Representatives of the Alta School Foundation came to the Alta-Aurelia School Board this week, proposing a merger with a similar group in Aurelia, to better reflect the now-consolidated district. The foundations are citizen volunteer groups that help support the needs of the schools and teachers. Currently the Alta group is helping to purchase Chromebook computers for the classrooms...

Darlene Stille gets a new lease on teaching career at AA: ‘the higher the standards, the higher the achievement’

With the Warrior Parent Teacher Association and the City of Alta Park Board joining their efforts to develop playgrounds, Kayla Wilson of the PTO reports that the school group is setting out to surpass last year’s total of funds raised, with all the funds to be directed toward the projects...

The Alta-Auralia pep band performs during halftime. / Photo by Craig Shultz

Buena Vista Raceway manager Joey Ciechanowski will be leaving his position after two years at the helm. “With many thoughts and long considerations, I have made a decision to not renew my contract regarding the promotion of the Buena Vista Raceway for the 2020 season and return the track to the Buena Vista County Ag Association,” he said in a social media announcement Wednesday. ...

Grant Peckenschneider will step down as co-head coach for Alta-Aurelia football. He plans to continue as an assistant coach. Chris Reinert, currently co-coach, will be the head coach, as the school board chose not to open the position to applications...

During a busy meeting Monday night, the Alta City Council considered efforts to add new housing. In his first meeting as mayor, Kevin Walsh said he had been in contact with local real estate developer Joe Aube, who has some interest in available building lots on Cyclone Drive...

Some Alta-Aurelia third-grade girls get a chance to play ball during halftime of the varsity girls game on Tuesday night. /Photo by Craig Shultz

Altans could face a tax increase as the city looks for ways to afford upcoming infrastructure needs. The tax levy rate is currently $10.59 per $1,000 of property valuation. The most it could be increased to is $11.46, which would raise about an additional $56,000 per year. With a mild increase in overall property valuations, the city could then expect a budget increase of about $66,000 from the current year, according to City Clerk Megan Peterson...

The Alta City Council began the process of filling it vacant city code officer position this week, after the previous employee was fired under the previous mayor’s watch in late 2019. “We have kind of a big void right now,” Mayor Kevin Walsh said, hoping the position can be filled by spring. The pervious code officer had also been assigned to maintain the community building, which in retrospect was “not the best decision,” he said...

The Hanover Historical Society will hold its 23rd Annual Meeting, Sunday, January 12th, beginning at 2 p.m., at St. John Lutheran Church, Hanover. The public is invited. There will be a short business meeting. The highlight of the meeting will be the speaker, Jaymie Bral. ...

On Saturday, January 18, at 10 a.m. all are invited to join the Alta Community Library in celebrating all things frozen with A Very FROZEN Party. The party will be jam packed with fun and exciting things. There will be a meet and greet with Anna and Elsa as well as a photo opportunity. There will be a live read along, sweet refreshments and fun activities! Participants are welcome to come dressed up! Boys and girls alike will surely be delighted with the magic and fun during the party...

The Alta Park Board recently went over contracts to hire a swimming pool manager, ball programs director and concessions manager for the coming season, with plans to begin the search process this month. Lifeguards for the pool continue to be a concern, with the pool forced to close at times last season for lack of trained staff. ...

The Alta Firemen’s Association will host its first Cornhole Tournament Saturday, February 22 at the Alta Community Center. The fun starts at 2 p.m. with registration for teams, and the first toss follows at 3 p.m. Competing teams will be made up of two members, but single participants can register as well and be paired up to make a team. ...

There were 11 fewer calls in 2019 than in 2018 for the Alta Fire Department, according to Chief Kirk “Bubba” Reetz, who recently compiled year-end figures. “It was a nice downtick,” he said. 2019 saw 178 calls for service involving nearly 1,900 hours of firefighters’ time. The department took part in 17 community events, 12 department meetings, 91 outside meetings and seven outside training events, for a total of 6,935 firefighter volunteer hours...

City, school groups eye a joint fundraising campaign, looking for input from kids

An Alta man faces charges after shutting his car window on a Storm Lake Police officer’s arm, and driving drunk with his two small children in the back seat. Around 4 a.m. on the morning of December 31, an officer pulled a vehicle over near the intersection of C49 and 90th Avenue...

Alta-Aurelia Warrior wrestling hosts a pasta dinner fundraiser January 4, at Aurelia Community Center, 5-7:30 p.m. The wrestlers and cheerleaders will be hosting the free will donation pasta dinner. Proceeds will help cover the costs of overnight travel expenses for an upcoming tournament and updating equipment in the wrestling practice room...

The Alta-Aurelia Community School District held a “friendly competition” to collect donations for The Lord’s Cupboard, as part of the No Hungry Neighbors food drive conducted by the City of Alta, and the Alta Municipal Utilities. Overall, the School District donated 4,221 pounds of food! Of the four schools, the Alta-Aurelia Middle School donated the most with 2,717 pounds of food, bottled water and household goods, and won the “friendly competition” this year...

Alta Iowa Firefighters Association’s 1st Vice-President, Nick Riley, came to Alta Fire Department during its annual Hometown Christmas Soup Luncheon to present two recently retired firefighters with awards for their lengthy service. Rick Meyer served 46 years with the department and Dan Strand 26 years. Rick and Dan each received an award as well as IFA’s 125th Anniversary Statue. Chief Reetz also presented a years of service award to Rick and Dan. / Photo courtesy Natalie Meyer...

Alta-Aurelia High School students founded a Kindness Club, dedicated to doing good things for people in the community. The club was cited by the school board recently as an example of what extra-curricular efforts can achieve. The clubs was formed three years ago, and has about 60 members. The Kindness Club is dedicated to doing good things for people in the communities, and also has raised money for a couple of different charities...

Children at the Alta Community Library enjoyed a few games of bowling thanks to Toddle Time. Green pop bottles decorated as Christmas trees were used as bowling pins and soft toy snowballs worked as bowling balls. / Photo submitted

Gigi Nelson was honored for her service to the school district during the December Alta-Aurelia Board of Education meeting, the last of her term. Nelson helped play a key role as the Alta and Aurelia districts came together for consolidation. / Pilot photo by Dana Larsen...

The Alta-Aurelia school district took part in RIPL training last week. Shown are students with Ben Rudrud of National School Safety Consulting. RIPL – or Relational, Impactful, Preventative Leadership – is equipping teachers and staff with tools to help better connect with students in meaningful ways and create strong relationships. ...

Wellness often begins with employers, and the local Area Education Agency is examining the potential impact in the workplace. Prairie Lakes AEA Chief Jeff Herzberg directed the AEA board at its most recent meeting to study an article on the Surgeon General’s call to employers to ramp up their well-being initiatives...

Two members of the Alta-Aurelia staff brought a proposal to the school board this week, seeking to add a therapy dog program to the district. Sixth grade teacher Melissa Fahr in Aurelia and classroom associate Roxanne Peterson in Alta - both experienced with dogs - pitched the program to a receptive board...

A toddler was a tad reluctant to sit with Santa Claus during the holiday hero’s visit to the Alta Library Sunday, part of the Alta Hometown Christmas celebration - but she soon warmed up. A parade of kids shared their Christmas wishes and received a gift of candy from Mr. Claus. See page 10 for more photos from the events. / Pilot photo by Dana Larsen...

The Alta-Aurelia elementary school has pulled a bit of a swerve on its youngest students. The principal installed a dozen “Santa Cams” - inexpensive pretend gadgets with a blinking light that she purchased herself. The project was just for fun, but students believe the cameras are reporting back to the North Pole, and have been on their best behavior. ...

Winners of the Alta Hometown Christmas lighting contest for this year: • Elegant - Doug Buckendahl on Lake Street. • Creative - Donna Kohn on Cherokee Street. This year’s event was sponsored by the Alta Chamber of Commerce.

My name is Pastor Ben and in the past year, the Church of Christ in Alta, IA has been going through the process of changing our name to Northwest Christian Church. If you’ve driven through Alta on Highway 7 recently, you may have noticed some new signage to that effect. We’ve been getting a lot of questions as to why we made that change, and whether or not it reflects a change in our beliefs...

Sprits were bright around the community Sunday for the Alta Hometown Christmas celebration, which included fundraiser meals, a craft and vendors show, horse drawn wagon rides, a forest of decorated Christmas trees and activities at the library, model railroad show and more, culminating in the lighting of the community Christmas tree and nativity. / Pilot photos by Dana Larsen...

A group of Storm Lake Middle School students visited Mr. Schaefer’s Alta-Aurelia’s Geography class to discuss Latin America recently, allowing AA students to learn directly from people who have lived in or visited those regions. /Photo submitted

Departing Alta Mayor Al Clark delivered his final mayor’s report during this week’s city council meeting, before leaving office at the end of the year. Here is the report in full: By AL CLARK Mayor of Alta As I enter my last month as Mayor for the City of Alta, I would like to thank a few people for their support, advice and working relationship...

The Alta Community Library Tour of Trees will coincide with the Alta Hometown Christmas Festivities on December 8th from 2-5 p.m. There will be door prizes, refreshments and pictures with Santa at 2 p.m. / Photo submitted

TODDLE TIME: Will meet on Friday mornings at 10:30 a.m., for children ages 5 and under. TOUR OF TREES & SANTA The Alta Community Library Tour of Trees will coincide with the Alta Hometown Christmas Festivities on December 8th from 2-5 p.m. There will be door prizes, refreshments and pictures with Santa at 2 p.m...

The library held a Polar Express Program on Friday, November 22. The children and parents wore their pajamas. The evening started by stopping at the library desk to get train tickets. After getting their pictures taken by the train conductor, they followed the train track maze to the library train to take a magical trip to the North Pole. ...

Alta Municipal Utilities and the City of Alta are sponsoring their 13th annual food drive to serve the needy people in our community. The winter season is fast approaching, and it brings additional hardships with it. Together, we can make a difference in the lives of the needy. We can make sure that no one in our community goes hungry during this upcoming holiday season...

The Alta-Aurelia School Board of Directors met Monday night and reminded attendees that November 18 through November 22 is American Education Week. There was no mention if the schools will be doing anything special for that week. The conversation quickly took a turn toward the new website the school board is initiating...

St. Paul Lutheran Church’s 4th annual Chili Cook-off is coming up on Sunday December 8 from 5:30 p.m.- 7:30 p.m. at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 405 Division St., Alta, Iowa 51002. If anyone would like to be a chili maker this year we would love to have them. Send the church a message on Facebook and they will into one of the slots. Entrants will need to provide one full roaster of chili. Come help support the Backpack program and the kids who need the communities support...

Get ready for a holiday vendor fair during the Hometown Christmas festivities. There will be plenty of venders there including: • Tastefully Simple - Ashley Dirks • Thirty-One - Carrie Schmidt • Norwex - Melonie Cuthbertson Glienke • Scentsy - Jen Launderville...

Everyone is invited Friday, November 22nd at 6 p.m. for a trip to the North Pole on their very own library train. Visitors to the Alta Community Library will be reading the Polar Express, sipping on hot chocolate, enjoying sweets and getting ready to kick off the holiday season. Wear your comfy pajamas and come ready for a magical adventure! All ages are welcome...

The Alta-Aurelia school board hosted a Veterans’ Day ceremony celebrating all Veterans’, but especially the ones from Buena Vista and Cherokee Counties, Monday morning. Soldiers who had fought in wars as far back as World War II came out to be honored by the children...

Alta seems to have a growing stray cat issue, according to Mayor Al Clark, who raised the issue with the city council at a recent meeting. He said Lake Animal Hospital is not accepting the strays, as all of the communities in the area are being overrun with the animals. “Basically, they told me that if we come up with a solution, let them know,” Clark said...

After much discussion in recent months, the Alta City Council has approved an agreement that will allow the local VFW to have its own location in the annex of the community building. Members of the VFW who were at last week’s council meeting immediately approved the deal...

Alta Kiwanians and Alta-Aurelia 5th Graders at the football field in Alta. Students from Mr. Payne’s 5th Grade Class assisted in picking up the area around the football field after two home games. Their assistance in cleaning up the area is greatly appreciated. / Photo submitted...

Pictured are Alta Kiwanians in front of the new and improved Can Receptacle. Alta Kiwanians can collection project supports kids in Alta. Some of the projects supported through can collection include: Scholarships, HOBY Leadership Camp, Alta Playground, and Alta-Aurelia Athletic, Music and Scholastic Programs. ...

After firing its code officer recently, Alta city leaders decided to not advertise immediately for a replacement. With the mayor and two council members leaving at the end of the year, the decision was made to delay a decision until new people assume offices. One concern, however, is that winter is normally the time of season when rental housing inspections are done, which will need to be delayed...

“They called us baby killers. When I came home around the beginning of May, I went to a memorial day celebration. The shooting made me jump three feet in the air,” said Vietnam Veteran and Alta VFW Post Commander, Don Fisher. “Walking back, there were a couple of guys in a car taunting me. I told them if they were any kind of a man they would get out of that car, but they never did.”...

Since November of 2009, The Olive Branch community store at 111 South Main Street in downtown Alta has provided a way for area residents to find inexpensive clothing, toys, and household items. Most items are priced around $1. Operated by volunteers from Summit Church, the goal of the store is to meet the practical needs of people, enabling neighbors to help one another as the hands and feet of Jesus Christ...

Smiles abounded from residents at WEL-Life Residential Home in Alta October 31 by the tenants there, in anticipation of the ghosts, ghouls and goblins who were scheduled to show up there around 5:30 p.m. Chairs were lined up in a row directly inside the front entrance of the facility where residents can sit and greet the children and hand out candy...