The Bear Facts
September 7, 2013
Good morning! I’m Cassidy Vitzthum!
And I’m Zac Kibby! Welcome once again to the “Bear Facts”, the radio show where each week we bring you the news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
School is in full swing now, and that means it’s fundraising season again. We’re right in the middle of the annual calendar drive, and every student from fifth through twelfth grade is selling raffle calendars. The cost this year is $30, and the calendars are full of glossy color pictures and all the school events from now through next summer.
The calendar raffle has been increased. The top prize is now $1000, and there’s a chance you could win every day of the year. Money from the calendar drive goes to support the transportation budget. So find your favorite Golden Bear today and be sure to buy your Garrigan calendar.
The music department is also selling stuff right now. They recently began selling cheesecakes, which go toward the expenses of trips the band and choir take. There’s lots of individual flavors, plus variety packs full of a mixture of different kinds. The cheesecakes will be on sale through September 23.
In the next couple weeks many friends of Garrigan will be receiving flyers asking them to support DARTS, a group that funds drama, art, and speech. DARTS has funded several big projects in the past, including new stage curtains and spotlights for the school. The big project this year will be new acoustic shells for the choir. So look for your DARTS letter and help support the fine arts at Garrigan!
As everyone knows the big fundraiser we’ve got going at Garrigan is our Capital Campaign. We’ve been making good progress toward the goals, with three million dollars now pledged toward the building project and staff endowment. Right now we’re working to convert those pledges into cash on hand so we can go ahead with the new addition without accumulating debt.
There’s a completely separate improvement project going on behind the school. If you’re a baseball fan, you know that while Garrigan has a great field, it’s prone to flooding. To reduce that problem, we’re installing drainage tile on the baseball field, and we hope that next summer we won’t have to cancel games because of water.
This fall nine Garrigan music students are working hard to prepare for auditions for the All-State Music Festival. Only the best musicians audition for all-state. They study difficult pieces and sing them in groups for the audition. This year’s auditioners include bass vocalists Nick Bronk and Jake Hamilton, plus tenors Christian Matthews, Levi Capesius, and Josh Hamilton.
The girls auditioning for all-state are sopranos Carolyn Baxter, Morgan Frideres, and Sophia Kaduce; as well as altos Dorothy Kirsch, Mariah Bronk, and Erin Quinlin. They have a training session today, and we wish all of them well as they prepare for all-state.
One of the all-state auditioners had a particularly busy summer. Emmetsburg native Christian Matthews was selected to perform with the National Catholic Youth Choir as they performed around the country. Not only did Christian sing with the group, but he also was featured as a soloist at youth choir concerts. Congratulations, Christian!
The 2013 Garrigold yearbooks will be back next week. English teacher Mary McCall is in charge of publications at Garrigan. Much of the work for this year’s yearbook was done by Nicole Behr, who is now in her second year as editor. Nicole’s co-editor is Sydney McNertney, and fellow senior Aisha Miller is also at the core of the publications staff.
Tomorrow advanced biology students are leaving their weekend camping trip. This year they’re headed over to northeast Iowa. They’ll see Norman Borlaug’s home in Cresco, go canoeing on the Upper Iowa River, do hiking and orienteering, see a trout hatchery, and visit the Seed Savers heritage farm. Science teacher Beany Bode is supervising the trip.
This week’s Senior Spotlight shines on Taylor Hovey.
Taylor Hovey broke several Golden Bear softball records last summer. This fall she’s busy with volleyball, and she’s also active in basketball, choir, and Christian Leadership in Action. She enjoys relaxing and hanging out with her friends. Next year she’s considering attending Grand View or Central, and she’d like to continue playing softball at college. Good luck, Taylor!
Thanks, Taylor! On our Golden Bear calendar this week, there’s a volleyball tournament at Algona today. Then tomorrow the advanced biology class leaves on their camping trip.
Tomorrow is also the anniversary of the birth of Bishop Philip Garrigan, the namesake of our school. Monday the freshman—sophomore football team plays at Clarion.
Tuesday is school picture day at Garrigan, so we’ll all be dressed in colorful clothing. The cross-country team runs at Estherville Tuesday night. Then on Wednesday we’ll have an all-school mass.
Thursday the volleyball team hosts Hampton—Dumont. Friday the football team plays Prairie Valley at Gowrie. Then next Saturday there’s CYO cross-country at Holstein and volleyball at Emmetsburg.
Finally this week we want to welcome back Garrigan graduate Sean Dyson. Sean will be helping out custodian Mark Johnson in the afternoon, and we’re glad to have him back with us at Garrigan.
That’s the “Bear Facts” for another week. Thanks for joining us, and be sure to tune in again next week for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
