Student Travel

Memorial will honor Lauters' lifetime love of museum (10/02/08)
Laura Lauters' passion for the Plymouth County Historical Museum lives on. Lauters, 101, died peacefully Tuesday, Sept. 30 at her grandson's home in Fremont, Neb. She will be remembered at an 11 a.m. memorial service Saturday at the the museum. "She used to be a cheerleader," said Judy Bowman, museum administrator. "That's what she was all the time for the museum."...

Pictorial history book of county in progress (09/29/08)
A pictorial history of Plymouth County may soon be a reality, thanks to the efforts of Seney area native Linda Zieman. Zieman made a commitment with Arcadia Publishing of Chicago earlier this year to put together a pictorial history of Plymouth County...

Museum gets new LOST money for chimney repairs (09/24/08)
The Plymouth County Supervisors agreed Tuesday Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) money already awarded cannot be redirected to help with chimney repairs at the museum. "We've got a policy issue with that," Supervisor Craig Anderson said. "Money that is not used (for a specific project) should go back into the LOST fund."...

Students use five senses on area farm tour (09/23/08)
They came by the busload. Students from area schools experienced fun on the farm last week during the annual Le Mars Area Chamber of Commerce Agricultural Tour. Children from Le Mars Community, Gehlen Catholic, Remsen-Union and Remsen St. Mary's had a chance to visit four farms to learn about agriculture in Plymouth County. The students were from the third or fourth grades, depending on which school they attend. They were divided into four groups that traveled from one farm to the next...

Vintage harvest: Dittmers' vineyard produces juicy crop (09/22/08)
With a juicy plop, a bunch of grapes falls into a heaping pail of the purple fruit. All around, people are talking, laughing, and clipping away at loaded branches of grape vines. It's Sunday and it's harvest time at Barry and Brenda Dittmers' vineyard in Hinton...

Supervisors to decide if LOST can be used for museum repairs (09/17/08)
The Plymouth County Historical Museum's chimney is crumbling. Judy Bowman, museum administrator, via letter asked the Plymouth County Supervisors' permission to use $1,000 of Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) money for the repairs. Museum board members originally asked for the $1,000, already awarded, to replace a shattered glass backboard in the museum's gymnasium...

Music festival uses hotel/motel tax grant to bring people to Le Mars (08/28/08)
A Hotel/Motel Sales Tax grant is paying off for Le Mars. More than $6,000 of the 5 percent sales tax revenue from hotel and motel rooms rented in town was given to a group advertising the 33rd annual National Old Time Country and Bluegrass Music Festival, held this year in Le Mars for the first time...

Gas prices only take small bite out of summer traffic (08/22/08)
By 10:30 a.m. a man from Charles City had already finished his breakfast: a vanilla cone at the Blue Bunny Ice Cream Parlor. Before 5 p.m. that same day, a woman from San Francisco, Calif. was posed outside to get her picture taken with the old fashioned milk truck...

American Indian art exhibit travels to Plymouth County (08/20/08)
Artist Robert Morris captures the faces of American Indians from across the country, something he began 10 years ago. "I want to paint one Indian from every tribe," Morris said. "I travel all summer and paint all winter." An exhibit featuring 16 of Morris' chalk paintings from his collection "The First Americans" opens at 1 p.m. Wednesday and runs through Friday at the Plymouth County Historical Museum. The museum is open 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. or in the morning by appointment...

Saturday country music show will benefit flood victims (08/19/08)
A benefit for flood victims at Cedar Rapids with old-time country music will fill the Plymouth County Historical Museum this Saturday, Aug. 23, and give a preview of music to be enjoyed at the 33rd Annual National Old-Time Country & Bluegrass Festival set for Aug. 25-31 in Le Mars...

Branching out: Hinton couple goes vintage with planned winery (07/31/08)
Tuscany. Napa Valley. Hinton? If Barry and Brenda Dittmer have their way, yes -- their sloping vineyard on a Plymouth County hillside will be not only an agricultural plot but a destination winery. An Iowa winery isn't as surprising as people think, Barry pointed out...

Dave Grosenheider is fair's 2008 Hall of Fame inductee (07/31/08)
The Plymouth County Fair's 2008 Hall of Fame award recipient wasn't listening as fair board president Terry Reuter began his presentation on the opening night of the fair. He soon perked up as Reuter mentioned KLEM in his talk. Dave Grosenheider, director of sales for Powell Broadcasting, was presented with the Hall of Fame award at Century Hall, preceding the royalty coronation which he was preparing to emcee. Radio station KLEM in Le Mars is a part of the Powell group...

Foster Park district officially on National Register of Historic Places (07/17/08)
A warm summer evening with music in the air provided the backdrop for the official announcement that Foster Park and the surrounding neighborhood is now officially recognized as an historic district by the National Register of Historic Places Wednesday night...

'One-stop' visitor bureau a possibility for Le Mars (07/07/08)
Some local brainstormers are suggesting the idea of a new convention and visitor bureau for Le Mars. Being billed as a "one-stop-shop" for tourism, lodging, recreation and convention information, the proposed bureau could be paid for with part of the Hotel/Motel Sales Tax revenue...

Museum holds annual flea market on July 4th (06/30/08)
July 4th activities at the Plymouth County Historical Museum will include antiques and food this Friday. The annual Fourth of July Flea Market will be held in the "Old Central" Gym from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with area antique dealers and vendors having a wide array of items for sale...

Flood damaged Iowa (06/19/08)
AMES, Iowa - June 18, 2008 - Ignoring or moving barricades and attempting to travel on closed roads can be extremely dangerous to motorists. The Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) is receiving reports of motorists moving road blocks to travel on highways that may...

Kidz Cabin opens (06/11/08)
A little cabin tucked on the top floor hallway of the Plymouth County Historical Museum will make its debut during Ice Cream Days. "Kidz Cabin" features a front porch, complete with clothesline and clothes pins, and a one-room living space, just the right size for children to play at being pioneers on the prairie...

Ice Cream Days' events offer treats for everyone (06/09/08)
Shine up your smiles and classic cars and get ready for Ice Cream Days. The fun starts Wednesday and concludes Saturday. Starting the adventure Wednesday, for its second year, is the Smile Contest and Ice Cream Social hosted by the Good Samaritan Society-Le Mars at 2 p.m...

American Legion Auxiliary announce winners of Poppy Poster Contest (05/21/08)
Sixth grade students at Gehlen Catholic School showed their support of veterans of all wars by participating in the American Legion Auxiliary's annual Poppy Poster contest. Poppy Week is usually observed as the week that ends on the Saturday before Memorial Day. However, Gehlen Catholic sixth graders learned about it earlier as part of a unit on good poster design in art class in preparation for the American Legion Auxiliary Poppy Poster Contest, under the direction of Beth Schlichte...

History to send students to Maryland (04/30/08)
Three Le Mars Community Middle School students and nine Akron-Westfield Middle School students are among the 25 Iowa students to earn a trip to the National History Day National Contest June 15-19 at the University of Maryland. They were among the 440 Iowa students in sixth through eighth grade competing in the National History Day Iowa Junior Division contest held Monday at the State Historical Building in Des Moines...

Vandals strike museum again (03/26/08)
Fire extinguisher spray was just the beginning of the damages discovered at the Plymouth County Historical Museum this week after an unknown person or group broke in. Museum administrator Judy Bowman said staff found a trail broken lightbulbs and a few smashed artifacts on Monday and Tuesday, including a model of the Plymouth County Fairgrounds, which had been made by a student out of popsicle sticks and later donated to the museum...