ADHD seminar
A seminar on ADHD
will be held Wed., Dec. 6, 4:30 p.m., in the A-W ICN room.
Open House
Betty's annual Home
Interior Open House is
Friday and Saturday, Dec. 8 and 9 at First National Bank Community Room.
Santa's coming!
Santa Claus will be at
the Akron Public Library
Community Room on
the following dates:  Sat., Dec. 9 from 1 to 4 p.m.; Wed., Dec. 13 from 4:30 to 7 p.m.; Sat., Dec. 16 from 1 to 4 p.m.; and Thurs., Dec. 21 from 2:30 to 5 p.m.
A-W Music Boosters
The A-W Music Boosters meets at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 12 in the high school music room. All are invited to attend.
FNB open house
First National Bank is holding its annual customer appreciation holiday open house Dec. 18-22.
Waffle Feed
Peoples Bank is sponsoring
a waffle feed Dec. 12, 5-7:30 p.m., prior to the home basketball game.
Holiday rebate
First National Bank is
holding Holiday Receipt
Rebate drawings. Peoples Open House Peoples Bank is
holding a Holiday Open House Friday, Dec. 15, 9
a.m.- 5:30 p.m.

New Year's Eve dance
A New Year's Eve dance is being planned by The Akron Golf Course board for Dec. 31 at the clubhouse. Dance is from 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., band is Over the Border. Hors d'oeuvres and party favors provided. Advance tickets available from board members.

Subscription Prices

$25 for Plymouth, Sioux, and Woodbury counties in Iowa and Union county in South Dakota

$32 - elsewhere

$20 - college (9 months)

The Akron Hometowner

712.568.2208

110 Reed St., PO Box 797

Akron, IA 51001

Online Edition Archive

Celebrate the blessings of the season

Nora Store shares the spirit

By Amy Adix

The Nora Store, just over the border in Nora, SD, is an inspirational and enjoyable place to get into the spirit of Christmas. All are welcome to come and sing holiday songs, listen to the pipe organ or piano, have coffee and cookies and enjoy learning how one man creates so many blessings to share with so many others. The stories and history are boundless and you can only get a real sense of it by simply going and experiencing it for yourself. The town of Nora was first settled in the late 1800s with two general stores, a creamery, and a blacksmith. What is now left of the settlement are a couple families (population 5) and a general store with an enormous amount of history. The first store keeper Carl Oden sold merchandise typical of rural general stores: fl our, sugar, coffee, fabric, shoes, and any other staples that might be needed

for country life. But when the store closed in 1962 it seemed that the story of the Nora Store would end there. Then in 1973 Mike Pederson acquired the store and started incorporating memorabilia and other items that would make the store look and feel like it did in its golden years. Over the years he recreated a general store that you would only see in the early 1900s. A beautiful old potbellied stove that comes with a wonderful feel good story. A grand piano

acquired in a way that you would never imagine. There are trinkets and gadgets that remind you of going to grandma's house. You can't help but get a warm feeling just walking in the door.

But the real fun is listening to the stories of how things started and how things came to be where they are today. Mike is a wonderful storyteller. He keeps your attention riveted and can

make even the grumpiest of us smile with a tale or two. A centerpiece in the Nora Store is the pipe organ. It was first built in St. Louis, Missouri by the George P. Kilgen and Sons Company

in 1907 for the Lake Preston South Dakota Lutheran Church. In 1989, Mike took the organ out of storage and reassembled it. It was obviously blessed with the hands of someone who truly appreciates its beauty, and who has a great gift of music that can make that organ sing. Mike's spirit of giving and blessing to others is very prevalent at the Nora Store. He quotes his mother, Ann Pederson, “To get the blessing you have to first want to be the blessing.” He has definitely taken that to heart as he shares the spirit of the season with us through his music. Mike opens his store each year to the public to “share the reason for the season; to get a sense of community; to establish traditions and to share my many blessings with others. Every- one who walks into my store is a guest and everybody is treated like a somebody”. When you leave Nora's Store you will feel the true Christmas spirit and you will know what Christmas is truly all about. It is about giving of yourself and your time. Making someone smile. Simply being a blessing to some in your life or even to someone you've yet to meet. One thing that this writer

will never forget was Mike Pederson saying “We need to love each other while we have each other and really mean our good-byes.” Simply said, beautifully meant. Don't let this event pass

you by. You will be blessed with the holiday spirit and leave with a better understanding of what and why you are celebrating the true meaning of this holiday season.

Hours

December 8, 9, and 10

6:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday

1:30 to 4:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. on Sunday

30707-475th Ave., Nora, SD

(5 miles South of Alcester or

4 miles west of Big Springs Corner)

605-253-2650

 

A-W boys open with win by Hank Krause The Akron-Westfield boys opened the 2006-07 basketball year with a tough 52-39 win over the visiting Remsen Union Rockets on Thursday, Nov. 30. The first quarter was anything but pretty as both teams roared up and down the floor. This led to a shortage of ball control and ball handling. A 30 second time-out was called just so the coaches and refs could catch up. A-W built a lead to ten with a minute to play in the first half on Mike Oetken's short shot. Josh Mahaney hit a three pointer to make it 28-17, but RU hit one at the buzzer as AW led 28-1 at the break. The third quarter really hurt A-W as they only scored two points in the first five minutes. RU pulled within four to make it 30-26. A-W was plagued by bad passes and just poor judgment. Mike Ruba of RU hit a lay-up and a free throw to knot it up at 32. Eric Eskra hit from underneath to give A-W a two point lead. Derek Appley (my outstanding nephew) scored on a lay-up to widen the narrow lead. Appley later hit a three pointer from the side as A-W started to pull away. A-W built their lead to ten and closed it out at 52-39. Oetken had a team-high 18 points for the Westerners. Also in double figures were Josh Mahaney and Justin Koch each with 10 points. A-W: 14-28-34-52 RU: 8-17-34-39 Scoring A-W: Oetken, 18; Mahaney, 10; Koch, 10; Appley, 8 RU: Van Dam, 9; Ruba, 8 Michael Oetken goes for the rebound against Remsen Union. He had 10 rebounds for the Westerners.