The future of the Main Street Trolley is in question.
The Clear Lake Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors has sent a letter to its members asking for input concerning the trolley which it has operated for 10 years.
“Though we all agree the trolley is a source of pride for Clear Lake and would genuinely like to see it remain a part of the community, as a board of directors we have a fiscal responsibility to make smart business decisions on the organization’s behalf,” stated Chamber President Rod Bernard.
Bernard and Main Street Trolley Committee Chair Mike Finnegan said the primary use of the trolley in recent years has been wedding charters. It has also been used for shuttle service and narrated tours, however ridership declined for narrated tours, making them cost prohibitive and they were discontinued.
“During the past 10 years the trolley has not only failed to pay for itself, but it has been operating at an annual net loss of $5,300,” said Finnegan. “The committee has been working to find options that would make the trolley more visible and profitable, but the problem is that most ideas identified weekends as the opportunity for most ridership. But that would take away the charters on the wish and the hope that you would get riders to generate more than the $300 the charter would guarantee.”
Maintenance has also been an issue for the trolley.
After purchasing the vehicle in 1997 for about $48,000, approximately $33,000 was spent in 2004 to refurbish the trolley. Chamber officials say over the past five years the trolley has had an average income of $11,097 and an average expense of $18,376, reflecting a net loss of $7,200, primarily due to maintenance needs.

The 3rd Annual Harvest Festival included a Salsa Contest, decorated scarecrows on light
poles like “Harv E. Fest,” stationed in front of Clear Lake Bank & Trust and pictured with
Clear Lake Police Officer Ken Asbe, and shops and street vendors like Jackson Floral & Garden
getting everyone in the mood for fall despite temperatures in the mid-80s.
Wine tasting and music also made the event the biggest yet.

Members of the 2007 Ventura Homecoming Court include front row (L-R):
Allie Schuler, Christa Saul and Chantel Pinheiro. Back row (L-R): Josh Henely, Aaron Christians and Brian Mostrom. The king and queen will be crowned during a pep rally on Friday, Oct. 12, at 2 p.m. The public is invited to attend. The newly crowned royalty and their court will participate in the all school parade following the pep rally. The day concludes when the Ventura Vikings football team takes on Rockwell-Swaledale at 7 p.m. -Reporter photo

Sean McChesney provided a spark to the Lion offense with 127 yards rushing and helped to lead Clear Lake to an important win over Decorah Friday, Oct. 5.
McChesney, who was forced by injury to sit out in Clear Lake’s loss to Waverly-Shell Rock, and only played defense the following week against Forest City, was the leading rusher for the Lions and caught two passes for 19 yards Friday. The senior scored Clear Lake’s second TD on the night when he carried the ball in from two yards out to make the score 13-6. He also was a key player defensively, snatching an interception at the Lion five to stop a Viking scoring drive in the third quarter.
Clear Lake got its first score from Drew Dickson, who also broke the 100 yard mark rushing. Dickson carried the ball 22 times for 107 yards and a TD.
The Lions started with possession of the ball in the third quarter and they did their best to keep the pressure on the Vikings. The drive was highlighted by a first down pass play from Justin Uhlenhopp to Charlie Peterson. The 22 yard completion gave the Lions the ball at the Viking 33. Clear Lake drove the ball to the 10 before stalling. A field goal attempt by DJ Wilhelm was good, boosting the Lion lead to 16-6.
Uhlenhopp completed five of eight passes for 75 yards in the game.
The Lion defense shut down Decorah on the next possession, but a pair of bad plays, a clip and fumble, gave the Vikings the ball on the 20 and they scored in short order to make it 16-13.
Momentum appeared to be headed Decorah’s way when the Lions coughed up the ball on their 44 with 3:10 left in the third. But strong defense, lead by Ryan Williamson and Ryan Brattrud, forced a Viking turnover to end the threat.

What a difference a year makes. Last year the Janesville Wildcats were giving number one Northeast Hamilton a run for their money in the State playoffs; this year the Ventura Vikings trounced Janesville, 56-10, in district action on Friday night.
Fifth ranked Ventura is turning some heads this year as their season remains perfect at 6-0. What is the difference from a team that was 3-6 last year to this year’s talented squad? According to Coach Mike Horstman, it comes down to defense.
“Our defense only allowed 100 total yards Friday night. Our stats show that this was a quality team effort by 10-12 guys who played very physical, defensive football. That is quite possibly the difference from last season,” said Horstman.
Of course, Ventura’s offense is also strong with a good mix of passing and rushing. Josh Henely had another great night rushing for 161 yards on 20 carries. Cody Kadolph was 7/12 passing for 101 yards, mostly to Tyler Betz, who made five catches for 80 yards and one touchdown.
Ventura jumped to an early 14-2 first quarter lead, but did most of their scoring in the second quarter, with 22 points. The Vikings picked up two more touchdowns in the third quarter and one in the fourth for their final 56 points. Ventura gave up two points in the first quarter as a result of committing an offensive penalty in their own endzone. The Wildcats also had a touchdown and two point conversion at the end of the third quarter for their 10 points.
Scoring for Ventura was Tyler Peterson, with three touchdowns and one two-point conversion for 20 points. Henely had two touchdowns for 12 points. Kadolph also picked up 12 points on one touchdown and three, two-point conversions. Brian Mostrom and Betz each scored one touchdown.

Volleyball fans saw some exciting play on Monday, Oct. 8, as the Lady Vikes hosted Garner-Hayfield. The Cards folded to Ventura in four games.
It wasn’t looking good for the Lady Vikes early on. They came out slow in the first game and fell 25-14. The next three games were very tight, but Ventura prevailed, 25-21, 25-23 and 25-21.
“What a great night of volleyball,” said Coach Lora Tabbert. “Both teams brought their ‘A’ games tonight. I am so proud of how the girls played together and fought through the low spots.”
Chelsea Mathews had one of her best nights of volleyball, going 23/28 attacking with eight kills. She was 13/14 serving with four aces and she collected 15 digs.
“Chelsea was amazing all the way around the court,” said Coach Tabbert. “I am so proud of how she stepped up and played her game.”
Senior Allie Schuler celebrated Senior Night with a great effort. Schuler led the team in digs with 18 and at the net she was 21/23 attacking with six kills.
“Allie played her heart out tonight,” said Coach Tabbert. “She was great at the net.”
Back in the lineup following a sprained ankle was Megan Schuler, who racked up 79 assists.
Kaley Imhoff led the team in attacking, going 30/37 with 10 kills. She was also perfect on the service line, where she was 14/14 with four aces.
Amber Smith was also perfect behind the service line, going 14/14 with four aces.
Libero Mandy Hackenmiller was all over the floor collecting seven digs.
“There aren’t words to describe how proud I am of these girls. It has been a season with ups and downs and coming out on Senior Night and playing like this was a terrific high note,” said Coach Tabbert.
The Lady Vikes begin District action on Monday, Oct. 15, as they host Newman for a 7 p.m. show down.

Coach Emily Hiscocks says the past week pretty much tells the story of the Lion’s season.
“We can play every team in the conference close, but when it comes down to winning the match, we have troubles finding the go-to players,” said Hiscocks following her team’s 3-0 loss to Fort Dodge St. Edmond Tuesday, Oct. 2.
The Lions couldn’t have made the match much closer. They dropped the first two games 23-25, 23-25. Then, the third game got away, 19-25.
The Lion offense was lead by Kara Mathis and Allison Schaefer, both with 23 attacks apiece and eight and seven kills respectively. Ellen Pritchard had a team-high 26 digs in the match.
The Lion service game was strong, paced by Schaefer going 10/10 and Macey Hansen and Breanne Mumm each at 7/7. Torrie Hansen made good on 13 of 14 serve attempts and Mathis was 10/11.

C-G 3, CL 0
The Lions lost their second North Central Conference game of the week when they traveled to Clarion-Goldfield Thursday, Oct. 4. The match was similar to the loss at St. Ed’s, with the Lions battling hard, but falling in three straight games.
The Cowgirls took the opening game 25-10, then held on for a Clear Lake challenge. They took games two and three by scores of 25-22 and 25-20.
“We were flat at the beginning of the match and could never really regain our focus in game one,” said Coach Hiscocks. “The girls fought back int he next two games, but we just came up short.”
Allison Schaefer recorded nine kills in the match with 18 attacks. Macey Hansen had 16 attacks with three kills, and Kara Mathis had 22 attacks and four kills. Mathis had a team-high 21 digs. Ellen Pritchard and Alexis King kept the ball in play with 20 and 15 digs respectively.