-Submitted photo
Kris Fleener demonstrates how she would be timing at the National Finals Rodeo with her sweep hand on the left for roughstock and bucking events, while the digital on the right is used as the backup for timed events.

-Submitted photo
Kris Fleener, of rural Duncombe, has been involved in rodeo her entire life. This past week, her dream came true as she was chosen as a timer for the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.

-Messenger photo by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby
Richard Bahls, left, had some great help for his final harvest this fall on his Center Township farm in Calhoun County, thanks to Sascha Boden, of Germany. Boden was an exchange student at Iowa Central in 2009-2010 and worked on the Bahls family’s farm.

-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla
Cohlter Schoon, 7, of Manson, sits on Santa’s (aka Tim Shea's) lap during Manson’s Hometown Christmas at the Manson Area Community Center on Dec. 1.

-Messenger file photo
Shirley Phillips, president of the U.S. Highway 20 Association, poses near the Sac City access from the four-lane highway in June 2018. The Sac City woman served as the president of the U.S. 20 Corridor Association for much of her 30 years with the organization. In one of her more memorable efforts to promote the need for a four-lane highway, she led the association in bringing small radio-controlled cars to the rotunda of the state Capitol. Phillips, 75, died Nov. 26 in Loring Hospital in Sac City — about six years after the final four-lane piece of U.S. Highway 20 was completed. She was president of the U.S. 20 Corridor Association from the late 1990s until 2018, when the group disbanded after the project was completed.

-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla
Neven Conrad, left, chairman of the UnityPoint Health ­— Fort Dodge Board of Directors joined former hospital CEOs Sue Thompson and Tom Tibbets, and Leah Glasgo, UnityPoint Health ­— Fort Dodge president, for Thursday’s celebration of the hopsital's 130-year anniversary of providing health care to the Fort Dodge community and the surrounding area.

-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla
-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Ira Secor, 4, of Fort Dodge, helps Mayor Matt Bemrich light up the gazebo in the City Square on Monday in Fort Dodge as Santa looks on.