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Portal construction begins in Akron City Park

Just inside the Akron City Park entrance off Iowa Highway 12, a large structure is being erected by Akron city employees. It will be a Loess Hills National Scenic Byway portal. It will contain at least two interpretative panels similar to what tourists find at rest area welcome centers along interstate highways. One will be about the Loess Hills and the other, the Akron area. The panels are being designed by the same artist, Scott Clarke, who created the panels for the Plymouth County Loess Hills Visitors Center in Westfield. According to Akron Public Works Director Gary Horton, Akron’s portal will also contain two picnic tables under the roofed structure. It will be handicapped accessible with concrete parking and sidewalk. The area will be landscaped with native plants. The project, which is estimated to cost $90,000, is funded by a Federal Highway Administration grant received by the Golden Hills RC&D who is partners with the Loess Hills National Scenic Byway Council. According to Kathy Kahue of the Golden Hill RC&D, Akron’s portal is one of three along the Iowa Loess Hills Scenic Byway route. Akron’s is at the “northern gateway” to the Loess Hills landforms, which begin at Westfield. There is one in Harrison County, which is about midpoint, and the other is at the southern end in Fremont County. Harrison County’s is nearly complete while they are still working on site selection for Fremont County. The Akron portal project is expected to be finished next spring, said Horton.

by Hank Krause
This article is written without the assistance of the two know-it-alls!!
You have to feel bad for the Akron-Westfield Westerners as they had a 14-0 lead at half only to see it fl it away. A-W traveled to Hawarden to take on the West Sioux Falcons for the final game of 2007. A-W was defeated 21-14. The game was for a handful of marbles as A-W, if they would have won, would return to the playoffs. Not this year however, but I see only good things as A-W has only four seniors. Four very good seniors but still only four. Braxton Bursell had a career night as he closed his career with five interceptions. Five in one game is unbelievable. The Falcons would throw it Bursell’s direction and he would intercept. Bursell was the Falcon’s best receiver of the night. A-W opened the scoring as Chad Morehead took the ball from the Falcon runner and sprinted 63 yards to pay dirt. A-W next capitalized as they recovered a Falcon fumble at the West Sioux 22. A-W drove to the goal line before John Sievert drove in from the one and Sievert also scored the two point conversion to give A-W a 14-0 lead. Late in the half Sievert threw a 23 yard strike to Kyle Groon to score only to have it nullified by a holding call. I think this would have put West Sioux away except for the penalty. West Sioux got on the board early in the second half as Grant Degen started to run to his left and was hit but kept his feet, reversed his run and ran 65 yards to score. Topete added the PAT and it was 14-7. The Westerners had trouble containing Degen especially in the second half. Degen ran for 155 yards in 21 carries. West Sioux’s line was much bigger than A-W’s, and it looked like their overall size wore us down especially in the second half. West Sioux’s interior five outweighed A-W by 52 pounds per man. A distinct advantage. A-W really had a tough third quarter as they had poor field position. Sievert fumbled the snap but recovered as A-W ended up in a fourth and 26 situation. A high center snap put A-W in jeopardy as A-W got off a short punt but later Bursell intercepted to stop the Falcons. A-W’s next position was mainly a copy of their last position. A-W was in a fourth and 22. Sievert could only punt to A-W’s own 22. Degen ran for 10 yards plus the first five to tie it up at 14. The fourth quarter was the undoing for A-W. Bursell grabbed his fifth interception at the A-W 45. Degen, in turn, intercepted Sievert on his own 45 and returned the ball to the A-W 34. West Sioux tried three plays and got nothing. Degen then ran the ball four consecutive times, the last a 12 yard scoring touchdown with 19 seconds left to play. West Sioux 21, A-W 14. Overall, I thought it was a very good season. After going 0-20 over a long stretch these kids really came around and played some very good football. In reality they could just as easily be 8-1, 7-2 instead of 5-4. First year coach Zach Pfantz has to be congratulated on a fine job and a great effort. With all these juniors and sophomores returning, nine and 14 respectfully, I think things are looking pretty good. They’ll come back next year a little bigger and a lot stronger. Overall, A-W played some very good football. Defensively John Sievert, Austin Moffatt, Chad Morehead played well, but Braxton Bursell stole the show. I know we “old goats” were disappointed in the loss but not nearly as much as the kids and coaches. Season 2007 --- well done! One of the oddest things happened in the game was the officials. West Sioux had the ball and were moving. West Sioux runner was stopped short on the west hash mark. One ref picked the ball up and tossed it to another ref on the east hash mark. The chain gang came out to measure and it was a little short. They picked up the ball and chain and moved the ball back to the west hash mark. Strange. You measure where the ball is!