Community News

Aerial treatment to control the invasive gypsy moth is scheduled for this Friday, June 25 in specific areas of Allamakee and Clayton Counties. Map images and more specific descriptions of the treatment areas can be found in the images accompanying this article.

Low-flying airplanes will be applying a mating disruption product called SPLAT GM-O. The product does not kill the moth but it disrupts the mating process by using a pheromone to inhibit male gypsy moths from finding female mates. SPLAT GM-O is an organic product and is not harmful to bees, birds, plants, pets or humans.

In Allamakee County, the treatment includes two rural areas around Black Hawk Point and Lansing Wildlife Management Areas totaling 5,018 acres. In Clayton County, the treatment will focus on a 590-acre site including Marquette and the surrounding rural area. Survey data has identified these three areas where gypsy moth populations are starting to grow.

The Allamakee County Fair Board is seeking applicants for the 2021 Allamakee County Fair Queen contest, with this year’s Fair running July 21-25.

The contest will run similarly to that of the Iowa State Fair Queen Contest. Contestants will undergo a formal interview, as well as a group interview. Judging will be based on personality, attitude, appearance, awareness, charm, poise, leadership, citizenship and overall appearance.

Coronation of the 2021 Allamakee County Fair Queen will be held on the fairgrounds during the Fair. During this event, the contestants will be asked to share a favorite Fair memory. All candidates will be a part of the 2021 Fair Royalty Team which will preside and assist at different events and activities throughout the Fair and community events during the year.

The World Health Organization estimates that 120 million people are visually impaired because of uncorrected refraction errors (far or near sightedness). Refractive errors can easily be diagnosed, measured and corrected with eyeglasses. Yet, millions of people lack the access to these basic services.

While each Lions Club has its own service focus, there are five global Lions causes of particular interest around the world: Vision, Diabetes, Hunger, Environment and Childhood Cancer). Vision causes began in 1925 when Helen Keller challenged the Lions to be “knights of the blind”.

The Waukon Lions Club has recently enhanced its efforts to recycle used eyeglasses and hearing aids. New collection boxes (see accompanying photo) have been placed in area businesses. The glasses will be gathered and sent to a regional recycling center where they are cleaned and sorted by prescription strength. They are then packaged and stored for the next eyeglass-dispensing mission trip.

Final week to nominate local business or individual

The Waukon Chamber of Commerce continues to seek nominations from community residents for awards to be distributed at the August 19 Waukon Corn Days celebration. Those awards include Business of the Year and Person of the Year honors within the Waukon community, and the nomination deadline for those applications has been extended to Tuesday, June 22, when they will be due to the Waukon Chamber of Commerce office.

The Chamber will bestow those honors upon the best nominated candidate fitting the following award criteria:

by Joe Moses

The Waukon City Council met in regular session Monday, June 7 to address a variety of matters including discussion of purchasing a police vehicle, an update from the Allamakee County Emergency Management Coordinator and discussion relating to the former C-Mart property.
There was no Public Comment and the council moved into Department Reports with Waukon Park and Rec Wellness Director Jeremy Strub noting that summer events are in full swing and that little league baseball and softball have started. Strub discussed staffing levels for Park and Rec and said that the Jaycee Shelter is in need of repair.

Water and Sewer Superintendent Jim Cooper discussed water usage by residents increasing with lawn watering and that the sewer tie-in to the new Wastewater Treatment Plant will take place this week or next.

The opening of Luna Salon & Boutique at 1 East Main Street in Waukon as of April 1 of this year marks the realization of dreams of the new business’ co-owners, who also happen to be a Waukon mother and daughter pair. Robin Palmer and her daughter, Adrianna Rocksvold, joined their combined interests and their faith in one another to start the new venture.

“We both had a dream of being business owners, and had no experience as business owners,” they shared. “We decided to go in together and start a business that would be a unique experience and stand out to our customers. We share a love of fashion, style and having fun, and we want our customers to also.”

“Because of Organ Donation: A Collection of Inspiring Stories Celebrating the Gift of Life” includes story of Waukon High School 1978 graduate Paul Osterholm’s “gift of a lifetime” to Nicole Braatz

by Julie Berg-Raymond

Waukon native Paul Osterholm came home Saturday, May 29 and introduced a roomful of family and friends to Nicole Braatz - a woman whose life was saved because of Osterholm’s gift to her of one of his kidneys.

Children and families are encouraged to participate in Robey Memorial Library’s program series, Summer Explorers, to be held every other Wednesday from June 2 through August 11 from 10:30-11:30 a.m. The schedule for this year’s program series is as follows, with participants advised to dress appropriately as some of the programs can be very hands-on:

The Allamakee Community Players will be presenting “Theatre in the Park” each Saturday at 2 p.m. during the month of June at the Waukon City Park Amphitheater. Members of the Allamakee Community Players will be performing various skits and monologues, both humorous and dramatic, each Saturday afternoon, June 5, 12, 19 and 26.

All ages are welcome to attend. No admission will be charged, but donations are gratefully accepted.

Anyone near the Waukon Wellness Center Saturday, May 15 was sure to see bubbles floating over the roof. Clover Kids experimented with store-bought bubbles and homemade bubbles made out of dish soap, water and glycerin. They made their own unique bubble blowers out of pipe cleaners, including small, large, round and heart-shaped. Outside, they were challenged to test each solution (as evident in the photo at left above) and see which one produced the toughest, largest and highest flying bubbles.

Clover Kids also made elephant’s toothpaste. Using a mix of hydrogen peroxide, dish soap, yeast and water, they learned about chemical reactions. The hydrogen peroxide is broken down into water and oxygen. The extra water and oxygen mixes with the dish soap to create foam. It looks like foamy toothpaste being squeezed from a tube, but so big it’s fit for an elephant (as evident in the photo at right above).