The Bear Facts
December 23 2023

JIINGLE BELLS RING

Ho! Ho! Ho! Good morning! I’m Benjy Trainer!

I’m Brendan Plathe!

Ella Schaaf!

Violet Bode!

Reagan Murphy

Tate Foertsch

And I’m Abbie Capesius! Merry Christmas from the “Bear Facts” and everyone here at Bishop Garrigan High School.

After a year that featured multiple state championships, this past Friday seven of last year’s graduates were inducted into Garrigan’s all-sports hall of fame. To get this honor, athletes have to excel in multiple sports all through school. The 2023 inductees are Cal Birkey, Audi Crooks, Drew Fogarty, Jack Grandgenett, Garrett Heying, Molly Joyce, and Gavin Swift. Congratulations, hall of famers!

Each year at Christmas on the “Bear Facts” we give a special survey to students around school. The first question we asked this Christmas was “What’s on your list this year?” Some people wanted money, clothes, or video games, but there was a wide range of other responses, too. Violet Bode said she wants a yoga mat, while Sawyer Herrick wants maple syrup equipment. Eva Kohlhaas wants a new volleyball, Hannah Merron and Owen Murphy both want golf clubs, Carter McGregor wants a buck knife and hunting pants, and Daniel Meis wants tickets to an Oregon game.

Brendan Plathe wants an Apple watch and a Lego grand piano, Kyra Deike and Molly Peterson would both like to find I-pads under the tree, Aidan Deitering is asking for a heated sweatshirt, and Zeke Elbert wants a brand new truck. Keaton Helleseth would like to see Oakleys in his stocking, while Ava Roethler wants a Sephora gift card. Logan Buscher wants paint and accessories for his Jeep, Lauren Swift wants a facial cake, and Leo Snyder is wishing for ski goggles.

Hailee Reutzel says a vacation is on her list. Thadd Kollasch is hoping for a million dollars, but he says he’ll settle for the Seahawks making the playoffs. Sam Plathe says he’s looking for someone to watch Christmas movies with, and Ben Greteman says he doesn’t need anything because Christmas came early this year—in the form of a shiny new trophy. Finally there’s Justin Bauer, who (for the third straight year) said, “All I want for Christmas is you”.

Our next question was “What’s the best gift you’ve ever gotten?” For many people the best gift was a laptop or a phone, but there were lots of more creative answers too. Madelyn Bronk loved getting a cotton candy machine, while Spencer Doerning’s top gift was a Millennium Falcon Lego set. Brooke Ludwig loves framed photos and personalized cards, Aubrey Meyer liked getting a jet ski, and Zoe Montag will always remember her room makeover.

Schyler Morse’s favorite gift was a Playstation 5, while Klayton Kramer preferred an Xbox 1. Benjy Trainer’s top gift was a snowmobile trip to Wisconsin, Alaina Casey remembers getting a projector, and Carley Nielson, Shiloh Trainer, and Reece Kemna all said their favorite was a new dog. Emmi Bartolo got a trampoline, and Reagan Murphy’s best gift was a vanity.

Nick Leerar said the top gift he ever got was a basketball—something he’s definitely used. Ethan Marso liked getting a shotgun, while Sophie Meraz liked her Hello Kitty squishie. Isaac DeLange said his best gift was “Mexico”—which we assume means he got the entire country. Drew Lappe responded with “another Christmas with my three grandparents”, Nick Thul said his friends and family were a gift, and Brody Ludwig said no gift could be better than his parents.

Another question we asked was “What’s your favorite Christmas song”. Things ranged from “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” to “Hate It or Love It” by 50 Cent, with the most popular response being “Last Christmas” by Wham. Other choices included “Hard Candy Christmas” by Dolly Parton, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”, “Washington Square” by Chris Isaak, Kelly Clarkson’s “Underneath the Tree”, and the classic “White Christmas”.

Drew Muller loves “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and also “Here Comes Santa Claus”, while Ella Schaaf enjoys “The Christmas Song” about chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Sam Greteman’s favorite song is “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”, Carter Schwab prefers “Jingle Bells”, Eli Casey likes “Santa, Tell Me” by Ariana Grande, Eric Lansing likes “Santa Baby”, Kayden Graves likes “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer”, and Kegan Berte prefers “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”.

Other favorite songs include “Home for the Holidays”, “What Child Is This”, “Little Saint Nick”, “Run, Run, Rudolph”, “Silver Bells”, “Mary Did You Know”, and “Feliz Navidad”. A couple of people said they liked the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and a couple others said they hate Christmas songs. Finally there’s“All I Want for Christmas Is You”—which was a hit for Addison Kuper, Alyssa Haugland, Tate Foertsch, Amaury Thomas, Andrew Lichter, and Dalton Klenz.

Our final question was “What’s your favorite Christmas dessert or food?” Brady Galligan said he likes “fattening cookies or brownies”, while Mike Joyce said “Grandma’s special eggnog”. Karson Sidles and Ava Snyder like fudge, Scott Bormann and Gabe Swift prefer ham, Kyle Bormann enjoys strawberry salad, and Zach Warren likes prime rib for Christmas. Abbie Capesius likes all the Christmas cookies, and Kyra Deike specifically loves to eat peanut butter star cookies.


Daniel Meis says he likes mashed potatoes and candy canes—hopefully not together, Ava Hough enjoys cheesy potatoes, and C.J. Weydert says his traditional holiday food is Chips Ahoy. Other Christmas favorites include pretzels with Rolos and M&Ms, peanut clusters, Chex mix, steak, Lil Smokies, crab, goulash, pickle wraps, soups, kringle, pies, gingerbread, apple crisp, and jello cake. Then there’s Marshall Bormann who says he has no idea what his favorite food is—he likes everything.

Because of the holiday we’ll be skipping our Senior Spotlight, and we’ve got two weeks of events on our Golden Bear calendar. There’s no practices or activities this weekend because of Christmas break.

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and Monday we’ll be celebrating Christmas Day. Practices will start up again on Thursday, December 28th.

Christmas vacation continues on January 1st and 2nd. On Tuesday the 2nd, the Bears have five basketball games—JJV boys and JV and varsity boys and girls—at Forest City.

School will start up again on Wednesday, January 3rd. Thursday the 4th there’s swimming at Ft. Dodge, wrestling at St. Edmond, and JJV basketball at Garner.

Friday, January 5th the Golden Bears have a basketball quad at home against Britt West Hancock. Finally on Saturday the 6th there’s an honor band at NIACC in Mason City.

That wraps up the “Bear Facts for 2023. We’ll be off next week for Christmas vacation, but be sure to join us again on Saturday, January 4, 2024 for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.

EVERYBODY: Merry Christmas, everybody!
JINGLE BELLS RING.