Park staff attempted to roll trails, but due to warm conditions and sticky snow the effort was paused. Staff will attempt to roll again if temperatures drop.
Snowshoeing
Decorah Parks & Recreation encourages those snowshoeing to use the multi-use trail in Carlson Park, the Decorah Community Prairie, and the trails in Van Peenen. Please be courteous of skiers and stay off the groomed ski trails.
Mountain Biking
Conditions are not yet fit to groom mountain bike trails for winter riding.
Plowed Walking Routes
Staff will plow routes for walking throughout the winter season.
Route #1: Starting at 5th Ave Bridge, travel south along bike trail to Pulpit Rock Campground. Pulpit Rock Campground will be plowed for pedestrians to walk loops around the campground and can return to 5th Ave bridge via the bike trail.
Route #2: Trout Run Trail is plowed from the intersection of Commerce Drive and Montgomery Street to Wellington Place in Freeport. Pedestrians can park in the parking lot by bowstring bridge or in the northwest corner of the Walmart Parking lot.
Ice Skating Rink
Conditions are not yet favorable for flooding the ice rink. We will update as conditions become more favorable.
Between May and October of 2022, the Decorah Municipal Electric Utility Taskforce invited all of the speakers below to share information with our MEU taskforce and with the community about their electric utilities. We also invited representatives from Alliant to join this series, but they declined to participate.
Each of these speakers provided valuable information about how electric utilities operate in Iowa. Each of these approximately one hour presentations were recorded so that we could share them with those who were unable to attend the initial events.
The link to all of the videos in the YouTube playlist is here:
The link to the MEU Education Event Series Executive Summaries and Transcripts is here:
(This link is to the city’s MEU Taskforce Dropbox folder that also contains all of the other documents related to the work of Decorah’s Municipal Electric Utility Task Force. The Education Event Series Recordings and Summaries Folder contains this document, with the link to the recordings, as well as each of the individual summary and transcript documents. )
Owen Matzek and Meg Sessions prepare meals to be sent to area organizations.
The Luther College Cafeteria to Community program hit a major milestone. Since the program’s inception in 2014, more than 80,000 pounds of food has been donated to local organizations to address hunger.
“The Caf to Community program is a great opportunity to simultaneously reduce Luther’s food waste and help feed our community,” said Meg Sessions ’23, student program coordinator. “The meals we send are recently-prepared, healthy and balanced, which recipients of the food appreciate. Volunteering with Caf to Community is an easy way to make an impact in our community while encouraging sustainability on campus.”
Twice a week, students, volunteers and Luther Dining Services staff work together to package and label food that is provided to four Northeast Iowa facilities: Open Hands Food Pantry, Northeast Iowa Community Action, Decorah Food Pantry and Midwest Mission Bible Training Center. Each facility ensures that individuals and families receive the nutritious meals at little to no cost.
Midwest Mission Bible Training Center residents enjoy their food from the Cafeteria to Community program.
John Talley is a director at the Midwest Mission Bible Training Center in Cresco, a non-profit, faith-based organization serving those who are desperate to overcome drug, alcohol or emotional problems. He says that they rely on this food week after week.
“We are so grateful to Luther College for this food and the organization and thought behind it,” said Talley. “Not a day goes by that Luther’s food is not utilized. The donations are integral in ensuring our residents are fed healthy and delicious meals.”
The Cafeteria to Community program also keeps food waste out of the landfill. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a report in 2021 that indicates food waste is the single most common material landfilled and incinerated in the country. The EPA estimates that food loss and waste leads to 170 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent GHG emissions—equal to the annual CO2 emissions of 42 coal-fired power plants. This estimate does not include the significant methane emissions from food waste rotting in landfills.
Another way Luther avoids adding to the landfill load is through its composting efforts. “Cafeteria to Community is part of a trio of efforts to reduce food waste at Luther College,” said Chris Frantsvog, sustainability coordinator at Luther. “All food prep scraps and dining waste are composted and compost collection sites are available in every residence hall and academic building. These two compost approaches plus Cafeteria to Community are helping keep Luther on track toward its goal of carbon neutrality by 2030.”
The Cafeteria to Community Program is always looking for more volunteers. Those interested can sign up online at signup.com/go/ipLHVOQ for a one-hour slot on Wednesdays and Sundays from 6-7 p.m. Contact Sessions with any questions at sessma02@luther.edu.
When the JV and Varsity boys’ basketball teams from Decorah and Sumner-Fredericksburg met recently for the Achieve Scrimmage match, they accomplished much more than just the opportunity to compete against each other. Donations were collected for admission into the scrimmage, and they were split between the schools’ local food pantries. $200 was directed to the Decorah Community Food Pantry, and $200 went to the His Hands Food Pantry in Oran, Iowa.
The Decorah boys’ basketball team met with Matt Tapscott, director of the Decorah Community Food Pantry, to learn more about food insecurity in northeast Iowa and to present the $200 check.
Photo ID (l-r): Joe Stammeyer, Ben Bockman, Kasey Krauskopf, Matt Tapscott, Tate Johnson, Matt Bockman, Andrew Rhodes, Trey McCain, Coach Carlson
Erika Skogg is a National Geographic Explorer, documenting and sharing culture through the lens of photography. Born and raised in Green Bay (WI), Erika is a recipient of National Geographic’s Early Career Grant which fueled her photography project documenting Scandinavian-American culture.
Through this cultural preservation project, Erika also hopes to encourage others to become more interested in their family’s genealogy and immigration stories, fostering an appreciation for the myriad of unique sub-cultures within the U.S. with renewed understanding and respect of the continued immigration stories of today.
Photo: Erika Skogg
Erika’s early career began with outdoor guiding on the white waters of Colorado, and mountains of Big Sky, Montana as a Ski Instructor. Graduating from Montana State University with a degree in photography, Erika blended her love of the outdoors and guiding with her photography education to join National Geographic Expeditions designing and guiding photography trips around the world.
Photo: Erika Skogg
She has led photography workshops in Morocco and Cuba with National Geographic Expeditions, on board National Geographic/Lindblad ships through the Arctic and Alaska, and has led National Geographic Student Expeditions through Tanzania, Iceland, Tuscany, Peru, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Ecuador & The Galapagos.
The “Scandinavian American” exhibit at Vesterheim depicts the lifestyle, celebrations, and traditions of Americans of Norwegian, Swedish, and Finnish ancestry in the communities of Decorah, Iowa; Hancock, Michigan; Ephraim, Wisconsin; Pequot Lakes, Minnesota; and Lindsborg, Kansas. The stunning collection of unique and personal photographs captures modern takes on the traditions that have been preserved by generations of families that identify with Scandinavian immigration.
“Tusen Takk” to Erika for making time to talk with us for this show while she was in Decorah in the late fall of 2022.
Did you know that today is World Soil Day? Soil is extremely important for both people and the planet. It allows us to grow food, it can purify water, and it can help prevent erosion. Without soil, we would have great difficulty growing enough crops to feed our population. That’s why it’s essential to keep our soil healthy! One way we can help our soil thrive is by incorporating compost. Compost is full of nutrients and increases the air and water levels in the soil for the plants to grow. Creating compost from our food and yard waste also allows us to divert more waste from the landfill.
Decorah Public Library staff are hosting six book discussions in Decemberber. The groups are open to the public and newcomers are encouraged to attend. Anyone interested should call the library at 382-3717 to learn more or to reserve a book. Zoom links are available on the Library’s website or you can email ktorresdal@decorahlibrary.org to be added to any of the six groups’ email distribution lists. Funds for multiple copy sets were generously provided by Friends of Decorah Public Library.
For more information, contact Tricia Crary (Friday Book Group), Zach Row-Heyveld (Cookbook Book Group) or Kristin Torresdal (Happy Hour, History, and Speculative Fiction Book Groups) at 563-382-3717.
Matrix
The Happy Hour Book Group will meet via Zoom Wed. Dec. 7 at 5:15 p.m. to discuss Lauren Groff’s “Matrix.” Cast out of the royal court by Eleanor of Aquitaine, 17-year-old Marie de France is sent to England to be the new prioress of an impoverished abbey, its nuns on the brink of starvation and beset by disease. At first taken aback by the severity of her new life, Marie finds focus and love in collective life with her singular and mercurial sisters, and she becomes determined to chart a bold new course for the women she now leads and protects.
Modern Bistro
The Cookbook Group will meet in the library at 6:30 on Thursday, December 8 to discuss Modern Bistro by America’s Test Kitchen. Bistro cooking is intimate and inviting, rustic yet casually elegant. America’s Test Kitchen brings you recipes that will comfort and impress, from simple Chicken Provençal with Saffron, Orange, and Basil; French Onion Burgers; and Leeks Vinaigrette to splendid Gnocchi à la Parisienne and Chocolate Brioche Buns. Foolproof techniques and plentiful photos help you master even the most finicky foods like tender French omelets folded around hearty fillings, no-fail Eggs Benedict and custardy Brioche French Toast, crispy, airy Gougères, velvety Chicken Liver Pâté, and tempting Gruyère, Mustard, and Caraway Cheese Coins to nibble with wine, and profiteroles, refined tarts, and a buttery rich Gâteau Breton for dessert.
The Crimean War: A History
The History Book Group will hold a hybrid meeting Thurs. Dec. 15 at 3:00 p.m. to discuss the chapters 8-13 of Orlando Figes’ “The Crimean War: A History.” In-person attendees will meet in the lower-level public meeting room at the library and digital attendees will join via Zoom. The Charge of the Light Brigade, Florence Nightingale—these are the enduring icons of the Crimean War. Less well-known is that this savage war (1853-1856) killed almost a million soldiers and countless civilians; that it enmeshed four great empires—the British, French, Turkish, and Russian—in a battle over religion as well as territory; that it fixed the fault lines between Russia and the West; that it set in motion the conflicts that would dominate the century to come.
Hell of a Book
The Friday Book Group will meet via Zoom Fri. Dec. 16 at 2:00 p.m. to discuss Jason Mott’s “Hell of a Book.” “Hell of a Book” tells the story of an African-American author who sets out on a cross-country book tour to promote his bestselling novel; it also tells the story of Soot, a young Black boy living in a rural town in the recent past, and The Kid, a possibly imaginary child who appears to the author on his tour.
Kindred
The Speculative Fiction Book Group will meet via Zoom Wed. Dec. 28 at 5:15 p.m. to discuss Octavia E. Butler’s “Kindred.” Dana, a Black woman, is celebrating her 26th birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California and transported to the antebellum South. Rufus, the white son of a plantation owner, is drowning, and Dana has been summoned to save him. Dana is drawn back repeatedly through time to the slave quarters, and each time the stay grows longer, more arduous, and more dangerous.
“Exhalation”: “The Lifecycle of Software Objects,” “Dacey’s Patent Automatic Nanny,” and “The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling”
Following the Speculative Fiction Book Group, the Speculative Short Fiction Group will meet at 6:15 p.m. via the same Zoom link to discuss stories 4-6 from Ted Chiang’s collection “Exhalation”: “The Lifecycle of Software Objects,” “Dacey’s Patent Automatic Nanny,” and “The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling.”
Twenty-eight students from Decorah were recently selected for participation in the 36th annual Opus Honor Choir Festival. Over 2,100 students were nominated by their directors for 720 positions in the four Opus Honor Choirs. Selections were made by means of a recorded audition.
This is the sixteenth year that Decorah has had students audition for the Opus Honor Choirs. During the past 16 years more than 365 Decorah students have been accepted through recordings submitted by Dean Beckman, Jason Rausch, and community youth choir directors. This year, twenty students were selected from Decorah Middle School by recordings submitted by Dean Beckman, the second highest number of students accepted into the honor choirs by one teacher in the state of Iowa in 2022. Eight students were selected by recordings submitted by Jason Rausch at the Decorah High School. Opus Honor Choirs performed on November 17th in C.Y. Stephens Auditorium in the Iowa State Center in Ames.
The following students were accepted in the Open Honor Choir:
5th Grade: Kaya Olson and Abby Shaw
6th Grade: Hanna Lensch, Ayla Low, and Marley Phillips
7th Grade: Kennedy Carlson, Kylie Cord, Cooper Ewing, Derek Hrdlicka, and Kaya Johnson
In addition, two students were selected as solo finalists to audition for the final concert: Cooper Ewing in grade 7 and Colin Thompson in grade 8.
Guest conductors of the choirs include Christina Svec, Iowa State University, 5th & 6th Grade Honor Choir; Nick Oswald, Southview Middle School, 7th & 8th Grade Bass Clef Honor Choir; Amy Kotsonis, University of New Hampshire, 7th & 8th Grade Treble Clef Honor Choir; and Andrew Last, Luther College, 9th Grade Mixed Honor Choir. The Opus Honor Choir Festival is made possible by the Iowa Choral Directors Association, Inc.
Decorah Ninth Graders Selected for Opus Honor Choir Front Row (l-r): Klara Kelly, June Breitenbach-Dirks, Elsa Christman, and Will Duder Back Row (l-r): Caden Malanaphy, Ezra Harman-Wood, Naomi Pedlar, and Mikayla HinerDecorah Middle School Students Selected for Opus Honor Choir Front Row (l-r): Hanna Lensch, Marley Phillips, Kaya Olson, Ayla Low, and Abby Shaw Middle Row (l-r): Kaya Johnson, Kennedy Carlson, Derek Hrdlicka, Noah Potvin, Sawyer Courtney, Jayden Lundtvedt, and Daric Sheffield Back Row (l-r): Kylie Cord, Colin Thompson, Cooper Ewing, Grace Stockman, Olivia Rissman, Spencer Christensen, Elliot Berland, and Clarence Nimrod
