May 2024

Former students surprise Parnett

As Jeff Parnett prepared to pick up his conductor’s baton to lead his last concert at the Meadows Valley School, the doors to the gymnasium burst open, and about 50 of his former students paraded in playing Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” on kazoos.The group of alumni traveled from near and far to attend the beloved band teacher’s farewell concert on Wednesday, May 15.After greeting and hugging each alumnus, Parnett said he was “truly speechless,” before kicking off the performance of the Meadows Valley kindergarten and first grade choir.Also performing was the second and third grade choir, beginning band, middle school band, high school band and pep band.“All of a sudden, the music starts and 50 of my former students walk into the gymnasium, playing kazoos, you know, and just blew me away,” Parnett said.“I had no idea.

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Harmonies of home

Jeff Parnett knew as a young man that he wanted to be a teacher, just not in New Meadows—little did he know that the small town would one day hold the key to both his teaching career and his heart.Parnett swore off New Meadows in the mid-1970s after being stranded there while driving through to Boise.

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McCall Mavericks 4-H club second in district comp.

The McCall Mavericks 4-H Club Horse Judging team took second place in the Junior Team category this last weekend in the District Horse Judging Competition held at Payette County Fairgrounds in New Plymouth.With a second-place finish, the team qualifies for state championships in July.The team also competed in hippology, placing sixth overall in the competition that tests participants’ knowledge of horse care, anatomy, nutrition and equipment.Mira Jones placed first overall in junior horse judging, an event in which teams evaluate horses, ranking them from most to least desirable depending on their performance.Evangeline Wilfinger was second overall in intermediate horse judging and first overall in intermediate hippology.Makayla Swain was fourth in junior horse judging.

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‘Story of McCall’ told in library stairwell

Glass engravings of Valley County’s lakes and colorful wooden vignettes of local flora and fauna greet McCall Public Library visitors as they climb a stairwell to the second floor of the new library building.The wooden vignettes and glass panels were installed by Nehalem, Oregon, artist Joe Thurston, who the McCall City Council awarded a $60,000 contract to last year to design the art.“There is a lot of pressure in making something that’s not about me but about the community,” said Thurston, 54.

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Vandals victorious at state

McCall-Donnelly coach Freddy Hernandez did not mince words about his boys team in days leading up to the 3A Idaho State Track and Field Championships, held over the weekend in Middleton.“If there was ever a team to do it,” Hernandez said, “this is the team to do it.”They did it.They also made history, as it is believed to be the school’s first state championship in boys track and field.The M-D boys got individual wins from George Speirs (3,200-meters), Matthew Daniels (400) and Van Vinson (pole vault).

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Now You Know

A free breakfast for 2024 McCall-Donnelly graduates organized by area churches will be held the same day as graduation, Saturday, June 1 at 9 a.m.

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Former Vandals battle elements, top teams at World Series

There were no Disney movie-endings for a couple of former Vandals who traveled with a Boise State team that competed at the National Club Softball Association 2024 Division I World Series over the weekend.But Gracie Warren said she and former McCall-Donnelly softball teammate Brooke Richardson had a great experience anyway.Especially considering only 16 of 119 Division I club teams qualified for the national tournament.“I felt 103 teams were staying home and we got to play,” Warren said.The duo and their Bronco teammates jetted off to Columbus, Georgia last week, but were greeted by wonky weather that threw a wrench into tournament play and forced the Boise State squad to play three games in a single day, Thursday.

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Vinson a champion as Vandals go 1-2

McCall-Donnelly’s Van Vinson did what champions do on Friday, winning the pole vault at the 3A Idaho State Track and Field Championships with a record leap a year after a nightmare finish at the very same meet.Vinson won every pole vault competition as a junior, including a district championship, only to “no height” at the state meet after failing to top the opening bar.On Friday, the M-D senior cleared the opening height – and then some – winning a state championship going up and away with it.

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Sayers leads Ramblers at state

Trever Sayers followed up a district championship by snaring a spot on the podium as the Cascade track and field team competed at the 1A Idaho State Championships over the weekend in Middleton.Sayers was able to top 5 feet, 8 inches in the high jump during Friday action to bring home a medal, sixth place, to lead six Rambler athletes who competed during the two-day meet,.It proved even more impressive considering the Cascade senior lost two spikes on his shoes and bent two more on one of his warmup jumps.“We tried to get them straightened out before he started but didn’t have much success,” Rambler coach Dorothy Stillwell said.

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