ALLAMAKEE COUNTY, IOWA ~ Have you ever driven down a familiar road, never realizing that just a little ways off, there’s a piece of history older than almost anything else around? Well, here’s something worth knowin’! Tucked into the wooded countryside between Lansing and New Albin, Iowa, is a remarkable little place called Fish Farm…

Waukon’s Fall Harvest Dinner Is Serving Up More Than a Delicious Meal! WAUKON, IOWA ~ Now, there’s something about a good old~fashioned church dinner that just feels like home. Maybe it’s the smell of ham. Maybe it’s those cheesy potatoes that somehow taste even better when somebody else makes them. Or maybe it’s knowing that,…

Award-Winning Seraph Brass Brings an Evening of Music to Decorah! DECORAH, IOWA ~ Friday, October 30, 2026 Have you ever heard a piece of music that made you sit up a little straighter, gave you goosebumps, or left you wondering how in the world somebody could make an instrument sound quite like that? Well, Decorah…

Ridgeway’s Acoustic Music Jam Brings Folks Together Today! RIDGEWAY, IOWA ~ There’s something mighty special about music when it isn’t dressed up in bright lights, expensive tickets, or a fancy concert hall. Sometimes all it takes is somebody with a guitar, another person with a fiddle, a few folks who know a good tune, and…

DECORAH, IOWA ~ Sometimes making the world a little better doesn’t require a grand plan, a big donation, or even a whole lot of equipment. Sometimes it begins with a garbage bag, a pair of gloves, and somebody willing to lend a helping hand! That’s the spirit behind the Decorah Rotary Club’s twice-yearly roadside cleanup…

At first glance, sheep and solar panels might seem like they belong in two completely different conversations. One represents a way of farming that’s been around for generations. The other represents a newer way of producing energy. But in Decorah, they’re sharing the same piece of ground. On Thursday, October 1, Northeast Iowa residents will…

Long before their harmonies were heard around the world, Don and Phil Everly were two young boys singing before school in Shenandoah, Iowa. The Everly family came to Iowa in 1945, when Don was about 8 and Phil about 6. Their father, Ike, was a musician, and the boys began performing with their parents on…

There’s just something about an old Iowa barn. The weathered boards. The giant beams. The hayloft. The old doors that have opened and closed through generations of chores, harvests, livestock, kids growing up and families making a living from the land. And this weekend, some of those old barns are opening their doors for us.…

Decorah Public Library has helped middle-schoolers explore their community on two wheels DECORAH, IOWA ~ When somebody says they’re taking the kids to the library, you probably picture books. Maybe a computer. A comfy chair. Possibly a librarian reminding somebody that their voice has an indoor setting. You probably don’t picture a group of middle~schoolers…

Winneshiek County Veterans Memorial asks families to help make sure every veteran is remembered DECORAH, IOWA ~ Somewhere in Winneshiek County, there may be a veteran whose name is missing. Maybe it belongs to a grandfather whose uniform has been tucked away in a closet for decades. Maybe it belongs to the woman down the…

5 Good Things Goin’ ’Round Town ~ September 8~13, 2026 There’s a whole lot of good happening around Northeast Iowa this week ~ people lending a hand, history being preserved, families getting together and communities finding reasons to gather. So put your hand up! It’s time for another HIGH 5 for 5 Good Things Goin’…

DECORAH, IOWA ~ You know that kayak you haven’t used in two summers? The bike somebody outgrew? The tent folded up in the basement? The backpack you keep saying you’ll use again someday? Well… Decorah has a place for all of it. The 5th annual Decorah Gear Exchange is coming September 26~27 at Pulpit Rock…

MABEL, MINNESOTA ~ Imagine hearing there was a steam~engine gathering somewhere out in the country. No GPS. No Facebook event page. And apparently nobody you stop to ask has the slightest idea what you’re talking about. What do you do? Well, back in 1953, one man did the perfectly reasonable thing: He followed the steam-engine…

Illustrative image created for Word ’Round Town; not an actual photograph of the marker. DECORAH, IOWA ~ If you’ve ever walked around Decorah and thought there was something special beneath your feet… Well. You weren’t wrong. You may have just underestimated it by about 465 million years. A new bronze marker has been installed at…

IOWA ~ If you’ve looked up at a black walnut tree lately and thought, “Well, that seems a little early…” you may not be imagining things. Some black walnut trees across Iowa are turning yellow and dropping leaves sooner, and more heavily than usual this summer. According to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the…

CEDAR FALLS, IOWA ~ Sometimes the most interesting things in town aren’t sitting behind a museum door or hanging in a gallery. Sometimes, they’re growing beside somebody’s garage. The City of Cedar Falls is looking for residents and organizations willing to open their backyards and green spaces for future A Practical Backyard Tour events. The…

There was a time when a little girl might twirl across an Iowa farmhouse kitchen in a brand-new dress, holding the skirt out with both hands and feeling as pretty as any child ever could. She may not have known that dress had once been a flour sack. She may not have known her mother…

Around Northeast Iowa, you don’t have to drive very far before a familiar flash of green and yellow appears. It might be working a field. Sitting beside a barn. Or heading down a country road while the rest of us patiently follow behind. 😂 But in Waterloo, there’s a place where those familiar green machines…

There is something especially inviting about an old porch. A rocking chair. A breeze moving through the trees. Maybe the creak of a floorboard underfoot. And if you happen to look up, you may notice something else: A ceiling painted a soft, pale blue. Pretty? Absolutely. But in many parts of the South, that color…

The Arbor Day Foundation’s 2026 tree survey is offering region-matched seedlings with a donation ~ but those tiny trees need a little planning before they arrive. A small seedling may not look like much when it first arrives. A few roots. A skinny stem. Maybe a handful of leaves. But give it enough years, and…

Butterflies on the move, a changing bug chorus, cooler mornings, and the first leaves beginning to whisper what’s coming next. It usually begins before we are ready to admit it. One evening, the insect chorus sounds just a little different. A monarch passes through with somewhere else to be. The mornings feel cooler. Dew hangs…

The Old Folklore Hidden Beneath the Husk Older generations did not have weather apps, satellite maps, or seasonal computer models. They watched the sky. They noticed the animals. And sometimes, they peeled back the husk of an ear of corn. According to a long-standing piece of weather folklore, unusually thick or tightly wrapped corn husks…

Feature image inspired by the former Hula Hoop Tree near Amber, Iowa. Tossin’ Another Neat Iowa Story Your Way! Remembering Amber, Iowa’s Colorful Roadside Curiosity By Deliverance HopeWord ’Round Town “For several years, one particular tree near Amber, Iowa, carried something far more colorful than leaves. It carried hula hoops. Dozens upon dozens of them.…

High above the rooftops of Lansing, where the Mississippi River bends around the town and continues carrying stories downstream, sits a bluff with a story of its own. It is a story involving a steamboat, a determined young woman, a race toward the sky, and a community that later turned the same hill into a…