Thursday, May 2, 2024
Vol. 5, No. 37
PCMExplorer Local People. Local Stories.
Weekend storm damage Growing the
Severe weather rolled through the evening of April 26, causing significant damage to areas east of Monroe By Jamee A. Pierson PCM Explorer Destroyed barns and garages, holes in roofs and uprooted trees are just a few of the many damages reported from an evening storm when it hit during the late evening hours of April 26 in southeastern Jasper County. According to the National Weather Service, at 9:42 p.m. an EF-1 tornado hit the area east of Monroe. It traveled 2.23 miles with wind gusts peaking at 105 mph.
Christopher Braunschweig/PCM Explorer Natalie Pendroy of Monroe introduced a word of the day near her home sometime during the pandemic, and ever since then it has become a community staple that people look forward to.
Monroe woman keeps her community engaged with daily word or phrase posted outside her home What started as a fun way for 73-year-old Natalie Pendroy to brighten the spirits of Monroe residents who needed a breath of
PCM Youth Track and Field Club expanding to countywide opportunity
Submitted Photo
WHAT’S THE WORD OF THE DAY?
By Christopher Braunschweig PCM Explorer
sport
fresh air from being cooped up inside their homes during the pandemic has since blossomed into something community members would be figuratively and literally lost without. For the past few years, Pendroy
PCM Serves
has posted a word of the day near the east side of her home, which is located at the end West Washington Street. Locals have taken a liking to the benevolent act during their walks or when driving by the property. Pendroy said people even use it as a landmark when giving directions. “Everybody was shut in but people were walking, so I thought, ‘Well, I can put up a word of the day.’ I didn’t know if I was going to put it on the fence or what I was going to do,” Pendroy said of the crafty home decoration. “…For a lot of people it’s how they know who we are. It’s because of the ‘word-of-the-day house.’” Using some dollar-store door mats as her backboards (cardboard proved to be too flimsy and would disintegrate during rainfalls), Pendroy paints select words or phrases she has written down in a journal to share each day. Oftentimes, Monroe residents will contact her for specific requests, and she obliges. “I had a lady whose dad always said ‘carpe diem,’ which means ‘seize the day.’ Her dad always said that to her on her birthday,” Pendroy said. “But he has since WORDS | 3
Jamee A. Pierson/PCM Explorer Kids get stretched during a PCM Youth Track and Field Club practice in 2023. The club is expanding to Jasper County for the 2024 season.
By Jamee A. Pierson PCM Explorer The PCM Youth Track and Field Club is expanding. The newly named Jasper County Youth Track and Field will give even more kids an opportunity to learn the sport of track and potentially find an activity that can be with them for the rest of their lives. Coaching the club is founder Bridget Martin along with Eric Osterhaus, Rachel Tomas and Zach Tomas. “I have always had a passion for track,” Martin said. “When I was younger I ran track but I did it all on my own. I feel like the way I got started with track on my own helped me develop my love for track and field. I feel like there were others who could have had that but they didn’t have the opportunity.” Martin took her love of track and field to placing in the top three at state competition in high school and earning national champion status while on the Wartburg Track and Field Team. She
now hopes any kids who have an interest can have the same chances she did growing up. “It is a sport that people just don’t know a ton about and then they show up in seventh grade and it is completely foreign to them,” Martin said. “I just really more than anything want to expose kids to the sport of track and field.” In her first year, Martin had more than 100 kids show up the first day of practice, about double what she anticipated. This year, practices are from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. every Wednesday and 5 to 6 p.m. every Sunday at the PCM High School Track and Colfax-Mingo High School Track. Any current first graders through 12th graders can join, with the older kids starting after the completion of their school track season. To start there is a registration fee of $60 which includes a team shirt, uniform and entry fee into three track meets. The coaches suggest running shoes for practice CLUB | 3
The annual PCM High School Service Day takes on extra importance as students help to clean up from the damage caused by the April 26 tornado that went through just east of Monroe Jamee A. Pierson/PCM Explorer
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