The Waukon High School Marching Band participated in the Iowa High School Music Association State Marching Band Festival Saturday, October 12 at Senior High School in Dubuque. This is the fourth consecutive year the band has participated in the State Festival after a 30-plus year hiatus from the event. Performing in front of a panel of six judges, the Marching Indians received a Division I rating, the first Division I rating for the marching band program in 50 years.
An election to fill a vacancy in Director District 3 on the Board of Directors of the Keystone Area Education Agency will be conducted at a convention December 2 of this year at 12 Noon at Keystone Area Education Agency, 1400 Second Street NW, Elkader.
The director district includes the Allamakee, Clayton Ridge, Eastern Allamakee, Edgewood-Colesburg, and MFL/MarMac Community School Districts. The director will be elected by the school boards of those districts.
The election is for the remaining period of a four-year term expiring in December 2025 to fill the position formerly held by Dr. Bill Withers. Dr. Withers passed away in September of this year, having served 45 years on the board.
Main Street Lansing welcomes new executive director ... Main Street Lansing has hired Jackie Cooper as its new executive director and everyone is invited to meet her at an Open House event this Thursday, November 7. Pictured above, left to right, are former Main Street Lansing Executive Director and current Board Member Andrew Boddicker, Board Member Maryann Baldwin, new Executive Director Jackie Cooper, Board President Chris Troendle, and Board Member Curtis Snitker. Photo by Julie Berg-Raymond.
Community members are invited to meet new director and learn more about MSL at an Open House this Thursday, November 7 at The Works in Lansing
by Julie Berg-Raymond
Main Street Lansing (MSL) has hired a new executive director; and although she wasn’t born and raised there, a person could be forgiven for thinking she was. “Lansing has always been my second home,” she says.
Jackie Cooper grew up in rural Fayette and currently lives in the Churchtown area with her husband, Jalen - who was born and raised in Lansing - and their three children, all under five years old. She and her husband both fish and hunt (bow and shotgun), and they both love the Mississippi River. In a recent Main Street Lansing newsletter, Cooper introduced herself, saying, “My family and I spent countless summer days enjoying the beauty of the river and the warmth of the Lansing community.”
Those who drive Iowa 26 in Lansing will need to be aware that work continues on the new Mississippi River Bridge and changes in traffic patterns on the Iowa side of the bridge are taking place. Beginning Monday, November 4, weather permitting, the bridge contractor started moving heavy equipment to the Iowa side of the Mississippi River for the next phase of construction.
Drivers have been most recently able to drive through the work zone on Iowa 26 between Hale and Henry Streets in Lansing with assistance of temporary traffic signals that had been installed. As of Monday, November 4, crews removed those traffic signals and traffic will now be directed by flaggers between the Black Hawk Bridge and Henry Street between the hours of 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., so the contractor can bring in the heavy equipment.
The Driftless Area Education and Visitors Center will host a Driftless Birding Day Saturday, November 9. The Driftless Birding Day will include a guest speaker, exhibits, and self-guided field trips to area birding hotspots.
At 10:30 a.m. that day, Stephen Winter, Wildlife Biologist for the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge, will be giving a presentation on canvasback ducks.
The self-guided field trips will include the Brownsville, MN overlook, Stoddard, WI overlook, New Albin’s Army Road, Red Oak Road near Harpers Ferry, and the Ferryville, WI overlook. Self-guided field trips are available any time during the weekend. Maps and directions to each site will be available from 8a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday the week prior to the Driftless Birding Day at the Driftless Area Education and Visitors Center.
Reisinger runs to his first-ever All-State finish ... Waukon boys cross country senior Isaac Reisinger (in the individual photo below) raises his arms in celebration after his name is announced as one of the All-State honorees who finished among the top-15 individuals at the Class 2A State Cross Country Meet held at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course near Fort Dodge Saturday, November 2. Reisinger is pictured above with this year’s Class 2A All-State top-15 individual finishers, including (left to right) Denver junior Myles Matthias, 15th in 16:31.1; Mid-Prairie Wellman senior Preston Yutzy, 14th in 16:28.7; Oelwein senior Caleb Schunk, 13th in 16:27.9; Pella Christian junior Sawyer Meinders, 12th in 16:27.2; Waukon senior Isaac Reisinger, 11th in a career-best 16:25.3; Spirit Lake senior Dietrich Dirks, 10th in 16:23.8; Jesup senior Nathan Pint, 9th in 16:23.0; Oelwein senior Conall Sauser, 8th in 16:19.7; Denver freshman Jesse Gomez, 7th in 16:19.7; Garner-Hayfield-Ventura senior Zach Flatebo, 6th in 16:10.1; Clarinda senior Kyle Wagoner, 5th in 16:09.2; Mid-Prairie Wellman senior Emmett Swartzentruber, 4th in 15:56.4; Spirit Lake senior Brandon Hughes, 3rd in 15:55.4; Vinton-Shellsburg junior Alex Torres, Runner-Up in 15:55.3; and Grundy Center junior Emerson Vokes, Champion in 15:37.5. View and find out how to purchase these photos and many more by clicking on the Photo Galleries link on this webpage.
Senior leadership one final time ... Waukon boys cross country seniors Isaac Reisinger (left in foreground) and Caleb Helgerson (right in background) provided one last dose of leadership for the distance Tribe at the Class 2A State Cross Country Meet at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course near Fort Dodge Saturday, November 2. Reisinger wrapped up his high school career with his first-ever All-State finish in the meet’s overall top-15 individuals in his fourth consecutive State Meet appearance for the Tribe, placing 11th overall, eighth for team scoring, in a personal-best time of 16:25.3. Helgerson also brought his high school career to a close with his third State Meet for the Indians, claiming a 53rd-place overall finish, 37th for team scoring, in a clocking of 17:27.3. View and find out how to purchase this photo and many more by clicking on the Photo Galleries link on this webpage.
The Waukon boys cross country team’s Saturday, November 2 participation in the Class 2A State Meet at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course near Fort Dodge was one of exceeding, extending and enhancing. Ranked 11th among Class 2A teams heading into that season grand finale, the distance Tribe exceeded those expectations by running to a seventh-place team finish that extended the Indians’ current streak of five consecutive top-10 State Meet team finishes, while further enhancing the Waukon legacy at that season grand finale with an All-State individual finish among the most elite of its distance colleagues.
Leads the Lady Indian effort ... Waukon girls cross country freshman Miriam Downing leads this small pack at the Class 2A State Cross Country Meet at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course near Fort Dodge Saturday, November 2. Downing paced the Lady Indian effort at the season grand finale with her 36th-place overall finish in the meet field of 136 runners, 21st for team scoring, in a time of 20:25.6. View and find out how to purchase this photo and many more by clicking on the Photo Galleries link on this webpage.
Competing for the first time in five seasons as an entire team at the destination where all Iowa high school cross country teams strive to be, the Waukon girls cross country team exceeded the expectations of many in running to a 12th-place team finish at the Class 2A State Cross Country Meet held at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course near Fort Dodge Saturday, November 2. Ranked 13th among this year’s Class 2A distance elite heading into the season grand finale, the young Lady Indian squad without a senior on its State Meet crew finished one spot higher than that ranking, tallying 238 points to finish 12th in that 15-team Class 2A field, with that team total being just three points out of cracking the top-10 in those final team standings.
Upcoming Deadlines/Dates
November 4: COC ballots mailed to LAA 3 Producers
November 11: Office closed in observance of Veterans Day
November 28: Office closed in observance of Thanksgiving
November 29: Deadline to apply for the Organic Dairy Marketing Assistance Program (ODMAP)
December 2: Deadline to return COC ballots to FSA Office
December 15: Deadline to certify fall-seeded crops - Note: Although cover crops can be reported at any time, we encourage you to do it this fall (2024)
Study the factors that make up your score now, before new policy becomes effective
Farmers who want to gain a better understanding of their Carbon Intensity Score can take advantage of a simple calculator developed by an economist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach.
The calculator relies on just five input numbers, according to Alejandro Plastina - corn acres, nitrogen use and corn yield with current farming practices, change in nitrogen use and change in yields under new farming practices.
The score is a calculation of how much carbon is used per bushel of crop production and is an important measurement used for selling grain to certain ethanol plants that plan to participate in the federally incentivized Carbon Intensity Score program.
November has arrived and that means Thanksgiving day is not far off. This is a great opportunity to focus on gratitude - to celebrate the many blessings you have.
When you’re feeling grateful, your mind is clear, you have a deeper relationship to God and the whole of Creation, and you become more aware of the big picture. The world becomes a friendly place to live. Couldn’t we all use that right about now?
