News Center newsletter

The 2021 Allamakee County Dairy Banquet is scheduled to be held Saturday, June 12 at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds Pavilion in Waukon. The meal will be served from 7-8:30 p.m. with the program starting at 8 p.m. Tickets may be purchased at the door.

The event is traditionally held in March each year, but the Allamakee County Dairy Promotion Board decided to wait and see what developed with the COVID-19 pandemic this year, with vaccinations and lower positive case numbers leading to the decision to hold the in-person event in June. The banquet was called off entirely last year as the pandemic reared its head locally just before the event’s scheduled March date.

Roll of Honor display seeks photos of local veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty

Remodeling of the former Vets Club Building on Allamakee Street in Waukon will be completed this summer for use as a Veterans Museum. Designing and setting up of displays and exhibits will follow as time and resources permit.

Help is needed in preserving the memories and stories of Allamakee County’s military veterans from all conflicts and service. One special project is to collect photos of all county service members who died in the line of duty for use in a Roll of Honor display.

Anyone who has any photos, stories, letters, documents, posters, maps, uniforms, equipment or memorabilia to share or donate should contact Jim Garrett at 563-568-7606, John Bauercamper at 563-568-7526 or johnbauercamper@gmail.com, or the Allamakee Historical Society at P.O. Box 95, Waukon, IA 52172.

Children and families are encouraged to participate in Robey Memorial Library’s program series, Summer Explorers, to be held every other Wednesday from June 2 through August 11 from 10:30-11:30 a.m. The schedule for this year’s program series is as follows, with participants advised to dress appropriately as some of the programs can be very hands-on:

The Allamakee Community Players will be presenting “Theatre in the Park” each Saturday at 2 p.m. during the month of June at the Waukon City Park Amphitheater. Members of the Allamakee Community Players will be performing various skits and monologues, both humorous and dramatic, each Saturday afternoon, June 5, 12, 19 and 26.

All ages are welcome to attend. No admission will be charged, but donations are gratefully accepted.

Anyone near the Waukon Wellness Center Saturday, May 15 was sure to see bubbles floating over the roof. Clover Kids experimented with store-bought bubbles and homemade bubbles made out of dish soap, water and glycerin. They made their own unique bubble blowers out of pipe cleaners, including small, large, round and heart-shaped. Outside, they were challenged to test each solution (as evident in the photo at left above) and see which one produced the toughest, largest and highest flying bubbles.

Clover Kids also made elephant’s toothpaste. Using a mix of hydrogen peroxide, dish soap, yeast and water, they learned about chemical reactions. The hydrogen peroxide is broken down into water and oxygen. The extra water and oxygen mixes with the dish soap to create foam. It looks like foamy toothpaste being squeezed from a tube, but so big it’s fit for an elephant (as evident in the photo at right above).

Wednesday, May 26, a luncheon was held in the Waukon Middle School Gym for all employees of the Allamakee Community School District (ACSD). In addition to commemorating the end of another school year, the luncheon was held to honor employees of the district who have achieved 15, 20, 25 and 30 years of continuous service within the district along with those who are retiring from the district. Pictured above are the ACSD employees who have now retired from the school district following completion of this school year. Left to right - Front row: Karen Burke, Tess Pladsen, Denise Tysland, Joan Schmidt, Joan Schwartz; Back row: Virginia Kurth, Julie Magner, Mary (Muggs) Berns, Debra Rissman, Cindy Wuebker, Jim McCormick. Not pictured: Cindy Egan, Pat Snitker.

Second graders from the classrooms of Mrs. Liddiard, Mrs. Voight, Mrs. Christensen and Mrs. Allison at West Elementary School in Waukon have been learning how farms help the local community and where food comes from. Friday, April 23, the classes visited Johanningmeier Dairy Farm in rural Waterville to see those concepts in action. The students learned about all the jobs that they could do on the farm, as well as how food gets from the farm to the store and then to the kitchen table. They learned about field work, calving, milking and veterinarian responsibilities. Candidate for Allamakee County Dairy Princess Madi Palmer joined the groups and shared her dairy experiences and offered dairy treats. The second graders were able to tour the milking parlor, office, calf barns, cow barns and feed storage areas. Allamakee County Farm Bureau provided the treats and the transportation to the farm. Submitted photos.

High school students who decide on their career paths early in life may be able to save on time and college tuition expense. Just ask five May 2021 Waukon High School graduates who identified their career objectives and earned the college credits during their high school academic career that they needed to also earn an Associate of Arts degree through Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC).

May 23 those five Waukon High School students received their high school diplomas and two-year transfer degrees. With all five of them being four-year university bound, the graduates plan to develop their skills and knowledge in a variety of fields, including business, marketing management, agriculture and biology. The students earned 60 college credits because of a concurrent enrollment established between NICC and Waukon High School.

Kerndt Brothers Bank has announced that Duane Rogers has joined the bank as President. Rogers will be actively involved with Bank CEO James Kerndt in directing and leading strategic initiatives to support bank growth and profitability.

Rogers joins Kerndt Brothers Savings Bank from People’s State Bank in Prairie du Chien, WI where he was Vice President of Business Development. He brings with him over 29 years of experience in the financial services industry.

Kerndt Brothers Bank has announced that Evan Kooiker has joined the bank as Senior Vice President/Chief Financial Officer. Kooiker is responsible for the bank’s accounting functions, policies and funds management activities. Kooiker joins Kerndt Brothers Bank from Prime Bank in LeMars, where he focused on accounting, investments and asset liability management. He brings over 12 years of experience in banking.