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.
Join the Allamakee County Conservation Board for a guided Mississippi River backwater paddling adventure August 17, starting at 6 p.m. and returning to the landing by sunset at the New Albin Army Road Boat Landing.
Participants are welcome to use their own canoe or kayak but must follow all rules and regulations in accordance with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR). A limited number of solo and tandem kayaks will be available to use from the Allamakee County Conservation Board (ACCB) provided with paddles and life jackets.
Advanced registration is required for this series of programs. To register or reserve a kayak, call 563-538-0403. Solo participants are encouraged to register, but may be paired with other paddlers in a tandem kayak if using Allamakee County Conservation Board equipment.
The Harpers Ferry Fireflies played in the National Granny Basketball Tournament held July 15-16 at Luther College in Decorah, winning five of their six games played to end up as the National Tournament Runner-Up for the second consecutive season and for the third time in the last four tournaments.
The Fireflies have finished either first or second in each of the last seven Granny Basketball National Tournaments, winning four National Championships in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2021 and adding runner-up finishes in 2019 and last year in 2022 to this season’s second-place final result, with no tournament being able to be played in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
More than a dozen local young men and women of high school to heading off to college age have been serving local residents and visitors to the Waukon Family Aquatic Center again this summer in a capacity they never hope to use, but one in which they are more than prepared to do so, if necessary.
Pictured above are members of the lifeguard staff for Summer 2023 at the Waukon Family Aquatic Center. Left to right - Front row: Hayden Palmer, Ashlin O’Neill, Cameron Johnson, Maycie Curtin, Halea Corwin, Sarah Hennessy, Reagan Lubahn and Bailey Sherman; Back row: Waukon Family Aquatic Center Manager Julie Lenth, Draemon Berger, Avalea Burns, Ella Homewood, Keeran Barr, Olivia Bossom and Waukon Family Aquatic Center Assistant Manager CC Althoff. Not pictured: Ethan Baker and Caleb Perkins. Submitted photo.
The 2023 Firecracker 5K held Saturday, July 1 was the lead-off event for the Fourth of July holiday weekend in Harpers Ferry. The event is hosted by Harpers Ferry Boosters, Inc. and is the organization’s main annual fundraiser which helps the group offer financial support to many organizations and worthy causes benefiting Harpers Ferry and Allamakee County throughout the year.
The top overall female finisher was Addy Carlson, and the top male finisher was Michael Goodenbour, both of Cedar Falls. The top finishers in each age division each won a medal and are listed in the chart accompanying this article. Special thanks to Kaylee Bachman for singing the National Anthem prior to the start of the race.
The Waukon softball team played to a 16-15 season record that may seem to be about average on paper but was actually well above average in so many more aspects. That 16-15 result marks the first time in more than a decade that the diamond Tribe has recorded both a winning record and 15 wins in a season.
“I think our greatest accomplishment was how well these girls played together and never gave up in any game we played,” Waukon softball coach Melissa Ward shared. “It showed in how close of games we played and our ending record this season. Our 16-15 record is the first year since 2010 where the softball program has won more than 15 games and had a winning record. It’s hard to have teams that know each other as well as this squad did. The experience and leadership this team had was great. There will be a solid group of returners coming back next year, so being able to play the game the way we know how will be what we need to build on moving forward.”
Upcoming Deadlines/Dates
September 1: Dairy Margin Coverage Premiums Due
November 1: Organic Certification Cost-Share and Transition/Education Certification Program
CRP Reminders
The primary nesting season ended August 1, so contract-holders can complete and maintenance on CRP without prior approval from their FSA office. Please remember that cosmetic mowing of your CRP acres is always prohibited, as are the establishment of trails through your acres.Temporary deer stands are only allowed during the hunting season and must be removed immediately once the season is over. Volunteer trees and woody vegetation must be controlled and removed from CRP acres. Failure to control undesirable vegetation on CRP can result in financial penalties.
