Good morning! I'm Ben Lickteig!
And I'm Scott McGuire! Welcome once again to the "Bear Facts", the weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan High School.
There has been some sad news at Garrigan lately. Three different deaths hit very close to home. Last Wednesday, after a long battle with cancer, Sean Beisch died. Sean was the son of Garrigan graduate and danz squad assistant Lynn Reising Beisch, and he is well known to everyone to everyone at Garrigan and Seton. We've held Sean in our prayers for at least a year, and now our prayers are with the whole Beisch family in their time of loss.
Earlier in the week we learned of the death of Wilfred Kohlhaas, who was the father of Garrigan math teacher Daryl Kohlhaas, the grandfather of four BGHS students, and a distant relative of lots of others. Both students and teachers packed the church in St. Joe yesterday for the Kohlhaas funeral, and we're certainly keeping that family in our prayers, too. We'd also like to extend our prayers and sympathy to the Chad Berte family. We were shocked and saddened by Nicole Berte's murder. They say bad news comes in threes, and we certainly hope these three deaths are the last we'll be talking about for quite a while.
Sean Beisch's death especially saddened the girls on the BGHS danz squad. We hope they'll be back in good spirits today, though, because this weekend they're down in Des Moines for the state drill team competition. Garrigan has done extremely well at state in the past few years, and we hope they'll once again blow away the competition and qualify for nationals.
Heather Johnson and Kelly Kunkel are captains of this year's danz squad. Other team members include Allison Courtney, Stephanie Hilbert, Jamie Roethler, Monica Studer, Laura Seeley, Lindsey Eischen, and Nikki Loebig. Rounding out the squad are Jenny Erpelding, Kim Frideres, Rachel Foth, Sarah Schmitt, Amanda wolf, Maria Erpelding, and Nicole Krieps. Colleen Conway-Schiltz is the BGHS danz squad advisor.
The Golden Bear quiz bowl team is also competing today. They're up in Spirit Lake for their fifth tournament of the fall. Angie Kohlhaas and Josh Richter will be serving as Garrigan's captains today. Also competing are seniors Chris Missal, Lynn Kohlhaas, and Ellie Reising; juniors Bob Brandenburg, Rebecca McGuire, and Chris Kohlhaas; sophomores David Murphy and Jeff Hellman; and freshman John Kohlhaas. Good luck to coach David Burrow and the whole quiz bowl team.
Basketball season is here! The BGHS girls struggled a bit in their first two games of the season, but they're hoping to bring things together as they start conference play. Seniors Heather Stence, Michelle Vitzthum, and Sara Reding are the core of this year's team. Also starting are juniors Jenna Becker and Ashley Arndorfer. Other key players include seniors Kelly Kohlhaas and Sara Seeley; juniors Shelly DeVries, Teresa McGuire, Alison Dornbier, Heather Fickbohm, Mindy Buscher, and Amanda Gisch; and sophomore Janel Richter. Dave Wieland coaches girls' basketball at Garrigan.
Five senior veterans are starting on the boys' basketball team: Scott McGuire, Brad Nelson, Ben Richter, Tim Kohlhaas, and Ben Lickteig. Seniors Josh Hanig and Oliver Hoffman, juniors Jeff Vaske and Joe Bartolo, and sophomore Justin Fickbohm round out the round out the varsity squad. Everyone is expecting a great season from the boys this year, and we wish good luck to Coach John Bartolo and all the basketball team.
Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Nathan Hanson and Dana Elbert. Here to fill you in on them is Brad Nelson.
Nathan Hanson's biggest interest is probably computers. He's one of the students who has been working hard to keep the Garrigan website up to date. Nate is an Algona native who also enjoys his art classes. He's undecided about his future plans, but wherever he ends up, we wish Nate all the best.
Dana Elbert's main activity is band. She's been involved in marching, concert, pep and jazz bands all through high school. She's also a choir member, and in the past she was in publications and cheerleading. Dana is looking at going to Iowa Central Community College, and we wish her the very best in the future.
Thanks, Brad! On this week's Golden Bear calendar, there's state drill team today in Des Moines and also the quiz bowl. Tomorrow we'll light the candle for the first Sunday of Advent.
Monday we'll have an Advent prayer service during homeroom. That night there's freshman boys' basketball at St. Ed's in Ft. Dodge. Then on Tuesday the varsity Bears travel to Eagle Grove.
Next Thursday Next several Spanish students will take a field trip to see the Mexican ballet in Ft. Dodge. That night is the annual Christmas concert and art show. Then on Friday we'll have mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
Finally, next Friday night the Golden Bear basketball teams will be hosting Clarion-Goldfield. The cross-country team will serve a meal at the game.
That's the "Bear Facts" for this week. Thanks for listening, and be sure to tune in again next week for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
