The Ida Grove Public Library was bustling with fun on Saturday, Dec. 10. There were scrumptious baked goods fleeing out the door with patrons of the library. Also, Books for sale and a raffle table with many wonderful prizes. The raffle drawings were set for Monday, Dec. 12. Library trustees welcoming patrons in as they await the big man, Santa! Eyes as bright as the tinsel on the tree, the children lined up to sit on Santa’s lap and tell him their wishes. Santa’s voice calmed their hearts as he told them whether they had been good little girls or boys, and, of course, they were good.
Ida Grove Kiwanis had their 8th annual Christmas Ball on Saturday, Dec. 10 at the Ida Grove Skate Palace. Kiwanis raises money for the kids in the community. It has been used for scholarships, the soccer program in the Spring, dictionaries for kids, and the food for the track and field events.
The Odebolt Christmas party draws a huge crowd on Dec. 3. Over 100 prizes were given out to the community such as turkeys, hams, pizzas, toys, gift cards, Santa bucks and more! To get Santa Bucks, families could bring in a non-perishable item to be given to the Sac City Food bank. Quite a pile of food was given this day for the food bank.
Holstein home for the holidays events sparkled the town on Saturday, Dec. 3. Beginning the day was the Cookie walk and vendor show at the Lohff-Schumann Community Center. A wide array of scrumptious cookies and several vendors including Bee Healthy Raw Honey, Creative Artist Ryssa Todd with her beautifully crocheted items, Dakota Puppy Yummies with doggie treats, and Tammy Sonksen with Colorstreet. This event is an annual fundraiser to raise money for various things such as youth sports.
Ida Grove City Council held a special meeting on Nov. 30 to discuss awarding of bid on City Hall construction. Heavy discussion was whether to award the lowest bid entered even though Ladwig Construction did not have the bond security legals as of yet. In the last meeting Ladwig said it was in the works to get this bond security for the bid, but as of this day, he still did not have it. The council weighed out the consequences of awarding the bid without the bond security because he was local and they wanted to support local or to award to the next lowest bidder.
The Ida Grove Tour of Homes was presented by Ida Grove Community Partners and the Historical Society on Dec 4. You could tour the homes on the list starting with the Moorehead House Museum for twenty dollars. From there, you could visit the homes of Luke and Ashley Collins, Kurt and Rita Freese, Ed and Janice Nelson, and Don and Kelsie Nettles. From historical decor to more modern decor, these homes were a site to see.
The Ida County Public Safety and Communications Commission Meeting was held on Nov. 15 at 7 p.m.
Officers were kept busy according to Chief Deputy Fred Anderson who said that there were 612 calls for service in the month of October, thereby being 73 citations with a total of 17 arrests. Furthermore, there were 21 individuals booked into the county jail. As well, the deputies logged a total of 782 hours on patrol. Anderson went on to say that most of the arrests made in the last month were drug-related. Anderson reported that today there are seven inmates in the jail.
On Dec. 1, Mayor Breyfogle introduced the Holstein Betterment Alliance to the community with wonderful speakers who had an interest in showing how our strength grows through community. There was a nice pork dinner and drinks for all those who came before the presenters spoke. Pastor Bob Lewis from St. Paul Lutheran opened with prayer.
A visit to the food pantry in Ida Grove found volunteers hard at work preparing bags of food to go to those in need. A couple of patrons there said why they need to come there for food. One man said he is a single parent and finances are hard being a single parent. He has a full-time job but needs extra food to offset the budget. Another woman says she is on disability and cannot work. She gets food stamps but they just do not go very far. She has a teenage son and he needs food, for he is a growing boy.
With the 47th Annual Iowa High School and College State Dance Team Championship fast approaching, some area youth will be heading to Wells Fargo Arena for a chance at state glory.
Ridge View Hip Hop will perform Nov. 30 as well as soloists Brookelynn Cudaback and Emma Mentzer. Jazz and Novelty is set for Dec. 1.
“I had to laugh at the beginning of the season when I mentioned we’d be doing ‘Forrest Gump’ as our novelty routine… some of the girls had never seen the classic movie so that was their first homework assignment!” said Ridge View Coach Brianna Witzke.
