Luna Valley. The musical guest for the evening will be Switchback. The duo consists of Brian FitzGerald of Lansing and Martin McCormack of Woodstock, Illinois. FitzGerald and McCormack have been performing their musical stylings — often termed “American roots, Celtic soul” — for more than 30 years. They will perform from 7-9 p.m. during the Fall Frolic. Joining the duo on percussion will be Nick Hirka of Decorah. Event registration is available online at https://oneotacoop.com/ or in-store from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Oneota Co-op plans 50th Anniversary Fall Frolic at Luna Valley Farm Sept.
Oneota Co-op began as a small buying club in 1974. Today’s membership numbers 5,495. Membership in the cooperative is not required to shop at the co-op. The organization’s annual report indicates 26 percent of 2023 sales represented local farms and businesses within 100 miles of Decorah.
Switchback’s Martin McCormack, left, and Brian FitzGerald.
Sunset sessions Sept. 14 in Lansing
Working with a few other organizers in the area, Decorah musician Jeni Grouws, is helping the Red Barn Campground and Restaurant on Lansing’s west edge, in welcoming award-winning songwriters for a one-day festival titled Sunset Sessions.
Grouws will join Kevin Burt, International Blues Challenge winner and Gulf Coast artist from Iowa City and Frank Martin Bush, an award-winning artist from Wisconsin. Also taking the stage for a portion of the day are JR Brink from Waukon and three area young people: 18-year-old Elayna Hook, daughter of Byron Hook and Emily Hook of Decorah; 17-year-old Annie Ellingson from Waukon; and 14-year-old Hudson Thirtyacre from Shueyville.
Sunset Sessions starts at 3 p.m. with featured musicians Hook, Ellingson and Thirtyacre; and then from 4 to 6 p.m., the headliners will take over.
Those attending also are invited to stick around after the show for some campfire songs with JR Brink.
Decorah musician Jeni Grouws will launch an eight-month artist-in-residency in Omaha, Nebraska later this month, and her last few weeks in the area will be filled to the brim with concerts, solo shows and outdoor appearances. Coupled with a hectic performance schedule, she’s putting her talents to work at an upcoming outdoor concert Sept. 14 at the Red Barn Campground in Lansing. (Photo courtesy Julie Simiele.)
Senior Center program to put spotlight on buttons
The Black Hawk Button Club will present “Buttons: Something Small With A Mighty Impact” for the Senior Center’s monthly program at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 13 at the Senior Center — 806 River St. in Decorah. They will present an overview of the art and history of buttons. Many examples of buttons will be displayed.
The annual History Alive! Pop-up play will be performed Sept. 14 and 15 with shows at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. at St. Mane Theatre in Lanesboro, Minnesota. This year’s original play “Time for Women: 150 Years of Leadership” highlights strong, notable women and suffragists in southeast Minnesota and St. Paul.
In two scenes encompassing 1870-1970, the audience will witness many stories of struggle for women’s civil and voting rights. The audience will meet 1870 suffragist Sarah Stearns of Rochester, Minnesota; publisher Bella French; Henrietta Turner Henry of Lanesboro; abolitionist Harriet Stevens of Rushford, Minnesota; black suffragist Nellie Francis, indigenous lawyer Marie Bottineau Baldwin and Bertha Moller –one of Minnesota’s force-fed suffragists and 1970s feminists.
The show also celebrates the centennial of indigenous suffrage in 2024.
All are welcome to participate in a suffrage rally during intermission.
The show will conclude with a discussion led by League of Women Voters members.
History Alive Lanesboro uses storytelling and the performing arts to deepen the understanding of past ideas, events and people, as seen through the lens of small southeastern Minnesota towns.
“Time for Women, 150 Years of Leadership” has toured to five communities in southeast Minnesota and St. Paul and writer Jane Peck adapts the script to each location’s history.
The St. Mane Theatre is located at 206 Parkway Ave. N., Lanesboro. For more information and tickets, visit www.historyalivelanesboro.org/eventsand-tours.
DINING GUIDE
James & Barbara Jirak
James and Barbara (Rika) Jirak are celebrating their 75th Wedding Anniversary on Sept. 14. They were married at St. Mary Catholic Church in Waucoma and currently live on acreage south of Protivin.
The Jiraks have five children: Joan (Alvin) Bakley of Tuthill, SD, Joyce - deceased (Rich Uhlenhake) of Ossian, Jane - deceased (Roger Gilb) of Lakeville, MN, Janet (Melvin Bodensteiner) of West Union, and Jerry (Gayle Drilling) of Little Turkey. They have 22 grandchildren and 36 great-grandchildren.
(Photo submitted)
Celebrating Castalia’s Tractor Day Revival
Castalia held its second annual Tractor Day Revival celebration Saturday, greatly increasing its size from last year’s event. Several hundred people from all over northeast Iowa attended and participated in the festivities, which included a truck and tractor show, UTV/golf cart parade, bag-throw competition, live music, comedian, children’s attractions and a fireworks display that rivaled many small towns’ July 4 fireworks shows. LEFT- Castalia Tractor Day Revival Parade Queen Lois Schnuelle, pictured here with her son, moved to the tiny town from south of Postville in 1969. She has three children, 10 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren — all of whom visited her in Castalia for the special event.
Check out more Castalia photos in the September 5 Decorah Leader and online at decorahleader.com.
2. Every game must be marked or your ballot will be disqualified.
1. Simply write in the team you think will win in each of the 15 games, listed in the ads on this page and the “added picks,” next to the corresponding advertiser’s name and # on the entry form or online at www.decorahleader.com.
Castalia’s Schnuelle family aimed to please at the car show held Saturday, during Castalia’s annual Tractor Day Revival. Ricky Schnuelle’s 1968 Camaro convertible was an eyecatcher during the event. (Photos by Zach Jensen)
Iowa-based author Ruth Suckow featured in traveling exhibit
Iowa writer Ruth Suckow is Iowa’s Willa Cather but, sadly, not as well known. Suckow will be showcased in the “Ruth Suckow Traveling Exhibit” hosted by Waukon’s Robey Memorial Library from Monday, Sept. 16 through Saturday, Oct.12.
A free exhibit talk will be given at Robey Memorial Library on Thursday, Oct. 3 at 5:30p.m.
“Ruth Suckow’s first novel, ‘Country People’, is set in northeast Iowa,” said Dr. Barbara Lounsberry, President of the Ruth Suckow Memorial Association. “In nine novels and 43 short stories – most set in Iowa – Suckow captured the lives, passions and struggles of ordinary people in their small towns and farms. She offers tales of Iowa love and loss, of farm couples retiring and moving to town, of women and men striving to be independent of going away and coming home.”
Ruth Suckow
Suckow was born in 1892 and died in 1960. As the daughter of a Congregational minister, she lived in 12 Iowa towns throughout her life: Hawarden, LeMars, Paulina, Algona, Fort Dodge, Manchester, Earlville, Cedar Falls, Grinnell, McGregor, Davenport and Des Moines. In 1926, the famous critic H. L. Mencken called Suckow “the most promising writer of fiction – man or woman – now visibly at work in America.” Suckow launched a beekeeping business in Earlville in the early 1920s to support herself as a writer, Lounsberry said. She had 80 beehives and on Saturdays would drive her truck to sell her white clover honey at the Dubuque
An evening of music, poetry and sharing with Ben Weaver Sept. 28
Songwriter and poet Ben Weaver is hosting “Stay With,” an intimate evening of music, poetry and story sharing, at 6 p.m. Sept. 28 at the St. Mane Theatre in Lanesboro, Minnesota. “Stay With” is a musical gathering, reckoning and listening project, and this event marks the release of Weaver’s new spoken word/musical album titled “Stay With”. Weaver’s journey with music and poetry has been one of ongoing reckoning. Weaver’s new musical album is a continuation of this reckoning in which he asks, “How do I use my gifts as a poet and musician in a way that serves the community, gives back to the land, and works to restore relatedness?”
Over the four years since Weaver began work on the album in 2020, Weaver has been involved in several ongoing “community circle” work projects, including the “Disrupting the Binding” anti-racist workshop series in Lanesboro. For the release of Stay With, he is combining poetry and songwriting with circle work to create gatherings that provide an invitation to share what is in community members’ hearts and minds with one another.
The St. Mane Theatre is located at 206 Parkway Ave. N., Lanesboro.
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AUCTION CALENDAR
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5 - 9 a.m. at the Winneshiek County Fairgrounds Dannan Lansing building. Large 2 party household & collectable auction. Owners Ron & Sheryl Juve and Karla Olson. Ron Juve Auctioneer 563-379-0927.
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DECORAH
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated knowledge of fastener manufacturing and fastener specifications.
• Demonstrated knowledge of basic statistical quality tools (SPC, capability studies, histograms, R&R, root cause analysis, corrective action process) and 8D problem solving techniques.
• Practical understanding of ISO/ IATF16949, ISO14001 and PPAP requirements.
• Experience with the Kaizen continuous improvement, 6Sigma, 5s of manufacturing and quality processes.
• Computer literacy in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Minitab.
Preferred Skills: • Knowledge and experience of software programs of Access, Excel, Word, PowerPoint,
• Knowledge and experience of ERP systems (QAD, JDE). • American Society for Quality Certification (CQE). • Completion of courses in
and Sampling.
• Demonstrated
WinnMed hosts 10th annual Grand Community Picnic
Construction lifts became part of the festive backdrop last week outside WinnMed during the hospital’s 10th annual Grand Community Picnic. Community members turned out to enjoy a free meal, live music, children’s entertainment and other activities the afternoon of Aug. 29. The Winneshiek County Dairy Promoter’s Moo-Mobile was also on scene during this year’s Grand Community Picnic at WinnMed. Many visitors took the opportunity to purchase freshly-made milkshakes to go with the afternoon’s free meal. Children held as still as possible while they had their faces painted with festive features. More photos in the September 5 Decorah Leader. (Decorah Leader photos by Seth Boyes)
Backyard barbecues remain popular even when the summer slowly begins to wind down. Though traditional favorites like hamburgers and hot dogs always have a place at the table, grilling afficionados may be on the lookout for new recipes to test their skills.
“Buttermilk Chicken Kebabs” from “Casablanca: My Moroccan Food” (Firefly Books) by Nargisse Benkabbou does not disappoint. Even though buttermilk is not a traditional Moroccan ingredient, the author uses it to tenderize the chicken and make these kebabs even more mouthwatering with an added hint of tang. These smoky skewers can be enjoyed on their own, or cooked and added to salads or served on flatbreads.
