Little Free Pantry now available, donation made to Allamakee County Food Shelf ... At a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Little Free Pantry (pictured in the photo above) made possible through Black Hills Energy at the 15 1st Street NW location of What’s New Thrift Store, a check presentation to the Allamakee County Food Shelf also took place relating to a $250 donation from Black Hills Energy as well as a matching $250 donation from Arvid and Laurie Hatlan, owners of What’s New Thrift Store. Pictured above at the check presentation are, left to right, Black Hills Energy Public Affairs Program Manager Marissa Gaal, What’s New Thrift Store owners Arvid and Laurie Hatlan, Operations Supervisor Ivan Hackman of the Black Hills Energy Decorah Unit, Waukon City Manager Grayson Rowlet, and Director Deliverance Hope and volunteer Linda Groe, both with the Allamakee County Food Shelf. Standard photos by Joe Moses.
A ribbon cutting ceremony was held Friday, October 2 at 15 1st Street NW in Waukon, the location of What’s New Thrift Store, for the introduction of a Little Free Pantry through Black Hills Energy. This free community resource is available 24 hours a day/seven days a week (24/7) to individuals and families experiencing food insecurity, no questions asked, in the entryway of this retail store location.
Present for the ribbon cutting ceremony were Operations Supervisor Ivan Hackman of the Black Hills Energy Decorah Unit, Public Affairs Program Manager Marissa Gaal with Black Hills Energy, Waukon City Manager Grayson Rowlet, Director Deliverance Hope and Linda Groe, both with the Allamakee County Food Shelf, and Arvid and Laurie Hatlan, owners of What’s New Thrift Store. Arvid Hatlan is also a service technician with Black Hills Energy in addition to being Mayor of Waukon.
Notification from a local veterinary office in late September regarding a dog that needed to be euthanized has led to the arrest of a Waukon man and woman on charges of Animal Abuse Causing Death.
Additionally, upon further investigation, a court order to commence dispositional proceedings was also filed for the removal of other animals from the custody of the two individuals.
Documents filed in Allamakee County District Court indicate that September 26, the Waukon Police Department was notified that a pit bull mix canine had been taken to a local veterinary office, with medical officials there determining that the dog was “grossly malnourished” and was in such poor physical condition that it needed to be euthanized to end its suffering, with no chance for further recovery, reportedly.
Saturday, October 10, the Waukon High School Marching Indians participated in the Iowa High School Music Association (IHSMA) State Marching Band Festival. Fifteen bands from the northeast corner of the Northeast District representing schools from all four class sizes participated in the festival hosted by Western Dubuque High School in Epworth. The Marching Indians were the first band of the day to receive a Division I rating and the smallest school to receive the top rating.
Thursday, October 29 at 6:30 p.m., the Allamakee County Veterans Museum in Waukon will present another program from its Veterans History Project at the museum located at 105 Allamakee Street in Waukon. A video interview with the late William “Bill” Schneeberger of Waukon will be played.
Schneeberger served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He was working as an electrical engineer when drafted in 1951. After basic training, he was assigned to the Army Signal Corps and stationed at the White Sands Proving Ground near Las Cruces, NM. At this time the military was developing and testing missiles.
The public is invited to attend. There is no admission or membership charge to attend the program. The Allamakee County Veterans Museum is a handicapped accessible facility.
The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, October 19 at the Dolores Tillinghast Memorial Library in Harpers Ferry as part of the Supervisors’ annual schedule of offsite meeting locations. The Supervisors addressed a full agenda of matters including an update from the Harpers Ferry Area Heritage Society, and the consideration of hiring a permanent part-time employee for the Environmental Health/Planning and Zoning Departments. The meeting was called to order by Board of Supervisors Chairperson Tom Clark with Supervisors Dennis Keatley and Dan Byrnes present.
The Waukon City Council met in regular session Monday, October 19 to address a full agenda of matters including the Resolution to consider the contract for residential solid waste and recycling collection services with Kluesner Sanitation LLC, the Proclamation for the Annual Distribution of Buddy Poppies and a presentation relating to the 1st Street NE Reconstruction Project. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Arvid Hatlan with council members present including Steve Wiedner, John Lydon, Cassie Handke, Nicholas Engrav and Tim Smedsrud.
There was no Public Comment with the meeting moving into Department Reports. Park, Recreation and Wellness Director Jeremy Strub noted that Tuesday, October 20 members of the Iowa State Patrol will be present for the Ted Benda Memorial Bench Dedication in the Waukon City Park’s Freedom Rock Pavilion. Tuesday, October 20 marks the five-year anniversary of Trooper Ted Benda’s line of duty death.
Allamakee Community Players, Inc. (ACPI) will present the show “Play On!” by Rick Abbot Friday and Saturday, October 23-24 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, October 25 at 2 p.m. at St John’s Lutheran Church in Waukon. “Play On!” is a hilarious story of a local theatre group trying desperately to put on a play despite maddening interference from the haughty author, who keeps revising the script. Tickets will be available at the door prior to each performance, or may be purchased online in advance at acpitheatre.ludus.com.
by Marcus Gebel, Little Switzerland FFA Chapter Reporter
The September FFA Member of the Month for the Little Switzerland FFA Chapter at Waukon High School is Tegan Dahlstrom. She is the daughter of Nick and Lana Dahlstrom, and her involvement in the Little Switzerland FFA chapter includes competing in various contests and volunteering many hours to the chapter.
The contests she has competed in include Conduct of Meetings, Horse Evaluation, Ag Biotechnology, Team Ag Sales, and Agronomy, where she and her teammates qualified for the National Agronomy competition at the National FFA Convention being held this October. Dahlstrom has demonstrated her passion for helping others by volunteering in ditch clean-ups, plant sales, pancake breakfast, and Kubota Orange Days.
The Allamakee Community School District (ACSD) Board of Directors met for a special meeting Friday, October 2. The board approved the hiring of Jared Estebo as a custodian for West Elementary School. The board also approved the resignations of West Elementary custodian Jason Dahlstrom and Waukon High School night custodian Luke Zezulka. The board also gave its approval to a proposal from Grundmeyer Leader Search in the amount of $16,460.20 for Superintendent search services, following the announcement last month by ACSD Superintendent Jay Mathis that he will be retiring at the end of this school year.
I started going gray early. I tried to ignore it at first - just plucking out any stray, wiry, rebellious hair the moment I saw a streak of whiteness. But eventually, they became more and more prolific, and I couldn’t just yank them all out.
One morning when I had first joined the Navy, I was sitting in Chinese class, when all of a sudden, I felt as if I’d been stung on the crown of my head. I jerked up only to see my native-born Chinese teacher, “Wang Laoshi,” looming over me, studying the top of my head with laser sharp focus. Much to my chagrin, between her tiny fingers she already grasped one of my stringy, gray hairs, and she was eagerly searching for more. I leaned towards the door in a desperate attempt to avoid her prying fingers.
