A decision to provide  Ringgold County Hospital with an easement to cross Mount Ayr Community school property was approved after a hearing at a special meeting of the school board Monday night.

Just where the line will run, however, is still up in the air, as board members indicated that they would prefer the line was run along the south side of the baseball and softball fields instead of being run between the football field and practice field as the current request asks for.

The school board also approved a list  of contracts for the coming year with the Family Resource Center at the meeting.

Sewer easement hearing

For the school board to grant an easement for school property a public hearing had to be held, and that was done at a special meeting called Monday.

Several people including representatives from the Mount Ayr city council and Ringgold county hospital board as well as school employees and the public were on hand for the discussion.

Hospital administrator began the hearing by sharing information about the line that the hospital wants to run across school property to save the cost of having the city and hospital build a $260,000 lift station to move the sewage.

The hospital would run a four inch diameter line rated at 200 pounds per square inch. The sewage would be pumped at 25 to 30 pounds per square inch while pumping. The pump would cycle on average every 30 to 40 minutes and run from two to four minutes per cycle.

“This is an open ended system with only enough pressure to move the effluent up elevations to gravity flow,” Winkler told the group. “The analogy given to me is similar to a stream of water from a garden house (without your thumb over it.)”

The line would be buried four feet underground and the soil would be compacted and seeded. A tracer line would be buried with the sewer pipe to make sure it could be found easily.

If the line leaks, the hospital would be responsible for repair, clean up and restoration, it was noted.

Winkler noted that the water and sewer usage should be significantly reduced from volume at the current facility as toilets and washing stations use half the water of the current facility. The hospital will not have chillers or boilers in the facility as they currently do either.

The presentation said that the line location west of the bus barn could be moved further south to avoid future plans for a practice football field and the work be completed to accommodate use of the fields.

“We wouldn’t have proposed this if we felt it had implications for safety of interruption of education in the school district,” Winkler said.

School board attorney Jim Pedersen then presented a copy of the proposed easement for the sanitary sewer.

He noted that the liability language had been worked on since the last meeting and that the easement makes clear that the hospital is responsible for fixing things and cleaning up any damage if the line should leak on the school property.

A number of questions were asked by board members and the public about the project. One suggestion was that the sewer line be registered with the One Call system so that in the future if there were work being done in the area of the sewer line it would be easily marked.

Jim Uhlenkamp asked a question he had been asked about the hospital sewage containing contagions. Winkler said the hospital had a separate system to handle hazardous washing waste and that the hospital waste was basically like that of any other customer.

James Smith wanted to make sure that places that crossed the walking paths down to the fields would be restored, which was confirmed.

Superintendent Russ Reiter expressed his belief that this is a small community where people try to help each other.

“The school district gets a lot of support from the community and we don’t have a lot of ways that we can show our appreciation for that,” Reiter said.

“I feel that trying to work out a way to save the hospital and city money by allowing the sewer line to come across school property is one way that the school has of acknowledging that we are part of our community and want to help.”

 He said that while all possible scenarios for future problems could probably not be thought of now, he felt the hospital boards and school boards of the future would continue to have a sense of trust and community spirit to work out any conflicts.

The biggest objection shared in the discussion was where the line was currently sited, going up between the football and football practice fields, across the west end of the football field and west end of the bus barn area and then back north to the sewer connection.

Hospital administrator Gordon Winkler said he would check with the engineers for his building project and see if an alternative route up the south side of the school baseball and softball fields could work.

It was noted that this route would miss the potential of  conflict with other utilities in the area as well as keep any potential spill away from areas where students and the public would be.

After more discussion, the board voted 4-0 to approve the easement as it was written but asked that the alternate routing be looked into.

Not making a decision at the meeting would have slowed down the process so that construction would potentially have more conflict with the athletic field uses, it was noted.

Board president Larry Giles was out of town and not present for the meeting.

Family Resource Center contracts

Four contracts with the Family Resource Center were approved for the 2009-10 school year, making some minor adjustments in several of them.

  In one contract, the school district pays for 32 hours of a 40 hour contract for Gina Still to help with the universal preschool for four year olds  program at the Family Resource Center.

Still is an employee of the Family Resource Center that the district helps hire. The contract was approved with a 1.9 percent or $270 increase.

Under the contract the district also provides $6,250 for snacks and $7,500 for supplies and equipment for the program.

The board also approved the administrative agreement where the Family Resource Center pays the district $1,000 for the services of superintendent Russ Reiter for administrative help.

A third contract pays the  Family Resource Center for renting space for the universal preschool for four year olds at a cost of $11,100 a year for the room and utilities.

A fourth contract has the Family Resource Center pay the Mount Ayr Community school district $5,000 a year for custodial and maintenance services.

 

It’s Ayr Days this weekend as the annual barbecue contest and community celebration moves to the summer from the fall this year.
A full page schedule of events is included on the back page of today’s Mount Ayr Record-News.
Activity will begin Friday, July 24, when the barbecue participants for the Smokin’ in the Ayr barbecue contest set up and get to cooking their meat. Check in at the Ringgold County Extension Office is at 6 p.m.
Ron Schafer, who heads up the fourth annual event, noted that at least 15 teams are expected to take part this year with some cooking multiple categories
Contestants are given the meat that they will use in the contest and can enter spare ribs, brisket or pork shoulder classes or any combination. Over 1,100 pounds of meat will be cooked.
The smokers will be set up along East Madison Street east and west of North Taylor Street this year and if all the teams show up it should pretty well fill this space.
Judging of ribs begins at 3 p.m., pork shoulder at 3:30 p.m. and brisket at 4 p.m. with the winners announced at 7 p.m.
Schafer hopes to keep building the contest until it can become a sanctioned event on the circuit that the contestants make each summer and fall.
For $10 for adults and $5 for children six to 12 years old people can have an all-you-can-eat experience tasting the work of the barbecuers along with side dishes beginning at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Local race car drivers will have their cars on the square and will be signing autographs from 7 to 8 p.m. Friday night and Bill Hightshoe will provide music for a DJ and karaoke dance beginning at 8 p.m. to wrap up Friday activities.
Saturday activities
Saturday, July 25, the Mount Ayr Lions Club will start off the morning with breakfast beginning at 8 a.m.
The 27th annual Milt Henderson Running Classic will be held with registration beginning at 8 a.m. and the races beginning at 9 a.m. sharp.
There will be a two mile and 5K run as well as a two mile walk among the competitions offered to all ages. Trophies are given to the top male and female in each category and medals are presented for the top competitors in divisions based on age.
A registration form is included in today’s Mount Ayr Record-News.
Also at 9 a.m. there will be a bake sale at the First Christian Church and the Mount Ayr Depot museum will be open for visitors. Mike Avitt’s new book “Pages and Pictures From The Past” has been reprinted and will be on sale.
The second annual Brooke Barber memorial poker run will be held with sign-in beginning at 9 a.m. at Rumors Bar and Grill. Proceeds from the event will go to the scholarship fund for Mount Ayr Community high school students. Bikes leave at 10 a.m. and have to return by 6 p.m.
A second option will be a walk-around-town poker run with sign in beginning at 9 a.m. at Country Blossoms in Mount Ayr. Proceeds of this event will go to the Judge Lewis Family Aquatic Center fund.
At 9:30 a.m. the Midwesterners will begin entertainment that will be available all day on the square as they play until 11:30 a.m.
Also at 9:30 a.m., the Ayr Days baby contest will be held from youngsters ages one to three in the courthouse assembly room.
Categories are 12 to 18 months, over 18 months to 24 months and over 24 months to 36 months.
Categories include bye, bye baby; crawl, crawl, crawl; let’s dance, patriotic boys and girls, and blow a kiss.
A pedal tractor pull will be held at 10 a.m. for the youngsters while the real thing will take part in a tractor show beginning at the same time.
The car and motorcycle show will also begin at 10 a.m. on the south side of the square.
Car classes include 1952 and older, 1953 to 1962, 1963 to 1969, 1970 to 1978, 1979 to 1990 and 1991 and newer in stock and modified classes.
Pickups will be shown in classes of 1970 and older and 1971 and newer in stock and modified groups for all types of pickups.
There will also be a motorcycle show as part of the event.
The pie and ice cream being served at the Senior Citizens Activity Center will begin at 10 a.m. too.
At 10:30 a.m. a prince and princess contest will be held in the courthouse assembly room. Boys and girls four to five years old will be judged to name a prince and princess for the celebration.
A pet show will be held beginning at 11:30 a.m. The pet show will include contests for the largest animal, the smallest animal, the best costume and the best trick. The event will be held at the stage.
At noon three-on-three basketball, three-point shooting and slam dunk contests will begin and the SonDogs will take the entertainment stage for a one-hour concert. Also at noon the First Christian Church will be serving a beef burger lunch.
At 1 p.m. Gary Weldon will be performing at the Ringgold County Courthouse assembly room (see separate article) and square dancers will be performing on the stage. Courtney and Cade will sing for the crowd at 1:30 p.m.
At 2 p.m. the Ringgold County Hospital is sponsoring watermelon races on the northwest corner of the square and The Dance Connection Dancers will be performing.
The Ayr Days Parade is planned with the theme “Smokin’ in the Ayr” with registration beginning at 2 p.m. and the kids and grand parade set to start at 3 p.m.
Check-in for the kids parade will be at the Jamie’s Coffee Mill and Deli corner north of the square. Check in for the grand parade will be at the corner of Fillmore and Jefferson Streets.
Divisions of the parade include antique and classic cars, businesses, churches, horses/wagons/rider, organizations and politicians.
The parade route this year will go south on Fillmore Street, east on Monroe Street and back north on Taylor Street to Farm and Home.
A registration form for the parade is included in today’s Mount Ayr Record-News.
Immediately following the parade there will be kids bike races. Divisions are 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12 and 12-14 years old. Participants should meet at the courthouse statue.
At 4 p.m. the barbecue contest will be open for tasting by the public for an admission fee. From 5 to 9 p.m. the Rhythm Kings will be playing and at 5:30 p.m. there will be a Jaws of Life demonstration.
The barbecue winners will be announced at 7 p.m.
From 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. there will be a pool party and dance for youth at Judge Lewis Park while the Axis Band will be playing at the Roadhouse from 9 p.m. to midnight.
There will also be several activities that go on all day. These include face painting, pony rides, Elvis sightings and the Space Pillow.
The Upper Limits Teen Center will also be celebrating its 10th anniversary with a slide show, Guitar Hero contest and water balloon fights near the teen center on the square.
Sunday, July 26, there will be a fun horse show at the Ringgold County Fairgrounds at 2 p.m.
Also planned Sunday is the first annual kids water rodeo followed by the Judge Lewis Park swimming pool swim meet.
Registration and a meal will begin at 5 p.m. and the activity begins at 6 p.m.
The activity is open to everyone for a freewill donation.
The weekend of activity is sponsored by the Mount Ayr Chamber of Commerce.

  There was some great news and some not so great news when information on funding the rest of the school building project and the progress of the building project were made at the Monday night meeting of the Mount Ayr Community school board.

The good news came in a low interest rate for the $2,855,000 bonds the district will use to  pay off the rest of the school building project from future sales tax revenues.

The not so good news was that the building project has been falling behind and remodeling of the current building needed as part of the project may be finished just in time instead of with some lead time for the new school year.

The building addition projects have also fallen further behind, the school board was told.

Infrastructure bonds sold

The school infrastructure bonds sold to pay the rest of the cost for the school building project, which will be paid for from one-cent state-wide sales tax funds over the next 20 years, were sold at the best interest rate of any school bond sale this year, according to Matt Gillespie from Piper Jaffray and Co., who presented the information to the board.

Five firms bid for the $2,885,000 in bonds which will provide $2,560,180.40 to the district for construction costs once bonding costs and a $263,730.75 debt service reserve fund are subtracted. The debt service fund eventually comes back to the district once the bonds are paid off. The lower than estimated interest rate will mean that the district will have $60,000 more in proceeds from the bond sale than first anticipated.

Royal Bank of Canada Capital Markets of Minneapolis, MN, was the low bidder, with a true interest rate of 4.54 percent.

Other bids (rounded off) included:

D. A. Davidson & Co., Denver, CO, 4.66 percent.

Northland Securities, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, 4.69 percent.

Piper Jaffray & Co., Minneapolis, MN, 4.74 percent.

Robert W. Baird & Co., Milwaukee, WI, 5.14 percent.

Gillespie said the maximum net interest cost over the 20 years would be $1,331,866.77, some $30,000 less than the second highest bid.

“We like to see the bidding as close as that,” Gillespie said, “and were very pleased at the final interest rate the bonds received.”

In comparison, the lowest bond sale for a school district this year was a 4.62 percent at Tri-Center and the highest sale this year was the 5.39 percent for Applington-Parkersburg.

The infrastructure bonds, backed by sales tax, came in at a rate not much higher than the 4.41 percent the general revenue bonds for the rest of the construction costs were sold for last year, Gillepie noted.

Gillespie presented the board with several charts showing the payment for the bonds with scenarios of enrollment figures and sales tax growth over the next 20 years.

The bonds are callable after 10 years and the district could pay off some of the bonds then and save interest costs, he noted.

The debt service reserve fund that is part of the funding mechanism is held by Banker’s Trust as trustee and interest will be paid on the fund while it is held. It is set up to provide insurance that payments can be made over the life of the bond.

The trustee takes a percentage of the principal and interest amounts coming due at six month or yearly intervals from the school accounts each month so that the payment if available to bond holders on time.

The school bonds were rated by Standard and Poores bond rating service and received an A rating, Gillespie noted.

The board approved a resolution directing the sale of the bonds to the low bidder at the meeting.

At the board’s April 10 meeting, various bond issuance resolutions and paperwork will be passed and the transaction will close and bond proceeds will be delivered to the district’s bank account on Tuesday, Sept. 1, Gillespie told the board.

The district will make its first payments on the bonds on July 1, 2010. Interest payments are made twice a year and principal payments made once a year on the bonds after that. 

Building report

Mark Sabers and Steve Bennett from Construction Services Inc. reported on the progress of the building projects, noting that two weeks had been lost on the remodeling portion of the current building and on the high school building work.

It had been planned that the remodeled portion of the current building would be ready for use on August 8 but that has been pushed back to August 18 or so.

The demolition work on the areas of the present elementary school to be remodeled started again on July 1, it was noted. The work had come to a halt on June 16 because of concerns with the school’s insurance policies and coverage which have since been resolved.

The demolition work should be completed shortly and overhead mechanical, plumbing and electrical work is in progress. New interior walls will be framed, drywall installed and finish work started by the end of the month.

It is CSI’s intent to install all finish items in the remodeled kindergarten/administration area except carpet installation in the corridor, which will be done when the addition is being carpeted to reduce the wear and tear at the point where the remodeling meets the new addition.

During the month of June, elementary school building progress was hampered for several reasons. Weather and foundation modifications had an adverse impact on masonry contractors ability to stay productive.

The foundation modifications are complete, the recent weather has improved and progress has picked up, Sabers reported.

Geothermal well drilling is nearing completion. Masonry wall construction will continue and will be completed during the month of July with the exception of the wall that allows access for the crane.

At the high school, significant progress was made with the slab on grade for the entire building poured. Roofing was installed over the low roof areas and overhead sprinkler, mechanical, plumbing and electrical work started.

The wall opening at the north side of the gym will be filled with precast concrete panels when the crane returns to erect the balance of the walls and steel for the elementary school.

The exterior walls of the high school addition will be painted during the month of July and interior wall framing, door frame installation and miscellaneous canopy framing will be completed during July.

Substantial completion date for the high school addition is set for October 30 and substantial completion date for the elementary school is set for December 9 currently.

Steve Bennett noted that the district needs to get the bidding done for demolition of the 1936 building as this is the one portion of the project that has not yet been finished.

“We need to get the bids so we don’t get any big surprises down the road,” he noted.

This item has been held off on until closer to when the work would actually be accomplished.

At the meeting the board approved the latest payment on the project of $672,880.70 and a change order of $3,299 for adding six inches to the depth of footings for the precast walls at the high school.

  There was some great news and some not so great news when information on funding the rest of the school building project and the progress of the building project were made at the Monday night meeting of the Mount Ayr Community school board.

The good news came in a low interest rate for the $2,855,000 bonds the district will use to  pay off the rest of the school building project from future sales tax revenues.

The not so good news was that the building project has been falling behind and remodeling of the current building needed as part of the project may be finished just in time instead of with some lead time for the new school year.

The building addition projects have also fallen further behind, the school board was told.

Infrastructure bonds sold

The school infrastructure bonds sold to pay the rest of the cost for the school building project, which will be paid for from one-cent state-wide sales tax funds over the next 20 years, were sold at the best interest rate of any school bond sale this year, according to Matt Gillespie from Piper Jaffray and Co., who presented the information to the board.

Five firms bid for the $2,885,000 in bonds which will provide $2,560,180.40 to the district for construction costs once bonding costs and a $263,730.75 debt service reserve fund are subtracted. The debt service fund eventually comes back to the district once the bonds are paid off. The lower than estimated interest rate will mean that the district will have $60,000 more in proceeds from the bond sale than first anticipated.

Royal Bank of Canada Capital Markets of Minneapolis, MN, was the low bidder, with a true interest rate of 4.54 percent.

Other bids (rounded off) included:

D. A. Davidson & Co., Denver, CO, 4.66 percent.

Northland Securities, Inc., Minneapolis, MN, 4.69 percent.

Piper Jaffray & Co., Minneapolis, MN, 4.74 percent.

Robert W. Baird & Co., Milwaukee, WI, 5.14 percent.

Gillespie said the maximum net interest cost over the 20 years would be $1,331,866.77, some $30,000 less than the second highest bid.

“We like to see the bidding as close as that,” Gillespie said, “and were very pleased at the final interest rate the bonds received.”

In comparison, the lowest bond sale for a school district this year was a 4.62 percent at Tri-Center and the highest sale this year was the 5.39 percent for Applington-Parkersburg.

The infrastructure bonds, backed by sales tax, came in at a rate not much higher than the 4.41 percent the general revenue bonds for the rest of the construction costs were sold for last year, Gillepie noted.

Gillespie presented the board with several charts showing the payment for the bonds with scenarios of enrollment figures and sales tax growth over the next 20 years.

The bonds are callable after 10 years and the district could pay off some of the bonds then and save interest costs, he noted.

The debt service reserve fund that is part of the funding mechanism is held by Banker’s Trust as trustee and interest will be paid on the fund while it is held. It is set up to provide insurance that payments can be made over the life of the bond.

The trustee takes a percentage of the principal and interest amounts coming due at six month or yearly intervals from the school accounts each month so that the payment if available to bond holders on time.

The school bonds were rated by Standard and Poores bond rating service and received an A rating, Gillespie noted.

The board approved a resolution directing the sale of the bonds to the low bidder at the meeting.

At the board’s April 10 meeting, various bond issuance resolutions and paperwork will be passed and the transaction will close and bond proceeds will be delivered to the district’s bank account on Tuesday, Sept. 1, Gillespie told the board.

The district will make its first payments on the bonds on July 1, 2010. Interest payments are made twice a year and principal payments made once a year on the bonds after that. 

Building report

Mark Sabers and Steve Bennett from Construction Services Inc. reported on the progress of the building projects, noting that two weeks had been lost on the remodeling portion of the current building and on the high school building work.

It had been planned that the remodeled portion of the current building would be ready for use on August 8 but that has been pushed back to August 18 or so.

The demolition work on the areas of the present elementary school to be remodeled started again on July 1, it was noted. The work had come to a halt on June 16 because of concerns with the school’s insurance policies and coverage which have since been resolved.

The demolition work should be completed shortly and overhead mechanical, plumbing and electrical work is in progress. New interior walls will be framed, drywall installed and finish work started by the end of the month.

It is CSI’s intent to install all finish items in the remodeled kindergarten/administration area except carpet installation in the corridor, which will be done when the addition is being carpeted to reduce the wear and tear at the point where the remodeling meets the new addition.

During the month of June, elementary school building progress was hampered for several reasons. Weather and foundation modifications had an adverse impact on masonry contractors ability to stay productive.

The foundation modifications are complete, the recent weather has improved and progress has picked up, Sabers reported.

Geothermal well drilling is nearing completion. Masonry wall construction will continue and will be completed during the month of July with the exception of the wall that allows access for the crane.

At the high school, significant progress was made with the slab on grade for the entire building poured. Roofing was installed over the low roof areas and overhead sprinkler, mechanical, plumbing and electrical work started.

The wall opening at the north side of the gym will be filled with precast concrete panels when the crane returns to erect the balance of the walls and steel for the elementary school.

The exterior walls of the high school addition will be painted during the month of July and interior wall framing, door frame installation and miscellaneous canopy framing will be completed during July.

Substantial completion date for the high school addition is set for October 30 and substantial completion date for the elementary school is set for December 9 currently.

Steve Bennett noted that the district needs to get the bidding done for demolition of the 1936 building as this is the one portion of the project that has not yet been finished.

“We need to get the bids so we don’t get any big surprises down the road,” he noted.

This item has been held off on until closer to when the work would actually be accomplished.

At the meeting the board approved the latest payment on the project of $672,880.70 and a change order of $3,299 for adding six inches to the depth of footings for the precast walls at the high school.

It’s fair time in Ringgold county.

First judging and entertainment for the fair were held on Wednesday, July 8, through the fair sale that closes up events on Sunday, July 12.

Among features of the entertainment at the fair this year will be a concert Saturday night, July 11, by Douglas Acres, a southern rock and country rock band from Des Moines. A fireworks show will follow the concert that night by the band, which has two gigs at the Iowa State Fair and will have played at the Iowa Speedway the night before.

Here’s a rundown on the events for the Ringgold County Fair on a day-by-day basis after Wednesday’s events.

Thursday, July 10

Much of the livestock comes to the fair Thursday along with the judging for the poultry and rabbits.

Swine are weighed in and stalled beginning at 8 a.m. and the beef pen of three are weighed in at Doyle Richards’ corral at 9 a.m. Sheep and goats are weighed in and stalled beginning at 9:30 a.m. and beef and horses come in beginning at 10 a.m. along with rabbit and poultry entries. The beef weigh in begins at 10:30 a.m.

First judging of the day will be the communications presentations -- education presentations, working exhibits and Share the Fun events -- set to begin at 12 noon.

The poultry show judging begins at 1 p.m., followed by the rabbit judging at 2:30 p.m.

Photos will be taken of the outstanding juniors, considered for state fair and state fair exhibitors in the exhibit building at 5:30 p.m.

Thursday night’s entertainment included the Ringgold County Fair queen and princess crowning followed by a local talent performance and a pie auction, one of three during the fair where 4-H baked pies will be sold. The queen contest begins at 7 p.m.

Queen candidates are Taylen Abarr, Courtnie Cox, Tasha Drake, Allie Knapp and Jamie Novak.

Abarr is the granddaughter of Sharon England and Jim Routh. Her escort is Josh Case, the son of Tami Case.

Cox is the daughter of Brian Cox and Kirk and Laurie Greenman and she will be escorted by Cade Lambson, son of Curtis Lambson of Blockton and Melinda Burnett of Texas.

Drake is the daughter of Robin and Deric Drake and her escort is Brian Still, son of Brad and Cherrye Still.

Knapp is the daughter of Ben and Melanie Knapp and her escort is Tyler Hosfield, son of Randy and Stephanie Hosfield.

Novak is the daughter of James and Felicia Novak and her escort will be Tom Hosfield, son of Gary and Linda Hosfield.

There are also nine girls seeking the princess title. They include Alexa Anderson, Charlcey Bowen, Baylee Darrah, Melaina Haley, Payten Lambert, Brynn Nickle, Alexandrea Shelley, Erin Sobotka and Hallee Stewart.

Entertainers at the crowning show will include Tina Bounds, Chantelle Jennett, Maggie Jennett, The SonDogs and Marc Cruise.

Friday, July 10

Swine, goats, sheep, pets and dogs take center state in judging on Friday.

The swine show begins bright and early at 8 a.m. Friday. The goat show is at 12 noon, the sheep show at 1 p.m., the pet show at 2:30 p.m. and the dog show at 3:30 p.m.

Conference judging for the bucket calf and bucket calf + 1 divisions will be held at 1 p.m. as well.

There are games for Special Olympians planned at the commercial building at 1:30 p.m. the 4-H shooting sports archery demonstration will be held at 3 p.m.

The Bill Riley Talent Show will be held at 6:30 p.m. as a free event. The IAMO tractor pull is the big entertainment event of the evening, beginning at 6:30 p.m. There will also be a movie shown in the commercial building on Friday night.

Saturday, July 11

Saturday will be a big day for beef judging at the fair with a number of different events planned.

A 4-H County Council fund-raising breakfast will start off the day between 6 and 9 a.m. Feeder calves have to be on the fairgrounds by 7 a.m.

The feeder calf show will be held at 8:30 a.m., with calves released after the show. The breeding beef show begins at 9 a.m., the beef pen of three conference judging is at 11 a.m., the bucket calf and bucket calf+1 show is at 11:30 a.m., the Pee Wee Wrangler show at 12 noon, and the market beef show begins at 1 p.m.

An open class feeder calf show will be held beginning at 3 p.m.

While the beef shows are going on, there will be a number of other events planned during the day.

The 4-H/FFA challenge recipe contest to see who can make the best biscuits with a provided recipe will be held with check in at 9 a.m. and judging at 10 a.m.

The annual baby contest will have registration beginning at 9 a.m. at the commercial building with the contest set to begin at 10 a.m.

There will be a car and truck show beginning at 10 a.m. and kids and adult games at the commercial building at 2 p.m. The mud volleyball tournament sponsored by the county council begins at 4 p.m.

At 6:30 p.m. there will be a demolition derby including a lawn mower derby. The Douglas Acres concert will be held at 8:30 p.m. followed by the Flashing Thunder fireworks display to close out the evening. One admission fee covers both evening events.

Sunday, July 12

The day begins Sunday with the 4-H and FFA horse show at 9 a.m. and a county council horseshoe tournament at 10 a.m.

There will be ATV races beginning at 11 a.m. and a future 4-H pet show sponsored by the county council at 12:30 p.m.

At 1 p.m. all of the animals not being sold will be released and exhibits can begin being taken from the 4-H exhibit building, with all of them to be cleared out by 5 p.m.

At 2 p.m. the fair’s annual mud run will be held at the mud pit. One admission fee covers both the ATV races and the mud run.

The fair closes with the sale supper at 5 p.m., where a supper will be served with donations going toward renovation of the 4-H exhibit building.

                  The 4-H and FFA livestock sale begins at 6 p.m.

Searchers scoured Ringgold county Sunday night and Monday morning (June 28-June 29) looking for Shirley Martin of Mount Ayr, who was discovered early Monday walking along a road in Adams county.

Martin, who has dementia, left the Ringgold County Fairgrounds about 5 p.m. Sunday night and family members thought she had just taken the pickup and driven home.

When she was not found at home, family members began a search and then notified the Ringgold County Sheriff’s office about 7:45 p.m. that she was missing and help was needed in searching for her.

Ringgold county sheriff’s deputies joined the search but the small search area where she was thought to be did not yield any results.

About 10 p.m., the sheriff’s office called in the area fire departments, Ringgold County Sheriff’s Reserves, ambulance service, Emergency Management officials, the Volunteer Citizens Corps and other volunteers to help in a wider search.

The search had covered all the roads in Ringgold county by 3 a.m. without any results so sheriff Mike Sobotka called off the search until morning when visibility would be better.

In the meantime, sheriff Mike Sobotka and chief deputy Rob Haley put out a missing persons report to the national data base in case Martin might have gotten into Missouri on the half tank of gas that was in the pickup.

They also had notices out to radio and television stations for early morning news to add people who might see Martin on their way to work to the search effort.

The Iowa Highway Patrol had been notified and Sobotka was talking to the pilot who was about to take off while a group of 20 searchers had gathered in the Ringgold county courthouse assembly room about 6 a.m. Monday morning to renew the search when a call was received from Adams county.

Martin found Monday morning

A lady driving on Highway 148 about seven miles north of Corning near Lake Icaria had discovered Martin walking along a road there.

She took her to her home and called the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, which found the missing persons notification and notified Sobotka.

“Adams county was not in the area the family and we were thinking we might find her,” Sobotka said. “But we were very glad that she was found and this had a good conclusion.”

Sobotka noted that the weather was on the side of searchers with it not being too hot or stormy for a person who was out in the elements.

Family members picked up Martin and the pickup was found parked near Lake Icaria and returned home.

“It was an unfortunate incident but we are pleased with the outcome,” Sobotka said. “We had the cooperation of a number of people who showed up to help when we needed it, but that’s just how Ringgold county people are.”