Clayton County Register

By Pat McTaggart
Freelance Writer

Clayton County has received a $50,000 Historic Resource Development Program (HRDP) state grant for continuing restoration work on the County Courthouse clock tower. The grant will be used for the upper areas of the tower. Since this is the highest part of the project, the costs escalate due to the use of tall cranes needed to get to the upper areas.
The areas in need of restoration are basically from the top of the windows on all four sides upwards, including all the roofing, wood decorative pieces, the wooden louvers, metal work and weather vane. This area has significant deterioration. Kendrick Lumber in Edgewood is donating all of the wood that will be used for this phase of the project. This donation was obtained through the efforts of Clayton County Supervisor Ray Peterson.

Clark J. Pahlas, age 89, of Ripon, WI, came to the end of his journey on Tuesday, July 10, 2018, at Barrett House in Ripon.
Born on June 4, 1929, Clark was raised in Elkader, IA by his loving parents Julius and Clara Pahlas. He liked to share many fond memories of growing up in this small rural town. Upon graduating from high school, Clark spent four years in the Navy. He then married his high school sweetheart, Grace Crider. Together they moved to Yankton, SD where Clark attended Yankton College. He went on to earn a Masters of History and a Masters of Education from the University of South Dakota in Vermilion. Next stop was Rochester, MN where Clark became the Director of the Olmsted County Historical Society. The next challenge he took on was becoming the General Manager of Palmer Method Handwriting in Chicago, IL.

Miya Isabella Erickson, 14, daughter of Michael and Caroline Erickson and Amy and Walt Zehr was called home to her heavenly father on Sunday, July 8th, 2018.
Miya was born on December 29, 2003, in West Union, Iowa.  She was baptized into St. Joseph’s Catholic Church on February 1, 2004, and received her first holy communion on April 22, 2012. Miya was an incoming freshman and had attended Central Community Schools. She was active in both concert band and pep band where she played the flute and piccolo and was selected for Honor Band. Miya also participated in track, enjoyed gymnastics, was a member of the supreme honor roll and was football manager. She attended many Central sporting events supporting her brothers and cousins.  

After nearly 30 years as a stylist, Jenni Francis has found her happy place. The Northeast Iowa native recently opened a hair salon on Mulberry Street, across from the Elkader Post Office. As part of refreshing the space, she turned one wall into the story of her life’s journey covering it with sayings that represent her irrepressible optimism and an “everything will be OK” attitude. One of her favorites is a Maya Angelou quote that also serves as her professional motto: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
“I truly believe that,” Jenni said, “and part of feeling good is looking good. That’s where I come in.”