THE BEAR FACTS
September 25, 2021

Good morning! I’m Ava Eisenbarth!
 

I’m Marguerite Fakler!
 

And I’m Riley Rosenmeyer! Welcome to a special edition of the “Bear Facts”, where we’re getting ready for Homecoming here at Bishop Garrigan High School.

Homecoming week begins tomorrow at Bishop Garrigan, and it will continue through next Saturday. The theme this year is “It’s a Celebration”, and we’ll be celebrating the many successes we have in almost every field. The Homecoming dress-up days will involve celebrations like Christmas, Halloween, birthdays, the 4th of July, and a victory party where we’ll all be decked out in black and gold.
 

The Homecoming royal court for 2021 includes king candidates Hollis Bode, Collin Casey, Grant Haugland, Jacob Leerar, and Quinn Swift. Candidates for Homecoming queen are Annie Burns, Veronica Capesius, Emma Grandgenett, Ella Muller, and Meredith Tigges. The king and queen will be announced in a coronation ceremony Monday at 9am.
 

All of the fall sports teams will be active during Homecoming week. The cross-country team will be running at River Road in the Algona Invitational on Monday, and the volleyball team will travel to Forest City Tuesday night. The football team will be home Friday night to take on St. Edmond, and the junior class will hold a supper fundraiser at the game.

Every year Homecoming involves a competition between the four high school classes. This year each class will receive points for the percentage of their class that participates in the different dress-up days and how many attend the sports events during the week. There are also contests to bring in donations for the food pantry and to raise “nickels for novels” to help buy new books for the school library.

Classes will also prepare banners for the parade, spirit squares that will be displayed by the gym entrance, and hoops for the teams to run through. There’s also a “Mr. Garrigan” competition that involves both talent and fashion sense. The most points will come from the Game Day battle of the classes, where we’ll all compete in events ranging from trivia to dodgeball. The overall winners will all be announced before the game next Friday night.

The Battle of the Classes will be Thursday, and Friday will also be full of Homecoming activities. High school students will begin the day with the traditional Homecoming mass. That will be followed by the Mr. Garrigan contest. The parade will happen at 2pm, and this year we’ll be back to the traditional route along State Street in downtown Algona. The festivities will finish up with the big Homecoming dance following the game Friday night.
 

 One of the things we’re celebrating at Homecoming is that Garrigan 6th grade teacher Mandy Glawe was named Citizen of the Month for September by the Kossuth County Sheriff’s Department. While Mrs. Glawe was nominated for her service to the Wesley Community Club, she shows the same commitment in the work she does with middle school students at Garrigan. Sheriff Fisher commented on her positive attitude, caring, kind personality, and willingness to help others. Congratulations, Mrs. Glawe!


There’s always different fundraisers at Garrigan. The latest is a golf ball drop sponsored by the junior class to raise money for after-prom. Four hundred golf balls will be sold at $10 each. They’ll be dropped from a plane on Saturday, October 16, and the eight balls that land closest to a target will win prizes ranging from $100 to $500. Every BGHS junior is selling entries, so see them for your chance to win!

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Meredith Illg. Here to tell you about her is Xander Darling.

Meredith Illg has won many awards for her accomplishments in dance. In addition to being part of the state champion BGHS danz squad, Meredith was named an All-American dancer at NDA camp last summer. Meredith is also a cheerleader, she’s in choir, and she’s been part of several speech and drama productions throughout high school. We wish Meredith all the best in the future.
 

Thanks, Xander. On our Golden Bear calendar this week, the Golden Bear volleyball team is hosting their home tournament today. Then tomorrow there’s a retreat for sophomore confirmation candidates.

 Monday will be Christmas party day for Homecoming. We’ll have the coronation at 9am, followed by a pep rally. Monday night the cross-country team runs in the Algona meet at River Road, and there’s JV football at Northwood Kensett.

Tuesday’s Homecoming theme is Halloween party day. The volleyball team will be playing at Forest City that night. Then on Wednesday we’ll dress for “birthday party day” for Homecoming.
 

Thursday will be “4th of July party day”, with different classes dressed in red, white, blue—and also black. We’ll have the battle of the classes throughout the day on Thursday.

Friday will be “victory party day”. We’ll have Homecoming mass at 8:30 Friday morning, followed by the Mr. Garrigan contest. The Homecoming parade will be at two o’clock Friday afternoon.

Friday night the football team hosts St. Edmond. The Homecoming dance will be after the game. Then next Saturday Garrigan’s Solid Gold Marching Band will participate in the parade and field competition at Algona Band Day.

Finally this week we want to congratulate Garrigan English teacher Ashley Meyer. This Homecoming she’s celebrating the birth of her new son. Last weekend her new so Cruz Bennett Meyer was born. Congratulations to Mrs. Meyer, and best wishes to our latest future Golden Bear.
 

That’s the “Bear Facts” for September. Thanks for joining us, and be sure to listen in next week, when we tell you about all the Homecoming winners here at Bishop Garrigan High School.

EVERYONE: Go Bears!