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Saturday, July 14, the Harper Ferry Fireflies won the gold medal at the Granny Basketball League National Tournament held in Norman, OK, claiming their third consecutive National Championship. The Fireflies, coached by Bill Nation of Harpers Ferry, first swept through their five-team pool with wins of 48-23 over the Passing Fancies out of Missouri, 35-15 over the Fire Ants from Texas, 43-20 over the Grayhawkers from Kansas and 47-24 over the Oklahoma Twisters. Winning that Pool B championship, the Fireflies were matched up with the tournament’s Pool A champions, the Louisiana Crushers, in the National Championship game, which they also won with relative ease, 56-35, to claim their third consecutive National Championship. One other team from Iowa, the Classic Roadrunners, also played in the tournament, finishing third overall with a final win over the Oklahoma Twisters.

Volunteers invited to sign up to read

February 14 of this year, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed the 99 County Bible Reading Marathon Proclamation encouraging all Iowans to participate in the occasion again this year. Allamakee County will be taking part in that annual event from August 9 at 8 a.m. through August 12 at 6 p.m., around the clock, 24 hours a day, until the entire Bible is read. This year’s local event will take place on the lawn of the Allamakee County Courthouse in Waukon.

The Allamakee County Bible Reading Marathon is seeking community volunteers to help read the Bible at the Allamakee County Courthouse over the course of these four days in August. Time slots of 15 minutes each are available, however, volunteers are more than welcome to sign up for multiple slots if they wish to read for a longer period of time or would like to read on multiple days or at different times throughout the day.

Anne Osmundson of Volga was nominated as the Republican candidate for State Representative at the Iowa House District 56 nominating convention held Thursday, July 12 in Postville. The Allamakee and Clayton County Republicans met for the bi-county convention, as District 56 encompasses all of Allamakee County and all but three townships of Clayton County.

Osmundson is a lifelong resident of Clayton County, spending most of her time near the town of Volga. She graduated from Central High School in Elkader. After graduating, she married her husband, Steve. The couple had seven kids and she stayed at home raising them while also working as a bookkeeper for their family business.

Legendary female country music star Terri Clark to headline Friday's grandstand; Free carnival throughout the fair

This week, July 18-22,  the 165th Allamakee County Fair will be held for all to enjoy at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds in Waukon. A wide variety of entertainment is in place to headline this year’s fair at the grandstand, along with a great deal of other activities for everyone to enjoy each and every day throughout the five-day event.

Grandstand to feature star power and horse power

Kicking off this year’s grandstand entertainment line-up Wednesday, July 18 at 7 p.m. will be a Truck and Tractor Pull featuring local trucks and tractors as well as some powered-up regional competitors in a variety of high-revving classes.

by Lissa Blake

It was 50 years ago that longtime community volunteer Wayne Burk heard something that has stayed with him ever since.

“I was at a Jaycees meeting, and this passage came up that I never forgot: ‘Your task is to build a better world, said God. And I answered, ‘I’m so small and useless, there’s nothing I can do.’ And God, in all his wisdom, said, ‘Just build a better you.’ I’ve sort of lived by that,” said Burk.

After 26 years of living in Waukon, the Burks are moving to Independence this week to be closer to family.

Burk, who is originally from the Waterloo area, moved to Waukon in 1992 with his wife, Joan, to take a job as superintendent of the Allamakee Community School District.

After serving the District from 1992-1999, Wayne retired and the Burks decided to stay in town. “We liked it here,” Wayne reflected.

Allamakee County Economic Development (ACED) is seeking nominations for the 2018 Cloy Kuhse Positive Impact Award. To be eligible, the recipient must be a business located in Allamakee County.

ACED will accept nominations until Friday, September 7 of this year. The award winner announcement and ceremony will be at the ACED Annual Banquet in October. The award recipient will receive a plaque and will be added to the award plaque that is displayed at the ACED office in Waukon.

This business recognition award was created in 2011 to honor the late Cloy Kuhse, who was an ACED Board Director. “The award was created to highlight and recognize a business that is making a positive impact in Allamakee County, as well as to honor the memory of Cloy and his vision,” ACED Executive Director Val Reinke stated.

According to an update from the Winneshiek County Sheriff's Office, as of 11:30 a.m. Friday, July 13:

Dalton Adam (18) has been located by the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office in Wisconsin. Adam was arrested on felony willful injury causing serious injury warrants with a total bond amount of $50,000. Adam will be incarcerated in the Crawford County Jail pending extradition.

July 17 coronation event kicks off 165th Allamakee County Fair

Four Allamakee County young ladies are vying for the title of 2018 Allamakee County Fair Queen. Those four candidates for this year's crown include Madalyn Ellingson, Katelyn Leiran, Makayla Manning and Faith Palmer.

The crown of Allamakee County Fair Queen and all the honors and responsibilities that accompany it will be bestowed upon one of those four candidates Tuesday evening, July 17 during the Allamakee County Fair Queen Coronation being held at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds Pavilion in Waukon to kick off the 165th Allamakee County Fair.

Carnival attractions offered free of charge this year

Carnival rides and attractions are often associated with fair time, and the Allamakee County Fair Board has been riding a bit of a rollercoaster of its own the past few weeks in trying to solidify that carnival fun for the 165th Allamakee County Fair coming up July 18-22 in Waukon.

Since the early part of this year, members of the fair board were excited to have found a new carnival that would offer a fresh variety of rides, games and food to fair-goers in 2018. With the close proximity in location and dates of the county fairs in Allamakee, Fayette and Clayton counties in northeast Iowa, leaders of those respective fair boards had embarked on a mission to work together to find a carnival that could serve all three venues in late July through early August of this year.

by Joe Moses

As part of his annual 99-county tour to hear concerns and ideas from Iowans across the state, Senator Chuck Grassley visited WW Homestead Dairy by invitation of the Waukon Economic Development Corporation (WEDC). Grassley toured the locally owned and operated dairy Tuesday, July 3 with WEDC Coordinator Ardie Kuhse. WW Homestead Dairy owners Tom Weighner, Tom Walleser and Paul Weighner discussed industry related issues with Grassley and provided an overview of the cheese, milk and ice cream production taking place at the dairy.

Following the facility tour, members of the public in attendance participated in a question and answer session, with Grassley providing feedback regarding a variety of topics.