The Bear Facts
September 1, 2018

Good morning! I’m Gabe Trainer!

I’m Logan Heying!

And I’m Laurel Degen Thanks for joining us for the “Bear Facts”, the weekly radio with updates from Bishop Garrigan High School.

We had several pieces of good news at Garrigan in the first week of school. First, at our first school mass last Friday, it was announced that long-time business teacher Annette Vaske had been selected to receive the Exicellence in Education Award from the Sioux City Diocese. She will receive the award next month at the annual Bishop’s Dinner for Education in Sioux City. Congratulations on a great accomplishment, Mrs. Vaske!

Last Tuesday new English teacher Ashley Meyer went to the hospital, and she came home with a beautiful new baby. Mrs. Meyer’s new son is named Beau Allan Meyer, and he weighed 7 pounds, 14 ounces. We’re pleased that both the mother and her son are doing great. Congratulations, Mrs. Meyer!

There were lots of changes at Garrigan over the summer. The biggest part of that was bringing third graders out to our building, to make room for an even larger daycare at Seton. To make room for the third graders, we created a whole new classroom from former storage space and remodeled other rooms. We also added a playground north of the school, and we were pleased to learn this past week that the school had received a large grant from Wellmark insurance to help fund that playground. We’re pleased to welcome the third graders to Garrigan.

All three of the fall sports began their seasons with strong showings. The Golden Bear volleyball team sailed past Belmond—Klemme last week to get their first win of the season, and then they did well in a tournament at St. Edmond over the weekend. While there are no seniors in volleyball this year, it’s still a very strong team. The core is juniors—including Maddie and Mackenzie Meister, Emma Lichter, Katie Noonan, Emma Fogarty, and Amanda Miller.

Sophomores in varsity volleyball include Kaylyn Meyers, Reese Rosenmeyer, Tara Kron, Gracie Elsbecker, and Bailey Meister. Also playng varsity is freshman Ella Muller. Dave Schnurr is back in charge of the volleyball team this year. He’s assisted by Michaela Creighton, Wendi Meister, and Bo Schnurr. Good luck, volleyball!

This year’s Golden Bear football team is heavy on seniors, and they’re who led us to a win last week when the Bears played up a class at perennial powerhouse Emmetsburg. Returning seniors include quarterback Brad Capesius; linemen Billy Erpelding, John Capesius, Aidan Koob, and Drew Merron; receivers T.J. Schnurr, Gabe Trainer, Tristan Furgeson, John Meis, and Caden Berte; and running backs Eric Thul, Sam Vaske, and Preston Kohlhaas.

Younger players to watch include juniors Cade Winkel, Colby Graves, Marcus Plathe, and Alex Mammen; as well as sophomores Mitch Buscherfeld, Kale Kramer, Joe Merron, and Derrick Kirsch. The Bears hope to keep adding to their string of consecutive wins, and we wish Coach Marty Wadle and all the football team good luck all season long!

In addition to playing football, John Meis is also running cross-country this year. He’s the lone senior runner on the team. Also in cross-country are juniors Jenna Heinen and Bailey Kollasch; sophomores Ava Bartolo, Kiana Book, Amanda Thilges, Joseph Meis, Austin Von Bank, and Joseph Bonstetter; and freshmen Quinn Swift and Xander Darling. Best wishes to Coaches Brandon and Cassie Rowely and the all the cross-country runners!

The annual Garrigan calendar drive started yesterday. For the next two and a half weeks every student from middle school through high school will be selling calendars full of school events and pictures. Each calendar also enters you in a raffle to win big cash prizes. The money goes to support our transportation costs at Garrigan. So be sure to find your favorite Golden Bear and get your calendar today.

The start of Homecoming is just a week away, and this past week we announced the Homecoming royalty for 2018. This year’s queen candidates are Megan Besch, Madelyn Cink, Cacy Steinman, and Emma Thul. The King candidates for 2018 are John Capesius, Billy Erpelding, Eric Thul, and Gabe Trainer. We’ll have more information on Homecoming on next week’s show.

This week we shine our spotlight on Gabriel Trainer. When we asked Gabe what activities he was in, he said “everything”, and that’s pretty much true. He plays football and also swims competitively. He’s been to nationals in quiz bowl, and he’s active in math team, music, drama, and speech—not to mention being student council co-president. Away from school this Algona native enjoys skateboarding and jumping on his trampoline. Gabe plans to be a pre-med major in college, and we wish him all the best in the future.

Thanks, Logan! On our Golden Bear calendar this week, there’s a JV and JJV volleyball tournament today at Algona High. Then Monday we have the day off for Labor Day.

Tuesday the JV football team hosts Estherville. The volleyball team hosts Eagle Grove that night, and there’s also cross-country at Estherville.

We’ll have mass on Wednesday. Then Thursday there’s volleyball at Garner. Friday there’s football at Lake Mills, and next Saturday will be the CYO cross-country meet at Holstein.

That’s the “Bear Facts” for another week. Thanks for joining us, and be sure to catch the show next week, when we’ll be telling you all about Homecoming 2018 here at Bishop Garrigan High School.