By Elaine Rassel
Has your stomach adjusted to the “fall back” hour yet? Arizona and Hawaii do not change their clocks. I wish Iowa would do the same!
The elections for this odd-year are over. Nationwide, there were some surprises and in some of our area communities, write-in’s will be decided later as to who was the winner of an office.
In the Marcus election. City Pat Bunt received 256 votes for Mayor. Councilpersons: Steve Schmillen received 228; Conrad Ebert received 250 votes and Robin Jenness received 255 votes. There were several write-in’s that were not given. Those elected will begin in January of 2020.
MMCRU School Board (Marcus) had Luke Olson getting 298 votes and Belinda Leavitt receiving 309 votes. There were several write-in’s that were not given.
MMCRU School Board (Remsen) for 3 Board members were: 199 votes for Talon Penning; 167 for Loutsch, 153 for Eric Harpenau; and 119 for Chad Poeckes.
The School Board members (Marcus and Remsen) will be sworn in at their next meeting, Nov. 15.
In Cleghorn, Jennifer Huff (35 votes) and Tim Dilocker (34 votes) for City Council. Larrabee, Mayor Dan James was unopposed (16 votes) and three City Council posts, Dustin Richardson (14 votes); Isaac Cruz and Janice Robinson (both receiving 12 votes) and Jamie Fassler (7 votes).
Meriden, no candidates filed for Mayor or three Council posts. There were 20 write-in votes for Mayor and 51 for the Council seats. Quimby, no candidate for Mayor but 21 write-in votes and three City Council seats with Nicole Goettsch (45 votes); Dylan Dalton (42 votes), Don Fiser (37 votes), and Erin Rydgren (5 votes). Washta Mayor was unopposed (27 of 28 votes cast); one City Council seat, Jennifer Conner (25 votes); Lawrence Patterson (24 votes) and April Joy (15 votes). Supervisors have to decide the final outcomes for write-ins.
I finally found out that the Veterans’ Day program is going to be at Remsen this year. I do not know who the speaker will be. I understand there will be coffee and rolls served to the Veterans in the Remsen-Union School cafeteria before the 10 o’clock program that will be in the gym on November 11.
I see where Jim and Lorraine Thomson from Cleghorn will be celebrating their 70th Wedding Anniversary. Congratulations to them and may they have many more years together.
Unlike the Thomson’s, who have 70 years of happiness, Huma Abedin and husband, Anthony Weiner were just the opposite. She is writing a book (“Both/And: A Life in Many Worlds”), a memoir of her married life with New York Congressman who resigned to launched a mayoral bid, that ended with a scandal. Huma Abedin was Hillary Clinton’s aide for 25 years (that was the good side of her life) but her husband Anthony Weiner, brought her endless shame with his cascades of scandal; of which she writes about. When asked why she didn’t leave him, she replied that when a person is in this situation, they don’t think about a plan, but just how to get through the day.
I received a letter “22 signs that solidify the fact you’re an Iowan” from Sandra telling about Iowa weather. 1. It’s 80 degrees one day and snowing the next day; 2. You can do a 360 and all you see are corn fields; 3. Your family vacation is driving 2 hours to go shopping for the day. 4. You live within a 30 mile radius of a Pizza Ranch. 5. There’s occasionally a tractor parked in your school parking lot. 6. People are super polite in public. 7. You’re convinced you don’t have an accent. 8. Detasseling was your first job. 9. The selection of radio stations doesn’t go into double digits. 10. Sweet corn is sold on every street corner in town during the summer. 11. Traffic jams are caused by tractors. 12. Your measure distances in time. 13. You listen to country music in the summer regardless if you actually like it. 14. Driving at night means your car gets a new paint job due to bug juice! 15. At least one of your teachers is a family friend. 16. You have a random collection of baseball caps related to agriculture. 17. You go outside to see if the weather is actually “that bad” when a storm warning is issued. 18. Walking anywhere is almost impossible some days due to the wind. 19. You go outside in shorts and a t-shirt in the spring when it’s only 50 degrees. 20. Your skin develops a permanent layer of dirt in the summer. 21. Your whole town relocates for a day when your school is competing for a state title (that’s true!). 22. Any drive longer than 2 hours is considered “the most boring drive ever.” That is how you know you are from Iowa!
Then there was an article about “Weird weather, but bumper crops” published telling all about the Iowa weather even though the country could be headed for record corn yields, despite uneven weather throughout the year, say state agriculture and climate experts. Iowa corn is forecast at 2.5 billion bushels, averaging 201 bushels an acre, which is an increase of 24 bushels per acre over last year.
Nationwide, the largest production is forecast, more than ever before. Soybeans in Iowa are forecast at 611 million bushels at an average of 61 bushels per acre, up 7 bushels per acre from last year. These bumper crops are despite a severs drought throughout most of Iowa and then persistent rains leading to one of the wettest Octobers on record. Iowa weather has been described as a roller coaster situation.
Education wise_how about Leocadia Mbukilo Kayandakamo, the girl mentored by Siouxland Tanzania Educational Medical Ministries, or STEMM, who graduated from high school with the top academic score in the entire East African country! STEMM, an interdenominational christian ministry, offers medical, educational, spiritual and humanitarian assistance to children in need. It was founded in 1996 and organized in 1997 by Dr. Steve Meyer, the Rev. Jon Gerdts, Mike Boose and Lazaro Nyalandu, who led a group of 10 Siouxland residents on the first trip to Tanzania in 1997.
STEMM provides each child up to $500 to cover the costs of transportation to and from school, school uniforms, test fees, etc. For the last 25 years, STEMM has been sponsoring Tanzanian children throughout their high school and university studies. Meyer, a Dakota Dunes-based orthopedic surgeon, and his team have made several trips to Tanzania, offering ongoing assistance to the children of the African country. This ministry has trained Tanzanian doctors, built roads and orphanages. STEMM feeds 5,000 children daily at school. Leocadia will attend the University of Dar es Salaam and study law. She wants to be a lawyer so she can help her community and young girls of Tanzania achieve their dream.
Don’t forget to come to the Marcus Public Library on November 18 (Thursday) at 6:00 p.m. where the the poet, Tom Montag will be doing his readings of poetry. The next day he will be at the Plymouth County Historical Museum gymnasium for a writing workshop on poetry, memoir, and non-fiction (1:00-2:30 p.m.) with registration required and poetry reading at 7:00 p. m. This is all FREE!