River Valley

Kee Middle School eighth grader Alyssa Darling, daughter of Mark and Kris Darling of Lansing, was awarded second place by the Department of Iowa Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) in the annual VFW Patriot’s Pen student essay contest. Sponsored by Lansing VFW Post 5981, Darling placed first in both the local Post and VFW 9th District levels of the essay competition, advancing to the State level of competition to earn her second-place finish. She was presented a certificate and a check for her award-winning essay by Lansing VFW Commander Dan Hanson at Kee Middle School Wednesday, March 27. Pictured above at that presentation event with Darling are members of Lansing VFW Post 5981. Left to right: John O’Hara, Glen Reed, Tim O’Malley, Dan Hanson, Jon Baker, Steve Morarend and Don Peters. Submitted photo.
 

At the 2019 Main Street Lansing annual meeting held Sunday, March 23 at T.J. Hunter’s Banquet Hall, Judy Schild of the Eagle’s Nest Gallery in Lansing was honored with the Volunteer of the Year Award, as well as the Main Street Iowa Leadership Award. For 20 years, Judy and her husband, John, operated a custom framing shop on Main Street in Lansing. But Judy had more to offer than just frames and glass; she wanted Main Street to thrive, so she became an active Chamber of Commerce board member. As the Chamber faded, she helped found the Main Street program in Lansing, serving on the board of directors and becoming the first chair of the Promotions Committee. She has been a generous supporter of all things community. Pictured above, Judy Schild (left) receives her Volunteer of the Year Award from Main Street Lansing representative Mary Palmborg (right). Submitted photo.
 

by Macie Hill

The Lansing City Council held its regular meeting Monday, April 1. Discussion centered around the adoption of the consent agenda, raising pool pass rates, information regarding the Main Street Iowa visit, the Allamakee County E-911 Board letter of commitment, county hazard mitigation plan and annual review, and citywide clean-up information.

Summer pool passes will be raised to $25 per child and $75 per family pass, which is for families with three or more children.

Ten representatives from the Lansing community will be traveling to Elkader as part of the District exchange for Main Street Iowa. The volunteers will be traveling around the town observing the businesses, the entrance to the community, directional signage and the overall environment and then will take a survey relating to their experience. In return, ten representatives will also be traveling from Elkader to Lansing to do the same.

The 6th Annual Official Allamakee County Chili Cook-Off was held Saturday, March 16 at TJ Hunter’s Banquet Hall in Lansing. Sponsored by Main Street Lansing and KNEI 103.5 Bluff Country, there were 10 entrants, five each in the business and individual divisions. The first-place winners of each division were chicken-based chilis.

The winner in the business division was Jana Schoh (pictured in the photo below), representing Red Geranium Floral and Gifts. She received a traveling trophy and one year’s worth of bragging rights. The top entries in the individual division and their prizes included: Third place - Henrik Johnson won $25 in Lansing Downtown Dollars, Second place - Olaf Johnson won $75 in Lansing Downtown Dollars, and First place - Katie Becker (pictured above with her daughter, Payton) won $200 in Lansing Downtown Dollars.

Kee High School’s Prom has been scheduled for April 13 with its Post Prom event scheduled to follow from midnight until 4 a.m for Kee High School juniors and seniors and their guests. This event is a substance free celebration providing table games, raffles and silent auctions, snacks and drinks, and door prizes.

All Kee High School junior and senior students are welcome, even if not participating in Prom. There is no fee to attend. Hypnotist Michael DeSchalit from Wand Enterprises has been booked and all guests will be entertained by his show.

The Post Prom Committee and Kee High School junior students have been hosting Sunday Bingo events, worked the brat stand at Lansing Fish Days and delivered Easter eggs with the “Egg My House” event in order to raise funds for this year’s Post Prom festivities. The group is very appreciative to all area businesses and individuals for their continued support.

The New Albin VFW Auxiliary of the Kenneth Casey Post 5603 held its regular monthly meeting March 18 at the New Albin Community Center, beginning at 1 p.m. President Anne Falken called the meeting to order. Roll call was taken with seven members present.

The Secretary and Treasurer reports were accepted as read. No bills were presented.

Discussion was held about the community service report. The yearly reports are due April 1. Sara Thomas made a motion to give a scholarship to a graduating Kee High School senior. Motion seconded by Barb Meiners.

Closing prayer was read by Jean Kurk. The meeting was adjourned by Anne Falken and a light lunch was served. The next VFW Auxiliary meeting will be April 15.

Barbara Meiners
Secretary Pro-tem
 

The four Kee High School students pictured at right were nominated to participate in the All-State Individual Speech Festival to be held Monday, March 25 on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. These four students were part of 11 Kee students who performed at the State Speech Contest held at Waldorf University in Forest City March 13, where 15 Kee events received 11 Division 1 ratings and four Division 2 ratings. Kee’s All-State nominees (pictured clockwise from top left) include Amanda Fahey in Prose, Neve Goetzinger in Solo Music Theatre, Sahreya Dodd in Acting and Ella Strong in Literary Program. Submitted photos.
 

by Macie Hill

The regular meeting of the Lansing City Council was held Monday, March 18. Discussion centered around the adoption of the consent agenda, a People Service update and appointing a new city attorney.

The consent agenda consisted of council meeting minutes from March 4 and March 11, liquor license renewal for Red Barn Resort and Main Channel Grill, the Treasurer’s report for February, and the transfer of $718.40 from the Trust fund to the General fund to cover playground expenses. A motion was made and seconded to approve that consent agenda without any concerns.

Kee High School’s Prom has been scheduled for April 13 with its Post Prom event scheduled to follow from midnight until 4 a.m for Kee High School juniors and seniors and their guests. This event is a substance free celebration providing table games, raffles and silent auctions, snacks and drinks, and door prizes.

All Kee High School junior and senior students are welcome, even if not participating in Prom. There is no fee to attend. Hypnotist Michael DeSchalit from Wand Enterprises has been booked and all guests will be entertained by his show.

The Post Prom Committee and Kee High School junior students have been hosting Sunday Bingo events, worked the brat stand at Lansing Fish Days and delivered Easter eggs with the “Egg My House” event in order to raise funds for this year’s Post Prom festivities. The group is very appreciative to all area businesses and individuals for their continued support.

History and archeology surrounding the Iowa Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Lansing bridge project will be the topic of a talk to be held at Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library Thursday, March 21, beginning at 5:30 p.m. The DOT’s Brennan Dolan will lead the discussion, which is free of charge and open to the public.

Earlier talks with the Lansing Historical Working Group have focused on the National Historic Preservation Act and the process that state and federal agencies are responsible for following. This talk will focus on what it means to mitigate for the loss of historic properties.