Community News

A total of 16 Allamakee County 4-H youth recently showcased their talents and skills by competing in various communications and clothing events during the Expressions Day Program and Style Show held at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds Pavilion in Waukon Monday, June 28. Several youth received top awards, and some received the honor of representing Allamakee County at the 2021 Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, scheduled for August 12-22 this year. Participants are pictured in the surrounding photos, with special mention of the 4-H’ers advancing on to the Iowa State Fair who are highlighted below.

Some younger participants in the Expressions Day event are not yet age-eligible for State Fair advancement.

by Joe Moses

The Waukon City Council met in regular session Tuesday, July 6 following the closure of City Hall Monday, July 5 for the observance of the Independence Day holiday.

Mayor Pro-Tem Gayle Decker called the meeting to order in the absence of Mayor Pat Stone. The meeting moved into Public Comment with Director Ardie Kuhse of Waukon Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) briefly discussing the June 30 press release from the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) relating to the $100,000 Community Catalyst Building Remediation Grant award to benefit the former JCPenney/Tierney building renovation and transition into a steakhouse restaurant.

Robey Memorial Library in Waukon is hosting a table game event Saturday, July 17 with games suitable for the whole family. Join staff and patrons at Robey Memorial Library for the event Saturday, July 17 from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. in the lower level Community Room of the library. Register for door prizes and play (or learn) beginner-friendly, non-competitive, casual table games.

Learn to play Boss Monster. Inspired by classic video games, Boss Monster challenges players to become a villain, build a dungeon, lure adventurers and destroy them.

The Transportation Policy Board for Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission (UERPC)/Regional Planning Affiliation 1 (RPA-1) will hold a public hearing at its upcoming meeting to receive comments on the draft RPA-1 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for federal fiscal years (FFY) 2022-2025. The meeting will take place Wednesday, July 21 at 11 a.m. at UERPC’s offices in Postville, 134 West Greene Street.

The RPA-1 TIP document identifies the multimodal transportation projects - street, transit, highway, bridge, planning, and pedestrian and bicycle facilities - on which State and Federal funding will be used over the next four years within Allamakee, Clayton, Fayette, Howard and Winneshiek Counties.

A new round of workforce training agreements between businesses and Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) will help employers remain competitive and hire new skilled employees in the next year.

These agreements, as part of the 260E Iowa Industrial New Jobs Training program, will offset training costs for businesses seeking to upskill their workforce. Training can include hard skills such as welding, industrial maintenance, heavy equipment operation, workplace safety and computer skills, as well as human resources, management and leadership training.

The 260E program allows NICC and its business partners to enhance the region’s workforce through employee upskilling and education. Businesses also participate in the program to retain employee talent.

Robey Memorial Library’s “Reading Colors Your World” Summer Reading Program began Monday, July 5 and runs through Saturday, July 31. Activities include Reading Challenges with prizes for all ages, Kids and Teens Grab and Go Activity Bags, craft events and fine forgiveness.

Although rain was very much needed in the local area as drought conditions prevailed through most of the month of June, the early Saturday morning, June 27 storm that passed through the area brought too much of it at once for creek beds and many roadways to handle in southeast Allamakee County and the Yellow River State Forest specifically, as pictured above with rushing water crossing roadways and causing wash-outs in many locations. Amounts hovering on either side of the seven-inch mark have been reported for rainfall totals from the storm in the vicinity of Harpers Ferry and the State Forest area, with that storm dumping reports of as much as nine inches of rain just across the Mississippi River in Crawford County, WI, resulting in the National Weather Service issuing a Flash Flood Warning for southeast Allamakee County and in northeast Crawford County in Wisconsin from 6-9:30 a.m. that Saturday morning.

by Lissa Blake

The public is invited to stop in during Nightingale Drug’s grand opening Thursday, July 1 from 4-7 p.m. The newly opened pharmacy is located at 606 Rossville Road in Waukon.

Co-owners Linda, Eric and Sylwia Nightingale are eager to meet the community, where they recently opened their eighth small-town pharmacy.

Linda Nightingale is a graduate of the College of Pharmacy at the University of Iowa. In the late 1970s, she convinced her father, John Law, to remodel a building that would become her first pharmacy. Despite the odds, Linda was able to grow a successful practice and expand. She has always felt it was important to bring pharmacy services to small-town Iowa.

Robey Memorial Library in Waukon is connecting its community of readers together during the next Big Library Read, the world’s largest digital book club. From June 28-July 12, readers can solve a compelling mystery in S.F. Kosa’s debut thriller, “The Quiet Girl”, and ebook from their library. Robey Memorial Library card holders can borrow the ebook for free without waiting by visiting https://bridges.overdrive.com/ or downloading the Libby app.

Readers can then discuss online at https://biglibraryread.com/join-the-discussion/. Robey Memorial Library is also discussing “The Quiet Girl” in its Online Book Discussion group on Facebook. Access that book club information at https://www.waukon.lib.ia.us/services/programs/adult/book-clubs.

First Baptist Church of Waukon held its 2021 AWANA Grand Prix Car Race earlier this spring at the Church. Pastor Duane Smith gave the AWANA Challenge, and the evening was opened with the pledges to the American flag, the AWANA flag and the Bible. Grand Prix Chairman was Larry Gelo, and he also announced the race.

Jeff Goettel was the Starter Chairman and Chris Kerndt was the Chart Keeper. Judging the cars on Design were Pam Kerndt, Paul Promnitz and Kari Roney. Finish line monitors were Cole Kruse and Gabe Goettel, and weigh-in judges were Dale Roney and Craig Schrick. JoAnn Gelo was in charge of decorations, and refreshments were served by Brenda Schmidt and Jean Buntrock.