Alhambra News for the week of July 30

Flag Drive

When the flags are put up in town for various holidays, they line both sides of the street all the way through town. This takes a number of flags. Approximately 50 flags go up each time.

There are two more weeks for the Flag Drive. The village could use a few more flags to replenish the supple. If you like to see the flags put up, think about donating a flag or leaving money at the village hall to purchase a flag.

Please leave a note telling who donated the flag and if it is in honor of someone or in memory of a loved one. This is a wonderful way to say thank you to a vet.

If you have questions, call Village of Alhambra at 488-3505 or Freddie Riepshoff at 488-7603.

Report street lights that are out

Residents are asked to report if there are street lights that are out to the village hall at 488-3505. Leave a message on the answering machine if your call is not during office hours. Please give the location of the light.

Moles, voles or gophers?

A few residents have mentioned that their yards are being attacked by some under ground critter.

Voles are sometimes called field mice, due to their resemblance to a mouse. They are destructive to plants and trees as they eat the root system killing the plant. A vole will leave a number of holes in the ground much like a snake hole. The least impact on the environment would be to put baited mouse traps around the hole and put a bucket over the hole with a weight on it.

Moles are burrowing animals and will leave tunnels of dirt in a trail through the yard. They don’t eat plants, but kill them by uprooting them when they burrow through the beds and gardens. Some methods of getting rid of moles are to pour cat litter or blood meal into the holes and cover them up again. Another method is to smoke them out with products sold for that purpose.

Gophers are bigger that moles and voles, and they leave independent mounds of dirt throughout the yard. Each mound will have a horseshoe shaped or crescents shape to the dirt pile. Gophers will get in gardens and flower beds to eat grubs, earthworms, carrots, radishes, lettuce and other vegetables.

One common household item that some say will work to get rid of a gopher is to find their burrow and drop moth balls into it then close it up again. Another method is to smoke them out.

Pick up a book and sack lunch at the Reading Wagon

The Alhambra/Hamel Ministerial Alliance, in association with the Reading Wagon, will offer free sack lunches on Mondays running through Aug. 10.

The lunches will consist of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a bologna and cheese sandwich, chips, cookies, water, a piece of fruit and bottled water. Here are the details:

The lunches will be served from 11 a.m. to noon, or until they run out.

Reading Wagon is located in front of the Alhambra Township Center and is sponsored by the Alhambra Morning Glories 4-H Club. The Reading Wagon is open on Mondays from 9 to 11 a.m., with “Story Time” at 9:15 a.m. The Reading Wagon is also open on Wednesdays from 6 to 7:30 p.m. There are many books for all ages.

Salem Church to honor 1965 confirmation class

This confirmation class will celebrate its 50^th anniversary at the Confirmation Homecoming on Sunday, Aug. 2. Members of the confirmation class were James Abert, Carol Henschen, Gary Henschen, Gerry Klenke, Clifford Mueller, Bobbie Reckman, Leonard Suhre and Allan Tipsword. All confirmation classes are invited to attend.

Special Occasions

The Special Occasion Section is for everyone. Call Freddie at 488-7603 or email riepshoff@yahoo.com to have your information added to the Special Occasion list. Please list names and birth date (I do not publish the year).

Anniversaries

Happy anniversary on July 31 to Greg and Paige Basler; Aug. 2, Justin and Melanie Bonnell; Aug. 5, Mark and Kim Gause and Jared and Jill Frueh; and on Aug.6, Michael and Sherry Warren.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays everyone. July 30, Brett Mallard, Louie Knackstedt, Ted Mettler and Jordan Howard; July 31, Betty Imboden, Chris Schmidt, Amanda Korsemeyer, Julia Seest and Jr. Abert; Aug. 1, Bruce Layher, Sherri Korsemeyer, Bret Hosto, Amy Landolt and Bethany Miller; Aug. 2, Chuck Hooks and Sharon Capstick; Aug. 3, Rhonda Schmidt and Kyle Washburn; Aug. 4, Rita Smith; Aug. 5, Maureen Frueh, Ron Bolen, Jerry Frank, Donita Prott, Gena Miller, Emily Gehrig and Beau Ohren; Aug. 6, Ruth Klenke, Charlie Brown III, Amber Wentler, Adam Allen and Cheyenne Reckman, and Eddie Mize.

This story was originally published July 30, 2015 at 5:29 AM with the headline "Alhambra News for the week of July 30."