Clear Lake Mirror Reporter

Everett Leroy Oliphant, 84, Clear Lake, died Friday, Jan. 22, 2021, peacefully at home surrounded by family. 

Per his wishes, he will be buried at a later date in a private ceremony.

Everett was born Oct. 24, 1936 in Pacific Junction, Iowa, to John and Lela (Hickox) Oliphant. Everett graduated from Pacific Junction High School and then attended Tarkio College, in Tarkio, Mo. He graduated from Tarkio with a Bachelor’s Degree in Secondary Education.

The U.S. Department of the Interior has designated the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake as a National Historic Landmark, recognizing its enduring role in the history of American music. 

The ballroom is best known for hosting the last concert of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson before their fatal plane crash in the early hours of Feb. 3, 1959, a date Don McLean immortalized as “the day the music died” in his 1971 hit “American Pie.”

by Marianne Gasaway

The Cerro Gordo County Department of Public Health is now using the old Sears store in the Southport Shopping Center in Mason City as a central location for COVID vaccinations.

The department’s disease prevention and health promotion manager Karen Crimmings provided a tour of the building for media last week, prior to its opening.

Crimmings explained the wide open space of the building made it perfect for the volume of people the department expects to be able to serve in the weeks to come.

by Travis Fischer

As the first wave of COVID-19 vaccine rolls out across the state, Governor Kim Reynolds is expanding eligibility, moving forward to get the vaccine out to Iowans as quickly as possible.

“As soon as our weekly vaccine allocation is received it’s going out the door and into the arms of Iowans across the state,” said Reynolds on Thursday, Jan. 21.