The demand for blood is very high. You can help. The next LifeServe Blood Center blood drive will be held Monday, April 6, from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the First Baptist Church in south Waukon.
Each March, the Academy’s National Nutrition Month® (NNM®) campaign brings people together to celebrate how informed food choices and healthy habits can fuel better living. The 2026 theme, “Discover the Power of Nutrition,” highlights the everyday impact nutrition has on helping individuals and communities thrive.
Week 4 Focus: Feel Good with Healthy Habits
Healthy habits help you feel your best every day. Small, intentional choices can reduce stress, protect your health, and keep you feeling energized.
• Learn about the 4 steps to food safety (clean, separate, cook, and chill) to reduce the risk of foodborne illness
• Plan meals ahead of time to help decrease mealtime stress and to decrease the tendency to reach for highly processed foods
• Include physical activity in ways that fit your schedule and lifestyle
During this Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, you may hear about the different ways to prevent the disease, and besides getting screened annually beginning at age 45, eating a diet rich in fiber is a helpful step.
But fiber isn’t just good for your colon; it’s a nutrient that’s beneficial to your overall health. However, most people in the United States aren’t consuming enough fiber each day – to the tune of more than 90 percent of women and 97 percent of men. That’s a concerning statistic, considering everything fiber can do for the body.
“Fiber has all sorts of benefits for your health,” says Halley Molstad, a registered dietician with Emplify Health by Gundersen. “It can help to lower cholesterol, it can help with good digestion, it can help with blood sugar management, so there are all sorts of reasons to add more fiber to your diet.”
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.
In the spirit of the Scout promise to do a good turn daily and “to help other people at all times,” Waukon Pack 64 of Scouting America, Northeast Iowa Council will be holding its collection of donations for the annual “Scouting for Food” donation drive Tuesday, April 14.
Scouting for Food is Scouting America’s nationwide service project to help fight hunger. The program began as a Scout service project in St. Louis, MO in 1985 and became a national initiative in 1988.
“There is no better way to show our Scout spirit than by participating in the Scouting for Food drive. It is a great way to provide cheerful service to our community through the Scouting values of kindness and helping other people at all times,” says Carl Bobis, Northeast Iowa Council Scout Executive/Chief Executive Officer.
Lee Ann Knudson, Coordinator of Congregational Life and Ruling Elder at First Presbyterian Church in Waukon, will be the featured speaker for the Lenten Breakfast scheduled for Friday, March 27 at 7 a.m. at First Presbyterian Church, located at 204 West Main Street in Waukon.
As part of a former military family with many duty stations throughout the years, Lee Ann has spoken and taught in Christian settings all over the world. She has served chapel and church congregations in many countries, states, cities, and towns. Her speaking is informative, interactive, filled with laughter, and sometimes sprinkled with tears.
