The community of Lansing will welcome a rather unique visitor Monday, August 7, as InnerTuba will make Lansing a performance stop on its current 2023 Mississippi River Tour. United Kingdom native Jon Hodkin is a cyclist and a tuba player who loves to travel, and in 2000 he created the idea of combining all of those loves into a cycling musical tour he calls InnerTuba. Hodkin travels on his custom-made recumbent tricycle pulling a trailer that hauls his tuba (all pictured in the contributed photo above) that he will bring out to play for audiences at various stops along his tour route. According to Hodkin’s website, “InnerTuba is all about extensive travel, playing music and mingling with lots of people”.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Auxiliary to Post #4117 presented Citizenship Awards to Allamakee County 4-H members who entered their Allamakee County Fair project in the Auxiliary’s contest. The awards were presented Tuesday, July 18 during the Youth Showcase and Allamakee County Fair Queen coronation event that kicked off this year’s Fair at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds Pavilion in Waukon. Pictured above, left to right, are this year’s Citizenship Award recipients, including Natalie Byrnes, Breelyn Dahlstrom, Ali Melcher and Lauren Plein. Submitted photo.
The Allamakee County Veterans Museum will participate in Waukon Corn Days 2023 this Friday and Saturday, August 4-5 by showing videos of the popular movie filmed in downtown Waukon in the 1940s by the Cote family for the Town Theater. See what Waukon was like in Corn Days past from the 1940s, and identify relatives shown in the films and enjoy a nostalgic look back at period vehicles and dress with local scenes and businesses.
Videos will play continually from noon to 4 p.m. this Friday and also from 9 a.m. to noon this Saturday in the meeting room of the Veterans Museum at 105 Allamakee Street in Waukon. A display of past country school student parade entries from Corn Days Memorabilia will also be available in the Veterans Museum.
The Veterans Museum will also be open for tours. The Museum is air conditioned and wheelchair accessible, and there is no admission charge.
The Waukon Lions Club held its “Christmas in July” Party Wednesday, July 19 at Wing’s Supper Club in Dorchester. The club members enjoyed social time, a meal, an awards ceremony and a Christmas gift exchange game. Club members donated $200 and 22 pounds of canned goods to the Allamakee County Food Shelf, and donated approximately $140 in healthcare items and money to the Allamakee County Relief Office.
Two Waukon Lions Club members, Zach Troendle and Kim Gates (left to right in the above photo), were honored at the event with a Melvin Jones Fellowship Award. The award, named after Lions Club founder Melvin Jones, is given for exemplary service to their club and community. Submitted photo.
Robey Memorial Library and The Oneota Valley Literary Foundation have partnered to host Main Street Story Walk in Waukon during August featuring the children’s story, “Don’t eat bees: life lessons from Chip the dog” by Dev Petty. During the month of August, families are encouraged to read this story as they stroll the downtown area.
Six selected businesses have a portion of the story posted in the front window of their establishment for viewing from the sidewalk. Each stop along the Story Walk will direct readers to the next location. Selected businesses for the month of August are located on Rossville Road, Spring Avenue and East Main Street at the following locations numbered and labeled in the map image at right: 1. Gregg Jones Muscular Therapy; 2. Erbal Ink Tattoos; 3. Cook’s Agency; 4. Paws Up Pet Supplies; 5. Broker Leather; 6. Fiesta Vallarta Mexican Restaurant. Submitted image.
Thursday Night Book Club is held the third Thursday monthly at 6 p.m. at Robey Memorial Library. All are welcome to attend. Book Club meets in person. Those who would like to join the book discussion virtually should contact Robey Memorial Library at 563-568-4424 for participation information.
The next Thursday Book Club discussion at Robey Memorial Library is scheduled for Thursday, August 17. The topic of discussion for the Book Club will be a book written by Marie Benedict
As summer rolls toward the new school year, Northeast Iowa Community Action Corporation (NEICAC) has announced it is now accepting applications for the Head Start program for the 2023-2024 school year and the year-round Early Head Start program. Head Start is an all-day free three- and four-year-old preschool program that meets five days per week and serves breakfast, lunch and snacks daily at no cost to families.
Qualified teachers use the Creative Curriculum to help children learn and provide the academic and social skills to be successful when they reach kindergarten. Free before and after school care may be available for working parents and full-time students. All families with children three to four years old by September 15 are encouraged to apply for Head Start.
Public comment sought through mid-August of this year
National wildlife refuges across the country offer quality opportunities to connect with special places in a variety of ways. Before any activity can be allowed on a national wildlife refuge, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must first evaluate that use through a Compatibility Determination.
The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge is updating and re-evaluating to what extent and how environmental education and interpretation occurs on the refuge. The Refuge is seeking public comment on the re-evaluation of this use on the refuge.
The public is invited to review the draft compatibility determination document that includes the Refuge’s justification and analysis. The document was made available beginning July 18, 2023 and will be available for 30 days for public comment.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, is seeking comment on a bank stabilization study at the Sny Magill unit of Effigy Mounds National Monument, near Harpers Ferry. The purpose of this project is to stabilize the shoreline of the Sny Magill unit and reduce damage to the integrity of the Native American burial and ceremonial mounds at Effigy Mounds National Monument (Park).
Opportunities to improve aquatic and floodplain forest habitat are also being investigated. This study will inform future management of areas within the Mississippi River.
The mounds preserved within the Park are a unique and significant cultural resource considered sacred by many Americans, especially the culturally associated tribal nations. Shoreline erosion caused by more frequent and prolonged high-water events uniquely threaten the Sny Magill unit’s mounds.
The Ferryville Tourism Council has announced its third Summer Chautauqua Series program to be held in the Ferryville Village Hall Wednesday, August 9, beginning at 6:30 p.m. The presenter will be Armund Bartz, the Driftless Area ecologist for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Natural Heritage Conservation Program. Treats are provided.
Bartz will be speaking on “Driftless Prairie, Savanna, and Woodlands: A Journey of Discovery”. His talk will take attendees on a journey though southwest Wisconsin, and he will discuss and share what a remnant prairie and associated savanna/woodland habitats really are. His talk will involve plants, reptiles, butterflies, moths and birds that inhabit these areas. Also included will be ways individuals can not only appreciate these specifically diverse areas, but also how they can continue to protect them.
