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Schumacher Punches Ticket to State Wrestling Meet

    The Western Iowa Wolves Girls Wrestling Team traveled to Council Bluffs on the final day in January with team members hoping this wouldn't be their final wrestling tournament of the season. The top two wrestlers of each weight group would continue at the state tournament, and the rest would hang up their wrestling shoes until next year. Two Wolves did indeed advance to State, Marlee Pittet and Claire Schumacher. Schumacher, the daughter of Amy and Nick Schumacher of Charter Oak, is a freshman at MVAOCOU High School, but she wrestles with the Wolves in West Monona High School as the Rams do not have a team for the ladies.
    At Regionals, Schumacher, wrestling at 170, earned a first round win with a bye. This put her in the semifinals. Her next round was against Peyton Katzer of Lewis Central, a pin to the mat. The win put her in the finals. Schumacher faced Ashley Chasteen of Hinton who, unfortunately, earned a pin against Claire. Chasteen was declared the first place winner. As this was a double elimination meet, Schumacher was slated to wrestle one more time. However, since she would be wrestling Katzer again and had already beat her earlier, the second place match was named a no contest match, giving Schumacher the win and a trip to the state meet.
    "Going into Regionals, my goal was to just place in the top four and to make the podium to receive a medal," stated Claire, a first-year wrestler. "I remember after I pinned the athlete from Lewis Central (Katzer), who I had beat to get into the Finals, my teammates and coaches were right by my side, hugging and cheering. When I finally got the thought of going to State in my mind, I ran straight to my family, friends, teammates, and coaches who have been cheering me on all season."
    Claire's family, friends, teammates and coaches will have the opportunity to cheer on the freshman this weekend at the state tournament in Coralville this Thursday and Friday. The first session consisting of the first round, quarterfinals, and 1st and 2nd round consolation rounds will be held from 10:00 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. The semifinals, 3rd round consolations, consolation semifinals, and 7th place matches will be held on Friday between 10:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Finals, the third place matches, and the fifth place matches will commence at 6:00 p.m. Friday evening. The brackets for Claire's class and weight group can be found in this issue.
    Good performance to you, Claire!
    Photo provided by Amy Schumacher. Thanks, Amy!


What's In a Name? Well, In This Case, Either an I or an E

    In simplified spelling rules, we are taught that it's "I before E, except after C or when sounded as A, as in neighbor and weigh." Well, as those who have spelled words like "height" and "seizure" know that there are exceptions to the rule.
    And why do we care about this rule? Because in terms of a certain street in Danbury, the letter "i" came before the letter "e" replaced it decades ago, and the county would like the "i" to come back in the picture. I know, the "i before e" rule doesn't apply here, but it was a fun analogy.
    According to the History of Danbury, back in the late 1800s when the city's Railroad Addition consisting of the northeast corner of Danbury was established, the two streets in the addition, Salisbury and Wilkins were named after people who lived on those streets. Doing a search of the history book as found on the www.danbury-ia.com website (pretty convenient to find stuff - yes, that's a shout out to the Review's website), the book written in the 60s by Viola Dimig does not include the name Wilkins, but Wilkens is listed twice. One incident was explaining that the street was named by a family. The other indicated that August and Anna Wilkens lived in Danbury in the 1800s. After their names were the words "Monona County." Further research using findagrave.com indicated that an August and Anna Wilkins are buried in Onawa which, as you may or may not know, is in Monona County. It does seem like they would be the same people even though the book states Wilkens but they are in findagrave.com as Wilkins. Now, when we were retyping the history book, we came across many misspellings. There probably are some in the online version, too. It would seem more likely that findagrave.com would be correct. August was born in Germany in 1870, and Anna was born in 1869, also in Germany. She died in 1954 and he in 1963. Using the fact that they are buried not that far from Danbury, in perspective, would make it seem very likely that they are the family that street was named after and that it should indeed be spelled with an i, not an e. .
    So, let's fast forward to when Wilkins became Wilkens. We cannot pinpoint exactly when that happened at all. An 1877 map says Wilkins. A 1962 map, signed by then City Clerk Lucy Colbert also says Wilkins. However, a map downloaded in 2014 spells the street as Wilkens. A Google search also spells the street as Wilkens. But we have more research to do. Kind of.
    When we took over the Review in 1999, we had subscription payments from people who used Wilkins as their street address. However, others living on that street wrote Wilkens. Back then, I had asked someone living on the street why this is, and that person had no idea which way it was supposed to be so used both. When this "i" or "e" revelation came to light, I also contacted former City Clerk DeeAnn Lansink who had been clerk when we took over the Review. I also contacted Diana Sexton, the former Review editor. I have also asked former Review publisher and his wife (who, incidentally didn't care to be considered old enough to know these thing), and all three had no idea about the street name. It seems that the street just morphed from Wilkins to Wilkens.
    What is the purpose of this article? Well, recently the Woodbury County 911 Board realized that the 911 listings state the street as Wilkins, but the residents (and everyone else) spell it with an "e," Wilkens. The board is asking people to change the way they are spelling the street back to Wilkins so that it is how it's supposed to be. Some time in the future the street signs will be changed to also indicate the correct spelling.
    And thus, you have now received your history lesson and a simple request.


Woodbury County Conservation Foundation Meeting and Insect Zoo

    Sioux City, IA— The Woodbury County Conservation Foundation will hold its annual meeting on Saturday, February 15th at 12:30 p.m. at the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center. The Annual Meeting


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Adventures with Lynnie

    This is a bit old, but I had written it a couple weeks ago and then didn't have space. Since people seem to enjoy our adventures, here it is.
    On January 11th we were to attend our family Christmas, this one in


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"Your Money, Your Goals" Training offered in Sioux City

Program helps professionals provide clients with steps toward financial stability and self-sufficiency

    SIOUX CITY, Iowa - Community professionals can gain tools and resources to help their clients define


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Potholes are popping up across Iowa as temperatures fluctuate

    AMES, Iowa – Jan. 27, 2025 – The freezing and thawing we've experienced so far this winter along with ample snow and moisture has caused potholes to show up on Iowa's roadways.
   


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Baruth Reads 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten

    Archer Baruth with help from his parents Alex and Allyson from Mapleton completed 1000 books in the Fisher Whiting Memorial Library's 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program. Reading to your child fosters a love


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City Hall Closed

    City Hall will be closed on February 17th for President's Day.


Programs at the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center

    Saturday, February 8: Germinating Difficult Seeds, 10:00 a.m., Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center. This program will review the seed germination requirements for native grasses and wildflowers. Examples of some of the


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