Page 4 - Clear Lake Mirror Reporter E-Edition 9-9-2015

Opinion
Page 4 • Sept. 9, 2015
25 Years Ago
September 1990
The polls will open Tuesday, Sept. 11,
to vote on the renewal of the 67 1/2 cent
schoolhouse levy in Clear Lake, as well as
elect a new school member. David Hopper
will run unopposed for the one seat to be
filled.
Standing at the airport Friday night
amid the marching band, firetruck, po-
lice car and cheering crowd with welcome
signs, someone whispered, “This is a lot like
Mayberry R.F.D., isn’t it?” Maybe so. But
Ventura Mayor Bob Wolfram and as many
as 75 others gathered to welcome Ventura,
Calif. disc jockeys Dave Ciniero and Bob
Adams, who were here visiting their “sister
city,” Ventura, Iowa.
The Clear Lake Volunteer Fire Depart-
ment doesn’t officially have a rescue boat, but
they could have used one on Friday after they
received a 911 call after midnight pertaining
to an overturned sailboat. Three of the eight
passengers swam to shore, while the others
held onto the boat for more than an hour
until help arrived. The department bor-
rowed a pontoon to aid the sailboat crew.
Cadet Charity Thalacker has completed
training in fundamental military skills at the
Army ROTC Camp Challenge at Fort Knox,
Ky. She is the daughter of James and Nancee
Thalacker and a 1988 graduate of Ventura
High School.
The Clear Lake High School class of
1925 will hold a reunion. The get-together
will be held at the Holiday Motor Lodge.
Eighteen members of the original class of 37
members will attend.
With a dramatic interception late in the
fourth quarter, Clear Lake came from behind
to defeat New Hampton 21-15 winning
their season opener. Paul Ebeling rushed
for 87-yards and passed for 22-yards and a
touchdown.
Rob Doebel led the Clear Lake cross
country team with a 12th place finish at the
Newman Invitational. Kirk Sorbo wasn’t far
behind, finishing in 13th place. Elise Den
Hartog led the girls team with a 15th place
overall finish.
Grocery specials for the week at Eas-
ter’s Super Valu included: Van Camp Pork
& Beans, 16 oz., 2/69¢; Hamm’s Beer, 12-
12 oz cans, $2.79; Pepsi Cola, 8-pak, 16 oz.
bottles, $1.59; Ore Ida Hashbrowns, 32 oz.,
99¢; 80% lean ground beef, lb., $1.58; and
Farmland Sliced Bacon, lb., $1.59.
50 Years Ago
August 1965
Two more additions to the Clear Lake
Mirror-Reporter staff were announced by
Publisher Joe Roth. Michael Grandon, 23,
has joined the staff as a general reporter/pho-
tographer. Also joining the staff is Mrs. Lar-
ry Keith who has been named the Ventura
correspondent and will handle special sub-
scription work.
Clear Lake Head Football Coach Nor-
man Rutz and his assistant Dick Hudson
have 32 eager boys out for the team. The
team will be led by Larry Otten, David Er-
ickson and Roger Ashland.
Ventura’s new football coach, Bill Com-
stock, has begun his duties with the Vikings.
Grocery specials for the week at Easter’s
Super Valu include: potatoes, 10 lbs., 19¢;
eggs, doz., 39¢; Special Lager Buckhorn
Beer, 6 pack, 69¢; and round steak, lb., 59¢.
75 Years Ago
August 1940
A crowd estimated at between 6,000 and
8,000 attended the water carnival and Gov-
ernor’s Day celebration here Sunday. The log
rolling contest and the dive from the airplane
by Bill Daley, of Clear Lake, were highlights.
The Misses Neva Harding and Doro-
thy Dolley plan to leave Saturday for a two
week’s vacation to a dude ranch in Beehive,
Mont.
Jimmy Watts has accepted a position as
assistant at the Clear Lake Bank & Trust Co.
The City of Clear Lake has a population
of 3,739.
About 100 persons attended the after-
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REMEMBER WHEN GUEST EDITORIAL
1990 CLHS queen candidates New AEA chief strives to educate
Clear Lake High School named its Homecoming queen candidates they are front row (L-R): Hollie Hoffarth, By Sam Miller, Chief Administrator
Karla Lewerke, Nicolle Medina, Pam Wilwert and Jenny Katona. Back row (L-R): Sara Wempen, Mindy Day, with Area Education Agency 267
Heather Datema, Abbie Johnson and Shanie Beckner. The queen will be named at a coronation ceremony Friday Welcome to a new academic year!
afternoon at E.B. Stilton Auditorium. As the new Chief Administrator with
Area Education Agency 267 (AEA
VHS 1990 Royalty 267), I am honored to be leading a
service agency of 615 staff members
The candidates for king and queen of Homecoming festivities at Ventura High School are front row (L-R): Julie all with one single focus in mind--to
Buchanan, Megan Coe and Shannon Quinn. Back row (L-R): Shad Younge, Scott Hinrichs and Brad Eenhis. work tirelessly to ensure that every
The queen and king will be crowned at a pep assembly and coronation Friday in the high school gym at 2:10 p.m. child in your community achieves
A parade throughout the town will follow. academically.
As an Iowa superintendent and
principal for many years, I was con-
stantly amazed at how little the pub-
lic seemed to know about the services
that Iowa’s Area Education Agency
(AEA) system provided to our schools.
Maybe it’s because schools and AEAs
work so seamlessly together that par-
ents and students hardly realized the
role the AEA was playing in K-12
education. I’m on a mission to change
that by helping to educate others.
As a taxpayer of Iowa, here are
five quick facts about Iowa’s AEA sys-
tem that you should know:
1. AEAs provide hundreds of
services to Iowa’s children from birth
through the age of 21.
2. AEAs provide specialized
professional staff members to schools
that they could not economically em-
ploy on their own including school
psychologists, occupational therapists,
reading specialists, and technology
consultants (to name only a few).
3. While AEAs are probably
best known for services to children
with special needs, Iowa’s AEA sys-
tem also provides teachers with thou-
sands of classroom materials includ-
ing books, videos, iPads, cameras and
other teaching tools that teachers can
check out on a short or long-term ba-
sis.
4. AEAs have been around
since 1975 when they were created by
the Iowa legislature to ensure equity
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Freshman skit, 1997 Reflections
The traditional freshman skit at the Homecoming rally in 1997 was highlighted by a cheer from (L-R): Dustin To the Editor,
Bieber, Joe Scribbins, Brian McIntire, Ryan Molencamp and Matt Doebel. I have never liked the term “fall.”
“In the fall of the year…” It sounds
noon services of the Lakeside Church which celebrat- a place for a quiet retreat. so brutal, even cruel or evil. Well, that
ed its 50th anniversary last Sunday. A duet was sung Wanted: a place to work in private family by girls may be a little harsh but you get the
by Mrs. Arleigh Eddy and Mrs. Frank Miles. A picnic who can talk Norwegian only. English speaking fam- idea. “Ring-o-round the rosy, a pock-
dinner was served at noon. ily preferred. et full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all
fall down.” It’s so final, so total, game
over. Or the newspapers sports page
that glares, “(your home team) falls to
(arch rival).” Or the report that reads,
“Unfortunately she suffered a fall and
broke her wrist.” But the worst is to
read the third chapter of Genesis and
you may even find the subtitle, “THE
FALL.”
But take the word “autumn.”
It definitely sounds pleasant. Au-
100 Years Ago
August 1915
The Bly Clothing Co. had
a bicycle stolen from in front of
their store Friday. What is this
town coming to?
There will be a flower show
at the Congregational Church
Friday. Admission is 10¢. Sup-
per will be at 5:30 and costs
25¢.
Seventy-eight lots were
sold Sunday at Oakwood. The
IOOF recently sold 20 lots.
New cottages and a new pavil-
lon will be built in the spring.
The other side of the lake is des-
tined for a big boom next year.
At Ventura Heights a goodly
number of lots were also dis-
posed of. This is fast becoming
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SAM MILLER
in educational resources across the
state. Regardless of the size or loca-
tion of the school district, every child
has access to the specialized services
provided by their local AEA.
5. AEA funding is controlled
by legislatively determined amounts
of property tax dollars and state funds
that literally “flow through” local
school district budgets to the AEA.
AEAs have no direct taxing authority.
If you are a parent (or even if you
don’t have a child in school), I invite
you to learn more about the AEA sys-
tem and how we are either directly
or indirectly serving all of Iowa’s
children. Your support and advocacy
make a continued difference in our
ongoing mission and funding.
Best for the school year!
Sam Miller is the Chief Adminis-
trator with Area Education Agency 267
based in Cedar Falls. He can be reached
at 319-273-8204. Area Education
Agency 267 serves over 66,000 students.
In addition, over 5,000 educators rely
on AEA 267 for services in special edu-
cation, school technology, media and
instructional/curriculum support. The
agency’s service area reaches 18 counties
and nearly 9,000 square miles.
tumn; autumn; autumn. It even has
a pleasant feel, a kind of “hum” as it
rolls off the tongue and the lips. It
deserves looking up. “A time of late
maturity: a time in the development
of something that follows its most
vigorous and successful phase, before
its decline.” Sounds pretty good. Of
course, they could have left off those
last three words, though. But I’ll take
it as along as we don’t call it “fall.”
It took on a new meaning, how-
ever, some time ago when I watched a
fellow packing his car. Living in a va-
cation community this scene is oft re-
peated. Both rear car doors were open
as well as the trunk. He was carrying
a bushel basket loaded with linens,
probably the supply of summer bed-
ding and towels. The cottage screen
door was propped open for the conve-
nience of many such trips. From the
looks of the bulging car this would
be one of his last. I wondered how
he felt at that moment. Surely, a sign
of relief that this immediate task was
nearing completion but how was he
feeling deep inside. There was a final-
ity issue here. This appeared to have
been more than a weekend jaunt judg-
ing from the size of the load. Perhaps
there had been a series of weekends or
even a month or two or three. Now
it was over. Mission accomplished.
Pleasant memories. Time to get back
to the old routine. Vacation was great
while it lasted but schedules and hab-
its are comfortable. Maybe there was a
bit of “anticipation is greater than the
realization” feeling if the outing hadn’t
gone entirely as planned. Time to get
on with life. “Let’s hit the road.”
See LETTER TO EDITOR pg. 5
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