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Tough Tek Metals, the small-town manufacturer based in Lansing, is celebrating a major milestone: 100,000 safety screens provided to military housing across the United States and beyond. That milestone number represents far more than production output; it represents lives protected, families supported, and tragedies prevented.

For the team at Tough Tek Metals, the achievement is deeply meaningful.

“Although nobody calls us and thanks us, we know we are having a meaningful impact,” the team shared. “We know falls are being prevented - and that’s what matters most.”

A MISSION ROOTED IN CHILD SAFETY
Tough Tek’s patented safety screens were developed with a clear purpose: preventing children from falling out of windows while still allowing families to fully use their windows for ventilation and comfort.

Four farming couples were honored as 2026 Master Farmers at the FFA Enrichment Center in Ankeny Wednesday, March 25. Each year, Wallaces Farmer magazine and the Iowa Master Farmer Association (IMFA) select deserving candidates who reflect exceptional agricultural production skills, commitment to family and service to community.

Among the 2026 Iowa Master Farmers are Steve and Jane Johanningmeier of Waterville. They were joined by this year’s fellow honorees Morey and Rhonda Hill of Madrid, Dan and Susan Voss of Atkins, and Pete and Dana Wenstrand of Essex in receiving that recognition during the centennial year of the program.

This year also featured two new winners of the Exceptional Service to Agriculture Award. They are Greg Tylka, Iowa State University (ISU) Extension nematologist and founding director of the Iowa Soybean Research Center at ISU, and Kirk Leeds, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Iowa Soybean Association.

Hannah Hagen, daughter of Erik and Lisa Hagen of Waterville, was crowned the 2026 Allamakee County Dairy Princess at the annual Allamakee County Dairy Banquet held Saturday, March 28 at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds Pavilion in Waukon. Hagen will now assume the duties that are inherent with being crowned as the Allamakee County Dairy Princess throughout her reign this next year, as she takes over that role from 2025 Allamakee County Dairy Princess Kendra Gibbs. Additional photos of award winners and other recognition from Saturday’s 2026 Allamakee County Dairy Banquet will appear in a future edition of The Standard. Photo by Paula Enyart.

Pick up the Wednesday, April 1, 2026 print edition of The Standard or subscribe to our e-edition or print edition by clicking here.

by Lissa Blake

Many Allamakee County residents enjoy celebrating their Irish Heritage around St. Patrick’s Day, much as they did recently.

But many may not know that the families, friends and neighbors celebrating with them are descendants of Brian Boru, the Monarch High King of Ireland.

King Boru lived from 941-1014, and is credited with uniting the four provinces and conquering the Viking stronghold over the country. He ruled from 1002 to 1014, dying after the Battle of Clontarf and setting up his heirs to rule for hundreds of years through the O’Brien dynasty.

The Battle of Clontarf took place near Dublin on the east coast of Ireland. It is considered an important event in Irish history, being credited with freeing the Irish from foreign domination, with King Boru being hailed as a national hero.

Although the temperatures were a bit chilly and a noticeable breeze was blowing, conditions for the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade held Sunday, March 22 in Waukon were still much better than they were a week prior when a snowstorm forced postponement of the annual event from its original date of Sunday, March 15. Not even that delay could dampen the Irish spirit on display, as more than 130 parade entries that made their way along this year’s parade route took approximately an hour to complete their circuit of Irish celebration early Sunday afternoon. Additional photos taken by Standard Assistant Editor Joe Moses from this year’s parade can be found on Page 28 within this same edition of The Standard. All of the parade photos found in this issue, along with many more from Sunday’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, are available for viewing by clicking on the Photos link on The Standard’s website. A video of this year’s St.

The 2026 Allamakee County Dairy Banquet is scheduled to be held this Saturday, March 28 at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds Pavilion in Waukon. Food service will start at 7 p.m. and the program will begin at 8 p.m. Banquet tickets can be purchased at the door.

The annual celebration recognizes the importance of the dairy industry in Allamakee County and the contributions dairy families make to this industry. Every year, top producers from the county are recognized at the banquet. In addition, several other awards are presented that evening, some of which include the following:
• Outstanding Young Dairy Family Award
• Pioneer Dairyman
• Distinguished Dairy Family Award
• Service to Dairy Industry Award
• Golden Butter Knife Award.

Those who travel on Iowa Highways 9 and 26 in Lansing need to be aware of roadway construction that may slow down their trip, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation’s (DOT) District 2 Office. The highway contractor, Tschiggfrie Excavating out of Dubuque, will be widening lanes and building a new intersection for Iowa 9/Iowa 26 near the entrance to the new bridge.

Construction will shift traffic to a single lane. Crews will be setting up temporary traffic lights, widening the pavement, and placing concrete barrier along the center of the roads from Monday, March 23 through this fall.

This work will start in the northbound lane, then switch to the southbound lane. Initially, traffic will be controlled with orange cones and flaggers during working hours. Starting in a couple weeks, traffic will then be controlled by the temporary traffic lights and concrete barrier. Vehicle height will be restricted to 15 feet and vehicle width restricted to nine feet.

Allamakee County Treasurer Nicki Smedsrud would like to remind property owners the second installment of property taxes is due by March 31, 2026. Those tax payments can be made in person at the Allamakee County Treasurer’s office in the Allamakee County Courthouse at 110 Allamakee Street in Waukon between the hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Property owners are reminded to bring their tax stubs with their payment to ensure proper credit. To avoid penalty on the second installment, payment must be received in the Treasurer’s Office by Tuesday, March 31. Penalty will begin to apply April 1.

E-check and credit card payments are also accepted online at www.iowatreasurers.org. Property owners will need their receipt number to pay by e-check, and this can be found on their tax statement.

The Allamakee County Emergency Management Agency wants to take this opportunity to notify the public of the plan to conduct a county-wide Tornado Drill and test of the city outdoor warning sirens within Allamakee County this Wednesday, March 25, beginning at 10 a.m.  This will allow Allamakee County to participate in the State of Iowa Tornado Drill as part of Severe Weather Awareness Week, which is being observed March 23-27 this year.

At approximately 10 a.m. warning sirens in all six cities in the county will be activated and a test alert message should be sent out on the Allamakee County Alert Iowa system for those who have signed up for the Tornado Warning notification feature. However, there will be no test Tornado Watch or Warning sent from the National Weather Service, nor will there be any wireless emergency alerts or push notifications on phones. Some TV/radio stations may briefly cut into programming as part of the State of Iowa Tornado Drill at that time.

The 2026 St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Waukon originally scheduled for this past Sunday, March 15 was postponed to this coming Sunday, March 22 due to weather considerations that ultimately brought a winter storm to the Waukon area on the originally scheduled parade day. Discussion with the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT), which ultimately issues the permit allowing the parade to happen on the State Highway 9/76 route through Waukon, resulted in that permit being revoked by the DOT Wednesday, March 11 due to safety considerations regarding roadway conditions and the traveling public based on the winter storm forecasted to move through the tri-state area this past Sunday, which it did.

The rescheduled parade for this Sunday, March 22 will again begin at 1 p.m. All are invited to participate in this year’s parade with an Irish-themed entry at no cost.