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Ocheyedan Days Of Olde This Weekend

tractor pullOcheyedan, Iowa — The summer festivals continue this weekend with the Days of Olde celebration in Ocheyedan, Friday through Sunday.

The celebration begins Friday night with Kid’s canoeing and archery at the Ocheyedan Sandpit from 5 to 7 pm.  The Great Plains Tractor Pull begins at 7:00 Friday night, with Karaoke at the Corner Club from 9 to 1.

Saturday is the big day of Ocheyedan’s Days of Olde.  The 5k Walk/Run gets underway at the City Park in Ocheyedan, with registration at 7:30 am, and the run starting at 8:00.  Parade registration begins at 9 o’clock Saturday morning, with the Days of Olde Parade starting at 10:00.

There will be a “Home of The Mound Wine and Arts Festival” in the City Park from 10 am to 4 pm Saturday.  Homemade pie and ice cream will be available at the Senior Activity Center after the parade, with a Kids Pedal Pull at the Tennis Courts after the parade.  Also on tap Saturday will be an Antique Tractor Pull at 11:30, Kids inflatables in the City Park from noon to 4, Co-ed Slow Pitch Softball Tournament at noon, with the Northwest Tractor Pullers & Central Plains Truck Pullers beginning at 6 pm.  Saturday is capped off with a street dance from 9 to 1.

The festivities wrap up on Sunday with a Bean Bag Tournament at 2 pm in the City Park.

It’s all going on this weekend, Friday through Sunday, during the Days of Olde Celebration in Ocheyedan.

Sheldon School Board Hears About All-Star Community Designation

Sheldon-Schools-logoSheldon, Iowa — At the regular August meeting of the Board of Education of Sheldon Community Schools, Superintendent Robin Spears updated the Board on Sheldon being named a 2015 All-Star Community by the Iowa League of Cities.  Spears told the Board that the School District’s partnership with the City of Sheldon on the new Joint Community Sports Complex was cited by the League of Cities in Sheldon’s designation.  The City will be recognized at an awards banquet to be held in Cedar Rapids in September.  The letter notifying of Sheldon being named a 2015 All-Star Community can be viewed by clicking here.

Spears also previewed the District’s new website with the Board at Wednesday night’s meeting.  The website, which is still under construction, will replace the current website, and will have a completely different web address than the current site.

In other action, the Board approved a litany of Open Enrollment Applications, including two students who will be going from the Sheldon District to Sibley-Ocheyedan, five who will be going from Sheldon to Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn, and two each to George-Little Rock and Boyden-Hull.

The Board approved a trio of employment contracts for the 2015-16 school year on Wednesday night.  Daphne Feekes will serve as Dance Team Sponsor at a salary of $2,100, Kevin White will be Middle School Football Coach at a salary of $2,345, and Katie Morris will serve as Middle School Volleyball Coach at a salary of $2,345.

The Board also approved the Regular Bus Routes for the 2015-16 school year.  You can view these routes by clicking the links below:

Bus Route #1 – Boender

Bus Route #2 – Jones

Bus Route #6 – Roelfs

Bus Route #7 – Wolthuizen

Bus Route #9 – Meyer

Bus Route #10 – Jinkinson

Five File For Three Seats On Sheldon School Board

vote voting ballotSheldon, Iowa — Five individuals have filed nomination papers for three seats that will be up for grabs in next month’s Sheldon School Board Election.

Current School Board President Kecia Hickman will be running unopposed to retain her seat representing Director District 3.  Glen Goedken, who currently serves as the At-Large District Director will not be seeking reelection.  Two individuals have filed to run for the seat Goedken is vacating.  They are Dan Van Gorp and Jessica Brink.

Director District 2, Mark Brown, is currently filling out the unexpired term of Gary Ihnen.  Ihnen resigned his position in 2013 when he moved from the state.  Brown is seeking reelection, and will be challenged by Steve Holles.

The Sheldon Community Schools School Board Election will be held September 8th.

Primghar Farmer Receives Award

corn fieldPrimghar, Iowa — A Primghar farmer received the 2015 O’Brien County Value Added Ag Hall of Fame Award at a ceremony held Wednesday night in Primghar.

Darwin Gaudian of Primghar was honored for his contributions to agriculture in O’Brien County and beyond.  Gaudian began his farming career upon graduating form high school.  He has been a member of the O’Brien County Fair Board since 1984, serving as President since 2001.  In 2002 he was elected to the O’Brien County and State of Iowa 4-H Halls of Fame, and has served on the Osceola County Rural Water Board.

Gaudian spends a great deal of time during the summer months visiting various county fairs, as well as the Iowa State Fair, looking for ideas that he can bring back and use to improve the O’Brien County Fair.

Gaudian and his wife, Jan, have two daughters, both of whom returned to northwest Iowa following college, and married into farming families.

Gaudian was nominated for the award by Rod Holtkamp of Primghar.

Nursing Home Company Pays More Than $400,000 Over Medicaid Irregularities

MoneyO’Brien County, Iowa — The parent company of two O’Brien County Nursing homes has agreed to pay over $415,000 to resolve civil allegations that they submitted inaccurate cost reports for Medicaid payments for the 2008 and 2010 fiscal years, according to a release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa.

The settlement agreement involves Signature Care Centers, LLC, the parent company of the Primghar Rehabilitation and Care Center and Sutherland Care Center, as well as a trio of other nursing homes.  The release says that the government didn’t allege any patient harm or jeopardy to patient’s conditions, and that there was no admission of liability or wrongdoing included as part of the settlement.

The release says that of the total amount recovered, approximately $231,000 is related to the conduct associated with facilities in the Southern District of Iowa, with the remaining $184,000 related to the conduct of facilities in the Northern District.

The matter was pursued jointly by the US Attorney’s Offices for the Northern and Southern Districts of Iowa, working cooperatively with the Iowa Medicaid Enterprise, Iowa’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and the Iowa Attorney General’s Office.

Three Area Coops Merge Into One

Northwest Iowa — Three area agricultural coops will be merging effective September 1st of this year, forming a cooperative with nineteen regional CFE - FINAL approvedlocations.

Rob Jacobs, who currently serves as General Manager of Coop Elevator Association in Ocheyedan has been named CEO of the new coop, which will be called Cooperative Farmer’s Elevator.  He tells us about the merger.

Jacobs talks about what the merger will mean to area producers.

He says that the merger of the three cooperatives will bring together the power of nineteen locations throughout the region.

Jacobs says that this merger not only brings together three companies, but three companies with the same focus and the same principles.

Jacobs says that, despite the merger, customers will still be seeing the same faces they’re used to doing business with over the years.

In addition to Rob Jacobs serving as CEO, Rick Finck, the current GM of Farmer’s Elevator Coop will serve as CFO, with Jeff Christensen, the current GM of United Farmers Coop serving as VP of Grain for the new Cooperative Farmers Elevator.

The merger of Farmer’s Elevator Coop, Cooperative Elevator Association and United Farmers Coop which will create Cooperative Farmers Elevator will be effective Tuesday, September 1st.