Community News

The annual WinnMed Hospice Memorial Ride will take place Sunday, June 14, beginning at the WinnMed campus in Decorah. The event will be held rain or shine and is open to the public.

The day begins with a free-will donation breakfast from 9-11 a.m. in the WinnMed Cafeteria. Convenient parking is available in Lot F. Anyone is welcome to attend breakfast, whether riding or not.

Following the breakfast, all vehicles are welcome to participate in the poker run for a per vehicle fee. Sign-in will take place at WinnMed from 9-10:30 a.m. during the breakfast. Bikes and cars will depart at 11 a.m. for a scenic tour of northeast Iowa. The ride concludes at Pivo Brewery in Calmar at approximately 4:30 p.m. with a silent auction, door prizes, and refreshments.

The Empty Bowls event was held at East Elementary School in Waukon Thursday, April 30 from 5-7 p.m. It was hosted by the third through fifth grade art students as a service project to raise money for local food banks, using new pottery equipment generously funded by the McElroy Grant.

Elementary art teacher Emily Shannon Timm applied for the grant last fall and was chosen as a recipient this spring. Through the Empty Bowls project, students raised $513 for the Allamakee County Food Shelf and $200 for the Decorah Food Pantry (30% of the Decorah Food Pantry clientele is from Allamakee County.) Students raised $713 in all.

Empty Bowls events, held nationwide, are soup suppers with handmade bowls, filling the empty bowls of those without enough to eat in the local community. Each guest buys a ticket, chooses a handmade bowl and enjoys a variety of soups.

Robey Memorial Library in Waukon invites the community to an educational presentation featuring veteran Iditarod dog musher Karen Land Saturday, June 13 at 2 p.m. in the library’s lower level Community Room.

This special event is part of Robey Memorial Library’s Live & Learn: Enriching Lives Through Monthly Learning Series and is designed for “kids” of all ages - from preschoolers to retirees. Karen Land brings 25 years of mushing experience to the stage, offering a firsthand look at the world of long-distance sled dog racing, including the legendary Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Audiences will meet Sophia, Land’s eight-year-old Alaskan husky and the star of the show. The presentation will also offer the unique opportunity to interact with a real sled dog.

by Joe Moses

The Waukon City Council met in regular session Monday, June 1 to address a full agenda of matters including discussion relating to electric bicycles and electric scooters, the review of two variance requests and the consideration of purchasing two thermal imaging monoculars for police vehicles. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Arvid Hatlan with council members present including Cassie Handke, Steve Wiedner, Nic Engrav, John Lydon and Tim Smedsrud.

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met twice within a week following the Monday, May 25 closure of the Allamakee County Courthouse in recognition of the Memorial Day holiday with regular session meetings taking place Tuesday, May 26 and Monday, June 1. Coverage of both meetings appears below.

TUESDAY, MAY 26
The Tuesday, May 26 holiday-delayed meeting was called to order by Board of Supervisors Chairperson Tom Clark with Supervisors Dan Byrnes and Dennis Keatley present. There was no Public Comment during the time allotted for that agenda item.

The 2026 Iowa FFA Milk Quality & Products Career Development Event was held at Ames Tuesday, May 19. A total of 34 teams participated in this year’s Career Development Event designed to provide students an opportunity to display their knowledge and skills in the area of milk quality and dairy foods.

The Lansing FFA Chapter was named the Iowa Champion FFA Milk Quality & Products Team, with participating team members including (left to right in photo at right) Ronny Escobar-Lopez, Brielle Gavin, Alexus Rowan and Maddie Mauss, all under the direction of Ray Rankin, Agriculture Education instructor and FFA advisor at Kee High School. The champion team will next compete in the National FFA Milk Quality & Products Career Development Event during the National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis, IN this October.

Robey Memorial Library, in collaboration with the Oneota Valley Literary Foundation (OVLS), is inviting families to take part in the Main Street Story Walk throughout downtown Waukon this June. This year’s featured book is “I’m Trying to Love Spiders” by Bethany Barton. Families can enjoy the humorous and fact-filled story as it unfolds page by page in the windows of six participating local businesses along West Main Street. The Story Walk encourages families to spend time outdoors, read together, and explore downtown Waukon in a fun and interactive way.

Participants will visit six stops along West Main Street in downtown Waukon, with each location displaying a portion of the story. As families move from one business to the next, they’ll continue following the adventure of “I’m Trying to Love Spiders”.

by Brianne Grimstad

The month of March ended on a positive financial note for Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) in Waukon, according to information shared at the April meeting of the VMH Board of Trustees. VMH Administrator Michael Coyle noted that patient volumes were up in most areas for the month.

The Total Revenue for the month was $5,194,391. Contractuals/Bad Debt/Charity Care came in at $2,637,027 for the month, and Total Expenses came in at $2,707,278 for the month. The hospital ended March with a Net Operating Revenue of $18,521, and that number jumps to $189,017 when Non-Operating Revenue is added in.

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, May 18 at the Allamakee County Veterans Museum and Genealogy Research Center in Waukon as part of the board’s annual schedule of offsite meeting locations including public libraries within the county. The Supervisors addressed a short agenda of matters including the consideration of contracts and bonds for gravel road rock, the consideration of a detour route for the Memorial Day Parade, and the consideration of the proposed three-year contract with Cost Advisory Services, Inc.

Saturday, May 16 at 10 a.m., the Allamakee County Veterans Museum will celebrate Armed Forces Day by presenting another program from its Veterans History Project. The program will take place at the museum located at 105 Allamakee Street in Waukon in honor of Armed Forces Day observed May 16.

A video interview by Carl Johnson with U.S. Army Veteran Tom Regan of Waukon will be presented. Regan served in the U.S. Army from 1969 to 1972. He was assigned to an artillery unit which was specially equipped to fire nuclear weapons and was stationed in West Germany in support of NATO forces to defend against possible hostile action by the Warsaw Pact Nations supported by the former USSR.

The public is invited to attend. There is no admission or membership charge. The facility is handicapped accessible.