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by Bob Beach

The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train paid a visit to Lansing Saturday, December 6, drawing a large crowd that proved to be very generous with donations of money and food to benefit the Allamakee County Food Shelf. Jessie Howe, Allamakee County Food Shelf Director, said donations from the event totaled approximately $1,300 in cash and 3,200 pounds of food. She also accepted a donation check on behalf of the Food Shelf in the amount of $4,000 from Canadian Pacific Railroad during the event (see photo on Page 5A). "I'm very thankful to all of the Food Shelf volunteers, Canadian Pacific Railroad and all those who braved the cold to come out and support this event and give so generously," Howe said. "I also want to thank the area Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts who helped collect and deliver donations, sold hot chocolate, or helped out in any way they could." Photo by B.J. Tomlinson.
 

The exterior of the house pictured above at 405 Second Street NE in Waukon shows evidence of the fire (blackened siding in front of vehicle in photo) that was reported to the Allamakee County Sheriff Dispatch Center through a 9-1-1 call Wednesday evening, December 3 at approximately 10:07 p.m. According to a report from the Waukon Police Department, the 9-1-1 caller reported that two female residents of the house, 87-year-old Marian Heike and her 56-year-old daughter, Val Heike, were trapped within the burning residence. According to further reports, the two residents were able to be rescued from the home through a window broken out by law enforcement after door entryways were found to be inaccessible due to the flames and a blocked doorway. When asked for further identification of those involved with the rescue, Waukon Police Chief Phil Young simply responded, "they know who they are."

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Tuesday, December 2, with most everything finally falling into place for the Board to award the lease agreement for the County Farm, an action that has been on hold for several weeks for various reasons. Even though such issues as the addition of a conservation plan to the lease agreement and correspondence with bidders on such changes all finally ironed out for the Board, that did not necessarily mean that a decision on the awarding of the contract came any easier for Board members.

The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train will be making a stop in Lansing this Saturday, December 6 at 5:30 p.m. The lighted holiday train will be stopping across from the Sports Complex located on South Front Street in Lansing, one of eight stops the train will be making in Iowa this holiday season. The Canadian Pacific train is adorned with hundreds of thousands of lights and serves as a stage for live musical performances. This year’s performer will be Kira Isabella. As always, Santa Claus will also be making his way around the Holiday Train location at each stop.

The Allamakee County Community Foundation (ACCF) has begun accepting 2015 grant applications. The application is completely online and will be available at the Foundation’s website, www.allamakeefoundation.org. Applications are due by midnight January 31.

Non-profit organizations can apply for grants from the ACCF for projects or programs that address significant community issues and benefit a broad spectrum of the community. Projects must be in Allamakee County.

The holiday season was brightly and briskly kicked off in downtown Waukon Monday evening, December 1 with the annual Lighted Holiday Parade that traversed the city streets. The parade actually took place a week later than originally scheduled, as blowing snow and slippery conditions forced postponement of the parade from its originally planned date of Monday, November 24. Single-digit temperatures (note the 8° lit up on the Waukon State Bank sign at the left of the above photo) and wind chills nearing zero didn't seem to do much to dampen the holiday hopefulness of parade viewers lining Main Street and beyond as nearly two dozen parade entries and other festive activities in downtown Waukon that same evening brightened and warmed the holiday spirit for those attending.

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Tuesday, November 25, continuing to deal with the crop land lease for the County Farm. Lynn Stock, one of the bidders on the crop land, spoke to the Board during the Public Comment portion of the meeting, stating that he hoped the Board would "determine a fair price to rent that farm" and be fair in communicating with everyone in the county interested in that farm land.

by Lissa Blake

Practice makes perfect.

That’s the mantra that helps emergency response organizations prepare themselves for the unexpected.

The annual Lighted Holiday Parade held each year to help kick off the holiday season in downtown Waukon was postponed from its originally scheduled date of Monday, November 24 due to blowing snow and slippery conditions that took hold of the area throughout the day Monday. The annual event is now slated to be held Monday, December 1, with the parade beginning at 6 p.m.