Community News

The Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation’s Christmas Fantasy 2018 will be held Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, November 9, 10, 11 and 12, at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds Pavilion in Waukon. The theme this year will be “Never Stop Believing.”

In addition to the nearly 60 decorated Christmas trees on display, this years’ event will again offer many, many shopping opportunities on the silent auction. Reservations are now being taken for the popular Saturday evening Wine, Cheese and Dessert Event, and the Noon luncheons.

The luncheons are sponsored again this year by the Allamakee County Cattlemen’s Association and will be held Saturday, November 10, at Noon, and again Monday, November 12, at Noon. A full meal will be served plus entertainment will be provided at both events.

Waukon High School sophomore Denzel Decker, son of Brad and Becky Decker of rural Luana, received special recognition at the 2018 Pappapjohn Entrepreneur Gala held September 26 at North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC)  in Mason City. The event celebrates north Iowa’s entrepreneurs in four award categories: Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, the Innovation Award, and Business of the Year. Twelve finalists were named in each category, and the winners were announced at the gala.

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, October 22 to address a full agenda of items including the Red Ribbon Week Proclamation, signing of the Fiscal-Year 2019 Iowa Partnerships for Success contract and discussion of hiring a Dispatcher/Corrections Officer. There were no members of the public in attendance during the Public Comment portion of the meeting and Allamakee County Auditor Denise Beyer provided an update on the November 6 general election during that time, indicating that approximately 1400 absentee ballot requests have been made so far with just over 10,000 voters registered in Allamakee County.

Fareway Meat & Grocery of Waukon held a ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday, October 17 to celebrate its Grand Re-Opening after an extensive remodeling project of the store’s interior was recently completed. Pictured above at the ribbon cutting are representatives of the Waukon store, along with some of their family members, as well as representatives of the Fareway Meat & Grocery management and corporate structure. The Waukon Fareway location opened June 14, 2006 and the store remained opened throughout the entire remodeling process.

by Joe Moses

The Waukon City Council met in regular session Monday, October 15 to discuss a full agenda of items including the Urban Chicken Ordinance, the 2019 Department of Transportation (DOT) Street Project and an update on the Green Valley Bridge project. Mayor Pat Stone called the meeting to order with approval of the current agenda with the addition of three items.

There was no Public Comment and the council moved into Departmental Reports. Street Superintendent Keith Burrett discussed a letter from St. Patrick’s Catholic Church concerning the curb on the east side of the church which is in need of repair. Burrett recommended that this future project would best be accomplished in the summer, outside of the school year. Burrett indicated that a storm sewer collapse in the northeast part of town will involve some exploratory digging this week to determine necessary repairs.

There was a lot of activity at the corner of Second Street and First Avenue NW in Waukon this past week. In addition to the City of Waukon street improvement project along First Avenue NW, the former Northeast Auto Body building was also torn down to make way for a new drive-up ATM to be installed and operated by Farmers & Merchants Savings Bank. The bank purchased the property earlier this year from previous owner Jamie Dougherty once he made plans to move his business to Ninth Street SW in Waukon, with the bank now planning for a drive-up 24-hour ATM. Farmers & Merchants Savings Bank Chief Operating Officer and Cashier Nancy Schoh stated, “We love seeing customers inside our branch, but understand how convenient it is to stay in your car. We hope to have the new ATM operational later this year. It is one more way we are making it easier to bank with us.” Standard photos by Joe Moses.

Waukon Shopko employee Mary Monroe was honored Wednesday, October 10 for 50 years of employment at a celebration held at the Waukon Shopko location. She is pictured in the center of the above photo with Shopko Chief Executive Officer Russ Steinhorst (left) and Chief Operations Officer Jim DePaul (right), who both traveled from Shopko headquarters in Green Bay, WI to attend the event.

The Allamakee-Clayton Electric Cooperative (ACEC) Board of Directors has announced the selection of its current Manager of Economic Development and Community Relations Hollee McCormick as the individual who will succeed current Executive Vice President/General Manager (EVP/GM) Paul Foxwell following his anticipated retirement in May of next year. McCormick has been employed at the Cooperative for the past four years.

McCormick has gained valuable experience working under the current EVP/GM, and the Board’s early selection of her to succeed Foxwell will allow ample opportunity for further training and development. The Cooperative is pleased to have the opportunity to select an individual that is well-known to the Cooperative, its existing employees, and its members. McCormick lives in the community, is a Cooperative member, and therefore is very familiar with the area and the issues that are important to the membership.

Northeast Iowa RSVP (Retired and Senior Volunteer Program) is seeking volunteers for several programs in the Allamakee County area. The program is seeking volunteers for the before and after school programs in Waukon, the new LIFT (Lansing Iowa Food Trust) food pantry, anyone interested in helping with a Volunteer Reception Center, and several other areas.
The RSVP mission is to engage persons age 55 and above in volunteer service to meet critical community needs; and to provide a high quality experience that will enrich the lives of volunteers. RSVP volunteers choose where they will volunteer and how much time they will spend volunteering. Studies have proven that volunteering is good for a person’s health and last year over 321 volunteers from Allamakee, Howard and Winneshiek County logged over 27,000 hours. This amounts to an economic impact of nearly $614,000.

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, October 8 to address agenda items including the consideration of quotes regarding the purchase of a tractor backhoe for the Secondary Roads Department, the approval of Secondary Roads transfers and quarterly reports for Planning and Zoning and the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Department. Chairperson Larry Schellhammer called the meeting to order with approval of the current agenda and October 1 minutes.