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Football contest begins this week! See pg. 9

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www.driftlessjournal.com | news@driftlessjournal.com | 563-382-4221 | Tuesday, September 5, 2023 | Vol. 5 Issue 36

Spooky stories

Hesper-Mabel Steam Engine Days begin Thursday The town of Mabel will be a wide variety of attractions, celebrating the 71st Annual events and family-friendly acSteam Engine Days Thurs- tivities. Kicking off the oldest steam day-Sunday, Sept 7-10, with engine show in Minnesota, the Parade of Tractors works its way from Hesper to Mabel featuring Allis Chalmers tractors starting Thursday, Sept. 7, at 6 p.m., followed by Lockharts performing at the American Legion Hall dance at 8 p.m.

Bring the kids out for Big Top pony rides beginning Friday, Sept. 8, at 3 p.m. Evening entertainment includes the Buck Hollow Band at the Legion Hall starting at 7 p.m., and Cory Farley at the Lions Beer Garden, open at 6:30 p.m., and music starts at 9 p.m. At 7 p.m., Mabel-Canton High School plays against Houston in a football showdown. Saturday and Sunday are full days of contests, demonstrations, shows, displays, games and vendors throughout the town, with the parade of steam

engines and tractors down Main Street at noon both days. Following the Parade Saturday is the crowning of the 2023 Little Miss Mabel and Steam Engine Days Queen. Music is a common thread in the afternoons and evenings, with acts like Mollie B and Squeezebox, Flashback, Rhino, The Toe Tappers and Palomino. There will be food, festivities, and much to be found at Mabel Steam Engine Days. For more information, a full schedule of events and a map of the festivities, visit www. steamenginedays.com or ﬁnd Hesper-Mabel Steam Engine Days on Facebook.

Check out the parade of steam engines and tractors during Hesper-Mabel Steam Engine Days Sept. 7-10. Parades will be held at noon Saturday and Sunday. (submitted photo)

All. Co. Entrepreneurship Week planned The third annual Entrepreneurship Week event features a week’s worth of education and inspiration for area businesses, hosted by Allamakee County Economic Development and Tourism in conjunction with Lansing Office Works. “We want to provide up to the minute skills, information and knowledge to help our area entrepreneurs more effectively and efficiently run their businesses,” said event coordinator and Lansing Office Works founder Maryann Baldwin. The third annual Allamakee County Entrepreneurship The event, slated for Sept. 18Week event will bring together speakers, networking op22 at Lansing Office Works locatportunities and more. The event, slated for Monday-Fried at 274 Main Street in Lansing, day, Sept. 18-22, will be hosted at Lansing Office Works, brings together speakers on toppictured here. (submitted) ics such as new perspectives on

customer service, being present in communications, leadership, exploring AI tools for efﬁciency, marketing, personal support and more. There will also be many opportunities for networking with other area businesses during the week-long event, including a small business social Wednesday, Sept. 20, at 5:30 p.m., at Shep’s Riverside Bar & Grill in Lansing. Open to all businesses with no cost to attend, the growing number of attendees shows the interest in business support. Those interested in attending can visit www.lansingofficeworks.com/ event and RSVP for sessions of interest, or keep up with the latest news at the Lansing Works Facebook page.

sought for Halloween writing contest Driftless Multimedia, LLC, is looking forward to a spooky Halloween and hosting its third annual writing contest, “Spooky Stories to Tell in the Driftless.” Adult (18+) and youth (up to age 17) writers may turn in submissions relaying their best spooky story under the fiction or non-fiction cate-“gory.” Prizes will be awarded for first, second and third place in both cate-“gories”: $100 for first place adult, $50 for second place adult and $25 for third place adult. Youth prizes will be $50, $30 and $15, respectively. The Spooky Stories writing contest is brought to you by Pinters Gardens and Pumpkins, Cresco Theatre and Opera House and Driftless Multimedia. Stories will be judged by a ‘spooktacular’ panel of judges from the community and entries will be published in the Driftless Journal throughout October. Share your original fictional haunted stories, or simply write down a ghostly experience you may have experienced personally as non-fiction. Fiction Fictional ghost stories are terrifying to read; the writer can draft a bizarre tale of events that could not possibly happen. Ghost stories are welcome, of course, but submissions can

involve any paranormal or supernatural theme. What we’re looking for is creative writing, fresh perspectives and maybe a few surprises. Submissions will be judged on originality, plot structure, quality of writing and the “wow” factor. Non-Fiction Nothing gives readers the chills more than reading about a nonﬁction ghostly encounter – events that actually happened. Stories entered in this category should be based on true unexplained events experienced by someone in the Driftless region, whether personally experience or passed down through Driftless lore. Names and dates can be changed for privacy. Submissions will be judged on plot structure, quality of writing, connection to the Driftless and the “wow” factor. Guidelines Adult entries must not exceed 800 words. Youth entries must not exceed 500 words. Deadline for submissions is Friday, Sept. 22. Winners in each category will be announced in October. Stories will be published throughout October. Submissions must include author’s name, hometown, category of entry and contact

Spooky stories

continued on page 4

‘Fill the Squad’ food drive this Saturday in Decorah

The Decorah Police Department is hosting its ﬁrst food drive, “Fill the Squad,” at local grocery stores Saturday, Sept. 9, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. According to Ofﬁcer Nick Yaneff, DPD’s point of contact for the drive, there is no donation goal set, but instead, the department hopes to bring to light the food insecurity issues in Winneshiek County. “You might know your neighbor, and they may live in a nice house and everything seems great, but you never know if they are concerned about where their next meal is coming from,” Yaneff lamented. “We want to focus on that – the lack of consistent food everyone needs for a healthy lifestyle.”

According to Yaneff, a police ofﬁcer and vehicle accepting donations will be at Oneota Coop from 10 to 11 a.m., at Fareway from 11 a.m. to noon, and at Hy-Vee from noon to 1 p.m. Additionally, there will be a second police vehicle and ofﬁcer at Walmart from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Along with the in-person donation, there are boxes set up this week at each location listed above, and a box at Decorah City Hall. All donations will be given to the Decorah Community Food Pantry. Donations of non-perishable food items and non-food supplies are welcome, Yaneff said, and monetary donations can be made directly to the Decorah Food Pantry as well.

The Pantry serves northeast Iowa and has distributed more than 200,000 pounds of food to more than 14,000 family members across the area – 50 percent of whom are Winneshiek residents. Of the more than 46,000 residents in northeast Iowa suffering from food insecurity, nearly one-third of them are children and 10 percent are senior citizens. “We want to make this a great success,” expressed Yaneff. “We deﬁnitely need to raise awareness of food insecurity in our community.” For more information regarding the event, contact the Decorah Police Department at 563-382-3667 or reach out to the Decorah Community Food Pantry at 563-202-0872.

Decorah K9 ofﬁcer Nick Yaneff and Captain Mandy Groth show off the new graphics on a Decorah PD squad car. A police ofﬁcer and vehicle accepting donations for the Decorah Food Pantry will be at Oneota Coop, Fareway, Hy-Vee and Wal-mart Saturday, Sept. 9. (submitted)

Driftless Area Art Festival Celebrating the Visual, Performing & Culinary Arts of the Driftless

Sept 16 & 17, 2023 Soldiers Grove WI Saturday 10 am - 5 pm, Sunday 10 am - 4 pm

80+ artists, free admission, kids’ activities

Supported by the Prairie du Chien Tourism Council