Good morning! I’m Ben Lickteig!
I’m Brad Nelson!
And
I’m Scott McGuire! Welcome to a very special “Bear
Facts”, where we’re celebrating GALA 2001 here at Bishop
Garrigan High School.
This is the twelfth year of the GALA celebration. For over a decade it has been not only the single biggest fundraiser for Garrigan and Seton, but also one of the biggest social events of the year in Algona. Every year over 250 people attend GALA. Nearly as many student and adult volunteers help out to make the evening a success. It’s been very successful in recent years—with proceeds reaching the $200,000 mark. We hope GALA 2001 will be another great fundraiser.
For many people the highlight of GALA is the food. This year’s menu begins with such hors d’oeuvres as smoked salmon canapés, salami coronets, and cheese and olive skewers. The main menu features sausage and sweet corn chowder, fresh avocado and shrimp salad with lemon thyme vinaigrette, and baked croissants with honey butter stars. Prior to the main course guests will enjoy refreshing lemon sorbet. Then it’s time for stuffed flank steak with caramelized onions and Madeira wine sauce. On the side they’ll savor potato croquettes and amaretto glazed baby carrots. Then for dessert there’s chocolate decadence with white chocolate sauce and raspberry swirl. Finally guests will finish the evening with assorted chocolates and gourmet coffee.
Through all eight courses of the meal, guests will be bidding on items from the live and silent auction. Among this year’s featured gifts is a factory-sealed Playstation 2 donated by the students at Garrigan, a big screen TV, and officially licensed apparel from 104 different colleges and universities. There’s also practical gifts like 200 gallons of gas, romantic getaway weekends, and lots and lots of handicrafts. Then, at the end of the evening, someone will win a brand new car in the special GALA raffle.
All the money raised at GALA helps to support the students at Garrigan and Seton—the “728 points of light” that this year’s GALA theme celebrates. Some of those lights shone brightly last weekend when the Golden Bear quiz bowl team competed in the Boone Invitational Tournament. The Bears had moderate success in the preliminary rounds, but they really came alive in the play-offs—where they beat team and ended up taking home the second place trophy in their division. Chris Kohlhaas was the Bears’ captain, and his teammates were Josh Richter, Dan Bormann, Tony Schmitt, and David Murphy. The Bears will have one more quiz bowl tournament this year, when they compete at Iowa State University later this month. Congratulations to the quiz bowl team!
While the quiz bowl team was competing in Boone, Garrigan’s top music students were in Fort Dodge for the state solo and ensemble music contest. Garrigan received 8 Division one and 5 Division two ratings at state. Receiving ones were Angie and John Kohlhaas, Autumn Thompson, Ellie Reising, Keshar Nadkarni, Steven Kellner, and Jeff Hellman. The Division II ratings are also very good. Among those who earned IIs were Amber Golwitzer, Rachel McGuire, Andi Kramer, Rebecca McGuire, Mandy Rahm, and Ashley Schiltz. Also receiving IIs were Angie Kohlhaas, Janel Richter, Jenna Kollasch, Molly Black, Paul Loebach, and Zac Lickteig. Congratulations to directors Dennis Freking and Todd Herbst-Ulmer, and all the music students!
It’s time for spring sports again. Garrigan has a long tradition of success in golf, and we’re hoping that 2001 will bring another successful season for the girls golf team. The team is coached by Dean Capesius, and it features seniors Stephanie Berte and Lynn Kohlhaas and junior Ashley Thompson. The sophomore golfers are Melissa Mulligan, Andrea Schiltz, Katie VonRuden, and Amanda Wolf. The team also includes six freshmen: Melissa Vaske, Cassie Recker, Brooke Meyers, Riley Gillespie, Elizabeth Bormann, and Ashley Berte. The girls was originally scheduled to begin their season today with the BGHS invitational, but that was postponed due to the snow melt and floods! We wish good luck throughout the season to the girls golf team!
Our senior spotlight this week shines on Stephanie Berte and Brooke Buscherfeld. Here with the details on them is David Monson.
Like most Bertes, Stephanie enjoys golf. She’s a four-year golfer who is at the core of this year’s team. Stephanie is also active in choir, and she’s a member of the National Honor Society. She’ll be off to college next year, and we wish her all the best.
Brooke Buscherfeld is one of the editors of the Paw Prints newspaper and Garrigold yearbook. She’s a Whittemore native who also enjoys band and quiz bowl, and in the past you may have even heard her announcing here on the “Bear Facts”. Brooke will also be a college girl next year, and we wish her all the best.
On our Golden Bear calendar tonight it’s time for GALA 2001. Mass for workers will be at 4pm, with the meal and auction starting at 7:00.
Tomorrow is Palm Sunday. The big event of the day is the CYO Track Meet, where both the girls’ and boys’ teams will be running. Then Monday the girls’ golf team hosts Webster City.
Tuesday there’s girls’ track at Algona High. Wednesday the golf teams play Hampton/Dumont. Then next Thursday we’ll celebrate Holy Week with a special all-school retreat. After the stations of the cross, we’ll dismiss early for Easter vacation.
Finally this week, we’d like to congratulate Garrigan business teacher Annette Vaske and her husband Greg on the birth of their newest son and our youngest Golden Bear, Samuel. That’s the “Bear Facts” for this week. Even with the holiday, though, we’ll be back again next week—and we invite you to tune in then when we’ll have more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
