Stories from Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Ray Knauer of Mesa, Arizona, 88, formerly of Cherokee, was surrounded by his children when he lost a brave battle with cancer and was called to Heaven on Wednesday, February 3. A private family service will be held at a later date. Ray was born in Sheldon on August 19, 1927 and graduated from Sheldon High School, where he excelled as a student and athlete. ...

Vera L. Brandt of Cherokee, 98, passed away Saturday evening, February 6, 2016 in the Thomas Rest Haven at Coon Rapids, Iowa. Funeral services will be held on Friday, February 12th, at 1:30 p.m. at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Cherokee, Iowa. Pastor Jean Morse will officiate. ...

William "Bill" James Rose of Cleghorn, 61, passed away Tuesday, February 2, 2016 at the Cherokee Regional Medical Center. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, February 9, 2016 at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Cherokee, with Father Dan Guenther officiating, and burial will take place at Maryhill Visitation Cemetery, rural Cherokee. ...

Dennis C. Stodden of rural Cherokee, 63, passed away suddenly on Sunday morning, February 7, 2016 at his farm home. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, February 11th, at 10:30 a.m. at the St. John's Lutheran Church (Hanover) in rural, Alta, Iowa. ...

Dorothy M. Thomsen of Bristol, Connecticut, age 90, formerly of Holstein, passed away on Friday, January 29, 2016 at the Sheridan Woods Health Care Center of Bristol, where she had received wonderful care for seven years. A funeral service will be held on Thursday, February 11, 2016 at 11 a.m. ...

Charles A. Stiles of Mobridge, South Dakota, 79, formerly of Cherokee, passed away Friday, January 29, 2016, at the Mobridge Regional Hospital. A memorial service will be scheduled later in the year. Charles Allen Stiles was born on April 25, 1936 in Cherokee, to Edgar and Glee (Druyor) Stiles and graduated from Cherokee High School in 1954. ...

Friday's Chamber Coffee at 9:30 a.m. will be hosted by Cherokee State Bank, 212 West Willow Street.

The Sanford Museum Association is presenting a program titled "Iowans who fought against the Union" with David Connon at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 13. Although the great majority of Iowans fought on the side of the union during the Civil War, at least 60 Iowans served with the Confederacy. Connon will explore their motivations and describe their experiences...

The Cherokee Public Library will be closed Monday February 15th, in observance of Presidents Day.

Since I don't have a snowmobile, the best thing about the blizzard was being able to stay home and read. I probably should have cleaned my house instead but an unexpected day off with all that free time was too good to pass up. Here are some titles I read from the shelves of the Cherokee Public Library. I'm proud to say three of them are non-fiction which is a little unusual for me...

REMSEN - The South O'Brien boys outscored Remsen St. Mary's 20-3 in the second quarter of their War Eagle Conference basketball game here on Saturday, helping the Wolverines coast to a 60-34 win. Kyle Paulson scored 18 points and Cameron Maxwell 14 to lead the South O'Brien scoring, while Damon Struve added nine points and Cody Johanson eight. ...

MAPLETON - The 7th ranked (Class 2A) Ridge View boys basketball team found the going rough in the Western Vallley Conference Tournament championship game against Maple Valley/Anthon-Oto Saturday night. The Raptors trailed throughout the game and lost to the Rams by a final score of 50-32. Tyler Wingert was the only Ridge View player to hit in double fiigures, finishing with a total of 11 points for Coach Dale Tokheim's Raptors, now 16-2...

AKRON - The Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn basketball teams came away from their doubleheader Saturday with host Akron-Westfield with a win and a loss. In the opener, the Lady Eagles edged the Westerners by four points, 49-45, led by another outstanding performance from Sarah Dreckman. ...

The Cherokee Braves qualified five wrestlers, including two champions, for Saturday's Class 2A Districts in Sheldon after Sectional Tournament action in Cherokee last Saturday. Cherokee's two champions were Tyler Zeimen at 160 pounds and Mason Meitzenheimer at 195. Runner-up finishers - and also qualifiers for Districts -were Charlie Wych at 285, Matt Stines at 145, and Collin Johnson at 126...

SPENCER - The Cherokee Braves fell behind 24-13 in the first quarter and was then lapped 22-10 in the fourth period on the way to an 80-58 loss to Spencer's boys here Friday night. The Braves rallied in the third frame from a 40-25 halftime deficit with a 23-16 scoring run before the Tiigers ran away with it in the final quarter...

MARCUS - The Marcus-Meriden-Cleghorn girls were never in the game in their War Eagle Conference basketball tussle with powerful Unity Christian in the Marcus gym Friday. Unity jumped out to a 26-12 lead after the first quarter and increased their margin to 27 points at the half, on their way to a final 75-44 win over the Lady Eagles...

The busy Cherokee Washington High girls checked off two more Lakes Conference wins last week, defeating visiting Emmetsburg 69-40 Thursday night in a weather make-up, and vaulting Spencer 82-55 in Spencer Friday night. The pair of victories gives 4th-ranked (3A) Cherokee a splendid 19-1 season mark, including a 12-1 Lakes Conference slate and a league tie with #1 (2A) Hull Western Christian (18-2, 12-1)...

Pundits like to make sweeping generalizations about Iowans of each party following the caucuses. Despite the record participation in the Iowa caucuses this year, participants are still only a minority of people registered as Republicans and Democrats. There's nothing wrong with that, party activists shaping the direction of their party, but generalizations about caucus results should take into account that the results are not broadly representative of general election voters...

A fugitive Aladdin and a runaway princess face a mob in the market during the Cherokee Community Theater Jr. rehearsal of 'Aladdin Jr.' Show dates are Friday and Saturday, Feb 12 and 13 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 14 at 2 p.m. at the Cherokee Community Theater...