On Thursday, October 22nd the Ram cross country team traveled to Panora for the state qualifying cross country meet. At this meet, 78 girls and 90 boys ran, hoping that this wasn't their final race for the season. Only 10 of each gender would advance to the state meet in Fort Dodge. Of the 20 runners whose running season continued one more week, two belonged to the MVAOCOU Ram team.
    Sophomore Sylvia Forbes had a bit of a motivation to advance to state - to make up for time lost last year.
    "Last year was my first race as a freshman, and I was just coming off of a hip injury that happened earlier in the spring," said Sylvia, daughter of Jessica and Tom Forbes of Mapleton. "I just barely missed qualifying for state, and that really motivated me and helped me work towards wanting to be able to qualify this year."
    "Sylvia missed qualifying for state her freshman year by two spots. That stung and has motivated her this year to make the state meet," Dose agreed. "The Panorama course for state qualifying was very difficult, and she battled to be in the top ten. I'm very excited to see her compete in the state meet as a sophomore."
    Like Brayden, Sylvia placed 9th at the state qualifying meet, her with a 22:05.12 time. Unlike Brayden, Sylvia didn't need convincing to join the cross country team.
    "I went out because I like to run, the team is so supportive, and I love to see all of the awesome scenery and courses," she explained.
    Sylvia added that she has prepared for these final races, much like all races this year, by practice, practice, practice.
    "I also try to focus on eating healthy and taking care of myself while trying to be a positive influence for others around me," she added.
    Much like Brayden, Sylvia has had a great season, earning medal after medal at each meet. At the conference meet she placed 6th and was named to the first team all-conference. Qualifying for State gives her mixed emotions.
    "It makes me happy and grateful that I get to have this opportunity, but it does make me sad that the season is coming to an end and that this is my last race for the season," she said.
    Junior Brayden Koch, son of Meghann Sudsbury and of Ryan Koch both of Ute, has had a great season, placing well in each meet including first place in the conference meet to be named to the first team all-conference. Brayden's running talent continued at the state qualifying meeting, placing 9th with a 17:55.86 time.
    "During the race I started off in about the top 20, and around the 2 mile mark my coach yelled and said I was around 8th place, so that helped me push through it more," commented Brayden. "Then, seeing the finish line made me push as hard I could knowing people were behind me."
    Brayden's coach, Corey Dose has been behind him and encouraging him since he was a freshman.
    "I convinced Brayden to go out for cross country halfway into the season his freshman year," said Dose. "He started out running in the 20's and has gradually gotten better every year. He's an extremely hard working kid with high character. I'm extremely proud of him for qualifying for the state cross country meet."
    Brayden added that he prepared for the races by getting his legs warmed up through lower impact exercises.
    "To prepare for the races, we like to get walking in and a jog. We like to do lots of stretches," he said.
    The day of the biggest race, so far, did run the nerves a little higher than normal, and those nerves combine with excitement for the upcoming final race.
    "I was really nervous knowing I had a chance if I ran well," explained Brayden. "I'm super happy and nervous about state coming up."
    The state cross country meet will be held this Friday, October 30th at the Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge. Sylvia will be running at 10:30, and Brayden will run at 11:50. Good performance to them both.

    In June of 2025 the city of Danbury asked residents to avoid drinking the water, especially senior citizens and very young children. Why? Nitrates.
    Last week flyers appeared downtown again advising people not to drink the water. Why? Nitrates.
    According to the Iowa Water Information System (IWIS), a nitrate is a negative ion consisting of one nitrogen atom and three oxygen atoms. It is an essential plant nutrient. Because it is a relatively stable form of nitrogen and because it is very water soluble, it is the most common form of nitrogen entering the stream network from farmed fields. It is also present in municipal wastewater discharge, leakage from septic tanks, and runoff from manure. Nice sort of scientific explanation. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that fertilizer is a primary source of nitrogen and phosphorus and often reaches surface and groundwater systems through farm or urban/suburban runoff or infiltration. Other sources of nitrate in drinking water include leaking septic tanks or sewage and erosion of natural deposits. Water softeners also cause a raise in nitrates.
    The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that the maximum contaminant level (MCL) is 10 mg/L. When it goes above this mark, an advisory needs to be posted, and thus the city posted the flyers. The vast majority of people have no issues with a slight overage of nitrates.
    At times various cities have had to issue boil advisories. Why can't we just boil the water in this instance? Well, technically, you can boil the water, but then toss the water instead of using it. Excessive boiling can make the nitrates more concentrated because nitrates remain behind when the water evaporates.
    What can be done? The EPA notes that there are several effective treatment technologies available for nitrate removal in drinking water including ion exchange, reverse osmosis, and electrodialysis.
    What is the city doing to lower the nitrate level? Maintenance Man Chad Kreger checks the levels daily and reports to the state, as he does throughout the year and verifies that everything is working properly. As of Monday, the levels are dropping. Hopefully by the time you read this, the level will be back below 10 mg/L. The city does have cases of bottled water if you would like one. Please stop in City Hall Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.

    Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, bacon green beans, stuffing, and dessert filled carry out containers at Dana Hall on Saturday, and many harvesting crews enjoyed said carry out meals for their supper (or dinner, if you call the evening meal dinner). The meals weren't restricted to just harvest crews, though. Other patrons also visited Dana Hall to enjoy the meal.
    "Jenna (Cloud) and I randomly decided to do it (serve the meal," said Kaylee Weber, one of the organizers of the event. "All we hoped for was a delicious meal that would go over well. The turn out was more than what we have hoped for, and we will be planning to continue doing it in the future."
    Jillian Ortner, who submitted the photo of Posey's meal partially enjoyed by the teen, (Posey didn't want to wait while her mom took pictures) added that the turkey was exceptional and that the family would be making this meal opportunity an annual part of their harvest meals.
    "We love Dana Hall, we love our community, and we did it to help our people in the fields spending long hours away from our family," added Weber. "We also did it to continue supporting Dana and the Carlson Frum Legion to continue providing for our community."