Community News

by Joe Moses

The Waukon City Council met in regular session Monday, December 2 to address a full agenda of matters including a Hazard Mitigation Plan presentation, discussion of the Fiscal-Year 2026 Budget and discussion of downtown signage relating to snow removal and parking.

The meeting was called to order by Mayor Arvid Hatlan with council members Steve Wiedner, Nicholas Engrav and Dave Blocker present in the City Council Chambers. Councilman Kevin Johnson was present via Zoom web-conferencing. There was no Public Comment with the meeting moving into Department Reports.

Again this year, as part of National Rural Health Day, Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) in Waukon has announced that it has earned the Performance Leadership Award for excellence in Patient Perspective. Compiled by The Chartis Center for Rural Health, the Performance Leadership Awards recognize top quartile performance (i.e., 75th percentile or above) among rural hospitals in Quality, Outcomes and/or Patient Perspective.

Each year, in honor of Giving Tuesday, Peoples State Bank gives a donation to local community food pantries in the area. In 2024 Peoples State Bank donated a total of $8,000 to local food pantries, including West Grant Lions Club, Clayton County Food Shelf, Coulee Cap Food Pantry, Gays Mills Food Pantry, Lancaster Food Pantry, Living Faith Food Pantry, Allamakee County Food Shelf and Six Rivers Food Pantry.

Pictured above at the donation presentation to the Allamakee County Food Shelf located in Waukon are: Left to right - Front row: Food Shelf volunteer Mary Axmear accepting the donation check from Peoples State Bank Ag Relationship Manager Dennis Lyons; Back row: Peoples State Bank Ag Relationship Manager Reid Mahoney, and Food Shelf volunteers Vicky Thorson, Gary Rumph and Charles Berg.

The Waukon City Council passed a new Winter Parking Ordinance at its November 18 meeting in an effort to better facilitate snow removal in the downtown Waukon area. The new ordinance is scheduled to go into effect from November 15 through April 1 each year, and will become effective immediately as of the publication of the ordinance in this week’s edition of The Standard (see Page 10).

by Julie Berg-Raymond

The Board of Directors of The Learning Tree Childcare Center is launching a capital campaign to bring to fruition its five-year plan to open a permanent childcare center for the Lansing and New Albin communities. After much consideration, the location selected for the Center is the former Lansing Middle School.

“Director Jenny (Cole) did a lot of research for a location and the board members helped brainstorm,” Board President of The Learning Tree Childcare Center Lisa Welsh says. “Finding a large space is very difficult and the old middle school had some challenges; but with brainstorming and Jenny’s hard work, we worked around those problems.”

Robey Memorial Library in Waukon and The Oneota Valley Literary Foundation (OVLF) are partnering to host Main Street Story Walk in Waukon featuring the children’s story, “How to catch a Yeti!” by Adam Wallace. During the months of November and December, families are encouraged to read this story in the windows of various business storefronts as they stroll the downtown area. For this and upcoming Story Walks in Waukon, the OVLF will be providing a free copy of the featured book to every family that stops by Robey Memorial Library with a photo of themselves completing the Story Walk, while supplies last.

by Paul Scott, RSVP volunteer

More than 600 people in Winneshiek, Allamakee and Howard Counties volunteer for non-profit groups in partnership with Northeast Iowa RSVP. That’s why the organization is happy to have added a new Volunteer Coordinator, Michelle McLain-Kruse.

“Our program continues to grow so it is wonderful to have Michelle join the team,” according to RSVP Director Deana Hageman.  “Having her here to assist volunteers in finding opportunities that match their time availability, knowledge and skills is crucial to our program.”

by Joe Moses

The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, November 25 to address a short agenda of matters including the consideration of the Resolution obligating American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for information technology (IT) servers, consideration of 2025 County holidays and the consideration of appointing a New Albin Rural Library representative.

The meeting was called to order by Board of Supervisors Chairperson Dan Byrnes with Supervisors Dennis Keatley and Mark Reiser present. There was no Public Comment during the time allotted for that agenda item.

Approximately two dozen area military veterans were honored during an event hosted Saturday, November 9 at AJ Bar & Grill in Waukon, in honor of the Veterans Day holiday. The event was hosted by Midwest Veterans of America and included each of those veterans receiving a plaque and small American flag, in addition to rounds of applause and gratitude from the many in attendance for their years of service to their country. Many of those honored veterans are pictured in the photo at right, standing on the staircase at AJ Bar & Grill for a group photo, and many of their family members, friends and acquaintances were also in attendance to witness and share in their honoring. The event was emceed by retired U.S. Army Master Sergeant Kevin Herman, a 1984 graduate of Waukon High School, who is pictured standing among the honored veterans at right. Standard photo by Joe Moses.
 

by Julie Berg-Raymond

“If there is someone with a heart that wants more …
I understand you.”
~ From “A Starbucks Thanksgiving,” by Katie O’Regan (Stories from Under My Hats,” Book Vine Press, ©2022)

To anyone who loves a good story or whose heart sings along with a beautiful voice sharing a song; who looks forward every year to the Thanksgiving holiday and to being with family but who wouldn’t mind getting away for an hour or so; or for whom the holiday might be less than joyful: This show, Katie O’Regan might say, is for you. All of you.

Sacred Noise Society, Inc. and Katie O’Regan, of Waukon, will present a multi-media concert experience at the Waukon High School Auditorium Friday, November 29 (the day after Thanksgiving), from 6 to 7 p.m.