Miss and Little Miss Alvord have received their crowns and will represent their community in area parades this summer. The 2013 Miss Alvord is Mariah Schemmel, and Little Miss is Trinity Vander Schaaf. They shared information about their family, activities and favorites.

Mariah Schemmel

Mariah is the daughter of Bradley and Theora and has two dogs, Bailey and Katie.

As she enters her senior year at West Lyon, she has been involved in every school musical and spring play thus far. Additionally, she participates in individual speech, most recently receiving a “I” rating at district speech and a II at state for prose. She has been awarded Student of the Month and has been inducted into National Honor Society.

In the future, Mariah plans to attend Grand View University in Des Moines to major in biology, with plans to one day become a geneticist.

Her role model is her mom because, “My mom is my best friend. I tell her anything and everything that troubles me, and she always has a solution.”

If she had to put a motto on a T-shirt it would either read, “Be sure to hit the target, shoot first and claim whatever you hit to be the target.” Or “We never really grow up. We just learn how to act in public.”

The town of Alvord means a lot to her. She explained the memories she has there, combined with the kindness and friendliness of its residents, make it a great place to live. “Alvord means friendliness because everyone knows everyone and because we wave,” Mariah said. She added that the town is beautiful, and that a lot of work goes into keeping it that way.

Trinity Vander Schaaf

Trinity is the daughter of Lee and Janel Vander Schaaf and has one little brother, Preston.

Some of Trinity’s favorites are rainbow colors, eating pizza and watching “Haunted Mansion” and “Doc McStuffins.” Her favorite activities are riding her bike and going camping.

When she grows up she wants to be either a dentist or a doctor, and if she could go anywhere, she’d like to go to the zoo to see all of the animals.

Grillin’

for the Village

Last Thursday, Fellowship Village Auxiliary hosted the second annual Grillin’ for the Village to raise funds for a new addition.

The three-hour event kicked off at 5 p.m. with 15 stations serving samples of meat, vegetables or desserts. The stations were provided by volunteers from area businesses who donated their time, food and culinary skills to the event. Event goers were given a ticket for each food category and encouraged to vote for their favorite meat, veggie and dessert dish at the end.

The winning businesses were, Inwood Hatchery for its grilled bacon-wrapped pork loin, “Vegan Killers.” Caswell Plumbing and Heating won the vegetable category for its Calico Baked Beans, and Sew ‘n More, Shirley Kollis and Kathy Halma, won the sweets round with their cream puffs and lemon bars. The winners received cutlery tailored to their food genre.

There was an additional competition for the most creative booth decorations that went to Oak Street Station for coordinating an Hawaiian theme with their Hawaiian pork. They received a denim apron donated by Lavonne Reinke and embroidered by E Threads of Larchwood.

Approximately 320 people attended and around $3,600 was raised through free will donations. Those proceeds will go to the newly-formed Fellowship Village Capital Campaign called “Making Privacy a Priority.” The goal of the campaign is to fundraise money for the expansion of Fellowship Village. The expansion will add nine private rooms and one hospice suite, as well as make other building improvements. The groundbreaking for the new addition could be as early as this fall.

Monday evening, June 10, members of the Lyon County Conservation Board the Lyon County Board of Supervisors were given a tour of projects completed or proposed at Lake Pahoja and Klondike. Conservation director, Craig Van Otterloo; operations supervisor, Kyle Ciesielski, and park ranger, Justin Smith, provided information about the new maintenance shed at Lake Pahoja as people toured the facility. Double the size of the old shed, the extra room provides offices, a woodworking area, overhead storage area, several storage rooms for better organization of equipment and a large shop, with easy access to tool boards for use as garage facility and an area to do maintenance work on equipment and vehicles.

The group also took a riding tour along the trail circling the lake while Van Otterloo pointed recent changes such as several jetties for people to walk out on for fishing, etc., completion of a new boat ramp and preparation of a site for two new large cabins in the area south of the parking lot. He also talked about plans for cabins, etc, in the area where the conservation board purchased more land.

Later, the tour moved to Klondike to see the flow of the Big Sioux River following completion of rock arch rapids. Van Otterloo also noted the new path leading to an area along the river which will be improved for use as a picnic area and an area further upstream where a canoe launching and landing site will be constructed.

•Erickson was proud to have worked on several innovative teaching

projects during her 37

years of teaching

Tom Merchant

Sentinel Tribune

WWG — Marcia Erickson brought her rural common sense teaching approach to various elementary classrooms during her 37 year teaching career.

Erickson is a South Dakota transplant, being raised most of her growing up years at Watertown. In her senior year in high school she and her family moved to Clark S.D. where she graduated from high school.

She started college in 1968 at Northern State College in Aberdeen S.D. but after attending there for a year her dad took a teaching job at Canby Vo Tech. Then she moved to Redfield S.D. where she worked at the State Hospital until the spring of 1973.

She, and her son Steve, then moved back to Canby and she enrolled in Southwest State University at Marshall, for the fall semester. In 1976 she graduated from Southwest State with a Bachelors Degree in Elementary Education 1-6.

Her first teaching job was at Melrose, MN where she taught Title I for two years. In 1978 her dad suffered a heart attack, so she looked for a job closer to home.

She interviewed for a Title I position at Westbrook that same year. After interviewing with Dr. Quincey, and Gerald Goehring, she was hired to teach Title I for a year.

The next year she was assigned to teach fourth grade when Betty Knudson retired. A year later she and her husband, Stan Erickson, were married. They have two grown children, Steve and Derrick and two grandchildren.

Besides her teaching fourth grade, Erickson also taught combination rooms for several years. Then she taught fifth grade until 1990. When Westbrook and Walnut Grove formed a cooperative school she moved back to fourth grade and continued there until 2006. When the elementary school was moved completely to Walnut Grove and the junior high was moved to Westbrook, she continued to teach fourth grade at Walnut Grove.

The biggest change Erickson has had to face was the State Graduation Standards and Testing. “It makes our job much more difficult because not all kids learn at the same rate. The maturity varies a great deal at that age level,” she said.

She noted, everything is aligned with the standards, “It takes a lot of spontaneity out of teaching.”

“Today the focus is purely academic — children are so much more than academics,” Erickson said. “We are asked to teach abstract ideas when they learn basic concrete aspects.”

Erickson feels sometimes the technology is going faster than one can learn. However she thinks the capability of it is fantastic — when it is working. “It is great! — I can throw up an image on the smart board — visually you can do so many things, but it is only as good as the user — the smart board won’t do anything unless I tell it,” She said.

Erickson noted the economic status of parents has changed. “You have to be aware and empathetic to the child’s needs —you have to care about the child’s well being,” Erickson said.

Erickson recalled some of her fondest memories. Running the fourth grade pet show at Westbrook was something high on her list. Her fourth grade Christmas parties were another thing she really enjoyed.

Riders travel 311 miles to raise awareness and funds for organ and tissue donation

By Lindsie DeFrang

Editor

Around 2:30 PM, Monday, June 3, 24 horses and their riders made their way into Finley on a charity ride promoting organ and tissue donation awareness. Riders and horses set up camp in the new campground. The hockey rink was used as a corral for the horses.

The two-week first annual Trails4Transplants ride began May 31, in Warren, MN and will travel west to St. Anthony, ND by June 13 for a total of 311 miles.

Trails4Transplants co-chairman’s Roger Hille and Ashley Peterson, both of Warren, and a few other riders have plans to ride the entire 311 miles. And some riders join in for just a stretch at a time.

Ann Labelle and Sue Locking of Farmington, MN traveled almost six hours to get to the starting point in Warren.

They are riding for Ann’s grandniece, Natalie Jean, who is in need of a heart transplant.

The celebrity rider with them for a few days was 2013 Miss South Dakota Rodeo Queen, Kristina Maddox of Bel Fourche, SD and her mother Pam, of Hecla, SD.

Joining the riders for a 20-mile ride was the Holkesvig family of Portland. Justin, 13 and his father Jason rode their horses while his mother, Wendy drove the pickup with the horse trailer.

Justin was so excited to be a part of the ride; he ended up raising $200.

“As we rode along, I just kept thinking, I know this person who’s had a transplant, I know this person and this person,” said Jason.

After arriving to Finley, the Holkesvig’s had a bite to eat then loaded up their horses and turned in their donations received.

“It was an honor to ride next to you young man,” said Roger. “And it was an honor to ride next to you as well sir,” replied Justin.

“It’s hard for some people to get two weeks off of work so we invite anyone who wants to join the ride for only $1 per mile. All proceeds raised will be given to the Gift of Life Transplant House in Rochester to help offset the costs for those waiting for transplants,” said Ashley.

Her brother, Blake Johnson died of a head injury from an automobile accident at the age of 19.

“Blake was a registered organ donor and a generous giver, he was the 19^th organ donor from North Dakota that year. Blake’s gift of his heart, liver, kidney and pancreas saved four lives,” smiled Ashley.

According to statistics on www.donatelife.net, every ten minutes a name is added to the national organ transplant waiting list and an average of 18 people die each day from the lack of available organs for transplant.

“Over 100,000 people are already waiting for a transplant and there’s millions of people that aren’t donors. It just doesn’t make sense to me. Doesn’t cost you anything to donate and you help save a life,” said Roger.

Roger’s son-in-law Dave received a liver transplant 12 years ago and stayed at the Gift of Life House when he was 26 years old. Since then Dave married Roger’s daughter and gave him two grandchildren.

“Without someone donating the gift the life, I wouldn’t have my grandchildren,” Roger added.

By day four of the ride, those riding had already put 100 miles behind them, and met many people along the way.

“It’s been somewhere between excellent and wonderful so far. We had some wet days to start and a few wet days ahead but it’s been great. There will be challenges along the trail but it couldn’t be any better than it is now,” Roger said as he watched his horses graze in the hockey rink.

“In other communities as well as Finley we have received so much support. We just want to let everyone know that it means a lot to us,” he added.

You can also follow the event and visit Trails4Transplants at www.facebook.com/trails4transplants.

McCARTY MOTORS: “The Place to Go” for automotive service and repair. Brakes, A/C, tune-ups, engine and transmission repair and replacement. 712-472-3257.

UTILIZE MY SKILLS before major DESTRUCTION, contact Darren @ AAdvance Transmission for all car care needs. 712-477-2294.

Farm Equipment

NEW & USED FEED MIXERS; scale repair, liners, augers, flighting, bearings, chain, etc. www.postequip.com. Post Equipment, Rock Valley, IA, 712-476-4500.

For Sale

For Sale: Quarters and halves of home-raised beef. Call 507-967-2380.

Livestock

BULLS for sale: Low birth weight purebred Angus bulls. Reasonably priced. 507-227-6827.

Real Estate

For Sale: Rock Rapids, 3019 140th St.: 3BR, 1 bath, 1601 sq. ft., large lot, attached garage. Lease option or cash discount. $500 down, $391 per month. 877-519-0180.

BEAUTIFUL BLACK HILLS! For Sale: modern Black Hills cabin on 1+ acres, 1.3 miles from Highway 385, 9 miles to Deadwood. Fully furnished and move-in ready. See @ bhmls.com, mls 113222 or call Linda Rausch of The Real Estate Group at 605-391-2136.

Services

TOWN & COUNTRY Disposal: Commercial, Residential and Rural trash pick up, and dumpster rentals. www.tandcdisposal.com, or call 712-472-2493.

DENNY’S SANITATION for all your disposal needs! Commercial, residential, farm pickup, roll-off service, dumpster rentals, and now portable toilet service. Call 712-472-2293.

McCARTY MOTORS: “The Place to Go” for used vehicles. Outdoor power equipment: sales, parts, service, engines. Country Clipper, Snapper mowers. 712-472-3257.

Wanted

SCRAP IRON, VEHICLES, ETC., WANTED: $170/ton; scale, unloading services, on-site cleanup, roll-off dumpsters available. Post Metal Recycling, Rock Valley, IA, 712-476-4500.

Windows

For Sale: Custom-built windows for homes, offices and apartments. We install. Call Therm-O-Loc Windows now for free in-home demonstration and estimate. 507-295-2525.

Work Wanted

CUSTOM LARGE SQUARE BALING. Alfalfa, grass & straw. No job too far. David Kramer 507-967-2140 or 507-360-9963.

Help Wanted

COORDINATOR OF RESIDENCE LIFE AND STUDENT ACTIVITIES: Individual must live in on-campus student housing. Associate of Arts/Science degree and knowledge of current software applications required. Applications accepted until position is filled. For more details go to www.nwicc.edu. Click on “Alumni & Community” and then “NCC Job Postings”. Or, contact Human Resources Office, Northwest Iowa Community College, Sheldon, Iowa 712-324-5061. AAEOE.

MATH INSTRUCTOR: Full-time teaching position (nine months). Master’s degree appropriate to field of instruction and basic computer skills required. Applications accepted until position is filled, with review of applications to begin immediately. For more details go to www.nwicc.edu. Click on “Alumni & Community” and then “NCC Job Postings.” Or, contact Human Resources Office, Northwest Iowa Community College, Sheldon, Iowa, 712-324-5061. AAEOE.

DRIVERS–AMHOF TRUCKING INC. NOW HIRING OTR DRIVERS! Family-owned and operated since 1975, hauling freight for the most successful shippers in the country. Experienced drivers average $.45 CPM (loaded & empty). Accessorial pay, consistent miles, safety bonus, paid vacation, home every week, no Hazmat, excellent benefits. CDL-A and 23+ y.o. reqd. Apply online at www.amhof.com or call us at 800-362-3137, ext. 5.

Bloomfield, Iowa Main Street seeks full-time Program Director. Some evening and state meetings. Good organizational and communication skills. Prefer prior economic development experience. Email info@bloomfieldmainstreet.com for job description. Resumes due June 15. (INCN)

Work Hard Play Hard!! Hiring 10 sharp girls and guys. Must be 18+ to apply. Lodging and transportation provided. 45 days paid training. For interview call 800-949-1038 (INCN)

Underground Construction company is seeking foreman, operators, pipe layers and general laborers in the Carroll, IA area. Experience in underground utilities a plus. Fill out an application online at www.k2construction.biz (INCN)

$6000 Sign On Bonus for new lease purchase drivers at Hirschbach Motor Lines. Midwest Regional and OTR positions available. New trucks. Great miles. 888-514-6005 drive4hml.com (INCN)

Company Drivers Wanted: GOOD STEADY FREIGHT, EXCELLENT HOME TIME, CONSISTANT MILES, NO TOUCH VAN FREIGHT, Contact: Oberg Freight Co Fort Dodge, IA 515-955-3592 ext. 2 www.obergfreight.com (INCN)

Take your career to the next level- with RDTC you can earn your CDL-A and start a rewarding driving career! Call Kim- 800-535-8420 GoRoehl.com AA/EOE (INCN)

“Partners in Excellence” OTR Drivers APU Equipped Pre-Pass EZ-pass passenger policy. 2012 & Newer equipment. 100% NO touch. Butler Transport 1-800-528-7825 (INCN)

Drivers: Training, Class A-CDL. Train and work for us! Professional and focused training for your Class A-CDL. You choose between Company Driver, Owner Operator, Lease Operator or Lease Trainer. (877)369-7895 www.centraltruckdrivingjobs.com (INCN)

SEMI-DRIVER WANTED: Company driver with 3 years Experience hauling livestock. CDL, Good Driving Record, Drug Testing Required. 563-380-7852 Dale or 563-380-4535 Kevin. (INCN)

Miscellaneous

This classified spot for sale. Advertise your product or recruit an applicant in over 250 Iowa newspapers! Only $300/week. Call this paper or 800-227-7636 www.cnaads.com (INCN)

SAWMILLS from only $3997.00- MAKE & SAVE MONEY with your own bandmill-Cut lumber any dimension. In stock ready to ship. FREE Info/DVD: www.NorwoodSawmills.com 1-800-578-1363 Ext. 300N (INCN)

Recently, Parker became part of something that 67 other South Dakota communities are committed too also being a part of.

A newly formed savings account for Parker has been set up through the public, non profit charity, the South Dakota Community Foundation.

The charity gives out gifts in South Dakota, to all 66 counties. All of the money is raised locally and then is invested with other endowed funds. A portion of the fund’s value is then given back to the community.

The South Dakota Community Foundation administers the funds and the assets and the local board is in charge of fundraising.

The Parker Foundation is made up of a group of Parker citizens and business owners who believe in the long-term sustain ability of Parker.

Board member Jim Jones explained that in the 1950s, a foundation was set up to attract a doctor to move to Parker.

“After Pioneer Memorial began to provide services in Parker, the funds were transferred to the foundation.”

He continued, “The foundation dissolved but the money stayed in an account. Now the money will be rolled over into the foundation.”

Members of the foundation will ask former alumni and others to donate to this fund to be able to give back to Parker.

Buddy Seiner, CSA Coordinator said, “This is a long term asset and a year from now can be making an impact to the community. A percentage of the funds will be given back annually.

The Parker Foundation will then be able to give the money to an organization that applies to the foundation.

“Whether it is senior citizens, or 4-H, or Little League or any other non profit organization or charity cause,” said Jones.

“We will never lose this asset. It should continue to grow,” Jones continued.

Seiner explained that in other communities, such as Wall, their program has given back $350,000 to the community.

“It has taken that much in, yet their account is worth over $450,000 right now. And I think Parker could aspire to be like Wall,” said Seiner.

“A large impact could be made with an endowment fund regardless of its size,” he continued.

Seiner explained that the giving options are very easy for anyone looking to give to the local foundation. From cash to checks to land, commodities, insurance benefits, estate, stocks and bonds, the state foundation will work with the donor.

The Parker Area Community Foundation is a 501C3 non-profit and all contributions are tax deductible.

Any contributions can be sent to PO Box 727, Parker, SD 57053.

Anyone with questions can contact the board themselves, Mark or Jim Kasten, John Chicoine, Ken Hofmeister, Lavonne Meyer or Jim Jones.

New Century Press is excited to introduce Jocelyn Hommes as summer intern. Hommes, the daughter of JD and Lesa Hommes of Rock Rapids, is a 2013 graduate of Central Lyon. She has two older brothers, John and Jason. Her family also includes her dog and two cats. Hommes will be attending Drake University this fall for a major in English. At Central Lyon, she was involved in football and basketball cheerleading, band, large group speech, mock trial, and National Honor Society. She also works at Pizza Ranch and is a member of First Reformed Church.

Hommes considers herself an ardent fan of literature, especially of the “Harry Potter” series. Other favorites include “Catcher in the Rye” and John Green novels. She also enjoys listening to music and watching movies and is huge fan of the Minnesota Twins and the San Francisco Giants.

“I’m very excited for the opportunity to intern at New Century Press. I look forward to the summer and the potential it holds,” Hommes commented.

To contact Hommes with a story idea, email jhommes@ncppub.com.

This year’s summer reading program at the Hull Library starts next week! The theme is ‘Dig in to Reading,’ and the program will be a total of six weeks long.

The program is designed for children exiting kindergarten through sixth grade, but there is a separate program for preschool-aged children. In the main program, kids can choose any books that they want to read. The children track how much they’ve read by time. Once they’re done reading the book, they can go in and talk about what happened in the book and receive their prizes.

The prizes given out to the children have been donated by many local businesses in and surrounding Hull. The prizes can be anything from cookies to toys. Each age group of children has a different set of prizes, and receiving them is based off the hours spent reading. For example, a kindergartener’s goal for the program is to read a total of 8 hours and a 5th or 6th grader’s goal is to read a total of 18 hours. If a child reads double the hours, they get a free book at the end of the summer.

The preschool program is a bit different from the main program. To keep the preschoolers learning over the summer months, they play a type of bingo to get prizes.

The summer reading program is based on trying to keep kids reading between school years. “It’s important that the kids don’t lose all the skills they’ve learned over the year. The program tries to keep reading fun,” explained Abbie Kreun, director of the program.

‘Dig in to Reading’ goes until Wednesday, July 17. The last day to report to the library with your reading hours is Monday, July 15.

The Hull pool has been rented out for the evening of July 17 for the end of the program party. All participants in the program are welcome to come.