​      Kellogg and Grinnell have been named pass through towns during the 50th Anniversary of RAGBRAI, July 22 – 29. Bicyclists will pass through the two area communities on Thursday, July 27 as the ride makes its way from Des Moines to Tama-Toledo. Other pass through towns that day include Altoona, Mitchellville, Colfax and Newton.
    The Grinnell Chamber of Commerce announced last week that it would be partnering with the City of Grinnell to organize a local steering committee to help pull together this event.
    “We don't have more details to share yet but we are excited about what this could do for our community, and thrilled for the opportunity to help co-lead the effort,” noted Kendra Vincent, member engagement coordinator at the Grinnell Chamber of Commerce. “If folks are interested in volunteering, they should contact me via email at [email protected] or call 641-236-6555 and we'll add them to our list. More details to come.”

​     The Brand family of Searsboro added new baby lambs to the fold after son, Braxton’s, commercial ewe delivered quintuplets during the early hours of Sunday, Feb. 27. The family is shown with the commercial ewe being held by dad, Cory, that delivered the quintuplets. Behind him, from left, are Breckyn, Braxton, Brooks, Heidi and Briar. 

​By J.O. Parker
 
      “They just kept coming,” said Heidi Brand as she shared the excitement of her son, Braxton’s, four-year-old commercial ewe delivering not one, two or even three lambs, but quintuplets (five lambs).
        “They have grown so much,” she added, as the family gathered around the new lambs a few days later.
       Heidi and her husband, Cory, and their four children, Braxton, 14; Breckyn, 12; Brooks, 10; and Briar, 8, have been raising and showing sheep for five years. The family has 27 sheep, 25 ewes and two rams, on their rural Searsboro farm.
        The miracle birth happened shortly after 2 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 26. Breckyn, who volunteers to keep an eye on the livestock cameras during birthing season, noticed that two ewes were in labor.
       She woke Heidi and the rest of the family got up, dressed and headed to the barn around 2:30 a.m., where the miracle births unfolded before their eyes.
          “It amazing,” said Heidi of the multiple births. “We’ve had triplets and lots of twins, but never quads.”
           Following the births, the family was featured on KCCI Channel 8 in Des Moines and the story has spread across social media.
         Heidi said the momma ewe has been a milking machine since the births. With the multiple births, the momma can’t produce enough milk to feed all five lambs. The family is helping by bottle feeding two of lambs.
           “I am amazed that they are all alive” said Braxton, as he bottled fed one of the lambs. 
           “I think they are going to make it,” added Breckyn.
           “We are all thanking God for the blessing of new life,” said Heidi.

     Dayton Meat Products of Malcom earned 11 top honors at the Iowa Meat Processors (IMPA) annual convention held Feb. 16 – 18 at the Gateway Center in Ames. Pictured are, from left: Bill Dayton and his son, Jake, who are surrounded by many of the awards and honors the business has received for its top quality meat products. Employee Austin Strachota, who is not pictured, also attended the meat processors convention.

By J.O. Parker       
 
      Dayton Meat Products of Malcom recently added 11 more championship plaques to its long list of awards and honors from the 2023 Iowa Meat Processors Association (IMPA) annual convention.
      Bill Dayton, Jake Dayton and Austin Strachota represented the Malcom-based meat processing business at the convention held Feb. 16-18 at the Gateway Center in Ames. 
      The local meat processor received the following honors:
      Grand Champion - Bacon
       Reserve Grand Champion – Cottage Bacon
       Reserve Grand Champion – Restructured Jerky
       Reserve Grand Champion – Small Diameter Smoked Cooked Sausage
       Reserve Grand Champion – Meat Snack Sticks
       Reserve Grand Champion – Summer Sausage
       Champion – Bone in Ham
       Champion – Dried Beef
        Champion – Specialty Ham
        Reserve Champion – Jerky Whole Muscle
        Reserve Champion – Cooked Ring Bologna
      The business is known for its award-winning meat products and customer service. The company processed mor than 700 beef, 700 hogs and 45,000 pounds of deer meat each year. 
        More than 400 championship honors won by the meat processing company line the walls of the business at 102 Montezuma St. Jake and Strchota prepared all the meats for the competition.
      Lawrence Dayton and his father-in-law, Bill Osmond, started Malcom Locker in 1959. Lawrence's wife, Edith, joined her husband in the business in the mid-1970s. Bill joined his parents in the business in 1976. In 1980, Dayton Meat Products was formed and Bill and his brother, Dave, became partners with their father and mother.
       Today, the business is owned by Bill and his two sons, Jack and Josh, who are third generation owners.The company has nearly 20 full- and part-time employees.
“It is always a good experience attending the convention and cured meat show and learning new tricks of the trade,” said Strachota.
            “The plaques are nice to win, but we wouldn’t be where we are today without our customers,” said Jake. “We have a great customer base.”

      Members of the Grinnell High School Tiger Paw Dance Team spent three days prior to the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union State Basketball Tournament, Feb. 27 – March 4, learning new choreography in preparation to perform during the tournament.
      There were more than 500 dancers from across the state chosen to perform during the tournament.
     The Grinnell dance team performed at the girls’ 4A Championship game on Saturday, March 4. Pictured are, from left: Coach Sydney Bradford, Olivia Blankenfeld, senior; Brielle Sherman, junior; Jaedyn Arment, senior; Daria Kline, senior; Jenna Mintle, senior; and Lily Schmidt, junior.
      “The All Iowa Honor Dance Team (tryouts) were in August at Newton High School,” noted Coach Bradford. “These six girls were selected by me to try out based on their dance ability and excellent leadership skills.”

        Lots of roaring and animal sounds are coming from the Loft Theatre in the Grinnell Arts Center.  There are lions, hyenas, zebras, giraffes, a Mandrill baboon, a meerkat, and a warthog, and they are all preparing for a production of Disney’s The Lion King Jr musical on April 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30, all at 7 p.m. 
        The Grinnell Community Theatre is excited to present another junior musical, following the fun of Beauty and the Beast Jr in 2019 and Frozen Jr in 2022.  All of these junior musicals are one hour long with no intermission. Like the others, The Lion King Jr musical contains all of the beloved songs, such as “Circle of Life,” “I Just Can’t Wait to be King,” “Be Prepared,” “Shadowland” and the delightful “Hakuna Matata.” 
      The production follows the adventures of young lion cub Simba, heir to his father, Mufasa.  Simba’s wicked uncle, Scar, plots to take Mufasa’s throne by luring him and young Simba into a stampede of wildebeests.  Young Simba escapes, but Mufasa is killed.  Simba returns as an adult lion to take back his homeland from Scar with the help of his jungle friends. 
      The Grinnell Community Theatre wishes to thank all 54 young performers who auditioned for The Lion King Jr. We are very fortunate in this community to have so many gifted young actors and singers. Our thanks to parents and teachers for nurturing and supporting the arts. We are pleased to announce the cast and crew:
ENSEMBLE:  Sydney Cox, Elizabeth Crites, Evelyn DeCoster, Clara Dillon, Emily Gruman, Thea Hanson, Louis Kite, Macy Laug, Rosie Leasure, Maggie Leonard-Aparicio, Maggie Lindberg, Beatrice Robinson and Greta Sandquist 
HYENAS:  Ben Davis, Gabriel Hernandez and Ty McIntyre; LIONESSES:  Claire Grundler, Nora Pedersen, Acadia Robinson and Ruby Zimsen-Campe; BANZAI:  Ella Schubert
SHENZI:  Thora Schimmel
ED:  Avery Vande Krol
RAFIKI:  Kapria Derby
ZAZU:  Frances Pedersen
SCAR:  William Kelley-Chown
TIMON:  Lucy Lindberg
PUMBAA:  Evan Kite
SIMBA:  Aaron Blanchard
NALA:  Alex Vogt
MUFASA:  Joey Junge
SARABI:  Lanie Kaup
SARAFINA:  Anna Lindberg
Costumes and Design: Alesia Lacina, Barb Lease and Lee Smith
Stage Manager: Ashley Grundler
Student Stage Manager: Lucy Turley
Lights: Sig Barber
Sound: Tom Lacina
Directors: Tom Lacina & Debby Pohlson
      Ticket information will be announced at a later date. The Grinnell Community Theatre is program of the Grinnell Area Arts Council. For more information, visit www.grinnellarts.org or call 641.236.3203.

    Explore real data from NASA telescopes and satellites with this interactive kiosk, an exhibit from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory at the Grinnell Arts Center Main Floor Lobby, now through May 27.
The interactive kiosk offers an introduction to the tools, data and skills that NASA space scientists and data visualization experts use to create the images of deep Space objects that we all know and love.
     Arts Center hours are: Tuesdays – Friday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Saturdays during Stewart Gallery exhibits from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. For more information, visit: https://www.loc8nearme.com/iowa/grinnell/grinnell-area-arts-council/7270706/