Activities of young people keep winter's cold at bay

February is here. That darn groundhog saw his shadow, and winter is bound to stick around just a little longer.

However, thanks to the young people in our community, things are going to heat up a bit over the coming weeks. With the athletic and dramatic events going on at a frenzied pace, there's no reason to feel the winter's chill. You could keep warm just by running from one event to another.

Thanks to our ill-timed (OK, our ever-present) snow storms, teams have been keeping up a schedule jam-packed with make-up games and matches over the past couple of weeks. We're getting to a point where there's just no more making up games. Tournament time is here, and that's the immovable object in the rescheduling equation. You can add to any list of non-enviable jobs right now that of high school athletic directors. They've been busier than air-traffic controllers over Denver in a snow storm, trying to juggle games in a finite period of time.

Be sure to salute all those young athletes as the winter sports season winds down. They've helped to make a long, cold winter a great deal brighter!

After a quick trip to Des Moines Friday for the Iowa Newspaper Convention, I high-tailed it back to Le Mars on Saturday morning for the Northwest Iowa State Large Group Speech event. The second leg of a three-step process leading to the All-State Large Group Speech event in Ames on February 20, the contest this past weekend brought the best of the district events together for schools throughout the northwest quarter of the state.

The energy in those hallways at Le Mars was enough to wake up this sleep-deprived publisher. It was so great to see hundreds of high-energy, highly motivated young people self-confidently strutting their stuff. I was there to cheer on son Drew who participated in two of Clay Central-Everly's six events which participated. In fact, every one of the CCE groups which participated at districts advanced to the state level - a tribute to the hard work of the young people and their dedicated, talented leader, Shaley Cullen. SCT fans already know about her talent and drive, from her longtime active participation in that group. She brings that expertise to the table in drawing out high-quality performances from the youth involved.

Also, I was there to root for the Spencer contingent, an impressive 15 groups made the trip to state under the direction of Iowa Speech Association Hall of Fame director Larry Untiet. As always, there were no groups more prepared than our area students. The record of success of Spencer thespians is recognized throughout the state. And, on Saturday, they held up that impressive record. Of the 15 groups, 14 received Excellent I ratings.

With over a dozen performance spaces going on simultaneously, it was a challenge for parents to quickly move from one location to another to catch all the area youth in performance.

The best of the best will head to Ames for the All-State event, and that's another great chance to see those who are nominated for the All-State honor in action.

This week? Well, it's all about the hardcourt, as tournament time officially begins with girls basketball, while the boys wrap up the regular season.

By the time these tournament trails are through, we'll be midway through March. Certainly, by then, Mother Nature will have tired of dropping the white stuff upon us.

Or not.