Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Serving O'Brien & Clay Counties
Harper and Paisley Klein show off their hardware from the state pedal pull competition.
Klein sisters place at state pedal pull
The Iowa State Pedal Pull Association held its 34rd annual state pedal pull championship on Saturday, Sept. 7 at the Activity Center in Burt. There were girls and boys 4-12 years old that placed first, second or third in over 180 sanctioned pedal pulls across Iowa. The first, second, third and fourth place winners at the state level are eligible to compete at the national pedal pull on Sept. 28 at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, S.D.
Locally, two sisters from Hartley earned a spot at nationals. Paisley Klein placed first in the 6-year-old class, while her little sister, Harper, placed third in the 4-year-old class.
The girls are the daughters of Kevin and Vanessa Klein.
Local grocer receives award at regional event
Regional leaders from the four-county Northwest Iowa Development (NWID) region and the city of LeMars, representing economic development, business, city councils and boards of supervisors with an interest in growing the region, attended the 2024 Partner Meeting on Sept. 6 at the Western Christian High School in Hull.
Highlighting the event was Congressman Randy Feenstra, representative of Iowa's 4th Congressional District. Feenstra spoke to the 75 attendees on the work being done to grow rural communities and strengthen the economy, and the challenges the region is facing.
The entire Northwest Iowa Developers Board voted unanimously to approve the following award recipients, feeling all presented were most deserving of them.
Receiving the Kirk Grau Business or Organization Innovation Award was Ace Market LLC. In 2021, Casey and Julie Connor purchased the Fiesta Foods grocery store in Hartley. At that time they owned the Lake Mills and Northwood stores and since then have purchased stores in Elkader and Sibley.
Connor is currently working with local stores to deliver supplies to them, helping with costs and delivery time of groceries. He has developed a network with local grocers and is always looking at ways to invest and modernize his stores, increasing the products and services he can offer including catering services. Connor also has a succession plan for each store and is willing to invest and train managers who want to own their own stores.
There were two recipients of the Northwest Iowa Beyond Expectations Economic Development Support Award.
The Lyon County Riverboat Foundation is a non-profit organization that holds the gaming license for Grand Falls Casino and Golf Resort, at Larchwood in Lyon County. The foundation was established in June of 2011 and has distributed almost $30 million to charitable and civic organizations. The foundation is currently focused on helping grow economic development in Lyon County and is making great strides to help grow and support daycare availability.
Josh Earll is president of the Sibley Housing and Development Corporation. Under his leadership the corporation is divided into committees focusing on three main categories: new developments, affordable and senior housing, and community pride and beautification. These committees interact with city residents to identify problems and shortages, and work to remedy them.
Northwest Iowa Development is a regional economic development marketing organization focused on growing businesses and communities in northwest Iowa. It includes the counties of Lyon, Sioux, O'Brien and Osceola, and the city of LeMars.
Earn awards at Iowa State Fair
Area 4-H'ers earned honors with their non-livestock entries at the 2024 Iowa State Fair.
Madison Fritz, of Hartley, received a Seal of Merit for her Communication/Educational Presentation, a blue ribbon for her Creative Arts/Photography entry, and a red ribbon for her Family and Consumer Sciences/Home Improvement entry.
Adilynn Postma, of Hartley, received a Professional Photographers of Iowa (PPI) Consideration Award for a photograph, and also received two blue ribbons for photography.
Dorothy Toft, of Royal, received a red ribbon for her Family and Consumer Sciences/Consumer Management presentation.
Fall enrollment is largest in NCC history
Northwest Iowa Community College in Sheldon reports a record-breaking Fall 2024 enrollment of 1,907 students, making it the largest fall class since the college's founding in 1966. This figure represents a 6.42 percent increase from the Fall 2023 enrollment of 1,792 students, which was the previous second-highest in NCC's history.
While this record-breaking fall enrollment is a notable achievement, NCC operates with multiple terms and start dates throughout the academic year. Another key metric is the total unduplicated headcount for the full academic year. In August 2024, at the conclusion of the 2023-2024 academic year, NCC recorded a total of 2,778 students, a 2.85 percent increase over the 2022-2023 academic year of 2,701 enrolled students.
According to Kristin Kollbaum, Director of Marketing & Communications, NCC also holds the highest student success rate in Iowa at 61.2 percent, significantly higher than the statewide average of 52.8 percent. Additionally, NCC's graduation rate is 55.4 percent, outpacing the state average of 42.1 percent.
NCC's combined credit and non-credit student penetration rate ranks sixth in the state at 9.9 percent, according to the 2023 Iowa Department of Education Profile Report.
