News Center newsletter

Cole Welch and Brea Benjegerdes of Waukon announce the birth of their daughter, Brynn Vivian Welch, born March 30, 2017 at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. She weighed 6 lbs. 11.2 ozs. and measured 22 inches in length at the time of her birth.

Grandparents are Terry and Laurie Welch, Pam Benjegerdes, Greg Benjegerdes and Becky Underbakke, all of Waukon. Great-grandparents are Janet and the late David Snitker, JoAnn and the late Ralph Welch, Gene and Joyce Knox and David and Vivian Benjegerdes, all of Waukon.

Bryce and McKayla Dahlstrom of Lansing announce the birth of their son, Bradley Neil Dahlstrom, born April 4, 2017 at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. He weighed 7 lbs. 10 ozs. and measured 21 inches in length at the time of his birth. He joins a brother, Brayden (2).

Grandparents are Brad O’Hare and Christy Stone of Waukon, Patty Dahlstrom and Al Peterson of Lansing and Bruce Dahlstrom, Sr. of Waukon. Great-grandparents are Ray and Karen O’Hare of Waukon and Dave and Charlotte Fish of Waterville. Dolores Fish of Waukon is a great-great-grandmother.
 

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that I noticed that in the news this Monday morning of the week of the Masters golf tournament at Augusta, GA, there were severe weather warnings for that area.

That’s always an event held in beautiful surroundings, if not always beautiful weather.

Yesterday, one of the dailies did a story about Iowan Zach Johnson, who won that event ten years ago. The story noted that he has won 11 other tournaments, including the British Open in 2015. Last year seemed to be not a very good year for Zach, but the story says he won over $1.7 million in 2016, which would be a pretty good year for any businessman. His lifetime earnings in prize money top $40.8 million, at age 41.

Key words in that final sentence are prize money.

Greetings brothers and sisters in Christ, it is April and we are beginning to see the spring weather. As I am writing this, I recall that just a couple of weeks ago we had rain, lightning and thunder. The beautiful weather we are receiving comes with a price and that is the severe weather that can come seemingly from out of the blue.

The other day I saw a robin, and I have noticed some of the flowers in the beds around the parsonage growing with the promise of blooming soon. Spring planting season is nearly upon us and flowers are getting ready for the day when they will bloom in glorious color. This reminds me of what it is like to be a Christian.

We go through a time in our lives when all is cold, dark and gloomy and then as we learn of Christ we come to the time of a new life. This new life is not without its own storms but through those storms we receive the precious rain that waters our faith so that we may grow as Christians.

To the Editor:

The “Reality 101” events are terrific learning experiences, but shouldn’t the topics included be part of every school’s regular curriculum?

David Anderson
Waukon
 

To the Editor:

Between birth and death, we are criminals, living in a prison that we cannot escape from. We have been imprisoned since the day we were born, living among a bunch of criminals, all of us committing crime after crime against our creator. We are on death row as punishment for living a life of crime. There is only one door which after having served time in this prison that will open for each one of us. That door is death.

Each of us have a soul that is at death separated from our bodies and goes to one of two places. The choice is ours while we serve our sentence here alive on earth. There is no other choice. Originally man was placed on this earth to worship and serve our creator. A couple of our ancestors decided to follow Satan. That criminal act is still following us. The Bible calls it sin. Sin is doing something that is against the laws of our God and creator. Such as changing His laws, eliminating some of them or disobeying them.

Dr. Bill Withers of Waukon, board member at Keystone Area Education Agency (AEA), was recently honored as the recipient of the first-ever Dr. E. Robert Stephens Award from Iowa’s Area Education Agencies. Withers received the award during a presentation at the AEA Boards of Directors Conference held March 30 in Des Moines.

This is the first year for the award and it is an opportunity to recognize and celebrate outstanding candidates for their contributions to education and the AEA system. Withers was nominated for the award by fellow board member George Holland of Dubuque.

"It's very humbling and a great honor, especially when considering the legacy the award is named after, the man we call the 'founding father' of AEA, Dr. Bob Stephens," Dr. Withers remarked. "He was just a grand guy, and was pretty much single-handedly responsible for putting this all together before it was enacted by the State Legislature in 1974."

Main Street Iowa hosted the 31st annual Main Street Iowa Awards Celebration Friday, April 7 at Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines. The program honored the efforts of those who work day in and day out in downtown revitalization in Iowa. The event was attended by approximately 550 individuals representing communities across the state.

Main Street Iowa has annually presented awards honoring outstanding accomplishments, activities and people that are making a difference in Iowa’s Main Street districts. Projects large and small are recognized and serve as outstanding examples of what historic commercial district revitalization is all about.

Saturday, March 25, students from the Waukon High School Band and Vocal programs traveled to Cresco for the Iowa High School Music Association (IHSMA) State Solo and Ensemble Contests. Each soloist or ensemble performed for a certified judge and following their performance they received a rating.
A Division “I" rating is the highest rating and is considered to be a "superior" performance. Division “II” is an excellent performance, Division “III” is a good performance, Division “IV” is fair, and Division "V" is a poor performance.
The Saxophone Trio of members Erika Johnson, Katie Hagensick and Michael Smith received a “Best of Center Award” for the day, which consists of receiving a perfect score from their judge and being designated by that same judge at the end of the day as the best performance from that center for the day.
Results for Waukon High School performances from the contest day are as follows:

Kee High School’s production of the two one-act musicals “Big Bad Musical” and “Cinderella” was performed April 1 and 2. Pictured are members of the cast and crew of this year’s production. The musicals were both family-oriented shows that allowed the cast to interact with the children in the audience. Many of the children wore fairytale character costumes and were invited for a meet and greet after the show. Pictures in Cinderella’s carriage and with the other characters up on the stage were a highlight of the evening, as pictured below and to the right. Submitted photos.