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Thursday,
May 5, 2016

WCV FFA Members Are Absentee Ballots Available Commissioners Award to

for Primary Election
Guthrie County Deputy
Borglaug-Ruan Scholars
by Morgan Smith, Chapter President

Special of Herald

Morgan Smith, left, and Rachel Urquhart received their
certificates after presenting their research. They are officially
Borglaug-Ruan Scholars.

On April 25, the World Food

Prize held their Iowa Youth
Institute at Hilton Coliseum on
the Iowa State University campus in Ames. To participate in
this day, students researched a
country and a key factor that
affects their food security (i.e.,
malnutrition, animal science,
conflict resolution, human
rights, etc.). Students then wrote
at three-page research paper
about it. This year there were a
record number of participants.
Among the 280 students accepted were West Central Valley FFA
members, Rachel Urquhart and
Morgan Smith.
During this event, Rachel
and Morgan got to explore ideas
and discuss ways to alleviate
food insecurity worldwide. In
the morning, they had separate

immersion sessions. Rachel

learned about biotechnology,
and Morgan learned about world
languages and cultures. In the
afternoon, they discussed their
research papers with other students from around Iowa. Rachel
wrote about malnutrition in the
Democratic Republic of Congo
and Morgan wrote about the
need for foreign aid in Angola.
Both of these countries are in
Africa. Rachel says she really
enjoyed the discussion with other
students about ways to solve
insecurity and will definitely be
participating again next year.
To learn more about the World
Food Prize, visit www.worldfoodprize.org or contact Molly
Heintz to get involved at West
Central Valley High School.

Guthrie County Fair

Seeks Queen

Deadline to enter is June 1, 2016

The Guthrie County Fair is

looking for its queen, and whoever wears the crown will not
only have the privilege of representing Guthrie County at the
Iowa State Fair Queen competition in August, but will also
be awarded a $300 scholarship
prize from the Guthrie County
Fair Board.
The competition is open to
young ladies between the ages
of 16 and not older than 21
years of age on August 13, the
first day of the Iowa State Fair.
The candidate must reside within
Guthrie County (or an adjoining county if the majority of
her activities are within Guthrie
County). Contestants must never
have been married or have had
children.
The Guthrie County Fair
queen contest focuses on personality, leadership, communication
skills and community service
such as a church group, Girl
Scouts, FFA or 4-H. Eligibility
in NOT limited to 4-H membership.
The contest will be held on
June 21 beginning at 6:30 p.m.
at the Guthrie County Extension
Office in Guthrie Center. There
will be five judges, with representation from all areas of the
county, a former Iowa State Fair

Queen, and a former Guthrie

County Fair Queen. Each contestant will participate in a group
interview, as well as meet individually with the judges.
The winning contestant will
be crowned by the 2015 Guthrie
County Fair Queen, Lauren
Hanson, on July 3 at Yales
Annual Fourth of July celebration. First and second runners-up
will also be announced.
In addition to the scholarship prize, the fair queen will be
a representative of the Guthrie
County Fair at various Guthrie
County events throughout her
reign (July 2016-June 2017), as
well as to the media. And, shell
be sent to compete as the Guthrie
County contestant to the Iowa
State Fair queen competition in
August.
Deadline to enter is June 1.
For a complete list of rules, and
to complete the on-line entry
form, go to www.guthriecountyfair.com. The Fair Board has
enlisted the help of Christina
Wilson of Guthrie Center, to
coordinate the Fair Queen contest. As a former Guthrie County
Fair Queen, she has a unique perspective in organizing the event.
Potential contestants with questions can contact Christina at
(641) 524-2970.

An improved marketing strategy was among the 2015-16

accomplishments noted by Evan
Blakely, president of Western
Iowa Advantage, at the groups
annually dinner on Tuesday,
April 5, 2016 at Saints Center in
Stuart. Western Iowa Advantage
is a partnership of economic
development
organizations
in the eight counties of Adair,
Audubon, Carroll, Crawford,
Greene, Guthrie, Ida and Sac
counties, dedicated to effectively
market the many viable economic assets of this region by
fostering business retention and
promoting business attraction.
Andrew Kaldenberg of Rose
Acre Farms in Stuart keynoted
the dinner, sharing his experience in the industry, particularly focusing on the past years
Avian Influenza outbreak. The
family-owned Rose Acre Farms,
based in Indiana, is the second-

largest egg producer in the

United States and has facilities
in Adair, Guthrie and Madison
counties. The Stuart site was
hit with the Avian Influenza on
May 24, 2015, causing a ripple effect of economic impact
felt not only by the facility, but
by the citys utilities as well.
Despite the devastation, the
facility was able to maintain all
50-plus employees, even through
the seven months with no birds.
Now reopened with a $3 million investment in an updated
grader facility, the Stuart site
plans for increased production
with its newly improved grading capacity. The site now holds
1.3 million birds, an increase of
300,000. Kaldenberg metaphorically describes the company as
having to take all their broken
eggs and make one great big
omelet.

Absentee ballots for the

Primary Election to be held
Tuesday, June 7, 2016 are available in auditors offices.
The request must contain the
name, address, address where
the ballot is to be mailed, Party
affiliation, and the request must
be signed by the person requesting a ballot. Requests must be
received by 5 p.m. on Friday,
June 3.
Adair County: Any person
unable to get to the polls on June
7, 2016 may fill out and send an
Official Absentee Request form
to the Adair County Auditors
Office, 400 Public Square, Suite
5, Greenfield, IA 50849. The
Official Absentee Request form
can be obtained from www.sos.
iowa.gov/elections.
Absentee ballots may also
be voted in the auditors office
weekdays from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.,
and on Saturday, June 4 from 8
a.m.-4 p.m. Questions, call the
auditors office, 641-743-2546.
Dallas County: Any person
unable to get to the polls on June

7, 2016 may fill out and send an

Official Absentee Request form
to the Dallas County Auditors
Office, 910 Court Street, Adel,
IA 50003. The Official Absentee
Request form can be obtained
from www.co.dallas.ia.us.
Absentee ballots may also
be voted in the auditors office
weekdays from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.,
and on Saturday, June 4 from 8
a.m.-5 p.m. Questions, call the
auditors office, 515-993-6914.
Guthrie County: Any person
unable to get to the polls on June
7, 2016 may fill out and send an
Official Absentee Request form
to the Guthrie County Auditors
Office, 200 N. 5th Street,
Guthrie Center, IA 50115. The
Official Absentee Request form
can be obtained from www.guthriecounty.org/elections.
Absentee ballots may also
be voted in the auditors office
weekdays from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.,
and on Saturday, June 4 from 8
a.m.-4 p.m. Questions, call the
auditors office, 641-747-3619.

Bike Safety Course

Saturday, May 7

Due to rain in the forecast

and the fulfillment of torrential
rain on Saturday, April 30, the
Bike Safety Course event sponsored by Stuart Lions has been
rescheduled for this Saturday,
May 7 at 10 a.m. at the Stuart
Elementary School beginning at
10 a.m.
The street gates between the
school and playgrounds will
be closed. The van provided

by Blank Childrens Hospital/

Unity Point Health Des
Moines Center for Advocacy and
Outreach which is equipped with
traffic cones, plastic stop signs
and four sizes of bicycles will be
on site.
Each participant will receive
a free bike helmet while supplies last. Kids are encouraged to
bring their own bicycles.

Record Month for

Local Wind Turbines
by Randy Caviness, manager
Special to The Herald

April is normally a windy

month, but this April set production records for each of the
nine community-owned wind
turbines in the area, exceeding
the old April production record
set in 2014 by 10%.
The newest turbine, built in
2015 and installed just south of
Stuart, the biggest of the nine,
set an all-timeproduction record
of 772,000 Kilowatt Hours of
production for the month.
The nine turbines produced
over 6,385,000 kWh of power
for the month of April. An average American home uses 911
kWh per month. The nine turbines produced enough power
for over 7,000 homes in southwest Iowa for the month.
The nine independently
owned and operatedturbines are
in the Orient, Greenfield, Menlo,
Stuart, Fontanelle, and Wiota
areas, and are owned by over
200 mostly local investors that
have bought shares
A new 10th wind turbine

is going in south of Anita on

Farmers Electric substation with
the power sold to Central Iowa
Power Cooperative and used in
the Anita area. The turbine called
Green Energy Machine LLC is
owned by just over 30 investors,
and is expected to be producing
power by July.
It will be even more efficient then the others, expecting
production of 10% better then
the previous best turbine. with
returns of 14% per yearback to
the investors.
Once the 10th turbine is on
line, the turbines should produce
over 60 million kWh of power
annually.
Its great to see a community that makes such an important investment in their own
energy future, and compared to
coal power saving over 60,000
tons of co2 annual from being
placed in the atmosphere.
It is planned to hold an open
house in August.

The Commissioners Special Award presented to
Guthrie County Deputy Kent Gries, left, by Trooper Marc Griggs.

On Wednesday, March 27,

2016, Guthrie County Deputy
Kent Gries was awarded the
Commissioners Special Award
for Excellence in Traffic Safety
with regard to his efforts in
reducing impaired drivers and
promoting traffic safety on
Guthrie Countys roads.
The award was presented to
Deputy Gries at the 26th annual
Governors Traffic Safety Bureau
Conference by Roxann M. Ryan,
Commissioner of the Iowa
Department of Public Safety,
and Patrick Hoye, Bureau Chief
of the Governors Traffic Safety
Bureau. Accompanying Deputy
Gries were Guthrie County
Sheriff Marty Arganbright and
Chief Deputy Jeremy Bennett.
Over 250 law enforcement officers attended this years conference.
The following citation was
read aloud while Deputy Gries
received his award: In 2015,
Deputy Gries led the Guthrie
County Sheriff s Office with
90 arrests including 10 felony
arrests, 32 OWIs, and 50 drug
arrests - which included 19
drug impaired drivers. He has
amassed over 200 drug arrests

in the last four years. He issued

18 citations for open containers or minors in possession. He
issued citations or arrested 26
unlicensed drivers, issued 183
traffic citations and 334 warnings. He provides leadership to
younger deputies by practicing
field sobriety tests with them and
he has handed over his own OWI
stops and assisted them to help
the less experienced deputies to
gain confidence.He started and
administers a Facebook page
that has gained to 2,000 followers since it started in 2015. He
developed and implemented a
citizens academy.He donated
his own time and money to get
the 7-night/21-hour class off
the ground. The class was well
received and more are planned
including one for high school
students. Deputy Gries is the
essence of dedication.
The Iowa Department of
Public Safety annually recognizes outstanding contributions
to traffic safety based on commitment and service provided
beyond routine duties, creativity
of approach, and effectiveness of
a traffic safety program or campaign in 2015.

Stuart Good Eggs

June 17, 18, 19

Plans for the annual Stuart

Good Egg Days celebration
scheduled for June 17, 18,
19, 2016 are underway. The
theme chosen by the commit-

tee is Dressin Up and Lookin

Good.
Once again, the committee is
requesting letters of nomination
for Grand Marshal, Citizen of
the Year, and Father of the Year.
These can be directed to The
Stuart Herald. .
Groups or organizations
desiring to have a booth can
obtain application forms from
Nyla Maas, 641-740-1063 or
nmaas1@hotmail.com. Forms
are also available at www.stuartia.com.
The next Good Egg Days
meeting will be Monday, May
9 at Rubys at 6 p.m. Everyone
is welcome to attend and share
ideas.

Costa Rica Trip - Spring Break 2016

WIAD Annual Dinner

Participants in the Costa Rica Trip, front row, from left, Molly Heintz, Caroline Doud,
Native Dancer, Emily OBrien, Lily McCanlies, Beth Smith, James Sullivan; center row, Becca
Renslow, Sadie McFarland, Miranda Neal, Native Dancer, Native Dancer, Meagan Sullivan, Morgan
Smith, Alyssa Christensen, Rachel Urquhart, Trisha Denning; back row, Christina Boss, Cody
Kent, Jake Anderson, Native Dancer, Lori Wachter, Emma Egger and Clark Dolch.

On Sunday, March 13, 2016,

17 West Central Valley students
and three chaperones traveled to
Costa Rica for a week of serving,
learning and adventure.
Sunday was a travel day.
Over half of the group had never
been in an airplane before. The
flight was from Des Moines to
Dallas and from Dallas to San
Jose, Costa Rica. Upon arrival,
the group transferred to the first
hotel for a good nights rest.
Monday saw the transfer to
the Central Pacific Coast. En
route, a stop at a roadside fruit
stand gave the group a variety of
new fruits and flavors. The trip
was broken up at the halfway
mark by a crocodile safari with
some up to 19 feet long, and also
a variety of birds. After arriving
at the second hotel for a threeday stay, students had opportunity to enjoy playing in the ocean,
another first-time experience as
over half of them had never visited the ocean.
(Continued on Page Two)