Easton Valley Hall of Fame Class of 2024 Announced

By Caroline Bredekamp for the Preston Times

Each year, the Easton Valley Hall of Fame selection committee meets to review past nominations and consider any new nominations made since the last induction class. At a subsequent meeting (or meetings), the committee then closely scrutinizes and discusses the “finalists”. After discussion, using a voting procedure designated by the Chairperson (or other voting procedure adopted by the majority of committee members present), a “target” of 5 nominees becomes the Induction Class for that year. At the discretion of the Selection Committee, the charter member class and any subsequent induction class may exceed the annual target of 5 inductees.  The current selection committee is composed of 16 individuals and a non-voting chairperson.

The Hall of Fame is designed to honor impactful, positive contributions to the communities of Miles, Preston, Sabula, Spragueville. The purpose of the Easton Valley High School Hall of Fame is threefold: (1) To honor those River Hawks (or former members of retired schools of the district) who have accomplished extraordinary feats in extra-curricular activities; (2) To honor those who have made great contributions to Easton Valley High School activities over a period of many years; (3) To honor those Easton Valley High School graduates who have distinguished themselves in life after high school.

If you have the name of someone that you believe should be nominated for consideration, please provide the committee with name and stats on the person’s/team’s accomplishments so that they are on the annual list when the voting process takes place.

It is the honor of the Easton Valley Community School District to announce the next class of the Easton Valley Hall of Fame have been formally selected.

 

Easton Valley Hall of Fame Class of 2024

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 Friends of Easton Valley

 Jerry and Terry Mertens
– Owned the Preston Times in Preston, Iowa
– Started in January 1972 and sold the business in January 2011
– Owned the Preston Times for 39 Years in Preston
– Covered all sporting events, music productions, and graduation programs in Preston and surrounding areas
– Big Supporters of Preston now Easton Valley School District

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 Individuals

Steve Feuerbach
– Graduate of Preston
– 1981 Class 1A 2nd Team Defensive Back
– 1982 Class 1A/A 1st Team Defensive Back
– 1983 Iowa Daily Press Association 2nd Team All-State Basketball Team
– 1983 Des Moines Register 3rd Team All-State Basketball Team
– 1983 All Tournament Team at the State Tournament
– 1983 Quad City Times Athlete of The Year
– Veterinarian in Sycamore, Illinois since 1991

 Jason Nolting

– Graduate of Preston
– 2001 State 100 Meter Champion (Class 2A)
– 2001 State 200 Meter Champion (Class 2A)
– 2001 State 400 Meter Champion (Class 2A)
– Member of 2002 State 1600 Meter
Medley Relay Championship Team (2A)
– 1999 & 2000 2nd Team Class
A All State Defensive Back Football

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Distinguished Graduate

 Debra Bruhn Hedden
– 1969 Graduate of Miles
– 1968-1969 President of Miles HS class of 1969
– B.M. in Music Education from U of Iowa,
Master’s Degree in Music Education from UNI, Ed.D Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from UNI
– 1992: One of 12 American Music educators invited to China and Kazakhstan to work with the minority population.
– 1990-2003-Associate professor of Music Education and Director of Music at UNI
-2000 Listed in Teaching Music (vol. 8, no. 2, October 2000, pg.38) a publication of the Music Educators National Conference, as one of twelve “accomplished teachers” in Iowa
– 2003-2019 University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS Professor of Music Education, Director of Music Education, and Director of Graduate Studies in Music Education
– Inducted into the Kansas Music Educators Hall of Fame for Exemplary Teaching and Service
– 1998-2018 Founded and conducted the Northern Iowa Children’s Choir at UNI and the KU Youth Chorus at KU
– 2010 Invited publication of her book, Threading the Concept, by National Association of Music Educators, Reston, VA
– 2002-2004 National Chair, Society for General Music
– Fulbright Scholar Awards for International Teaching and Research 2012, 2015, 2018, to teach and conduct research at the Lithuanian University for Educational Sciences, Vilnius, Lithuania.

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Coaches / School Personnel

Dan Marburger
* 1985 Graduate of East Central
* Played Football at Central College
* Social Studies and Computer Teacher at East Central for 6 years
* Taught PE in Sabula
* Coached East Central Football, Girls Basketball, Golf, and Baseball
* Served as East Central AD
* Associate Principal at Perry High School from July 1995 –  June 1997
* Principal Perry High School July 1997 –January 2024
* He was named the Iowa High School Athletic Directors Association Administrator of the Year in 2007.
* Died protecting his students in a school shooting at Perry JH/HS in 2024

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 Teams / Groups

1988 East Central Girls Golf Team

Class 1A State Champions
Team Members: Melanie House, Jamie (House) Gyamfi, Leah (Frahm) Robinson, Sheila (Boothby) Stevens, Julie (Smith) Holub, Jill (Amman) Dobbe Coach: Jim House

 1974 Miles Boys Basketball Team
Class 1A State Runner-Up
– 50th Anniversary (2024)
– 2 basketball divisions across the state
– Season Record 26-1 going into State Tournament
– Great River Conference Champions
– Great River Conference Tournament Champions
– Sectional Champions
– District Champions
– Sub. State Champions
– Widely acclaimed on the local and state news for being from a small school in a town of 400
– Team Members: Gregg Cornielsen, Tom Tietjens, Keith Daniels, Pete Eickert, Paul Sievers, and Coach Tom Peska – Reserve Team: Clint Krabbenhof, Mike Anderson, Curt Daniels, Gregg Daniels, Jeff Papke, Mike Daniels, and Dan Cassiday