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by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Tuesday, May 28 following the Monday, May 27 closure of the Allamakee County Courthouse in observance of the Memorial Day holiday and met again in regular session within a week, Monday, June 3, at the New Albin Public Library as part of the Supervisors’ annual schedule of county library visits. Coverage of both meetings appears below.

MAY 28 SESSION
The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Tuesday, May 28 following the Monday, May 27 closure of the Allamakee County Courthouse in observance of the Memorial Day holiday. The Supervisors addressed a short meeting agenda including a plat approval and discussion of a lot and surrounding roads in Rossville.

The Nation of Patriots, a volunteer organization with a mission to provide financial support to families of wounded military veterans who have made sacrifices in service to their country, brought its 2019 Patriot Tour through Waukon Sunday, May 19 as part of its annual three-month summer tour across the country. Tour participants display a United States flag which is transferred between riders at each designated stop along the tour that will travel the contiguous 48 United States before it will finally end up back at its original starting location in Beaver Dam, WI in early September.

by Susan Cantine-Maxson

Tom Garrett of Lansing has put a lot of miles on Eastern Allamakee Community School District buses through the last 41 years. This year marks his retirement from that job.

More than 40 years ago, when he was in his mid-twenties, he heard that the school district transportation director, Vince Mullarkey, was looking for bus drivers. Mullarkey and Donny Johnson were in charge of the busing system and knew Garrett. Through those early years, Garrett was also a full-time deputy sheriff for Allamakee County, but he worked a majority of night shifts, so during the day he could drive school buses.

After he retired from the Sheriff’s department in 2004, he increased his bus load to include more activity buses in addition to his morning and evening routes.

The Allamakee County Dairy Promotion Board invites the public to its Annual Dairy Days Parade, which will be held in Lansing Monday, June 3, beginning at 7:30 p.m. The parade will start at Kee High School, travel through downtown on Main Street, south on Second Street and back west on John and Center Streets to end up at the school.

Those wishing to have an entry in this year’s parade should line up at Kee High School in Lansing between 7-7:15 p.m. For more information, call Jeremy Peake at 563-568-4120.

The National Weather Service issued a Tornado Warning at approximately 8:30 p.m. Friday, May 24 for the mostly central one-third of Allamakee County, a swath from west of Waukon angling slightly northeast to the Mississippi River equal distance to the north and south of Lansing. The National Weather Service out of La Crosse, WI reported that the warning was issued due to a storm cell located west of Waukon showing radar indication of rotation in its cloud formation, and the warning was issued until 9:15 p.m. with warning sirens sounding in both Waukon and Lansing.

The National Weather Service advised that no reports of a tornado touchdown or sightings of funnel clouds were received, and no damage was reported from the storm that did pass through that area. Those reports were confirmed by the Allamakee County Emergency Management Agency.

The 2019 Memorial Day Observance Program being held at Oakland Cemetery in Waukon Monday, May 27 is scheduled to commence following the traditional parade that begins at 9:45 a.m. in front of the Allamakee County Courthouse and marches its way to the cemetery. In the event of rain, the program will be held at the Waukon Banquet Center.

In addition to the weather, road construction in the downtown Waukon area may prevent the traditional parade from taking place as well. Should the construction work on Allamakee Street and/or Main Street prevent the parade from beginning at its traditional County Courthouse point of origin, plans are to begin the parade at the St. Patrick School parking lot and travel east down the hill toward Rossville Road and then south to Oakland Cemetery. Should weather and/or road construction not fully cooperate, the Memorial Day Observance Program will be scheduled for 10 a.m.

Issuing the “Next Generation Challenge” to veterans and youth

“I feel an obligation to continue to tell their story, because, like it or not, there aren’t many of them left to keep telling it.”

That’s what historian and author Michael Luick-Thrams says about the World War II Prisoners of War (POWs) that he has researched and written several books about over the past 20 years. That feeling of obligation has further led to the establishment of TRACES, a nonprofit organization started by Luick-Thrams in the late 1980s that has helped gather and preserve those and many more stories of historical significance through which Luick-Thrams says he wants to help “apply lessons of the past to current situations.”

by Susan Cantine-Maxson

Brennan Dolan, Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) Cultural Resource Project Manager, met with interested area residents regarding further discussion pertaining to the Black Hawk Bridge project plan Wednesday, May 2 at the Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library. A full house listened and asked numerous questions as Dolan and colleagues Shelby Ebel, Bryan Bradly and Emily Randall reviewed the findings of the Iowa DOT in regard to the proposed Black Hawk Bridge project.

This was the fourth meeting of DOT officials with the Lansing Historic Working Group. The two purposes of this meeting were to: 1) discuss historic resources identified as a result of the project area for the bridge and 2) discuss the options that the Iowa DOT, Wisconsin DOT and Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) have considered for rehabilitation and reuse of the current bridge.

Saturday, May 11, a full-scale emergency response training exercise was conducted through Allamakee County Emergency Management in various locations throughout the local area, including the town of New Albin, Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon and the long-term care facilities of Good Samaritan Society-Postville, Good Samaritan Society-Waukon, Northgate Care Center in Waukon, and Thornton Manor Nursing Center and Thornton Heights Assisted Living in Lansing. This training involved New Albin Fire and Rescue, the City of New Albin, the Lansing/New Albin Police Department, Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office, Waterloo Hazardous Materials Training Center, Veterans Memorial Hospital, Allamakee County Emergency Management Agency, staff of the participating long-term care facilities and representatives from the Northeast Iowa Local Emergency Planning Committee.