News Center newsletter

by Joe Moses

Senator Michael Breitbach of Iowa’s 28th District, Representative Anne Osmundson of Iowa House District 56 and Representative Michael Bergan of Iowa House District 55 hosted a legislative forum Saturday, February 16 at the Allamakee County Farm Bureau building in Waukon. The event was an opportunity for the general public to have discussion with State of Iowa legislators representing their communities.

The event began with a greeting from Allamakee County Farm Bureau President Rick Weymiller with brief comments from Bergan, Osmundson and Breitbach before questions and comments were heard from the public with approximately 15 members of the public in attendance.

The Kee High School Speech department will be hosting its annual Dinner Theatre Saturday, March 2 at T.J. Hunters Banquet Hall in Lansing. Kee Speech members, as well as the high school office, will be selling the tickets through Monday, February 25. There will be no tickets sold after that date nor at the door.

Doors will open at 5 p.m. with the meal beginning at 5:30 p.m. The large group speech teams will be the entertainment for the evening, along with a little teaser from the upcoming Kee High School musical “Fiddler on the Roof.”

The buffet meal will include beef brisket, smoked pork loin, party potatoes, corn, dinner roll, Oreo fluff, a drink and a dessert bar. This annual event is a fundraiser to help with the cost of contest fees, awards, travel expenses and the All-State trip.
 

The Kee High School Post Prom Committee will host Bingo Sunday, March 10 in the Kee High School cafeteria in Lansing. Games will start at 4 p.m., with doors opening at 3:30 p.m.

Participants can bring a non-perishable food item or $1 donation and play an extra Bingo card free. All donations will be given to LIFT (Lansing Iowa Food Trust). Special needs at the food pantry are cereal and peanut butter. All players will be eligible for a door prize drawing at intermission. Proceeds will be used to fund 2019 Post Prom prizes and entertainment.
 

Open Door To The Soul, Co., located in the former Waterville Lutheran Church, just outside of Waterville, will host Connecting Community Conversations, a series of monthly roundtable discussions intended to find commonality through shared experiences, bolster support and identify ways to make a difference for others.

Everyone is welcome to attend. All discussions will begin at 7 p.m. in the basement area of the former Waterville Lutheran Church, according to the following schedule of dates and topics:

February 21 - Illness, Hospice and Dying
March 21 - Do We Dare Talk Politics?
April 18 - Poverty, The Truth About Money
May 16 - Foregiveness and Healing Wounds
June 20 - Land Stewardship in the Driftless Region.
 

by Brianne Eilers

The Allamakee Community School District (ACSD) Board of Directors met for its regular monthly meeting Monday night, February 18. Board member Erik Helgerson was absent.

Items on the consent agenda were approved including the following personnel: staff for After School Programming; Emily Stone as a para professional; Amy Wasson, Mike Shupe, Greg Criswell, Daneshia Snitker and Bridget Dolan as girls track volunteer coaches; Morgan McMillan as girls golf volunteer coach; and the resignation of Katrina McCabe was accepted. Two students were approved for open enrollment.

Two Sunday requests for gym usage were approved. The 2019-2020 software budget was also approved, as was the cooperative swimming agreement between the ACSD and Decorah, Howard-Winneshiek, MFL/Mar-Mac, North Fayette Valley, Postville, South Winneshiek and Turkey Valley school districts.

The Waukon Middle School will be performing its annual spring play Friday, March 1 at 7 p.m. in the school auditorium, with doors opening at 6 p.m. This year’s play is “30 Horrible Catastrophes of Middle School” by Kamron Klitgaard/Brooklyn Publishers. Admission can be paid at the door the night of the performance.

Thirty-plus Waukon Middle School students from sixth, seventh and eighth grades have been working through all the winter weather obstacles to keep this year’s play scheduled. All are invited for a night of comedy, silliness and down right fun.

Dodgeball, flirting, selfies, the cool bench and body spray for men could all be included among the horrors of middle school. Also included are the usual victims, as the nerds, the jocks, the preps, the punkers and many others team up to demonstrate the “worst” catastrophes of their generation in this one-act comedy about fitting in and finding acceptance.

Youth Mentoring at Helping Services for Youth & Families is hosting its annual bowl-a-thon Saturday, March 16 at Arrowhead  Lanes in Waukon. This event aims to raise $7,000 to connect youth in Allamakee, Howard and Winneshiek Counties with a mentor. Currently, 103 people are involved in Youth Mentoring at Helping Services.

Now is the time to strike up a conversation with friends, neighbors, club members and co-workers to form a team to bowl. Proceeds support those youth and adults being friends in mentoring. Those interested can be involved in two important ways: register to bowl and/or donate to the cause.

by Joe Moses

The Waukon City Council met in regular session Monday, February 18 to address a full agenda of items. The Public Hearing on a proposal to enter into a Sewer Revenue Loan and Disbursement Agreement was opened and closed. City Clerk Lana Snitker indicated that no verbal or written comments were received regarding the matter.

The Public Hearing on a proposal to enter into a General Obligation Sewer Improvement Loan and Disbursement was also opened and closed without any verbal or written comments.

During Public Comment, Brooke Troendle of the Walk-On Waukon group discussed the status of a grant for sidewalks and matching funds committed by the City. Mayor Pat Stone advised Troendle to follow-up on the matter at a future meeting with budget work having recently concluded. Council member John Ellingson provided feedback on capital project budget planning to include approximately 20% for engineering and 10-15% for contingency.

The Waukon High School Music Department will be hosting its ninth annual Pops Concert Saturday, February 23 at the Waukon Middle School gymnasium. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. with concert time at 7:30 p.m. Musical groups include the Waukon Middle School and High School Jazz Bands, Middle School Choir, JV Choir, Concert Choir, Chamber Choir, a select group of sixth grade singers, as well as the Barbershop and Sweet Adeline Quartets. The Pops Concert is an annual fundraising event sponsored by the Allamakee Music Boosters. It replaced the Spaghetti Supper nine years ago and has proven to be a very popular change by all involved and all who attend the event.

After back-to-back nights of postponement, the Waukon boys basketball team had its 2018-2019 campaign brought to a close in the opening round of Class 2A District 4 Tournament play Wednesday, February 13. Originally scheduled for a Monday, February 11 date, winter weather moved the game to Tuesday, February 12 and then again to its final Wednesday date, but the game proved to be well worth the wait as the Indians battled their hosts, the New Hampton Chickasaws, neck-and-neck the entire game before ending up on the short end of a 78-73 final result to have their 2018-2019 season brought to completion.