River Valley

by Macie Hill

The Lansing City Council met in its regular session Monday, October 1. Discussion during the meeting centered around postponing the purchase of a back hoe previously considered at an earlier meeting and discussing further consideration of dock quotes received for the City Marina.

The purchase of the new back hoe for City departments will be postponed until the next regular council meeting, which is scheduled for October 15. The postponement was decided upon in order for the council members to do more research on the machine the City is considering purchasing.

The Kee High School Post Prom Committee will host Bingo Sunday, October 14 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 to be donated to local food banks and play an extra Bingo card free. 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 Northeast Iowa Food Bank has recognized a need in eastern Allamakee County for the services of a community food bank. There are two food bank programs in the western part of the county, in Waukon and in Postville, but recognizing that Allamakee is one of the poorest counties in the state, a third site was deemed as being needed.

Based on those findings, and as a result of follow-through by many local volunteers, the LIFT (Lansing Iowa Food Trust) Food Pantry will be opening Wednesday, October 3 in the Lansing Properties Building office area located at 220 South Third Street in Lansing (formerly the Rethwisch Lumber building). Hours of operation will be every Wednesday from 4-8 p.m. and those who meet the qualification guidelines are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity to supplement their food needs.

The Allamakee County Historical Preservation Commission has decided to go ahead with a long-term local project involving the recording and identifying of each rural country school that existed within the boundaries of Allamakee County from the 1800s through the 1960s.  This will be a multi-phase project as the Commission would like it to be as thorough as possible.

It is thought there were 80 to 90 country schools in Allamakee County at one time, some with a longer lifespan than others. At this time, it is strictly a paper project with the idea to create a portfolio or file of history for each school. In 1912 Allamakee County had 18 townships with nine divided into 63 independent school districts.  The other nine were organized as school townships with 60 sub-districts. As one can imagine, this resulted in a great number of rural country schools.

The Allamakee County Community Foundation (ACCF) has announced that Krista Rasque has been selected as a new board member. Rasque is a long-time resident of Lansing.

She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and received her Master’s in Social Work. She was employed at the La Crosse County Department of Human Services for several years, where she investigated child abuse cases and helped families overcome challenging times. She was then employed at Gundersen Health System as a social worker helping families facing substance abuse issues during pregnancy.

“The ACCF board is very pleased that Krista will be representing Lansing on the board”, stated Betty Steege, ACCF Coordinator. “Krista brings a different skill set to our board plus a unique perspective to our endowment building.”

Andy Kelleher has been hired as the new executive director of Main Street Lansing. Kelleher is a local area resident who has lived in New Albin since he was very young. He graduated from Kee High School in Lansing as co-valedictorian in 2014.

Much of his working career has been involved with church work, from serving on the leadership team at Village Creek Bible Camp to helping develop new churches and ministries across the nation. Along with his work with Main Street Lansing, he also serves as a youth pastor in New Albin. He has shown a strong interest in rural revitalization, and he brings a vast background of public relations and program planning to the job.
 

by Macie Hill

The Lansing City Council met in regular session Monday, September 17. Discussion centered around welcoming the new executive director for Main Street Lansing, posting meeting agendas and minutes on Facebook, purchasing new heat pumps for the water/sewer department, discussing election and for sale sign placements, considering purchasing a new backhoe, beginning fall fire hydrant flushing, the resignation of a city council member, and explaining property tax raises.

Andy Kelleher, the new executive director from Main Street Lansing, was present at the meeting to introduce himself and received a warm welcome from the council. It was decided that the agenda and the minutes for each city council meeting will now be posted on the Lansing Facebook page.

The Kee High School Post Prom Committee will host Bingo Sunday, September 23 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 to be donated to the Allamakee County Food Shelf and play an extra Bingo card free. All players will be eligible for a door prize drawing at intermission. Proceeds will be used to fund 2019 Post Prom prizes and entertainment.
 

Kerndt Brothers Savings Bank (KBSB), with locations in Lansing, Decorah, Waukon, West Union, Clermont and Cedar Rapids, has acquired the Securities America branch office of Paul Styve Investment Group based in Decorah. The Paul Styve Investment Group has a customer base encompassing all of the upper midwest providing over 28 years of experience in investment and advisory services.

This acquisition will provide KBSB customers with a significant expansion of investment services, including investment advising and consulting, and retirement programs for individuals, municipalities and businesses of any size over a 14-state area.

Jim Kerndt, C.E.O. of Kerndt Brothers Savings Bank, commented: “With 80 million Baby Boomers retiring in the next 20 years and Millennials positioned to be recipients of the largest wealth transfer in history, we see a need to assist our customers with the complex tasks of financial planning before and during retirement.

Thursday, September 20 the public is invited to the Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library to hear archaeologist Brennan Dolan discuss how innovative technology is providing new information about cultural resources. Dolan will talk about how the Iowa Department of Transportation uses this new technology to analyze and document cultural archaeology sites, historic buildings and bridges, focusing on properties in northeast Iowa.

Of specific interest will be Mt. Hosmer. Dolan will share insights about documenting these places to provide better long-term preservation and some of the remarkable history being uncovered.

The free program will begin at 6:30 p.m., preceded by a light supper with freewill offering. Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library is located at 515 Main Street in Lansing and further information can be found by calling 563-538-4693.