Clifford Gelderman, 15; Richard Mulder, 12; Maureen Vogt and Patricia Jensen, 11; Becky Brown and Thomas Rutt, 10.

Amber Neumann and Carolyn Rubsam, 8 gallons; Norbert Groff, 6; Rachel Meendering, Cynthia Hoaglund, Nicole Shaffer and Coty Neumann, 5; Mark Guggisberg, 4; Marilyn Honken, Jesse Bernier, Charla Pearce, Kimberly Rye and Russell Klein, 3; Larry Espey, 2; Debra Prins, Roxanne Graves, Martia Dodge, Allan Dacken and Jordan Diaz, 1.

Together those 28 individuals have donated 1,536 pints of blood, potentially sustaining the lives of 4,608 people.

Upcoming blood drives in Hartley will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 21 and Wednesday, April 24, from 12:30-5:30 p.m. at the Hartley Community Center.

Named to BVU fall Dean’s List

More than 500 students at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake were named to the fall 2023 Dean’s List. The Dean’s List recognizes full-time students achieving a 3.5 grade point average or higher for the semester.

Students from this area were recognized.

Sanborn: Olivia Grooters.

Hartley: Brittney Ponte.

Everly: Christian Voss.

Robert D. Blue Scholarship is open for applications

State Treasurer Roby Smith has announced that the 2024 Robert D. Blue Scholarship is open for applications.

Applicants must be a current senior or former graduate of any Iowa high school who plans to attend a college or university within the state. Awards are based on financial need, an original essay, academic achievement and recommendations.

The Iowa Centennial Memorial Foundation was created in 1949 by Governor Robert D. Blue. At that time a scholarship fund was established to encourage students to attend Iowa’s institutions of higher learning. The foundation officially named the scholarship after Governor Blue in 1990, and hopes to encourage the education development of Iowa’s students and their work in public service fields.

Scholarship applications are only accepted online and must be submitted by May 10. Visit rdblue.org to apply and learn more.

Conservation scholarships available to seniors

Conservation Districts of Iowa and the O’Brien County Soil & Water Conservation District are offering several scholarship opportunities to high school seniors to help defray college expenses.

Students that are interested in conservation and agriculture are eligible to apply. While this is a wide field and many studies qualify, preference will be given to students pursuing programs of study in conservation.

This application will be dual purpose for both the CDI and O’Brien SWCD, and is available online at http://www.cdiowa.org. Deadline to submit applications to the office at O’Brien County SWCD, 315 South Rerick Ave., Primghar, IA 51245 or by email to [email protected] is Friday, Feb. 9.

CDI is a statewide scholarship with awards of $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000. Winners from each region will receive $500. The first, second and third place awards will be paid directly to the applicant’s school of choice in two equal installments, one upon enrollment at the beginning of the year and the second at midterm. The $500 scholarships will be paid directly to the students.

The O’Brien County SWCD scholarship will use the same application, so you only need to apply once. They will be awarding two $500 scholarships, awarded at midterm to the student directly.

If you have any questions, contact the SWCD office at 712 (757) 3835 ext. #3.

SDSU announces fall 2023 dean’s list

More than 3,400 students were recognized for their outstanding academic performance over the fall 2023 semester at South Dakota State University in Brookings by being named to the dean’s list.

To earn dean’s list distinctions in SDSU’s colleges, students must have completed a minimum of 12 credits and must have earned at least a 3.5 GPA on a 4.0 scale. A minimum of 12 credits within the 100-699 course range must be taken.

These area students were recognized.

Everly: Haley Berends, James Rickerl, Zachary Schoelerman and Tyson Tessum. All are students in SDSU’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences.

Melvin: Ashilyn Hulstein, College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences.

Sanborn: Adelle Wolfswinkel (4.0), College of Nursing.

Upcoming blood drive at Peterson

Recent winter weather has caused blood drive cancellations impacting the community blood supply. LifeServe Blood Center is urging community members to check out the drive scheduled at Peterson on Monday, Jan. 22, from 2-5:30 p.m. at 101 2nd Street.

Schedule a blood donation appointment online at lifeservebloodcenter.org or call (800) 287-4903.

Iowa State honors fall graduates

More than 1,700 graduates received degrees from Iowa State University this fall. Graduate and undergraduate ceremonies were held Dec. 15-16 at Hilton Coliseum.

Of the 1,705 students who graduated this semester, a total of 1,742 degrees were awarded (1,431 undergraduate, 311 graduate) with some students earning multiple degrees.

Local graduates include: Emily Joenks, of Everly, Bachelor of Science, Agricultural and Life Sciences Education, Summa Cum Laude; and Bryce Batien, of Hartley, Bachelor of Science, Animal Ecology, Cum Laude.

Albert earns academic honors

A total of 356 Mitchell Technical College students earned recognition on the fall 2023 President’s List.

To be named to the list, students must earn a term Grade Point Average of at least 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and be registered for at least 12 credit hours of academic work during the semester. Of those students on the President’s List, 163 earned a perfect 4.0** GPA, 93 earned high honors* (3.75-3.99) and 100 earned honors (3.5-3.73).

Local students named to the list include Jackson Albert**, of Hartley.

Interesting variety in 2023 baby names

Babies born at Spencer Hospital throughout 2023 covered the alphabet from A to Z with baby girl names ranging from Adalynn to Zyanya and baby boys named Aengus to Zion.

For baby girls, names beginning with the letter “A” were most popular with 20 little girls receiving names starting with A, including Amelia, Alice and Anastasia, among others. For baby boys, the letter “C” was the most popular starting letter with 11 little boys getting “C” names, including Crew, Caspian and Clay.

The most any name was used was three times, such as three baby boys named Walker and three little girls receiving the name of Lainey. Several names were given at least twice to 2023 babies, including Archer, Grayson and Mateo for boys, and Hazel, Lily, Miley and Sophie for girls.