Photo by Margaret Thomsen Clayton Boldt and his steer, Bronco, share a quiet moment during the Tama County Fair. This relaxed scene proves how much time these two have spent together in preparation for the fair

How about those Rebel boys – the 4th state tournament team in a year.

First football, then basketball, soccer and finally baseball. What a year to remember. You all have made both communities very proud and you have accomplished something that will be remembered for a long time. Congratulations to all of you and your parents and coaches for raising a tremendous group of young people.

Tama County 4-H fair is over. In spite of all the hot weather, there was a very good crowd for all the events. Congratulations to all of our local 4-Hers on your years of hard work and the pride you show in your projects. They all were great – both livestock and non livestock exhibits. Good Job! Also a big thank you to the local young people for running the food stand. They worked from 6AM to 10PM plus. That takes a lot of dedication. There was a very good variety of meals and pies and all were great – both my blood sugar and waistline are proof.

I was reminded at Paul Lundt’s funeral about another group of volunteers who we take for granted and forget about the time and dedication they put in – that being the American Legion color guard. They are always there to honor the veterans at their funerals regardless of weather, hot, cold, rain or snow, with the flag presentation, gun salutes and taps. We here in Gladbrook are very lucky to have this dedicated group of individuals honoring our veterans. Thank you to the American Legion vets. You are greatly appreciated by both the family of the deceased and your community.

Last week Mark Lowry and I made our semi annual tour of all the streets and alleys here in Gladbrook looking for trash and junk buildup. For the most part every thing looked fine. I sent out 13 letters to various people on weeds, trash and cars. Hopefully this will all be taken care of without further notice from me.

Peace Church Senior Youth Fellowship on their Mission Trip to Blue Knob, Pennsylvania July 26-August 1. In front (l-r) Kathy Vavroch, Jim Osborn, Eric Stoakes, Sasha Nagle, Callie Hulst, Kendra Vavroch, Cole Goos and Deb Osborn. In back (l-r) Deagan Haack, Spencer Goos, Tyler Pierce, Scott Vavroch, Zach Pierce, and Tammi Pierce.

With everything that has been going on with the school problems here in Gladbrook for the last several months, there have been a lot of rumors going around about how our school building is being trashed – so last week I received a tour of the building. I started in the elementary and was in most of the rooms including the restrooms, then to the janitors room, furnace room, then the middle school and the old gym and the kitchen. Then on to the new gym, locker room, band room and upstairs restrooms. I was very pleased with the overall shape and cleanliness of the entire building. There naturally are some desks and tables and supplies that have been removed as well as the lockers out of the new gym shower rooms but other than that everything looks great. I think the whole building could be ready for school starting if needed. In my opinion both our local janitors, Rick Benda and Gage Smith, have done an excellent job of cleaning and closing down the building. If you see either of them, thank them for the exceptional work and the pride they take in our building here in Gladbrook.

Also congratulations to the Peace YF group of young adults and their leaders on another good mission trip. Gladbrook is proud of you.

Keith Sash, Mayor