The Waukon City Council met in regular session Monday, December 2 to address a full agenda of matters including a Hazard Mitigation Plan presentation, discussion of the Fiscal-Year 2026 Budget and discussion of downtown signage relating to snow removal and parking.
The meeting was called to order by Mayor Arvid Hatlan with council members Steve Wiedner, Nicholas Engrav and Dave Blocker present in the City Council Chambers. Councilman Kevin Johnson was present via Zoom web-conferencing. There was no Public Comment with the meeting moving into Department Reports.
The Allamakee Ecumenical Choir will present its 48th Annual Candlelight Christmas Festival of Lessons and Carols Service this Sunday, December 8, beginning at 7 p.m. The service will be held at St. John’s Lutheran Church, located at 8 Fifth Street SW in Waukon.
Local clergy will be reading the Christmas Story and carols will be sung by the congregation with organ accompaniment. Choral numbers will also be presented by the Men’s Choir (also known as the Heartland Barbershop and Gospel Singers) and the mass Ecumenical Choir. Music will also be provided by the St. John’s Youth and Adult Handbell Choirs, Waukon High School Saxophone Quartet, along with piano accompaniment by Kristie Roeder and organ performances by James Bieber with the assistance of Kathy Murray. This year’s event is “dedicated in loving memory to Father John Moser,” pastor at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Waukon who passed away in October of this year.
The Waukon High School Choir, under the direction of Sarah Bieber, will be sharing its music with area churches during its 29th Annual Christmas Church Tour this Sunday, December 8, according to the following schedule:
St. John's Lutheran 8:30-8:45 a.m.
Zion United Church of Christ 9:00-9:15 a.m.
Old West Paint Creek Lutheran 9:30-9:45 a.m.
First Presbyterian 10:00-10:15 a.m.
First Baptist 10:30-10:45 a.m.
St. Patrick Catholic 11:00-11:15 a.m.
Zalmona Presbyterian 11:30-11:45 a.m.
Diamond Vogel and Keep Iowa Beautiful have announced that applications for 2025 Paint Iowa Beautiful grants opened Tuesday, November 19. The longstanding partnership provides free paint to a wide variety of public service and community betterment projects throughout Iowa.
Keeping up the appearance of buildings, facilities and parks is an important component of viable communities. Well-maintained and painted buildings reflect pride in communities. Thousands of gallons of paint have been donated to community groups through the Paint Iowa Beautiful program.
“Keep Iowa Beautiful is honored to continue our partnership with Diamond Vogel to award paint to these community betterment projects,” said Andy Frantz, Executive Director of Keep Iowa Beautiful. “We were thrilled to see the number of quality applications submitted by Iowans working to make their state a more beautiful place to live, work and play.”
VMH recognized during National Rural Health Day ... As part of National Rural Health Day, Veterans Memorial Hospital announced it has been recognized for the second year in a row with the Performance Leadership Award for excellence in patient perspective of quality care. Michael Coyle, hospital CEO, contributes this award to the amazing hospital staff and thanks community members for taking the time to complete their patient surveys. Submitted photo.
Again this year, as part of National Rural Health Day, Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) in Waukon has announced that it has earned the Performance Leadership Award for excellence in Patient Perspective. Compiled by The Chartis Center for Rural Health, the Performance Leadership Awards recognize top quartile performance (i.e., 75th percentile or above) among rural hospitals in Quality, Outcomes and/or Patient Perspective.
The Waukon Police Department encountered a new scam this past week. Based on his experience in responding to the event involving the scam, Waukon Police Chief Paul Wagner offered the following description and alert:
“I received a call from a local tow service requesting that I respond to a residence in Waukon. Upon arrival, the tow service person informed me that he received a call from a New York number. The caller requested that he go to a particular address in Waukon and do a vehicle unlock on a 2013 Hyundai Sonata. The caller advised that he is calling for a family member as their phone isn’t working. He further requested that the tow service call him back when he is with the female/his family member.
Each year, in honor of Giving Tuesday, Peoples State Bank gives a donation to local community food pantries in the area. In 2024 Peoples State Bank donated a total of $8,000 to local food pantries, including West Grant Lions Club, Clayton County Food Shelf, Coulee Cap Food Pantry, Gays Mills Food Pantry, Lancaster Food Pantry, Living Faith Food Pantry, Allamakee County Food Shelf and Six Rivers Food Pantry.
Pictured above at the donation presentation to the Allamakee County Food Shelf located in Waukon are: Left to right - Front row: Food Shelf volunteer Mary Axmear accepting the donation check from Peoples State Bank Ag Relationship Manager Dennis Lyons; Back row: Peoples State Bank Ag Relationship Manager Reid Mahoney, and Food Shelf volunteers Vicky Thorson, Gary Rumph and Charles Berg.
Battle of the Bulge 80th anniversary ... Donald Rubendall of Allamakee County is pictured above receiving battlefield commission as Lieutenant. A recorded interview with Rubendall will be part of the program presented at the Allamakee County Veterans Museum in Waukon Saturday, December 14 and Monday, December 16 in honor of the 80th anniversary of WWII’s Battle of the Bulge. Submitted photo.
Saturday, December 14, at 10 a.m., the Allamakee County Veterans Museum will present a program commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge during World War II at its museum located at 105 Allamakee Street in Waukon. The program will also be repeated Monday, December 16 at 10 a.m. at the museum.
The German Army’s attack on the Allied front lines in Belgium and Luxembourg in the Ardennes Forest through Bastogne and St. Vith was intended to seize the port of Antwerp in a last ditch effort to stop the Allied attack on the German homeland from the west. The Battle of the Bulge began December 16, 1944.
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach joined the St. Patrick School Kindergarten class recently to offer hands-on learning through a “Fizz, Bubble, Goo!” Day. The kindergarteners learned what makes Alka Seltzer fizz and what gas blew up their balloon when they mixed baking soda and vinegar (top photo). Another experiment was making elephant toothpaste and watching the reaction between hydrogen peroxide, yeast, and soap. One of the favorite activities was making different slime recipes (bottom photo) and seeing which one held together the best and which one was the gooiest. The students made bubbles and bubble blowers, and made their own cola with ingredients right out of the cupboard. The final experiment was watching the volcano of Mentos and Diet Coke (photo at center).
Lena Rausch, a seventh grade student at Waukon Middle School and the daughter of Ben and Kris Rausch of Waukon, was recently selected for participation in the 38th annual Opus Honor Choir Festival. Over 2400 students were nominated by their directors for 720 positions in the four Opus Honor Choirs. Selections were made by means of a recorded audition. Rausch is under the direction of Sarah J. Bieber at Waukon Middle/High School.
Guest conductors of the choirs include Jennifer Ghelf, 5th and 6th Grade Honor Choir; John Hayden, 7th and 8th Grade Bass Clef Honor Choir; Rachael Wragge, 7th and 8th Grade Treble Clef Honor Choir; and Meg Byrne, 9th Grade Mixed Honor Choir. The 2024 Opus Honor Choirs performed Thursday, November 21 in C.Y. Stephens Auditorium in the Iowa State Center on the campus of Iowa State University in Ames. The Opus Honor Choir Festival is made possible by the Iowa Choral Directors Association, Inc.
