ARNOLD GENE MADSON
Arnold Gene Madson, 85, passed away on Monday, January 4, 2021, surrounded by loved ones. He was born January 17, 1934, in Fort Dodge to Arnold Gotfred Madson and Helen Elvira Nordin, younger brother to Blanche Rogers. Known as Gene, and sometimes Genial Gene, he had a habit of handing out Tootsie Rolls to both friends and strangers.
Gene was baptized and confirmed at First Covenant Church in Fort Dodge on April 27, 1934, and February 29, 1948, respectively. In 1952, he graduated high school from Pillsbury Military Academy in Owatonna, Minnesota. He joined the military right out of high school and served in the United States Air Force from 1952 to 1956, during the Korean War. Gene was stationed at Ladd Air Force Base in Fairbanks, Alaska, and always fondly remembered his time there.
To the editor:
Reflecting on the events of 2020, I wanted to express gratitude to the youth and staff of the Fort Dodge Community School District and community for the kindness expressed to our family when COVID-19 hit our household.
My husband, a teacher at Fort Dodge Middle School, was recovering from surgery, when he and my son came down with covid-19. Our daughter had just been selected for the homecoming court, but would have to quarantine and miss the festivities. This was a worrisome and heartbreaking time for us, but our family was uplifted and given the gift of joy by our community.
Classes will resume Jan. 4
Dec 22, 2020
Students in the Fort Dodge Community School District will return to the classroom full-time starting in January, according to a phone call the district sent out to its Dodger families on Monday.
The school district moved to a hybrid learning model, alternating the days groups of students attended class in-person, back in early November in response to rising levels of COVID-19 activity in Webster County.
In the phone call on Monday, the district told families it plans to return students to full face-to-face learning at school on Jan. 4.
“Over the last several weeks, the positivity rate and hospitalizations have been slowly declining in our community,” the call said.
kwingert@messengernews.net
The Fort Dodge Community School District’s move to transition fifth grade from the middle school level back to the elementary level continues to go forward as the district begins molding its staffing plans for the changes.
Superintendent Jesse Ulrich introduced his proposal to move fifth grade back to elementary during a school board meeting in September 2019. The board ultimately approved the plan, which included recomissioning the former Arey building on South 17th Street as an Early Childhood Center to house preschool, transitional kindergarten and kindergarten, in late October 2019.
“It is our opinion that it is more academically age-appropriate for fifth-graders to be in the elementary setting,” Ulrich said. “We feel like they’re not quite the age to be in a full-blown middle school.”
Dec 21, 2020
-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Santa Claus, visiting from the North Pole after confirming his immunity to COVID-19, stopped by the gazebo on the City Square on Sunday evening to wave at children and families driving by. Santa s friends The Grinch, Rudolph and Olaf from Frozen hung around Veterans Triangle Park down at Central Avenue and 12th Street, collecting non-perishable food items for the Lord s Cupboard. -Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Santa Claus, visiting from the North Pole after confirming his immunity to COVID-19, stopped by the gazebo on the City Square on Sunday evening to wave at children and families driving by. Santa’s friends The Grinch, Rudolph and Olaf from “Frozen” hung around Veterans Triangle Park down at Central Avenue and 12th Street, collecting non-perishable food items for the Lord’s Cupboard.