News Center newsletter

The Ninth Annual Bald Eagle Watching Day is scheduled to take place this Saturday, March 4 in Ferryville, WI at the Village Community Center located on State Highway 35, “The Great River Road”. This program is sponsored by the Ferryville Tourism Council, co-sponsored by Friends of Pool 9 and free to the public.

Event activities are scheduled to take place from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Doors will open at 9:45 a.m. New to the program is the Decorah Raptor Rearch Project Eagle Cam organization presenting at 12:30 p.m. on “What we learned from an Eagle’s Nest”. John Howe of the Raptor Resource Project and his team will be in attendance for the first time.

Free refreshments and children’s craft activities will be available throughout the event. There are many eagle nests in the Ferryville, WI area, including a new one just south of Ferryville. The Pool 9 section has more nests than in any other part of the Mississippi River.

by B.J. Tomlinson

Because of scheduling conflicts, the Lansing City Council could not meet Monday, February 20 and, instead, met in a delayed regular session Tuesday, February 21. After approving the Consent Agenda, the Council adopted the Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2017 and set Monday, March 13 at 7 p.m. for the Public Hearing. Those residents interested in discussing the proposed budget are invited to attend.

In observance of the community of Lansing’s Sesquicentennial 150th birthday being celebrated this year, Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library has put together monthly programs, and more, regarding the history and exploration of Lansing. Some of those programs will address the fur trade, the river, mining, how the community grew from the lumber mills, to grain elevators, to mercantile, manufacturing, tourism, along with the people, their heritage and their livelihood.

To start the year off, “Coffees with Lansing’s Elders: Talking about how got to where we are” will be held Saturday mornings at 10 a.m. in March (March 4, 11, 18 and 25) at the library. Everyone is welcome to come join the roundtable, participate or just listen in.
Additional history programs will be held Thursdays, with exceptions, at 6:30 p.m., with a soup supper beginning at 5:30 p.m. Current scheduled history programs include the following:

The Kee High School Speech Department will be hosting its annual fundraising Speech Dinner Theatre Saturday, March 4 at TJ Hunter’s Ballroom in Lansing. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. A full buffet will be served and entertainment from Kee's Large Group Speech contestants will begin at 6 p.m. The event will also offer a sneak peek at Kee High School's spring musical. Tickets for the event can be purchased from a Kee Speech student or at the Kee High School office in Lansing.
 

The Band Department of the Allamakee Community School District (ACSD) is excited to announce that its band students will be performing the world premiere of the piece "Iowa River Scenes" at the annual All-School Band Concert scheduled for Monday, March 6 at 7 p.m. in the Waukon High School gym. The piece was commissioned by the band department in honor of Cloy and Bonnie Meyer and Clay Kramer from a donation made to the program in their honor. The piece, "Iowa River Scenes," was composed by Cory J. McBride of Oelwein and is based on life in Allamakee County. It is a three-movement work with sections depicting the bluff country, rolling river and American Indian heritage. All band students in grades 5-12 will be participating in the performance of this piece. Submitted photo.
 

Annika Anderson, a senior at Waukon High School and the daughter of Marilyn and Lee Anderson of Waukon, attended the University of Dubuque President’s Academic Honors Luncheon Saturday, February 11 on the university’s campus. Anderson is pictured at right in the above photo with University of Dubuque President Jeffrey Bullock. The academic achievements of more than 30 high school students from the Midwest were celebrated at the luncheon. Each student will receive an academic scholarship for their education at the University of Dubuque. During the luncheon, students also learned about opportunities available to high achieving students at the University of Dubuque, including the Wendt Character Scholars Program, Joseph and Linda Chlapaty Summer Fellowship, Scholar-Leader Honors Program and the Pre-Law Program. Submitted photo.
 

After last Friday's winter weather forced early dismissal of school and postponement of all events, the Waukon High School Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter is hosting its annual Carnival this Friday, March 3 at the Waukon High school gym and cafeteria from 4-7 p.m. Carnival games along with a small concession stand and cotton candy will be available. All games/activities can be participated in for just a quarter each. Proceeds from the carnival will be returned to the elementary schools in the Allamakee Community School District. Submitted photo.
 

The Waukon High School cheerleaders offer their Little Indians Cheer Camp every year around the same time as the holiday break to help raise funds for new cheer uniforms. This year, the camp was held January 2 to learn cheers, dance, jumps, kicks and stunts. The youngest group or cheerleaders (pictured above) participated in the morning, ranging in ages from Pre-Kindergarten through second grade. The afternoon session involved kids in third grade up to eighth grade (pictured below). Due to weather cancellations, the little cheerleaders’ performance following the camp was postponed to January 5. The youngest kids performed at halftime of the JV game and the older kids performed at halftime of the varsity game that night. Participation numbers were reported as being up this year with around 130 kids registered. Submitted photos.

The Allamakee Sno-Blazers snowmobile club hosted its first annual Radar Run snowmobile speed event Saturday, February 11 at Green Valley Getaway in Waukon. The club previously sponsored local snowmobile drag races for many years, and this inaugural replacement event featured a 450-foot track that the 120 combined spectators and competitors found to be fast and entertaining.  A listing of the fastest finishers in each of the event’s eight classes of competition appears below:

Vintage 340cc - Bob Timmerman
Vintage 440cc - Kevin Benjegerdes
Vintage 500cc - Bob Timmerman
Modern Stock 500cc - Clayton Welsh
Modern Stock 600cc - Andrew Eberling
Modern Stock 700cc - Andrew Eberling
Modern Stock 800cc - Jason Bellmeyer
1000cc/Modified - Bryce D.

January 27-28, four wrestlers from Iowa traveled to Louisville, KY in order to compete in a tournament sponsored by the North Central Association of Schools for the Blind (NCASB). Buoyed by a team effort that resulted in all four wrestlers earning medals in their respective weight classes, the Iowa Rams battled their way to a fifth-place team finish among the 11 teams competing at the event. The Iowa Rams were coached by 1974 Waukon High School graduate Jay Colsch with assistance from Charles Gillaspie and 2016 Waukon High School graduate Carter Fuhrman. Pictured in the center of the above photo are (left to right) Jay Colsch and Carter Fuhrman, and Fuhrman is also pictured below (far right) with the four members of the Iowa Rams squad during their competition in Kentucky. Currently, there are 13 schools in the NCASB Conference.