River Valley

Andy Kelleher has been hired as the new executive director of Main Street Lansing. Kelleher is a local area resident who has lived in New Albin since he was very young. He graduated from Kee High School in Lansing as co-valedictorian in 2014.

Much of his working career has been involved with church work, from serving on the leadership team at Village Creek Bible Camp to helping develop new churches and ministries across the nation. Along with his work with Main Street Lansing, he also serves as a youth pastor in New Albin. He has shown a strong interest in rural revitalization, and he brings a vast background of public relations and program planning to the job.
 

by Macie Hill

The Lansing City Council met in regular session Monday, September 17. Discussion centered around welcoming the new executive director for Main Street Lansing, posting meeting agendas and minutes on Facebook, purchasing new heat pumps for the water/sewer department, discussing election and for sale sign placements, considering purchasing a new backhoe, beginning fall fire hydrant flushing, the resignation of a city council member, and explaining property tax raises.

Andy Kelleher, the new executive director from Main Street Lansing, was present at the meeting to introduce himself and received a warm welcome from the council. It was decided that the agenda and the minutes for each city council meeting will now be posted on the Lansing Facebook page.

The Kee High School Post Prom Committee will host Bingo Sunday, September 23 in the Kee High School cafeteria in Lansing. Games will start at 4 p.m. with doors opening at 3:30 p.m.

Participants can bring a non-perishable food item to be donated to the Allamakee County Food Shelf and play an extra Bingo card free. All players will be eligible for a door prize drawing at intermission. Proceeds will be used to fund 2019 Post Prom prizes and entertainment.
 

Kerndt Brothers Savings Bank (KBSB), with locations in Lansing, Decorah, Waukon, West Union, Clermont and Cedar Rapids, has acquired the Securities America branch office of Paul Styve Investment Group based in Decorah. The Paul Styve Investment Group has a customer base encompassing all of the upper midwest providing over 28 years of experience in investment and advisory services.

This acquisition will provide KBSB customers with a significant expansion of investment services, including investment advising and consulting, and retirement programs for individuals, municipalities and businesses of any size over a 14-state area.

Jim Kerndt, C.E.O. of Kerndt Brothers Savings Bank, commented: “With 80 million Baby Boomers retiring in the next 20 years and Millennials positioned to be recipients of the largest wealth transfer in history, we see a need to assist our customers with the complex tasks of financial planning before and during retirement.

Thursday, September 20 the public is invited to the Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library to hear archaeologist Brennan Dolan discuss how innovative technology is providing new information about cultural resources. Dolan will talk about how the Iowa Department of Transportation uses this new technology to analyze and document cultural archaeology sites, historic buildings and bridges, focusing on properties in northeast Iowa.

Of specific interest will be Mt. Hosmer. Dolan will share insights about documenting these places to provide better long-term preservation and some of the remarkable history being uncovered.

The free program will begin at 6:30 p.m., preceded by a light supper with freewill offering. Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library is located at 515 Main Street in Lansing and further information can be found by calling 563-538-4693.
 

by Macie Hill

The Lansing City Council regular meeting was held Tuesday, September 4 due to the Labor Day holiday falling on its usual Monday meeting night. Discussion was centered around fixing the brick at the fire station, hiring a new part-time police officer, raising winter storage fees at the City Marina and adding to the winter storage contract verbiage, and setting the fall clean-up date.

A motion was made and approved to fix the brick in the Fire Station for an estimated amount of $4,450. Makenze Kriener has been hired for part-time police help.

The winter storage fees at the City Marina have been raised by $50.00 upon the recommendation by the Marina Board. A motion was made and approved to add the statement, “Any ice damage to dock is not the fault of the city”, to the winter storage contract.

Fall clean-up day has been scheduled for Tuesday, October 9.
 

For the ninth year, Denise Becker of Lansing traveled to Chicago, IL to run the Chicago Rock ‘n’ Roll half-marathon July 21 to raise awareness and money to help out military veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Accompanied once again by her daughter, Jessica Verdon, and this year a good friend, Josie Bloom from Raleigh, NC, Becker continued to carry on with the motto of “If we send them, we must mend them,” taken from the book “Tears of a Warrior” written by Tony and Janet Seahorn.

Grants up to $500 available for eligible non-profit organizations

The Allamakee County Community Foundation (ACCF) is now accepting applications for its mini-grant program. The ACCF “Emerging Needs” Mini-Grant Fund was created to address funding needs for community projects outside of the regular grant cycle. The deadline for applications is August 31.

Grants up to $500 are available for eligible non-profits. The ACCF accepts applications for grants for community development, community promotions, community education and similar matters. The grant shall be for the benefit of persons residing in Allamakee County in Iowa. Entities that have a 501(c)3 designation by the Internal Revenue Service or schools or municipalities are eligible to apply for these funds. Non-profit groups may apply for up to $500 for their projects.

by Susan Cantine-Maxson

Twenty-four-year-old New Albin native Allie Colsch had an odd feeling in her chest one day earlier this spring.

She was very busy at the time, studying to be a physician’s assistant at the University of Dubuque. She attributed her  pain to issues like bad posture, indigestion or possibly inflammation of the ribs. Nothing seemed to fit, but she was in the middle of graduate school in an intensive program and she didn’t want to take the time to go to the doctor.

Finally, she decided it wasn’t going away and no amount of over-the-counter medication was making the pain better. Then she started running a fever.

She stated, “The fever made me see a doctor. I had pain for six to eight weeks before I had it checked out.”

Her diagnosis was a large tumor in the middle of her chest, more specifically diagnosed as a form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma called primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma.

This Saturday, August 25, family and friends of lifelong resident and local “River Rat” Pat Sandry will be honoring his memory with the First Annual Pat Sandry Memorial Fishing Derby and Friends of Pool 9 Fundraiser held on the Mississippi River. Sandry passed away in November of last year after a short, courageous battle with cancer. He thoroughly enjoyed the outdoors, had a great passion for fishing and hunting, and he truly treasured the beauty of the Lansing area.

Entry fee is $50 per boat with 50% payback in prize money and 50% being donated to Friends of Pool 9. There is a limit of two adults and two children per boat.