Community News

Mary (Evanson) Bleckwehl, a Waterville area native who grew up on her family farm on Elon Road in Allamakee County and is now a children’s author living in Minnesota, will be in Waukon Tuesday, November 21 for two author events.

She will be at Robey Memorial Library Storytime from 10:30-11 a.m. and will be introducing and reading from her newest picture book, Arrrgh! Me HATE To Wait!, a story of an impatient piggy pirate who learns that good things come to those who wait.

That afternoon, the author will be at St. Patrick Catholic School. She will spend the afternoon meeting with all grade levels to share her author journey, newest books and more.

Midwest Veterans of America will be hosting a Veterans Day event this Saturday, November 11 at AJ Bar & Grill in Waukon, beginning at 12 noon. A full menu will be available to order from, and Midwest Veterans of America will be honoring 36 local veterans during the event, with those awards being distributed at 1:30 p.m.

Allamakee County Economic Development & Tourism (ACED) has announced that Hall Roberts’ Son of Postville is the 2023 Cloy Kuhse Positive Impact Award Winner. The announcement was made at ACED’s Annual Meeting, which was held at the Waterville Community Center Thursday, October 12. Postville City Council member Larry Moore shared his nomination of Hall Roberts’ Son with the audience and ACED Board Vice President Brenda Hackman shared comments provided by the second nominator of that Postville-based business, Crystal Duffy of the Postville Library/Postville Community Heart & Soul. General Manager Chris Hoffert accepted the award on behalf of the company and shared Hall Roberts’ Son core values with the attendees.

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, October 30 to address a full agenda of matters including a Public Hearing for a Zoning Ordinance Amendment, consideration of the Child Care Wage Enhancement Program funding and consideration of a letter of support for Alliant Energy’s application for a battery purchase loan. The meeting was called to order by Board of Supervisors Chairperson Dan Byrnes with Supervisors Mark Reiser and Dennis Keatley present.

During Public Comment, Larry Moore of Postville noted his support of the proposed Child Care Wage Enhancement Program and encouraged the Supervisors to consider using the $32,000 of tax funds returned to the County by Iowa State University (ISU) Extension to take advantage of the matching funds available from private donors. Becky Engelhart of Postville noted the importance of childcare availability.

Youth attended a day-long 4-H summit at Upper Iowa University in Fayette led by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach county and state youth outreach staff September 28. During the event, 55 youth from nine area schools learned about using their voice for leadership, making an action plan for change in their community and heard from ISU Extension and Outreach specialists on a variety of workshop topics. Schools attended from the following counties: Allamakee, Bremer, Buchanan, Chickasaw, Fayette, Howard and Winneshiek.

The bridge over Yellow River on State Highway 51 (pictured above and at right), located four miles north of Postville in Allamakee County, was dedicated in honor and memory of fallen Iowa State Trooper and Waukon native Ted Benda Monday, October 16 in a ceremony at the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) maintenance garage location in Waukon. This past week, staff from the Iowa DOT location in Waukon worked to put signs in place at the north and south approaches to the bridge officially declaring its new name, as pictured in the photos taken from each direction.

Loren Mitchell of Waterville was recently honored among his Emergency Medical Service (EMS) peers when he was one of 28 EMS personnel recognized as a Professional Ambulance Association of Wisconsin (PAAW) Star of Life for 2023 at an October 10 dinner banquet held in Madison, WI.

Modeled after the American Ambulance Association’s National Stars of Life program, and now in its 12th year, Wisconsin Stars of Life are nominated by their local ambulance service to honor the dedication and commitment of those who show up for their communities. Mitchell has been working for the La Crosse, WI area Gundersen Tri-State Ambulance Service for nearly a dozen years, where he currently serves in the role of Corporal.

Nominated for the award by his supervisors and co-workers, Tri-State Ambulance submitted the following information regarding Mitchell for the October 10 banquet:

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, October 23 to address a full agenda of matters including the appointments of two Medical Examiner Investigators, the Public Hearing relating to the Gav-N-View Farms LLC Construction Permit Application and the consideration of setting dates for the first and second canvass of the November 7 City/School election.

The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Dan Byrnes with Supervisors Mark Reiser and Dennis Keatley present. A change to the agenda was approved to include a second name for the appointment of Medical Examiner Investigator I. During Public Comment, Jack Knight noted that he will be present at next week’s Supervisors meeting to provide feedback relating to an item on that meeting agenda.

Trick-or-treat times for this year’s Halloween holiday have been established. The Waukon Police Department has confirmed that the official trick-or-treat times within the Waukon community will be from 4-8 p.m. Halloween evening, Tuesday, October 31.

Area residents are asked to leave porch lights on to welcome trick-or-treaters. Youngsters taking part in the evening’s events are reminded to keep safety in mind while making their rounds.

by Ellen Modersohn

Mike Smith of Vero Beach, FL set a personal record at the Driftless Half Marathon held Saturday, October 14 in the Lansing area.

He ran a slower time than usual, thanks to a bout of bronchitis and a sore hip, but he met his goal of completing a half marathon in all 50 of the United States. He crossed the finish line to a chorus of cheers as his wife Dadra handed him a bouquet of balloons that included the big inflated numbers 5-0.

“I talk to a lot of people who are doing the 50-state thing and they’re surprised I’m finishing in Iowa. A lot of them will finish in Alaska or Hawaii, where there’s a big celebration. So here I am with you guys in Iowa, and it’s kind of a big celebration. I like it!” he said after the race.