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Summer fun is here in the Fort Dodge area

The long days of summer are upon us, with seemingly endless hours of daylight to be enjoyed. In fact, at least on weekends, you might as well call them the long, lazy days of summer. Locally, there will be plenty of things to do on those summer weekends. This weekend is loaded with things to do. The Badger Lake Dragon Boat Bash is Friday and Saturday. The Blanden Art Festival and the Oakland Cemetery Walk are both on Saturday. Plus, the Calhoun County community of Knoke will celebrate its 125th anniversary on Saturday. Lehigh River Days will be back from June 19 to June 21. It will ...

Fort Dodge is a medalist in fundraising

When it comes to supporting athletes with intellectual disabilities, the Fort Dodge community is often a medalist. Citizens and local law enforcement officers come together annually to raise money for Special Olympics Iowa at an event called Cop on a Rooftop. It is an event held statewide. And when all the donations are tallied up, Fort Dodge is one of the top – if not the top – producer of donations for the athletes. Cop on a Rooftop is held at Dunkin’ Donuts, 2520 Fifth Ave. S. Yes, you read that right. Who knew that all those old, tired stereotypes about cops and doughnuts ...

Voting requires research

For the last year, Iowans have been immersed in numerous political campaigns for Congress, the governor’s office, the state legislature and various county offices. A lot of people may feel like they have been bombarded by non-stop political ads. With the primary election just days away, the campaigning will no doubt reach a fever pitch. In a democracy, that is to be expected. Every candidate for every office wants to get their message out and take a few jabs at their opponents. As fed up as folks may get with all of this campaigning they may forget that they are lucky to live in ...

Collaboration led to a new life for Exposition Park

Exposition Park in Fort Dodge has been a lot of different things over its many years of existence. Its newest version, to be unveiled Thursday, is an innovative one that shows how a rather plain patch of ground can become something attractive. And as is often the case in Fort Dodge and Webster County recently, it is a product of collaboration. In this case, that collaboration involved a couple of different city agencies and the Public Art Commission. But first a recap. The roughly three acres of ground along North Seventh Street near 14th Avenue North was a county fairgrounds a ...

Take the time to remember

Monday is Memorial Day. For many people, it is a time to welcome the summer season by taking advantage of a three-day holiday weekend to spend time relaxing with friends and family. It is important, however, not to forget what this day is truly about. Beginning soon after the Civil War, a day in May was set aside as a time to decorate with flowers the graves of the war dead. The original stimulus for this day came from the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union Army Civil War veterans. For many years it was called Decoration Day. Honoring those who gave their lives in ...

Big construction season in Fort Dodge will provide big benefits

If there is one thing Fort Dodge residents have consistently complained about over the years, it is the condition of the city’s streets. This year they may have something entirely different to complain about: the amount of road work that will be impacting their daily travels. It does no good to point fingers or accuse anyone of negligence, but the reality is that our city’s infrastructure problems were caused by years of neglect. Nothing was done to maintain and improve things. Over the last few years, that has been changing. And this year’s construction season promises to be ...