The Paper Our Town, Our Paper! Laurens, Iowa Vol. 10 No. 41 www.thepapernow.com February 8, 2017 Local News & Advertising GoServ Global Builds 40 Safe T Homes in Haiti So Far After Hurricane Matthew It s been more than three months since Hurricane Matthew devasted Les Cayes, Haiti where Iowa-based GoServ Global rescues the vulnerable orphans, widows, abandoned babies, and displaced families. GoServ Global has focused relief efforts on housing. All of the existing Safe T Homes withstood the 145 mph hurricane winds with minimal damage and many lives were saved as up to 60 people crowded into the homes to ride out the storm. Thanks to generous donors, GoServ Global has already built nearly 40 Safe T Homes in Haiti, with another 20 being sent. Mostly Haitians have built the homes - along with several GoServ Global mission teams - at several orphanages and those who have the most need. GoServ Global has sent 10 mission teams since Hurricane Matthew hit October 4. GoServ Global has already purchased land by the Village of Hope that includes 60 Safe T Homes. An extra 150 community members have been staying at the Village of Hope because their homes were destroyed. GoServ Global expects to build 10 more Safe T Homes on this property. In addition to building Safe T Homes, GoServ Global was able to use donations to: Build new homes/help with home repairs for many staff members and Centre de Vie Church members (where 95 out of 108 families lost homes) Build a new dining center at the Consolation Center Orphanage Build a kitchen, bathrooms, and a security wall around the property of the Center of Help Orphanage Purchase land at the Village of Hope to build 10 Safe T Homes Rebuild 6 gazebos at GoServ Global Orphanages Replace roofing for 5 projects, and the pump building & solar system at the Village of Hope Dig a well at Bethel Orphanage and will build a kitchen, restrooms, and gazebo at Bethel Orphanage The Haitian people are so grateful for a new home. For two months, Marie and her children lived in their collapsed A GoServ Global team from Algona, IA arrived recently to help the Haitian people build a Safe T Home in the LaBreeze community in the Southern coast of Haiti. The team will build the first home with the locals and then the Haitian people will build the remaining nine homes for a total of 10 homes, to replace their current homes that are pictured here. home, having to crawl in and out through a hole they built on the side. GoServ Global was able to build a new home for Marie and her family. I can t explain the look of joy in their eyes as the family watched their home being built, shares GoServ Global Co-Founder Ken DeYoung. When their home was completed, Marie was so grateful. On Sunday she cleaned up and walked all the way to our house to give us a fish to say thank you. It was all she had. A GoServ Global team from north Iowa arrived in Haiti recently and will focus on building 10 Safe T Homes in the LaBreeze community on the...continued to page 2... Biggest Little Paper In Town! Copyright My Laurens, Inc., 2010 All Rights Reserved. 1
Local News & Advertising...continued from page 1... Southern Coast that was hit hard by Hurricane Matthew. The team will work with local Haitians to build the first home with the locals building the rest. While much has been done, the need is still so great. So far, GoServ Global has reached 45% of our $1 million goal. 100% of your donation goes to the Hurricane Matthew Relief Fund. Give online at goservglobal.org/give and Choose Haiti Hurricane Matthew in the dropdown. Donations may also be sent to: GoServ Global, PO Box 193, Eagle Grove, IA 50533. Write Hurricane Relief in the memo line. Each Safe T Home costs $5,700 to purchase from Sukup Manufacturing, $1,000 to ship, and $300 for concrete for a total of $7,000 to get the home from Sheffield, Iowa to Les Cayes, Haiti, built. For the past five years, GoServ Global has worked in Les Cayes, Haiti, and has built 200 Safe T Homes including two Safe T Home villages, Joshua House Boys Orphanage, James 1:27 Widows & Infants Village, medical clinic, dental clinic, school, two churches, 10 wells, and supports five orphanages, prison ministry, boys street ministry, and agricultural projects. Click here to read this month s Laurens- Marathon Family, School & Community Connections February 2017 Newsletter!! GoServ Global Haitian Leader Eddie Constant (left) and GoServ Global Co-Founder Ken DeYoung (right) visit with a family who received a Safe T Home. SPAGHETTI SUPPER COME SUPPORT LAURENS AREA YOUTH GROUP!! WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22 ND LAURENS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH SERVING: 5-7 P.M. SERVING SPAGHETTI, SALAD, AND GARLIC TOAST FREEWILL DONATION!! Our Town Our Paper! 2
Announcements & Advertising Friday night, February 10 th, special will be lasagna dinner or you may order off the menu! The club will be open on Friday for lunch from 11a.m-1 p.m. Limited lunch menu and to go ordering available. (712) 841-2287 CORNHOLE TOURNAMENT SATURDAY, FEBRURARY 11 REGISTRATION AT 1:30 P.M. FUN BEGINS AT 2:00 P.M. $20 PER TEAM CASH PAYOUT FOOD PROVIDED TO PRE-REGISTER CALL: (712) 363-1204 FEBRUARY YOUTH GROUP SCHEDULE Location: First Christian Church 5th - High School 12th - Junior High 19th - High School 26th - Junior High Meeting from 6-8 p.m. Grab a friend and join us!!! Biggest Little Paper In Town! 3
Local News & Advertising Terry Ferguson Wins Election to FSA Committee Terry Ferguson of rural Laurens won election to the Pocahontas County FSA Committee. Terry represents Local Administrative Area #3 for a 3-year term which began January 1st. LAA #3 includes Swan Lake, Marshal, Sherman, Cummins, Powhatan, and Des Moines townships. Terry teaches Family and Consumer Science at Laurens-Marathon Community School. Terry and her husband, Craig, operate a grain and livestock farming operation in the Laurens area. Terry is a graduate of Iowa State University and a current member of First Christian Church in Laurens. Terry and Craig have two adult children. Brooke coaches at Clarke University in Dubuque. Chance farms in the Laurens area and his wife Brittni is employed by Pengo. Terry is filling the expiring term of Janell Rittgers of rural Rolfe. Other current Pocahontas FSA County Committee members are Brent Aden of rural Pomeroy and Kevin Poppen of rural Pocahontas. The County Committee oversees USDA farm programs administered through the FSA. Committee duties include: attending committee meetings; recommending changes in farm programs; and performing other duties as assigned by the Iowa State FSA Committee. This election was conducted on a nondiscriminatory basis without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, marital status, or disability. Soup and Pie Supper Adults $6.00 Children under 12 - $2.50 Date: Wednesday, Feb. 15th Time: 5:00-7:00 p.m. Location: First Christian Church 324 W. Section Line Road Laurens Serving Chicken Noodle Soup, Chili, Broccoli Cheese Soup, and Pie Laurens Women's Club to Meet The Laurens Women s Club will meet Friday, February 10 at 1:30 p.m. at the Homestead Cooperative of Laurens. The program will be about The History of Banking in Laurens presented by Terry Latham. Members of the serving committee will be Bertha Olson, Jeanette Korrect and Betty VanHorsen. Valentine s Day is Tuesday, February 14! Let us help you make your sweetheart s day with roses, Valentine s bouquets - $25 & up, stuffed animals, balloons and plants! Order early for best selection! Town & Country Floral (712) 841-4616 Our Town Our Paper! 4
At the Library From Scythes to Silos: the First 50 Years of Farming in Pocahontas County Connie Dallenbach & Dorothy Lamberti finally (thanks Mother Nature, 3rd time s a charm!) got to share their knowledge of Pocahontas County history with an interested audience who attended From Scythes to Silos: the First 50 Years of Farming in Pocahontas County at the Laurens Public Library. They questioned the audience about their Iowa heritage and about half could trace their roots to NW Iowa pre-1900. The duo shared photos and artifacts from the Pocahontas County Historical Museum as well as anecdotes related to Pocahontas County. L-M Readers Theater Group Performs at the Library L-M Readers Theater group took advantage of the crowd assembled for From Scythes to Silos and showed patrons at the Laurens Public Library why their selection "Going Around in Academic Circles" is advancing to State Speech. Thanks to Tyr Wilson, Tori Reese, Alexis Seitz, Chandler Todd, Hannah Runneberg, Sydney Harrold, Jonathan Kirsch, as well as coaches Brian Peterson & Sabrina Booth for sharing your talents! Biggest Little Paper In Town! 5
At the Library The Paper Published weekly by My Laurens, Inc. 112 Walnut St. Laurens, IA 50554 Phone: (712) 841-2684 Fax: (712) 841-4662 Website: www.thepapernow.com E-mail: publisher@mylaurens.com Publisher: Rodney Johnson Editor: Amanda Tendal Rights to Use Content: The Paper, its content, archived materials, and our websites, are provided solely for your personal, non-commercial use. The Paper, its content, our websites and all the materials available on our websites are the property of My Laurens, Inc., and are protected by applicable copyright, trademark, and intellectual property laws. You may download, print or transmit The Paper for your personal, non-commercial use. Any commercial use of copyrighted materials requires prior authorization from My Laurens, Inc. Unless explicitly authorized by My Laurens, Inc., you may not modify copy, create derivative works, reproduce, republish, transmit, sell, or distribute in any manner or medium (including by email or other electronic means) any material from The Paper or our websites for commercial purposes. You may not use The Paper or materials available on our websites, in a manner that constitutes an infringement of our intellectual property rights/copyrights or that has not been authorized by My Laurens, Inc. For information about requesting permission to reproduce or distribute materials from The Paper, please contact My Laurens, Inc. at (712) 841-2684 or publisher@mylaurens.com. At the Library with Glenda Mulder February 8, 2017 Remember last week when I told you about the new books and I said, Lots of new novels lately. Well, about half these haven t actually come in as I m writing this, but I have the invoice and faith in my delivery system! I WAS WRONG!! That was not an invoice I was looking at, it was an order status report! UGH! The books are from authors on our Automatically Yours list and they will be released in July! So if you got all excited, as I did, to see a book by a favorite author and rushed to the library to put your name on it, you already know I m not perfect! (Please don t tell my husband that, however.) And yes, I have been getting a bit of well-deserved ribbing about this. I know you ve been waiting for this announcement. Laurens native Craig Finnestad, pastor and author of Prayers from The Water's Edge; Prayers, Prose, and Poetry About God's Love and Our Lives will be at our library Wednesday, February 22 at 7 p.m. Our patrons that have checked out our copies have given it glowing reports. His website describes it like this, Prayers from the Water s Edge is an engaging collection of prayers and writings for those who wish to dip their feet in the water of God's renewing grace and all who seek the depths of God's heart. I think our patrons would agree with that! All proceeds from the book go to The Water's Edge building fund. February Book Club choice is The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom. Here s how our catalog describes the plot: Working as an indentured servant alongside slaves on a tobacco plantation, Lavinia, a seven-year-old Irish orphan with no memory of her past, finds her light skin and situation placing her between two very different worlds that test her loyalties. Now you know why this book s been on my reading list for some time, when the sequel recently was released, it moved up the list! Join us February 27 at 7 p.m. for what is sure to be a good discussion! COMING EVENTS Tot Time every Monday at 10 a.m. Tell Me a Yarn every Monday 5-7 p.m. Card Making 4th Tuesday Take it Tuesday - 1st Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Book Club 4th Monday at 7 p.m. Prayers from the Water s Edge author Craig Finnestad Wednesday, February 22nd at 7 p.m. Our Town Our Paper! 6
Church Grace Lutheran Church Marathon, Our Savior s Lutheran Church Albert City & St John Lutheran Church Rural Albert City Pastor John Mayer Saturdays 5 p.m. Worship Service @ Grace Lutheran Church - Marathon Sundays 10:30 a.m. Worship @ Our Savior's Lutheran Church - Albert City Sundays 9:00 a.m. @ St John Lutheran Church Rural - Albert City This Week at First Christian Church Pastor Rev. Rita Cordell This Week at Bethany Lutheran Thursday: February 9, 2017 4:30-7:00 PM ~ Boy Scout Troop 79 Soup Supper at BLC Sunday: February 12, 2017 8:30 AM ~ Christian Ed/Youth Mtg. 9:00 AM ~ SS & Confirmation 9:15 AM ~ Coffee Fellowship 9:30 AM ~ Adult SS 10:30 AM ~ Worship 6:00 PM ~ Youth Group (JH) at FCC Monday: February 13, 2017 7:00 PM ~ Hand Bell Rehearsal Tuesday: February 14, 2017 10:00 AM ~ Coffee Time Wednesday: February 15, 2017 7:00 PM ~ Council Mtg. Worship, Love, Accept~Together in Christ s Name This Week at Laurens United Methodist Church Wed., Feb. 8th: Confirmation Class @ 6 p.m. Puppets @ 7 p.m. Fri., Feb. 10th: Men s Bible Study @ 7 a.m. Sun., Feb. 12th: Adult Sunday School @ 9:00 a.m. Sunday School @9:10 a.m. Fellowship @ 9:30 a.m. Worship @ 10:30 a.m. Puppets performs Choir practice @ 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8 7:30 p.m. - Lydia Group Thursday, Feb. 9 2:00 p.m. - Coffee with Pastor Friday, Feb. 10 7:00 p.m. - AA Sunday, Feb. 12 9:30 a.m. - Sunday School 10:30 a.m. - Worship 6-8 p.m. - JR. High Youth Group at First Christian Church Sacred Heart Church Laurens Pastor ~ Father Francis Makwinja Weekday Mass : Friday - 8 AM Weekend Mass: Sunday - 10:30 AM (November-February) Cluster Parishes St. Joseph Catholic Church, Sioux Rapids Weekday Mass: (Monday &Wednesday) - 8 AM Weekend Mass: Sunday - 8:30 AM (November-February) St. Louis Catholic Church, Royal Weekday Mass: (Tuesday & Thursday) - 8 AM Weekend Mass: Saturday - 5 PM (November-February) Biggest Little Paper In Town! 7 stor ~ Fr. John J. G