Omelet Breakfast

The Akron Lions Club annual Omelet Breakfast is Oct. 27, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Parish Hall.

Date change at ACT

The comedy “Caught in the Net” by Ray Cooney at Akron Community Theatre has changed performance dates to Nov. 29, 30, and Dec. 1 due to conflicts. Keep watching for more information on the play. The play is being sponsored by The Akron Hometowner and Koala-T Printing.

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Classifieds

Obituaries

Akron firefighters received only minor injuries in a one-vehicle accident that occurred while responding to a fire call at 2:10 p.m. Oct. 19. According to Plymouth County sheriff’s reports, Firefighter Todd McMillan, 37, of Akron, was driving southbound on the County Road 18 North detour en route to a fire on Iowa Highway 12 in southern Plymouth County. As he drove the 1994 tanker truck through an S-curve, McMillan lost control of the tanker when the right front wheel dropped off the roadway. He managed to steer the vehicle back onto the roadway but because of the shifting load of water, he was unable to fully regain control of the vehicle on the wet pavement. The vehicle veered into the left lane, then back to the right, reentering the west ditch and rolling once before coming to a stop on its wheels facing east. McMillan and his passenger, Firefighter Dan Tentinger, 49, Akron, were transported to Mercy Medical Center by the Akron Ambulance Service, where they were treated and released.

Editor’s Note: Information from this story includes news reports from KMEG-TV Station, KLEM Radio Station and an Akron Hometowner article dated June 14, 2006.

On Oct. 13, Staff Sergeant Jeremy Koch, son of Nancy and Jerry Hoss and Don and Kathy Koch, all of Akron, was awarded two military Bronze Stars for his rescue actions during a routine security mission in Iraq in May 2006. According to the area news reports, Koch’s quick thinking on the battlefield has earned him the military recognition. Protecting large convoys and clearing roadside bombs in Iraq was the daily duty of Koch’s unit, the Troop C, First Squadron, 1-113 Cavalry, based out of Le Mars. The explosion that rattled Baghdad was a pivotal moment in his 13-year career in the U.S. military. A car bomb erupted that day, causing a humvee to catch fire. It wounded CBS News war correspondent Kimberly Dozier. “Ms. Dozier had a head injury, a couple of leg injuries, which needed tourniquets,” said Koch, who rushed to the reporter’s side. Troop C members remained on the scene providing aid to the wounded for nearly 45 minutes before emergency response teams arrived. Had they not arrived on the scene and applied their lifesaving skills they learned from their Army training, the death toll would have been higher. Four people were killed in the incident and seven people were injured. Koch, who was the mission leader and gave the order to investigate the location of the explosion, was awarded two Bronze Stars: one for rendering medical aid and another for service. Despite the fanfare, he’s still humble at heart. “We all have a role, and everyone has an important role,” said Koch. “No matter if it’s the driver, pulling security for the humvees…Everyone has an important role.” “I’m really proud of him,” said his stepfather Jerry Hoss, who is a retired veteran. “I’m really proud of his whole unit.” “It really makes me proud that I did my job well enough to impress (my stepfather) to do the things he wanted to do,” said Koch. Koch returned from Iraq just a year ago this month. “I’m really glad to have him home,” said Hoss. Koch and his wife, Sarah, live in Cedar Rapids. They are expecting a baby in February.

Retired Akron-Westfield Head Football Coach Craig Parkinson will be inducted into the Iowa Football Coaches Hall of Fame during half-time of the state championship game Nov. 16 at the University of Northern Iowa Dome. Parkinson was A-W’s head football coach for 26 years with a record of 140 win-99 losses. His four seasons as the Akron Raiders head football coach finished with a record of 19 wins, 14 losses. Prior to coming to Akron, Parkinson was the head football coach at West Harrison in southwestern Iowa, where he had a 15-12 record for three seasons. Parkinson’s head football coaching career record is 174 wins, 125 losses. Parkinson ranked 61st on Iowa’s all-time winning coaches list. He led Akron Raiders and Westerners to nine district or conference titles, five playoff appearances, finishing the 2002 season as state champions. As coach, his playoff record is 7-4, accumulated in the 1988, 1990, 1994, 2002 and 2004 seasons. If the new playoff qualification rules were applied to his 30 years of coaching on the Akron field, Parkinson’s teams may have qualified for the playoffs 13 out of 30 seasons. In the last two decades, Parkinson has been named:

• 1988 Northwest Iowa Class II Coach of the Year;

• 1989 Sioux City Journal Coach of the Year in the Tri-State Area;

• 1994 District Coach of the Year;

• 1994 State Coach of the Year finalist;

• 2002 District Coach of the Year; and

• 2002 Class 1A Coach of the Year.

Parkinson has spoke at numerous football clinics, including Iowa Football Coaches Association at Iowa State University, Morningside College, Tri-State Football Clinic, Northwest Iowa Officials Association and in Jefferson, Iowa. In addition to being the head football coach, Parkinson was the eighth grade boys’ basketball coach and the middle school girls’ track coach. From 1977 through 2007, Parkinson was a full-time physical education teacher here. “I would like to thank all my assistant coaches, especially the long-term coaches: Dan Utesch, Kent Johnson, Mike Allner and Jim Henrich,” said Parkinson, “and thanks to the past players who put it all on the line to make this possible.” “Good luck to the Westerner players this week,” he added. “I knew you could do it.” Parkinson and his wife, Mary, live in Sioux City. She is a nurse at St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center. They have four children: Mike, an assistant Bishop Heelan football coach; Andrea, a Briar Cliff University softball catcher; David, a Bishop Heelan football player, and Sarah, a Bishop Heelan volleyball player.