THE BEAR FACTS
March 19, 2022

 Good morning! I’m Ava Eisenbarth!

 I’m Eva Snyder!

And I’m Marguerite Fakler! Thanks for tuning in to the “Bear Facts”, your weekly radio update from Bishop Garrigan High School.

Last Saturday Garrigan competed at the state individual speech contest, which was held at Woodbury Central High School in Moville. While state basketball and a mission trip made them less rehearsed than they’d have preferred, the Bears ended up having a very good day. BGHS students earned 14 division I or “excellent” ratings and 2 division II or “good ratings. What’s more, two Garrigan students were named outstanding performers, the highest award there is in speech.

Marguerite Fakler earned all-state honors with her musical theatre presentation of “Forget About the Boy” from Thoroughly Modern Millie, while Ava Eisenbarth was named an outstanding performer for her literary program presentation on skiing. Both of them will perform at the All-State Speech Festival, which will be held Monday, March 28, at UNI. There were about 9,000 entries in individual speech this year, and only 400 of them will perform at all-state. Congratulations to Ava and Marguerite on this honor!

Ten other Garrigan performances earned Division I ratings at state. Riley Rosenmeyer received top marks for her review of the movie “Legally Blonde” and for the prose selection “Women Are Saner than Men”. Meredith Illg earned a I for her humorous poetry version of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”, Ava Eisenbarth got a I with a poetry selection called “Alternate Endings”, and Marguerite Fakler received a I for the prose piece “The Long Trip Home”.

 Eva Snyder received an “excellent” rating for a literary program on justice, Savannah Waechter earned a I for the acting piece “I Fall in Love”, Benjy Trainer took home top marks in improvisation, Molly Peterson got a I with her review of the oboe selection “Ariette”, and Isabella Waechter received a I for her poem “Fairy Tale Realty Check”. Finally freshman Brooke Ludwig received division II ratings in spontaneous speaking and improvisation. Congratulations to Coaches David Burrow and Ashley Meyer and the whole speech team!

This coming week around fifty Garrigan students will be headed down to the Ozarks. The band and choir are visiting Branson and the nearby area on the first big trip since a trip to New York was cancelled at the start of the pandemic. They’ll be boarding a bus at 7:00 Monday morning and arriving in Branson around 5:30 that night. They’ll spend time that night at a family fun park before settling into their hotel rooms.

Tuesday the music group will explore Dogwood Canyon Nature Park and the town of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. The choir will perform at Thorncrown Chapel that day. At night the group will see a show that merges fire, light, and water to music. Then on Wednesday they’ll see a museum, watch a musical act on a showboat, and have dinner at Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede.

Thursday the music students will spend the day at the Silver Dollar City amusement park. Friday they’ll visit the Titanic Museum, both the band and choir will perform, and the group will stop at the Bass Pro Shop before heading home for a late night arrival. It should be a fun trip, and we know all the band and choir people will have a great time.

Tonight is your last chance to see the BGHS spring play, Acting Can Be Murder. The cast features Marguerite Fakler, Drew Casey, Ava Eisenbarth, Isabel Casey, and Eva Snyder; as well as Spencer Doerning, Savannah Waechter, Joey Doerning, Meredith Tigges, Meredith Illg, and Nate Bronk. Rounding out the main group are Maggie Vaske, Sam Plathe, Benjy Trainer, and Brendan Plathe.

There’s also a special dream sequence with Elena Salinas, Molly Peterson, Alaina Casey, Madelyn Bronk, Alaina Bormann, Lauren Swift, Molly Bormann, and Isabella Waechter. Others in the cast are Violet Bode, Riley Rosenmeyer, Lexi Galligan, and Griffin Geving; plus Mya Kemna, Brooke Ludwig, Thadd Kollasch, Isaac DeLange, and Xander Darling. The final show starts at 7:00 tonight in Friedmann Auditorium. Be sure to be on hand to see Acting Can Be Murder.

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

 Xander Darling is a Wesley native whose biggest activity is probably music. He enjoys both band and choir, and he’s been active in jazz choir and the musical. Xander has also been in cross-country and quiz bowl all through school, he was part of the mission trip to Mississippi earlier this month, and something you may not have known is that he has one of the highest ACT scores in the country. You’ve almost certainly heard Xander announcing here on the “Bear Facts”, and his colleagues wish him all the best in the future.

Thanks Xander. On our Golden Bear calendar this week, there’s a junior high quiz bowl tournament at Garrigan today. Then tonight is the final show of the spring play, Acting Can Be Murder.

The fourth quarter begins on Monday, and the band and choir leave for Branson that morning. We’ll have a student mass on Tuesday, and Wednesday lots of high school students will be helping out with the eighth grade retreat.

There will be special mini-courses at school next Thursday and Friday. Then on Saturday Garrigan’s new track will get a workout as we host the big CYO track meet.

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