River Valley

Thursday, May 17, the public is invited to hear living history interpreter Don Borcherding of Rochester, MN give a presentation reenacting explorer Zebulon Pike. The free program will begin at 6:30 p.m., preceded by a light supper with freewill offering.

At the time Lewis and Clark were climbing the Bitter Root Mountains in Montana, Pike was commissioned to map the Mississippi River, take a census of Native Americans and find sites for future forts and trading posts. Borcherding will explore the hardships Pike and his men endured, and what the river and the people who lived along it were like.

Upcoming programs in the speaker series being hosted by Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library include the following: June 22 at 6:30 p.m. - Reasons for the Seasons and Summer Skies presented by Carl Bracken, Astronomer, which is a program designed for the whole family; and July 19 - Click by Click Humor in photography by Bob Modersohn.
 

submitted by Friends of Pool 9

On a slightly questionable weather day with cool temperatures, moderate stream flow and rising water levels, a group of volunteers gathered at all ends of Pool 9 to help clean the Mississippi River corridor, for the 13th year.

While many would find something else to do on a day like this, these folks put on their life jackets, boated out and waded into the Mississippi. They walked the Highway 82 dike, scoured area beaches, cleaned and sifted fire rings, walked the boat landings and the perimeter of Pool 9, and boated into the backwater depths to retrieve as much of the unwanted man-made debris as possible. Such is the desire and persistence of this bunch of volunteers from northeast Iowa, western Wisconsin and other places unknown.

A free event focused on mental well-being and building resilient communities is scheduled to be held Saturday, May 5 at 10 a.m. at the New Albin Community Center. Featured speakers will include Tabita Green, author of “Her lost year.” She will have copies of her book available at the event for signing and purchase. Lansing/New Albin Police Chief Conrad Rosendahl will then follow with an additional presentation.
 

Iowa Public Television replaced the broadcast antenna serving the Lansing viewing area last week. The replacement process caused a temporary service outage while the existing antenna was removed and new equipment was installed.

The change also resulted in a channel change for viewers watching the over-the-air translator signal, from the current channel 39 to the new channel 31. Crews tried to limit the necessary outage as much as possible.

Upon completion of the replacement, viewers watching IPTV’s over-the-air signal were required to rescan their televisions to receive the new channel. Viewers watching IPTV via a cable or satellite provider did not need to make any adjustments. For more information about Iowa Public Television, contact Susan Ramsey at 515-725-9703 or Susan.Ramsey@iptv.org.
 

Sunday, April 8, Cub Scout Pack 47 hosted its local Pinewood Derby Races, with the following scouts participating and pictured above in no particular order: Brayden Waters, Justin Wagner, Carter Verthein, Bentley Hatlan, Noah Connelly, Hunter and Aiden Hostert, Xander Howard, Tyrone McCarthy, Noah Mauss, Sam Janzen and Braiden Hatlan. Each scout designed, cut and painted their own cars. The event was a round-robin type of derby, with each of the scouts racing one another twice. The top three finishers at the local derby are pictured below, left to right: First Place - Carter Verthein, Second Place - Noah Connelly and Third Place - Bentley Hatlan. Winners had the opportunity to advance to the District Pinewood Race held in Manchester April 21. Cub Scout Pack 47 extends its appreciation to Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Lansing for the use of the church hall to conduct the races. Submitted photos.
 

Kee High School’s Post Prom was held Sunday, April 22 from midnight until 4 a.m. following the Kee High School Prom. Guests played table games and other activities using play money. The raffle and silent auction prize packages were also very popular with the guests. Special entertainment was provided by hypnotist Blake Powers from Wand Enterprises. Everyone attending was given an opportunity to guess the number of candies in a jar and Kee junior Macie Hill (pictured in the photo below) won $100 for guessing closest to the actual number. Door prizes were awarded throughout the evening and everyone drew a number to win a prize package at the end of the event. A special drawing was held and the winners of that drawing are pictured in the photo above. The Kee senior grand prize (a Sceptre TV) was won by Brock Flack (left). The Kee junior grand prize (a Sanyo DVD player) was won by Jacob Berns (center) and the Guest grand prize (Polaroid tablet) was won by sophomore Ella Strong (right).

The Northeast Iowa Food Bank, along with interested groups and citizens in Lansing, is working toward opening a Lansing Food Bank in Lansing sometime this spring or early summer. An organizational meeting is scheduled to be held Wednesday, May 2 at 7 p.m. in the Community Room at Main Street Lansing (corner of Fourth and Main Streets).

Steps taken up to this date regarding the local food bank will be explained. Anyone interested in volunteering, serving on the board or donating in any way to assist with developing a Lansing Food Bank is encouraged to attend.

The need for a local food bank has already been demonstrated and chronicled by the Northeast Iowa Food Bank. For information about the meeting or the local food bank, contact Craig White, Director, Main Street Lansing at 563-538-9229 or director@lansingmatters.com.
 

Two Kee High School students, juniors Thomas Aiden Winters and Anthony Martin, have been selected to attend the June 10-15 Boys State at Fort Dodge in Johnston this year. Local selection of attendees is sponsored by the Lansing Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5981 and Lansing American Legion Post 50.

Winters is the son of Corey and Lynn Winters of Lansing. Martin is the son of Andy and Marie Martin of Lansing.

Begun in 1938, Boys State is a six-day course in self government, consistently taught with a hands-on approach. The young men of 2018 Boys State, all of whom had finished their junior year of high school, will be divided into 32 cities. Four cities constitute a county and eight counties make up Boys State.

The cities are composed of members of the Nationalist and Federalist parties. The citizens within these cities hold party caucus meetings, conventions, campaigns and general elections.

by Macie Hill

A regular Monday session of the Lansing City Council was held Monday, April 16. Discussion centered around the Interstate Power franchise fee percentage, flushing the fire hydrants for the spring season, payment number eight for the South Road Bridge project, considering Ordinance #197 for ATV usage, considering street sweeping for the City of De Soto, WI, reviewing and considering dust control bids, hiring a new Police Officer, and hiring a Lansing Pool manager along with two co-manager assistants.

Volunteers, contributions needed to make Post Prom possible

Kee High School’s Post Prom has been scheduled for April 22 from midnight until 4 a.m. for Kee juniors and seniors and their guests, following their Prom Saturday, April 21. The Post Prom event is a substance free celebration providing table games, raffles and silent auctions, snacks and drinks and door prizes.

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

The Post Prom Committee has been hosting Sunday Bingo events and worked the brat stand at Lansing Fish Days to raise funds for Post Prom. The group is very appreciative to all area businesses and individuals for their continued support.