Community News

What’s the best way to spend New Year’s Day? Take a First Day Hike in an Iowa state park or forest. Hikers can expect to be surrounded by the quiet beauty of nature in winter, and experience spectacular views, beautiful settings and the cultural treasures offered by Iowa’s state parks.

“We are excited to host First Day Hikes again, helping visitors experience Iowa state parks and forests year-round,” said Sherry Arntzen, chief of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources State Parks, Forests and Preserves Bureau. “These hikes are a great way to get outside, exercise, enjoy nature and welcome the New Year with friends and family.”

Staff and volunteers will lead free, guided First Day Hikes in nearly 20 participating state parks throughout Iowa. Some hikes will include wildlife viewing and hot beverages. Hikes will average one to two miles, or longer, depending on location.

Students and families are invited to spend some time at Robey Memorial Library in Waukon this week during the current Winter Break from school. Besides its collections of reading materials for all ages, Robey Memorial Library is offering some fun programs for students and families this Winter Break.

Stop in any time between 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, December 27 to make something fun to take home during a Make & Take session for Kids.

Thursday, December 28 at 1:30 p.m. the library will be showing the movie “The Bad Guys!”. The infamous Mr. Piranha, Mr. Snake, Mr. Shark, Ms. Tarantula and Mr. Wolf find their lives of crime coming to an end as they face imprisonment. Determined to retain their freedom, the criminals band together to boost their public image and prove their goodness to their community with the help of their esteemed mentor, Professor Marmalade. (Rated PG)

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, December 18 to address a full agenda of matters including the consideration of payment for Township Official Training from the County budget, the consideration of using Opioid Settlement funds for drug prevention programs in Allamakee County, and consideration of setting the Local Option Sales and Services Tax (LOSST) election date. The meeting was called to order by Board of Supervisors Chairperson Dan Byrnes with Supervisors Mark Reiser and Dennis Keatley present.

There were no members of the public present for the Public Comment portion of the meeting. After the time allotted for that matter, the meeting moved into the Plat for Lloyd C. Johanningmeier Jr. with Allamakee County Zoning Administrator Stephanie Runkle providing an overview of that agenda item. Following discussion, the Supervisors approved the Plat for Lloyd C. Johanningmeier Jr.

The storm sewer replacement project that began in the early summer of this year involving the intersection of 1st Street NW and 1st Avenue NW in Waukon has now been brought to completion, allowing for the opening of both of those roadways (as evident in the photo above by Standard Assistant Editor Joe Moses) Friday, December 15 for the first time in approximately six months. The project involved the bypassing of a portion of arched limestone storm sewer, over a century old and nearing the end of its lifespan, with sections of pre-cast concrete storm sewer as a durable material expected to serve equally as long or longer as a permanent replacement. The original arched limestone sewer ran diagonally underneath the former McMillan’s 66 property visible in the photo at right on the southwest corner of that intersection.

An area woman was recently honored as one of four recipients of the Iowa Woman Impacting Agriculture Award for contributions to Iowa agriculture. The awards were distributed at the seventh annual Iowa Women in Ag Leadership Conference organized by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and held November 29-30 in Ames.

Melissa O’Rourke resides in Winneshiek County and recently concluded her work at Iowa State University, where she served as an attorney and farm and agribusiness management specialist for 13 years. She most recently served the northeast Iowa region including the following counties: Winneshiek, Howard, Fayette, Allamakee, Clayton, Floyd, Bremer, Delaware, Dubuque, Buchanan, Mitchell and Black Hawk.

Robey Memorial Library and The Oneota Valley Literary Foundation have partnered to host Main Street Story Walk through the month of December in Waukon featuring the children’s story “Winter is here” by Kevin Henkes. Families are encouraged to read this story as they stroll the downtown area of Waukon. Six selected businesses have a portion of the story posted in the front window of their establishment for viewing from the sidewalk. Each stop along the story walk will direct readers to the next location. Selected businesses for this latest Main Street Story Walk are all located on West Main Street at the following locations also labeled above: 1. KNEI Radio Station; 2. Teslow’s Formal Wear; 3. Waukon State Bank; 4. Main Feature Theater, labeled above as Wolfpack Theater Company; 5. Howards Home Furnishings; and 6. Wax by Amber. Submitted image.
 

Voters in the City of Waukon returned to the polls Tuesday, December 5 to ultimately decide which of two candidates would be elected to the Waukon City Council At-Large seat initially contested in this year’s City/School election November 7. Andrew Sires, the incumbent candidate in that race, and one of two challengers on that November 7 ballot, Nicholas Engrav, faced off in a run-off election held December 5, with Engrav receiving 193 votes and Sires collecting 100 votes to give Engrav the election win.

The run-off election was required following Sires and Engrav each joining additional challenger Jean Brink in receiving approximately one-third of the votes cast in that November 7 election. With Waukon City Code requiring that a candidate receive a 50%-plus one majority of the vote in order to win the election, the top two vote getters in such a multiple-candidate situation then square off against one another in a run-off election to determine the winner.

Saturday, December 16 at 10 a.m., the Allamakee County Veterans Museum will honor World War II veterans by presenting a video program in the Veterans Museum located at 105 Allamakee Street in Waukon.

A video interview filmed in 2006 by staff from the Five Sullivans Museum in Waterloo with U.S. Navy veteran Calvin Snitker will be played. Snitker served in the Navy as a storekeeper in the Pacific Theatre during WWII.

Family members have been invited to attend, and the public is also invited. There is no admission or membership charge. The facility is handicapped accessible.

The Veterans Museum will repeat any of its veteran interview videos for those who were unable to attend the original presentation, either by appointment or any Saturday morning when no new programing is scheduled.
 

November 14, Corner of Hope celebrated another successful year with its annual Harvest Celebration/Appreciation Dinner. In spite of often extreme growing conditions this year, northeast Iowa was blessed with another prosperous growing season.

Harvest on the Sweeney land was recently completed. Special thanks goes to Adam Quandahl for all his work with harvesting and trucking. The committee would like to especially recognize Jerry, Joe and Jan Sweeney for their many years of participation as land owners. The Sweeney brothers have been affiliated with the Corner of Hope since just a few years after its inception in 2005, and continue to be good stewards of the land. Pictured above (left to right) is Jan Sweeney with fellow Corner of Hope member Dennis Byrnes.

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, December 11 to address a full agenda of matters including the Canvass of the December 5 Waukon City Council At-Large Run-Off Election Results, consideration of an extension request for the County Facade Improvement Grant Program, and an update and membership dues request by Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission. The meeting was called to order by Board of Supervisors Chairperson Dan Byrnes with Supervisors Dennis Keatley and Mark Reiser present.