HARLAN — Bursting at the seams with floral arrangements of all shapes and sizes, Floral Elegance prepared a week in advance, preparing thousands of flowers, for an onslaught of customer requests in the name of Valentine’s Day.    The day was rainy, but anything but slow for the flower and gift shop in Harlan.

After losing to the Atlantic Trojans in close fashion Feb. 7, the Cyclones rebounded nicely with a 46-37 victory in the Class 3A – Region 5 Second Round tournament game.
“It’s awesome,” said Senior Ella Plagman. “It was pretty rough losing to them last week, but I knew that it would just give us more motivation to win this week when it really mattered.”

The Exira-EHK girls varsity basketball team prevented the Ar-We-Va Rockets from blasting off at home Tuesday night, cruising to a 56-20 first round tournament victory. This was the first game for the Spartans in a week due to the formatting of the tournament schedule.

Senior Reed Hinners was the star of the night leading the way with 23 points, helping the Wolves soundly defeat the Audubon Wheelers, 60-44 at home in the 2A-7 First Round playoff game.

HARLAN – The Harlan Municipal Board of Trustees received and filed the fiscal year 2023-24 budget at its regular meeting Thursday.CEO Joe Rueschenberg said the budget was reviewed with the finance committee.    Trustee Jim Shelton said Gas and electric are in great standing.    “The water is trending immensely positive and the telecommunications needs close scrutiny,” he said.

    HARLAN — A high-flying visitor — UnityPoint Health LifeFlight — landed in the parking lot across from the Therkildsen Center Saturday as part of the yearly EMS conference. More than 70 nurses, EMTs, and paramedics attended the conference.    Hanah Hill drove three hours from home to attend.    “I like to go to different areas and hear different people speak,” she said.

AREA — According to the Iowa Fire Department Census, out of the state’s 738 registered fire departments, 662 are fully volunteer.

The HCHS girls varsity basketball team stamped their ticket to the next round of the playoffs after a massive win Saturday night at home against the Red Oak Tigers, 61-14.
“He [Klaassen] told us at practice this is not going to be like the normal competition that we see and we just need to stay up at our level and we’ll be successful,” said Junior Erica Rust.

 A beloved hometown heroEarl Boltinghouse passed away peacefully on Sunday, January 29, 2023 at Arrowhead Senior Living in Osage Beach, Missouri, near the beautiful Lake of the Ozarks. He was born in Lenox, Taylor County, Iowa, to George and Edith Boltinghouse on March 26, 1933. He grew up in Harlan and attended Harlan Community High School, where he developed lifelong friendships and an appreciation for learning.