River Valley

Eastern Iowa artist Fred Easker’s landscape paintings offer an extraordinary view into what is too often considered ordinary. Most often drawing on familiar sites in the backroads of his native Eastern Iowa, he celebrates both the aesthetics and the character of place and offers a keen meditation on the power, vulnerability and eloquence of land and relationships to it.

His landscape paintings are on full display in a new book “Connected to Place Landscape Paintings.” The book is in landscape page format of 11 inches wide by 8-1/2 inches tall to give the reader/viewer the largest view. Some images spread across both pages giving a full view of Easker’s work. The book includes commentary by Joni Kinsey, Professor of Art History at the University of Iowa, and other art professionals.

Kerndt Brothers Insurance Agency in Lansing recently made a donation of a new ice rescue saw to the Lansing Fire Department. The new rescue saw replaces an older model that had become unreliable. Ice rescue saws are specially-designed to quickly cut through ice in cold water and ice rescue situations.

Gary DeVilbiss, President of Kerndt Brothers Insurance said, “When we learned that the previous ice rescue tool might not work when it was needed most, we contacted Chief Tony Becker to see how we could be of assistance. Our discussion led us to Dave Moritz at CARQUEST, who also represents Stihl Power Equipment. We were pleased to learn that the community’s new ice saw could be both purchased and serviced locally. The ice rescue saw is ready for service to our Lansing EMS and the surrounding area. We are indeed thankful that our EMS professionals serve us so well.”

At the urging of some interested citizens, the Lansing Park and Recreation Board and the Lansing City Council are planning to add a multi-activity, interactive splash pad to further enhance the 2017 Lions Club Playground Enhancement Project in the Lansing City Park area. Splash pads have become the most popular park and recreation attraction. The chosen site for the proposed splash pad has the necessary infrastructure available, an adequate water supply and the discharge piping for the removal of the waste water from the site. There are also restroom and change facilities adjacent to the site, making the location ideal for a splash pad.

by Macie Hill

The regular session of the Lansing City Council was held Monday, December 3. Discussion centered around the Fehr Graham engineering agreement for the Clear Creek Sewer Project, a sewer line bill regarding two Main Street businesses, the Northern Engraving Well, a wireless squad car system, a splash pad update and a Marina Board update.

The council approved the motion for an engineering agreement with Fehr Graham regarding an additional $32,000 engineering fee for completion of the Clear Creek Sewer Project.

The council was advised that T.J. Hunter’s Banquet Hall and the Century Link building’s private sewer line had a blockage that was professionally resolved recently. The $800 bill for the project will be sent to T.J. Hunter’s Banquet Hall owner Jason Drape, and the two property owners will negotiate what amount of the bill owners of the Century Link building will pay.

The Allamakee County Lodging Guide is available to view or download at www.allamakeecounty.com/lodging. Those who have questions may contact 563-568-2624 or aced@mchsi.com.
 

During Small Business Saturday, November 24, Main Street Lansing hosted a food drive to benefit the Lansing Iowa Food Trust (LIFT). In one day, the drive collected 351 pounds of food and $95 in cash donations.

In addition, donors were invited to enter a drawing for gift cards to local businesses. Winners included:

Steph Runkle - $10 gift card to Shep’s
Laure Manning - $5 gift card to River N Ridge
Karen Galema - $10 gift card to Lansing IGA
Perry Johnson - $10 gift card to Lansing IGA
Fran Luck - $5 gift card to River N Ridge
Mary Gray - $5 gift certificate to Village Farm & Home
Dixie Corwin - $10 gift card to Red Geranium
Ruth Belich - $10 gift card to Red Geranium
Rita Heim - $10 gift card to Lansing IGA
Kris L - $5 gift certificate to Village Farm & Home.
 

The inaugural Driftless Half-Marathon Relay and 5K event held October 13 between Harpers Ferry and Lansing had more than 220 runners registered, with 187 of those actually finishing the event. The first-year event, under the direction of Amanda Hess, raised a total of $3,600 that has since been donated to area non-profit organizations such as the Lansing Fire Department, Lansing Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Harpers Ferry Fire and Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Lansing Lions Club, Lansing Swimming Pool Water Aerobics, Friends of Pool 9, Kee High School/Middle School Activities and the Waukon High School Girls Cross Country Club.

The Kee High School Post Prom Committee will host Bingo Sunday, December 2 in the Kee High School cafeteria in Lansing. Games will start at 4 p.m., with doors opening at 3:30 p.m.

Participants can bring a non-perishable food item or $1 donation and play an extra Bingo card free. All donations will be given to LIFT (Lansing Iowa Food Trust). All players will be eligible for a door prize drawing at intermission. Proceeds will be used to fund 2019 Post Prom prizes and entertainment.
 

The Allamakee County Conservation Board and filmmakers from Untamed Science will host the Driftless Area Education and Visitors Center premier of “Decoding the Driftless” Saturday, December 15. There will be two showings at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. at the Driftless Area Education and Visitors Center in Lansing. “Decoding the Driftless” is the sequel to the popular Emmy award winning “Mysteries of the Driftless.”

The documentary will take viewers on a wild ride of adventure through the air, across rugged landscapes, on and under water, through a secret underworld, and across time itself to explore and decipher ancient clues of the Driftless Region, with its captivating scenic beauty. The premier will begin with an introduction from writer and producer George Howe and be followed by the 62-minute “Decoding the Driftless.”

Seats are limited and anyone interested in attending the premier must register in advance by calling 563-538-0401.

An event held during the final two weekends in September helped raise more than $7,200 for the future of local farming and a local farming family, and those funds were recently distributed to those respective benefactors at check presentation events. Waukon Feed Ranch created a corn maze for the public to try and navigate at its agronomy center located west of Waukon along Old Highway 9, taking a freewill donation the weekends of September 22-23 and 29-30 to help raise funds for the local FFA chapters of Waukon High School and Kee High School, along with the family of Brogan Gavin, son of Tom and Alana Gavin of rural Lansing who is undergoing treatment for leukemia. Along with the corn maze proceeds, the Allamakee County Cattlemen hosted a grilling event, WW Homestead Dairy sold cheese curds and the Allamakee County Dairy Promotion Board had its dairy wagon on site, with additional proceeds from those offerings also being added to the donated funding.