THE BEAR FACTS

February 4, 2023

Good morning! I’m Gavin Swift!

I’m Joey Doerning!

And I’m Violet Bode Thanks for tuning in to the 1,181st weekly episode of the “Bear Facts”, where every week we keep you up to date on all the news from Bishop Garrigan High School.

Right about now ten Garrigan students are beginning their day of competition at the state large group speech contest in LeMars. The Bears have three events competing at state this morning. Two of those are improvisation groups. Starting things off are Scott Bormann, Tate Foertsch, and Thadd Kollasch; and then around 10:20am Audi Crooks, Sam Plathe, Brendan Plathe, Benjy Trainer, and Violet Bode will perform.

The older group entertained parents and friends of the school at our Catholic Schools Week community gathering last Wednesday by acting out a scene about Black Friday at Walmart, where an elderly man knocked out Mike Tyson to score a discounted TV. Garrigan’s third group performs at 10:!5 this morning. Savannah and Isabella Waechter are in Musical Theatre, and they’ll be acting out the song “Stepsisters Lament” from Cinderella. Best wishes to all the Golden Bear performers at state speech.

Though there’s still snow on the ground, next Wednesday the Golden Bear danz squad will host their spring show. The dancers will show off their state championship pom and kick routines, as well as the friends and coed routines they’ve taught other students. They’re also holding a dance clinic that afternoon, and the little kids will display their talent at the show. The danz squad spring show will be Wednesday at 7pm in the new Garrigan gym.

Another event coming up is the state qualifying jazz choir contest. This year that will be held at Algona High next Monday, February 6th. There are eighteen students in Garrigan’s Viva Voce jazz choir. They include sopranos Ava Hough, Eva Snyder, Isabella Waechter, and Savannah Waechter; mezzo-soprano Madelyn Bronk, and altos Violet Bode, Audi Crooks, Lauren Swift, and Maggie Vaske.

On the boys side are tenors Benjy Trainer, Nate Bronk, Brendan Plathe, and Tate Foertsch; baritone Logan Nemmers; and basses Drew Casey, Sam Plathe, and Amaury Thomas. Viva Voce will perform around 4:15 Monday night at Algona High. Best wishes to the jazz choir!

The playoff bracket has been announced for girls regional basketball, and to nobody’s surprise the Bears have a bye in the first round. The defending state champions continue to be ranked #1 in Class 1-A. They’ll host the winner of North Iowa and GTRA in the second round of regionals on February 14th. In the semi-finals they’ll most likely take on St. Ansgar. Other teams on that side of the bracket are Northwood—Kensett, North Butler, and Mason City Newman.

The regional championship will be at a neutral site on February 22nd. The top team in the bottom half of the bracket is Riceville, and the Bears could also face Waterloo Christian, West Hancock, Gladbrook—Reinbeck, Janesville, North Tama, or West Bend—Mallard. If they make it through regionals, this would be the Bears’ fourth consecutive trip to the state girls basketball tournament. Good luck, Bears!

The Golden Bear baseball and softball teams are selling fresh strawberries. You can buy a two-pound flat for $12. Four pounds cost $20, and you can get eight pounds for $35. Everyone on the summer sports teams is selling the fruit, so find your favorite Golden Bear and get yours today.

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Eli Ricke. Here to tell you about him is Drew Casey.

You may have seen Eli Ricke in the special Catholic Schools Week insert in the Algona paper, since his dad was also a graduate of Garrigan. Eli has been in a wide range of classes over the years, but he most enjoys the ones where he can get his hands dirty. Away from school you’ll see him giving oil changes and rotating tires at Kemna’s. We wish Eli all the best after high school.

Thanks, Drew! On this week’s Golden Bear calendar, there’s state speech contest today at LeMars High School. The Bears have three events competing at state. All next week the younger kids will be exploring Ag in the Classroom.

Monday we’ll have our Catholic Schools Week fun day, which was postponed due to weather last Friday. Monday afternoon there’s the state qualifying vocal jazz contest. Garrigan’s Viva Voce will be compete at the Wilcox Performing Arts Center at Algona High.

Monday night the JV and varsity Bears will host North Iowa in a basketball quad. We’ll begin the day Tuesday with mass. There are parent—teacher conferences after school on Tuesday, and at 6:30 the School Improvement Advisory Committee will meet.

Tuesday night the Golden Bear girls will travel to take on Dike—New Hartford, the top-rated team in Class 2-A. Coach Schwab hopes that game will help prepare the girls for playoffs.

The JJV boys will play at Belmond Tuesday night. Wednesday there are more parent—teacher conferences. The danz squad will hold a clinic for young girls after school on Wednesday, and then at night they’ll have their spring show.

Thursday we’ll have an out-of-uniform day to raise money for a special gift for Gala. That night the Golden Bear boys play at Hampton—Dumont. Friday there’s no school at Garrigan and Seton, and next Saturday will be the annual winter formal.

That’s our first “Bear Facts” for February. Thanks for joining us, and be sure to catch the show again next week for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.