Special to the Times Vedette

On Tuesday, March 25, Greene County Medical Center honored 31 team members for milestone years of service and five others who were nominated for the Van Zelderen Excellence Award.

At a special ceremony, Julia Glawe, who recently celebrated her 10th anniversary in the Human Resources department at the medical center, was presented with the 2024 Van Zelderen Excellence Award. Four others were also nominated for this peer award. Nominations are submitted by fellow Team Members for those they believe exemplify the Greene County Medical Center PRIDE values of Patient-Centered Care, Respect, Integrity, Dedication and Empathy.

Other nominees for the Van Zelderen Excellence Award include:

• Abby Skoglund, Acute Care
• Sarah Hoffman, Family Medicine Clinic and Behavioral Health
• Jennifer Carlisle, Acute Care
• Veronica Silva, Human Resources

The 31 team members marking milestone work anniversaries include:

• Celebrating 5 years of service: Diane Carey, Ashley Clark, Laurie Connolly, Thomas Fagg, Kelli Farley, Anita Fitzpatrick, Sara Fleecs, Heather Hagar, Nancy Houska, Jerrine King, Jamie McDonald, Annette Morlan, Teresa Morlan, Mary Nieto, Emily Ostrander, Lynda Pierson, Kristy Ramirez, Stefanie Schreier, Diana Smith, Jesus Valles and Heather Wilson
• Celebrating 10 years of service: Brad Ferguson and Julia Glawe
• Celebrating 15 years of service: Paula Parris
• Celebrating 20 years of service: Jennifer Carlisle and Laura Walker
• Celebrating 25 years of service: Kris Aldridge and Tessa Weir
• Celebrating 30 years of service: Rochelle Mitchels
• Celebrating 35 years of service: Denise Promes
• Celebrating 45 years of service: Carol Pope

 

Special to the Times Vedette

On March 26, Gary Evans and Jim Carico each got a 16. Robert Klever got a 16 and a 17. Sandy Rumelhart won with a 20.

The Guthrie Center cribbage players generally meet at Guthrie Center Library on Mondays at 8 a.m., at the New Homestead independent living rec room at 8 a.m. on Wednesdays, and at the Guthrie Center Activity Center at 1 p.m. on Fridays. Organizers say there is always room for more, and they will be glad to teach you how to play. They play for quarters on Wednesday and Friday.

By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

On March 15, ACGC students competed at the Iowa High School Speech Association Individual Speech State Competition. Results are shown below.

• Receiving a split 2 rating: Allison Drake (Acting)
• Receiving a split 1 rating: Megan Underwood (Musical Theatre), Lilah Heinz (Lit Program), and Lilah Heinz (Storytelling)
• Receiving a straight 1 rating: Kiera Boals (Storytelling), Blakely Buttler (Reviewing), and Caydence Boals (Storytelling).

The public is invited to encore performances by these students at the ACGC high school cafeteria at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 28.

Caydence Boals was invited to perform at the All-State Festival on March 31 at the University of Northern Iowa.

 

Brooke Ramsey and Megan Murphy have been working together since 2018.

 

By Rich Wicks | Panora Times, March 2025

The Color Nook, 109 E. Main in Panora, is new but also familiar. The shop is the former location of Britt’s Family Hair Care but is now operated by Brooke Ramsey and Megan Murphy. The new shop opened Jan. 2. Ramsey and Murphy say they have been happily busy ever since.

“I’ve been doing hair since 2012. I’ve worked at a couple places, and then I joined Megan working at Cut Loose Salon in Guthrie Center in 2018,” Ramsey said. “We’ve been working together since, and we became best friends.”

The pair enjoyed their work in Guthrie Center but welcomed the opportunity to move their service to Panora. 

“We heard that Britt wanted to head back home to be closer to her kids and family, so this kind of just fell into our laps,” Ramsey said. “And it brought both of us closer to home, too.”

Ramsey and Murphy do much more than hair color.

“We offer a wide variety of services. Haircuts for all ages, kids, men, women. We do a lot of color, which is why we chose the name for the shop. We both really enjoy doing color services, especially highlights and blonding. We also do facial waxing. We do hair for weddings and proms and things like that.”

The Color Nook sells a variety of hair care products, too.

“We sell a lot of our favorite hair products. It’s a little bit of everything,” Murphy said. 

Other services are available occasionally, as well.

“We do have a nail technician, Sydney Morris,” Murphy said. “She is here twice a month. She also worked with us at Cut Loose.”

“Sydney also offers makeup services and airbrush makeup, which is pretty popular for weddings and proms,” Ramsey said.

Although the business is new, Murphy and Ramsey said they appreciate the welcome they have received in Panora.

“We really like the Panora community, and it’s been fun being over here,” Ramsey said.

“A lot of the other businesses have been very welcoming,” Murphy added.

The Color Nook uses social media for making appointments.

“We do have Facebook, and that’s how we are booking most of our appointments,” Ramsey said. “We are by appointment only. We’re usually closed Sundays through Tuesdays.”

Murphy said most appointments are made roughly two or three weeks ahead.

“And I would say, for a Saturday, maybe even a month,” she said. “Our hours are typically 9 to 5.”

Because the two have kept most of their clientele for many years, they have connected meaningfully with their customers. Ramsey and Murphy said they enjoy their work, and especially the chance to catch up socially while clients are in the shop. 

“There have been some kids that I started cutting their hair in fifth or sixth grade, and now they’re graduating,” Murphy said. “Or some that I started doing their hair in high school, and now they’re getting married and having kids. It’s really a bittersweet thing.” n

By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

At the March 25 meeting of the Guthrie County Board of Supervisors, the supervisors unanimously voted to adopt Resolution 25-20 (Resolution Directing the Guthrie County Attorney to File a Petition to Intervene on Behalf of Guthrie County in Iowa Utilities Commission Docket Number HLP-2024-0004).

Brian Hoffman provided a departmental update regarding information technology. He shared the status of various equipment and said efforts are ongoing to weed out equipment that is no longer used.

“It’s good to eliminate what you don’t need, so you can see what you do need,” Hoffman said.

County Engineer Josh Sebern provided a departmental update regarding secondary roads. Sebern also described proposed Resolution 25-21: Contract for Project FM-C039(102).

“This is pertaining to a project…for patching of the Yale-Springbrook road,” Sebern said. “We had eight bidders…and the lowest bid was $345,000, thereabouts, by Midwest (Midwest Contractors Inc.)…This resolution does two things. It awards the contract to Midwest, and it authorizes me to sign the contract,” Sebern said. The supervisors approved the resolution. 

A public hearing was held at 10:30 a.m. on the Fiscal Year 2026 proposed property tax notice.

Through March, the supervisors meet regularly Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9 a.m. The public is welcome to attend in person or via remote technology. To join remotely, call 323-792-6123, then use meeting code 547029216#.

Special to the Times Vedette

The Panorama Schools Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) will hold its spring meeting on Thursday, March 27 in the library at Panorama Elementary, 401 Panther Drive in Panora, beginning at 6 p.m. For more information, email ptopanorama@gmail.com.