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The second annual Walk to Remember has been scheduled for this Saturday, October 15 from 10 a.m. - 12 Noon at the Waukon City Park. This no-cost, non-competitive walk has been organized to honor all babies lost, whether through miscarriage, stillbirth, SIDS, or any infant loss.
The inaugural event was organized last fall by the local Healing Hearts Infant Loss Support Group in recognition of October as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month. Nearly 150 participants took part in last year's walk and its accompanying activities.

by Sharon Sander-Palmer
Freelance Writer
 
It was a gorgeous, early autumn day late September in rural Allamakee County. Many of the maples had started to turn to brilliant reds and oranges, bursts of color among the green along the bluffs of Yellow River by Old Sixteen Road. An idyllic scene, and one far cry from the dusty, dry, barren environment of Iraq where so many of this nation's young men and women currently spend their days battling on behalf of its people.

by Bob Beach

The fourth annual Big Pumpkin Contest was held Sunday, September 25 at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds in Waukon. The biggest pumpkin weighed in at the contest topped the scales at 607 pounds.
Along with the biggest pumpkins weighed in, other winners of the various cooking contests are also listed below:

Big Pumpkin Winners
1. Chris Schultz    607 lbs.
2. Bret Schultz    562 lbs.
3. Jeff Morris    505 lbs.
4. Nanette Larson    404 lbs.
5. Mike Ferring    328 lbs.
 

A pair of local one-kilometer walks are being planned for this Friday, October 7 as part of the statewide "Start Somewhere Walk" initiative that is the symbolic kick-off to the Healthiest State Initiative announced by Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds in early August of this year. The goal of the Initiative is to make Iowa the healthiest state in the nation within five years as measured by the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. In 2010, Iowa ranked 19th compared to other states.

The secret sweeping northeast Iowa was finally revealed Sunday, October 2 when “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” traveled to the West Union area to surprise the family of Audrey Gibbs, a mother of six who lost her husband, Jon Gibbs, to cancer in August 2000 and continues to carry on despite considerable obstacles. Seven months following the loss of her husband, Gibbs suffered a brain aneurism that affected a quarter of her brain, has left her legally blind since May 2001, and has the potential to be fatal.

At the Allamakee County Economic Development (ACED) Annual Meeting held Thursday, September 8 at the Waukon City Park, the ACED Board of Directors announced a new business recognition award.
The “Cloy Kuhse Positive Impact Award” was created to honor the late Cloy Kuhse, who was an ACED Board of Directors member at the time of his passing earlier this year. “The award was created to highlight and recognize a business that is making a positive impact in Allamakee County, as well as to honor the memory of Cloy and his vision,” ACED Executive Director Laura Olson stated.

Organizers of the Iowa Start Somewhere Walk have announced a goal of breaking a world record by having 250,000 Iowans participate in simultaneous one-kilometer walks Friday, October 7, at noon. The current world record is claimed by Canada, which had 231,635 participants in simultaneous one-kilometer walks throughout that country in 2007.

by Bob Beach

by Bob Beach