Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, September 27, 2001

Frank STRONG, an artist on the rosters of Very Special Arts of Iowa and the Iowa Arts Council, spent two days teaching Mount Ayr Community elementary school students how to play the harmonica or teaching them about railroad songs in a residency Monday and Tuesday. STRONG, who is blind, taught first, fifth and sixth graders how to play brand new harmonicas they could take home.

One tool to help with children grieving from the loss of parents or friends in the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., has roots right here in Ringgold county. Connie RICHARDS and Carol Ann WEEDA sew My Friends dolls for the Centering Corporation of Omaha. The dolls have a series of four faces which can be Velcroed into place to express different stages of grief. Expressions of being scared and confused, angry, sad and happy can be flipped into place on the large stuffed dolls.

Work is continuing on the Gooseberry Lake plans in a series of monthly meeting by the board of directors of the Gooseberry Lake Agency, the group of project sponsors heading up the project.

Taking home the trophies from the Milt HENDERSON Running Classic at Autumn in the Ayr this year were men's two-mile walk winner Franklin BROWN of Des Moines; women's two-mile walk winner Jane HALL of Massena; men's two-mile run winner Nick GALLAGHER of Bedford; women's two-mile run winner Alana JOHNSON of Mount Ayr; men's 5K run winner Tim GALLAHGER of Bedford and women's 5K run winner Sara CARLSON of Creston.

A Mount Ayr men's bowling team won second place and a prize of $5,000 in the state super tournament of the state traveling tournament association last weekend. The team of Ron SICKELS, Rich TIPTON, Mark ROBERTS, Rick FOX and Barry JACKSON, who are bowlers at Majestic Lanes in Mount Ayr, qualified for the state tournament by winning a regional tournament in Perry a few months ago. As a team the Mount Ayr group had a score of 3,375 with their handicaps included. Scratch scores for the bowlers included Ron SICKELS, 630; Rich TIPTON, 619; Mark ROBERTS, 592; Rick FOX, 555, and Barry JACKSON, 520.

John OVERHOLTZER was presented with a plaque by Autumn in the Ayr chairman Janis DENNEY Saturday morning at the Milt HENDERSON Running Classic. After heading up the event for 19 years, OVERHOLTZER is bowing out after this year.

A total of 200 fifth and sixth grade Iowa history students from eight area schools participated in the annual Iowa History Tours on Tuesday, Sept. 18, and Wednesday, Sept. 19, sponsored by the Ringgold County Historical Society. Schools visiting the Ringgold County Pioneer Center Museum at Ellston were Mount Ayr Community, Lamoni, Creston, Saint Malachy, Clearfield, Diagonal, Lenox, East Union and Murray.

Transciption by Sharon R. Becker, September of 2011

 

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