AVOCA -- Highlights from the Viking-Cardinals match.

    AVOCA – Helen Davis Parker, 86, Avoca, died October 2.    Services will be held Friday, Oct. 7 at 6:30 p.m. at Roeder Mortuary in Omaha, NE.  Visitation will be Friday from 5:30-6:30 p.m.

    HARLAN – Mary Edith Begley, 106, Harlan, died October 3 at Elm Crest Retirement Community.    Private services will be held.    Begley is survived by daughter Marjorie (Kenneth) Thomsen of Tennant; son Donald (Mela Vee) Begley of Stockton, CA; brother Fred Shaw of Kansas City, MO; eight grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren, and nine great-great-grandchildren.    Pauley Jones Funeral Home in Harlan is in charge of arrangements.

    HARLAN – Mary Clare Bowman, 80, Harlan, died Monday, Oct. 3 in Earling.    Services were held Thursday, Oct. 6 at 11 a.m. at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Harlan with private burial of ashes at a later date.    Bowman is survived by children Cynthia (Greg) Bennet, Tony (Jane) Horning and Tim Horning; two grandchildren and one great-grandchild.    Burmeister-Johannsen Funeral Home in Harlan was in charge of arrangements.

    HARLAN -- Bethany Lynn Pape and Michael Thomas Marnik both of Omaha plan to marry on October 15 in a ceremony at the bride’s parents’ home in rural Harlan.    Parents of the couple are Kyle and Janae Schomers, Harlan; and Thomas and Kathleen Marnik, Remer, MN. 

    HARLAN -- Jessica Finken and Patrick Green both of Council Bluffs will exchange marriage vows on October 8 at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Harlan.    Parents of the couple are Leslie and Tim Eischeid, Carroll; Mark Finken, Manning; and Tom and Colette Green, Harlan.

    SHELBY -- Joyce (Eggerss) Rihner of Shelby will celebrate her 80th birthday on October 12. Her family is planning a card shower in her honor. Cards will reach her if sent to 816 St. F66, Shelby, IA 51570.    Joyce and her husband, Tom’s family includes Lori and Darin Andersen, Council Bluffs; and Gale and Pam Rihner, Shelby. The Rihners have four grandchildren. 

    ELK HORN -- On the evening of Thursday, October 6, Nazi concentration camp survivor Steen Metz will speak to an open audience at the Elk Horn Lutheran Church beginning at 7 p.m. A question-and-answer session will follow his 45-minute presentation.

    REGIONAL – You’ll definitely feel them before you see them.  Those little black bugs which seem to have more teeth than they do body, swarming through the air in the early fall evenings just before dark, causing distress for anyone who may be gardening, attending a ball game or just out for a walk.    And that ferocious bite they have!    The past two weeks have been the worst, as the warmer weather has brought them out of hiding.