Community News

City of Waukon Water Department crews worked with Skyline Construction to address an issue with a water service line in the 500 block of Rossville Road in the southeast portion of Waukon Thursday, January 23. Waukon City Manager Gary Boden said Thursday that Casey’s General Store on the east side of the Rossville Road location had noticed a considerable drop in water pressure and chlorinated water was also discovered in the City’s storm sewer running south from that location that Thursday morning - both indicators of a leak. City of Waukon Water Superintendent Jim Cooper said the issue was not a break or any other issue with the City’s main water line, but that main line still had to be accessed in the west boulevard (as pictured above) to address the problem. The issue, instead, turned out to be a leak within a connecting water service line to Casey’s.

“Imagine Your Story” is the theme of Robey Memorial Library’s 2020 Adult Reading Challenge which began January 1 and will end December 31. Robey Memorial Library challenges area residents to read something new or different this year.

Receive a prize drawing entry for reading from one of each of 12 categories: fantasy fiction; myth or legend (F/NF); based on a true story (F/NF); biography; letter or journal (F/NF); reader’s choice; recommended; bestseller; graphic novel or picture book; award-winning; non-fiction; and book a participant has been meaning to read.

by Lissa Blake

The professionals at Waukon Dental in Waukon realize there can be a number of reasons children don’t receive regular dental care.

In honor of Children’s Dental Health Month, Waukon Dental is hosting its 30th Annual Have A Heart Day Saturday, February 8, an opportunity for area youth ages four to 18, who may not have regular dental care as accessible as they may need or prefer, to receive such care at no cost.

“We realize there are a number of obstacles families can face when seeking dental care. We want everyone to have access. That’s one of the reasons no financial proof is needed to be seen,” said Kristen Wilke, public relations and marketing director for Waukon Dental, Family Dentistry Associates of Monona and Dental Associates of Prairie du Chien, P.C. in Wisconsin.

by Joe Moses

The Waukon City Council met in regular session Monday, January 20 to address a full agenda of items.

During Public Comment, Kim Sylvester discussed concerns related to snow removal in downtown Waukon with snow being pushed next to the curb causing a safety issue for business customers walking from parked vehicles. Sylvester indicated that is a safety concern affecting the elderly especially but said there has been improvement with snow removal during the last two snowfalls.

The Waukon Chamber of Commerce is seeking nominations from community residents for awards to be distributed at the Chamber's annual meeting scheduled for Saturday, March 7. Those awards include Business of the Year and Person of the Year honors within the Waukon community. The Chamber will bestow those honors upon the best nominated candidate fitting the following award criteria:

Business of the Year
The Business of the Year Award, presented by the Waukon Chamber of Commerce, is given each year to a business that offers high-quality products or services, demonstrates strong ethical standards, exhibits leadership with its employees and clients and within its industry, and is active in the community. The award winner must be in business for at least five years, locally owned or a locally-owned franchise, and an active member of the community.

Waukon Middle School and High School sixth through 12th grade art students under the direction of Mrs. Carlyn Lechtenberg participated in an all-inclusive group project throughout the first semester of this current school year. The Global Traveling Mural Project is in its second year, and the Waukon students were part of a collection of nearly 400 classrooms/schools to be involved in this year’s project.

After signing up to participate in the project and being assigned to a 10-classroom/school grouping, students created their own 10-foot long mural of anything they wish to convey (the mural created by the Waukon students is pictured below). That completed student-designed mural was then cut into 10 different sections and a piece was sent to each of the nine other participating schools in the Waukon students’ group from across the globe. Pieces of the Waukon mural were sent to Connecticut, Wisconsin, Washington, Mexico, Missouri and New Hampshire.

In 1962, Ray and Monica Sweeney started the Village Farm & Home in Waukon along with their 11 children. Throughout the years, some of the children started their own stores or took other career paths.

Sons Jan (Lorraine), Joe (Judy), Jerry and Jake (Beth) became partners with Ray at the store. When Ray passed away in September of 1994, those four sons became sole owners of the Waukon store.

As of January 1, 2020, a third generation will now be carrying on the family business, as Joe’s two sons, Matt and Steven, bought the partnership interests of their three uncles to join their father in the ownership of the business. Both Matt and Steven have been involved with the store since they were old enough to be helpful. Both live north of Waukon, Matt with his girlfriend, Jess, and their four dogs, and Steven with his wife, Jessie, and their three sons, Raymond (10), Elliott (8) and Emmett (5).

by Joe Moses

The Waukon City Council met in regular session Monday, January 6 to address a full agenda of items including mayor and council appointments, setting the time and date for future council meetings and designating the official depositories for City funds.

There was no Public Comment and the council moved into Departmental Reports with Police Chief Paul Wagner providing an update. Wagner indicated that Officer Fallon Cassidy is attending the academy and that he will be contacting the STEP Program relating to the purchase of preliminary breath testing (PBE) equipment. Wagner provided an update on work being done relating to the background check policy and recommended discussing recruitment methods used to assist in filling vacancies in the department.

4‑H youth programs are grounded in the belief that kids learn best by doing. Hands-on projects include science, health, agriculture and civic engagement. The 4-H program is all about project-based learning; from beef to photography, 4-H offers project learning, no matter where a person may be located. Seven Allamakee County 4-H’ers participated in Officer Training, Food & Nutrition and Photography Workshops Monday, December 30, as depicted in the surrounding photos. The youth spent the day learning about goal setting, leadership styles, club officer roles, food safety, recipe building, quesadilla making, and basics of taking photos that included how to hold a camera, shutter speed, aperture, ISO and how to take a quality photo. For more information on Allamakee County 4-H programs, contact the Allamakee County Extension Office at 563-568-6345 or at www.extension.iastate.edu/. Submitted photos.
 

Robey Memorial Library in Waukon is hosting a Matinee Movie series the second Saturday of both January and February, both beginning at 1:30 p.m. Viewers are invited to bring their own movie snacks.

Saturday, January 11 at 1:30 p.m. the library will show “They Shall Not Grow Old.” On the centenary of the end of the First World War, Academy Award® winner Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings trilogy) presents new work showing the Great War as never seen. Using state of the art technology to restore original archival footage that’s more than 100 years old, Jackson brings to life the people who can best tell this story: the men who were there. (Rated R)