Swanson/Birkland engagement

Gail and Grace Swanson of Sutherland, Iowa, are pleased to announce the engagement and approaching marriage of their daughter, Jill Renée Swanson to Ryan Christopher Birkland, son of Charles and Lori Birkland of Spirit Lake.

The bride-elect is a 2005 graduate of South O'Brien High School in Paullina and a 2009 graduate of Northwestern College in Orange City. She is currently the Preschool Teacher at Bright Beginnings in Cherokee.

Her fiancé is a 2006 graduate of Spirit Lake High School and a 2010 graduate of Northwestern College. He is currently a Pharmacy Technician at Hy-Vee in Spirit Lake. He will be attending Medical School at Des Moines University in Des Moines starting Aug. 2011.

The couple will be married on June 25, 2011 at the Meriden Evangelical Free Church in Meriden, with a reception and dance to follow at the Western Iowa Tech Conference Center in Cherokee.