Community News

A northeast Iowa woman says a lucky feeling led her to a big lottery prize this past week. Wendy Norton of Waukon claimed the 23rd of 72 prizes of $10,000 available in the lottery’s “$250,000 Riches” scratch game. She said she bought her winning ticket at Kwik Star, located at 101 Rossville Road in Waukon.

Norton said she’s an occasional lottery player but she thought she’d try her luck on the $250,000 Riches scratch game because her son-in-law had just won $100 playing it.

“I was driving home the next day, feeling a little lucky, and thought, ‘I’m going to go get me one of those,’” Norton told lottery employees Wednesday, December 7 as she claimed her prize at the lottery’s regional office in Cedar Rapids.

Macy McNamara was born and raised in Waukon, and for the past four years she's been a Main Street business owner in her hometown.

McNamara opened her business, Macy's Cutting Edge, at its 100 West Main Street location on an easily remembered date of 12/12/12 (December 12, 2012). Her inspiration for opening her own business in her hometown came from her experiences growing up there.

"I grew up in Waukon and worked at a cafe for five years, so I knew a lot of people from the area," she explained, noting that it is serving the people she knows and gets to know that is most rewarding about running her own business. "I have met so many amazing people that I have become close to, like family. To see the smile on people's faces after a service is so rewarding; making people look and feel great."

The year 2016 has seen Amber Huck, LMT establish her business, Amber's Therapeutic Massage, LLC, at its new location at 100 West Main Street in Waukon. Sharing space with the longer-established salon, Macy's Cutting Edge, at that location, Huck said her decision to offer her services there has proven to be a good one since starting her business March 9 of this year.

"I had a former co-worker, Brent Smith, mention a friend of his was looking for a massage therapist to rent a room in their salon," Huck explained. "After finalizing my decision on where, Macy's Cutting Edge was the best option."

Huck says she's had an entrepreneurial drive her entire life that has motivated her to own and operate her own business. That drive has paid off in what she notes as the most rewarding aspects of owning her own business. "Most rewarding is seeing clients smile after a massage session, along with how much there is to learn in owning a business," she said.

The Allamakee Ecumenical Choir is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its "Christmas Festival of Lessons and Carols" service this Sunday, December 11 at 7 p.m. at St. John's Lutheran Church, located at 8 Fifth Street SW in Waukon. The program is prepared and directed by James Bieber. The public is invited to attend and share in this community celebration of Christmas.

The idea of a community choir was conceived through conversations between Monsignor Frederic Heles of St. Patrick Catholic Church and James Bieber, Director of Music and Organist at St. John's Lutheran Church in Waukon. They became friends through their mutual interests in fine arts and classical music. During their visits, Monsignor Heles often lamented about not hearing the beautiful Latin Gregorian Chant music in the Catholic masses (worship services) since Latin was eliminated by the Vatican II Council several years earlier.

Members of the public are invited to the next meeting of the Allamakee County Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee set for Wednesday, December 14. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Waterville Fire Station, located at 121 Main Street in Waterville.

At the meeting, planners will provide an overview of the hazard risk assessment process and review information on hazards that have been profiled for the hazard mitigation plan thus far. Meeting attendees will then have an opportunity to help score hazards to determine which are most likely to impact Allamakee County communities.

For those who would like to learn more about what hazards are currently identified and profiled for Allamakee County, take a look at Section 3: Risk Assessment within the existing hazard mitigation plan, which can be viewed on the Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission website at http://uerpc.org/allamakee-haz-mit.html.

by Joe Moses

The Waukon City Council met in regular session Monday, December 5 to discuss a full agenda of items including the resignation of a Waukon Police Department Officer, the purchase of property as a location for a new Police Station and updates on street and storm sewer projects. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Duane DeWalle with the current agenda and meeting minutes of November 21 approved. There were no comments either heard or read during the Public Comments portion of the meeting.

Good Samaritan Evergreen Court Apartments in Waukon honored three of its residents for their military service Veterans Day, Friday, November 11, serving a special red/white/blue dessert and coffee. Pictured above, left to right, are Chester Thune, Hilmen Christianson and Arden Hanson. Submitted photo.
 

The Waukon High School Choir, under the direction of Sarah (Bieber) Palmer, will be sharing its music with the area church community during its 22nd Annual Tour of Churches this Sunday morning, December 4, according to the following schedule:

St. John's Lutheran 8:30-8:45 a.m.
Zion UCC 9:00-9:15 a.m.
First Presbyterian 9:30-9:45 a.m.
St. Patrick's Catholic 10:00-10:15 a.m.
First Baptist 10:30-10:45 a.m.
Zalmona Presbyterian 11:00-11:15 a.m.
St. Paul's United Methodist 11:30-11:45 a.m.

The annual tour allows choir members to serve the community by singing several pieces of music at various church services. At each stop, the choir takes a freewill offering donated to the Allamakee County Relief Office, the Allamakee County Food Shelf, the Backpack Program in the Allamakee Community School District, Northeast Iowa Community Action Corporation and the Waukon Community Meal program.

The Waukon Chamber of Commerce is promoting the benefits of shopping local with its Fifth Annual Holiday Cash Bash. Everyone is invited to participate, and the rules are simple.
Visit any of this year’s participating merchants between November 21 and December 27 and purchase $25 worth of merchandise to be eligible to sign up for the Holiday Cash Bash drawing. There is no limit to how many times a person may enter, but they can only win one prize.

Prize winners of Waukon Chamber bucks will be drawn at the Waukon Chamber of Commerce office Thursday, December 29. Winners will be contacted by the Waukon Chamber of Commerce. The more a customer shops locally, the more times they can be entered in the drawing.

This year marks the 43rd year that Helping Services has served communities of northeast Iowa. Originally opened as the Decorah Information Center in 1973, the variety of programs and services offered has changed throughout the years due to new needs, issues and realities that families experience. This year marks a continued evolution for the organization, as it is embarking on a new name and logo heading into 2017.

The organization is pleased to announce that Helping Services for Northeast Iowa will now be known as Helping Services for Youth & Families. Helping Services’ Executive Director Carson Eggland remarks, “While this is a small change, it is important to note the name now says exactly what our team has been doing since 1973. We are here, in your community, to help and serve youth and families.”