Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) Business and Community Solutions is offering a Ceramic Easter Egg Painting class for youth and adults Tuesday, March 12. The youth class will run from 3:45-4:45 p.m. and the adult class is 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the NICC Waukon Center, located at 1220 3rd Avenue NW.
Everyone is an artist in this ceramic Easter egg painting class. Participants will learn how to paint eggs in different styles using a variety of acrylic paint colors or glaze. Class is designed for all skill levels; just bring some creativity and imagination. Glazed eggs will be fired again for students to take home.
The deadline for paid registration is February 26. To register online visit www.nicc.edu/waukon or call NICC Waukon center at 844-642-2338, ext. 6700.
The Loose Threads Quilting Group, consisting of members from Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, presented 29 comfort quilts created by group members to Gundersen Palmer Lutheran Home Health & Hospice, based out of West Union and serving the northeast Iowa area. The 29 quilts presented Wednesday, February 7 were created during a 10-week time frame, with 33 ladies participating in the most recent sewing effort for the project.
Live eagle presentation ... A trainer and staff member from the University of Minnesota Raptor Center and Maxim, an American Bald Eagle, delight the Ferryville Bald Eagle Day audience. The Raptor Center will be in attendance again at this year’s Bald Eagle Day event with another live eagle presentation. Photo by Sherry Quamme.
Plan now to attend the free 14th Annual Bald Eagle Day Saturday, March 2 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 is free to the public.
Friends of Pool 9 is an organization that does so much in the local area to preserve and protect the environment and the Pool 9 Region of the Mississippi River.
Free refreshments and children’s craft activities will be available throughout the event. There are many eagle nests in the area, including a new one just south of Ferryville and another new nest on Hwy. 82 crossing the river into Lansing. The Pool 9 section has more nests than in any other part of the Mississippi River.
According to the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT), those who travel on North Front Street in Lansing will need to be aware of an ongoing road closure that may impact their trip for the next several months.
Beginning Friday, February 16, crews have now closed the segment of North Front Street between Henry Street and Hale Street to start work on Pier 1 for the Mississippi River Bridge at Lansing replacement project. That closure will take place in the one-block segment that lies directly beneath the existing Black Hawk Bridge.
DOT officials say that portion of North Front Street will be closed through the fall of 2024. Another anticipated closure of North Front Street will be from the fall of 2025 through the summer of 2027 as the bridge construction project continues.
First-round win at first State Tournament ... Waukon boys wrestling 113-pound junior Jayden Mara tries to set up Columbus Junction junior Jacob Nelson for a turn in their opening-round match at the Class 2A State Wrestling Tournament held at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines Wednesday-Saturday, February 14-17. Mara claimed a 4-0 win in that first-round match before falling in his next two matches, including to the eventual 113-pound champion, to have his first-ever State Tournament experience ended. Photo by the Iowa Newspaper Association Photo Pool.
For the second consecutive season, the Waukon boys wrestling team qualified three young men for every wrestlers’ ultimate destination, continuing the recent growth of the program from more than a dozen years of no more than just a single State Tournament qualifier. This year’s three qualifiers for the season grand finale held at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines Wednesday-Saturday, February 14-17 remained in pursuit of the program’s first State Tournament placewinning in half a dozen seasons, coming within a match of achieving that next growth accomplishment as all three Tribe matmen had their first-ever State Tournament qualification brought to a close shy of a podium placewinning within the top eight wrestlers of their respective weight brackets of 24 competitors, with two of those wrestling Indians being able to bring back their season grand finale experience to the Waukon wrestling room next season.
Double-double includes career high ... Kee boys basketball senior Kaleb Drape soars through the air to block this shot attempt in the Hawks’ 78-43 home win over Starmont in the semifinal round of Class 1A District 12 Tournament play Thursday, February 15. Drape recorded a double-double effort of 12 points and a career-high 10 rebounds in the victory, along with adding this blocked shot and team-leading totals of seven steals and six assists. Photo by Danielle Potter. View and find out how to purchase this photo and many more by clicking on the Photo Galleries link on this webpage.
The start down the postseason tournament path for the Kee boys basketball team played out to somewhat of an easy stroll as the bucket Hawks outscored their first two Class 1A District 12 Tournament opponents by a combined 143-54 in advancing to the program’s first district championship game since the 2009-2010 season, when names such as Joe Manning, Blake Feuerhelm, John Heiderscheit, Jalen Cooper, Cole Carroll and Jordan Milton appeared in the scorebook. The Kee boys began this year’s tournament trail with a 65-11 domination of Tripoli at home Monday, February 12 before handling Starmont by a 78-43 final result Thursday, February 15 in the district semifinal round of competition.
Up and under ... Waukon boys basketball senior Mason Wasson soars under the basket for this circus shot in the Indians’ 53-47 win at Postville in the opening round of Class 2A District 6 Tournament play Monday, February 12. Wasson tallied a pair of 11-point, six-rebound efforts in both this game and the Tribe’s season-ending loss at North Fayette Valley Thursday, February 15. View and find out how to purchase this photo and many more by clicking on the Photo Galleries link on this webpage.
The Waukon boys basketball team played to a split of its two games this past week, with that split ultimately resulting in the end to the bucket Tribe’s 2023-2024 season in the semifinal round of Class 2A District 6 Tournament play in an unfortunately familiar location. After opening this year’s postseason journey with a 53-47 win at Postville Monday, February 12 in the opening round of that District 6 bracket, the Indians advanced to the Thursday, February 15 district semifinals at North Fayette Valley, a place that has not been kind to the Waukon basketball boys in recent action, and continued not to be with a 59-48 loss to the host TigerHawks that brought this winter’s campaign to a close.
Soaring and scoring ... Waukon girls basketball senior Kaitlyn Krambeer soars down the lane toward the basket in the Indians’ 63-43 loss at sixth-rated Dubuque Wahlert in the second round of Class 3A Region 6 Tournament play Wednesday, February 14. Krambeer finished the final game of her high school basketball career with eight points. View and find out how to purchase this photo and many more by clicking on the Photo Galleries link on this webpage.
The Waukon girls basketball team had its 2023-2024 campaign brought to a close in the semifinal round of Class 3A Region 6 tournament play Wednesday, February 14, having to travel to sixth-rated Dubuque Wahlert to take on a 17-5 Golden Eagle squad coached by 1978 Waukon High School graduate Kris Spiegler. Falling victim to some full-court pressure defense and strong three-point shooting, the Lady Indians found themselves in an early 7-0 hole that would gradually get bigger on the way to a 63-43 end to their season.
The Indians ended their season with a 13-9 overall record and a third-place Northeast Iowa Conference mark of 5-5. With the win, Wahlert advanced on to the Region 6 championship game Saturday, February 17, where they also handled Center Point-Urbana, 48-31, to earn a return trip to the Class 3A State Tournament in Des Moines and their third State Tournament berth in the past four seasons.
Heart Month observed at VMH ... February is Heart Month. Pictured above is Callie Thorson, Emergency Department Manager at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Emergency Room (ER) Room 1 of the hospital. She shares facts and tips on heart health in the article at left. Submitted photo.
Over 950,000 Americans die each year from cardiovascular disease. Since February is National Heart Month, Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) provides the following facts and tips on heart health:
• 250,000 people die within one hour of onset of a heart attack.
• 60-70% of those individuals are male.
• Heart disease is the #1 killer of American women and men.
• 75-80% of arrests happen in the home.
• Bystander CPR does improve the outcome once someone has arrested.
• Traditional CPR courses are not reaching those who live with high-risk populations.
• Rapid defibrillation is the most important treatment for victims.
• For every minute delay in defibrillation there is a 10% loss for chance of survival.
• In the case of heart attack, “Time is Muscle.”
• In the case of stroke, “Time is Brain Tissue.”
National Phlebotomists Recognition Week was February 12-16. Phlebotomists are “Drawn to Help Others” through their skillful abilities in drawing blood from patients for clinical or medical testing, transfusions, donations, or research. Administrative duties include accurately preparing, coding, and organizing blood samples for analysis. Phlebotomists are certified professionals who must pass an exam and have the required education and experience to receive this professional certification.
Karli Rains is the Phlebotomist at Veterans Memorial Hospital. She works full-time in the Laboratory drawing patients along with many administrative duties.
