This has been a busy week with next week being no better! School is winding down and many of their projects are finding a place before school closes. We have Meals on Wheels that we enjoy doing.
Graduation was on Sunday, May 22 with 38 graduating. This year there were two Salutatorians (Brayden Dirks and Ellie Hilbrands) and Ellie Reuter was the Valedictorian. Things have changed as far as some of their program in the gym was concerned. There were no Juniors leading the graduates in and they departed after the graduation the same way they came in. In the past, parents (or someone that was important in the graduate’s life) walked out with them. At that time they would give a flower to one of them walking out with them. Now they are giving the flower out in the middle of the program and someone has to hold it until the end. Not everyone was sitting in an aisle seat so some had to climb over people to give the flower. Change never hurt but sometimes it does take more time.
They were seated on the floor in front of the stage. It has been said that there isn’t room on the stage. (One class in the past had 50 on the stage!) Today there were 3 Board members, the Supt. and Principal on the stage.
The students that qualified for the national competition this summer for SkillsUSA were given permission to go to Georgia this summer to compete.
Friday there were two dogs that found freedom for a number of hours. The fence they were fenced in with_the strong wind blew open the gate and away they went. There were two people that got them back but the wind did it again. I see now where the gate has some kind of latch on it so hopefully it doesn’t happen again. A dog not on a lease can be a problem if it decides to help itself to someone’s leg. Actually it is not the dogs’ fault but the owners.
Nancy Hier passed away and has sure left some memories with me. Before her nephew came back, Steve and I would take her to Sanford Museum and even to the Orpheum Theater in Sioux City. She was thrilled to have her picture taken with the (now adult) that played a child in “To Kill a Mockingbird”. I can still see the look on her face when we came out of the Orpheum and saw our car was parked in a No Parking spot and we never got a ticket! We were in a hurry to get in line and actually didn’t see the No Parking line.
When we took her home, she would always say, “Just let me off at the gate.” It was a long walk to her back door and who knows who could have been waiting for her. We always stayed until she had the inside lights on. She will be missed by our town as she has done a lot for us.
Have you ever had a crock pot leave a mess even when the lid was still on it? I put a roast on at 2 a.m. Sunday morning. When I checked on it at 8 a.m., I found it had made a mess all over the counter top. It took some time to clean it up but there still was some liquid left in the crock pot. Next time I will not put anymore than a cup of liquid with the meat or else put it on LOW. This has never happened before and won’t again!
I see where Sioux City is quite concerned about the “homeless” taking up space in elevators in buildings. One man has said he has to climb over a person when he takes the elevator. Not only that but there is no bathroom in an elevator, but that doesn’t seem to bother the person/persons resting there! Apartment houses that have one door not locked have found people opening up this door and laying in hallways or on the stairs. (All the apartments are locked but this one outside door is left open for those who live in the apartments.)
There is a foundation of sorts in Sioux City that has put some of the homeless on a bus to wherever a relative or friend lives out of Sioux City. (I suppose anything to get them out of S. City is what this foundation is about.) There are people complaining about being harassed at corners by those who are asking for money for cigarettes or other things. There is one policeman that walks the whole day to move these people on instead of standing on a corner. Homeless people can be those who really don’t want to be or there are those that choose this way of live.
Remember in your thoughts and prayers those who have lost loved ones to death and their life has been changed because of this, for those who have health problems some of which are terminal, are trying to make ends meet even though they have a job, encourage those who are not working to find a job, and help those who are distant from friends or relatives to build a bridge rather than a wall.
I will leave you with this quote from Arnold Bennett (1867-1931) English novelist: “Your own mind is a sacred enclosure into which nothing harmful can enter except by your permission.”