Ottumwa Courier Week 11

Bras for a Cause

Steve Copeland, a Hedrick volunteer firefighter, models a decorated bra for the crowd Saturday at the Carl Craft Civic Center. Copeland and many other firefighters modeled the bras during the Bras for a Cause event with a goal to raise money for breast cancer research.

Bras lined two walls of the Carl Craft Civic Center Saturday during the Bras for a Cause event. Community members and business owners from the area donated the decorated bras, and designed them in categories such as sports teams and redneck.

Lourie Hornback hugs a fellow breast cancer survivor Saturday during the Bras for a Cause event at the Carl Craft Civic Center. Hornback is a fourth year breast cancer survivor and continues to host the event each year.

     Cancer survivors, family members and community members alike gathered Saturday at the Carl Craft Civic Center in Hedrick to raise money for breast cancer research. The Bras for a Cause event brought entertainment and a feeling of close community to everyone who attended. 

    The event was started four years ago by Laurie Hornback, a fourth year breast cancer survivor, and she continues to host the event each year. The night started with a pork dinner and guest were invited to look at the bras on display and bid on donated silent auction items. Community members and business owners from the area donated decorated bras, many which fit into category such as sports teams and redneck.

    As the event went on people continued to bring in hand decorated bras for the auction. Once all the bras were gathered the live auction began. The fireman from the Hedrick Volunteer Fire Department donned the bras and strutted their stuff through the crowd while an auctioneer tracked bidders. 

    During breaks in the auction Hornback would tell stories and entertain the crowd as well as honor the other breast cancer survivors in the room. The survivors were asked to stand and with a cheering crowd Hornback gave each survivor a pink carnation and a loving embrace.     

    This years goal for the event was to raise $10,000 and Hornback said she is confident they will reach that goal. Sunday after the event was wrapped up and Horback had a chance to rest her voice the counting began.

    “I don’t have a definite total yet because the donations are still coming in,” Hornback said. “This community is amazing and none of this could happen without them.” 

    Hornback was asked to be an honorary survivor for the Race for the Cure four years ago and was introduced to the Susan G. Komen organization. This sparked the idea for Bras for a Cause and the event was born. All the proceeds from Saturdays Bras for a Cause event will be given to the Southeast Iowa Susan G. Kolmen organization. 

    “The turn out to this event just gets better and better each year,” Hornback said. “Its is fantastic and feels amazing to have a community back you up in just a grand way.”

Pond Stocking Marks the Beginning of Spring

Randy Sundqust shows off his catch Saturday during the trout fishing derby at Ottumwa Park. The derby followed the pond stocking done by the Department of Natural Resources. Sundqust said he comes to the stocking every year and always reaches the five trout maximum. 

Mark Flammang, a DNR employee, shows off a net full of trout to a crowd Saturday during the pond stocking at Ottumwa Park. The Iowa DNR teams up with the Ottumwa Parks and Recreation department each year to introduce fisherman to trout fishing.

     Everyone from avid fisherman to young children could be found at the Ottumwa Park Saturday racing to catch fish. 

    The Iowa Department of Natural Resources pulled a truck full of 2,000 trout to the edge of the pond and with the turn of a lever hundreds of fish at a time were released into the water. Families and fisherman gathered around the truck to watch the DNR employes work and to catch a quick glimpse of the fish they would soon be trying to catch. 

    The tank was full of book trout and rainbow trout and 100 of each of these kinds were tagged and released with the rest of the fish. With this the fishing derby began. People pulled out all the stops to catch as many fish as possible, up to the five trout limit, some tired fly fishing and some used specially caught bait. Whoever had collected the tagged fish by the end of the event were eligible to win prizes. 

    The the anglers at the event were required to be properly licensed and posses an Iowa trout stamp. Mark Flammang, a DNR employee, said it is important to make sure all the fisherman are properly licensed because this helps the department with research and data. 

    The DNR Fisheries Bureau has been involved in cold weather Iowa urban trout stocking projects since 1981 in order to introduce trout fishing to people who otherwise would never experience it. Trout have very specialized habitats that include cool water streams, so pond stocking while waters are still relatively cool is a must. The stocking is done in Ottumwa both in the spring and the fall and the event is coordinated with the Parks and Recreation Department. 

    “What we are really aiming at is just to get people out and enjoying the spring weather,” Flammang said. “Get out there and introduce you entire family to trout fishing and fishing in general.”

Preserving History One Memory at a Time   

Warren Proctor, a 92 year old native of Blakesburg, was interview Thursday at the Blakesburg Historic Preservation Society museum by his neighbor Chester Gillen. The interview was part of a video series called The Blakesburg Living History Project that is being created by the society to document the history of the town.

Old Proctor family photos adorn a table at the Blakesburg Historic Preservation Society museum Thursday during an interview with Warren Proctor. Proctor spoke of his times at country school and what it was like to survive a hard season growing up on a farm.

    Today when we want to learn something about the past we tend to turn to the internet for answers, but some history has yet to be recorded and can easily be lost to time. The Blakesburg Historic Preservation Society is working to make sure their towns history isn’t lost forever. 

    The Society was started in the late 1990’s and strived to preserve the history of the town. But as many non-profit organizations deal with the Society was not able to do as much as they felt was necessary. But in 2009 a group got together and was determined to make the society all it can be and this revamp is still going on today. 

    “We decided it was important to pick it back up and spur on the activities of the society,” said Patty Roland, the President of the Blakesburg Historic Preservation Society. 

    Over the past year renovations to the historical society museum included bringing the building up to electric codes, installing new heating and cooling units and bringing in display cases to start displaying the artifacts. Many people have started bringing in artifacts to donate to the society and these artifacts all have to be archived and then displayed. 

    “We encourage people to bring in any artifacts from Blakesburg,” Roland said. “Our primary goal is to get things of interest from Blakeburgs history and catalog them and make sure they are secured here in the building.”

    Aside from working on the museum the Society is working to make a website and archive. They are working with the library to scan and digitize many documents from the  towns history to preserve and archive them. The society hopes that by archiving these documents people will finally be able to research the history of the town that they are interest in. 

    Part of the website will be a series called The Blakesburg Living History Project. The project will include video interviews of people who have lived in the town their whole lives and will show old and new photos of historic locations in the town. The aging population of the town has lifetimes of history in their memories that have not been documented or archived in any way. 

    One of the citizens who’s history is being documented is Warren Proctor, a 92 year old native of the town. Proctor shared his memories of going to a country school house, fishing, his grandfathers smith shop and much more. These are stories that few people outside of Proctors family have heard before. One person who has heard many of his stories is Chester Gillen, Proctors neighbor. 

    “Warren has so many stories to tell and has a fantastic memory,” Gillen said. “I have heard his stories many times and they never change, he doesn’t make anything up.”

    There is a list forming of people in the town that the Society would like to document. Everything from old saw mills to family farms are a valuable piece of history of the town and the memories will now be preserved.

    “What we are trying to do is capture the oral history of people who have lived in Blakesburg for their whole lives,” Roland said. “We just think its really important to get that history recorded and save it for future generations, because if we don’t get it soon its going to be lost to us forever.”

Features

Akolda Manyang visits with fans Monday during a welcome home event for the basketball team at Indian Hills Community College. The team returned after competing in the tournament for their fourth national title and were greeted by fans wanting to congratulate them and get autographs. The Warriors fell short in the championship game loosing 87-77 to the Bobcats. 

Tom Arnold talks with Foundation members Wednesday before the Foundation Celebrity Night began. The event included a meet and greet with Arnold, a formal dinner and a re-dedication of the recently renovated Tom Arnold Net Center. 

Tom Arnold,left, talks with IHCC President Marlene Sprouse, center, and Mayor Tom Lazio Wednesday at the Tom Arnold Net Center for the Foundation Celebrity Night. Tom Arnold is a native of Ottumwa and attended Indian Hills Community College.

Members of the Iowa Mormon Trails Association walk to a dedication ceremony Saturday at Richardson’s Point in traditional pioneer dresses. The dedication celebrated the Mormons who had traveled through Iowa in the mid-1800’s.

Michael Zahs digs through a stack of quilts made from cloth bags Tuesday during a Reminisce Society meeting. The presentation, “Iowa History in a Cloth Bag”, discussed how cloth bags and the marketing of them to women helped families survive the Great Depression and any other hard times they faced. Zahs grew up on a century farm and remembers wearing clothes made from the bags his mother would save. Aside from adding to his large collection of cloth bags he is involved in historic preservation, cemetery work and state and local history.