River Valley

Students from Kee High School visited Thornton Manor in Lansing Saturday, April 24 prior to their Prom celebration, parading in front of the building windows to show residents and staff their Prom attire. Many of the students work at Thornton Manor, and employees Abby Wood and Elizabeth Bahr helped organize the event.

“The residents and staff loved seeing the students and are very appreciative to all for taking the time to parade around the nursing home for all to see,” shared Karen Ulrich, Recreation Therapy Director at Thornton Manor. Submitted photo.
 

Mississippi River Pool 9 fishing guide Capt. Ted Peck of New Albin has published his third book, entitled “More Tails, Trails & Tales with the Old Guide” (pictured at right). Peck describes the book as “selected scrawling from over 2,500 newspaper and magazine articles I’ve written dating back to 1973.” Inside its cover Peck says readers will “find more stories about the outdoor life during what may have been the pinnacle of freedom in our Grand Republic,” further describing the content of the book as “how we used to ride here along the immortal Mississippi River.”

“Rummage Along the River” is a 70-mile garage sale extravaganza that winds along Hwy. 35, Wisconsin’s Great River Road. The garage sale event will take place Friday and Saturday, May 14 and 15 from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. each day. Stoddard, Genoa, the Bad Axe, Victory,  De Soto, Ferryville and Lynxville are the river towns in Wisconsin, and participants can also swing up County Road E to Hwy. 27 and Seneca and Mt. Sterling for more shopping.

There is a website available for information on sales, www.rummagealongtheriver.com. Information can also be found on the Rummage Along the River Facebook page. The garage sale map will be placed online May 13 and may be printed off for convenience.

Kee High School’s Post Prom was held Sunday, April 25 from midnight until 4 a.m. Guests played table games and other activities using play money. The raffle and silent auction prize packages were also very popular. Special entertainment was provided by hypnotist David Wright from Wand Entertainment.

Everyone attending was given an opportunity to guess the number of candies in a jar and William Schulte (pictured above) won $100 for guessing closest to the correct number. Door prizes were awarded throughout the evening and everyone drew a number to win a prize package at the end of the event.

A special drawing was also held, and the Kee senior grand prize (32” TV) was won by Macy Manning (at left below). The Kee junior grand prize (32” TV) was won by McKinley Sisson (center below) and the Guest grand prize (Echo Dot) was won by Jaylyn Walleser (at right below). Submitted photos.
 

The annual Spring Migration Day Hike at Sugar Creek Bluff Natural Area will be held Saturday, May 8 at 8 a.m. This is the first of the “Linked to the Land” hikes sponsored by the Mississippi Valley Conservancy and hosted by the Ferryville Tourism Council as well. Several changes are needed this year for everyone’s safety. First of all, the hike is limited to 36 participants. Registration is required and can be done at www.mississippivalleyconservancy.org. Masks are also required for the safety of everyone. The group will meet at the trailhead, not at the Ferryville Village Hall as in years past.

Friends of Pool 9 (FOP9) will be hosting its Pool 9 Mississippi River Clean-Up Saturday, April 24 from 8 a.m. to 12 Noon. There will be no mass meetings of individuals at the Lansing VFW building or elsewhere, as in year’s past, and there will not be a lunch following the clean-up. All volunteers are required to sign the 2021 Friends of Pool 9 Release of Liability form before participating in the event.

by Alexis Johnson

The regular meeting of the Lansing City Council was held Monday, April 19 at Lansing City Hall. Discussion centered around the consent agenda, citizens action, Streets report and Parks report.

Citizens action consisted of Tom Burke’s tree maintenance plan for trees in City of Lansing parks. He is interested in cleaning up some surrounding trees as well as planting some other trees such as the previous tree at the ball field that was taken down a couple years ago. A motion was made and seconded to approve Tom Burke’s plan for City Park trees. The council also reviewed and considered Resolution #953, which deals with Andrew Burke’s proposed real estate subdivision plot.

Friends of Pool 9 (FOP9) will be hosting its Pool 9 Mississippi River Clean-Up Saturday, April 24 from 8 a.m. to 12 Noon. There will be no mass meetings of individuals at the Lansing VFW building or elsewhere, as in year’s past, and there will not be a lunch following the clean-up. All volunteers are required to sign the 2021 Friends of Pool 9 Release of Liability form before participating in the event.

The City of Lansing is requesting citizen participation in its upcoming Municipal Code Revision. City officials are working with Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission in conducting an overall update to the Lansing City Code to bring it more in line with modern day City operations and situations in order to provide greater clarity.

Those who have suggestions for updates to the City Code are asked to submit their proposals - in writing only -  via one of the following three ways: by email at lansingcodeupdate@gmail.com, by mail to Lansing City Hall, P.O. Box 307, Lansing, IA 52151, or by leaving them in the drop-box located outside the Lansing City Hall location at 201 John Street in Lansing. Proposals will be taken until April 16.
 

Upper Iowa Audubon Society is organizing a bird walk at Yellow River State Forest Saturday, May 1, starting at 9 a.m. The two-hour walk will begin at the main entrance to the Forest, approximately three miles off Hwy 76 on County Road B25/State Forest Road near Harpers Ferry.

There are several trail options depending on physical limitations and interests, including combination trails with ponds and some marsh areas. Participants can anticipate possibly seeing Cerulean Warblers, Red-shouldered Hawks and many other uncommon or migrating species. Yellow River State Forest is also home to an eagle’s nest and Iowa’s only fire tower.

After the walk, those who are interested will continue to Lansing for a sack lunch at the Driftless Area Education and Visitor Center, scheduled at noon. At 1 p.m. a caravan of birders will leave the Center to look at Peregrine Falcon nest sites near Lansing and stop at other locations where birds are easy to see.