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Ottumwa Courier Week 20

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Memorial Day 

Ottumwa Courier Week 19

Iowa Thunder Ride 

     The sound of engines was in the air Sunday morning as a group of Christian Motorcyclist Association members, as well as family and friends, prepared for a group ride to Des Moines. 

    The trip was organized so the group could join with hundreds of other bikers for Iowa Thunder, an event created to honor military veterans. All the groups converged at a meeting place and paraded to the capital. There family members and friends of veterans spoke about their loved ones and the service they had provided for their country. A bell was rung for each veteran from Iowa that had been lost in the last year. 

    The event was created by a man named Rabbi 25 years ago. Twenty years before that Babbi’s grandfather was asked to honor a man he had served with overseas at the soldiers funeral and asked Rabbi to come with him. Rabbi said this experience taught him about respect and honor and inspired him to create the Iowa Thunder Ride. The event started with a focus on honoring Vietnam Veterans and has now branched out to honor veterans from all wars. 

    Jim Schaffner lead the riders from Ottumwa to Des Moines and picked up other bikers on the way. Schaffner and many of the other Christian Motorcyclist Association members have been making the ride for Iowa Thunder for may years. 

    “This ride means that our freedoms that we have in this country have been brought by the many lives that have been sacrificed and the freedoms we have to ride and to do many other things, ” Schaffner said.

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Ottumwa Christian School Graduation 

     Saturday was a special day for the four seniors graduating from Ottumwa Christian School. 

    This small graduating class is double the size of last years class and illustrates the small group learning style of the school. Family and friends of the students filled the gym and waited for the graduates to line up on the stage. 

    The graduates were joined on stage by Alan Menninga, Board Chairman, Pastor Richard Schlotter, and Principal Arnie Van Wardhuizen. Menninga welcomed the family and friends and introduced the four seniors to the audience and the Pastor Schlotter gave the keynote address. 

    “If there was ever a day to rejoice it would be today,” Schlotter said. “We just saw our kids grow up, achieve and mature.”

    Hannah Cavanaugh, one of the graduating students, gave the senior address. Cavanaugh attended the school for two years and said she grew to love everyone there. 

    “Many memories were made over the last two years,” Cavanaugh said with a laugh. “I will remember something about every one of you, but I will especially remember that the boys loved to play pranks on me.”

    Cavanaugh went on to tell stories about the students she was graduating with and tales of the achievements they have accomplished so far and what will be in their futures.

    These achievements could also be heard from the voices of family members of the graduating students. One by one each student had a member of their family come to the stage and told the audience about their graduate. From stories of epic star wars battles in the back yard as kids to blessings for the future, each speaker gave some insight into the lives of the students who are about to start a new chapter. 

    

Ottumwa Courier Week 18

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Ottumwa High School Springfest Concert 

     Seasoned musicians and first year students shared the stage Monday during the Ottumwa High School Instrumental Springfest Concert. 

    The event featured the OHS String Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra, Jazz Band and the Wind Ensemble and was the final concert for the school year.

    “I think that it is the most difficult concert of the year,” Patty Babb, the Orchestra  director, said. “We really focus on rhythm and counting by this time of year and the students can show their talents.”

    The music department at OHS continues to be popular with students year after year with around 150 participating in some aspect of the department. Many students choose to learn multiple instruments and will join the different groups to showcase that instrument, Babb said. It gives the students a chance to try a little bit of everything and then they can decide which one they are most passionate about. 

    Babb has been teaching for 31 years and moved from teaching middle school to high school six years ago. She has had a long relationship with many of the students, having taught some for eight years in a row. Many of these students were presented with various awards at the end of the concert. 

    “We like to recognize extra effort and do this with a point system throughout the year,” Babb said. “If they participate in various events throughout the year they earn points and work their way up to a letter award.”

    With one school year ending and seniors leaving the program it opens up positions for all the other interested students. New opportunities and experiences are presented to the students already in the program and the flow continues on.

     “We don’t want art programs to be pushed to the back burner, it needs to be kept in front and OHS does a great job at this and supporting the arts,” Babb said “It is so important for the future that kids become involved in the arts and stay involved.”

 

Ottumwa Courier Week 17

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Ottumwa Courier Week 16

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Ottumwa Courier Week 15

Iron Chef: Ottumwa High School

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United States Trampoline and Tumbling Association State Meet

    This weekend over a thousand athletes tumbled and bounced their way into the hearts of judges and a large audience during the United States Trampoline and Tumbling Association State Meet at the Bridge View Center.

    The Iowa USTA State Meet was hosted by Team Flip from Ottumwa and Iowa Falls T&T teams and brought 1,259 athletes from across the state to compete this weekend. Saturday and Sunday the athletes, ranging from ages two to twenty-six, competed in over 3,000 events as they fought for a place at the National Meet. This years National Competition will take place June 17th through 21st in Louisville, Kentucky. 

    The United States Trampoline and Tumbling Association was founded in 1971 by Larry Griswold and George Nissen (the founder of the trampoline). It stared with only 200 members that competed in tumbling, trampoline and the double-mini trampoline all of which were in one division. 

    Now the sport has grown exponentially and to accommodate this growth there are 15 divisions; nine for tumbling and six for double-mini and the trampoline. The USTA awards numerous scholarships to graduating seniors or to athletes that are still competing and continuing their education. 

    Ottumwas Team Flip had 20 athletes competing against 32 other teams from across the state. The meet has an event for every age group ad ranges from beginners to experts. 

    “Nobody has to sit out with this organization,” Vicky Wilson, the Iowa Falls T&T team advisor, said. “Everyone gets a chance to show their skills.”

Stormy Weather


Ottumwa Courier Week 14

Easter Features

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Ottumwa Courier Week 13

Brush Fire

    Friday afternoon a large brush fire broke out near the Ottumwa Water Pollution Control Facility on the east side of town. 

    Both the Wapello County Rural Fire Department and Ottumwa Fire Department were called to the scene of the fire. The vacant land boarders a small neighborhood and a wildlife refuge area, no injuries or property damage was reported. 

    The firefighters worked to contain the fire around the edges to keep it from spreading and then focused on putting out the blaze in the middle. 

    “I’m thinking the advance has stopped, but the interior is continuing to burn,” Cheif Bryan Ziegler said. “We will be here as long as it takes to make sure the area is stable.”

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Ottumwa Courier Week 12

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Ottumwa Courier Week 11

Bras for a Cause

     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

     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   

    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.”

 

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