May 2013

The second annual Humboldt Parks to the Pool walk, jog or ride your bike event will take place this Saturday, June 1, from 9 a.m. to noon. This was rescheduled due to inclement weather on May 25. Registration is from 9-11 a.m. at the Heinz Youth Sports Complex concession building. The fee is $10 per person ($40 maximum per family). All paid participants will receive a Sportspack bag containing a one day pass to the Humboldt Family Aquatic Center, sponsor’s discounts, promotions and merchandise. Participants will also be eligible for raffle prizes drawn at the end of the event. Last year 192 participants registered for the event, which will take people to eight parks and the Cottonwood Trail. There are nine checkpoints along the approximately 3.2 mile route, which concludes at the Humboldt Family Aquatic Center. Larry Curran of Friends of the Parks said they were surprised at the number of participants last year and are hoping for even more this year.

The Humboldt Family Aquatic Center will be open for business this Saturday at noon, at the conclusion of the second annual Humboldt Parks to the Pool walk, jog or bike event. The second annual Humboldt Parks to the Pool walk, jog or ride your bike event will take place this Saturday, May 25, from 9 a.m. to noon. Registration is from 9-11 a.m. at the Heinz Youth Sports Complex concession building. The fee is $10 per person ($40 maximum per family). All paid participants will receive a Sportspack bag containing a one day pass to the Humboldt Family Aquatic Center, sponsor’s discounts, promotions and merchandise. Participants will also be eligible for raffle prizes drawn at the end of the event. People can also contact the Humboldt Recreation Department at (515) 332-5447, or go online at www.ci.humboldt.ia.us, to register prior to the event. The normal pool hours will be 1-8 p.m. daily. The daily admission is $6.

Humboldt's girls stood in eighth place after the opening day of the Class 4A State Golf Tournament held at Ames Golf and Country Club - and that's where they'll stay after the tournament was cancelled midway through the second day on Wednesday (May 29).The meet was cancelled when a severe thunderstorm moved into the area around noon hour. With storms in the forecast throughout the day and evening, tournament officials decided to cancel the remaining round and use Tuesday's first 18-holes of golf as the basis for scoring.The Wildcats totaled 409 strokes after the first 18 holes of the meet. Soph Savannah Schnetzer was 13th overall in leading the Wildcats with an 88 on the par 73 course.

It’s almost June and time for fresh strawberries. The strawberry we know today wasn’t always so red and juicy. It started out over 250 years ago. While wild strawberries grow on every continent except Africa and Australia / New Zealand, they tend to be smaller, duller in color and tasteless compared to those found in North and South America. In the 1500s European explorers to the Virginia region, saw the larger redder berries and took some of the plants back to Europe. It wasn’t until the 1700s, however, when a French explorer discovered strawberries in Chile, took them back to France and horticulturalists crossed the North and South American plants that the ancestors of the berries that are grown around the world today were created. Most strawberries are grown in the northern hemisphere today, and the United States is the leading producer of strawberries, supplying about 20 percent of the world’s total.