The Bear Facts
October 28, 2017

Good morning! I’m Tommy Kollasch!

I’m Jenna Boelter!

And I’m Grace McGuire! Thanks for joining us for the “Bear Facts”. Happy Halloween from all us spooks at Bishop Garrigan High School.

Last Saturday the Iowa High School Music Association held auditions for the All-State Music Festival. Exactly six hundred students are selected to participate in the All-State Choir. They come from all over the state, but the biggest share are from large schools in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, and the Quad Cities. This year, though, Bishop Garrigan—a school with less than 150 high school students—ended up with four all-state selections of our own.

Representing Garrigan at al-state will be juniors Sam Vaske, Bryce Capesius, and Megan Bronk, and freshman Joey Trainer. In addition to them senior Sam Trainer was selected as a first alternate and will perform if there are any drops in his section. The all-state festival will be November 16 through 18 at Iowa State Center in Ames. Just like every year, Iowa Public Television will be broadcasting the all-state concert over Thanksgiving weekend. Congratulations to all the all-state selections, but especially to Sam, Bryce, Megan, and Joey!

The Golden Bear quiz bowl team was also very successful last Saturday. Garrigan competed at the annual Scholastic Bowl at Centennial High School in Ankeny. The tournament mostly features 4-A schools from the Des Moines area, but the Bears managed to make playoffs, and they ended up in third place overall.

Garrigan’s only losses were to Waukee and Ankeny, the teams that ended up in first and second place in the tournament. Competing for Bishop Garrigan were seniors Ben Degen, Trevor Darling, and Tommy Kollasch; junior Aidan Koob; and sophomore Alex Mammen. The Bears will compete next Saturday at Algona, and then on November 11th they will host the Top of Iowa Conference tournament.

Both the Golden Bear volleyball and football teams are in playoffs. The volleyball team had a bye in the first round. They hosted the second round of regionals last Monday, when the Bears took on Graettinger Terrill—Ruthven Ayrshire. Garrigan got off to a slow start, but they picked things up and ended up beating GT—RA in four games to advance to the regional semi-finals against Newell—Fonda.

Last week the football team finished up its third straight undefeated regular season with a big win over Ft. Dodge St. Edmond. The Bears won their district and advanced to the state football playoffs. They hosted West Hancock last night. We had to record this show before this week’s playoff games were finished, but we’re hoping to see more football and volleyball action next week. Go Bears!

Garrigan’s fall musical is just around the corner. This year we’re presenting Little Shop of Horrors. The show will be presented Saturday, November 11 at 7pm and Sunday, November 12 at 3pm. Sam Trainer stars as Seymour; and the show also features Emma Thul, Aidan Koob, Sam Vaske, Eric Thul, Nolan Greene, Tommy Kollasch, Gabe Trainer, Logan Heying, and Johnny Zeimet.

Also in the cast are Isabelle Davis, Ashlyn Harrington, Bailey Kollasch, Caitlin Thilges, Amanda Miller, Jordan Hansen, Layah DeLange, Megan Bronk, Lauren Kenyon, Madison Illg, and the whole Garrigan choir. Be sure to mark your calendar for November 11 and 12 and see Little Shop of Horrors.

Last weekend Garrigan religion teacher Jake Rosenmeyer was over in Dubuque, where he was installed as an associate with the Franciscans. Franciscan associates are men and women of all walks of live who share the values and spirit of St. Francis. They bond with the Sisters of St. Francis and each other by sharing faith, prayer, study, service, and celebrations. Congratulations to Mr. Rosenmeyer for completing this step on his faith journey.

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Aubrey McEnroe. Here to tell you about her is Grace McGuire.

Aubrey McEnroe is an important part of the success of this year’s Golden Bear volleyball team. She’s also active in track, but her biggest activity is probably dance. She was part of the national championship BGHS danz squad, and she’s also performed on the All-Iowa Honor Dance Team. She also helps with the tech crew for plays, and she participates in lots of service projects. Aubrey is looking at a career in health sciences, and she’d like to attend the University of Iowa next year. We wish her all the best in the future.

Thanks, Grace. On our Golden Bear calendar, the autumn craft show is today, and Garrigan is one of the locations for that event. Monday the second quarter of the school year begins.

Tuesday is Halloween night, and it’s also the volleyball regional final. We’ll have mass for All Saints Day on Wednesday.

There’s no school at Garrigan next Friday. State solo dance is that day, and Friday night is the state football quarterfinals. Next Saturday is state cheerleading, and there’s also quiz bowl that day at Algona High.

That’s the “Bear Facts” for October. Thanks for joining us, and be sure to tune in again next week to hear all the news from Bishop Garrigan High School.