The Bear Facts

October 5, 2024

Good morning! I’m Thadd Kollasch!

I’m Molly Peterson!

And I’m Brooke Ludwig! This is a special edition of the “Bear Facts”, where we’re gettting ready for Homecoming here at Bishop Garrigan High School.

Garrigan’s Homecoming was originally scheduled for the last week of September. That was moved before the start of the school year, though, and the move turned out to be a goood thing. That’s because what would have been our home football game that week ended up being a forfeit when the opponent, Rockford, didn’t have enough healthy players to field a team. The state athletic association awarded the Bears a 17 – 0 win for the forfeit, the maximum points that can be credited to playoff seeding. Homecoming will now be next week, against Graettinger—Terril—Ruthven—Ayrshire.

The theme for Homecoming 2024-2025 is the Bishop Garrigan Olympics, and most of the special dress days revolve around that theme. Monday will be USA Day, with everyone dressing in red, white, and blue. Tuesday we get to choose our favorite Olympic event—which could be anything from basketball to snowboarding to figure skating to the marathon. Wednesday is Podium Day, when people will wear medals or other award swag.

Thursday is Competition Day. We’ll have the traditional Homecoming Battle of the Classes, and this year the classes will dress in the colors of the Olympic rings. The seniors will wear black, the juniors blue, the sophomores red, and the freshmen yellow. The staff will complete the Olympic colors by dressing in green. Finally next Friday we’ll finish up Homecoming by wearing the traditional black and gold.

The events of Homecoming week will kick off on Monday at 9am with the coronation. The Homecoming king candidates for 2024 are Trayton Cink, Andrew Lichter, Daniel Meis, and Nick Thul; while the queen candidates are Hanna Merron, Zoe Montag, Molly Peterson, and Isabella Waechter. KLGA will broadcast the coronation ceremony, and we’ll have a big pep rally afterwards. Later on Monday the whole Homecoming court will tour Algona, with stops at Seton Grade School, various businesses, and the area care centers.

The actual Garrigan Olympics will take place Thursday, when the four classes compete in a wide range of activities from volleyball to trivia. Friday we’ll have the Homecoming mass at 11am in the chapel, and after lunch there will be a lip sync contest in the gym. The Homecoming parade will be on State Street starting at 2pm, and the dance will follow the game Friday night.

Mixed in with Homecoming are some special music events. Today is Algona Band Day, and Algona’s Solid Gold Marching Band will be part of both the parade and field competitions. Because the football team won last week’s game by forfeit, the band has yet to perform their full field show publicly. The show is called “Screentime”, and it features music from TV and video games. We encourage you to head over to Algona High to see them perform in the field competition. The band will also compete next Saturday at state contest in Ft. Dodge.

The choir also has a busy week. On Wednesday they’ll be over in LeMars for the annual Sioux City Diocese Catholic Choral Festival. The festival concert will be at 7:00 Wednesday night at Gehlen. In addition to large-group pieces, each of the schools from around the diocese will present their own selections as part of the festival.

Garrigan’s football team has had an awesome year—going undefeated so far not only at the varsity level, but also with the J.V. and freshman Bears. This past week the J.V. Bears got a big win over West Bend—Mallard, the freshmen beat Estherville Lincoln Central in a mixed game with 8-man offense and 11-man defense, and of course the varsity got a big win at Siouxland Christian. We learned this week that a change in method of assigning football playoffs means that the Bears should be playing their first three playoff games at home. We wish the Bears good luck throughout the rest of the season and in playoffs.

We crushed our goal with the Walk and Pray fundraiser, bringing in more than $60,000 to help with transportation and curriculum. The top sellers overall were the McGuire, Patten, Reding, Besch, and Wilson families; followed by the Deiterings, Marsos, Creightons, Lappes, and Herrrens. Thanks to everyone who helped out with the Walk and Pray fundraiser.

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Zoe Montag. Here to tell you about her is Drew Muller.

Zoe Montag is one of our Homecoming queen candidates. This fall she’s one of the Golden Bear cheerleaders.  Zoe has made multiple trips to state in both basketball and track, and she also played first base for the conference champion softball team. Zoe is taking five different college classes this fall, so she’ll have lots of credits to transfer when she’s done with high school. We wish Zoe all the best in the future.

Thanks, Drew. On our Golden Bear calendar, today is Algona Band Day. The parade is at 1pm, and the field competition starts at 5:00.

Monday the Homecoming coronation will be at 9am, followed by a pep rally. The royalty tours Algona on Monday, and that night the JV football team hosts the North Iowa Bison.

Tuesday the cross-country team runs at Eagle Grove and the volleyball team travels to Britt to play West Hancock. Then on Wednesday there’s the Catholic Choral Festival in LeMars.

Thursday we’ll have the Battle of the Classes for Homecoming, and that night the volleyball team hosts Newell—Fonda. Friday we’ll have the Homecoming mass, followed by a lip sync contest.

The Homecoming parade is at 2:00 Friday. That night the Bears play Graettinger—Terril—Ruthven—Ayrshire, and there will be a chili supper served at the game.

The Homecoming dance will be Friday night following the game. Finally next Saturday there’s the state marching band contest in Fort Dodge.

That’s the “Bear Facts” for this week. Thanks for joining us, and be sure to tune in again next week to hear all the results from Homecoming 2024 at Bishop Garrigan High School.