Leisure Travel

Haak raises beetle cleaning crew (03/18/10)
Some people keep collections of preserved bugs as a hobby. Derek Haak, of Maurice, keeps live ones. Thousands of them. But the colonies of dermestid beetles Haak raises aren't just to look at. They've got a job -- a messy one. The beetles clean off animal skulls and bones so hunters like Haak can preserve them...

Kingsley is stop on RAGBRAI route (03/15/10)
The town of Kingsley is the first pass-through town on the 2010 RAGBRAI route in July. The full RAGBRAI route was released on Sunday in the Des Moines Register and at the website, www.ragbrai.com. According to the website, bicyclists will travel north on Floyd Boulevard to 46th Street Sioux City and then travel east on County Road D-12 in Woodbury County before turning north on Highway 140 into Kingsley...

Optimist Club impacts 25 years worth of children (03/12/10)
Twenty-five years ago this week, a group of locals came together to make a difference for youth. Since then, thousands of young people in Le Mars have been reached by the Le Mars Optimist Club. "We've made an impact," said Jerry Haack, founding president of the club. "Over the past 20-some years, we've touched every kid in this town in a positive way."...

Museum to preview all-school reunion (03/09/10)
"Decades of Excellence," a preview of the Le Mars Community High School All-School Reunion, will be 2 p.m. Sunday, March 14 at the Plymouth County Historical Museum. Carolyn Vance, director of the Le Mars Community School District's Alumni Association, will share details of the coming reunion. Some reminiscing by alumni is also planned...

City approves Historic Preservation grant match request (03/03/10)
Le Mars City Council members Tuesday agreed to give the local Historic Preservation Commission $10,000 throughout two years to help place portions of downtown Le Mars on the National Register of Historic Places. The money, which will be paid $5,000 per year in 2011 and 2012, will be the local match of a grant...

Auditions for 'The Hallelujah Girls' are next week (03/03/10)
Six women and two men are needed in the next Le Mars Community Theater's side-splitting comedy. Auditions for the "The Hallelujah Girls," are next week from 7-8:30 p.m. Monday, March 8 and Tuesday, March 9 at the Postal Playhouse. "The Hallelujah Girls" will run two weekends with a total of seven performances: Friday, April 23 through Sunday, April 25 and Thursday, April 29 through Sunday, May 2...

Never losing heart (03/02/10)
BiblePhyliss Masters' husband Philip was killed by a group of remote Indonesian tribesmen. Now she's returning to the same region for a celebration. The Le Mars woman and her husband had been living as Christian missionaries with another nearby tribe and working to record the group's spoken language for the first time in writing in the 1960s...

LCHS dance exhibition Friday (02/24/10)
Dozens of dancers will light up the floor in the Le Mars Community Schools Dance Exhibition Friday. The exhibition will be held at the Le Mars Community High School Gymnasium. The show will include performances of the LCS dance team's dances from this year, a co-ed dance with boys from the high school, solos performed at the state solo contest, and dances from four other teams...

County naturalist plans Black Hills youth backpacking trip (02/23/10)
Plymouth County's naturalist is planning an out-of-state backpacking trip for local youth this summer. This first-ever trip will give five students a chance to backpack with naturalist Victoria DeVos in the Black Hills, S.D., for five days in August...

Actor's ghost takes the stage in 'I Hate Hamlet' (02/18/10)
Hollywood actor John Barrymore was known as "one of the greatest" to play Hamlet in the 1920s. Barrymore's ghost will return Friday with the opening of the Le Mars Community Theater's production of "I Hate Hamlet." Actor Andy Linn, of Pierson, has taken on Barrymore's persona which he says is different than delivering lines in a more modern style...

Museum plans 'Spring Preview of Authors (02/16/10)
"Spring Preview of Authors" will put the spotlight on Kingsley during the Plymouth County Historical Museum's first 2010 program Sunday, Feb. 21. The book signing and program will begin at 2 p.m. in the museum's Music Room on the main floor. Doors to the museum will be open from 1-5 p.m...

Local jazz bands qualify for Iowa Jazz Championships (02/12/10)
Jazz bands at Le Mars Community High School and Gehlen Catholic High School qualified for the Iowa Jazz Championships April 13 in Des Moines. Both placed second in their respective classes at the NW Iowa District Jazz Competition in Sioux City Feb. 3. LCS will compete in Class 3A and Gehlen Catholic in Class 1A...

Wolf to reveal design elements through flower arranging course (02/11/10)
Dennis Wolf has been arranging flowers for over 30 years. As a master level judge for flower arrangements, he used his skills to examine the flower arrangements during the Plymouth County Fair last summer. Wolf's time spent at that fair made him realize there was a need for basic flower arrangement training...

Rewind time at 1960s bash (02/05/10)
Ready to turn back time to the day of hippies, the Beatles and psychedelic grooviness? It's time to bust out your bellbottoms and love beads, the 1960s are making a comeback in Le Mars. The Le Mars Area Chamber of Commerce is inviting you to spend an evening in the '60s at 6 p.m. Saturday, March 27 at the Willow Creek Golf Course banquet hall...

Hotel/motel tax dollars may boost fairgrounds, chalk festival (02/03/10)
Twelve local agencies and organizations and the city are likely to be the beneficiaries of $36,033 in local option Hotel/Motel Sales Tax dollars this year. The Le Mars City Council received the requests for annual allocations of the sales tax revenue from the Hotel/Motel Sales Tax Advisory Board at its Tuesday session...

New Honduran president good news for mission group (02/02/10)
Will the inauguration of new Honduran president Porfirio Lobo Sosa mean restoration of the country's international aid, and with that return funding to Mission Honduras Le Mars programs? That's what Richard Seivert, director of Mission Honduras Le Mars and Gehlen Catholic Mission Honduras, believes...

Are we sending bald eagles back to endangered list? (02/01/10)
Bald eagles are being attacked by an emerging predator. It's in the food they eat. Eagle protection agencies have been seeing eagles that are oddly sick, explained Plymouth County Naturalist Victoria De Vos. "They started testing the blood and they are finding out that they had very high levels of lead -- a neurotoxin," De Vos said. "It was basically paralyzing them in different ways."...

Got a hobby? 75 students present favorite activities (02/01/10)
What do Legos, hamsters and cake decorating all have in common? They are three of the many hobbies presented by 75 fourth graders at Kluckhohn Elementary School during their annual hobby fair. The hobby fair, now in its 13th year, is organized by Kelley Johnson, one of the fourth grade teachers who brought the idea to Kluckhohn. She has actually been doing the fair 17 years...

RAGBRAI to start in Sioux City (02/01/10)
It was close but no banana seat bike for Le Mars for the northwest Iowa overnight stop of RAGBRAI. Announced Saturday, the route of this year's Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa will kick off from Sioux City and run 442 miles with overnights in Storm Lake, Algona, Clear Lake, Charles City, Waterloo, Manchester and the final overnight in Dubuque...

Children take a look at eye exams (01/28/10)
A visit to the eye doctor was a fun and informative outing for children at Noah's Ark Preschool Wednesday. Optometrist Dr. Becky DeRuyter of Advanced Eye Health located at Wal-Mart in Le Mars gave the students a tour of the exam rooms and explained what happens when someone gets an eye exam...

Jetting off to Cancun? County passport numbers up (01/26/10)
Plymouth County residents have decided it's time for a vacation according to passport numbers at the Plymouth County Recorders office. From the Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, 2009, residents applied for 173 passport books, which is up from the 80 passport applied for between July 1 to Sept. 30...

Travel not advised on Highway 75, 60 north (01/25/10)
The Iowa Department of Transportation is reporting that travel conditions in northwest Iowa are extremely hazardous. Multiple roadways are being temporarily closed due to a high incidence of traffic crashes, including those involving high-profile vehicles...

County budget cutting begins with conservation, sheriff, fair (01/22/10)
The chopping has begun with the Plymouth County Supervisors starting cuts to make the 2011 budget work. Tuesday, the board agreed to trim back dollars from requests made by county conservation, the sheriff, the county fair, the county libraries and the county museums...

Adults play BINGO, win prizes for library reading challenge (01/21/10)
BINGO: that's the name of the game for the second annual Adult Winter Reading Challenge, which begins Monday, Jan. 25 at the Le Mars Public Library. The challenge, which ends on March 28, is open to ages 18 and older. "We wanted to provide a challenge for people during the winter; we wanted to have them do something they don't normally do," said Sue Kroesche, Director of the Le Mars Public Library...

Cross country skiers head to Le Mars' parks (01/20/10)
Temperatures in the teens, no sun and 24 inches of snow on the ground isn't the ideal setting for most. But for Curt Strathman and Barb Becker, both of Le Mars, those conditions add up to the perfect setting for cross country skiing. Cross country skiing is a winter sport in which participants propel themselves across snow-covered terrain using skis and poles...

Le Mars receives $5,000 advertising boost (01/15/10)
The City of Le Mars was awarded $5,000 for advertising the recreation trail, banquet facilities and the new nine holes of the Willow Creek Golf Course. The announcement came Thursday from the Vision Iowa Board, which awards $100,000 each year in Community Attraction and Tourism (CAT) dollars for marketing...

Supervisors consider fair, museum requests (01/15/10)
Plymouth County Historical Museum and county fair board officials presented their budget requests for 2010-11 to the board of supervisors Tuesday. Both officials kept their asking amounts the same as those requested for the current 2009-10 fiscal year...

Rewind 2009: The good, the bad and the blizzard (12/30/09)
Editor's note: This is the first of two stories recapping 2009's top stories in the Daily Sentinel. Mother Nature put a wet (or white) blanket on Plymouth County's Christmastime plans, nailing northwest Iowa with more than a foot of snow and winds that lowered visibility and drifted roads shut. ...

Chamber, Museum offer New Year's Eve entertainment (12/29/09)
Two New Year's Eve events will offer area residents an opportunity to ring in the new year and also raise money for comunity projects and the preservation of the area's history. New this year is the Le Mars Chamber of Commerce New Year's Eve Dance at the Le Mars Convention Center upper level...

Museum ball tickets now on sale (12/23/09)
Tickets are now on sale at Lally's East Side Restaurant in Le Mars for "New York! New York!," a New Year's Eve Ball sponsored annually in "Old Central" gym by the Plymouth County Historical Museum in Le Mars. Tickets also can be purchased at the museum during open hours, every day from 1-5 p.m. except Mondays. Tickets are available at the door on the night of the dance...

Storm brewing: Meteorologist discourages Christmas travel (12/22/09)
Travelers planning to leave Plymouth County this Christmas may likely be stuck. A major winter storm is expected to blow into northwest Iowa and surrounding areas Wednesday and continue through Christmas Eve (Thursday) and into Christmas Day (Friday)...

Le Mars man injured hunting deer in Taylor County (12/22/09)
A Le Mars man was injured while hunting deer in Taylor County Sunday when a shot missed its target. A piece of slug ricocheted, striking him in the upper chest area. Mathew Fedders, 41, was taken to Clarinda Regional Health Center, then transferred to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, where doctors were removing the slug fragment...

Try out for "I Hate Hamlet" comedy next week (12/21/09)
Auditions for the Le Mars Community Theater's production of "I Hate Hamlet" are next week. Tryouts are from 7-8:30 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 28 and 29 at the Postal Playhouse, 105 First St. N.E., Le Mars. Three women and three men are needed for the cast, and no preparation is needed prior to auditions...

Museum plans New Year's ball (12/10/09)
"New York! New York!" once again will be the theme for the New Year's Eve Ball at the Plymouth County Historical Museum Thursday, Dec. 31, in Le Mars. This year's ball is being billed as a family event. The evening will include a children's movie in the Music Room for those wishing to bring children or grandchildren...

Election may calm Honduras waters, allow more aid (12/07/09)
After more than four months of uncertainty, the people of Honduras elected a new president last week -- a move that will hopefully speed aid to the poor there, according to a Le Mars man with a close connection to the country. Richard Sievert, director of Mission Honduras Le Mars and teacher at Gehlen Catholic School, has been closely following the situation in Honduras, especially since June, when the country's president was deposed...

Six selected for 2009 Drake Honor Band (12/04/09)
Six Gehlen Catholic students are among the 200 musicians from Iowa and Nebraska who will perform this Saturday during the 2009 Drake Honor Band Festival in Des Moines. They include seniors, Sarah Jentz and Josh Schreiner; juniors, Christopher Eral and Matt Klein; freshman, Elisabeth Niebuhr; and foreign exchange student, Yerin Seo...

Museum to host 'Tree Skirts and Tea' (12/04/09)
After completing a record-breaking "Great Garage and Bake Sale," the Plymouth County Historical Museum is preparing for its annual holiday open house, "Tree Skirts and Tea," Sunday. The open house at the countywide museum in Le Mars will feature a program at 2 p.m. in the Music Room about historic Christmas tree skirts...

When life was simple: Fitzgerald recalls pony carts and hand-me-downs (12/03/09)
Editors Note: This story is the first in a weekly series looking back at life decades ago and remembering a time when people's lifestyle was very different than today. Was life simpler when $1 bought four gallons of gas or during the Great Depression when it cost less to use corn as fuel than sell it or when children played baseball instead of computer games?...

Winter day camp at Hillview (12/01/09)
A day camp for fourth through eighth graders will be hosted at Hillview Park in Hinton Dec. 30. Plymouth County Conservation is hosting the 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. camp, offering a range of activities including snowshoeing, cross country skiing, tracking, shelter building, ice fishing, Dutch oven cooking and more...

Preprints now available online (11/20/09)
In addition to finding local news, sports, a community calendar and hundreds of photos, visitors to www.lemarssentinel.com can now find coupons, inserts and other bargains. The Daily Sentinel is among a group of community newspaper companies from across the United States that have joined forces to launch Zip2Save.com, a national website that features online preprints, coupons, deals, travel specials and more. ...

$85,000 awarded for ECO Center (11/13/09)
An environmental learning and meeting center in Hillview Park is officially less than $7,500 away from being built. The Iowa Department of Economic Development awarded an $85,000 Community Attractions and Tourism (CAT) grant to the project Wednesday...

LCS actors draw from experience in 'I Remember Mama' (11/10/09)
The year is 1910. In the spotlight is a Norwegian immigrant family, just scraping by in America. But the Hansons are not your average family. Before the curtain falls on Le Mars Community School's fall play "I Remember Mama," the audience will get tangled in the family's wayward family tree...

Gehlen, LCS students selected for Opus Honor Choir Festival (11/09/09)
Students from Le Mars Community Schools and Gehlen Catholic School have been chosen to participate in the 23rd annual Opus Honor Choir Festival. Gehlen Catholic eighth grade student Sara Roder will make her fourth appearance in an Opus Honor Choir. She also received the high honor of being chosen as a solo finalist for the song, "Benedictus" in the 7th & 8th Grade Girls Honor Choir...

Play brings Helmers back to the stage (11/05/09)
Marilyn Helmers began acting in Le Mars Community Theatre productions 30 years ago. "In the early years there was hardly a play I wasn't in," said Helmers, who moved to Le Mars in 1959. That was before a medical condition sidelined her performances a few years ago...

LCS musicians selected for All-State Festival (11/03/09)
Thirteen Le Mars Community High School musicians have been chosen to be part of the 2009 Iowa All-State Music Festival with another five chosen as alternates. District auditions were held Oct. 24 at Storm Lake. Four students were selected for the All-State band...

Brig. Gen. Jack Nicholson awarded Silver Star for action in Vietnam (10/30/09)
Dec. 27, 1963 had already been a devastating day. Of the 240 men then-Capt. John "Jack" Nicholson was with, only 39 were able to walk away from an eight-hour battle with the Viet Cong. But for Nicholson, the night wasn't over. He would lead his men to save the lives of nine people...

Mission Honduras production to air on local TV (10/30/09)
A slideshow and video production of 2009 Mission Honduras trips will be airing on Cable Access Channel 12 on Sundays during November. The production is named "Gehlen Catholic Mission Honduras 2009: A Year In Review." Gehlen Catholic Mission Honduras will present the DVD productions of each of...

Faber's hobby wine earns high rank (10/28/09)
A Le Mars man's wine, made from grapes grown in his backyard and fermented in his basement, was picked champion in its class last weekend. Wayne Faber entered his dry red wine in the Schleswig Wine and Bier Contest last weekend, an annual event for Schleswig, 45 miles south of Cherokee...

Who's 'In the Moood for Fun?' (10/23/09)
What's the best part of the Halloween season? Trick-or-treating and having fun. Both are offered for elementary school-age children and their families from 6-8 p.m. Monday and 4-6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30, at the Ice Cream Capital of the World Visitor Center/Museum in Le Mars during "In the Moood for Fun!" which also includes brief museum tours...

Museum to host railroading program, ethnic food fair (10/19/09)
Railroading in Plymouth County and ethnic foods of the area will be the focus of a program Sunday at the Plymouth County Historical Museum. The Rev. Gary Landsness of St. John's Lutheran Church, ELCA, Le Mars, will present a program on railroading at 1:30 p.m. in the museum's Music Room on the main floor...

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