September 1^st will be a big day. Belle Plaine students will have nearly a week of school behind them and the volleyball team will make its season debut at a tournament in Durant.

It will also be the head coaching debut of Katie Parr, who takes over the program from Tara Kohlhaas, who resigned after last season. Parr has had some experience with the girls on her team prior to the start of practice. She began teaching in Belle Plaine in January, after graduating from the University of Northern Iowa. She is also a graduate of a traditional powerhouse, Dike-New Hartford. While attending Northern Iowa, she was an assistant in the Dike-New Hartford volleyball program. This will also not be her first coaching assignment in the district, as she was the assistant softball coach this summer for the Plainsmen.

Parr says she enjoys coaching volleyball because there’s a lot for the players to learn, especially about teamwork and overcoming obstacles that can carry over into their academic and everyday lives.

Kohlhaas certainly did not leave the cupboard bare when she left the program. The 2008 Plainsman squad finished fourth in the SICL Conference with a game record of 38-42. Only two seniors graduated from that team, but they were key team members that leave a void to fill this season. Katie Walton led the team in blocks and service aces last season. Samantha Behncke was the team leader in digs and second in serve aces.

There are 29 girls out for the sport this fall and the current varsity roster includes six seniors and three juniors, along with a sophomore and two freshmen. With this kind of experience, the coach can count on a lot of leadership and Parr says that has been the case so far in practice. She said practice has gone well so far and the players have responded well to the changes that the new coach instituted.

This year’s seniors include Katie Pierce, Megan Abernathy, Holly Brown, Bridgette Schminke, Brenna Ford and Sarah Hafner. Schminke led the team in assists last year, Abernathy was second in blocks and Ford was third in digs.

Juniors on this year’s team include Joy Cronbaugh, who was fourth in digs, fourth in blocks and third in serve aces, Marlee Schminke and Andrea Lohf. Macy DeMeulenaere is the lone sophomore and the freshmen are Taylor Janss and Molly O’Brien.

She says this year’s squad is a quiet bunch, but once they get going, they can really turn it on.

After the first four practices, the team traveled to Dike-New Hartford for a preseason tourney where they faced some state-caliber teams. Parr said they learned a lot with that experience. With her softball coaching duties this past summer and the change in coaching staffs, she said the team didn’t travel to any volleyball team camps. But she is looking forward to some of those opportunities next year.

Although the coach says she hasn’t had a lot of opportunities to review the competition in the conference, it appears that the league could be well balanced, with no one rising above the others. Last year, only three teams finished with a game record above the .500 mark. Sigourney won the conference with a 49-30 record, BGM was second at 46-34, HLV was next at 37-32 and Belle Plaine was fourth at 38-42.

This year, the Plainsmen have just four home dates on their schedule. Their home debut comes on Sept. 14, when they host North Mahaska.

Belle Plaine volleyball schedule

Sept. 1             at Durant

Sept. 5             at North Tama

Sept. 9             at HLV

Sept. 14           North Mahaska

Sept. 16           at BGM

Sept. 19           at Keota

Sept. 21           at Sigourney

Sept. 26           at Anamosa

Sept. 28           at Montezuma

Sept. 30           English Valleys

Oct. 5              at Lynnville-Sully

Oct. 7              at Keota

Oct. 12                       Tri-County

Oct. 14                        Iowa Valley

Oct. 20                        Regional

The first day of school is Wednesday and parents and students should be aware of some adjustments they will need to make due to the construction underway at Longfellow Elementary School and at the high school.

According to school officials, the biggest adjustments will be at Longfellow, where students will enter and exit from the main entrance only, on the northwest side of the building near the principal and superintendent’s offices. With the temporary closure of the east entrance to the building, students who walk to school or are brought by their parents will share the main entrance with the students being dropped off by school bus.

During the day, with parking spots on the west side of the building now in the construction zone, there will be limited parking at the school, officials said. In addition, motorists in the area should be aware that they will be sharing Seventh Street with construction workers and equipment periodically during the day.

In another temporary change, the playground has been temporarily relocated to a fenced off portion of the front lawn on the north side of the school building.

At the high school, the main adjustment will be in the north parking lot, where a portion of it on the west edge will be cordoned off with temporary fencing for stored construction materials, school officials said.

As school gets underway across the nation, school and health officials are concerned with the potential for the spread of the H1N1 influenza virus. Belle Plaine has hired a school nurse, Susan Grieder and Superintendent Bill Lynch said she will be in contact with the Benton County Board of Health to determine what precautions might be needed locally.

School will dismiss one hour early each of the first three days of classes, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

If you’re wondering what to do about dinner before you head south for Belle Plaine’s first football game of the season next week at HLV, the Belle Plaine Rotary Club may have the answer.

Rotary Rib Fest, featuring “Sloppy Lon’s Ribs,” will be served from 4-7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28 on East Main Street near the Jumbo Well Fountain and the Belle Plaine Museum. The dinner is $8 and frozen ribs will also be for sale.

Proceeds will benefit Rotary projects, including the Rotary Foundation, Eradication of Polio, Belle Plaine High School Scholarship Fund, World Affairs Week and more.

By Jeff Brown

Belle Plaine

jeff@boredfactoryworker.com

“A daughter may outgrow your lap, but she will never outgrow your heart.” - Author Unknown

A Day with my Daughter

“Do you remember years ago when I tried to throw that piece of paper into the trash can from the ski lift ride? The attendant who saw me do it banned me from the ride for the rest of the day!”

My daughter grinned at me from the passenger seat of my Chevy Blazer and replied, “That was really embarrassing.”

Laughing, I said, “Good thing we were ready to leave anyway.”

It was early in the morning and we were driving to Adventureland in Des Moines, Iowa. We’ve made the trip to the amusement park almost annually since my daughter was six years old. Now she was nearing her 20^th birthday and I had feared those fun filled days hanging out with her might be over for good. That was until last Father’s day when she surprised me with two tickets to the park. My heart leaped. “I can’t wait to go,” I said. “It will be just like the good old days.”

When we arrived, a park worker asked if we wanted our picture taken. I put my arm around my daughter and we both smiled big. A few minutes later we found ourselves at the Funnel Cake Factory sitting at a table in the sun planning our day. I brushed some sugar off of my chin. “I think we should go over to the Raging River first before the line gets too long. Then, maybe the Log Ride. What do you think?”

She took a sip of lemonade. “Sounds good too me. After that we’ll ride the roller coasters to dry off.”

We knew what we were doing.

At one of the roller coasters there was one of those signs with a line on it. “You must be this tall to ride,” it said. I told my daughter that I remembered when she was too short. A little while later we found ourselves at the magic show. The magician skillfully made his assistant disappear into thin air. We were impressed. Then the magician started to do his rope trick. It was the same rope trick that he’d performed in previous years. My daughter grinned at me and I could tell that she remembered.

We ate cheeseburgers at the Soda and Sounds. We rode on the Underground, the G-Force, and the Inverter. And who could go to Adventureland and not ride the Silly Silo, the Galleon, Lady Luck, and the Ferris Wheel?

My daughter asked, “Do you remember that time when your sunglasses flew off your face on the Space Shot? You’d better take them off this time.”

When I heard the train whistle I told her that I wanted to ride it. She shot me an incredulous look.

“Let’s do it.” I said. “It’s a tradition for us to ride the train.” So we did. As we rode through the trees and over the bridge, I nudged her with my elbow. “Thanks for coming here with me today.”

“No problem.” She said. “It’s been fun.”

And it was. It was a good day- one of those rare ones that I got to spend entirely with my daughter. I have to admit that when I thought it might be the last at Adventureland, I felt a little sad. “You know,” I told her, “Next year we could come back, or maybe we could go to the Wisconsin Dells or Chicago. Somewhere.”

“That sounds good to me, Dad.”

We visited the souvenir shops and then we picked up our picture. It turned out great and we decided to have it made into a key chain. As we walked toward the gate to leave, I paused for a moment to soak it all in. The Ferris Wheel caste long shadows in the late afternoon sunlight. I could hear the hiss and rumble of the Space Shot in the distance. A little girl was running and laughing.

“Are you ready to go?” asked my daughter.

“Yeah,” I said. “I’m just taking one last look. One last look to remember.”

Keith James Squiers, 68, of Chelsea, died Tuesday, August 18, 2009 in his home following a lengthy illness.  Services will be 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Hrabak Funeral Home in Belle Plaine by Hospice Chaplain Susan Sanning.  Burial will be in Rector Cemetery, Chelsea.  Visitation will be from 4-8 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.

He is survived by his wife Beverly; daughters, Connie (Mike) Ledvina of Toledo, Sonja Squiers of Des Moines, Janet Squiers (Al Gulden) of Inver Grove Heights, MN; son, Phillip Squiers of Chelsea; grandchildren, Amy Marie Ledvina, and Adam Keith Ledvina of Toledo; sister, Phyllis Squiers of Eagan, MN; and brother, Rex Squiers of Des Moines.

A memorial fund has been established.

Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.hrabakfuneralhome.com under “obituaries.”

Like the football referee who looks at instant replay to review close plays, the Belle Plaine Board of Education tabled two items on its agenda Wednesday night for further review.

The larger of the two items involved the implementation of an alternative school. The proposed school would be shared with the HLV School District and housed in Belle Plaine.

According to Superintendent Bill Lynch’s narrative, “This program could be beneficial to certain students who have difficulty succeeding in the traditional high school format. In addition, we may be able to provide some supplemental assistance to other students as well. This supplemental assistance could include credit recovery types of programs.”

Included in the proposal was a 14-page student handbook for the program, which will be called the “BP/HLV Success Center.”

Lynch told the board that the program could be housed in classrooms at the Lee Gym level at the Central Elementary campus. It is estimated that the program would serve 10-15 students and could begin by Oct. 1, once an instructor is hired. Students would work toward a regular high school diploma and could include a work study component.

Board member Mike Bachelder said he was concerned that the high school age students would interact with the elementary students. But the program would have its own entrance and parking lot to the south of the Lee building, Lynch said.

Board member Jim Pierce said he thinks the program is worthy of the attempt. Leah Mast, a teacher who attended the meeting, wondered if the program being proposed included components already offered at the Belle Plaine campus of Kirkwood College. But Lynch and Principal Dennis Phelps said the students attending this program would be more accountable for their attendance for either a full day or a half-day if they were in a work study program.

Board member Marie Stratford said she was “likely for” the program, but said she couldn’t approve it without reviewing the material presented at the meeting.

So the board voted to table the proposal until it can discuss if further at a work session on Aug. 31.

The other item tabled until after the work session was a portion of the new student handbook regarding cell phone use in the school. Board members questioned whether the consequences of misuse of the phones was spelled out in proper detail.

Lynch provided the board with an update on the construction projects at Longfellow Elementary and at the high school. He reported that workers discovered asbestos at the elementary site and after three bids were received, Iowa Environmental Services of Dubuque was hired to remove the asbestos at a base bid of $41,800. The company completed the work in less time than its initial estimate. It included stripping the main hall at Longfellow of the floor covering and ceiling.

He also offered an update on financial aspects of the project. Ever since the bids were opened, the administration and the project architects have worked to revise the plans to conform with money available. In addition to the revenue from the bond issue, the district is using money saved from the school infrastructure local option sales tax, some funds from the physical plant and equipment levy, a $100,000 grant from the Mansfield Foundation for the high school track and general funds to pay the architect’s fee.

Lynch added that the project is under continual financial review

Pierce told Lynch, “You’ve done a fabulous job of finding additional funds beyond the bond issue.”

The board approved three staff appointments. Bev Argyros was hired as a school lunch cook, Susan Grieder will be the school nurse, working 18-20 hours per week as assigned by the superintendent and Kenny Brown will be a school bus driver with a morning route and an afternoon shuttle route.

There is a state mandate that all school districts have a school nurse, but no guidelines on the number of hours that nurse must be in the district. Lynch said the nurse may work three days per week or portions of all five days.

The board also approved the continued offering of adult activity tickets at a cost of $90 for the year. The tickets were offered last year, but only a few were sold. But the superintendent said they will again be available.

The board will hold a work session on Monday, Aug. 31 at 6:30 p.m. to discuss the good conduct code, the open meetings law, alternative school and cell phone policy. A special meeting to act on these matters will be held at 7:30 p.m. that night, following the work session.

Julia M. Sheda, 90, of Belle Plaine and formerly of Chelsea, died Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at the Belle Plaine Nursing and Rehab Center following a lingering illness.  A Funeral Mass will be 2 p.m. Friday at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Chelsea by Rev. Michael Mescher and Deacon Joe Behounek.  Burial will be in the church cemetery.  Friends may call after 1 p.m. Friday at the church.  Hrabak Funeral Home in Belle Plaine is serving the family.

She is survived by: sisters, Mildred Behounek of Chelsea and Adeline Loebig of Wesley; and by numerous nieces and nephews.

Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.hrabakfuneralhome.com under “obituaries.”

Groundbreaking ceremonies were held Tuesday night for the city’s newest home build and the first Habitat for Humanity project in Belle Plaine. The home will be constructed at 408 11^th Street and owned by Jerrilee VonAhsen.

On hand for the ceremonies were Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity executive director Jeff Capps, Kathy Jacobsen, president of the Benton County chapter of the group, Marge Becker, who has been the local contact person for VonAhsen with Habitat through the application process, Mayor Jim Daily, City Administrator Bill Daily, general contractor Dennis Garling and the Rev. Jack Andrews, who has been another local advisor in the process.

VonAhsen has worked at Amana Refrigeration for more than 20 years and has lived in the Marengo area for many years. She said she began looking for a home of her own and found out she could be a candidate for the Habitat for Humanity program. She said she chose Belle Plaine because she has a son and grandchildren living here and she said the city is a warm and welcoming place.

She found out she had been selected in the spring and has completed the preliminary requirements for the project, including performing 150 hours of community service. She currently delivers Meals on Wheels. New homeowners are also expected to perform as much work on their houses as they can. VonAhsen said she has had some experience in remodeling and is looking forward to working on her home.

Capps told the group at the groundbreaking that this is the second project in Benton County. Jacobsen said with the recent rapid build project of 20 homes being constructed for flood victims in Cedar Rapids, the Cedar Valley chapter has constructed 78 homes since 1988.

Some preliminary site work will be underway soon and actual construction is set to begin on Sept. 11. The program relies in large part on volunteer labor and many volunteers willing to devote one or more Saturdays in the fall to the project are needed. It is hoped the home can be completed in November.

For more information or to sign up directly for volunteer opportunities, please contact the Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity office at (319) 366-4485, Doug Goodsell at (319) 227-6225, Kathy Jacobsen at (319) 446-7358, email volunteer@cvhabitat.org or visit cvhabitat.org.

James L. Sherwood, 76, of Belle Plaine, died Monday, August 17, 2009 at St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids following a lingering illness.  Services will be 10:30 a.m. Friday at the Hrabak Funeral Home.  Burial will be in Oak Hill Cemetery with Military Rites.  Visitation will be from 4-8 p.m.  Thursday at the funeral home.

He is survived by his wife, Norma; step-mother, Lois Sherwood of Belle Plaine; sons, Randy (Bonnie) of Van Horne, Scott (Sondra) of Belle Plaine, David (Ellen) of Chelsea and Chad (Kris) of Atkins; brother, Charles (Joy) of Eldridge; also by six grandchildren and three step-grandsons.

Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.hrabakfuneralhome.com under “obituaries.”

The summer of 2009 will mark the year that men’s slow-pitch softball came back to Belle Plaine. Six teams made the move from the long-time Blairstown league and found a new home at Franklin Park. New league manager, Evan Hrabak, met with the captains back in April to set up the schedule, set rules and to announce
his plans of moving the league to Franklin Park, in Belle Plaine.

The league started playing Sunday, May 10th and ended their 8-week regular season on July 19th. All teams played 11 games within the regular season. Fortunately, the weather was kind on most weekends and there was only one Sunday that was rained out and postponed to the following week.

The post-season tournament was held on Saturday, August 1st and Sunday, August 2nd. The double elimination tourney had six games the first day and ended up having five games the second. In the initial championship game, team “Madness” scored early and defeated the ‘Pink’ team (sponsored by Great Life Fitness, Friedman’s Coverall and Johnson Motors) 10-2. The two teams took a few minutes of a break and went right back to battle each other in the championship re-match game. Ryon Etcher’s ‘Pink’ teamscored early, but the big game went all seven innings. Team Madness, captained by Mike O’Hara, came back in the late innings scoring 10. It wasn’t enough though.

As many called them, ”the Pink team” won the final game 12-10. After that final game, league manager Hrabak presented a new perpetual trophy to the winning team. The trophy is to be passed down from year to year, to the new league champs, so they can celebrate the victory as a team & share it with their
sponsors.

Thank you’s go out to Joel Formanek, Greg Walton, Kris Baburek, Kelly Kriegel, all of the high school kids who helped run the concession stand, all of the players who made Sunday afternoons to play ball, and to all the family & friends who came to watch. Also, thanks to Rev. Charles Johnson & his wife Karen for taking such good care of the park grounds.

We look forward to having the league in town again next year. If anyone has any teams they’d like to add to the league in 2010, please contact Evan Hrabak at 444-3304.

LEAGUE CHAMPS – Members of the league champion team included, front row, from left: Ryon Etcher, Nick Hazen, Steve “Spook” Formanek, Adam Stamp, Beau Jack and Andy Young. Back row: Travis Upah, Ben Blomme, Derek Beal, Austin Danker and Mike Stull.