May 14, 1944 - April 16, 2008
Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 2 at the First Presbyterian Church in Spirit Lake for Mary Vee Blackert, 64, of Everett, Wash. and formerly of Spirit Lake, who passed away April 16 in Everett.
Burial will be in Lakeview Cemetery, Spirit Lake.

Sept. 20, 1916 - April 23, 2009
Funeral services were held April 27 at the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Spirit Lake for Wilbur "Dick" Gildemeister, 92, of Spirit Lake, who passed away Thursday, April 23, 2009, at Lakes Regional Healthcare in Spirit Lake.
Interment was at the Ocheyedan Cemetery.
He was born on Sept. 20, 1916, in Ocheyedan, to Carl and Minnie (Frey) Gildemeister.

Oct. 26, 1927 - April 17, 2009
Funeral services were held April 22 at the First Presbyterian Church in Spirit Lake for Donald G. Hill, 81, who passed away April 17 at the Veteran's Hospital in Sioux Falls from complications of diabetes.
Rev. Clint Loveall officiated. Interment was at the Armstrong Grove Cemetery.

Aug. 18, 1939 - April 20 , 2009
A funeral mass was held April 24 at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Whittemore for Alice P. Kollasch, 69, of North Liberty, formerly of Arnolds Park and Whittemore, who passed away April 20, 2009 at the University of Iowa, Iowa City.
Father Victor Raemaker officiated. Burial was at St. Michael's Catholic Cemetery.

Services were held April 14 at the Rettinger Funeral Home in Long Lake, Minn. for Kent B. Winter, 77, who passed away April 8, 2009.
Kent was born and grew up in Buffalo Center. He was a long-time resident of Long Lake, Minn., and Chaska, Minn.

Historic Arnolds Park representatives have announced that REO Speedwagon will appear in Preservation Plaza, formerly the Arnolds Park Greenspace in Arnolds Park, at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 18.

***HOW TO PARTICIPATE
__Register__
Entry forms are available at Kabele's Trading Post, Pioneer Beach, Fisherman's Factory Outlet, Oh Shuck's Bait and Tackle, Stan's Bait and Tackle and the Chamber offices.
__Fish__

Movie: State of Play
Cast: Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Robin Wright Penn, Jason Bateman, Jeff Daniels and Helen Mirren
Based on the BBC Miniseries by Paul Abbott
Screenplay by Michael Matthew Carnahan and Tony Gilroy and Billy Ray
Directed by Kevin Macdonald
MPAA: PG-13 -- Parents Strongly Cautioned -- Some Material May Be Inappropriate for Children Under 13 -- Some violence, language including sexual references, and brief drug content

On Sunday, April 19 at approximately 12:17 a.m., the Spirit Lake Police Department attempted to make a traffic stop on a yellow 1984 Ford F-150. The vehicle failed to stop for officers and led them on a pursuit northbound on Highway 86 from Vick's Corner.
The vehicle left the roadway and overturned in the 1000 block of Highway 86.

At an economic time when many trained workers are suddenly finding themselves out of work as the country sinks further into the recession, aspiring entrepreneurs are finding that this is the best time to follow their dream into a reality.

<em>This is the fifth and final story in a series about how area organizations prepare for summer in the Iowa Great Lakes area.</em>
As homeowners begin cultivating their gardens and tuning up the lawnmowers, a handful of area organizations are looking at the bigger picture to beautifying the Lakes area.

<em>This is the fifth and final story in a series about how area organizations prepare for summer in the Iowa Great Lakes area.</ em>
As homeowners begin cultivating their gardens and tuning up the lawnmowers, a handful of area organizations are looking at the bigger picture to beautifying the Lakes area.

When it rains, pollutants like oil, pet waste, fertilizers, soil, and excess pesticides may wash into our lakes. These pollutants can harm aquatic life and make our waters less desirable for activities like swimming, fishing, and boating.

In the past six weeks we have been deluged by news accounts of multiple murders and suicides. Fathers killing whole families, mothers killing their children, brothers killing sisters, children being tossed from bridges or purposely driven into lakes and rivers to drown.

Let me first say that I don't like cage fighting, I don't watch it on television and I don't attend any of the local cage fighting matches. But I have always thought that we live in America the land of the FREE!