The Quasquicentennial committee would like your updated histories from 1982 to the present for a new book.

The Union Creek Lutheran Church Youth

are selling sub sandwiches until Jan. 27.

Ben Brown, son of

Bill and Susan Brown

of Akron, is going to Australia to study this

summer. From 5:00 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 25 at the Akron Pizza Ranch, Ben will be bussing tables and serving food to customers to earn money for his studying abroad. All tips plus a portion of the night's proceeds will be given to Ben.

The Akron Park Board will meet Thursday, Jan. 18 at 5 p.m. at the Akron City Hall.

A benefit for Lea Jacobs of Akron will be held Jan. 27 at the Fraternal

Order of Eagles Club in Sioux City. Food begins at 6:30 p.m. and the band at 7:30 p.m. Raffles are also available. For the price of the ticket you get all

the food you can eat, hear good music, and be entered into a raffle for all the prizes including a fully loaded Gateway 860 notebook. For more information call Mikey at 712-898-1621. Lea was injured in a car accident Nov. 27 and is still recovering at a rehab facility in Omaha.

The Akron Area Chamber of Commerce

banquet is Jan. 27. The next meeting is Feb. 1, noon, at Akron Jo's.

She's been a nurse with Akron Mercy Medical Clinic for 16 years. Soon, Registered Nurse Julie Eekhoff of Akron will take her nursing skills to Peru. “Hearing Dr. David and Dr. Cindie (Wolff) talk about their experiences, I thought this would be interesting,” said Eekhoff, who will join the doctors and a dozen others on a medical mission trip traveling the Amazon River in Peru. The group, which is sponsored by Big Springs Baptist Church, will begin their week-long venture in February. They will fly into Lima, Peru, and then will be taken to Iquitos, Peru. From there, they will travel by boat about 150 miles up the Amazon River. During the 20-hour voyage, the group will assemble food gift sacks for the approximately 400 families who will receive medical services from the mission team.

The group is seeking help in sewing the cloth drawstring sacks. In addition, they are seeking monetary donations to purchase rice, meal, sugar and other food items for the families. The food will be purchased in Peru. “It'll cost about $10 per family,” said Eekhoff, adding any extra funds collected will go for medical supplies. To volunteer to help or donate to this mission project, contact Brenda Hope of Akron at 568-0043. “Every day we'll stop at a village on the way back,” explained Eekhoff. “We'll be working with descendants of the original Iquitos Indians.” The missionary team will provide medical care to the Peruvians who come to the clinics. In addition, there will be prayer stations for families and activities for children, including the telling of Bible stories and coloring pictures. Each evening, the missionary team will host a worship service at the village. As a team, Eekhoff hopes that they reach out to as many as they can to spread the news of Jesus Christ. “Personally, I hope to have more of a renewed, deeper commitment to Christ

through this,” said Eekhoff. “Just going outside my comfort zone (is a challenge for me),” she said. “You get set in your ways and comfortable where you're at in little ol' Akron, Iowa. Sometimes you have to test yourself outside of your zone.” With Peru being close to the equator, Eekhoff will be challenged by its very hot and humid climate as well as it is the rainy season there. In addition to the Wolffs and Eekhoff, the team includes Susan Brown, Akron; Allison and Ryan Cotton, Alcester, S.D.; Dr. Gerry and Carol Hagin, Sioux City; Josh Hagin of Arizona; Roger Hawkins,

Seney; Lee Hope, Akron; Mari Kaptain-Dahlen, Hinton; Blake Larson, Akron; Amy Slevin, Sioux

City; and Kammi Stowe, Westfield.

Greater Hoyt School Board members prepared to head to Pierre, S.D., to stop two legislative bills from becoming law this legislative session. At their Jan. 8 school board meeting, Board President

Greg Heeren informed the board members that there is a bill in both the South Dakota Senate and

the South Dakota House of Representatives that would force school districts with less than 200 students to consolidate with other South Dakota school districts. The Senate version is Senate Bill No. 69 and the House version is House Bill No. 1082. “Any school district that is not sparse and has a fall enrollment of 200 or less on July 1, 2007, shall prepare a plan for reorganization by June 30, 2009. After July 1, 2007, if the fall enrollment of any school district that is not sparse falls to 200 or below, that school district shall prepare a plan for reorganization within two years. If any such district fails to prepare a plan for reorganization by the deadline, the Board of Education shall prepare a reorganization plan for the district,” is stated in Section 2 of both bills. A sparse school district is defined as “a school district which meets each of the following criteria: • Has a fall enrollment per square mile of 0.50 or less; • Has a fall enrollment of 500 or less; • Has an area of 400 square miles or more; • Has at least 20 miles between its secondary attendance center or centers and that of an adjoining district; • Operates a secondary attendance center; • Levies ad valorem taxes at the maximum rates allowed pursuant to 10-12-42 or more; and • Has a general fund balance percentage of 25 percent or less excluding revenue received from opting out of property tax limitations pursuant to chapter 10-12.” The new legislative bills provide monetary consolidation incentives for school districts which consolidate prior to July 1, 2007. The bills are sponsored by Senators Ed Olson and Dave Knudson and Representatives Phyllis M. Heineman, Thomas J. Deadrick, Clayton Halverson and Ed McLaughlin. Greater Hoyt has 64 students, of which 62 students attend the Akron-Westfield Community School District, one student attend Elk Point-Jefferson School District and one student attends Alcester-Hudson School District. “We'll probably have to do a little lobbying,” said Heeren as he and board members Lance Nielsen and Lynn Johnson made plans to go to Pierre and meet with legislators in the next few weeks. According to Heeren, this isn't the first time such a bill has been introduced into the South Dakota

Legislature. However, it's the first time such a bill has been introduced into both the Senate and

House of Representatives at the same time. Senate Bill No. 69 was first read in the Senate legislative session on Jan. 9 and referred to Senate Education Committee. It was also read in the House of Representatives the same day. On Jan. 10, the House of Representatives forwarded the bill to their Education Committee. Heeren also reported that he and Akron-Westfield Superintendent Ron Flynn met with South Dakota Senator Joel Dykstra and Iowa Representative Chuck Soderberg to create legislation that would allow South Dakota students to open enroll into Iowa school districts and vice versa. Currently, South Dakota students cannot open enroll into a school district such as Greater Hoyt, which does not operate a school facility within its district's boundaries. South Dakota parents who live outside the Greater Hoyt School District but want their children to be educated at Akron-Westfield Community School with Greater Hoyt students have only two options at this point. They can swap their Greater Hoyt School District taxable land if they have land in an adjoining South Dakota school district. This is what Luke and Mindy Hartman

did recently. South Dakota parents' only other option is to move into the Greater Hoyt School District or into the Akron-Westfield School District. There are a few South Dakota school districts that have open enrollment reciprocity agreements with North Dakota school districts. Greater Hoyt School Board would like to create a similar agreement with the State of Iowa. Heeren told the board that any such legislative bills would not be introduced until the 2008 legislative sessions in either Iowa or South Dakota.