Community News

The weather and water level cooperated Saturday, April 24 as a hundred volunteers cleaned Pool 9 of the Mississippi River. Those volunteers came from all parts of Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota to participate in the annual event.

“In reality, it’s an outgrowth of the Earth Day goal ‘To Restore Our Earth’ celebrated April 22 every year,” event organizers shared. “Their efforts were rewarded with the thousands of pounds of debris pulled from the Mississippi River, and it made the river and everyone else feel a whole lot better.”

The 90 square miles of Pool 9 (31 miles in length) had not been cleaned for the past two years. The event had been first canceled by high water in 2019 and then by the pandemic in 2020.

by Joe Moses

The Waukon City Council met in regular session Monday, May 3 to address a full agenda of items including a presentation from a real estate agent relating to the sale of City properties, discussion of a Police Department squad car purchase and discussion of City Hall operations in relation to the COVID-19 safety response.

Summer is just around the corner and that means the Allamakee County Fair is coming. Clover Kids got ready by completing a project at their April meeting, bleeding tissue paper art. Using cut-up tissue paper, water and a canvas, each member made their own unique project. Clover Kids started by laying the tissue paper down on the canvas and using water to “glue” it together (such as in the photo above at right). The water helped hold the tissue paper in place and also made the colors bleed together, creating a fun tie-dye effect (such as in the photo above at left). They can take their canvases as-is to this year’s fair or they could add a drawing or stickers to complete a scene on them. Other activities open to enrolled Clover Kids at the fair are a dog project, pet show, Expressions Day and conference judging. The Allamakee County Fair is scheduled for July 21-25 this year.

Alaina Gebel, a senior Allamakee County 4-H’er and a sophomore at Waukon High School, was recognized for her accomplishments during the State 4-H Recognition Day, March 29 on the Iowa State University campus in Ames. All events this year were held virtually due to the ongoing pandemic. This statewide event, held each spring, is the culmination of the year’s recognition process.

The Iowa 4-H State Recognition process invites 4-H’ers from across the state to pursue state and national leadership opportunities and awards. Iowa 4-H members selected to be State 4-H Council members, National 4-H Conference delegates, National 4-H Congress delegates, Shooting Sports Ambassadors, Iowa 4-H Reporters and project area award recipients are selected and honored.

Hidden Beauty Studio recently received a First Dollar Visit from the Waukon Chamber of Commerce at its location of 7 East Main Street in Waukon, housed inside Gemini Salon and Spa. Pictured above with the First Dollar certificate is Rylee Sweeney-Einck, owner of Hidden Beauty Studio. Photo courtesy of the Waukon Chamber of Commerce.
 

Robey Memorial Library in Waukon will be hosting Main Street Story Walk in May featuring the children’s story “We Do Not Eat Our Classmates” by Ryan Higgins. During the month of May families are encouraged to read this story at selected businesses as they stroll the downtown area. When joining in the fun, participants are reminded to practice social distancing and to be careful crossing the downtown streets for the safety and health of all. Nine selected businesses have a portion of the story posted in the front window of their establishment for viewing from the sidewalk. Each stop along the story walk will direct participants to the next location. Selected businesses for this May Story Walk are located on Rossville Road, Spring Avenue, East Main Street and Allamakee Street at the following locations also numbered and labeled in the map above: 1. Gregg Jones Muscular Therapy Center; 2. Erbal Ink Tattoos;  3. Cook Insurance Agency 4. Luna Salon and Boutique; 5.

For Waukon native Brittany Horns, the opening of her own clothing boutique, Silver Laine Co., LLC, on Main Street of her hometown marks the realization of a dream she’s been working toward throughout her career in the retail clothing industry. That dream became reality for her when she opened the doors to her new boutique at 33 West Main Street in Waukon Friday, April 2.

Following her graduation from Waukon High School in 2003, the former Brittany Leiran embarked upon what has been an 18-year career thus far in retail management. That career took her to a number of places and through a vast array of experiences throughout the tri-state area, including three years in Minneapolis, MN working at the Mall of America.

“Through years in the retail world, I knew my dream would be someday opening my own doors,” Horns said. “Born and raised in Waukon and moving away after high school, living in larger cities, I knew my dream and goals would bring me back home.”

Barb White of Waukon was recently awarded “The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses” at a presentation held Thursday, April 8 at the Good Samaritan Society - Waukon. White, who has provided more than 32 years of service as a nurse at Good Samaritan Society - Waukon, was presented the award by Steve Bargar, the new Executive Director at the Waukon facility.

Also present at the award ceremony were Sarah Welsh and Connie Pronga, two of the four Directors of Nursing that White has worked under during her three-plus decade career at Good Samaritan Society - Waukon. White was also presented with a stone sculpture hand-carved for Good Samaritan Society by the Shona Tribe in Zimbabwe.

The serpentine stone sculptures hold special meaning because of the profound respect the Shona people pay their traditional healers. Shona healers are affectionately regarded as treasures by those they care for, and the well-being and safety of the healer is of community-wide importance.

The Corner of Hope Growing Hope Globally local growing project held its annual Blessing of the Seed and Soil Saturday morning, April 10 to kick off the 2021 growing season. The blessing event was held at the field being contributed to this year’s growing project by Dave and Suzanne Hahn located southwest of Waukon. Father John Moser, Pastor at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Waukon, performed this year’s blessing. Submitted photo.

The Waukon High School Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter participated virtually in the 2021 State Leadership Conference in early April. Prior to the State Leadership Conference, students spent time preparing projects and taking tests to submit virtually to conference judges.

With the points accumulated through the students’ various project and testing finishes, the Waukon FBLA chapter earned the 2021 Iowa FBLA State Leadership Conference Lloyd V. Douglas Chapter of the Year Award in honor of the chapter’s first-place finish. In addition to the project, testing and overall team honors, Waukon High School junior Vivian Khan was voted in as the Region 1 Vice President for the 2021-2022 year, replacing Waukon High School senior Lilly Kossman, who has been serving as the 2020-2021 Region 1 Vice President.