Stories from Thursday, October 23, 2014

It's time for the annual Fall Harvest at Gary's Gardens. Located one block south of St. Luke's Lutheran Home in Spencer, this yearly public event is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Follow the pumpkin signs to Gary Holck's freewill donation event with all proceeds going to Upper Des Moines Food Bank of Clay County and mission projects of the Ruthven United Methodist Church. (File photo)

Dogs, cats, hamsters, bunnies -- all pets are invited to participate in the 15th annual Pet Costume Show at the Southpark Mall beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday. Owners are encouraged to dress in costume with their pet. Contests for the best trick and best costume will be awarded with all proceeds from the event donated to People For Pets of Spencer. The show, co-sponsored by Southpark Mall and Heartland Kennels, will be conducted at the east end of the mall. There is a $3 fee per participating animal. Pets are to be brought in through the northeast mall doors only. Registration begins at 12:15 p.m. (File photo)

The Spencer Jaycees will host one of its biggest fundraisers of the year when it opens the doors on its Haunted House "Nightmare at the Fair" tonight. Hours for the frightening fundraiser are 8 p.m. to midnight tonight and Saturday, as well as Friday, Oct. 31 and Saturday, Nov. 1. A special $1 discount night will run from 7-10 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30...

For the past 22 years, Cindy's Steak House has been Cindy Evans "home away from home." Saturday, Evans will say goodbye and turn over the restaurant to its new owners, John Means and Jen Jones According to Evans, now was the right time for her to decide to retire from the restaurant business...

The Spencer Public Library was one of 30 locations across Iowa to offer a free Elder Law seminar for older Iowans on Thursday. The seminar was conducted statewide via the Iowa Communication Network and also available as a webinar. Paige Thorson, attorney at law and legal services developer with the Iowa Department on Aging, informed Iowans about Iowa's new Elder Abuse Law and Uniform Power of Attorney Law...

For most dentists, specifically for those who treat children, candy in excess is a big no-no. This Halloween, Schmidt Pediatric Dentistry is willing to put its money where its clients' mouths are. The Spencer-based dentist is offering children $1 per pound of candy they drop off at the office between 3-5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7. A maximum of $5 per child will be paid out and all participants must be accompanied by a parent...

Plays a key role in monitoring the state's finances and is seen as its banker. The state treasurer helps combine state funds for banking and investment purposes, and helps monitor two pension funds. Age: 62 Political party: Democrat Residence: Waukee...

Steve J. "Bubbles" Boever, 64 of Hartley, Iowa, formerly of Marcus, Iowa, passed away on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014 at Sanford Health in Sioux Falls, South Dakota following a brief illness. Funeral services will take place at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014 at the Earnest-Johnson Funeral Home in Marcus. Burial will follow at Marcus Amherst Cemetery...

The Iowa Lakes Cross Country teams will host the ICCAC Region XI Championship on Friday, Oct. 24 on the Emmetsburg Campus of Iowa Lakes Community College. The women's race is a 5k at 3 p.m. with the men running an 8k starting at 3:45 p.m. There will be an awards banquet at 5:30 p.m. to celebrate the All-Conference Teams...

Iowa Lakes Community College head men's basketball coach Troy Larson has announced the 2014-2015 schedule. The schedule includes five games against NJCAA Division One opponents and 12 ICCAC opponents. The Lakers are scheduled to play 18 home games and will open the season Monday, Nov. ...

Iowa Lakes Community College head women's basketball coach Nicole Bullock has announced the 2014-2015 schedule. The Lakers are scheduled to play 14 home games and will open the season Monday, Nov. 3, against Northwestern College JV starting at 5:30 p.m. The team will then play in the Northeast Community College Classic on Nov. 7 and 8 against North Platte Community College and Northeast Community College...

Living Word Outreach will host Apostle Mike Keyes who will be speaking at 9:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 9 at the church, located at 905 10th Ave. SE in Spencer. Graduating from RHEMA Bible Training Center in 1980, Keyes has been a missionary to the Philippines for more than 30 years. ...

Rev. Bob and Dee Vaage will be sharing a presentation of their recent trip to Norway with their family on Sunday, Nov. 2. They will share their journey to Oslo, Bergen and the island of Vågsøy in the Nordfjord area. During their stay they visited their foreign exchange student and many Våge relatives. They will celebrate their heritage and provide some information on how to become an amateur genealogist. The program will start at 5 p.m. in the church's education wing with a light Scandinavian lunch to follow.

On Saturday, Oct. 25, Christ the King Lutheran Church in Spencer will host the fifth annual Spencer Theological Conference. This year's presenter is Dr. John Oberdeck, M.S., M.Div., Ph.D. Oberdeck is professor of theology, director for lay ministry, and coordinator for lay studies at Concordia University Wisconsin...

ROCK VALLEY -- Hope Haven Incorporated of Rock Valley is growing. Echo Plus, with locations in Spirit Lake and Estherville, is joining the Hope Haven family of facilities that has been providing work, housing and support services for 50 years to people with physical and mental disabilities in Iowa and western Minnesota...

Funeral service for Barbara Pierson, 81, of Okoboji, formerly of Spencer, will be conducted at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 24, 2014 at First Lutheran Church in West Okoboji. Rev. Bob Vaage will officiate the service. Burial will be at Riverside Cemetery in Spencer...

Funeral services for Vivian Smith, 84, of Spencer, formerly of Spirit Lake, will be conducted at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 24, 2014 at Warner Chapel in Spencer. Rev. Norman Erickson will officiate the service. Burial will be conducted at North Lawn Memorial Park in Spencer...

The U.S. is supposed to be the leader in global innovation. That is why the FBI says that there is an onslaught of Chinese hackers probing servers of U.S. companies every day to search for intellectual property that they can steal. FBI Director James Comey say that there are U.S. ...

Lately, fairy tales have begun to fascinate me in the way they hadn't previously. Maybe it's all of the "Once Upon a Time" I've been watching recently, but I'm finding something magical in these tales (and I mean this with absolutely no pun intended)...

As a member of a tank crew in World War II Germany, your life expectancy wasn't the greatest. Apparently the German's had superior tanks in battle as well as anti-tank weaponry. The tank team of "Fury" defied the odds. Set during the final days of the battle in the European Theater, April 1945, the crew lead by Don "Wardaddy" Collier (Brad Pitt) are legendary in terms of their ability to make a stand and remain alive. ...

The Rockets handed CC-E a 62-8 defeat in week six a year ago in Remsen. The Mavs struggled to do much of anything on offense, gaining just 113 yards of total offense. They're lone touchdown came on a punt return from now-graduated Tony Treirweiler. R-U quarterback Nick Schroeder went 4-6 with all four completions resulting in six points. Then-freshman Chance Sudtelgte carried the ball 15 times for 141 yards and a score in the game...

Similar to half of Sioux Central's opponents this year, Woodbury Central will be seeing the Rebels for the first time with the new district alignment. The Wildcats went 2-7 last year, but they returned nearly their entire roster, including now-senior twins, Logan and Landon Paulsen who anchor the line play for a now 7-1 team at 6-foot-5, 290 pounds apiece...

LAST YEAR The script was flipped last year as Spencer entered the game as a district power against a Warriors team hovering on the playoff bubble, and the Tigers looked dominant, rolling to a 48-7 victory spurred on by a seven-carry, 141-yard, three-touchdown performance by Hunter Cushman. An SB-L team comprised of almost exclusively sophomores at the skill positions struggled moving the ball, gaining just 168 yards with a heavy dose of those coming after the game had been won...

HOLSTEIN -- Due to lack of numbers, Sioux Central's boys didn't have a chance at qualifying for state as a team, but their leader, Dalton Demers continued his impressive season with a 17:33, ninth-place finish at the 1A State Qualifying Cross Country Meet hosted by Ridge View Thursday to earn himself a berth at the state meet in Fort Dodge on Saturday, Nov. 1...

CARROLL -- Sometimes a close loss feels worse than a blowout. That's how Spencer's girls are feeling after coming up just four points short of qualifying for the State Cross Country Meet Thursday night at the 3A State Qualifier held at Swan Lake State Park in Carroll. ...