That's right, free safety equipment for your home. The Hawarden Fire Department in conjunction with the City of Hawarden are offering free smoke detectors, free carbon monoxide detectors, and free emergency escape ladders to all residences in the Hawarden Fire District (City and County).

Please call us if you lack any of these devices in your home, especially if you only have one exit, have children, are less mobile, or if you have multiple stories. We don't care about the condition or cleanliness of your house, only about the safety of you and your family. Tenants and landlords are welcome to call also. If you don't have a need yourself but know of someone that does, you can recommend a friend or parent for us to contact also. There won't be another program like this in the future, especially not for free.

Reminder: On the night of Wednesday, January 2, 2002 the Hawarden Fire Department will be going door-to-door to seek homes that need this equipment. Please welcome them into your home and help them evaluate your safety needs.

More Information in November Newsletter

The first HiTEC telephone directory is being printed now. Inside you'll find helpful information about utilities and community events, emergency numbers, maps, business advertisements, and much more. And, because we've included only Hawarden phone numbers, is should be your first source for community information. Look for it in your mail in early January.

If you recall; the gas fuel adjustment (FA) charge on your bill is only the direct cost of what we are experiencing in natural gas price fluctuations. In the fuel adjustment charges there are no increases in the costs to deliver the gas to your home or business. The costs to deliver the gas to you home or business have remained the same since 1993, with all inflationary increases in the cost to deliver gas being absorbed by the utility. The fuel adjustment was selected as the preferred method to pass on the increased costs of gas as opposed to rate increases which typically would adopt a higher rate to cover the biggest price fluctuations. This will allow us to eliminate the fuel adjustment and return to normal rates, if natural gas prices return to previous levels.

Unfortunately the gas fuel adjustment is still with us. This has been around $0.25 -$0.30 per ccf since April 2001 and will continue at that level through March of 2002. We have pre-purchased our gas this year even earlier than normal (through March 2002) in order to avoid the huge price fluctuations we experienced last year when the gas fuel adjustment ran as high as $0.80 per ccf. By doing so, we were protected from the outrageous prices, but also will not realize the cheapest possible prices. However, we are only paying half of what we were paying during the worst months last year and so far it has been a milder winter. Currently, the long term outlook is better. Gas prices are falling to a level that may result in the elimination of the fuel adjustment charges in the near future (sometime after March 2002).

Movie trip, January 14th - There is a movie trip planned to the Royal Twin Theaters in LeMars. This trip is open to all students grades K - 5th. The cost is $6.00. This includes your movie ticket, transportation, and a small pop & popcorn. The movie is undecided at this time.

Creative Memory Scrapbook Workshop, January 18th - There will be a scrapbook workshop for all individuals who would like to come and work on their creative memory scrapbook. A creative memory consultant will be available with supplies along with placing orders. There will be a charge of $10.00. This includes pizza and drawings through out the night. This event will be held at the Pizza Ranch in Hawarden from 6:00 p.m. to Midnight. Beginners are welcome.

Sledding Trip, February 15th - A sledding trip is planned for all West Sioux Middle School students. We will be taking a bus trip down to Hillview Sled Park (located west of Hinton). The kids will enjoy an adventurous afternoon of sledding and tubing down the twist and turns of Hillview. For more information on any of these activities contact Jami Dekkers at 551-4412.