Community News

Joann Kuster, author of the Money Godmother Blog and Chairperson for Iowa’s Money Smart Week events, has announced that a Waukon third grade student has been chosen as a state winner for the Money Smart Week Piggy Bank Pageant. Tihanna Brown participated in the piggy bank decorating contest that Kerndt Brothers Savings Bank hosted at Robey Memorial Library in Waukon during Money Smart Week earlier this spring. She decorated her piggy bank with some colorful feathers and a pompom nose. Pictured in the photo at left above, left to right, Tihanna Brown was presented a certificate and a check for $100 from the Iowa Jumpstart Coalition by Kerndt Brothers Bank Business Banker Assistant Angela Carlson for being a statewide winner. Picturd at right above is Brown’s decorated piggy bank that was selected as a statewide winner. Money Smart Week is an annual event held in April each year to teach children the importance of saving. Submitted photos.
 

by Joe Moses

The Waukon City Council met in regular session Monday, June 4 to address a full agenda of items including the Wellmark Healthy Hometown Walking Audit, a recommendation to fill a vacancy in the Waukon Police Department and a request to sell fireworks within city limits.

Mayor Pat Stone called the meeting to order with council member Ben Rausch requesting the addition of an agenda item involving the SolSmart solar energy program. There was no Public Comment.

During Departmental Reports, Water and Sewer Superintendent Bob Campbell discussed a sewer repair on Seventh Avenue SE and that the storm sewer flow study is continuing with flow meters being moved to the northwest section of Waukon.

by Lissa Blake

The Driftless Area Education and Visitors Center in Lansing has been named among the Best of Iowa’s State and County Parks. The ranking, compiled by traveliowa.com, lists the Center as one of Iowa’s “Can’t Miss Nature Centers.”

The Driftless Center listing can be found amongst a number of other attractions listed online at www.traveliowa.com/getinspireddetails/the-best-of-iowa-s-state-and-count...

Jill Johnson of TASC, Inc. was selected as a 2018 recipient of the IACP (Iowa Association of Community Providers) Frontline Supervisor Award recognizing excellence in quality contributions in serving others. She was presented with her award at the annual IACP Convention held May 3 in Ames. Johnson is a solution-oriented supervisor whose dedication to the people she serves has led to success in transitions to community living. Pictured above, left to right, are Jill Johnson and Iowa Association of Community Providers Chief Executive Officer Shelly Chandler. Submitted photo.
 

The Allamakee County Fair Board is seeking applicants for the 2018 Allamakee County Fair Queen contest, with this year’s fair running July 18-22.

The contest will run similarly to that of the Iowa State Fair Queen Contest. There will be one formal interview conducted by judges. This is where the majority of the judging will take place.

Coronation of the 2018 Allamakee County Fair Queen will take place following the “Allamakee County Youth Showcase” Tuesday evening, July 17 at the Allamakee County Pavilion building on the Allamakee County Fairgrounds in Waukon. This event will begin at 7 p.m.

At this event, each Fair Queen contestant will be asked to share her favorite Allamakee County Fair memory. The 2018 Allamakee County Fair Queen and Allamakee County Fair Princess will be announced and crowned at the conclusion of the Youth Showcase.

Children and families are encouraged to participate in Robey Memorial Library’s program series, Summer Explorers, to be held Wednesdays from 10-11 a.m. May 30, June 6, 13 and 20, and August 1 and 8. The program schedule is as follows:

The Walk-On Waukon Committee recently received a $1,000 donation from Gundersen Health System toward its planned sidewalk project. Pictured above representing the donation to Walk-On Waukon is Hallie Linderbaum, Business Office Coordinator at Gundersen Health System - Waukon Clinic. The Walk-On Waukon Committee is continuing to work on plans and reaching financial goals to start improving walkability in Waukon. Submitted photo.
 

by Joe Moses

The Waukon City Council met in regular session Monday, May 21 to discuss a variety of matters, including the American Legion Auxiliary Poppy Days Proclamation, downtown street lighting and the Spring Avenue spring leak. Mayor Pat Stone called the meeting to order, indicating that one agenda item has been removed with the addition of five other agenda items.

The Public Hearing for the Sewer Loan and Disbursement Agreement in the amount not to exceed $658,000 for improvements to the sanitary sewer system was opened and closed without any written or verbal comment. There was no Public Comment, so the council moved right into Departmental Reports.

The Allamakee County Treasurer’s Office will soon be offering the new “City and Country Reboot” license plate design - an update of the urban and rural theme currently in use - on a consistent basis as the inventory of the current design is depleted. The new design was one of three license plate designs that were part of an online competition conducted on the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) website in August 2017. The new plate design replaces the current design that has been in production since the late 1990s.

Along with the new design, the new plates will involve a high-definition reflective sheeting manufactured by 3M, which will make the plates easier to read in both daylight and nighttime conditions. The improved license plates will cost the same to manufacture as the previous plates, and will provide greater benefit to the public and law enforcement.

The Nation of Patriots, a volunteer organization with a mission to provide financial support to families of wounded military veterans who have made sacrifices in service to their country, brought its 2018 Patriot Tour through Waukon Sunday, May 20 as part of its annual three-month summer tour across the country. Tour participants display a United States flag which is transferred between riders at each designated stop along the tour that will travel the contiguous 48 United States before it will finally end up back at its original starting location in Beaver Dam, WI in early September.