Holiday Train: Feeding the need

By Trudy Balcom

It was cold and late when Holiday Train arrived in Marquette last Thursday evening.  Those who gathered
to see the train huddled inside a heated tent set up in the marina parking lot along the riverfront, or
remained in their cars, engines and heaters running.

But the Marquette-McGregor community still came together to do their part for needy families in Clayton
County, as well as enjoy the train’s entertainment and lights.

The Canadian Pacific (CP) Holiday Train is an outreach effort to help the needy in communities where the company owns
and operates a rail line. In 2008, the CP acquired the rail lines owned by the
Iowa, Chicago & Eastern and the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern, including the tracks that run through Marquette McGregor, Guttenberg
and Monona. The CP provides the local food shelf charity with a donation of
$1,000 in the communities that the train visits. They also encourage the public to bring a food or cash donation to food
shelves when they visit the train.
    As a result of this year’s Holiday Train
visit, 1,218 pounds of food was collected, and $1,344 in cash donations, including the $1,000 donation from
CP for the Clayton County Food Shelf. This was only slightly less than half of last year’s totals for food and cash collected,
but last year the train stopped in both Guttenberg and Marquette. This year, Mason City and Marquette were the only stops for the
Holiday Train in Iowa.

“Last year they came at five-thirty on a Saturday night, and it was cold, but not nearly as cold as this
year,” said Clayton County Food Shelf Director Utoni Ruff. Temperatures last Thursday were holding at about
zero.
    Since the train came at about 9:30 p.m. this year, many people with young children did not attend, although
there were a few in the crowd.

The musical entertainers, which included rockin’ blues guitarist Willy
Porter of Milwaukee, played a 20-minute set which included some original Christmas
tunes as well as familiar carols.
    Those who came danced and wiggled in
their coats and snowsuits, having fun and staying warm.
    The Clayton County Food Shelf is currently serving about 87 families per
month according to Ruff. The shelf accepts food and cash donations at any time. In addition, they also need non-food personal items
such as bath soap, dish soap, laundry detergent, bathroom tissue and other toiletry items.
    Ruff said that the food shelf receives about six tons of free venison from the HUSH
Program. HUSH (Help Us Stop Hunger) takes donated deer from Iowa hunters, and participating lockers process the meat into
two-pound packages of ground venison which are donated to food shelves. A fee collected as part of the state hunting license
helps to pay for the program.
    Ruff said that she encourages donations of items that help people use the venison, such as chili ingredients
like beans and canned tomatoes, or casserole mixes such as Hamburger Helper.

For more information or to donate to the Clayton County Food Shelf, call (563) 783-7794.

‘Snow auction’ nets $421 for Cancer Society

Jeff Lenhart, McGregor resident and assistant manager at Culver’s in Prairie du Chien, has been successful in his quest to
raise money for the American Cancer Society through auctioning off two containers of snow from last week’s storm on eBay.

Altogether, Lenhart will have $421 to turn in to the American Cancer Society.

He had posted two different offers of snow from northeastern Iowa. As of the morning of Dec. 16, he had a high bid of $56 on one
posting and $40 on another. There was a combined total of  5,164 viewings and 73 bids on the two sites.
    In addition to money from the bids, Craig Culver, co-founder of Culver’s, is giving $100 to the cause, Jason Cathman, owner o
 the Culver’s in Prairie du Chien, is also donating $100 and Laddawn Manufacturing in Manchester, Iowa is contributing $100.
Additional donations bring the total to $421.

 Lenhart, a volunteer for the Cancer Action Network, has drawn national attention  for his ‘snow sale.’

Snow for Sale:
Lenhart auctions off white stuff for charity

By Sandy Vold

Marquette resident Jeff Lenhart has gained national prominence after last week’s Dec. 8 snowstorm.

Lenhart, who had returned home from his job at Culver’s in Prairie du Chien that evening, was looking out
the window at the snowfall when, about 1:30 a.m., he had the inspiration to auction it off on eBay. He took a
picture of the snow storm and posted two ads, one labeled “Snow from northeastern Iowa,” and one called
“Snow from Iowa for American Cancer Society.”

About 2 a.m., he talked with Dan Moris, WPRE radio announcer, who had decided to do an all night show
since he couldn’t get home because of the snowstorm. Moris broadcast the interview, and the news spread.

As of Friday, Lenhart’s snow offer had made the news on area TV stations, the Chicago Tribune, USA
Today, and even a news site in England called “Newspin.”

 Lenhart says his offer is perfectly serious. He will ship a container of snow, packed in dry ice, to the highest bidder on each of the two postings, and
will donate the proceeds to the American Cancer Society. Lenhart says he is hoping the bids will go
to $100. He will include a certificate of authenticity, a picture of the snowstorm and a photo of a snowman
he built following the storm. The sale ends Dec. 15. So far, he has had requests to ship the snow to
California, to sell colored snow and to include a Tootsie Roll in the container of snow.

On the morning of December 15, Jeff got a call from Craig Culver, the co-founder of Culver’s Restaurants, offering to add $100 to the funds that Jeff’s auctions brings in.

One auction ends Dec. 15 at 8:58 p.m. Central Time, the other at 5:02 p.m. Central Time on Dec. 16.

Jeff chose to donate to the American Cancer Society (ACS) because he lost a favorite teacher  from
his high school in Manchester to cancer last summer. Jeff also volunteers for the Cancer Action Network, an
organization that advocates for cancer prevention and health care measures that fight cancer in the political
arena.
    He plans to present the money at an American Cancer Society Day at the State Capitol in Des Moines Feb. 24.

Two killed and three injured in crash north of Monona

An accident north of Monona resulted in two deaths and three injuries late on Saturday, Dec. 12.

Bill Moose, 23, of Mount Hope, Wis., was northbound on Cty Rd X26. While trying to execute a curve, he
lost control of his vehicle, a 1993 Buick Regal, and crossed the centerline striking a 2004 Ford XPL driven by
Arno Schlitter, 78, of Luana.

The accident occurred at about 10:34 p.m. Road conditions were icy.

Killed in the accident were Moose, and passenger Loreena Zehrung, 27, also of Mount Hope.
Terry Moose, 23, another passenger, was also injured.

Schlitter and his wife Josephine, 69, were also injured.

All persons involved in the accident were wearing seatbelts.

Clayton County Supervisors reject union pay raise proposals

 By Pat McTaggert

The Clayton County Board of Supervisors Wednesday (12-9) unanimously rejected a proposal submitted by County Sheriff’s Office
    employees for a three-year contract that contained a .75 cent per hour increase each year.

A one-year contract from the Clayton County Secondary Roads union asking for a .90 cent per hour increase was also rejected. 
    Both proposals also asked for an extra week of vacation for employees who have served for 20 years.

Supervisors Larry Gibbs, Wayne Bockenstedt and Randy Keehner all pointed to state budget cuts as the reason for the rejections.

“In times like these, we have to fight hard just to keep the status quo,” Gibbs said.

The Supervisors also signed an option agreement to purchase with the United States for approximately 40 acres of land along
   the Highway 13 bypass.  If the United States exercises the option to purchase the land, the County will convey an emergency water
-shed protection program floodplain easement to the government.  In exchange, the County will receive approximately $140,000 for the conveyance of the easement.