News Center newsletter

Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Auxiliary #4117 presented Citizenship Awards to 4-H entries at the 2020 Allamakee County Fair. A number of Allamakee County 4-H members completed projects and entry forms for the Citizenship Awards and VFW Auxiliary members then judged the entries on Entry Day of the Allamakee County Fair and selected recipients in grade categories for Kindergarten through sixth (K-6) and seventh through 12th (7-12) grades. In the K-6 grade entries, First Place went to Lauren Plein of the Clover Kids and Second Place was awarded to Allia Ericson of the Elon PMC 4-H club. First Place in the 7-12 grade category was Natalie Byrnes of the River Valley Panthers and Second Place was awarded to Kadee Fish of the Clover Chasers 4-H club. Submitted photos.

For a two-week period in early July, Main Street Lansing offered Lansing area residents and visitors the opportunity to complete a COVID-19 Recovery Survey. In partnership with Main Street Iowa, Main Street Lansing offered the survey as an opportunity to assess the impacts of COVID-19 on Lansing as the community has entered and progressed through the reopening and recovery phases.

The survey received 229 responses, and Main Street Lansing appreciates the input from everyone who took the time to complete the survey. Main Street Lansing’s Board of Directors has offered the following analysis of the survey results:

With recent announcements of job cuts at the Alliant Energy Lansing Generating Station due to the facility currently operating at lower capacity and unofficial stories circulating about pending closure of the facility, Eastern Allamakee Community School District (EACSD) Superintendent Dr. Dale Crozier outlined some facts clarifying what the impact of such a closure would be on the school district. Alliant Energy officials have previously stated that they regularly review their generation resources in order to operate their facilities in the best interests of their customers, but no decision has been made regarding the future of the Lansing Generating Station at this point in time.
Dr. Crozier’s released statement follows:

Eastern Allamakee Community Schools will not be affected at all if Alliant Energy would close; and there are facts that people should know about this:

In what turned out to be somewhat of a defensive battle right to the very end on the scoreboard, the Waukon baseball team had its 2020 season brought to an end in the opening round of the Class 2A District 6 Tournament Monday, July 13. In a game played at New Hampton against a combined team from Sumner-Fredericksburg and Tripoli High Schools (SFT), the game came right down to the final play, which ended up being a one-out game-winning single with the bases full of Cougars to bring the baseball Tribe’s season to a halt with a 2-1 loss.

The Waukon softball team had its 2020 season brought to a close by one of the best teams in all of Class 3A when the Indians traveled to 11th-rated Crestwood Wednesday, July 15. Having been swept by the highly-regarded Cadets by scores of 9-0 early in the season and 12-0 in three innings just over a week ago, the Lady Indians put an abrupt end to their scoring drought against Crestwood right away in the opening frame and even held a 1-0 lead over the Cadets midway through the contest, but ultimately allowed seven unanswered runs during Crestwood’s final three innings at the plate to put up their best fight of this season against the Cadets before falling by a 7-1 final result.

The 2020 Kee softball season was brought to a close this past week in a busy week of postseason play, but it took one of Class 1A’s highly-regarded teams to accomplish that feat. The Lady Hawks first ran through a couple fellow Upper Iowa Conference (UIC) squads to start the week, ending South Winneshiek’s season with a 7-1 first-round regional victory at home Monday, July 13 before blasting their way past UIC season champion Turkey Valley by a 19-10 result Wednesday, July 15 at the home of the single-loss Trojans. Kee’s postseason run was finally brought to a close at 12th-rated Mason City Newman Friday, July 17 as the Hawks suffered a 12-2 defeat in five innings on the Knights’ home field to bring their 2020 campaign to a close.

The Kee baseball team had its 2020 season brought to a close by a familiar foe from the Upper Iowa Conference, as the Hawks fell by an 8-2 result in the Class 1A District 6 semifinal round of play at MFL/MarMac Tuesday, July 14. The Hawks had lost to the 11-5 Bulldogs early on during the regular season, 9-1, and despite knocking the ball around nearly as well as the host squad in tournament play for just a 10-7 MFL/MarMac hit advantage, the Bulldogs were able to take better advantage of the opportunities they were granted in combination with those hits.

Gerald “Jerry” Plagge, 70, of Cataract, WI, formerly of New Albin, passed away Tuesday, July 7, 2020 at his home. A celebration of life will be held from 10 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. Sunday, July 26 at the Community Center in New Albin. Burial with military honors will follow at the City Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family has set up a Go Fund Me Page in honor of Jerry, with 100% of all donations to be given to the Wounded Warrior Project. Please donate at https://gf.me/u/yfwuck or send memorials directly to Jeremiah Plagge, 710 Oak Park Circle, Marion, IA 52302.

Phyllis Ann Rolfs, 90, of Red Wing, MN died Wednesday, July 15, 2020 at her home. A graveside service will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday, July 23 at Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery in Preston, MN.

Phyllis was born March 8, 1930 in Waukon to Frank and Evelyn (Bresnahan) Spiegler. She graduated from Waukon High School in 1949.

May 16, 1950 she married Donald Rolfs at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Dorchester. They made their home in Waterloo and Cedar Falls where Phyllis worked for Rath Packing Company for five years and was a homemaker. In 1986, they moved to Osage, MN where they lived on Straight Lake. In March of 1993 they moved to Red Wing, MN.

Phyllis enjoyed embroidery, collecting dishes and caring for her home. She loved to travel and cook for her family.

Lorraine K. Adam, 98, of Waukon died Thursday, July 16, 2020 at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. Private family funeral services were held at Martin-Grau Funeral Home in Waukon Monday, July 20 with burial at St. Mary’s Lycurgus Cemetery, rural Waukon. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be sent to Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon and condolences may be sent to Maureen Mahoney at 203 First Avenue NW, Waukon, IA 52172.

Lorraine Kathryn Adam was born July 2, 1922 in rural Waukon, the daughter of James L. and Mary (Sweeney) Welch. She was baptized and confirmed at St. Mary’s Lycurgus Catholic Church in rural Waukon. Lorraine attended Lycurgus Country School and graduated from Waukon High School in normal training.