Rebekah Ault has been serving as the Chief Nursing Officer at Franklin General Hospital for the last three years — and she’s doing it with flying colors, according to her employees. In fact, one such employee recently nominated her for the 2025 Empowering CNO/DON Summit Award, which she won and was presented with at this year’s HealthCare Service Excellence Conference in Galveston, Texas.
 

The West Fork Dance Team wowed the judges once again at the annual Iowa State Dance Team Association competition in Des Moines on Thursday, Dec. 4.
The team took first in Class III Pom, Class II Hip Hop, Class II Jazz and Class I Mix.
The dancers are no strangers to winning, as they have competed at state for more than a decade now, winning a total of 21 state championships.

 The Hampton Public Library recently received some exciting news: they, along with every other Carnegie library in the country, will be receiving a $10,000 donation from the Carnegie Corporation of New York at the start of next year.
 

Don’t miss these upcoming events at the Hampton Public Library:

Dec. 11 — Hampton Public Library's open house is being held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. There will be appetizers and light refreshments served throughout the day.

Neighbors will clash and garland will be flung as The Tradition Collision takes the stage at the Windsor Theatre this coming weekend. Presented by the Franklin County Arts Council, performances will be held on December 12 and 13 at 7 p.m.

A Latina holiday pop-up market will be held at La Luz Centro Cultural on Saturday, Dec. 6, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Legion Ladies recently presented Howard Schaefer with a quilt thanking him for serving our country.
 
He served from 1956 to 1960.
He was stationed at Naval Air Station Anacostia, Maryland and Naval Base Norfolk, Virginia. He was on two ships, USS Lake Champlain CV39 and DarawaCV40.
 

Franklin County Family Focus is excited to welcome the community to a Family Movie Night at the Windsor Theatre
 
Join us for a fun, family-friendly evening as we present Zootopia 2 at the Windsor Theatre in Hampton.
 
Date: Friday, December 5
Doors open: 6:30 p.m.
Movie starts: 7:00 p.m.
 
Limited free popcorn will be available while supplies last.
 

The award-winning West Fork High School dance team will once again compete at the state level, in Des Moines on Thursday, Dec. 4.
Four dancers — Emerli Johnson, Adra Johnson, Kylin Johnson and Nahla Wilson — will perform solos in the Class II finals, while the entire group will take the stage during the pom, hip hop, jazz and "the mix" categories.

 
The Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce held their long-awaited Friday Uncorked event on Friday, Nov. 28, drawing around 170 people to the heart of Hampton.
 

Hampton’s United Women in Faith chapter, a Methodist organization, held their yearly bazaar on Saturday, Nov. 22 to help raise funds for non-profits in the area.
 
They typically raise a few thousand dollars in donations, which they disperse to nearly 25 different charities and non-profits around the community.
 

After more than a year of searching for a donor, the Montes family can finally breathe a sigh of relief, as Teodoro Montes of Hampton received his new kidney earlier this month, on Nov. 3.
Teodoro, who was in kidney failure, had been receiving dialysis on a daily basis when he finally received the news that he would be getting a new kidney. 

The Hansell Fire Department has announced that they'll be holding their first soup supper of the season this Wednesday, Nov. 26.
Proceeds from the free-will donation meal will go towards building their new station, which they’ve already begun working on.
The supper will be held at Hansell Community Center from 5 to 7 p.m.

On Friday, a special showing was held at the Windsor Theatre for Cabe Warwick, whose movie review was recently recognized by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Public Works Director Doug Tarr gave an update on the follow properties during his report at the end of the Nov. 24 city council meeting:
—315 1st St SW - house demolition conducted by property owner and nearly complete, at no cost to the city
—321 Federal St South - anticipated court date in January on 657A ("abatement of abandoned or unsafe buildings by rehabilitation," according to Iowa Code)