EDUCATIONAL NEWS

     The Kornerman knows this is hard for you "outsiders," folks who grew up and gained your earliest education here, to fathom. HOWEVER, Garfield elementary, Bryant elementary and Lowell elementary are all gone. Houses now dot the area where Bryant and Lowell were located, and since the recent destruction of the Garfield site, that, soon, will also become home to family housing units.
Franklin, Lincoln and Page elementary remain as is for now, but who knows what the future holds?
     After wide renovations in recent years, your "old" high school remains at the same location.......but looking much bigger, brighter and better than you remember it. Then, too, there is a fairly new Boone Middle School, leaning to the east side of town, that seems to be a wonderful addition.
     Next up? Plans are underway for a new elementary building, also in the eastern part of town.
     Although there is, apparently, nothing in writing yet, there has been a "handshake" agreement for the purchase of property needed for the new facility.
     The Boone Community School District Board and city government have agreed to split the cost required to hire a city planner ($21,500) to make an estimate of the cost  of road location around the site. Early projections are that road projects, sanitation, water and other utility needs will produce a multimillion-dollar project. In total, building and all, the cost is expected to reach the $17 million range.
     A tentative timeline shows that the bond campaign is now underway with hopes of bond passage on September 8, 2020. Hopefully, construction would then begin in May of next year with completion in August of 2022.
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     It seems there is constant expansion of the Des Moines Area Community College, Boone campus.
     Looking out my window, I can see steady progress, as huge outside walls of the new Student Activity Center are hoisted into place. Construction is said to be, "ahead of schedule."
     The new $6.5 million facility will include two college-size basketball/volleyball courts, batting cages, a state-of-the-art weight room, a modern Sports Medicine Lab, an indoor Golf Performance Center and more. Sports camps for young people are expected to be offered, which may lure participants to continued Boone Campus attendance.
     Boone Campus Athletic Director B.J.McGinn was quoted as saying, "the new project will add 28,500 more square feet to the existing gymnasium area. The current facilities are overcrowded and do not accomodate the current needs of our students. Currently, our athletic teams practice off site during much of the year and when the current facility is used by the student athletes, it limits the availability for our regular student population."
     Exciting news took place this week. Fareway Stores President and CEO Reynolds Cramer presented a check for $250,000 to the DMACC Foundation and DMACC President Rob Denson to be used for this new project.
     In turn, Fareway will be the sole and exclusive sponsor of the new gym and multi-purpose area within the activity center which will be named, "Fareway Fieldhouse."
     It still boggles the Kornerman's mind, the realization that of all the DMACC sites, including the Des Moines sites, ALL of the DMACC sports programs, basketball, volleyball, baseball, softball, golf, cross country etc. are located at our Boone Campus.
     How lucky our community is to have this important part of DMACC located right here.
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     Thanks to Sue and Roy Woolsoncroft for their complimentary comment on our reporting of deaths on a daily basis.
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     BOONE CONNECTED DEATHS: Michael Judge, 84, Nevada. Formerly of Boone..Born in Boone County. BSH-53. Served in the U.S. Coast Guard until 1957. Married Janet Main, BHS-53, in 1956. Farmed in the Nevada area and worked as a member of the carpenter's union until retirement in 2000. Survivors include his wife, Janet, of Nevada, two sons and six siblings, four boys and two girls........Dean Weaver, 85, Boone. Grew up in the Jefferson area. Dana HS. Married Ellen Abbas in 1958. Earned several degrees, from Iowa State Teachers College in 1957, UNI in 1967 and Drake University in 1969. In a 43-year career in education, he served as a teacher, coach, principal, superintendent of schools and worked for the Iowa Area Education Agency as an administrator. He retired in 2000 and the couple moved to Ogden. They moved to Boone in 2010. Survivors include his wife, Ellen, of Boone, a son, a daughter, Kathy Weaver, of Boone, two brothers and a sister-in-law.........Mary Cathryn Pearson, 90, Boone.........Samuel Carroll, 65, Ankeny. Grew up in Stratford. SHS. Married Jamie Phipps of Pilot Mound. Early in their marriage, they lived in Stratford. Later, in Clarion and Ankeny. Worked at several auto dealerships in the parts departments. Wife, Jamie, survives, as well as a son and daughter..........Doris Anna Scott Lincoln, 100, Austin, MN. Born in Madrid. MHS-37. Married Lloyd Lincoln in 1940. They farmed north of Woodward until Lloyd's passing in 1988. Doris cooked at the Madrid Lutheran Home and the Mitigwa Camp in her early years. A sister and three daughters survive.
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     Worldwide Korner headquarters are located at 928 South Jackson, Boone, Iowa 50036-4932. Phone number is 515-432-1530. To email your stories/memories/comments.......
kelleyskorner1@gmail.com.