Page 8 The Advocate News (Wilton-Durant, Iowa) Thursday, September 17, 2015

Opinion
It's official! The W-D Advocate News league has begun

o stay with the football theme this the shakers. I wanted names of people we all
week, I thought Id share a little football know and see here in the paper.
project Ive spent about a month or so
When you create a league you become
working on.
commissioner and can invite whomever
For the third year in a row, Ive been part you like via email. I began with DHS and
of a fantasy football league involving some WHS coaches, teachers, principals and sufamily and some folks I dont even know perintendants. I moved then to our elected
mainly in North Carolina. My cousin Regan state representatives and other people in the
(Wagaman) Porter lives there with her husband community that not only I know, but you know
Brad, a North Carolina
as well.
State Trooper.
Lets say I bit off
Brad and Regan, along
more than I could chew. I
with several of his police
immediately got responses
colleagues, began a league
from a couple Wilton
and I, along with another
coaches and it stalled. So I
cousin Ross Wagaman and
then began inviting friends
wife Jamie (Vastine) of
and family, got around six
By Derek Sawvell
Durant, play in the league.
people, and stalled again.
Watch any sporting
(We needed at least 8-10
event and youre sure to see commercial after to begin a league.)
commercial about fantasy football (and other
It was touch and go for weeks and finally, in
sports) as it has become a multi-billion dollar the final 48 hours, I was able to find six more
business.
people to fill my league at 12 participants. Its
I always said I would never play. When called the W-D Advocate News league and can
Brad Porter invited me into the league a few be found on Yahoo.com
years ago, he said, Youll never watch the
We took part in a live draft, which is the fun
NFL the same again."
part, and began play last week. Ive inserted
He was right.
a photo of our draft grades (at right). Dont
Upon entering the league, I began paying worry Im not quitting my day job anytime
even more attention to the NFL. I didnt think soon as my draft was rated the worst in the
that was possible but now I can probably tell league and I was projected to win only two
you chapter and verse about impact players games.
on all 32 NFL teams.
However, Im proud to say that as I write
In the middle of last football season, I began this, Im 1-0 and known in the league simply
thinking about trying to run my own fantasy as Mr Editor.
league. I had a vision of running it, in part,
The others are as follows:
through the Advocate News only by using
Nick SummyA former Wilton High
this space every once in awhile to update the School graduate, friend, and man who shared
standings, perhaps take a picture of the winner, a drink with the man who killed Osama bin
etc.
Laden.
The idea was to have as many Wilton and
Hungarian Stormer Al, aka Alan Dale
Durant teachers, coaches, elected officials, Assistant Editor at our sister publication, the
and the like in it. I wanted the movers and Eldridge North Scott Press.

Case
in
Point

Scotts Nice Team, aka Scott Campbell

The Editor of the North Scott Press.
The Triplets, aka Kris BradleyA former
Wilton grad and a cousin of mine who currently
lives in Minneapolis.
Mikes Team, aka Mike MatthewsA very
good friend of mine who also is Kris Bradleys
significant other.
Way too Lucky, aka Jake Peiper and Stan
SawvellMy father Stan wanted to play but
so did Jake, who works with him. Therefore,
I allowed them to put their heads together to
run a team.
Jakes Team, aka Jake SouhradaA physical education teacher at Wilton Elementary
and varsity baseball coach.
Bye Week, aka Jason FeldmanA West
Liberty grad and former trainer for Eastern
Iowa Physical Therapy, weve all seen Jason
roaming the sidelines of almost every Wilton
athletic event over the past couple of years.
Coles Team, aka Cole GringsA graduate
of WHS in May and current student at Iowa
State, Cole was eager to play.
Tamis Raiders, aka Tami SawvellMy
mother, a lover of all sports and perhaps a
sleeper in the league although shell tell you
shes still learning.
Putmans Punters, aka Jeremy PutmanA
math teacher at Wilton Jr./Sr. High and head
coach of varsity girls basketball and girls
track.
So there you have it. Stay tuned as I may
put a standings box in or tell some tales of the
league as we move forward. Dont see your
name here but have an interest, email me and
well see if we can garner interest for next year
or other leagues. And again, in the interest of
full disclosure, I invited at least 40-50 people
to this league, including several from Durant
school district, before getting a dozen commitments. If you didnt get in this year, give
it some thought moving forward. To all in the

league, good luck!

***
9/11Also while were on the subject, kudos
to the Wilton football program for a memorable Salute to Freedom last week prior to
the Bellevue football game. Several veterans
and service members were honored prior to a
display of skydivers, a flyover and balloon release that surely made all in attendance proud!
Ive never seen anything like it and hope its
not the last display of its kind we see. Thanks
to all involved. See photos on pages 1 and 14
and see videos on our Facebook page and my
Twitter account, @SawvellAN.

Rouse: 'When are they going to ask the tough questions?'

SCHOOL BOARD RACES

continued from page 1

to community members with their desires to

be voted in as write-in candidates.
We knew the odds were against us, said
Rouse. We were trying to move the majority.
We had nothing against any board members
but we have some issues that continually go
unaddressed.
My intentions were good. The three of us
have a deep passion for this district.
Rouse said some of the issues she felt
needed addressing were academic assessments, sharing with Wilton, staff development
and technology. And they are all interconnected, said Rouse.
I dont care who is on the board. When are
they going to ask the tough questions? said
Rouse. How do we improve test scores? How
do we know sharing with Wilton is working and
how is it working? Why have our math scores
in the fourth through eighth grade range been
60 percent proficient? Why is our graduation
rate lower than it has been? You have to be
ready to ask those questions and be prepared
for the answers, said Rouse.
She said her first question would have surrounded the sharing of a guidance counselor
between the two districts for supplemental
funding. She noted that Kristy Badtram was
Durants only K-12 guidance counselor and
that she is supposed to be sharing 20 percent of
her time with the Wilton district. Meanwhile,
Wilton has two counselors, one for elementary
and one for Jr./Sr. high, as well as an at-risk
coordinator. That hurts our students, said
Rouse of sharing Durants only counselor with
Wilton. How is that affecting our kids?
In the end, Rouse said she felt the group
wasnt clear enough with voters. She said that
while some may have voted for just one of the
three, the idea was to have all three written in
from each voter they reached out to.
When the next election cycle comes, Rouse
said she is considering putting her name on
the ballot. If we stay in the community, I will
run next time, she said.

Rouse is currently working on her Ed.D.

degree and is working part-time at Black Hawk
College in Moline, where she facilitates the
optional education program. She is also still
on the Durant district payroll until March of
2016 as per the settlement reached with the
district.
Wilton write-in campaign
for Hartman nearly successful
The Wilton school board race was seemingly more subdued heading to Sept. 8, as there
were three open seats with all three incumbents running for re-election. Yet community
members began rallying around Perry (Butch)
Hartman III, who had previously served 10
years on the Wilton school board, including
four as president.
The write-in campaign fell just short as
Hartman received 45 write-in votes five
shy of current board president Linda Duncan,
who was re-elected by receiving 50 votes.
Gary Maurer (66 votes) and Tony Hurd (61
votes) were also re-elected to their seats on
the board.
Hartman, 67, said he was approached by
Wilton residents during the petition process
but decided not to run. I travel so much (for
work), I wouldnt do it justice, he said.
When asked why people approached him,
Hartman said his impression was there is a
lot of budgetary concern about the districts
$14-plus million elementary building project,
which also included building a new high school
baseball field and K-12 cafeteria.
I was on the board when we did the last
addition, said Hartman, speaking of the
auditorium addition that was built in 2004
using one-cent sales tax funds. We kept it
on budget. We had weekly meetings to ensure
we didnt take a cent from the general fund
I think people thought I would ask the right
questions, referring to the current building
project.
Yet Hartman made it clear he had no intentions to run.
People came to me with concerns. I didnt

run and told them not to run ads to publicize

it, he said. Its not a big deal but I think I
could have helped. I always loved this district
and I still do.
Bennett members re-elected
In Bennett, there was no contest as two
seats were open on its board of directors and
both incumbents ran for re-election.

Danielle Pratt (21 votes) and Ross Kleppe

(20 votes) were both re-elected to the board
for 4-year terms.
See box on page 1 for area unofficial school
board results courtesy of Cedar and Muscatine
counties.

Advocate News Football Contest

Hunter wins in week one

By Derek Sawvell

Managing Editor, Advocate News

Week 1 of the Advocate News Football

Contest provided several close games for
contestants. Many players picked like seasoned pros and the tie-breaker came into
play to find who was in the money.
The tie-breaker score was 48, the total
number of points in Iowas 31-17 win over
Iowa State.
Isaac Hunter of Wilton won the $25
top prize this week, missing two games and
guessing 49 for the tie-breaker.
Luke Thompson of Wilton took second
place and $15 this week, missing two games
and guessing 42 for the tie-breaker.
Robert Meincke of Durant took third
place and $10 this week, missing three games
and having a tie-breaker prediction of 42.
This weeks scores included: Bettendorf
27, Pleasant Valley 3; Cedar Rapids
Kennedy 42, North Scott 0; Williamsburg
35, Mediapolis 7; Wilton 27, Bellevue 0;
Durant 24, Wapello 13; Mid Prairie 13,
Louisa-Muscatine 0; Utah 24, Utah State
14; Michigan 35, Oregon State 7; Houston
34, Louisville 31; LSU 21, Mississippi
State 19; Minnesota 23, Colorado State 20;
Washington State 37, Rutgers 34; Notre
Dame 34, Virginia 27; Iowa 31, Iowa State

17; Oklahoma 31, Tennessee 24; Michigan

State 31, Oregon 28; BYU 35, Boise State
24.
Be sure to play week 2 of the football
contest. You may cut out the form in the
newspaper or forms are available from
our following advertisers: Westfair Drug,
Gerdau, Caseys General Store (Durant and
Wilton locations), CBI Bank & Trust, Toyota
of Muscatine, Family Eye & Contact Lens
Center, Community Bank & Trust, Custom
Builders/US Cellular (Tipton), Liberty
Trust & Savings Bank (Durant), Kriegers of
Muscatine, Eastern Iowa Physical Therapy,
Sinclair Tractor, Kellers Home Furnishings
(Tipton), Hoekstra Masonry, Sicilian Pizzeria
(Wilton), Wilton Bank of DeWitt Bank &
Trust and Latta Harris Hanon & Penningroth
CPAs.
A reminder that only this years BLUE
contest forms and forms from the paper are
accepted. Forms of other colors from past
years will be disqualified. Patronize our local
advertisers today to pick up forms!
Also a tradition since 2010, the Football
Contest will have a 12 weeks, 12 winners
theme. Participants are limited to one first
place finish over the 12-week period of the
contest. (All winners can continue to play
week-to-week, but each entrant is limited to
one first place finish.)