News Center newsletter

Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care will be continuing its community flu clinics this month during regular immunization clinic hours on the following dates: November 22 from 1-4 p.m. and November 29 from 1-4 p.m.

The Community and Home Care Immunization Clinic is located on the upper level of Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. Flu vaccine, pneumonia vaccine, and a combination of flu and pneumonia vaccine will all be available. Tetanus shots will be offered as well.

Medicare does cover these costs. Billing for Medicare will be completed by the Community and Home Care staff, but participants will need to bring their physician’s name and their Medicare number with them.

Influenza, also called the flu, can cause fever, chills, headache, cough, sore throat, and muscle aches to people of any age, and can lead to pneumonia and even death. But most deaths caused by influenza are in elderly people.

The next LifeServe Blood Center Blood Drive will be held Monday, December 11 from 12-5 p.m. at the First Baptist Church in south Waukon. Blood drives are held once per month. The LifeServe Blood Center supplies Veterans Memorial Hospital with its blood and blood products.

The LifeServe Blood Center is seeking donors to ensure a safe and plentiful blood supply in Iowa. Because there is no substitute for human blood, the need for donors is continuous.

Over half of the United States population is eligible to donate blood, yet less than four percent donate on a regular basis. A single donation of blood can be used to save up to three lives and help in treatment of cancer patients, accident victims, hemophiliacs and surgery patients.  The LifeServe Blood Center is committed to serving the needs of Iowans by saving lives through volunteer blood donation.

By Teresa Myers RN/CDE
Diabetes Educator
Veterans Memorial Hospital

November is Diabetes Awareness Month. Are you aware that the rate of diabetes has nearly doubled in the past ten years? Are you aware that type 2 diabetes has even started showing up in teenagers? That 40% of those aged 40 to 70 have pre-diabetes? Most importantly, are you aware that diabetes and its complications can be almost totally avoidable?

A study released in September 2008 by the Center For Disease Control and the American Diabetes Association shows that about 90% of the newly diagnosed cases of type 2 diabetes are related to lifestyle and eating habits.

Wayne and Janice (Beisker) Howe are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. The couple was married November 18, 1967 at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Waukon.

Family and friends are invited to help celebrate the occasion at a mass in their honor November 26 at 10 a.m. at St. Patrick Church in Waukon, followed by an open house from 1-4 p.m. at the Waukon City Club Party Room. The couple requests no gifts.

The celebration is being hosted by their family: Angie and Ron Cooper, Jordan, Danen, Courtney and Kendra; Matt and Shelly Howe, Will and Grace; Becky and Brad Decker, Bronte, Desmond and Denzel; John Howe; Dan and Linsey Howe, Hunter, Hailie and Easton; Tom Howe and Callie Mescher and Ruby; and Zach Howe and Katie Kotz.

Harlen Koenig of Postville will be celebrating his 100th birthday Saturday, November 25 with an open house from 9-11 a.m. at the Frankville Fire Station. Everyone is welcome to attend. Harlen was born November 29, 1917.

In honor of the occasion, cards and well wishes may be sent to 686 Frankville Road, Postville, IA 52162.

Brian and Tiffany Aronson of Hudson announce the birth of their daughter, Maya Jean Aronson, born October 27, 2017 at Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo. She weighed 5 lbs. 1 oz. and measured 18 inches in length at the time of her birth. She joins a big sister, Brooke (2-1/2).

Grandparents are Dale and Deb Shafer of Monona and Larry and Connie Aronson of Hudson. Great-grandparents are Mark and Marge Delaney of Harpers Ferry and Gene and Beverly Sandvig of Spencer.

Members of the Waukon football team celebrate the program's first-ever State Championship after their 29-0 shut-out victory over Williamsburg in the Class 2A State Championship game played in the UNI-Dome at Cedar Falls Friday, November 17. The Indians and Raiders battled through a scoreless first quarter to just an 8-0 Indian lead at halftime before the grid Tribe rolled to an additional 21 unanswered points in the second half on the way to the title, proving true the theme of "LIMITLESS" the team chose for this season. A special pull-out section with additional photos and complete coverage of the Indians' Class 2A State Championship triumph can be found on Pages 7A-10A inside the print edition and e-edition. To be part of a commemorative "Season of Gridiron Greatness" special publication, see Page 9A.

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Allamakee County residents and visitors will have a pair of opportunities December 7 to visit the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train within the county's borders, as the lighted holiday spectacle will be stopping in both Lansing and New Albin again this year. Both locations will feature 25-minute performances by scheduled country music performers Terri Clark, Dallas Smith and Kelly Prescott, along with an appearance by Santa Claus. Those visiting the train at its stops are asked to contribute a non-perishable healthy food item or monetary donation, with those food and funding proceeds from the Lansing visit being donated to the Allamakee County Food Shelf and the same from the New Albin stop being donated to The Way Station. Canadian Pacific urges those bringing food items to consult their “healthy donations” link on their website at www.cpr.ca/holiday-train/healthy-donations for donation suggestions.

Waukon State Bank would like businesses and community members to be aware that there are reports of mutilated coins being used in Waukon, such as those pictured above. The coins are being presented as both loose change and bundled in rolls to pay for purchases. According to Waukon State Bank officials, there is not an outlet for banks to return mutilated coins like there is for mutilated paper currency, therefore rendering the coins to be of no value and unable to be honored by the banking industry. The bank suggests that businesses should inspect all currency and coins before accepting it and should not accept rolled coins or loose mutilated coins for purchases. If a business encounters individuals using mutilated coins, it is suggested to refuse payment and direct them to their local bank. Those with further questions may contact any local bank or the Waukon Police Department for further information. Photo by Joe Moses.
 

by Lissa Blake

Staff and inmates at the new Allamakee Public Safety Center are safer now than they were at the old facility.

That’s according to Allamakee County Sheriff Clark Mellick, who said there are many benefits associated with the new facility, which was officially dedicated six months ago at the site of the former Makee Manor on Highway 9 north of Waukon.

“When we were located at the courthouse, when we brought inmates in to book them, the people who were at the counter conducting business were standing elbow-to-elbow with those being booked,” said Mellick.

Mellick said the old procedure was that law enforcement officials would pull up to the back of the courthouse and escort prisoners into the small elevator. At the new facility, squad cars pull into a protected garage with doors that are only controlled at the jail control center.