THE BEAR FACTS
September 18, 2021

Good morning! I’m Meredith Tigges!

I’m Ella Muller!

And I’m Veronica Capesius! You’re listening to the “Bear Facts”, the radio show where each week we keep you up to date on everything that’s happening at Bishop Garrigan High School.

The Golden Bear cross-country team is on a roll. This past week senior Quinn Swift ran two races, but he actually brought home three second place medals. Last Saturday the Bears ran in the Ridge View Invitational at Holstein, which doubles as the diocesan CYO meet. Quinn finished second out of 106 runners in the small schools division, and he was also second in the CYO contest to a runner from Kuemper. The Bears as a team finished 8th out of 15 teams at Ridge View.

Then on Tuesday the cross-country team ran in Quinn’s hometown of Emmetsburg, and three different Golden Bears medaled in that meet. At Emmetsburg Quinn Swift finished in second place overall, Hollis Bode was 12th, and Saban Meraz brought home a 15th place medal. Junior Gavin Swift just missed medaling with a 16th place finish. Xander Darling, Ethan Kuper, and C.J. Weydert also helped lead the Bears to a second place team finish. Meanwhile Veronica Capesius medaled for the girls. Abbie Capesius and Lillee Deike also have been running hard for the girls.

The Sioux City Diocese Catholic Youth Organization recently announced their CYO Coaches of the Year, and two of those honorees are from Bishop Garrigan. Girls golf coach Victor Berte was honored for leading the Golden Bear girls to back-to-back state championships, while girls basketball coach Brandon Schwab received his honor after his team was the state runner-up for two straight seasons. Congratulations to these Golden Bear coaches!

Homecoming 2021 is just a week away. This year’s Homecoming theme is “It’s a Celebration”, and we’ll be celebrating all week long from September 26 through October 2nd. The week’s special dress days are geared around different kinds of celebrations, like birthdays, Christmas, Halloween, and the 4th of July.

Last week seniors voted to nominate the 2021 Homecoming royal court. This year’s queen candidates are Annie Burns, Veronica Capesius, Emma Grandgenett, Ella Muller, and Meredith Tigges. The Homecoming king candidates are Hollis Bode, Collin Casey, Grant Haugland, Jacob Leerar, and Quinn Swift. The whole school votes for the overall king and queen, which will be announced Monday morning, September 27.

There’s one week left in the Bishop Garrigan calendar drive. Again this year all the high school and middle school students at Garrigan are selling calendars for $30 each. The calendars give the dates of school events and feature dozens of pictures of all different activities. They also double as a raffle entry, with a chance of winning 365 cash prizes. All sales have to be turned in by next Friday, September 24, so don’t miss your chance to get your Bishop Garrigan calendar.

Garrigan seniors Joe Schumacher and Collin Casey helped out with the recent farm safety day that the Algona FFA held for area third grade students. Both of these Garrigan students have been part of the FFA all through school, and Collin has served in several chapter offices. We’re glad they could help the third graders have fun while learning about how to stay safe on the farm.

The Garrigan chapel was unused through much of the pandemic. Now that it’s fully open again, the chapel is busy with lots of religious activities. There are masses held every Monday morning in the chapel, and also on the first Saturday of each month. Morning prayer services are also held, and there’s Eucharistic adoration on Fridays. Of course students and staff members can also go to the chapel for quiet prayer whenever they have free time. Deacon Dave has proposed the slogan “A chapel a day keeps the devil away”, and we certainly hope that’s true.

This week’s Senior Spotlight shines on Lillee Deike. Here to tell you about her is MaryAnne Capesius.

Lillee Deike is probably best known for her accomplishments in dance, which she’s been active in since she was a little girl. Lillee has helped lead the Golden Bear danz squad to multiple state championships, and she’s also won many individual state trophies. Lillee is part of the cross-country team this fall. She also a cheerleader, she runs track, she’s been to state in speech, and she helps out behind the scenes at plays and concerts. We wish Lillee all the best in her senior year and beyond!

Thanks, MaryAnne! On this week’s Golden Bear calendar, there’s a JV volleyball tournament at Algona High today. Then tomorrow the varsity team will travel to Sioux City Heelan for the CYO volleyball tournament.

Monday there’s a cross-country meet in Humboldt, and also that night the JV football team will be hosting Graettinger Terril—Ruthven Ayrshire. Then on Tuesday the volleyball team hosts North Iowa.

Also on Tuesday there’s a swim meet at the Algona YMCA. Wednesday there will be no school because of teacher inservice, and that evening the staff will have their Faith Night.

Next Thursday there’s a swim meet in Ft. Dodge. Friday is the last day of the calendar drive, and that night the football team travels to Harris Lake Park. Finally next Saturday the volleyball team will host their home tournament.

That’s the “Bear Facts” for another week. Thanks for joining us, and be sure to catch the show again next week, when we’ll preview all the details of Homecoming here at Bishop Garrigan High School.