Community News

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, April 2 to address a full agenda of items, including the contract with Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission (UERPC) for Comprehensive Planning Services, consideration of Road Rock Resurfacing bids and consideration of the Sexual Assault Response Team Proclamation of April 2018 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

During Public Comment, Executive Director Val Reinke with Allamakee County Economic Development (ACED) discussed two recent articles in “Our Iowa Magazine” relating to Allamakee County Reinke also advised that the upcoming month of May is Tourism Month.

Students in pre-kindergarten through second grade at West Elementary School in Waukon celebrated Be Kind to Bees day Thursday, March 22 as part of the Northeast Iowa Food and Fitness Initiative’s (FFI) Harvest of the Month program. According to FFI Americorps Service Member Elizabeth Happ, each month students learn about a local food that is in season. The featured food for the month of March was honey, and students traveled to five different learning centers inside the West Elementary gymnasium to learn a variety of things related to bees and the harvesting of honey, with many of those activities pictured in the surrounding photos:

Pictured above: Joel Fassbinder of the Highlandville Honey Farm explains how honey is harvested from the hive.

Pictured at center: Brielle Kruger helps Ross Geerdes of Allamakee County Conservation explain bee anatomy.

Pictured below: Waukon High School students Lilly Kossman and Mia Strub help administer the honey taste test.

Waukon High School welcomed the newest members into its local chapter of the National Honor Society at an annual induction ceremony held Thursday, March 22 at Waukon High School. Pictured above are this year’s new inductees, left to right - Front row: Zaida Bockman, Cayla Nolting, Nicole Campbell, Michael Headington, Nathan Helgerson, Andrew Mellick, Caleb Opfer, Emma Roe, Michaela Dehli, Berklee Hanson, Molly Brodahl. Second row: Carlee Benzing, Peyton Bieber, Lauryn Behrend, Grace Howe, Aleah Howes, Megan O’Neill, Landon Berns, Madisen Ahlstrom, Allison Goltz, Emily Kolsrud. Back row: Jasmyn Enyart, Aubree Cota, Lauren Griffith, Cassidy Byrnes, Brooke Wasson, Mary Vander Velden, Micah Treptau, Sean Liddiard, Robert Drew, Brigid Berns. Not pictured: Thomas Byrnes. Photo courtesy of Waukon High School.
 

Robey Memorial Library in Waukon will be hosting a film about country schools and the “days gone by” in educating youth in Iowa and the Midwest Tuesday, April 24 at 7 p.m. The film “Country School: One room, one nation” is being presented by the Allamakee County Historical Preservation Commission. Light refreshments will be provided after the showing. Submitted image.
 

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, March 26 to address a full agenda of items, including the consideration of temporary easements for the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) Sidewalk Improvement Project, consideration of bids for a County Sheriff’s Department 2013 Dodge Charger and the purchase of a search and rescue drone for training purposes.

The Iowa High School Athletic Association chose the Waukon High School trio of junior Leslie Halverson, sophomore Madalyn Ellingson and senior Jasmyn Enyart to perform the National Anthem at the 2018 Boys State Basketball Tournament in early March. That trio performed Tuesday, March 6 at 6:30 p.m. prior to the start of the Class 4A first-round contest between Iowa City West and Muscatine at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines (as evident in the submitted photo above right). The three-part women’s arrangement of the National Anthem performed by Enyart, Ellingson and Halverson was arranged by former Waukon High School choir director Al Leathers. All three singers are currently under the direction of Sarah J. Bieber Palmer. Pictured in the submitted photo above, left to right, are Waukon High School Vocal Music Director Sarah J. Bieber Palmer and her selected Waukon High School vocal music students Leslie Halverson, Jasmyn Enyart and Madalyn Ellingson.

R.W. Pladsen, Inc. in Waukon culminated its "March Mania-Fill the Cruze" promotion with the donation of non-perishable food items pictured above to the Allamakee County Relief Office. From March 1-10, R.W. Pladsen invited the general public to donate a non-perishable food item in return for a chance to enter a random drawing to win a 50" television. The food donations were placed inside a Chevrolet Cruze in an effort to "Fill the Cruze," resulting in the above pictured donation. Following completion of the promotion, the random drawing from all the entries who donated food items revealed Jody Peterson of Waukon as the winner of the 50" television. Pictured above at the donation to the Allamakee County Relief Office are, left to right, television drawing winner Jody Peterson, Allamakee County Relief Office Director Rebecca Hawes and R.W. Pladsen, Inc. Finance Manager Carli Quandahl. Standard photo by Sara Aleckson-Melcher.
 

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, March 19 to address a full agenda of items, including a presentation and discussion on the Upper Iowa Drainage District Alternative Levee System Modifications, a presentation and discussion of the Sidewalk Improvement Project and consideration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement for the Sheriff's Department and County Road Crew.

Chairperson Larry Schellhammer called the meeting to order with approval of the current agenda and meeting minutes of March 12. The current agenda was amended with the removal of two items involving subdivision plats, which will be added to next week's agenda for review.

by Joe Moses

Senator Mike Breitbach of Iowa's 28th District, Representative Michael Bergan of Iowa House District 55 and Representative Kristi Hager of Iowa House District 56 hosted a legislative forum Saturday, March 17 at the Allamakee County Farm Bureau office in Waukon. The event was an opportunity for the public to have discussion with State of Iowa legislators representing their area.

A scene not so familiar to Main Street in Waukon played out as pictured above Thursday morning, March 8 just before 8 a.m. near East Main Street's intersection with First Street SE in Waukon. According to an accident report filed by the Waukon Police Department, the 2013 Chevrolet Traverse seen on its top in the above photo was being driven westbound down East Main by Donald Denk, age 72, of Waukon when he experienced a medical situation that caused him to lose control of his vehicle and veer to the right into the rear of an unoccupied 2011 Chevrolet Silverado pick-up truck (center of the photo in background) parked along the north side of East Main Street and owned by Marc Otting of Waukon. The impact forced Denk's vehicle to overturn and also further forced Otting's vehicle into the back end of an unoccupied 2009 Chevrolet Silverado pick-up truck (pictured at left in the above photo) also parked along East Main Street and owned by Marilyn Clark of Waukon.