River Valley

The second birding hike of this season to be co-sponsored by the Ferryville Tourism Council and the Mississippi Valley Conservancy (MVC) will be held Saturday, May 30.  This is another in the MVC’s “Linked to the Land” series and is sponsored by the Mayo Health System-Franciscan Healthcare of La Crosse, WI.
The meeting place will be the Ferryville Village Hall at the south end of town  along Hwy. 35 at 7:30 a.m. for sign-in, directions, handouts and treats. Hikers will carpool to the trailhead in De Soto, WI for a hike at the newly named Cardinal Bluff Area. Expert guides will help identify birds that are both native to the area as well as some that are summer visitors.  

Friends of Pool 9 will be offering another kids’ day on the beach this summer.  This will be the eighth year of the group’s Mississippi River Adventure Day.  The date selected for this year is Tuesday, July 14. The event is open to all children 5-13 years of age. All expenses for the day are paid by Friends of Pool 9. A parent or other adult is required for each child, however where a parent is bringing two or more children, Friends of Pool 9 will assign an adult to each additional child.
Registration must be completed online at friendsofpool9.org by July 1. Spaces are limited to the first 120 children and parents. While keeping proven activities of past years for younger groups (seining for fish, pollywogging for clams, touching the skin of a flathead catfish, dip-netting insects, free swim time, and visiting an eagle nest) a new format will be presented to the older children ages nine through 13 years.

New Albin Improvement League (NAIL) hosted its Spring Neighbors Day Saturday, May 2, with approximately 15 volunteers from New Albin making the day a huge success, according to event organizers. NAIL volunteers worked on several different jobs submitted to the committee and also some spring cleaning needed on City of New Albin property.
During this event, the committee was also utilizing new yard tools purchased through a grant from Keep Iowa Beautiful and Yeoman & Company (Yo-Ho Tools) out of Monticello. NAIL was able to purchase the tools from Sweeney’s Village Farm & Home in Waukon, fulfilling one of NAIL’s goals to purchase as many supplies as possible from local communities.

by B.J. Tomlinson

by B.J. Tomlinson

Alyvia Jones, a junior at Waukon High School, has been selected to attend the American Legion Auxiliary’s Iowa Girls State scheduled to be held on the campus of Iowa State University in Ames June 14-19. She is the daughter of Laurie and Herman Jones of Harpers Ferry.
Jones was selected for participation based on criteria through Auxiliary Unit 722 of Harpers Ferry and her teachers at Waukon High School.  Representing her state as a legislator, Jones will study local, county and state government processes in this non-partisan political learning experience.
Every summer, the American Legion Auxiliary Girls State Program provides approximately 25,000 young women with a hands-on educational opportunity designed to instruct tomorrow’s leaders in the privileges and duties of responsible citizenship.

Spring has arrived and so have the summer feathered visitors -  our spring migratory birds. The  Ferryville Tourism Council and the Mississippi Valley Conservancy are co-sponsoring the second annual Spring Migration Day Hike at Sugar Creek Bluff in Ferryville Saturday, May 9. Mayo Health Systems is the corporate sponsor of this “Linked to the Land” hike. Expert guides will be leading the groups and listening for the cheerful birdsong in the woods. This is a fairly level walk and is family friendly.
Hikers should plan to meet at the Ferryville Village Hall (south end of town along Hwy. 35) at 7:30 a.m. for handouts, treats, coffee and water. The group will then carpool to the trailhead on Big Buck Creek Road for the 8-10 a.m. hike.

Follow a team of explorers and scientists as they reveal the majesty and allure of the Driftless Area using a stunning combination of filmmaking and genuine adventure in the documentary, “Mysteries of the Driftless,” which will be shown at Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library Thursday, May 14 at 7 p.m.
What strange forces spared one isolated region along the Upper Mississippi River from the repeated crushing and scouring effects of massive continental glaciers during the last 1.6 million years? What pre-Ice Age throwbacks survived here in this unique refuge that holds more Native America effigy mounds, petroglyph caves, strange geological features and rare species than anywhere in the Midwest?
A team of science filmmakers explore these questions and more in this captivating new adventure documentary about the Driftless Zone.

Kee High School’s Post Prom was held Sunday, April 26 from midnight until 4 a.m. Guests played table games and other challenging activities using play money. The raffle and silent auction prize packages were also very popular with the guests. Special entertainment was provided by hypnotist Pete Mamos from New Hampshire. Everyone attending was given an opportunity to guess the number of candies in a jar and Randy Merten won $100 for guessing closest to the actual number. Guests were able to pose and take pictures home by using the Absolute Music Photo Booth service. 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 held and the Senior Grand Prize (24” television) was won by Keegan Ahouse (left). The Junior Grand Prize (DVD player and movie) was won by Mikayla Gavin (center) and the Guest Grand Prize (speaker dock) was won by Jade Blake (right).

Friends of Pool 9 volunteers gathered at the VFW building in Lansing (and other sites around the Pool) for the group’s eleventh Annual River Clean-Up Saturday, April 18. Registration data shows the group numbered about 115, slightly above last year’s total of 112. Area youth again were able to clean both sides of the three-mile long Hwy. 82 dike. This has been one of the most difficult areas in the entire Pool to clean because of the rocky slopes on both sides of the highway down to the river’s edge. Quart beer bottles in brown paper bags were common, as were auto and truck tires. With the effort of two young men from Waukon the group was able to remove a couch from the river, as well as a television set, a desk and hoards of beer cans and plastic water bottles.  Don Thran, FOP9 coordinator for the Hwy. 82 dike clean-up commented that it was “probably the worst it has been for years” for that area.