Good morning! I'm Mike McAlpine!
And I'm Theresa McGuire! Welcome once again to the "Bear
Facts". Happy Halloween from all of us at Bishop Garrigan High
School!
This is a busy week here at Garrigan. The action all starts today with the state
cross-country meet. Golden Bear runner Jeff Hellman is on his way down to Fort Dodge this morning to run in the Class 2-A meet. Jeff finished in seventh place at the district meet last week in Eagle Grove, and we know he'll be running his hardest today. You can see him by heading down to Kennedy Park. The park is located next to the airport, at the north end of Fort Dodge. Jeff will run at 1:45pm, and we encourage everyone to head south to cheer on Jeff at state!
Garrigan's cross-country runners can be easily spotted by their new T-shirts. The dark blue shirts were designed by Rosalind Kirsch. They feature orange and white lettering and carry two messages. The front says "just run"-which we know Jeff will do plenty of today. Then on the back is a message that shows the runners pride in the effort they put out: "My sport is your sport's punishment".
Cross-country shirts aren't the only T-shirts you'll see at Garrigan these days. Commemorative shirts are starting we be in next Tuesday for this year's football play-offs. The district champion Golden Bears will be trick-or-treating for a victory when play-offs start on Halloween night. Their opponent and the play-off site should be announced today. Good luck all through play-offs to the Golden Bear football team!
Football isn't the only Garrigan team that are district champions this fall. Last Monday the Golden Bear volleyball team clinched the district championship for the first time in school history, with a big win over Britt West Hancock. Then on Wednesday they started regional play with a big win over St. Ansgar. The regional semi-finals will be next Monday at Lake Mills, with the final Thursday, November 1st. We urge everybody to come on out and cheer the Bears on to state!
Last Saturday the Golden Bear quiz bowl team competed in the Cyclone Classic Tournament at Iowa State University in Ames. Garrigan was one of only two teams that were undefeated in the preliminary rounds-with big wins over Nevada, Applington-Parkersburg, Cedar Rapids Washington, and Boone. They beat Mason City High School in the opening round of play-offs, but then lost to Marion to take fifth place overall in the tournament. Bob Brandenburg was the team captain, and other players included Chris Kohlhaas, John Kohlhaas, Matt Courtney, Jordan Kajewski, and Jacob Richter.
There's more quiz bowl action today, with the Bears playing in the Central Iowa Tournament at Ankeny High School. Originally Jeff Hellman was scheduled to be part of today's team, but he had to cancel when he qualified for state cross-country. The team captain today will be Rebecca McGuire, and her teammates will include Bob Brandenburg, Steven Kellner, Eric Fouarge, David Murphy, Amber Golwitzer, Rachel McGuire, and Jacob Richter. The team will play at least five preliminary matches, and we hope they advance well through the play-offs. Good luck to the quiz bowl team!
The annual magazine drive is off to a good start. All four classes are on target to make their goals, and there should be a good amount of profit for the student council. The fundraiser continues through next Friday. Remember that the prices are the same as you'd pay to renew your subscriptions anywhere else, and 40% of the money goes to support student activities at Garrigan. So be sure to find your favorite Golden Bear and renew your magazines today!
If you happened to be at the Chrome Country Inn early last Tuesday morning, you might have seen some very tired Garrigan students among the patrons. They were there to celebrate National Mole Day. A mole is an important measurement in chemistry that equals 6.02 times 10 to the 23rd power units of any substance. To commemorate that number science teacher Greg Ahlers hosts an annual breakfast at the Chrome promptly at 6:02am on the date of 10/23 ... or October 23rd. He gives extra credit to students who get out of bed in time to attend. So we'd like to wish a belated Happy Mole Day to Mr. Ahlers and the chemistry classes.
Now here with our Senior Spotlight is Bob Brandenburg.
This week's Senior Spotlight shines on Jeff Vaske. People have described Jeff as a person who could sell anything. All through school he's been on of the top sellers in the annual magazine and calendar drives, and everyone is expecting him to top his record this year. Jeff is a Bancroft native who has a special interest in the health field. You may have seen him doing work at area care centers and clinics, and at school some of his favorite classes are in science. He'll be off to college next year, and we wish Jeff all the best.
Thanks, Bob! On our Golden Bear calendar, there's the state cross-country meet at Fort Dodge today, and we encourage everyone to go down there to watch Jeff Hellman run. Also today the quiz bowl team plays in Ankeny, and there's a craft show in the Garrigan gym.
Tomorrow Daylight Saving Time ends. Many students will be making a "Leap of Faith" as they attend the annual Diocesan Youth Rally in Carroll. Then next Monday there's the regional volleyball semi-finals with the Bears travelling to Lake Mills.
Next Wednesday will be the first round of football play-offs. Listen to the radio this weekend to catch the play-off assignments. Then on Thursday we'll have a 9:30 mass for All Saints Day. Hopefully that night the girls will be playing in the regional volleyball finals.
Next Friday we'll have First Friday adoration in the Garrigan chapel. That night is your first chance to catch the fall musical
"Fiddler on the
Roof". Showtime is 7:00pm on Friday and Saturday nights. Finally next Saturday the quiz bowl team plays at Algona High.
Finally this week we'd like to offer our get well wishes to three members of the Garrigan community. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with former Garrigan English teacher Amanda Stewart as she battles to recover from cancer. We're also thinking of Seton teacher Chuck Stillman, who was hospitalized this week. Mr. Stillman is on almost everybody's list of favorite teachers, and we hope he will be back in the classroom soon. And finally we send our good wishes to longtime Garrigan supporter Barney Thilges. We hope he'll be recovering quickly after his recent hospitalization.
That's the "Bear Facts" for October. Thanks for tuning in, and be sure to set your dial here again next week when we'll be back with more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
