The Gundersen Vision and Medical Clinics recently donated money to purchase a memorial bench (pictured above) which has been placed outside of Dr. Jim Rixen’s former office at the Gundersen Eye Clinic in Waukon in honor and in memory of Dr. Rixen, who passed away December 3, 2018 after a long, dedicated career of caring for his patients’ eyesight. Friday, August 23, members of the Rixen family were able to come to the clinic for a dedication ceremony for the bench. Pictured below are members of Dr. Rixen’s family at that bench dedication. Left to right - Seated in front: Debbie Rixen, Isla Rixen and Molly Haberichter; Standing in back: Jarod and Kayden Haberichter, Cael and Kiera Rixen, Korine Haberichter and Jonathan Rixen. Not pictured are Jordan and Erin Rixen and their children, Flynn, Fletcher and Elin Rixen. Submitted photo.
Kerr family ... Left to right - Kyra-Jo, Jason, Shannon, Jaydalin, Trenton, Braylon. Submitted image.
Old West Paint Creek Church in rural Waukon will host speakers Jason and Shannon Kerr Sunday, September 8 at 2 p.m., an event that had to be rescheduled from February of this year due to winter weather. The community is welcome to attend and hear their story of survival and recovery following a horrific traffic accident near their Lakeville, MN home.
This family’s story involves angels, prophetic dreams and visions, and words from God Himself. It inspires faith and hope in God’s unfailing love, care and answers to prayer.
Shannon Kerr will also have her book, “Against All Odds,” (pictured above) available at the presentation, inspired by her recovery experience. For further information about the Kerr family (pictured below), their story and the book, visit www.againstalloddsbook.com.
The Waukon Kids Day Program “Food, Fitness, Fun!” has been working hard to keep the plants in the school gardens as nourished and bountiful as possible. In August, the tomatoes, peas, cucumbers and ground cherries were coming in quickly and students shared the bounty with the Summer Feeding Program and also donated to the Allamakee County Food Shelf.
“On donation day, we took a five-minute walk to the Food Shelf,” reports Alyssa Bell, 4-H AmeriCorps member. “We donated seven pounds of produce from our small garden. That’s great! The students were very proud to share what they have grown.”
The four Waukon High School young ladies pictured above qualified to compete in the national online “Capture the Flag” competition through Girls Go Cyberstart, a cybersecurity competition which took place over the summer beginning with 719 teams from high schools across the nation. The National “Capture the Flag” competition of 120 qualifying teams involved a set of computer security puzzles and challenges designed to test skills in areas such as reverse-engineering, memory corruption and cryptography, among others. Members of that National Finalists team include, left to right in above photo, Ashley Liddiard, Bridget Duncklee, Alexis Hogan and Madelyn Waters, all under the direction of Allamakee Community School District Allamakee Accelerated Learning Program (AALP ) Teacher Peyton Lapel. Alexis Hogan earned a spot on the individual semifinalists list for her overall score in the competition. Submitted photo.
Samantha Swartz, a 2015 graduate of Waukon High School and the daughter of Jeff and Rae Swartz of Waukon, is a member of the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine’s 20th annual class of incoming medical school students who received their ceremonial white coats August 16 at Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City. Swartz was welcomed into the College of Medicine’s Class of 2023, receiving her white coat in the photo at right from Chris S. Cooper, Senior Associate Dean of the Carver College of Medicine.
The Allamakee Community School District (ACSD) Board of Directors met for a special meeting Tuesday morning, August 27. The board appointed Beth Shafer of Waukon to fill the vacancy on the board left by the recent resignation of long-time member Patty Nordheim. Shafer took the oath of office and will fill out the remainder of Nordheim’s term, which is scheduled to expire at the end of this year.
The board also approved a contract with Stan and Mary Straate for a single-family home to be built by the Waukon High School Construction classes on a lot purchased from Waukon Economic Development Corporation. In personnel matters, Samantha Larsen was approved as a Middle School paraprofessional for the 2018-2019 school year.
More than 200 yards of offense ... Waukon football senior Dawson Baures pushes away a Decorah defender during a rushing gain in the Indians’ 36-7 home win over the Vikings to start the 2019 season Friday, August 30. Leading the Indian offense, Baures carried the ball 13 times for 128 yards and a touchdown and also caught six passes for 82 yards and another touchdown. View and find out how to purchase this photo and many more by clicking on the Photo Galleries link on this website.
Looking to get their 2019 season off to a better start than the year before, the Waukon football team did just that in avenging its only 2018 regular season loss with a 36-7 home win over fellow Northeast Iowa Conference squad Decorah Friday, August 30 in a non-district season opener for both squads.
Graduating just six seniors from its 10-2 Class 2A State semifinals squad last fall, the veteran Indians established themselves early on the way to a 30-0 headstart late in the second quarter over a Viking squad hit three times as hard by graduation after dealing the grid Tribe a 24-20 season-opening loss last fall.
Pushing over a point ... Waukon volleyball senior Morgan Hennessy directs the ball back over the net in the Indians’ three-game sweep of Postville to open their season at home Tuesday, August 27. Hennessy knocked down three winners at the net, including the final kill to secure the Indian match sweep. View and find out how to purchase this photo and many more by clicking on the Photo Galleries link on this website.
The Waukon volleyball team got its 2019 season underway in victorious fashion, the Indians sweeping the visiting Postville Pirates in three straight sets at home Tuesday, August 27. The net Tribe established the tone early in the match with a 25-3 triumph in set one before holding off a much greater challenge from Postville in the final sets but pulling off the sweep with wins of 25-17 and 25-16 in sets two and three, respectively.
The Indians were next scheduled to host MFL/MarMac Tuesday, September 3, but a schedule conflict has since moved that match to Tuesday, September 17. They are next scheduled to take the court Tuesday, September 10 at Decorah before playing in the Crestwood Tournament Saturday, September 14.
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Freshman in the top-15 ... Kee girls cross country freshman Alison Wagner leads this runner at the Edgewood-Colesburg Invitational Tuesday, August 27. In her first varsity meet ever, Wagner placed 15th overall in a time of 23:05. Photo courtesy of the Kee High School Yearbook.
The Kee cross country team opened its 2019 season at the Edgewood-Colesburg Invitational Tuesday, August 27. Both the girls and boys teams were missing some of their top-end talent, with the Hawk girls finishing in fourth place and the Hawk boys not having any varsity competitors at the meet but also being rained out of the junior varsity race to not be able to record any results at this first meet of the season.
Recording the only Kee results on the night, the Lady Hawks were limited in having just enough runners, five, to garner a varsity team score. That minimum participation produced a total of 78 team points for the Kee girls, placing fourth overall in the seven-team field, just four points out of third place.
TEAM SCORES
Jesup 48; Starmont 60; Central Elkader 74; KEE 78; Sumner-Fredericksburg 111; North Fayette Valley 129; Dyersville Beckman 184
The Kee football team got its 2019 season underway with a 26-6 loss at Riceville in non-district play Friday, August 30. The Hawks allowed the host Wildcats 343 yards of total offense that included just over 300 yards on the ground, from where all four of Riceville’s touchdowns came from to account for nearly half the Wildcat rushing total. Meanwhile, the Kee gridders were only able to amass 112 yards of total offense, with 109 of those coming through the air.
“Giving up two big plays really swung the game in Riceville’s favor,” Kee football coach Chad Winters explained. “We had a chance to make a tackle and didn’t, allowing them to break out and score on a couple long runs, and there was an ill-advised decision on my part to go for it on fourth down inside our own 30 early in the game.”
