River Valley

Friday, September 18, at 12 noon, the Lansing VFW Post and Auxiliary, along with Lansing American Legion Post #50, will host a special ceremony on Mt. Hosmer to mark National POW/MIA Recognition Day. The program will be held on the Ralph Bartels Patio, located next to the shelter atop Mt. Hosmer, and the public is warmly invited to attend. Guests are encouraged to bring a lawn chair for seating.

At the heart of the observance will be the solemn Missing Man Ceremony, a symbolic tradition that honors those who are still missing from this nation’s past wars and conflicts, as well as those who gave their lives in service but whose remains have not yet been recovered and returned home. The empty place at the table at the ceremony represents the absence of these heroes, while each element of the table setting carries deep meaning about sacrifice, honor, and remembrance.

Saturday, September 12, family and friends of lifelong resident and local “River Rat” Pat Sandry will be honoring his memory with the Ninth Annual Pat Sandry Memorial Fishing Derby and Friends of Pool 9 Fundraiser held on the Mississippi River. Sandry passed away in November of 2017 after a short, courageous battle with cancer. He thoroughly enjoyed the outdoors, had a great passion for fishing and hunting, and he truly treasured the beauty of Lansing and the surrounding area.

Entry fee is $50 per boat with 50% payback in prize money and 50% being donated to Friends of Pool 9. There is a limit of two adults and two minors per boat.

Hours of the tournament will be from sun-up through 1 p.m. with weigh-in by 1 p.m. at Shep’s Riverside Patio Bar. Categories of fish include Bass, Walleye, Bluegill, Crappie, Perch, Striper, Catfish, Northern, Pike, and Roughfish.

by Joshua Sharpe

Recurring issues with Lansing’s contracted residential garbage collection service were addressed during the Monday, August 17 Lansing City Council meeting. Officials discussed the frequency of missed Tuesday pick-ups, resident complaints, and the additional responsibilities placed on city employees when collections are not completed. In some instances, Street Department employees have collected garbage that was not picked up by the contractor, while the City Clerk’s Office has dedicated time to handling complaints and communicating with the service provider.

Over the past several months there have been issues with the weekly pick-up of trash within the city. The Contractor has regularly missed multiple locations on any given Tuesday, resulting in the inconvenience of residents having to deal with a two-week accumulation of their trash. It was the hope of the city that, with our regular reporting of the missed locations, this would serve as the prompt necessary for the Contractor to correct their oversights. Unfortunately, that has not been the case.

The Works, located on Main Street in Lansing, announces a program with Alene Keenan entitled “One Extraordinary Day: What 9/11 Revealed About Humanity.” The program will take place Thursday, August 27 at 6 p.m. at The Works location at 274 Main Street, Lansing. 

Keenan is a Lansing native, and a Wine and Hospitality Educator who has been around the globe, serving as yacht chief stewardess for multiple lines. Her crew was docking in Manhattan September 11, 2001 when the unthinkable occurred, and many events she witnessed left her with a strong desire to share them with others. On the 25th anniversary of that fateful 9/11 this year, these memories continue to burn bright. Beyond the headlines and heartbreak, 9/11 revealed something extraordinary about people to Keenan. She’ll provide an inspiring presentation exploring courage, servant leadership, and the quiet acts of humanity that emerged when the world needed them most.

The Lansing Municipal Swimming Pool was the recipient of a $500 gift from organizers of the Driftless Half Marathon in early August. The gift was put to immediate good use with the purchase of a new, state of the art stabilization backboard (as pictured in the above photo), adult and child size bag valve masks for use in resuscitation, and a new stabilization strap for the accessibility chair lift that is available for use at the swimming pool.

Sisters Coral and Pearl Brustkern of Waterloo display some of the prizes they were awarded as winners of this year’s Find Finney Contest, the annual contest that helps heighten anticipation of the annual Lansing Fish Days community celebration by having youth search for the tagged wooden fish (also being held by the young ladies in the photo above) hidden somewhere in the Lansing community, with help from a series of clues. The young Brustkern pair found Finney in his hiding place within the park atop Mt. Hosmer in Lansing, bringing an early end to the contest this year during one of their frequent visits to the Lansing area.

by Joshua Sharpe

The Lansing City Council met in regular session Monday, August 3, addressing a full agenda involving a variety of matters. A report on the city’s debt, approval of several resolutions, consideration of meeting date conflicts, and addressing concerns with grease accumulation in accordance with the city’s public sewer ordinance were some of the matters taken care of by the council at that August 3 meeting.

RESTROOM ACCESSIBILITY
During citizen concerns, Sarah Murray, Main Street Board of Directors member, requested that the council address the ongoing closure of the public restroom near Front and Main streets. She highlighted that this restroom is the only public facility on Main Street and noted that its closure poses challenges during busy downtown weekends, impacting efforts to present Lansing as accessible to residents and visitors.

Our Savior’s Lutheran Church and Lansing United Methodist Church invite the community to an outdoor worship service Sunday, August 9, at 9 a.m. at the Fish Days Grounds in Lansing City Park. The Lansing-area churches will gather to worship through live music, prayer, Scripture, a puppet show for children, and a message of hope.

This year’s preacher will be Dr. Sarah Murray, former superintendent of the Eastern Allamakee Community School District. Following a life-changing spinal cord injury in 2024, Dr. Murray has become a sought-after speaker, sharing a message of faith, hope, resilience, and the importance of relationships.

The service is casual, family-friendly, and filled with familiar hymns. Whether attendees are longtime churchgoers, just visiting Fish Days, or simply looking for a meaningful way to spend Sunday morning, all are warmly invited and welcome.
 

by Joshua Sharpe

The Lansing City Council met in regular session Monday, July 20 to address a variety of agenda items. Among those items on the meeting agenda was a vendor fee waiver request by Main Street Lansing for the second annual Makers Market coming up in September, a request involving Cherry Street, a residential setback variance request, an ordinance regarding city elections, and several library matters.