THE BEAR FACTS
September 11, 2021

 Good morning! I’m Ava Eisenbarth!

 I’m Meredith Tigges!

 And I’m Riley Rosenmeyer! Welcome once again to the “Bear Facts”, the weekly radio update from Bishop Garrigan High School.

 The annual calendar drive has begun. Kick-off was last Friday, and from now until September 24 high school and middle school students will be selling calendars. Each calendar costs just $30, and they are full of color pictures featuring classes and activities. Purchases also enter you in a raffle to win cash prizes every day of the year. So be sure to find your favorite Golden Bear and get your calendar today!
 

This fall eight Garrigan choir students are busy preparing to audition for the all-state choir. All-state auditions are back to being in-person this year, and they’ll be held at the end of October. Students preparing for all-state include seniors Marguerite Fakler, Xander Darling, and Meredith Tigges; plus Savannah Waechter, Benjy Trainer, Griffin Geving, Isabella Waechter, and Schyler Morse. Best wishes to all these wonderful singers!

 The Solid Gold Marching Band has also been busy this fall. They’ll be competing in both Algona Band Day and the state marching competition in October. This year’s field show is called “Move”, and it features such songs as “Dancing Queen” and “Life Is a Highway”. Xander Darling and Meredith Tigges are the drum majors for the 2021 band.

Band director Katherine Wiemers has been away at the start of the school year. She’s been caring for her new daughter, future Golden Bear Rosalyn Wiemers. While she’s been gone, former band director Ken Ferjak has been back to help out. Mrs. Wiemers will be back for Algona Band Day on October 2nd and for the state competition the following week. Good luck to the band!

A couple weeks ago we announced a number of things that happened over the summer, but we left out one important accomplishment. The Golden Bear danz squad earned another bid for nationals at a camp they attended. Rley Rosenmeyer, Lillee Deike, Ella Schaaf, and Meredith Illg were also named all-Americans at that camp.

Several Garrigan dancers recently auditioned for the All-Iowa Honor Drill Team. Those honors will be announced later this fall, and the winners will perform as part of the state basketball festivities. Congratulations, and good luck throughout the season to the Garrigan dancers!

Football, volleyball, and cross-country aren’t the only sports people participate in each fall. Garrigan freshman Brooke Ludwig spends her free time in the pool as part of the Algona swim team. Brooke had big meets in Boone and Fort Dodge this past week, and she’ll be busy swimming all through the fall.

One of the busiest groups at Garrigan is student council. Librarian Tricia Greteman is in charge of student council, and this year Hollis Bode and Collin Casey are serving as student body co-presidents. The senior class officers are Emma Grandgenett, Ella Muller, Maryanne Capesius, and Quinn Swift.

The younger student council members include juniors Emma Bacha, Zoey Von Bank, Grace Winkelman, and Caleb Bormann; sophomores Logan Nemmers, Caden Roethler, Sam Plathe, and Violet Bode; and freshmen Griffin Geving, Brooke Ludwig, Hanna Merron, and Alaina Bormann. Student council is busy now planning the upcoming Homecoming celebration, which will take place at the end of the month.

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Quinn Swift. Here to tell you about him is Xander Darling.

It’s pretty appropriate that Quinn’s last name is “Swift”. He’s just about the fastest person at Garrigan—and one of the fastest anywhere around here. Quinn is hoping to return to state cross-country this year, and he also runs distance events in track. He’s an Emmetsburg native who also serves as a class representative and enjoys art and music. He’ll be off to college next year, and we wish Quinn all the best in the future.

Thanks, Xander. On our Golden Bear calendar, Quinn and all the other cross-country runners will be busy this morning with the CYO cross-country meet over in Holstein. Also today freshmen and 8th graders will be part of the Eagles Flight aviation activity.

Monday there’s more cross-country, with the team running at Emmetsburg. The JV football team hosts West Bend Mallard that night, there’s a JV volleyball quad at Lake Mills, and the JJV volleyball team plays at Estherville.

Tuesday there’s volleyball at North Union, and there’s also a swim meet in Perry. Wednesday will be the third turn-in day in the calendar drive, and finally next Friday the football team has a tough match-up as they host Newell—Fonda.

That’s the “Bear Facts” for this week. Thanks for tuning in, and be sure to catch the show again next week for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.