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Marcella A. Hansmeier, 89, of Waukon died Sunday, March 31, 2024, at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. Funeral services will be held Thursday, April 4 at 2 p.m. at Martin - Grau Funeral Home in Waukon with Pastor Cathy Jurgens officiating. Burial will be at Oakland Cemetery, Waukon.

Friends may greet the family from 1 p.m. until the time of services Thursday at the funeral home.

Marcella Adel Hansmeier was born May 8, 1934, in Waukon, the daughter of Fredrick and Geneva (Cahoon) Schlitter. She attended the Jefferson Township “Maple Dale” rural school and graduated from Waukon High School in 1951.

August 18, 1951, she married Gordon “Gordie” Hansmeier at Zion United Church of Christ. Marcella and Gordie farmed east of Waukon, where she raised her three sons and helped with some of the farming chores. After her sons were grown, she worked as a waitress at The Landmark Supper Club in rural Waukon.

Joanne Groth, 89, passed away peacefully Monday, March 25, 2024 at Woodlands Creek Senior Living Center in Clive. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Thursday, April 11 at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Postville with Rev. Lynn Noel as the officiant. Inurnment will follow at St. John Lutheran Church Cemetery in Luana.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, April 12 at St. Stephens Lutheran Church in Urbandale. Leonard-Grau Funeral Home and Cremation Service of Monona is assisting the family with services.

Joanne June Grotegut was born June 27, 1934 in Ludlow Township, in rural Waukon. Upon graduating from Waukon High School in 1952, Joanne moved to Cedar Rapids and worked as a secretary at Collins Radio. She returned to Ludlow and married Carlton Martins August 16, 1953. They made their home on Carlton’s family farm until his death in November 1965, at which time she and their four children moved to Postville.

by Kelli Boylen

Luster Heights, located on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River south of Harpers Ferry, was a minimum security prison camp from 1962 until the Iowa Department of Corrections closed the facility in 2017. Soon, this land will have a new life as the McGregor District Headquarters of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) McGregor District office was located against the base of the bluff between McGregor and Marquette from the 1980s until 2015. The building was vacated due to mold issues resulting from water damage and frequent damage to vehicles from tumbling rocks falling off the bluff. The USFWS staff has been housed in a leased building north of Prairie du Chien, WI since and has been searching for a permanent location.

Mallory Mohn, daughter of Clint and Noelle Mohn of Lansing, was crowned the 2024 Allamakee County Dairy Princess at the annual Allamakee County Dairy Banquet held Saturday, March 23 at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds Pavilion in Waukon. Additional photos of award winners and other recognition from the 2024 Allamakee County Dairy Banquet will appear in a future edition of The Standard. Photo by Paula Enyart.
 

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency Management, and the National Weather Service have designated March 25-29 as Severe Weather Awareness Week in the state of Iowa. Spring weather brings warmer temperatures and the threat of severe weather, including tornadoes.

The Allamakee County Emergency Management Agency wants to take this opportunity to notify the public of the intent to conduct a countywide Tornado Drill and test city emergency warning sirens Wednesday, March 27 at 10 a.m. during the Statewide Tornado Drill as part of Severe Weather Awareness Week activities.

Allamakee County Treasurer Jennifer O’Neill would like to remind property owners the second installment of property taxes is due by March 31. Those tax payments can be made 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 Monday, April 1. Penalty will begin to apply April 2.

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.

Midwest Veterans of America will be hosting an event honoring Vietnam era veterans this Saturday, March 30 at AJ Bar & Grill (previously called AJ Steakhouse) in Waukon, beginning at 1 p.m. Midwest Veterans of America will be honoring more than two dozen local veterans who served their country during the Vietnam War era at the event.

All of Waukon will have fiber internet by the end of 2024

Due in part to the unseasonable winter weather, the final phase in a planned deployment of fiber optic internet in Waukon is set to begin early this spring, according to representatives from AC Skyways, a division of Allamakee-Clayton Electric Cooperative (ACEC). With the conclusion of the fourth phase of the project, the entire city of Waukon will have fiber internet available.

Beginning in late March or early April, the physical work of boring the main fiber optics lines will begin on the south Waukon project, which will bring over 300 “drops” to that part of the community. At the same time, contractors and AC Skyways technicians will begin the final steps to deploy fiber in Phase 3, those homes in the northern portion of Waukon. By the end of the spring, roughly 800 homes and businesses will be able to connect to fiber internet that was deployed last fall.

Waukon Cub Scout Pack 64 held its annual Pack Pinewood Derby Saturday, March 9 at the East Elementary School large gymnasium in Waukon. A total of 29 Scouts brought their hand painted and best designed cars to race for Leader of the Pack honors. Participants and award winners are pictured in the surrounding submitted photos. Cub Scout Pack 64 will also host the District Pinewood Derby Saturday, April 6 this year.

Additional photos are available in the Wednesday, March 27 edition of The Standard. Pick up this week's print edition of The Standard or subscribe to our e-edition by clicking here.

Jason Gearhart of Strawberry Point has announced that he will seek the Republican nomination for Iowa House of Representatives District 64. The district encompasses all of Allamakee County and Clayton County, as well as Concord Township in Dubuque County.

Gearhart was born and raised in northeast Iowa. He and his wife Kayela, a fourth grade teacher at Starmont Elementary School, reside in Strawberry Point with their two children, Jayden and Kendyl, both students at Starmont Middle School. In his free time, Gearhart enjoys coaching youth basketball and has had the privilege of coaching the Starmont Middle School girls basketball team the past two seasons.