The Waukon High School Music Department has selected "State Fair" as this year's musical production under the direction of Sarah J. Palmer and assistant director Louise Wild. Three performances are being planned for Thursday, November 2 at 7 p.m., Saturday, November 4 at 7 p.m., and a matinee Sunday, November 5 at 1 p.m. The performances will be held at the Waukon High School auditorium.
Imagine that it is the late Summer of 1946 on an Iowa family farm - the Frake family farm in Brunswick, Iowa to be exact. The Frakes are preparing to leave for the Iowa State Fair. Father, Abel (played by Nathan Smith), is confident his prize boar, Blue Boy, will win a blue ribbon, but neighbor, Dave Miller (played by Michael Benson), isn't so sure. He makes a $5 bet that something is bound to go wrong for at least one member of the family. Abel accepts the bet.
The Allamakee Community School District (ACSD) will once again be sponsoring a number of retreats for its students in November. Youth Frontiers, an organization from Minneapolis, MN, will host the retreats. Youth Frontiers is a nonprofit organization in existence since 1987. The group delivered over 861 retreats last year to over 130,000 students from 775 schools.
Youth Frontiers’ retreats act as a catalyst for students. By taking an entire grade offsite (to Village Creek for ACSD students), Youth Frontiers challenges them to bring respect back to the hallways of the school. These retreats will focus on Kindness, Courage and Respect. Ultimately, students become engaged in making the school a place where students and teachers are respected and both are challenged to learn to maximize their full potential.
With the City Election Tuesday, November 7, residents of Waukon will be revisiting the Hotel and Motel Tax issue currently in place in Waukon by voting to keep the tax rate at four percent or raise it to a State-allowed maximum rate of seven percent. The hotel and motel tax may have created some confusion due to the nature of the tax, which was enacted to benefit residents by taxing short-term lodging, 31 days or less, including hotels, motels and bed and breakfast establishments. In other words, this is a tax affecting visitors to the area staying in a hotel or other short-term lodging, not a tax to be paid by residents of the local community; unless, of course, they complete a stay in one of those local lodging facilities.
The Waukon Wellness Center is celebrating its 10-year anniversary during the month of November with a "10 Days of Wellness" promotion offering a variety of free activities and usage to experience the benefits of the Center. Pictured above near the cardio exercise equipment at the Center are, left to right, Program Director Kim Kraus, Park & Rec Wellness Director Jeremy Strub and Customer Service/Office Manager Bonnie Wild. Submitted photo.
It has been 10 years since the Waukon Wellness Center opened its doors to the local community, November 15, 2007 to be exact. Now, 10 years later, staff and board members of the facility want to celebrate that milestone and show their appreciation to the local community for the generosity and support shown over the last 10 years with a "10 Days of Wellness" promotion.
For those not as familiar with the Waukon Wellness Center, it is a city-owned, 32,000 square foot facility designed with a goal to provide recreation and improve and maintain the health of the local community. “Our intention is for all to feel welcome here and to offer a wide variety of membership opportunities, classes and a positive atmosphere, striving to meet the needs of as many people in our community as possible,” says Jeremy Strub, Director of the Waukon Wellness Center.
Friday, September 22, employees from New Albin Savings Bank and Kerndt Brothers Bank joined together and raised money for the Kee Booster Club by hosting the sixth annual Kee High School tailgate party. Pictured above at the donation of proceeds from this year’s event are, left to right, Kelli Mudderman of New Albin Savings Bank, Laurie Van Brocklin of the Kee Booster Club and Clem Schulte of Kerndt Brothers Bank Since its inception, this event has raised over $11,000 for the Kee Booster Club. This year’s donation will be used to install a new automatic cooling water fountain in the gym. The free-will donation meal at the event included grilled hamburgers and hot dogs from the Allamakee County Cattlemen, while Calhoun Creamery and WW Homestead Dairy supplied 20 pounds of fresh cheese curds for everyone to enjoy. Everyone who attended the free meal also received a free Kee High synch back.
Two-decade drought gives way to best -ever team finish ... Members of the Kee girls cross country team look toward their fans after being awarded their trophy for their third-place finish in the Class 1A competition of the State Cross Country Meet held at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course near Fort Dodge Saturday, October 28. Having qualified as an entire team for the State Meet season grand finale for the first time since the 1996 season, the Lady Hawks furthered that milestone effort by running to the best finish in team history with their third-place effort among the Class 1A elite. Pictured above, left to right, are junior Katie Brennan, sophomore Makayla Peters, senior Nicki Wood, junior Makayla Walleser, sophomores Laura Colsch and Rachel Walleser and Coach Pat Wagner. View and find out how to purchase this photo and more by clicking on the Photo Galleries link on this website.
The Kee Hawk faithful certainly know their way to Fort Dodge, and for the first time in two decades they were able to make that journey to watch a full team of some familiar faces who have typically performed a few more miles down the road, instead, perform for a few miles...period. That performance, in the Class 1A field of the Iowa High School State Cross Country Meet Saturday, October 28, was not only the first team appearance for the Kee girls cross country team since the 1996 season, but it also turned out to be the best-ever finish for the cross country Lady Hawks in team history, as they ran to a third-place team result among Class 1A’s cross country elite.
Following the front line to a career high ... Waukon football senior Mitchell Snitker (#8 in center of the above photo) follows the blocking of his offensive line made up of (left to right) seniors Ethan Krueger, Colin Waters, Alex Brink (on ground) and Tanner Peterson, and junior Brady Sullivan for a one-yard touchdown, with fellow senior backfield mates Tristan Hansmeier and Evan Armstead (left to right at far right) also helping out. Behind that front line that also included, at times, senior Chance Opperman and junior Pryce Hesse, Snitker ran for a career-high 232 yards and five touchdowns in the Indians’ 46-16 win at Clear Lake Friday, October 27 in the opening round of the Class 2A State Play-Offs. View and find out how to purchase this photo and many more by clicking on the Photo Galleries link on this website.
Indians will travel to New Hampton this Friday for rematch in quarterfinals
Neither wind, nor cold nor the dark-uniformed Clear Lake Lion defense that has not given up more than 14 points in any of its previous seven games could stop the Waukon football team from delivering itself to the quarterfinal round of the Class 2A State Play-Offs with a 46-16 rout of the host Lions in the opening round of the season grand finale series Friday, October 27. Temperatures hovering around the freezing mark, winds blowing between 20 and 30 mph definitely pushing wind chills below that freezing mark, and a steady dose of snow showers may have lopsided the Indians’ usually balanced offensive attack, but the 371 yards the Indians gained on the ground, compared to just 97 through the air, proved to be more than enough to fuel a 46-0 headstart the Indians gained through three quarters on the way to the victory.
Freshman finish ... Waukon girls cross country freshman Regan Griffith battles a runner down the homestretch of the Class 2A State Cross Country Meet in Fort Dodge Saturday, October 28. Griffith ran to a 67th-place overall finish, 49th place for team scoring, with a clocking of 21:38.3. View and find out how to purchase this photo and many more by clicking on the Photo Galleries link on this website.
The Waukon girls cross country season came to an end exceeding expectations at the season grand finale of the Class 2A State Meet Saturday, October 28 at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course near Fort Dodge. Heading into every team’s ultimate destination, the Indians were rated 11th by the Iowa Track and Field Coaches Association but ran to a ninth-place finish in the Class 2A State Meet field of 15 teams, their 242 team points just two away from placing even one position higher.
Freshman firepower ... Kee volleyball freshman Jada Mitchell blasts this kill attempt in the Hawks’ five-set Class 1A Region 5 semifinals victory at 10th-rated Dunkerton Thursday, October 26. Mitchell hammered out seven kills, had two digs and denied three solo blocks while assisting on another net halt in the match. View and find out how to purchase this photo and more by clicking on the Photo Galleries link on this website.
The Kee volleyball team took another thrilling step down the postseason tournament trail, taking fans on yet another rollercoaster ride to the brink of yet another history-making possibility for Kee High School. In their Class 1A Region 5 semifinal match at 10th-rated Dunkerton Thursday, October 26, the Hawks swept the first two sets of the match, 27-25 and 25-20, but then suffered losses of 16-25 and 20-25 to bring the match to a decisive fifth set, where the Kee netters once again appeared to have their season on the ropes, but battled their way back once again to secure the set-five win, 15-10, and the match victory.
Joann E. Welch, 84, of Waukon passed away peacefully with her family by her side Thursday, October 26, 2017 at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. Mass of Christian burial was held Monday, October 30 at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Waukon with Fr. Mark Osterhaus officiating. Burial was at St. Mary's Lycurgus Cemetery, rural Waukon. Memorials can be made to the St. Patrick School in Waukon or to the REACH suicide prevention organization (c/o NEI Behavioral Health Center, PO Box 349, Decorah, IA 52101).
Joann “Josie” Elizabeth Welch was born March 23, 1933 in Postville, the daughter of Louis and Gertrude (Harris) Hangartner. She was baptized and confirmed at Postville Presbyterian Church and attended Postville High School. After her schooling, she helped her parents operate the Volney cheese factory.
