Aaron Becker is leaving his role as the Superintendent of Hampton-Dumont Community School District. 
Becker, who’s been with HDCSD since July 2022, will begin his new job as the superintendent of Prairie City Monroe Community School District on July 1.The decision was announced after the PCM School Board held a special meeting on Dec. 23. Becker was one of three final candidates for the job.

The students at HD-CAL Middle School are saving up their BARK bucks to shop for presents for loved ones.

 
Allen James Barnhart, 36, of Hampton was arrested by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Wednesday afternoon, Dec. 4. 
Barnhart was charged with operating without interlock, a simple misdemeanor; a sex offender registration violation, a Class D Felony; and driving with a license denied or revoked, a serious misdemeanor.

Hampton city officials deliberated the future of the abandoned buildings at 4 & 6th 1st St NW in Hampton, which they acquired through district court order, at their Dec. 9 city council workshop. 
City councilors were, for the most part, in favor of structurally securing the buildings, formerly known as Rick’s Pharmacy buildings, and they’ll vote on it during their Dec. 12 city council meeting. 

One thing was clear by the end of the Dec. 2nd Friends of Beeds Lake meeting at Center One: there is a high interest in turning things around at Beeds Lake State Park. 
Prior to the regular meeting, the board had invited members of the DNR staff to have a

Hampton Youth for Christ started in Hampton in 2009 for the high school and 2014 for the middle school and it continues to grow.
HD-CAL YFC Director Tara Friedl said the YFC program has played an important role in her life, which is why she took over as director at the start of the school year.

Doug Symens of Hansell stopped by the Chronicle on Wednesday, Nov. 13 to share this belated Veterans Day story with us: He and his grandchildren — Grant, 5; Hank, 7; and Riley, 10 — like to go on regular bike rides. Well, they often find themselves at the Hansell cemetery, where young Hank became fascinated with a headstone for a WWII veteran named Ray Schwab, who passed away in 1994.

The students of the HD-CAL Drama club pulled off a stunning performance of “Into the Woods Jr" at the Church of the Living Word over the weekend. 

The Friends of Beeds Lake have been hard at work, writing grant proposals and searching for funding for new playground equipment — recently securing a $1,500 grant from the State Parks of Iowa Fund and a $20,000 grant from the Barkema Charitable Trust.
 

I had the most magical time at the Carlson Tree Farm on Friday morning! As I pulled up to the property, I felt like I had arrived at the set of a Hallmark movie. Dogs romping around. Wreathes everywhere. And rows and rows of beautiful Christmas trees. A Winter Wonderland, without the snow.

Local veterans were honored at Hampton-Dumont High School’s annual Veterans Day program on Monday, Nov. 11. 
 
Community members gathered in the gym of the high school at 2 p.m. for the program, which began with an introductory statement by senior class representative and state student council vice president Isaac Vosburg.
 

The Franklin County Conservation Board has some big news: they recently acquired a new hunting property just west of Chapin, called Cattail Flats.

For the last fourteen years, locals have looked forward to the city’s annual wine walk the day after Thanksgiving — and it’s back once again this year.

The nineteenth annual Halloween Howl in Hampton was a smash. 
 
The event, which is organized by the folks at the Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, drew hundreds from near and far to downtown Hampton from 3 to 5 p.m. on Saturday. Families could be seen walking from business to business for candy, before taking a tour through the haunted house at the Windsor Theatre. 
 

Local accountant Jeffrey Jaacks has retired, after forty-five years in practice. 
And his firm, “Jeffrey A. Jaacks, Licensed Public Account,” known as the community’s oldest tax and bookkeeping firm, will shut its doors for the last time later this week.