August 2015

Humboldt County residents who live in Precinct 3 of the city of Humboldt or in the southern two-thirds of Rutland Township (south of 170th Street) are encouraged to register and vote for a new county supervisor on Tuesday, Aug. 11. The polling place will be the east side of the Humboldt County Events Center at the Fairgrounds with polls open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday. Three candidates, all running as Independents, will appear on the ballot, Brian Ernst, Dean Potratz and Bruce Reimers (you can read profiles of the candidates in the Aug. 6 edition of The Humboldt Independent. Subscribe by selecting the Subscribe Today link at the top of this page.

To be the longest serving mayor in the state of Iowa is really something. To have done it without his name being on the ballot is something else. This week, Ottosen Mayor Richard Kinseth is closing the book on what has been an amazing run as leader of this northwest Humboldt County town of 55 folks (according to the 2010 U.S. Census, local leaders say it’s closer to 40 today). Kinseth has been mayor for the past 47-plus years, and presided over his final city council meeting Monday night. He took the gavel long enough to open the meeting, announce his resignation and turn things over to Mayor pro-tem Monte Newton. Richard and wife Ramona will soon be leaving their home at 109 Kinseth Avenue, relocating to Humboldt. To read more about his unlikely experience, subscribe to the Humboldt Independent. Get print or digital editions by clicking on the link at the top of the page.

This past week I was privileged and honored to visit in the home of Mabel Erickson. This special lady will be 107 years young on Aug. 9. This week we are honoring Mabel as our Cook of the Week just in time for her birthday. While I was visiting with her she stated that she doesn’t go near the stove any more but I have a feeling that in her younger days she has cooked many a meal more than a lot of us have. While visiting with Mabel she gave me a little bit of history about her life. She grew up on a farm in the state of Vermont with four brothers and four sisters. She was working for a fur company in Burlington, VT, and met her husband to be, who was from Humboldt, originally but had headed to New York to the big city and had attended the New York School of Photography. Leslie Molander had ended up in Vermont working in a photo studio. They met while eating meals at the same boarding house in Burlington, VT. This was probably in 1926 or 1927.

A trio of area players have been named to post-season all-state softball and baseball teams.Humboldt High sophomore Avery Terwilliger has been named 2nd team all-state in Class 4A by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union.Humboldt High senior pitcher Brenden Schnell was named second-team all-state by the Iowa Newspaper Association in Class 3A and teammate Chris Witzke, a junior centerfielder, was chosen third-team all-state by the INA.See full story in the Humboldt Independent Newspaper. Subscribe today by clicking the link above for full access to the print and/or digital edition of the Independent.