Jacob Bossman, a Chuck Grassley representative, came Wednesday, June 21 in the Heritage Room of the Ida Grove Public Library from 1:30-2:30 p.m. He represents Senator Grassley in 19 counties in NW Iowa, including Ida. Part of his job is to hold an annual open meeting, a traveling office hour, in each county to take opinions about the issues of the day and to help Iowans who are experiencing problems with a federal agency (IRS, VA, Social Security, immigration, etc.). Senator Grassley’s goal is to make sure the government is working the way it is supposed to.
A “Dogs and Brats for Democrats'' fundraiser was held June 20 at Yellow Smoke park shelter house In Denison. It was their kick off of the 2024 campaign to retake the Iowa Legislature. Democrats from five counties were represented- Audubon, Carroll, Crawford, Ida, and Shelby.
Ida County is second in the entire state for jobs in the latest figures released by Iowa Workforce Development. Iowa’s unemployment remained at 2.7 percent with the addition of 6,400 workers in the state.
That beat the national rate, which rose to 3.7 percent.
The Galva-Holstein Board of Education met on Wednesday, June 14, in the G-H Board Room. Board members in attendance were Grant Aschinger, Beth Schossow, Jamie Whitmer, Matthew Wittrock and Jeff Witzke, as well as Superintendent Adam Bisenius. Whitmer reviewed bills prior to the meeting, and the board approved the bills as presented.
The board members approved the resignations of Lisa Cronin, John Modrell, Steve Henkel, and Justin Kinney (from his track coaching position, pending a suitable replacement).
Trivista, an International dealership in Cherokee, sells and provides parts and service to a wide range of trucks and other vehicles, along with warranty repairs for International and Isuzu line of trucks. Willie Good, General Manager of O’Halloran International, and Abbi Agnitsch, Isuzu service manager and all makes Service Writer at the business, discussed the services offered at the location.
Holstein Kinderfest held a great out-of-this-world parade on Saturday, June 17. That was the theme for the parade as we saw rocket ships and astronauts riding on their floats. At the head of the parade, there was the presentation of the flags, where we even see a small child with his hand on his heart honoring the servicemen carrying the poles with the flags. At the end of the parade, the fire trucks sprayed out their water to delight the kids with a shower. I believe those kids followed the trucks on the route.
Barry Andersen, former Middle school Principal and Activity Director at the Early school, has now accepted the position of High School principal at Ridge View High School. Andersen is excited to serve,
“I am very honored to have the opportunity to servantly lead the students and staff at Ridge View High School. We have outstanding educators, who care about their students, and strive to provide the highest quality of education for all students. I am very excited to play a part in continuing the academic excellence at Ridge View High School.”
Freedom Quilts from Fonda, Iowa had a presentation of their quilts and what they do at The Ridge (Independent Living) in Holstein. Freedom Quilts is founded and organized by Betty Nielsen from Fonda. Making the quilts is all volunteer run. Volunteers help quilt and tie quilts.
Freedom Quilts Mission is this: Freedom Quilts Inc. is dedicated to the mission of comforting mourning families. With reverence and respect, we extend our support, our unified honor, and our heartfelt sympathies to the survivors of the fallen heroes.
Billy Fraser is not only the Holstein Fire Chief, he is the owner of a firefighter-themed restaurant called Backdraft Bar & Grill. Fraser has run the business for the past 10 years. He explained how he came to own Backdraft.
“It used to be Rubel’s Family BBQ,” he said. “I was bartending for Rubel’s part-time and he was thinking about selling the business. He approached me about it and I decided at that time to purchase it. I opened it in November of 2013.”
Fraser talked about what the restaurant, which employs around 14 people, has to offer.
Holstein Kinderfest has space-jammed activities going on for 4 days starting on June 15. Activities for Thursday, June 15 begins with Thirsty Thursday at CornerHaus 101 from 5-9 p.m. At 6 p.m. is a free meal at the State Theatre. Then at the NWI Premier Sand Courts is Adult Sand Volleyball at 6:30 p.m. If you go to the free meal at the State Theatre, you can stay and watch the Free Movie- ‘Space Jam.’
