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Twelve young women involved with the Iowa dairy community will compete to win the title of 65th Iowa State Dairy Princess Wednesday, August 8 at 7:30 p.m. at the Multi-Media Center of the Cattle Barn at the State Fairgrounds in Des Moines. The princess and her alternate are charged with helping consumers learn more about dairy products and the farm families who tend the farms and cows that provide them.

Among those 12 competitors will be two Waukon young ladies, Grace Howe and Cayla Nolting, both of whom will be seniors at Waukon High School this fall. Howe, 17-year-old daughter of Shelly and the late Matt Howe of Waukon, will be representing the Iowa Jersey Cattle Club and had also been selected as the 2018 Allamakee County Dairy Princess. Howe’s mother, the former Shelly Fossum, had been selected as Iowa’s Alternate Dairy Princess in 1989.

Volunteers invited to sign up to read during four-day event

February 14 of this year, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed the 99 County Bible Reading Marathon Proclamation encouraging all Iowans to participate in the occasion again this year. Allamakee County will be taking part in that annual event from August 9 at 8 a.m. through August 12 at 6 p.m., around the clock, 24 hours a day, until the entire Bible is read. This year’s local event will take place on the lawn of the Allamakee County Courthouse in Waukon.

The Allamakee County Bible Reading Marathon is seeking community volunteers to help read the Bible at the Allamakee County Courthouse over the course of these four days in August. Time slots of 15 minutes each are available, however, volunteers are more than welcome to sign up for multiple slots if they wish to read for a longer period of time or would like to read on multiple days or at different times throughout the day.

by Lissa Blake

Effigy Mounds National Monument is one of only two National Parks in Iowa, which makes it an asset worth preserving.

Val Reinke, executive director of Allamakee County Economic Development and Tourism, recently had the opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C. to let legislators know why it is so important to take care of the nation’s national parks.

“We have two National Park assets in Iowa: Effigy Mounds and the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum,” said Reinke. “There are 417 national parks, which have $11.6 billion in deferred maintenance.”

GETTING INVITED
Reinke said she had about two weeks notice that the National Trust for Historic Preservation was funding trips to Washington, D.C. to help state teams connect with their legislators.

The annual Allamakee County Fair Queen Pageant was held Tuesday, July 17 at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds Pavilion in Waukon, kicking off the 165th Allamakee County Fair. The four area young ladies pictured in the photo above were all vying for this year’s Fair Queen crown, which was bestowed upon Madalyn Ellingson (far left), daughter of John and Bethany Ellingson of Waukon. Faith Palmer (far right), daughter of John and Meghan Palmer of Waukon, was named the Allamakee County Fair Princess. All four young ladies served as the Allamakee County Fair Royalty Team throughout this year’s fair. Pictured, left to right, are Madalyn Ellingson, Katelyn Leiran, Makayla Manning and Faith Palmer. Ellingson will now advance on to represent Allamakee County in the 2018 Iowa State Fair Queen competition, with coronation being held August 11 in Des Moines. Photo courtesy of ISU Extension and Outreach.

The Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI®) is taking on a very special meaning for a local family this year.

In its first-ever organized team ride during Iowa’s annual bicycling spectacle, the Iowa Donor Network will be honoring those who have given their own gift of life to someone else through organ donation. One of those honorees this year will be the late Mitchell Einck, a 2004 Waukon High School graduate and the son of Dave and Nancy Einck of Waukon who lost his life in a tragic fall in 2012 at the age of 26 but shared his gift of life with many others as an organ donor.

Pedaling with that added purpose will be the Eincks’ son-in-law, Sean Merrick, who is married to their daughter, Tiffany; raising their own family of three young children in Coralville. Merrick currently serves on the Iowa Donor Network Board of Directors and has previously served on the Network’s Donor Family Advisory Board.

Saturday, July 14, the Harper Ferry Fireflies won the gold medal at the Granny Basketball League National Tournament held in Norman, OK, claiming their third consecutive National Championship. The Fireflies, coached by Bill Nation of Harpers Ferry, first swept through their five-team pool with wins of 48-23 over the Passing Fancies out of Missouri, 35-15 over the Fire Ants from Texas, 43-20 over the Grayhawkers from Kansas and 47-24 over the Oklahoma Twisters. Winning that Pool B championship, the Fireflies were matched up with the tournament’s Pool A champions, the Louisiana Crushers, in the National Championship game, which they also won with relative ease, 56-35, to claim their third consecutive National Championship. One other team from Iowa, the Classic Roadrunners, also played in the tournament, finishing third overall with a final win over the Oklahoma Twisters.

Volunteers invited to sign up to read

February 14 of this year, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed the 99 County Bible Reading Marathon Proclamation encouraging all Iowans to participate in the occasion again this year. Allamakee County will be taking part in that annual event from August 9 at 8 a.m. through August 12 at 6 p.m., around the clock, 24 hours a day, until the entire Bible is read. This year’s local event will take place on the lawn of the Allamakee County Courthouse in Waukon.

The Allamakee County Bible Reading Marathon is seeking community volunteers to help read the Bible at the Allamakee County Courthouse over the course of these four days in August. Time slots of 15 minutes each are available, however, volunteers are more than welcome to sign up for multiple slots if they wish to read for a longer period of time or would like to read on multiple days or at different times throughout the day.

Anne Osmundson of Volga was nominated as the Republican candidate for State Representative at the Iowa House District 56 nominating convention held Thursday, July 12 in Postville. The Allamakee and Clayton County Republicans met for the bi-county convention, as District 56 encompasses all of Allamakee County and all but three townships of Clayton County.

Osmundson is a lifelong resident of Clayton County, spending most of her time near the town of Volga. She graduated from Central High School in Elkader. After graduating, she married her husband, Steve. The couple had seven kids and she stayed at home raising them while also working as a bookkeeper for their family business.

Legendary female country music star Terri Clark to headline Friday's grandstand; Free carnival throughout the fair

This week, July 18-22,  the 165th Allamakee County Fair will be held for all to enjoy at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds in Waukon. A wide variety of entertainment is in place to headline this year’s fair at the grandstand, along with a great deal of other activities for everyone to enjoy each and every day throughout the five-day event.

Grandstand to feature star power and horse power

Kicking off this year’s grandstand entertainment line-up Wednesday, July 18 at 7 p.m. will be a Truck and Tractor Pull featuring local trucks and tractors as well as some powered-up regional competitors in a variety of high-revving classes.

by Lissa Blake

It was 50 years ago that longtime community volunteer Wayne Burk heard something that has stayed with him ever since.

“I was at a Jaycees meeting, and this passage came up that I never forgot: ‘Your task is to build a better world, said God. And I answered, ‘I’m so small and useless, there’s nothing I can do.’ And God, in all his wisdom, said, ‘Just build a better you.’ I’ve sort of lived by that,” said Burk.

After 26 years of living in Waukon, the Burks are moving to Independence this week to be closer to family.

Burk, who is originally from the Waterloo area, moved to Waukon in 1992 with his wife, Joan, to take a job as superintendent of the Allamakee Community School District.

After serving the District from 1992-1999, Wayne retired and the Burks decided to stay in town. “We liked it here,” Wayne reflected.