Jewell Record News (Newspaper) - April 9, 1987, Jewell, Iowa South Hamilton Record News r Or j Story Volume Number 15 IOWA 50130 APRIL Jeff Ringstad just wants life to return to normal By Sandra Ireland Jeff Ringstad has a schedule that would make a press secretary but that is the way Jeff seems to like And in addition to his life as a junior in high Jeff has been fighting a raging battle with cancer a battle he is determined to On first Jeff seems just like any other teenager a bit but when you look into his one can see the spirit of a modern day comman One of the most noticeable things about Jeff is his but gentle As the interview Jeff settled into a comfortable and listened carefully as the first questions came his After some he Ill answer your but youll have to work hard to get the Jeff wasnt but his an swers were both straightforward and During the interview his Gary and plus his were part of the Just recently Jeff appeared in the Hamilton Holidays presen tation of Guys and and last week he went with his family to see his in I went skiing for the first Jeff and I learned to ski the hard I landed on my knees a The run was two and onehalf miles so you get a lot of practice before you get to ihe bot Although skiing is a new sport for he has been involved in many sports and activities at South Hamilton where he is a junior in high But Jeff has more than just the regular activities to keep him Jeff is recovering from a cancerous which invaded the left side of his part of his tongue and which before its made eating and swallowing dif According to his Jeff ate a lot of soup and milkshakes during this Jan Ringstad his condition was misdiagnosed as an The doctors thought it was an infection in his adenoids and lymph and he was put on She added that while this was going Jeff had an impacted wisdom which cleared up with a tooth but that didnt explain why Jeff kept losing He lost between 20 and 25 and although he has gained back about 14 the rapid weight loss was an indicator that Jeff had a health problem more serious than an in According to the diagnosis was made through surgery and a biopsy at Mary Greeley Medical The diagnosis was verified at the Mayo Clinic in Min and the University of Iowa according to Jeffs These tests were necessary before any kind of treatment could Jan Ringstad said this type of tumor involves muscle and doctors told her it is usually diagnosed in children who are between two and four years of Once the diagnosis was doctors immediately started Jeff on the ad ministration of certain drugs kn own to stop the growth of certain kinds of In addition to Jeff also received radiation therapy According to the chemotherapy treatments will be completed in December of this Once a Jeff goes to Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames for an injection of Vin and to the Mayo about every seven weeks to receive another potent chemotherapy drug Dae Jeff said the radiation therapy treatments were completed several months As most people the most common side effect of chemotherapy and radiation therapy is loss of but Jeff has not had to contend with this Ive had some hair but not lost my he During the the family a Schnauzer named temporarily found a comfortable spot on Jeffs lap and nested in as Jeff talked about the things he has learned during his fight with the Although Jeff was less than casual about his battle against this Jeff has things he wants to I dont think what I had is really that Im pretty much for getting everything back to he Normal for Jeff is and Jeff likes singing and but he also likes and he said it is possible to participate in both kinds of Im interested in both and neither one is going on at the same Jeff Aside from crosscountry run Jeff he plans to par in the bide ride across this The first time he rode in was With respect to Jeff says he likes a little bit of but is especially in in college he watched the Indiana Syracuse but he didnt have any special comments about In addition to his sports ac Jeff likes 10 write about and a letter he wrote to the editor of the Des Moines Registers Big Peach section was recently He says he is an ISU Jeff has time to write for the school newspaper and the year Jeff says he likes to write about with a little and not just flap He said covering events is a favorite I go through boxes of old school and some of my old stories are pretty he Its Im not real big on the sentence structure but Im good at handling the Like many Jeff is thinking about going to but says he hasnt decided where nor what hell He men colleges in Colorado and Kansas as well as Iowa Prior to the afternoon inter Jeff and his attended the Jewell Lions Toy Jeff says he is interested in classic old comic music from the 1950s and old His favorite classic movie is He says he likes John Wayne movies as well as old war including the cheap ones about World War Korea and Viet Jeffs said he is thankful for all of the community support given them during the course of the diagnosis and trips for Garys comments were echoed by his People in the community have been sweet and Thats whats great about a small Jan Ringstad In the the family had shifted his position on Jeffs and it was obvious that Dextor had had enough of the Dextor probably wanted some real ac If that was his Dextor got He posed with Jeff for pic Jeff with his dog wants life to return to photo by Sandra Ireland Possible water rate increase discussed SH School Board to request bids for roof over gymnasium By Sandra Ireland In addition to a report on the continuing evaluation of the Jewell sewer the City Council reviewed a possible water rate increase and choices for resurfacing Jewell city Increased water rates came under scrutiny by the Council in an effort to find ways to improve money reserves for continued improvement in the citys Water delivery Although no final decision or motion was the Council discussed increasing the rate for the minimum water usage and to collect SO cents per month for water meter An update on televising the condition of the sewer system was presented to the and they were informed that major problems have inhibited complete evaluation in some The television crew ered some areas where sanitary line taps have penetrated the mainline too which in has prevented camera During the television eval sewer lines have been some collapsed tiles have been and in one an excessive water flow was According to Monty who has been involved with the the cleaning of sewer lines has been most The Council was informed that a manhole on Highway 69 needs but before the replacement can a permit from the Iowa Department of Transportation DOT will be The DOT Permit requires providing information about what is to be time needed to complete the how traffic will be routed and the materials Members of the Council reviewed possible choices in the resurfacing of some Jewell The choices for street re surfacing are asphalt and seal Seal coating involves spreading oil in the streets and coating the oil with Council members thoroughly evaluated the two and after decided to have bids for seal coating sent out with bid return ready for the May Council In other it was brought to the Councils attention that sidewalks on the east side of Main Street are especially from the corner of Main and Edwards to the Legion Council members were aged to consider replacement of this sidewalk At the end of this Council went into a 10minute executive Final decision on the sidewalk issue is By Sandra Ireland After extensive evaluation of the South Hamilton School gymnasium a final engineers report was presented to the School Board at a special meeting on April Gerald Peterson presented the and the final analysis shows there should not be more than seven pounds per square foot of weight on the gym This means the existing roof will need to be stripped before any other roof changes can be According to school super intendent Richard there will be no major structural changes such as gerder replace but bids for a sloped steel roof over the gym will be prepared and sent Textor said the date for sending out the bids hasnt been but he expects the bids to be sent within the next few Textor said the bids will be advertised in the At this the Board met with two candidates for the combined position of high school social studies and softball coach This faculty position became available following the recent resignations of Mark Oswald and Shelley The Board decided to offer the job to one of the but final announcement wont be made until the candidate has had an opportunity to respond to the Textor meets with special school assessment committee By An Assessment Committee meeting was held April following the special session of the School At this discussions were held with Superintendent Richard Textor and committee regarding the future plans and directions the school district should The Assessment Committees work concerns the development of ideas over sharing facilities with other schools in the enlargement of existing school structures and any other consid which may fall into future Textor said South Hamilton is not currently involved in any specific sharing but the Assessment is there to provide ideas for patrons of the school system should matters of concern Superintendent Textor then reported that South Hamilton Schools had to pay a fine toi the Environmental Protection Agency EPA for violations concerning asbestos containing ation in the school The EPA visited South Hamll ton Schools about 18 months and at that the tunnels and boiler room in the Elementary School came under criticism as well as another suspicious the hot water tank in the I An Operation and enance plan has been instituted to eliminate the possibility of any future asbestos in the school Tester said the hot water tank will undergo further that at the present there no reason for since these are not areas where students would normally In other there was some sewer water backup at the elementary but the only damage was water on the basement Textor said this problem has been The next regular meeting of the SH School Board is scheduled for 7 April The public is
