The Hampton Tree Board celebrated Earth Day by planting 30 trees in East Park on Thursday, April 22.
Sugar Maples, Swamp White Oak, Swamp Bur Oak, Northern Catalpa, Northern Red Oak, White Pine, Eastern Red Cedar, Cathedral Elm, and Red Bud were among the variety of trees planted by the group. By planting a wide variety of trees, the group hopes to mitigate the risk of damage from pests like the Emerald Ash Borer.

The Hampton City Council continued discussion on traffic enforcement and approved plans for two summer street projects during their regular meeting on Thursday, April 22.
At the meeting, the council acknowledged additional feedback regarding the ongoing discussion about traffic enforcement in the south east part of the city.

Five generations came together in Hampton on Saturday as Beverly Perez was introduced to her great, great granddaughter, Sawyer Hammerschmidt.
Baby Sawyer was brought to Hampton from Minnesota by her mother, Alex Chaney, and grandmother, Mandy Perez. The trio of girls spent time in town visiting with Beverly and Sawyer's great grandfather, Delbert Perez.

The H-D/CAL High School Drama Club presented "A California Surfer in Cleopatra's Court" this weekend.
Performing on Friday and Saturday evening at Church of the Living Word Auditorium, the play told the tale of a time-displaced surfer navigating the politics of ancient Egypt intermingled with popular songs from the 1960s.

The Hampton-Dumont Community School Board discussed tech upgrades, building improvements, virtual learning, and calendar changes during their regular board meeting on Monday, April 12.

Ancient Egypt is in for a wild ride when a 1960s surfer-dude finds himself wiping out in the distance past. The HD-CAL Drama Department is preparing for their spring musical, "A California Surfer in Cleopatra's Court, which will be performed on April 16 and 17 at 7:00 p.m. at the Church of the Living Word auditorium.

The Hampton City Council heard more on residential traffic and set pool rates for the summer during their regular meeting on Thursday, April 8.
Lu and Dan Rodemeyer returned to the council to address the traffic issue in the southeast area of the city.

U.S. Representative Randy Feenstra visited Hampton on Thursday, April 8 for a public meeting at First Bank Hampton.
Attended largely by bank leadership, Feenstra told his hosts what he has been up to as a freshman Congressman during his first year in Washington D.C.

A Hampton resident got her first taste of fame last week after appearing on Estrella TV's "Tengo Talento, Mucho Talento."
Stacey De La Cruz and her mother, Rozalba Zuviri, are big fans of the Spanish-language reality talent show. De La Cruz has always enjoyed singing herself, but never really thought that she could do it professionally.
Her mother thought otherwise.

First Bank Hampton isn't just in Hampton anymore. On Monday, April 5, the bank officially opened up their first branch office in Latimer.
"We felt it would be a good move for us and the community of Latimer," said First Bank Hampton's President and CEO, David Heuberger.

On April 5, 2020, Franklin County reported its first confirmed case of COVID-19. Exactly one year to the day later, all adult residents are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
"Who would have thought we'd ever be this far," said Ashley Roberts, director of Franklin County Public Health. "It's crazy to think that it's been a whole year."

Franklin County veterans have a new local resource to help them manage their benefits.
As of the first of March, Adam Akers is the new Executive Director of Franklin County Veterans Affairs.
"Things are good," said Akers. "I feel like I am off to a good start as the new director here for Franklin County."

The HD-CAL Speech Team traveled to the State Individual Speech contest in Waverly on Saturday, March 13.
Twenty-six performers participated in 41 events at the speech contest between the varsity and freshman teams. Of them, 34 earned a Division 1 rating and seven earned a Division 2 rating.

The Franklin County Convention Center showed off its new renovations with an open house event on Saturday, March 20.
Four years ago, the Franklin County Fair Board announced their plans for a $1.2 million series of building improvements to the convention center. After years of fundraising and preparations, the renovation project finally got underway last November.

Franklin County's legislators, Senator Amanda Ragan and Representative Shannon Latham, participated in a virtual meeting on Friday, March 12 to speak with area residents.
Hosted by Newton Grotzinger of the Greater Franklin County Area Chamber of Commerce, the legislators virtually met with Franklin County residents for a post-funnel week rundown of their activities.