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The Waukon Corn Days activities planned for children at the Waukon City Park Saturday, August 20 have been moved to the Waukon Wellness Center. There will be no Frisbee Golf Tournament due to the wet conditions.

Due to inclement weather moving into the Waukon area, the Waukon Chamber of Commerce has been forced to relocate some of the Corn Days activities for this evening, Friday, August 19.

Moving to the Allamakee County Fairgrounds Pavilion in Waukon will be: Meet & Greet- Paw Patrol, Waukon Chamber Sweet Corn Meal, Kids Activities (Balloon Animals, Face Painting, Caricature Drawings, Popcorn & Cotton Candy), Crowning of Royalty and the Corn Eating Contest.

An announcement on the Corn Days Parade will be made at 5 p.m. tonight.

The Street Dance will be moved into Good Fellas.

Events that are canceled for Friday evening include: Waukon Celebrity Dunk Tank and the Toilet Bowl Races.

ALL EVENT TIMES WILL REMAIN THE SAME

by Lissa Blake

After half a century of programming for young girls, Camp Tahigwa is now going to be put up for sale.

Thursday afternoon, August 11, the Board of Directors of Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois (GSEIWI) voted unanimously to sell the 315-acre camp, located in the rolling hills of Dorchester in rural Allamakee County.

The vote included the stipulation the land be permanently maintained as a natural space for public use. The Board has assigned a task force to send an exploratory letter to county conservation groups, as well as the Department of Natural Resources and the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation.

DISAPPOINTED
Decorah native Brecka Putnam, representing Friends of Camp Tahigwa, an organization which rallied to save the camp, said she is disappointed by the outcome.

A nearly ideal combination of weather conditions, local support and a variety of activities made for another successful Lansing Fish Days celebration this past weekend. The Fish Days grounds and other activity venues proved to be bustling with activity throughout every day of the annual event. See more photos from this year's event on Page 10A of this issue, as well as in the Photo Gallery at www.waukonstandard.com. Photo by Susan Cantine-Maxson.
 

by Brianne Eilers

Anyone who has visited the Waukon City Park this summer may have noticed some work being done on the Valley Trail located near the Indian Springs Pond. Waukon Park, Recreation and Wellness Director Jeremy Strub explained that the trail is being improved using funds that the City of Waukon received from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after the devastating flooding that hit Waukon in June of 2013.

“The trails have been here for a while, and just as they were starting to get more use, they got washed out and ruined in the flood,” Strub explained.

by B.J. Tomlinson

As a scheduled stop on his annual 99-county town hall tour, Republican Senator Charles Grassley met with a crowd of approximately 70 area residents for about an hour in Lansing Thursday, August 4 for his Allamakee County visit. Grassley answered questions and encouraged everyone to contact him whenever they have any concerns or questions.

Topics discussed included immigration reform, Medicare reimbursement, Social Security, the Zika virus, the closing of the Lansing Blumenthal plant, sustainable energy  and the minimum wage.  Grassley's briefest answer of the day concerned the question, "Do you support Donald Trump?" His answer was, "Yes", but he did not offer any other comments.

Waukon will be featured in an “Our Town” segment hosted by the KCRG television news station (Channel 9 locally) Friday, August 19. "Our Town" is a featured series each summer by the KCRG station which typically airs during the early evening news broadcasts with live television spots.

According to information received by the Waukon Chamber of Commerce, the "Our Town" broadcast in Waukon will be featuring segments on WW Homestead Dairy and Steel Cow. KCRG is also working on featuring a story about Waukon Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) and the former Tierney's building on the corner of Main Street and Spring Avenue in downtown Waukon. KCRG television news anchor Beth Malicki will also be doing a segment on this year’s Toilet Bowl Races being held Friday, August 19 during the annual Waukon Corn Days event.

by Joe Moses

State Representative Patti Ruff of McGregor hosted a listening post sessions with northeast Iowa residents and health care providers at Waukon's Robey Memorial Library Community Room Wednesday, August 3 to discuss their concerns with Iowa's move to Medicaid privatization. Iowa moved to a privatized system April 1 of this year following a delay in receiving federal approval. The program change was originally planned with a January 1 start date.

“I’ve heard from several Iowa families and health care providers who have issues with Medicaid privatization,” said Ruff. “Our goal is to gather more information from local citizens and provide more information and answers to those who are affected.”

Lions Club donates initial $2,000 to the project, Waukon couple pledges to match up to $15,000 in raised funds
 

Memory Gardens lies in the southwest corner of the Waukon City Park, adjacent to both Indian Springs Pond and Eleventh Avenue SW. The area has been developed over the past 10 years by a volunteer group called Community Pride utilizing all voluntarily donated contributions; no taxpayer money has been involved in its development.

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, August 8 to discuss a variety of items including a scheduled ATV ride this fall, consideration of the Mississippi Gaming Commission grant submission, and the paving of a portion of Breezy Corners Road. During the Public Comment portion of the meeting, Bruce Palmborg was present on behalf of Main Street Lansing, and he encouraged the Supervisors to consider paving Columbus Road. Palmborg said that this project is worthwhile and should be looked at using the same criteria as the Breezy Corners pavement project.