Community News

The Shopko Foundation recently made a donation to the Driftless Area Visitor and Education Center under construction just south of Lansing. Pictured above, left to right, at the donation presentation are Shopko team members April, Lorna and Laurie, Allamakee County Conservation Director Jim Janett, Waukon Shopko manager Valerie Reinke and Shopko team member Mary. Janett says the donated funds will be put toward the interpretive displays that will be housed within the Center. Standard photo by Sara Aleckson-Melcher.
 

The Midwest Veterans of America, an organization newly created and recently registered with the office of the Iowa Secretary of State to assist local military veterans, hosted the third annual Northeast Iowa Pie Championships Sunday, January 29 at the Farmers & Merchants Savings Bank Community Room in Waukon, with a “celebrity” pie-eating contest (pictured below) being a featured highlight of that event. In the photo at left, this year’s pie-eating contest winner, Patrick Monroe, is pictured with his championship plaque. Monroe finished eating his vanilla cream pie in a reported time of 35 seconds, defeating last year’s champion, KNEI radio personality Erik Kelly, and the inaugural event champion, Sandy Halverson of the S&D Cafe, to claim this year’s crown. Halverson reportedly finished second for the second consecutive year.

The 2017 Northeast Iowa Pie Championships, held January 29 to raise funds for the Midwest Veterans of America, has released its list of top placewinners in the Pie Judging Contest held as part of the event. A total of 41 pies were entered into the Pie Judging Contest. This year's top-three placewinners each received a ribbon and are listed below:

Rick Larson of Waukon was recently honored for his 25 years of service to the Waukon Fire Department. Pictured left to right, Waukon Fire Chief Dave Martin presents Larson with a watch in recognition of his service milestone anniversary. Submitted photo.
 

Iowa House of Representatives District 56 member Kristi Hager of Waukon met with Veterans from Allamakee County this past week. The group was visiting the Capitol to talk with legislators about veterans issues during Veterans Day on The Hill, Wednesday, January 18, in Des Moines. Pictured above are Representative Hager (far left in back row) and veterans from Allamakee County. Submitted photo.
 

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, January 23 to address various topics. Among those topics were updates and funding requests from county libraries, the Northeast Iowa Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) and Northeast Iowa Community Action Corporation (NEICAC).

During the Public Comments portion of the meeting, Allamakee County Emergency Management Coordinator Corey Snitker discussed the route announcement from the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI) that will include an overnight stop in Waukon and the event concluding with a stop in Lansing in late July of this year. Snitker commented that regionally there will be a lot going on with Nordic Fest taking place in Decorah and RAGBRAI traveling through Allamakee County that same weekend.

Robey Memorial Library offers Brown Bag ‘n’ Books: a story time for adults, the first Wednesday of each month from 12-1 p.m.

Patrons are encouraged to bring a lunch and enjoy listening to selected passages from several titles.  Readings will begin at 12:15 p.m. in the lower level Community Room. Selections include fiction and non-fiction titles.

The next scheduled Brown Bag ‘n’ Books program is Wednesday, February 1 at 12 p.m. (readings begin at 12:15 p.m.). Contact Robey Memorial Library with any questions at 563-568-4424 or robeymemorial@waukon.lib.ia.us.
 

For the past 27 consecutive years the doctors and staff of Waukon Dental and Family Dentistry Associates of Monona (the past 23 years at Dental Associates of Prairie du Chien) have been hosting their annual "Have a Heart" Day to provide free dental care to area youth most in need. Area residents are encouraged to participate in this year's "Have a Heart" Day scheduled for Saturday, February 11.

This event is scheduled during the Valentine's season as a community service project to provide services to those in need. The local healthcare providers appreciate the strong support they receive, so, in turn, the doctors look forward to this event each year.

Pie buffet, pie eating and pie judging contests part of the fun

The 2017 Northeast Iowa Pie Championships are scheduled to be held Sunday, January 29 in the community room of Farmers & Merchants Savings Bank in Waukon. The event is in its third year and is being held as a fundraising measure to benefit Veterans of America at the local level.

Activities will begin at 11 a.m., when interested individuals can bring in a pie of their own creation to have judged until 12:30 p.m. The event will also feature a "Pie Buffet" at 1 p.m. where people can pay a $5 fee - $3 for veterans and children - to sample as many of the pies as they wish.

A "Celebrity" Pie Eating Contest will take place at 2 p.m., with local "celebrities" battling for supremacy. The past two champions, Sandy Halverson of S&D Cafe in Waukon from 2015 and Erik Kelly of KNEI Radio from last year, will be back to try and lay claim to another title.

by Joe Moses

The Waukon City Council met in regular session Monday, January 16 to discuss a full agenda of items, including AFLAC Insurance coverage for City employees, a Storm Water Utility Fee and Trenchless Storm Sewer work. There were no public comments heard or written.

Under Departmental Reports, Water and Sewer Superintendent Bob Campbell discussed some problems with an electric panel at the pump house and recommended that an engineer may be needed to create a retrofitted repair in this case, due to the age of this panel and difficulty in finding replacement parts.

The Airport Hangar agenda item was moved up for discussion with Airport Board member Jim Wadsworth present. Wadsworth provided a recommendation that new hangars at the airport should be uniform in building style to improve the airport's appearance. Wadsworth discussed several ideas and policies for improving the airport.