News Center newsletter

Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) will be offering the Grandparenting Classes again this Spring. Corinne Cook, RN, Babysitting Class instructor, will be instructing the next Grandparenting Class Saturday, April 2 from 9:30 a.m. until Noon. The class will be held in the hospital’s ICN Conference Room on the east side of the hospital, next to Gundersen Clinic.  Signs will be posted.

In these classes, new or soon-to-be grandparents will learn all the new protocols to use when caring for their new grandchild. Some topics covered will include basic baby care, car seat safety, Tylenol/Ibuprofen dosing charts, home safety, poison control information, infant/child CPR, choking and other emergency medical information, as well as tips to support parents such as handling the baby blues and postpartum depression.  Free-will donations will be accepted to cover the costs of the class.

Veterans Memorial Hospital will sponsor a Babysitting Seminar Saturday, April 9. This class will be broken down into two different sessions to allow for better spacing of the students. The morning session will be held from 9 a.m. to Noon and the afternoon session from 1-4 p.m. The same information will be taught at both sessions, so students can sign-up for one session or the other. A total of 20 students will be allowed in each session.

Both classes will be held in the Large Conference Room located on the lower level of Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. The entrance for the class will be the hospital shipping/receiving entrance located on the east side of the building near the MRI truck, across from the golf course. Signs will be posted.

The Veterans Memorial Hospital Diabetes Support Group will hold its next meeting Thursday, March 17 at 10 a.m. The meeting will be held at Veterans Memorial Hospital in the Large Conference Room, located on the lower level of the hospital. Masks will be required to be worn.

This diabetes class is open to everyone who has diabetes or who has a friend or loved one with diabetes.  For more information on the Diabetes Support Group, call  Angie Mettille, RN, at Veterans Memorial Hospital at 563-568-3411.
 

Memorials were recently received by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation in memory of Joe Cunningham by Chris and Nancy Wonderlich, Barton and Marilyn Hamm, Marilyn Larson, Diane Regan, Wayne and Nona Sawyer, Dr. Bill Withers, Pat Pettingill, Jan Brandsmeier, Karen Teaser, and Brad and Erin Berns.

Memorials were also received in memory of Trooper Ted Benda by Greg and Rosie Piggott, Nan Grangaard, Sherry Halvorson, Jim and Jill Kiesau, Dave and Laurie Martin, Arlen and Karlene Wonderlich, and Brad and Erin Berns.

In addition, memorials were received for Dorothy Heins by Jeff Heins; in memory of Alan Brink by Mary Ann Hager and Cheryl Bollman; in memory of Mary Stone by Chuck and Lois Votsmier; in memory of Emmett Kruger by Tom and Karen Regan; and in memory of Rhonda Warnke by Judy Warnke.

A donation was also received in honor of Father Ed Lechtenberg by Audrey Angel.

To the Editor:

Dear People of the Great State of Iowa,

Hello! I am a third-grade student in Northern Virginia. Our class is learning about the United States, and I will be teaching our school about the state of Iowa. In the month of May, I will create a display for our State Fair that I hope will make you proud.

Although I have gathered facts about your state from books and websites, I think that I can receive the best information from the people who live there. This is why I am writing to you. I am hoping that you would be willing to send me some items to help me learn more about the best things in your state. You might consider sending items such as postcards, pictures, souvenirs, this newspaper article, or any other unique items that would be useful or show your state pride. Here are a few questions:

To the Editor:

Ann Fields gets a letter grade of “F” in Economics 101 for her letter of March 9. She claims that everyone will have less with the new tax policy recently signed by Iowa’s governor. Ms. Fields fails to recognize that if Iowans are paying less income tax they automatically have more money available for their own personal needs.

Nor does she acknowledge that the State currently has a budget surplus that can be spent to cover any unexpected expenses on the part of the State. It appears to me that the legislators, who represent us, have done a great job in keeping spending under control, thus accounting for the current budget surplus. We should be applauding those efforts and remind our Federal Government that Iowa is a great example for fiscal responsibility.

Upcoming Deadlines/Dates
Mar. 25: Dairy Margin Coverage Program

Mid-Contract Management (MCM) on CRP Acres
Now that temperatures are starting to feel more like spring, please start thinking about your MCM, if you are scheduled for this year.  Those that are scheduled for this year would have received a packet from our office this past fall detailing what needs to be done.  You do have until May 14, 2022 to complete the work, but now is a good time to start lining up contractors if you haven’t already done so, buy seed if needed, and get equipment ready.  If you have technical questions, need a seeding plan, or contractor list please contact the NRCS office.  Any other questions can be directed to FSA. Once you complete your MCM, notify the FSA office, sign the FSA-848B form, and provide acceptable evidence (receipts, invoices, etc.) of practice completion to determine proper cost share payment.  

Iowa State University is part of a new study funded by the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) to explore possible links between soil health, the nutritional value of plants and human health.

The overall goal of the four-year, $1 million project is to investigate how management practices may alter nitrogen-related nutritional content of grains, such as protein, amino acids and B vitamins, and affect indicators of chemical, physical and biological soil health.  

Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care/Allamakee County Public Health will continue to offer walk-in clinics for all doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, each friday afternoon, continuing through the entire month of March, from 1:30-3:45 p.m. in the ICN Conference Room located on the southeast side of the hospital.  Both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will be available.

Parking is available by the orange cones along the golf course for easy access to the vaccine location.  Flu shots will also be available and can be safely administered at the same time as the COVID-19 vaccine.   Children must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Be sure to wear a mask and bring your insurance card and vaccination card if you are coming for your second or booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccine.

As one can tell from the photo above, the streets of Waukon were full of Irish spirit for the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade Sunday, March 13 in Waukon. Under spring-like weather conditions with sunny skies, a slight breeze and temperatures in the upper 40s, the event took approximately 45 minutes to display the wide variety of this year’s nearly 150 parade entries. Additional photos from this year’s parade can be found on Page 16 of this week’s print edition and e-edition of The Standard. Standard photo by Joe Moses. 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/purchase by clicking on the Photo Galleries link on The Standard’s website. A video of this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade by Joe Moses can be found on The Standard Newspaper’s Facebook page.