For 43 years of entertaining the people of northwest Iowa and beyond, the Lake Patrol band is being honored with induction into the Iowa Rock ’n Roll Music Association Hall of Fame on Labor Day weekend.

The local band still plays at various locations around the Lakes Area on a regular basis. The musicians on stage vary from gig to gig but they have a good time, whomever is playing that night.

Some voters were still registered in the county despite moving away

CORRECTION: In last week's issue of the Dickinson County News, it was reported that 118 votes were challenged in the county. This was a mistake, as it was actually 118 voters that were challenged, and not votes.

GrapeTree Medical Staffing, LLC in Milford celebrated 25 years of providing professional medical staffing with an open house at the corporate offices on Wednesday, Aug. 7. Founded by medical professional and local resident Tim Kinnetz, the company grew by leaps and bounds over the 25-year period. The company’s staff currently includes 15,000 medical professionals serving 3,200 healthcare facilities in 12 states plus a corporate office staff of 175 people.

St. Alban's is thrilled to announce The Reverend Carolyn Tuttle as their new priest in charge. She comes to St. Alban's from New Mexico but is a Keokuk, Iowa Native with childhood memories vacationing in Okoboji with her family including attending St. Albans many times throughout the years. Carolyn attended Virginia Theological Seminary and has served Episcopal and Lutheran churches in Colorado, Pennsylvania and most recently New Mexico.

The historic Milwaukee Depot, housing the Dickinson County Museum, is steaming down the tracks towards an exciting destination attraction for residents and visitors to the area. Within the original walls of the depot, built in 1884, interactive exhibits will educate museum visitors. The new exhibits will focus on the history and importance of the railroads to Dickinson County.

Jessie Ray Evans, age 38, of Spirit Lake was arrested on charges of domestic abuse impeding air/blood flow and domestic abuse — second offense — at approximately 12 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 8 near Sunner Avenue in Spirit Lake. According to the criminal complaint, Evans grabbed the victim by the throat and caused bruising to the victim's collarbone area. The victim mentioned that they had gotten light headed and things began to go black.

The 47th Annual University of Okoboji Budweiser Men's Slow Pitch Softball Tournament will be held this Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 17 and 18 at the Memorial Park softball fields in Milford.

Director Brett Groen reports that 14 teams from Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota and South Dakota will play on the three softball fields at the Milford Memorial Park Complex. There will be over 30 games played starting at 8 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. The last Saturday game will start at 4 p.m.

West O Beer, in partnership with the Okoboji Foundation, invites the community to join them at the brewery for a special “ON US” event on Wednesday, Aug. 14. A portion of West O’s sales proceeds from the day, along with matching donations from the Okoboji Foundation and Modern Woodmen of America, will go towards amplifying the impact of the Spencer Chamber of Commerce’s upcoming gift card disbursement program, which directly benefits Spencer residents and local businesses.

At the Spirit Lake Public Library, if you search the term “poetry” in the card catalog, there are 850 matches. As you sort through the titles, you can see that there is something for everyone.

A good starter book is How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry by Edward Hirsch. After that, you could try I’m Just No Good at Rhyming and Other Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups by Christine Harris.

After 39 years and still going strong, Kate and Bob Shaw's ice cream truck isn't going anywhere soon

A look back on local history

What would the Arnolds Park of today look like without Preservation Plaza and its accompanying amusement park? Nearly 25 years ago, the city almost found out, when the owner, who had put plenty of savings into the park, made the decision to put the park up for auction in 1999.

A total of 118 Dickinson County voters have been challenged recently by the Dickinson County Board of Supervisors. The concern is that there had been more voters registered in Dickinson County than there were residents.

The annual Art in the Park has been a favorite event on the Lakes Area’s summer schedule since the early 1990s. On Saturday, Aug. 3, Preservation Plaza was filled with 65 artistic exhibitors in a wide variety of mediums to please the hundreds of people who browsed and/or purchased some of the original pieces on display. Art in the Park is organized and presented each year by the Pearson Lakes Art Center.

The Iowa Great Lakes Knights of Columbus Council 5043 thanks the entire community for its support of the pancake breakfast it held for flood victims. Proceeds were given to Spencer Council Grand Knight Michael Raner in a presentation Monday evening at St. Mary Parish, Spirit Lake.  

The Milford High School Class of 1974 held their 50th class reunion over Pioneer Days weekend. Classmates, spouses and friends toured the Jones Dairy Farm, Classic Car Museum and other area venues, and enjoyed a picnic in the city park in Arnolds Park. Shown enjoying the picnic were: (front row, from left) teachers Gary Koelling and Mrs.