Edward Allen “Eddie” Boyd, 68, of Farmington, Iowa, passed away at 7:25 a.m. Thursday, October 31, 2024, at his home in Farmington.
He was born on February 6, 1956, in Keosauqua, Iowa, the son of Gerald LaVerne and Jessie Louise (Pittman) Boyd.
He is survived by his son: Travis (Kari) Boyd of Tea, South Dakota; grandchildren: Maizy and Cru; one brother: Floyd Boyd; three sisters: Brenda (Randy) Cook, Connie (Jeff Oaks) Boyd, and Julie (Stephen) Krauter. Also surviving are several nieces, nephews and cousins.
He was preceded in death by his parents; two sisters: Marvina Sullivan, Cecelia Poole; two brothers: Marlin Boyd and Blair Boyd.
Eddie worked for Hawkeye Steel. He enjoyed hunting and fishing.
A visitation will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, Monday, November 4, 2024, at Schmitz Funeral home in Farmington, Iowa.
A funeral service will be held at 12:00 noon, Monday, November 4, 2024, at Schmitz Funeral Home in Farmington, with Michael Browning officiating.
Burial will be at Greenglade Cemetery in Farmington.
A memorial has been established in his memory.
Schmitz Funeral Home of Farmington is assisting the family with arrangements. Online condolences may be made to the family at www.schmitzfuneralhomes.com.
West Liberty, IA- #3 Holy Trinity Catholic swept their way to their fourth consecutive state tournament appearance last night after defeating Calamus-Wheatland for the Class 1A Region 2 championship. However, the 3-0 score is a bit deceiving for what occurred.
Set 1
What would become the theme for the night, Calamus-Wheatland would jump out to a small lead in the first set before the Crusaders would tie the contest at four.
Elizabeth Griffin would then lead the Crusaders on an 8-0 run and aided an eight-kill set for Presley Myers; Holy Trinity Catholic would win the first set 25-12. Myers would continue the production throughout the night, finishing with 20 kills and a 0.300 kill efficiency.
Through the postseason, Myers has now collected 53 kills and finished with kill efficiencies of 0.667, 0.333, and 0.300. Despite the nature of postseason volleyball, Myers is swinging like she has all season,
“Oh no, I don’t think I’ve really changed anything” said the junior. “I mean, I’m definitely just trying to have like, a go get it mindset. You know, me and Anna have been just working a lot, connecting really good. And honestly, everyone on the team, our connections, our communication is just like at its peak right now. And I really think we’re gonna stay on that peak, you know, throughout the state tournament. But no, I haven’t changed anything. We’ve just really been working. You know, we’re trying to have the right mindset because when it comes down to it, your mental strength is so much more important than your physical. So, we’re just trying to keep [mindset] positive.”
Unfortunately for Holy Trinity Catholic, this would be the easiest point of the night.
Set 2
Again, the Warriors would bounce out to a quick start, but this time the lead would grow to seven points at its peak with Calamus-Wheatland up 10 to 3. The biggest reason for their success was junior Haley Green finding success at the net with six of her 12 kills coming in the set.
But the Crusaders would not go away without a fight, pushing back against the Warriors, cutting the lead to 12 to 9. Miscommunication amongst the Crusader defense yielded another short run for the Warriors, gaining a 21 to 14 advantage.
Facing their first bit of adversity in the postseason, Holy Trinity Catholic managed to crawl their way back into the game, eventually tying the set at 23 after two errors by Calamus-Wheatland.
After trading points, the dynamic duo of Myers and Adalyn Kruse scored the final three points needed for the Crusaders, including a final kill by the sophomore, to take the second set 27-25. Myers discussed how important it was for the team to face adversity heading into the tournament,
“I mean, it feels really good. You know, the reality is the other teams are always going to go on runs. And to be able to lean back on that, we can like come out of that hole and overcome all the adversity. It’s good, you know, we trust each other. Especially this, I think this game teaches us a lot going into the state tournament. We just know that we can trust each other and that we can get each other out of the holes that we’re in.”
Somehow, the Crusaders would overcome a greater deficit in the final set of the Regional Championship.
Set 3
Calamus-Wheatland’s playbook had not changed, jumping out to an initial lead of 6 to 4 before taking over from the service line. The Warriors tabbed four aces on the night and kept the Crusaders out of system for over half the third set, hurdling their initial largest lead of the contest of seven to go up 20 to 8 in the set.
From that point on, Kruse played out of her mind as she tallied 11 of her 19 kills in the third set and pulled the Crusaders back into the game and gave the Crusaders their first lead of the third set on the 53rd point, 27 to 26.
An Olivia Bendlage kill on the next play sealed the victory, 28-26, for the Crusaders and their program’s 18th appearance to the state tournament. Myers and Kruse combined for 39 kills on the night and for head coach Melissa Freesmeier the duo is unstoppable,
“It feels good, Presley’s dominating. You know, she hits the ball well. She’s a presence at the net. And you know, with those two going strong and we’ve got some great support players and Anna knows where to go, you know, with the ball at the end of the day and knows what to do with the ball. And so, you know, it happened tonight. Things went well for us. So, we’re going to get in the gym tomorrow and get better and be ready for whoever may be in the tournament on Tuesday.”
This squad has gone four for four in Regional Championships, but for Myers the moment never grows stale,
“No, I mean we work all season to go to the state tournament and it’s, you know, it’s a really short, you know, three days, but it’s like it’s one of the best feelings. You know, you’re ever going to feel, and you only have a short four years of high school to experience it. So, you know, it’s totally worth it to work your butt off and miss out on some stuff all throughout the season, so you’re prepared to make it to the state tournament and I’m so excited to go next week and to just show all the incoming freshmen and everything like what it’s all about. So, they can look forward to it next year too.”
Holy Trinity Catholic secured the #3 seed for the 2024 Class 1A state tournament and will face off against #6 BCLUW in the opening round at 8:25 pm on Tuesday, November 5th. Coach Freesmeier believes this team is playing some of their best volleyball right now,
“You know when you get there, everybody’s got that opportunity and that chance and it’s, you know, who’s hot and you know, right now we’re playing some pretty good volleyball and we’re going to go up there and work hard and give it our best shot.”
KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 8:05 pm.
HTC Stats
Kills: Presley Myers 20, Adalyn Kruse 19, Anna Bendlage 4, Olivia Bendlage and Emma Mohrfeld 3, and Elizabeth Griffin 2
Assists: A. Bendlage 41, Teagan Snaadt 3, O. Bendlage 1, Griffin 1, Kruse 1
Mount Pleasant High School is set for their Career fair next Thursday at the school. Over 40 local businesses will be set up inside the High School to introduce students to different careers in Southeast Iowa. Chamber Director, Rachel Lindeen gives us the details.
For more information about the Career Fair, and how you can get involved next year, reach out to Sasha Steele with the Mt Pleasant School District.
The Mount Pleasant Holiday Parade is now taking reservations for your spot in the parade. Chamber Director, Rachel Lindeen has the announcement of this years Holiday Parade Theme…
This year’s theme was “Holiday Traditions” For more information about this years Christmas parade, you can contact the Mount Pleasant Chamber office at (319) 385-3101.
The Mount Pleasant City-Wide Book Sale is November 4th-8th. Lottie Schnicker, MPCSD K-12 Teacher Librarian, talks to KILJ about the book fair this year and a change to where your child might find the books they are looking for…
The book fair will have books of fiction, nonfiction, sci-fi, and even cookbook collections. All money raised from the city-wide book fair will stay at the school where the book fair sale was held. For times and dates for the book fair, check out your respected school’s website. Listen to the full interview below.
For the Class 1A Region 2 championship, #3 Holy Trinity Catholic advanced to their fourth consecutive state tournament appearance after fighting back to sweep Calamus-Wheatland (25-12, 27-25, and 28-26). After a dominating first set by Presley Myers, the Warriors thundered out to leads of seven in the second set and twelve in the third set. Nevertheless, in the first instance of resistance against the Crusaders in the postseason, the team did not flinch as head coach Melissa Freesmeier was enthusiastic to see,
“It makes you feel good. We were down. We were down big, and we came back, and we just kept coming after them and we told them in the timeout. We got to keep swinging. All right? Don’t just try to put the ball in play. We gotta keep swinging and we came up huge. I think Adalyn had five straight kills and you know, she just kept going and she has that ability to take over a game, but our defense was digging up balls and was able to keep that opportunity alive but proud of all of our kids tonight. They stepped up and did the little things and we got the victory after being down and said two and three, but proud of the way our kids just stayed in it and had the opportunity to win it.”
Adalyn Kruse tabbed 11 of her 19 kills in the third set comeback, but Myers led the squad with 20 kills in the match and the junior still hasn’t gotten sick of the going to state,
“No, I mean we work all season to go to the state tournament and it’s, you know, it’s a really short, you know, three days, but it’s like it’s one of the best feelings. You know, you’re ever going to feel, and you only have a short four years of high school to experience it. So you know, it’s totally worth it to work your butt off and miss out on some stuff all throughout the season, so you’re prepared to make it to the state tournament and I’m so excited to go next week and to just show all the incoming freshmen and everything like what it’s all about. So, they can look forward to it next year too.”
Holy Trinity Catholic will take on BCLUW in the first round of the tournament on Tuesday, November 5th, at 8:25 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 8:05 pm.
The other Class 1A matchups include: Ankeny Christian will face off against Don Bosco, Riverside will compete against North Tama, and Saint Ansgar will take on Janesville.
In Class 2A Region 3, #14 West Burlington hung in for the first set against #3 Beckman Catholic last night, but ultimately could not keep up, losing in straight sets (21-25, 14-25, and 17-25). The Falcons ended the season with a 37-7 record.
The state tournament matchups for Class 2A will be Denver versus Boyden-Hull, Dike-New Hartford will take on Aplington-Parkersburg, Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont will compete against Regina Catholic, and Beckman Catholic will face off against South Hardin. The tournament will begin at 2 pm on Tuesday for Class 2A.
Class 5A will start off the tournament with Pleasant Valley facing off against Waukee on Monday, November 4th, at noon. Ankeny Centennial will take on Cedar Falls, Dowling Catholic will compete against Indianola, and Ankeny will tango with Waukee Northwest.
Postseason Football
WACO will travel to #3 Don Bosco tomorrow, November 1st, at 7 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.
#10 West Burlington/Notre Dame will take on #8 Anamosa on the road tomorrow night.
Mediapolis will get a district rematch against Mid-Prairie on the road at 7 tomorrow.
In Class 3A, #5 Mt. Vernon will host Carroll and Assumption will hit to the road to take on #3 Wahlert Catholic with both games scheduled for 7 pm tomorrow.
High School Cross Country
The Class 3A state meet is scheduled for tomorrow, November 1st, in Fort Dodge with both Washington teams and Mt. Pleasant’s Quintrie Lee making the trip.
The Class 1A and Class 2A state meets will run on Saturday, November 2nd. For the Class 2A boys’ race, Mediapolis will have a trio of runners competing in Mason Lindeen, Will Schmidgall, and Simon Wendell. On the girls’ side, Hannah Fruehling and Kaitlyn Kipp will run for Notre Dame/West Burlington.
For Class 1A, the Danville, Van Buren County, and Columbus boys’ teams will be competing along with the Danville girls’ team. For the qualifying individuals, Winfield-Mt. Union’s Kohlby Newsom and WACO’s Jude Dykstra will participate in the boys’ race, while the duo of Rylee Phillips and Kayley Snowgren of Van Buren County will run in the girls’ race.
Southeastern Community College
The volleyball team finished the regular season on a six-game winning streak after defeating Ellsworth Community College in four sets last night. The Blackhawks await their opponent for the First Round of the Region 11 tournament slated for Wednesday, November 6th.
College Football
Iowa will take on Wisconsin on Saturday, November 2nd, at 6:30 pm at home. KILJ 105.5 FM will have the broadcast.
#11 Iowa State will be back in action this Saturday at 2:30 pm at home against Texas Tech. KILJ 98.5 FM and AM 1130 will be on the call.
This Day in Sports History
1950 – The Big Cat, Earl Lloyd, becomes the first African-American to play a game in the NBA, scoring 6 points in his debut for the Washington Capitols.
1994 – Tennis star Venus Williams makes her professional debut as a 14-year-old with a 6-3, 6-4 win over former NCAA champion and world No. 58 Shaun Stafford in the Bank of the West Classic in Oakland, California.
2003 – Bethany Hamilton, aged 13, has her arm bitten off by a shark while surfing in Hawaii. She would return to surfing less than a month later.
The Henry County Health Center Foundation recently announced the recipients of the 2024 Foundation Grant Program. The HCHC Foundation awarded $20,000 among nine different organizations. The grant opportunities have doubled in 2024 to $20,000, an intentional strategy to bring an increased impact to awardees.
HCHC Foundation Director, Savannah Collins, says “This is a great example of local dollars making a big impact for local organizations. The Foundation’s grant program brings opportunities for area organizations to continue their service to Henry County residents.”
Among the nine organizations awarded based on their grant requests, the Mount Pleasant Community School District, Wayland Area Childcare Organization, Tiger Food Pantry, Mount Pleasant High School Activities Department, Henry County Sheriffs Office, and the Mount Pleasant Library & Henry County Conservation, Henry County Public Health, and Mount Pleasant Childcare Center. The HCHC Foundation remains a leading steward of financial resources focused on the future of healthcare and quality of life in our Henry County communities.
In Class 1A Region 2, Holy Trinity Catholic will face off against Calamus-Wheatland for the Regional Championship tonight at 7 pm at West Liberty High School. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45. Crusader head coach Melissa Freesmeier wants her team to focus on the things they can control,
“You know the big thing is to take care of our side of the net and do the things we’ve been doing, do the little things and keep swinging.”
In Class 2A Region 3, #14 West Burlington will take on #3 Beckman Catholic tonight at 7 at Solon High School with the winner advancing to the state tournament.
Classes 3A, 4A, and 5A held their Regional Championship matchups last night and here are the teams that advanced to the state tournament.
In Class 3A, the regional champions are Mt. Vernon, Western Christian, West Delaware, Wahlert Catholic, Assumption, Sioux Center, Kuemper Catholic, and Mid-Prairie, who defeated Wilton in four sets.
Punching their ticket to the Class 4A state tournament was Xavier, Bishop Heelan, North Scott, Clear Creek Amana, Pella, Glenwood, Carlisle, and Sergeant Bluff-Luton in the lone upset.
Lastly, for Class 5A: Ankeny Centennial, Pleasant Valley, Ankeny, Dowling Catholic, Indianola, Waukee Northwest, Cedar Falls, and Waukee all qualified for the state tournament with seven of the eight matches ending in a sweep.
Postseason Football
WACO was placed in a pod with Iowa Valley, #5 Gladbrook-Reinbeck, and #3 Don Bosco. The Warriors will travel to #3 Don Bosco on Friday, November 1st, at 7 pm. KILJ 105.5 FM, kilj.com, will be on the call with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.
#10 West Burlington/Notre Dame will take on #8 Anamosa on the road on Friday.
Mediapolis will get a district rematch against Mid-Prairie on the road at 7 on Friday.
In Class 3A, #5 Mt. Vernon will host Carroll and Assumption will hit to the road to take on #3 Wahlert Catholic with both games scheduled for 7 pm on Friday.
High School Cross Country
The Class 3A state meet is scheduled for Friday, November 1st, in Fort Dodge with both Washington teams and Mt. Pleasant’s Quintrie Lee making the trip.
The Class 1A and Class 2A state meets will run on Saturday, November 2nd. For the Class 2A boys’ race, Mediapolis will have a trio of runners competing in Mason Lindeen, Will Schmidgall, and Simon Wendell. On the girls’ side, Hannah Fruehling and Kaitlyn Kipp will run for Notre Dame/West Burlington.
For Class 1A, the Danville, Van Buren County, and Columbus boys’ teams will be competing along with the Danville girls’ team. For the qualifying individuals, Winfield-Mt. Union’s Kohlby Newsom and WACO’s Jude Dykstra will participate in the boys’ race, while the duo of Rylee Phillips and Kayley Snowgren of Van Buren County will run in the girls’ race.
Southeastern Community College
The volleyball team will host Ellsworth Community College tonight at 7 for Sophomore Night.
College Football
Iowa will take on Wisconsin on Saturday, November 2nd, at 6:30 pm at home. KILJ 105.5 FM will have the broadcast. The Hawkeyes will be leaning on quarterback Brendan Sullivan after Cade McNamara was ruled out of this week’s matchup with a concussion.
#11 Iowa State will be back in action this Saturday at 2:30 pm at home against Texas Tech. KILJ 98.5 FM and AM 1130 will be on the call.
This Day in Sports History
1919 – Baseball league presidents call for the abolishment of the spitball.
1954 – The first use of the 24-second shot clock in pro basketball; the Rochester Royals defeated the Boston Celtics, 98-95.
2016 – The Oakland Raiders break the single game record for most penalties in an NFL game, gaining 23 in a win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
