Community News

The Allamakee County Veterans Museum in Waukon will be offering four encore video presentations to the public in the meeting room of its new museum in the former Vet’s Club building at 105 Allamakee Street, Waukon. The video presentations will take place on successive Saturday mornings at 10 a.m., according to the following schedule:

• February 11 - Lynn Morrow, U.S. Army infantry - WWII
• February 18 - Harriet Hanson, U.S. Navy nurse - WWII
• February 25 - Rupert Caballero, U.S. Marine Corps - Korea
• March 4 - Carl Johnson, U.S. Army - Vietnam.

here is no admission charge for the presentations, and the museum is wheelchair accessible. Museum winter hours include tours provided each Saturday from 9 a.m. until noon, and the museum can be available by appointment for groups of all kinds.
 

Property owners within the City of Waukon who have not yet scheduled a time for their water meter replacement are strongly encouraged to do so as soon as possible. The water meter replacement project is a community wide project to replace all current water meters and reading devices in the City of Waukon, and the new meter and replacement work are at no cost to property owners. Failure to have a water meter replaced through this coordinated project could result in being shut off from water services by the City of Waukon until replacement occurs.

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, January 30 to address a full agenda of matters. The meeting was called to order by Board Chairperson Dan Byrnes with Supervisors Dennis Keatley and Mark Reiser in attendance.

During Public Comment, Waukon City Manager Gary Boden noted that his attendance at this meeting is as an individual taxpayer, noting concerns about fiscal stress at the County level. Boden discussed his support of law enforcement but questioned the expansion of the County Sheriff’s Department with six of nine deputies’ salaries paid through the urban section of property taxes instead of rural property taxes. Boden added that if this is the case, three of those six could effectively be assigned to Waukon based on population with Waukon’s Police Department supplying back-up to the County as needed.

The Wolfpack Theater Company recently donated $1,000 to the Waterville Community Center - the theater company’s new home. Wolfpack members raised half of the donation over the last several months, through charity shows and performances during RAGBRAI, a Murder Mystery Theater dinner, and other events. Wolfpack artistic director and co-founder Adam Hooten matched that $500 donation.

“Special thanks to the Waterville City Council, Jeff Mitchell and honorary Wolfpack member, Waterville Mayor Dave Monserud, for hooking us up with the community center and our new home,” Hooten said. “A lot of the money for the donation came from the Wolfpack’s trip to see the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre’s production of ‘Footloose’. While we were up there we did a street performance after the show to pay for the trip and donation.”

Four members of the Waukon Pioneer Fire Company were each honored for 25 years of active volunteer service Saturday, January 21 at the Waukon Fire Department’s Annual Wife’s Supper held at the Waukon Golf and Country Club. All four honored volunteers have held many different offices throughout the course of their time serving the department.

Pictured above receiving their watches from Waukon Fire Chief Dave Martin in honor of their 25 years of active service are, left to right, Safety Officer Troy Gress, First Lieutenant Kris Krueger, Chief Dave Martin presenting the awards, Secretary/Treasurer Kyle Halverson and Second Assistant Chief Bill Hennessy. Submitted photo.
 

During its monthly Pack Meeting held Tuesday, January 17, Waukon Cub Scout Pack 64 visited the Allamakee County Veterans Museum in Waukon. The knowledgeable docents at the museum shared their wealth of knowledge, and the Scouts (and their parents) learned a lot about local Veterans and the branches of the Armed Forces, as depicted in the surrounding photos. The Scouts encourage local residents to visit the Museum, noting that anyone who does will be glad that they did. Museum winter hours include open hours for tours Saturdays from 9 a.m. until noon, and by appointment for family, school, youth, veterans, church and other community groups, such as the Cub Scouts. Submitted photos.
 

The Kee High School Speech program advanced all 29 members of this year’s roster to the State Large Group Speech Contest after a very successful day at the District Contest held at Turkey Valley High School Saturday, January 20. The 11 teams competing at that District competition compiled nine 1 ratings and a pair of 2 ratings, including the following: Reader’s Theatre, Solo Mime, Group Mime, Ensemble, three Radio News acts and two of three Improvisational Acting performances all received 1 ratings, with the other Improvisational Acting team and a One Act performance each receiving a 2 rating Saturday. The State Large Group Speech Contest will be held February 4 at Waterloo West High School.

Gundersen Ophthalmologist Efrain M. Cancel, MD, is now seeing patients at the Gundersen Eye Clinic Waukon. Dr. Cancel specializes in the treatment of cataracts, and he plans to perform surgery at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon in the near future.

Following his residency at the University of Puerto Rico and a fellowship at the University of Cincinnati, Dr. Cancel began his career in Marshfield, WI in the early 1990s. There, he raised two daughters and says he enjoyed the kindness and hospitality of Midwesterners, which led him to want to remain in the tri-state area when considering new professional challenges in his career.

Dr. Cancel was attracted to Gundersen Health System because of its reputation for having a strong eye department, including its specialty care. More specifically, he said he’s passionate about making quality eye care, especially cataract surgery, accessible to the people of Waukon and the surrounding area.

Brent Parker, pictured above, was sworn in by Waukon Mayor Pat Stone as an officer for the Waukon Police Department at the Monday, January 9 meeting of the Waukon City Council. Parker is a certified officer and comes to the Waukon Police Department from the Decorah Police Department, where he has been an officer since 2015 and has served as assistant police chief since October 2019. Parker was scheduled to start his duties in Waukon Monday, January 16.

The Allamakee County Veterans Museum will continue its program series for 2023 with a program about Allamakee County on the Home Front during World War II. The program is scheduled for Thursday, January 26 at 6:30 p.m. in the meeting room of the new Veterans Museum in the former Vet’s Club building at 105 Allamakee Street in Waukon.

There is no admission charge, and the facility is wheelchair accessible. The program will be repeated Saturday, January 28 at 10 a.m.

Scrap drives were held in Allamakee County to support the production of war materials and equipment during the war. In 1942, Cote’s Town Theatre put on a free movie for those who donated scrap items. The accompanying photo shows the pile of scrap in front of the theatre. Rationing of food, fuel, rubber, metal, clothing and other vital materials was required.