Sheldon, Iowa — As the year 2020 draws to a close, let’s take a look back at some of the things that made the news during the past year.
The year’s biggest story, without a doubt, was the COVID-19 pandemic and the way it impacted everyone’s life for the last ten months of the year.
The pandemic caused 7,794 of us to become sick here in the four-county area of O’Brien, Osceola, Lyon and Sioux, and sadly claimed the lives of 130 of our friends, neighbors and loved ones during 2020.
In addition, COVID put life as we know it, on hold. Efforts to curb the spread of the virus closed schools, businesses and churches. It forced bars, restaurants and other businesses to quickly switch their business model in order to survive. Sadly, at least one Sheldon business fell victim to the pandemic. Old 60 Steaks and Chops owner Jackie Ney blamed the virus for the closure of the popular Sheldon eatery in August.
There became something of a “new normal” in the wake of the pandemic; we were introduced to the concept of “social distancing.” We started wearing masks. We saw church doors closed on Sunday for the first time, outdoor graduation ceremonies and closed playgrounds. RiseFest 2020 was cancelled, as was the annual Village Northwest Unlimited Independence Day celebration, both due to pandemic fears.
Some other stories from this year include the Easter Sunday Drive-In Worship Service that was held in the Sheldon High School parking lot. More than 125 vehicles braved the snowy morning to attend the non-denominational service, which was conducted by the Sheldon Ministerial Association.
August brought the beginning of a brand new school year, albeit it with social distancing and mask requirements in buses as well at most local schools.
The community fireworks display that had been cancelled when VNU called off their Independence Day Celebration, was picked up by the Sheldon Chamber and Development Corporation and the City of Sheldon and took place Sunday night of Labor Day weekend, September 6th, with the fireworks being shot off south of the LLRC on the NCC campus.
In political news from 2020, former Iowa State Senator Randy Feenstra, of Hull, won a five-way Republican primary victory that brought to the end the congressional career of nine-term 4th District Representative Steve King. Feenstra went on to defeat Sioux City Democrat J.D. Scholten in the November general election and will begin representing the 4th District in the U.S. House of Representatives next week.
Various scams were pulled and attempted on area residents throughout the year, some costing area residents several thousand dollars each. Police remind you to NEVER give personal or banking information to anyone over the phone and NEVER pay money to a caller who requests a “debt” be paid using prepaid gift cards.
Many family Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations went “virtual” in 2020, due to the pandemic, with families gathering around the computer instead of the dinner table.
In December the first of the new COVID-19 vaccines arrived in northwest Iowa, with the initial vaccinations goin to frontline healthcare workers. Subsequent doses are going to other healthcare workers, along with nursing home residents and staff. Officials estimate the vaccine will be available to the general public sometime in the late spring or early summer of 2021.
A Christmas week blizzard paralyzed northwest Iowa on December 23rd, bringing heavy snow and winds of up to 60 mph in some places.
Two of the counties in our four-county area are welcoming new Sheriffs. In O’Brien County Bruce Devereaux is taking over for retiring Sheriff Allen Schuknecht, while in Osceola County, Kevin Wollmuth will be succeeding retiring Sheriff Doug Weber. Sioux County Sheriff Dan Altena and Lyon County Sheriff Stewart Vander Stoep were both reelected to another four-year term in November.
These have been just a few of the headlines from 2020 here in northwest Iowa.
On behalf of the staff and management of KIWA Radio, we wish you a Happy and Healthy New Year!
