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News from the week of November 10, 1999

Professor Harold Hill arrives

Flamboyant 'Music Man' production strikes up band Saturday, Sunday

The stage at Tracy Area High School becomes River City, Iowa this weekend as curtains rise for the first time Saturday evening at 8 p.m. for a community theater production of “The Music Man.”

The Tony-award winning musical, written by Meridith Willson, has wowed American audiences since the 1950s with its toe-tapping score, lavish sets, wry humor and heart-tugging sentiments. The Tracy Community Education production aims remain faithful to the original 'Music Man' magic.

“We want the audience to feel like they're part of River City,” explains Jeff James, co-director of the show along with Ade Miller. A specially constructed three-tiered stage extends into the audience.

Rehearsals began eight weeks ago. The 50 member cast features "kids" from age 13 to 79.

“We hope everyone (who attends) leaves with one thing about the show standing out for them, and another occurring on the way home. . .and the next day something else,” says James.

It might be the costumes.

“I'm really pleased with the costumes,” reports James. “There's a lot of variety and they're authentic to the period.”

Or the sets, seven in all with 17 different scenes.

And don't forget the music. The score, eighteen songs in all, includes the classics "Seventy-six Trombones," "Trouble in River City," "Wells Fargo Wagon," and "Till There Was You."

The show's plot centers around the slippery schemes of traveling salesman "Professor" Harold Hill, played by Jim Miller. The Professor, newly-arrived in a town of stubborn Iowans, contrives a shady plan to sell band instruments and uniforms for a boys' band. But first, the salesman must convince townspeople that a newly-arrived pool table threatens the morals of the town's youth. A suspicious librarian (Amy Engesser), a pompous mayor (Keith Stanton), quarreling school board members (Con Rettmer, Steve Jones, Richard Brown and Errol Steffen), and self-righteous society ladies threaten to foil the plan. But the town's folk find themselves charmed by the spellbinder and the band instruments are ordered. Harold's scheme gets complicated when he falls in love with the librarian.

Show dates and times are Saturday, Nov. 13, 8 p.m.; Sunday, Nov. 14, 3 p.m.; Friday., Nov. 19, 8 p.m. and Saturday., Nov. 20, 8 p.m.

Advance tickets for “The Music Man” are available at John's Drug, Food Pride, Tracy Publishing, Milroy Farmers Elevator, Steffen Electric, Currie State Bank and Dr. Brown Dental office in Balaton, and the Tracy Community Education office. Tickets cost $5 in advance or $7 at the door. Advance tickets may be used for any performance dates.


Family counts blessings after deadly pit gas kills 179 sows

'I am so thankful that Scott or our boys weren't in the barn'

Deadly gases suffocated 179 of the 360 sows in a hog facility belonging to Scott and Shelley Schwartz of rural Garvin last week..

The accident occurred while Schwartz and his father were pumping manure from the barn's pit. Computerized thermostat controls, responding to a drop in temperature, shut down pit fans in the facility, cutting off ventilation in the gestation barn. The farrowing portion of the barn was not affected.

“In hindsight it's easy to figure out how it happened,” reflects Schwartz. “You're creating a gas when you agitate the manure in the pit. I know how important it is to watch the air, but I thought the fans were still running.”

In the aftermath of the catastrophe, the Schwartzes say they want to reassure their neighbors that what happened in the hog barn in no way poses a danger to the surrounding lake environment.

“We know people have questions,” said Shelley. “That's why we want to explain what happened.”

• • •

The Schwartzes completed construction on their 370-sow farrow to wean facility two years ago.

“We moved the first sows in on Nov. 11,” remembers Schwartz, who is certified in the Compliance Audit Program, a joint venture of the National Pork Producer's Council and the Environmental Protection Agency. The Schwartz's farm is also a test site for the Clean Water Partnership.

Maintaining a disease-free barn means the couple diligently enforce practices such as using only dedicated clothing and restricting admission to the barn. Computers in the facility help control and monitor the barn's environment -- any interruption in the barn's power supply sets off an alarm system.

“If the lights even flickered, Scott was out the door in seconds,” says Shelley.

But it wasn't an interruption in the power or a computer glitch that caused the fans to shut down.

“If you're going to blame someone, there's only me,” says the pork producer forthrightly.

Schwartz explains that he'd set the computer-controlled thermostats to maintain optimum temperatures for the sows. Accordingly, when the temperature dropped below the setting, the computer shut down some of the pit fans. (Some fans in the facility operate at all times.)

“If the temperature gets too cold, you run the risk of having the sows abort,” he explains.

With the help of his father, the rural Garvin farmer had been agitating and pumping the pit for two days, hauling and incorporating loads of liquid manure in nearby fields. One more day, and the job would have been completed.

Agitation and pumping, explains the pork producer, stirs up and releases gases, among them hydrogen sulfide, ammonia and methane. During the once-a-year procedure, it's imperative that gases don't build up and cut off the oxygen supply inside the barn.

Above average temperatures had kept the barn's fans running during the annual pumping operation, says Schwartz. As an added precaution, he'd also dropped curtains on one side of the barn to allow for natural air circulation.

The pork producer remembers checking the hogs and fans before he left with a loaded wagon late in the afternoon.

“I looked in while I was loading, and everything was okay.”

Returning, Schwartz says he noticed immediately that the sows were down. He estimates he'd been gone only 45 minutes. The farmer says he ran to unplug the curtains on the south side of the barn. He stuck one foot inside the barn and flicked a switch that set stir fans in operation. But it was too late.

Shelley Schwartz picks up the story.

“I am so thankful that Scott or our boys weren't in the barn. It could have been them, too. Since this has happened, we've heard lots of stories where families have lost several members in similar situations.”

What killed the sows, explain the Schwartzes, was the concentration of gases inside the barn. Had the fans continued circulating fresh air throughout the barn, the accident would never have happened. At no time, they stress, was anyone outside of the barn in any danger.


Garbage changes proposed

Changes are proposed for residential garbage service in Tracy.

Tracy City Council members heard a plan Monday night calling for all residential customers to be equipped with new disposal containers. The 60-gallon containers, which can be rolled on wheels, are designed to be used with automatic tipping machinery on a garbage truck.

The proposal is being made by Waste Connections/Ritter Service, which purchased Steve Larson Services earlier this fall. Former owner Steve Larson, who now manages Waste Connection's operation in Tracy, explained the proposal to council members.

Larson pointed out that the new containers would allow customers to dispose of more refuse. Most Tracy residential garbage customers are on a 30-gallon container plan. Bags must be purchased for anything more than 30 gallons. Customers also have the option of choosing a 20-gallon container, at a slightly slower price.

The new automated containers would be provided by Waste Connections, at no cost to the customers. However, the use of the larger, wheeled containers would be mandatory.

The proposed monthly price for the 60-gallon container weekly service is $13.73 for all customers.

Waste Connections is requesting two other changes to go along with the new automated equipment:

• Curbside service for all customers.

• A five-year extension of the current garbage hauling contract to July of 2008. The contract now expires in July of 2003. It is proposed that all other provisions of the current contract, including an automatic annual cost-of-living increase, remain the same.

• • •

Council members took no action on the request, other than to ask the proposal be submitted to the council in writing.

The changes would require modifications in the city's waste collection ordinance. Council members directed that a proposed ordinance change be prepared for the council's next meeting. The garbage issue is scheduled to be on the council's Nov. 22 agenda.


Issues weighed in closed school noon hour issue

Thirty eight people attended a meeting Monday night to air opinions as to whether the noon hour at Tracy Area High School should remain open or be closed.

“It was a good meeting,” commented Mike Carlson, one of two school board members on the committee investigating the issue. Keith Rayman is the other school board representative. High school principal John Rokke is the committee chair.

In a report to the school board, Carlson and Rokke both praised the input of students in attendance at the meeting.

“It was a great experience for the kids. And it was good for us to listen,” said Rokke.

A committee was formed earlier this fall to investigate two separate concerns voiced by community members at meetings of the district's Systems Accountability Team: off-campus student behavior during the open noon hour and whether students who haven't completed graduation requirements should be allowed to march with their classmates in graduation exercises.

“We've received 62 items regarding the noon hour and 12 items about the no grad, no march discussion,” Rokke told board members.

The principal stressed that no decision had been reached on either issue and that the committee would continue to gather information before submitting recommendations to the board.

Concerns expressed thus far about the noon hour include loss of business to retailers if the noon hour is closed, loss of liberty for students and what the school will do during noon hour if all the students remain on campus.

“There's no way the cafeteria can hold everyone,” noted Rokke. “We'd have to make some food service adjustments.”

On the other side of the debate are concerns regarding tobacco and drug use during the noon hour as well as the potential for traffic accidents from the number of speeding vehicles leaving the parking lot at noon.

The deciding factor, say district officials, may well be one of liability -- the school district is liable for any accident that might occur during school hours, both on and off campus.

“There's no way the cafeteria can hold everyone,” noted Rokke. “We'd have to make some food service adjustments.”

On the other side of the debate are concerns regarding tobacco and drug use during the noon hour as well as the potential for traffic accidents from the number of speeding vehicles leaving the parking lot at noon.

The deciding factor, say district officials, may well be one of liability -- the school district is liable for any accident that might occur during school hours, both on and off campus.

Responding to a request from a community member, the committee plans to seek specific legal counsel regarding the district's liability.

“We'll convene again in the next two weeks and submit a report,” said Rokke.


Trek to state championship began up & down Balaton hills

Julie Gifford can still remember the long bicycle rides she once took around the Balaton countryside, with her mother and Big Sister Leah.

"I was five years old when I went on my first ten mile ride," the Tracy Area High School senior recalls. "What I remember is that I only had a single speed bike, and Leah had a speed bike. So I had lots of trouble getting up some of those hills."

The mother-daughter bike outings—four or five times a week—became a family ritual when Leah was a pre-schooler. Leah, who was born with weak muscles, was out walking, and then riding bike, with mom at a young age as a form of therapy. Julie joined the trek when she was old enough.

The aerobic activity apparently worked wonders. Leah went on to become an all-state track and cross country runner. Julie later would break most of her big sister's high school records. And Saturday, the little sister who struggled up the hills became a state cross country champion.

• • •

In a stellar prep running career brimming with highlights, Saturday's race might have been the sweetest of all.

"It was really cool," said a happy Julie Gifford after the race. "The race was fun this year. And the weird thing was, I didn't get tired. I just really felt strong."

Indeed.

The Panther senior from Balaton won in convincing fashion. Running against Minnesota's best, Gifford won the Class A race by a whopping 23 seconds. Her time would have won the Class AA race too, by 30 seconds.

The state championship also forever washed away the tears and disappointment from last year's state meet. In 1998, Julie finished 19th, good enough for all-state honors, but not nearly as well as she had hoped.

"Last year, I was so nervous, I just psyched myself out. I put so much pressure on myself. I guess I didn't handle it very well." Gifford also was also recovering from a sinus infection. The mental jitters and illness took a toll. After running with the leaders through the first two-thirds of the 1998 race, Gifford faded badly down the stretch, feeling so drained that she considered dropping out.

This year, everything was different.

"After what happened last year, winning is pretty exciting," Julie admitted.

The championship day was all the more special because Gifford could share it with her teammates. The Panther team also came home with medals, capturing the third place Class A team trophy.

"The team was just awesome," Julie said. "We are all really close, so it was cool to all be running at state together."

• • •

Six years ago, Miss Gifford had no idea she would ever run in a state cross country meet. She had never even seen a cross country race. Instead, she was playing volleyball with her classmates at Balaton.

The cross-country idea began taking root as an eighth grader. Leah, by then enjoying big time success on the Panther track team, ran high school cross country in the fall of 1995 when Balaton High School sponsored a team for the first time. Julie, although she ran in two junior high meets, still stuck with volleyball.

She changed her mind about cross country after qualifying for the state track meet as an eighth grader. Julie finished fifth at state in the two mile.

"All of the other girls I had run against at state were in cross country. I knew then that I had to run cross country too."

The next season, Leah's senior and Julie's freshman year, Balaton paired its cross country program with Tracy-Milroy. Julie began running cross country full time. The Gifford sisters finished 1-2 at many meets, often running side-by-side. Both qualified for state, with Leah finishing seventh and Julie taking eighth.

Over the next three years, Julie became one of the most dominant cross country runners in the state. During her sophomore, junior and senior seasons, Julie never lost a regular season race. She won three Section 3A championships. Only twice did she not reach the finish line in first. The two exceptions were the Class A state meet her sophomore year, when she was out-sprinted at the finish line by Kristi Colbenson of Rushford-Peterson/Houston; and last year's state meet.

• • •

So what's ahead for the effervescent senior, who is so good, that Coach Brian Michelson says her only shortcoming is a tendency to want to over train?

"I'll go to college somewhere and run, either Division I or II, but I don't know where yet," she explains. A straight-A student, Julie is looking for a college with good academics as well as a quality running program.

She has plenty choices.

The Gifford mailbox has been inundated with brochures and letters from colleges. Coaches have kept the phone ringing. But she isn't in a hurry to make a decision.

"It's been cool learning about colleges all around the country."


Balaton seeks 9-12 tuitioning agreement with Tracy, R-T-R

The Balaton Board of Education voted Monday to seek a two-year tuitioning agreement with Tracy Area Public Schools and Russell-Tyler-Ruthton Schools for students in grades 9-12.

The Balaton board proposes that its resident 9-12 students be allowed to attend school at either Russell-Tyler-Ruthton High School or Tracy Area High School. It would be up to individual students which school they want to attend. Balaton Public Schools would continue to operate a full K-8 program.

The Balaton School Board proposes a two-year agreement, beginning with the 2000-01 school year.

The Balaton board is requesting that the tuitioning fee be set at 75% of the per pupil unit state aid Balaton receives.

A letter outlining the Balaton proposal was to be sent to the Russell-Tyler-Ruthton and Tracy school boards on Tuesday.

The school board-approved letter, signed by Chairman John Joosten, states:

"In order to help make this transition, Balaton requests a 25/75 tuition split for the 2000-2002 school years to help with our severance pay obligations. This arrangement enables the Balaton School District to keep a viable K-8 program and leaves future options open. We feel the two-year commitment will allow for planning on the part of all districts involved.

"We hope this proposal will be acceptable to the RTR and Tracy boards and that a response to Balaton will be forthcoming."

School board members Rolland Doberstein and Leo Lindquist met with members of the Balaton Education Association Tuesday to explain the tuitioning proposal.