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June 30, Northeast Iowa Community Action Corporation (NEICAC) closed the doors of its Family Planning Program, resulting in Allamakee citizens losing access to reproductive healthcare. The clinic covered the six counties of Allamakee, Chickasaw, Clayton, Fayette, Howard and Winneshiek.

The Waukon boys cross country team may be small in returning veteran leadership, but the squad’s overall numbers hold some promise. Seventeen young men have reported for early-season workouts for the Tribe distance dandies, but just three of them return with varsity experience from a team that made a third consecutive trip to the State Cross Country Meet last season.

“First and foremost, I am pleasantly surprised by the number of guys we have on the team this year with several new additions,” said Waukon boys cross country coach Tara Stein. “It will be nice to have enough guys out to be able to score as a team for both varsity and JV races. I have been very pleased with how hard all of the guys have been working during camp and the first couple weeks of practice and I am anxious to see how we come together and compete as a team.”

The 2017 Waukon girls cross country team will be led by four varsity letterwinners this season that include representation from three different grade levels. Add to that veteran core an overall young mix of varsity newcomers, and Waukon girls cross country coach Brett Egan has the makings of another possible step forward for his program that has featured 16 high school participants thus far in early-season workouts.

Those four veteran returnees include senior Gabby Marti, junior Megan O’Neill and sophomores Ellec Armstead and Madalyn Marti, who return from a squad that posted a fifth-place finish at last season’s Northeast Iowa Conference Meet and ultimately had its season ended with a ninth-place team finish at its Class 2A State Qualifying Meet.

The Kee football team returns six letterwinners from a team that played to a 3-6 season record last fall, but was a play or two away from having that record reversed if not improved even more. Those six letterwinners will lead an overall group of 25 players and include a quartet of returnees who earned All-District honors from last season, that being the senior foursome of Tucker Colsch, Brock Flack, Eric Rud and Noah Spearbecker.

As one might expect, a majority of that returning veteran core is made up of this season’s senior class. Whether a letterwinner or not, Kee football coach Chad Winters will be looking to those uppermostclassmen to lay the foundation for this season.

“The seniors have set the tone for practice,” Coach Winters explained. “They understand the hard work and dedication needed to be successful on the football field.  They are very encouraging to the younger kids and always helping teach during drills.”

The Kee cross country program faces varying scenarios between its girls and boys squads for the 2017 season, but coach Pat Wagner sees overall promise and potential with each. The cross country girls suffered no graduation loss and return all six of last season’s high school competitors from a team that finished its 2016 campaign right at the brink of State Meet qualification. The boys, on the other hand, are dealing with the reshuffling of their distance deck, with graduation taking away some veteran mainstays, a bit of experience returning, and some new faces holding some promise in their distance debut.
“We are excited about this season,” Kee cross country coach Pat Wagner said. “In early season workouts the student athletes are focused and working hard. All six girls are returning letterwinners, and (juniors) Jacob Berns and Ryan Whalen return on the boys side.”

Each year the Waukon Swim Club honors swimmers with the Michael J. Hager Award given in memory of Michael J. Hager (1960-1991), who was the son of Bonnie and the late James Hager of Waukon. This year’s Michael J. Hager Award recipients are, left to right in photo at right, Alexis Hogan, daughter of Jeremy and Heather Hogan of Waukon, and Ryan Lubahn, son of Troy and Shari Lubahn of Waukon.

Michael Hager loved swimming. In 1976, as a lifeguard at the pool, he started the Waukon Swim Club. He worked as a lifeguard, swam with the club and coached until he graduated from high school in 1978. He went on to attend college for one year at William Penn University and then transferred to Luther College, where he swam for the Norse for three years. Each summer, Hager would come home to coach the swim team and lifeguard at the pool until he graduated from Luther in 1982.

Cletus C. Althoff, 93, of Lansing, formerly of Waukon, died Sunday, August 20, 2017 at Thornton Manor in Lansing. Funeral services will be held Friday, August 25 at 11 a.m. at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Waukon, with Fr. Mark Osterhaus officiating. Burial with military rites will be at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Waukon.

Friends may greet the family from 10:15 a.m. until time of service at the church Friday. Martin Funeral Home of Waukon is handling arrangements. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to the charity of your choice.

Cletus Cyril “Clet” Althoff was born October 24, 1923 in rural Lansing, the son of Alex Theodore and Martha Margaret (Teeling) Althoff. He moved with his family to Dubuque when in grade school and graduated from high school there. Clet attended Loras College in Dubuque. Before graduating he enlisted in the Army Air Corps. He served at a number of bases across the county and became a head pilot for B-17 crews.

Mary E. McCabe, 66, of Waukon died Sunday, August 20, 2017 at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. Memorial services will be held Thursday, August 24 at 11 a.m. at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Waukon with Fr. Mark Osterhaus officiating. Burial will be at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Waukon. Friends may greet the family from 4-7 p.m. Wednesday, August 23 at Martin Funeral Home in Waukon, where there will be a 3:30 p.m. scripture service.

Mary Ellen McCabe was born March 12, 1951 at the hospital in Waukon, the daughter of William Peter and Helen Jeannette (Waters) Dixon. She was baptized and confirmed at St. Mary’s Hanover Catholic Church. June 6, 1969, she graduated from St. Patrick High School in Waukon and May 24, 1970, Mary received her diploma in general clerical from Northeast Area One in Calmar.

Dorothy Y. Goettel, 92, of Harpers Ferry died Wednesday, August 16, 2017 at Thornton Manor in Lansing. Funeral services were held Saturday, August 19 at First Baptist Church in Waukon with Pastor Duane Smith officiating. Burial was at Oak Hill Cemetery, Lansing.

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of the godly"- Ps. 116:15.

Dorothy Yvonne Goettel was born April 11, 1925 in Lansing, the daughter of Leonard L. and Myrtle M. (Wendel) Sandry. She grew up in the Lansing area and graduated from Lansing High School in 1942. She worked at the Lansing Button Factory following school.

June 1, 1945, Dorothy married John Daniel Goettel at the Evangelical United Brethren Church in Lansing. Together they farmed on the Goettel Family Farm in Lafayette Township where they raised their family, milked cows, and raised beef cattle, hogs and crops.

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that I noted here a few weeks back that newspaper headlines are most often written by somebody other than the person who wrote the story, and so can frequently be misleading.
Case in point.

The headline said student-athletes at Iowa voiced concerns in a survey, and the lede said the concerns were about bullying and hazing. It wasn’t until the eighth paragraph, on the jump page, after a sub-head, that we learned that fewer than eight percent (7.73) of those surveyed had concerns. The proper headline should have been that over 92% of those surveyed had no concerns. In fact, there was a hint of that earlier in the story when it was reported that “UI athletes on average are pretty happy with their athletic experiences.”

A little later on, it was noted that six percent reported verbal abuse and only one percent sexual abuse, hardly alarming statistics.