Community News

The first-ever Lansing Liberty Motorcycle Rally is scheduled to be held in Lansing and travel throughout the surrounding tri-state area this Thursday-Sunday, June 11–14. In addition to well over 100 motorcycles registered to attend the event, area residents are invited to also take part in events scheduled to take place late this week in conjunction with the rally.

This riverfront rally is designed to bring riders, community, and Main Street together for a four-day celebration. Set against the bluffs and the Mississippi River, this inaugural event will fill downtown with motorcycles, live music, food, drinks, vendors, and small-town American pride, with the opportunity for rally participants from all over to discover what Lansing and the surrounding area have to offer.

Robey Memorial Library in Waukon invites the community to an educational presentation featuring veteran Iditarod dog musher Karen Land Saturday, June 13 at 2 p.m. in the library’s lower level Community Room.

This special event is part of Robey Memorial Library’s Live & Learn: Enriching Lives Through Monthly Learning Series and is designed for “kids” of all ages - from preschoolers to retirees. Karen Land brings 25 years of mushing experience to the stage, offering a firsthand look at the world of long-distance sled dog racing, including the legendary Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Audiences will meet Sophia, Land’s eight-year-old Alaskan husky and the star of the show. The presentation will also offer the unique opportunity to interact with a real sled dog.

Robey Memorial Library, in collaboration with the Oneota Valley Literary Foundation (OVLS), is inviting families to take part in the Main Street Story Walk throughout downtown Waukon this June. This year’s featured book is “I’m Trying to Love Spiders” by Bethany Barton. Families can enjoy the humorous and fact-filled story as it unfolds page by page in the windows of six participating local businesses along West Main Street. The Story Walk encourages families to spend time outdoors, read together, and explore downtown Waukon in a fun and interactive way.

Participants will visit six stops along West Main Street in downtown Waukon, with each location displaying a portion of the story. As families move from one business to the next, they’ll continue following the adventure of “I’m Trying to Love Spiders”.

The 29th Annual Studio Tour is scheduled for October 9-11. This year, 10 new artists will join many of last year’s exhibitors for 41 artists total at 31 studio locations, including Val Miller of Waukon and George Blair of New Albin. New exhibitors this year are three emerging artists, with their host artists, and a guest artist. They will open their doors for a behind-the-scenes studio view not usually offered to the general public.

The public can drive around the scenic driftless area and experience many well-known award-winning artists displaying and selling pottery, paintings, woodcuts, baskets, jewelry, woodworking, sculpture, collage, fiber arts, and more. Tour participants can set their own pace while driving from studio to studio.

The annual WinnMed Hospice Memorial Ride will take place Sunday, June 14, beginning at the WinnMed campus in Decorah. The event will be held rain or shine and is open to the public.

The day begins with a free-will donation breakfast from 9-11 a.m. in the WinnMed Cafeteria. Convenient parking is available in Lot F. Anyone is welcome to attend breakfast, whether riding or not.

Following the breakfast, all vehicles are welcome to participate in the poker run for a per vehicle fee. Sign-in will take place at WinnMed from 9-10:30 a.m. during the breakfast. Bikes and cars will depart at 11 a.m. for a scenic tour of northeast Iowa. The ride concludes at Pivo Brewery in Calmar at approximately 4:30 p.m. with a silent auction, door prizes, and refreshments.

The Empty Bowls event was held at East Elementary School in Waukon Thursday, April 30 from 5-7 p.m. It was hosted by the third through fifth grade art students as a service project to raise money for local food banks, using new pottery equipment generously funded by the McElroy Grant.

Elementary art teacher Emily Shannon Timm applied for the grant last fall and was chosen as a recipient this spring. Through the Empty Bowls project, students raised $513 for the Allamakee County Food Shelf and $200 for the Decorah Food Pantry (30% of the Decorah Food Pantry clientele is from Allamakee County.) Students raised $713 in all.

Empty Bowls events, held nationwide, are soup suppers with handmade bowls, filling the empty bowls of those without enough to eat in the local community. Each guest buys a ticket, chooses a handmade bowl and enjoys a variety of soups.

Robey Memorial Library in Waukon invites the community to an educational presentation featuring veteran Iditarod dog musher Karen Land Saturday, June 13 at 2 p.m. in the library’s lower level Community Room.

This special event is part of Robey Memorial Library’s Live & Learn: Enriching Lives Through Monthly Learning Series and is designed for “kids” of all ages - from preschoolers to retirees. Karen Land brings 25 years of mushing experience to the stage, offering a firsthand look at the world of long-distance sled dog racing, including the legendary Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Audiences will meet Sophia, Land’s eight-year-old Alaskan husky and the star of the show. The presentation will also offer the unique opportunity to interact with a real sled dog.

by Joe Moses

The Waukon City Council met in regular session Monday, June 1 to address a full agenda of matters including discussion relating to electric bicycles and electric scooters, the review of two variance requests and the consideration of purchasing two thermal imaging monoculars for police vehicles. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Arvid Hatlan with council members present including Cassie Handke, Steve Wiedner, Nic Engrav, John Lydon and Tim Smedsrud.

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met twice within a week following the Monday, May 25 closure of the Allamakee County Courthouse in recognition of the Memorial Day holiday with regular session meetings taking place Tuesday, May 26 and Monday, June 1. Coverage of both meetings appears below.

TUESDAY, MAY 26
The Tuesday, May 26 holiday-delayed meeting was called to order by Board of Supervisors Chairperson Tom Clark with Supervisors Dan Byrnes and Dennis Keatley present. There was no Public Comment during the time allotted for that agenda item.

The 2026 Iowa FFA Milk Quality & Products Career Development Event was held at Ames Tuesday, May 19. A total of 34 teams participated in this year’s Career Development Event designed to provide students an opportunity to display their knowledge and skills in the area of milk quality and dairy foods.

The Lansing FFA Chapter was named the Iowa Champion FFA Milk Quality & Products Team, with participating team members including (left to right in photo at right) Ronny Escobar-Lopez, Brielle Gavin, Alexus Rowan and Maddie Mauss, all under the direction of Ray Rankin, Agriculture Education instructor and FFA advisor at Kee High School. The champion team will next compete in the National FFA Milk Quality & Products Career Development Event during the National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis, IN this October.