Eastern Iowa Fireground reported two fires East of Mt. Pleasant yesterday. At about 3pm, the New London Fire Department, with assist from the Danville Department, responded to a large tire fire in the 8000 block of Bridgeport Road in New London.
At about 9pm last night, a structure fire was reported in 200 block of Washington Street in Middletown. The Danville FD responded.
Johnny Joseph Buchfeld, 60, of Mount Pleasant passed away on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, at the Good Samaritan Society in Ottumwa.
Johnny was born on July 30, 1964, in Indianapolis, Indiana, the son of Donald Joseph and Eva Mae (Meadows) Buchfeld. Following his high school graduation he joined the United States Army and was honorable discharged in 1989.
Those thankful in sharing in his life include his step-sisters, Julie (Carlos) Flores and their children, Francesca and Philip, Terry Lynn (Mike) Dawson and their children, Erin, Kaela, Kendra and Kevin, his step-brother, Kenneth Troy (Sharon) Ewing, his best friend, Chris Rusch and his children, Jaina and Leia, along with nieces Jennifer, Chelsea and nephews, Nicholas and Christian.
He was preceded in death by his father, Donald Buchfeld, his step-mother, Joyce Buchfeld, his step-brother, Raymond and a step-sister, Deborah Loescher.
A Celebration of Johnny’s life will be held on Monday, March 24, 2025, at 6 p.m. at the Murphy Funeral Home in Mt. Pleasant. Burial with full military honors will be held on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at 1 p.m. at the Keokuk National Cemetery. Cremation has been entrusted to the care of Murphy Funeral Home of Mt. Pleasant.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.murphyfuneralandmonuments.com
Murphy Funeral Home of Mt. Pleasant, is caring for his arrangements.
The Henry County Farm Bureau’s Supermarket Sweepstakes at Hy-Vee was a thrilling event, with 8 teams battling it out for the ultimate grocery shopping title. In an exciting turn of events, Farm Credit Services emerged victorious as the repeat champion, adding another win to their growing legacy.
The competition was fierce, but the spirit of fun and community shone through, especially with the generous donation of over $3,400 worth of groceries and other items purchased during the sweepstakes to The Fellowship Cup of Mount Pleasant. Ken Brown, Director of the Fellowship Cup talks about the event.
This year’s event featured some standout achievements beyond the championship win. Continental took home the award for the Best Decorated Cart, impressing judges with their creative design. Meanwhile, Sigma earned the title of Greatest Grabber for their standout performance in the competition, collecting more than $1,300 in groceries.
Farm Credit Services may have taken home the championship trophy once again, but the real winners were those who will benefit from the food and items donated to The Fellowship Cup of Mount Pleasant.
“We’re proud to have seen such a great turnout and be part of something that helps our community,” said Sarah Seitz With Farm Bureau “It’s about having fun, but it’s also about making a positive impact.”
The Henry County Farm Bureau’s Supermarket Sweepstakes has once again proven to be a highlight of the year, and it’s already shaping up to be an event that people look forward to during next years Ag Week.
Carl Lee Wickham, 80, of Mt.Pleasant, died Monday, March 10, 2025 at his residence.
Carl was born July 26, 1944 in Mt. Pleasant. He was the son of Ralph Waldo and Helen Eileen (Rawhouser) Wickham. He graduated from Mt. Pleasant High School.
Carl served his country during the Vietnam War. He was inducted into the United States Army on August 12, 1965 in Des Moines. He served in the First Brigade Dental Unit connected to the US Fifth Army Division. He was honorably discharged as a Tech Sergeant on August 11, 1967 at Ft. Sheridan, Illinois, and remained a US Army Reservist until August 11, 1971.
Upon his discharge, Carl studied bookkeeping at the American Institute of Business (A.I.B.). On November 23, 1969, Carl was united in marriage to Diane Dunblazier in LaHarpe, Illinois.
Carl began a career in bookkeeping working for the Taylor Seed Company of Mt. Pleasant. Carl took EMT/Paramedic classes at Southeastern Community College. Carl then began an extensive career as a Paramedic for the Henry County Ambulance Service. He served the Ambulance Service faithfully for 28 years. After his retirement, Carl enjoyed part-time employment at Shottenkirk Motors where he picked up and delivered cars. He fully retired during the Covid pandemic.
Carl was a former member of Calvary Baptist Church. His primary hobby was following his grandchildren and great grandchildren in all their school and sport activities. He enjoyed his time with his dogs and taking them on walks. In his family, Carl was known for his fondness for hamburgers, M&M’s and Buys on Broadway Ice Cream.
Those thankful for sharing in Carl’s life include his wife of 55 years, Diane of Mt. Pleasant; 3 children and their spouses – Stacey & Rob Swigart of Mt. Pleasant, Michael & Steffanie Wickham of Brooksville, FL, and Marcy & Mark Shrum of West Des Moines; 8 grandchildren – Todd Swigart, Makenzie (Nick) Kruger, Elaina (Jesse) Bell, Mallory (Daniel) Volkmann, Benjamin Wickham, Mason Shrum, Makiah Shrum and Max Shrum; 5 great grandchildren – Addison & Kolton Kruger, Jeremiah & Elijah Bell and Jackson Volkmann; a sister-in-law, Sandra Wickham of Florida, several nieces, nephews and cousins, and his dog, Bootsey.
His parents, his brother – Raymond Wickham and his dogs – Ruby, Minnie and Daphne, precede Carl in death.
An open visitation will be held from 9AM to 8PM on Friday, March 28, at the Kimzey Funeral Home, 213 North Main Street, Mount Pleasant. The family will not be present at the open visitation.
The family will be present to receive friends from 9AM to 11AM on Saturday, March 29 at the funeral home. The funeral service for Carl will be held at 11AM on March 29 at Kimzey Funeral Home. The Reverend Earl Swigart will officiate. The burial will be at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, those considering an expression of sympathy may direct memorials to the Henry County EMS , c/o of the Henry County Health Center Foundation.
Online condolences may be directed to www.kimzeyfh.com
High School Track
Central College hosted a boys indoor meet yesterday and Danville, New London, West Burlington/Notre Dame, and Mt. Pleasant all made the trip to Pella; here’s some of the highlights.
The 60-meter dash was crowded with local talent as West Burlington/Notre Dame’s Landry Haberichter led the charge with a 2nd place finish with a 7.04 second time. New London had three runners compete with London Franklin grabbing 4th place, Brigham Porter taking 11th place, and Cale Westerbeck finishing in 15th place. Griffen Jones of Mt. Pleasant narrowly missed the finals with a time of 7.46 seconds, yielding 17th place.
Porter parlayed that run with a top-10 finish in the 200-meter dash, claiming an 8th place time of 24.04 seconds, while Gavin Strawhacker and Westerbeck for New London stayed within the top 20. Danville’s Kessler Whaley found success in the 400-meter dash with a 13th place time of 55.95 seconds, while Mt. Pleasant’s Asa Rose grabbed 31st place.
New London’s Riley Raines turned in successful performances in the distance events with a 30th place time of 2 minutes and 22 seconds in the 800-meter run and a sub-5 minute time in the 1600-meter run, which was good enough for 5th place. Staying in the 1600, Silas Hulett of Mt. Pleasant paced himself to a 17th place time of 5 minutes and 12 seconds.
For the relays, Mt. Pleasant’s 4×200 meter team of Kaden Schadt, Gavin Kerr, Ryan Helling, and Jones finished in 12th place, while Danville’s 4×800 meter squad of Noah Horn, Ty Frazier, Ryan Wilhelm, and Hudson Gibb also took 12th place.
In the field events, Kaden Schadt of Mt. Pleasant leapt 5 feet and 10 inches for 7th place. New London’s Franklin took home the bronze in the long jump with a leap of 21 feet and 5 inches. Lastly, in the shot put, Jaymisen Rich led the way for the Panthers, heaving the shot 40 feet and 11 inches for 13th place as Nolan Frueh grabbed 21st place with a toss of 39 feet and 5 inches.
The girls’ teams will be competing at Central College today. Mt. Pleasant girls’ head coach Scot Lamm knows this a prime opportunity for his young sprinters to find a place in the relays,
“We’ve got a lot of sprinters and, you know, we’ve got three really good ones returning from last year that were state place winners, Alex Scott, Kynlee White and Kiyah Sanders kind of lead the way for our sprinters and have a lot of experience and so we’ve been moving quite a few different freshmen around to figure out who can fit into those Sprint relays with those girls and then add some depth for us. But, you know, in the early going, Izzy Sloat has done well, they finished second in the 4×100 at the state indoor meet, she led that off. Ellie Freeman, we finished fifth at that state indoor in our Sprint medley, she let off that relay and then Abby Shelangoski, we had a good showing in the 4×200 at UNI, she led that off. We head to Central College and Taylor Williamson, another freshman, is going to step into our 4×200, her and Ellie Freeman, so we will have two freshmen in that 4×200 relay that is in the fast heat and will run against the best at Central College and figure out what another freshman can do in a sprint relay.”
The Columbus Co-ed Invitational is scheduled for Monday, March 24th, with Central Lee, New London, Van Buren County, and Winfield-Mt. Union making the trip to start the outdoor season.
High School Basketball
The 2025 Pizza Ranch All-Star Game is scheduled for March 29th at Dallas Center-Grimes High School with three of our local players and a coach making the trip to compete.
On the girls’ Southeast team, WACO’s Ella Huisenga, who ranked 2nd on the team in points and 1st in rebounds, earned a spot and accompanying her will be her coach Lisa Graber. The Southeast squad will face off against the Northwest team for the first round at 10:45 am.
On the boys’ Southeast team, a pair from the Southeast Iowa Super Conference South Division will join forces in West Burlington’s Mason Watkins and Luke Hellige of Holy Trinity Catholic. Watkins and Hellige both finished within the top 10 in the state in points per game and as their respective program’s all-time leading scorer. The Southeast and Northwest will square off for their first round matchup at noon.
Southeastern Community College
The softball team will be back in action for a doubleheader tomorrow, March 22nd, against Southwestern Community College with game one at 1 pm.
The baseball team will host a three-game series against North Iowa Area Community College tomorrow with their first game of a doubleheader at 1 pm.
College Basketball
The round of 64 officially tipped off yesterday for the Men’s Basketball Championship and #11 Drake fended off #6 Missouri 67-57 to advance to the second round of the tournament. Bennett Stirtz downed 21 points in the win. The Bulldogs will square off against #3 Texas Tech tomorrow, March 22nd.
The Iowa State men’s team grabbed the #3-seed for the South Region but they will be without the services of Keshon Gilbert for the rest of the season due to injury. The Cyclones will dance with the #14-seed Lipscomb today at 12:30 pm.
In the woman’s NCAA national championship tournament, Iowa grabbed the 6th seed and will take on the #11-seed Murray State in Oklahoma tomorrow, March 22nd, at 11 am. This is the seventh consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament for the Hawkeyes.
The #11-seeded Iowa State women’s team will square off against #6 Michigan today at 10:30 am.
March Madness
The KILJ bracket challenge, sponsored by The Press Box and Wiley’s Interior Furnishings and Design, is officially underway with nearly 50 brackets submitted with the top three set to receive prizes.
Standings will be updated at the conclusion of the first two rounds, the Elite 8, Final Four, and the championship game.
This Day in Sports History
1953 – A playoff quadruple overtime finish, an NBA record 106 personal fouls, 12 players fouled out, two were ejected, players fought players, players fought the police. The winning team shot 41% from the floor but sank 37 straight free throws as the Boston Celtics defeated the Syracuse Nationals 111-105.
1955 – Brooklyn Bulletin asks Dodger fans not to call their team “Bums.”
2019 – Ichiro Suzuki finishes his career with a record 4,367 base hits (NPB & MLB) as the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland A’s, 5-4 in Tokyo, Japan.
SOUTHEAST
Big Hollow Lake
Water temperatures are fluctuating, but staying mostly in the mid-40s. A few boats have been out on the warmer days. Channel Catfish – Fair: Try cut bait floated under a bobber just over top of the rip-rap on a warm afternoon when the waves are hitting the face of the dam.
Discovery Park Pond
The spring trout release will be at noon on Friday, March 21. You need a valid fishing license and pay the trout fee to fish for or possess trout.
Emma Young Pond
The spring trout release will be at 10:00AM on Friday, March 21. You need a valid fishing license and pay the trout fee to fish for or possess trout.
Lake Belva Deer
Water temperature is in the low 40s.
Lake Darling
Surface water temperature is in the low to mid-40s. Watch for ice on the boat ramps early morning. The boat docks are not in yet.
Lake Geode
Water temperature at the surface is in the mid-40s. The docks are not in; won’t be in for a little while yet. Black Crappie – Slow: On the warmest of days try along the shallow water ledges that run parallel to the deeper water habitat where crappies spent the winter.
Lost Grove Lake
Watch for ice on the boat ramps from the waves. The gate on the road going to the boat ramp at the dam is still locked. Docks will not be in for a little while longer.
Vista Park Pond
Vista Park Pond in Kalona (South Town) will be stocked with trout on today March 21 at 10:00AM as part of the Community Trout Stocking Program. You need a valid fishing license and pay the trout fee to fish for or possess trout.
For more information on the above lakes and rivers call the Lake Darling Fisheries Office at 319-694-2430
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Brock Mica Welcher, 52, of New London, died Monday, March 17, 2025 in the company of loved ones at the Southeast Iowa Regional Hospice House in West Burlington.
Brock was born on August 5, 1972 in Mt. Pleasant. Surviving parents are Kathy Nicholson Fox and Randy Fox of Waxhaw, NC and Kenny and Peggy Welcher of Mt. Pleasant; four sisters – Tina Welcher Starnes (Shane) of Marshville, NC , Kylie Parrott (Daniel) of Weddington, NC and Morgan Lance (Rob) of New London and Lindsey Torgler (Cody) of Tiffin, IA, and a brother, Joe Welcher (Catherine of Berryton, KS. Also surviving are many nieces and a nephew.
Brock was a proud and loving father of five children: Captain Brennan Welcher, US Marine Corps (Emilee) of Jacksonville, NC, Serie Welcher of Fairbank, IA, Kaela Bass (Logan) of Mt. Pleasant; Tate and Linken Welcher of New London.
Brock was an accomplished athlete, distinguishing himself in baseball, soccer, cross country and basketball as he grew up in Decatur, IL and Lincoln University, PA.
He also made his mark returning to Mt. Pleasant where he lettered in baseball and punted for the football team. He graduated from Mt. Pleasant Community High School and attended the University of Northern Kentucky.
His love for sports and children led him to coach soccer, baseball and softball for many years. He instructed players to use the right techniques and was a firm believer in giving everyone an opportunity and encouragement.
Brock most recently worked as an Air Cargo Supervisor for the Industrial Service Corporation of Burlington. It was a position he enjoyed and for a company that worked with him during his 15-month battle with cancer that entailed chemotherapy, multiple radiation treatments and a myriad of prescriptions.
Brock served his country for 6 years as a Marine with initial training in Palm Desert, CA followed by regular training as a Reservist.
A Celebration of Life for Brock will be held Saturday, March 22nd at the New London VFW Post, 802 East McKinley Street, New London, beginning at 1 PM
In respect for and remembrance of Brock and the compassionate care he received, bequests can be directed to the Hospice House, Great River Health Foundation, 1221 S. Gear Ave., West Burlington, IA, 52655.
Cremation rites have been entrusted to the Kimzey Funeral Home, 213 North Main Street, Mount Pleasant
Online condolences may be directed to www.kimzeyfh.com.
