Okoboji’s volleyball team earned a trio of wins at a tournament hosted by Estherville Lincoln Central on Saturday, Oct. 5. The Pioneers earned 2-1 wins over Dickinson County rival Harris-Lake Park, Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire and Siouxland Conference rival Sheldon, but fell 2-1 to Emmetsburg and 2-0 to ELC.

Spirit Lake pushed its win streak to five games last week with a dominant performance against rival Estherville Lincoln Central.

Following a loss to rival Spirit Lake, Okoboji earned a bounce-back victory over Garner-Hayfield-Ventura on homecoming night last week.

With the win, the Pioneers improved to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in district play. Their four wins are the most for the program since going 4-5 in both the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

A win this week over Clarion-Goldfield-Dows would give the Pioneers their most wins in a single season since going 9-3 in 2008.

Harris-Lake Park suffered a third consecutive loss last week to watch their record dip to 2-4 overall and 2-3 in district play. The Wolves will look to right the ship this week when they travel to Buffalo Center to face a struggling North Iowa team.

The Bison (1-5, 1-3) have lost two straight to West Bend-Mallard and Northwood-Kensett, and would also like to pick up a victory this week. Their last win was a 57-6 victory over Rockford in Week 4.

Okoboji’s volleyball team suffered a home sweep to No. 7 Boyden-Hull on Thursday, Oct. 3. The Comets defeated the Pioneers 25-16, 25-19 and 25-15 in Milford.

In a matchup with Lakes Conference leader Cherokee on Tuesday, Oct. 1, Spirit Lake’s volleyball team suffered a road sweep to the ninth-ranked (3A) Braves. Cherokee topped Spirit Lake 25-7, 25-14 and 25-10 in Cherokee.

Anabel Sinz led the team with three kills. Leah Bolluyt and Lauren Travis had two kills each. Ellie Bolluyt had five assists and Faith DeWild had four.

Okoboji’s volleyball team suffered a road sweep to Siouxland Conference foe Rock Valley on Tuesday, Oct. 1. The Rockets defeated the Pioneers 3-0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-16) in Rock Valley.

I like Valentine’s Day. I think it gets a bad rap.

I’m sure you’ve heard the conspiracy theories of it being a day invented by the flower, candy and greeting card companies to earn an easy buck. I’m not buying.

One of the wonderful things about the pheasant season, which opens the last Saturday of October is that of the resident-only youth pheasant opener weekend — Oct. 19-20.

The residents-only youth season gives Iowans age 15 and younger the opportunity to hunt for rooster pheasants without purchasing a license, habitat fee or taking hunter education. Youths must hunt under the direct supervision of an adult age 18 or older that has a valid hunting license and habitat fee.

Brightly colored leaves on trees, migrating birds and butterflies, hunting and football seasons. These are all indicators that fall is here or near.

To those of us who go fishing year ‘round, these are also reminders that what many of us declare to be the best time of year to go fishing has arrived. I have many fall fishing memories. Most were very pleasant, some were learning experiences.

A total of 18  lakes across Iowa are gearing up to receive trout this fall. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will release between 1,000 to 2,000 rainbow trout at each location as part of its cool weather trout program that brings trout to areas that cannot support them during the summer months.

The best way to prevent the spread of oak wilt is to not prune any oak tree during the growing season.

“It’s best to wait until after Oct. 15 to start pruning oak trees,” says Tivon Feeley, with the Iowa DNR’s forest health program. “Then you can prune your oaks all winter long with the goal to stop pruning by March 1.

Drivers are advised to stay alert as they travel Iowa’s roadsides over the coming weeks. Autumn deer behavior, crop harvest and peak travel times for motorists combine to hike the risk of vehicle-deer collisions in Iowa.

Many factors affect how “brilliant” our fall colors will be each year. Stress, like lack of rain this August and September, often brightens fall colors. But with our unpredictable weather, warm evenings or an early frost can cause leaves to be duller. The brightest displays of color occur when we have an early fall of bright sunny days and cool nights.

Okoboji gave an inch and top-ranked Spirit Lake took a mile in a football matchup between heated rivals on Friday, Sept. 27 in Milford.

The Pioneers offense went three-and-out in the game’s opening drive. Okoboji’s special teams shanked the ensuing punt out of bounds at the Okoboji 40-yard-line and Spirit Lake’s offense capitalized with a scoring drive to take an early lead and all of the momentum in a 42-7 win.