Packing awareness and prevention ... A backpack containing training information, suicide awareness and prevention wristbands, and suicide prevention hotline numbers was provided to everyone who attended the QPR Gatekeeper training sessions presented in Waukon Monday, February 28 by QPR Gatekeeper Instructor Ryan Nesbit, co-founder, with Troy Belmar, of Alive & Running Iowa. Attendees also were issued a QPR Gatekeeper Certificate documenting two hours of training for having attended the presentation. Photo by Julie Berg-Raymond.
Bringing a message of awareness and prevention ... Waukon High School Guidance Counselor Amy Wasson (left) is pictured above with Ryan Nesbit (right), co-founder, with Troy Belmar, of Alive & Running Iowa for Suicide Awareness and Prevention. Belmer and Nesbit organized Alive & Running Iowa in 2009 in honor of their friend, Rodger, who they lost to suicide when they were sophomores at Dunkerton High School in 1991. Nesbit conducted a series of presentations at Waukon High School Monday, February 28, educating students and the community on the foundation and techniques of the QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) Institute utilized in raising awareness of suicide and resources available for prevention. Photo by Julie Berg-Raymond.
by Julie Berg-Raymond
If readers take only one piece of information away from this article, let it be this: Help is always available at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Number: 1-800-273-TALK.
(NOTE: Starting July 16 of this year, 988 will be the new, simplified three-digit dialing code that will route callers across the United States to that National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.)
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“We are in a mental health crisis, big time,” according to Ryan Nesbit, who - with his high school friend, Troy Belmar - founded Alive & Running Iowa for Suicide Awareness and Prevention in 2009 in honor of their friend, Rodger, who they lost to suicide when they were sophomores at Dunkerton High School in 1991. Alive & Running Iowa began as a running event held annually in Dunkerton but has since grown into a non-profit organization to help raise awareness about suicide and suicide prevention.
The annual St. Patrick's Day Parade in Waukon has been scheduled for this Sunday, March 13 and will begin at 1 p.m. with many of the same festivities taking place as in years past throughout the community. See Page 12 in this week’s edition of The Standard for additional St. Patrick’s Day events and specials. There will be a shuttle system in place again this year to help transport those celebrating the day to various entertainment destinations throughout the afternoon.
The parade route will be the same as in past years, beginning from the southeast edge of town and heading up Rossville Road and Spring Avenue to the stoplight intersection with Main Street. Turning left on to West Main Street at the stoplights, the parade will venture up to Second Street SW, where the entries will turn left at the Post Office intersection, travel one block south to First Avenue SW, and then east back to Spring Avenue, turning right at Kwik Star to head back south to its point of origin.
In a show of appreciation for the efforts of the emergency crews who responded to and battled the Allamakee Street fire in Waukon Sunday evening, February 13 into Monday, February 14, and as a way to turn so many offers of help for themselves into further appreciation for those emergency crews, some of those Allamakee Street business/property owners impacted by that blaze are asking community members to turn their offers of help into a shower of appreciation for area firefighters, law enforcement and other first responders. Organizers of the appreciation shower are asking for donations of homemade cookies, thank you cards, gift cards or certificates from local dining establishments, and/or food and snacks that will then be distributed to those area emergency response crews.
The Allamakee County Veterans Museum will offer a program to the public about the U.S. Navy in World War II. The program will take place in the Program Room of the new museum in the former Vet’s Club building on Allamakee Street in Waukon.
Saturday, March 19 at 10 a.m. the program will present stories of Patrol Torpedo (PT) Boats and Submarine Chasers. Information will also be presented on Allamakee County sailors who served on these smaller fighting vessels.
There is no admission or membership charge. The facility is handicapped accessible. Due to COVID-19 concerns, masks are encouraged but not required. Light refreshments will be available.
The museum remodeling was finished in late summer. Preparation and installation of exhibits is underway and should be completed by Memorial Day this year. Tours will not be offered until the exhibits have been completed. However, educational programs will continue to be offered periodically.
Adding fuel ... Waterville area native Scott Ewing helps a taxi driver fill his van with fuel as he takes them toward the border between Ukraine and Poland in late February. Ewing’s wife, Natasha, and their pregnant niece, Lilya, walked to a fueling station to avoid a line of vehicles nearly three kilometers long waiting for fuel, bringing back the needed bottles of diesel fuel in order to facilitate their evacuation from Ukraine after Russia began its invasion of the country. Submitted photo.
Evacuating Ukraine ... The niece of Waterville area native Scott Ewing and his wife, Natasha, stands with her suitcase as they walk toward the border between Ukraine and Poland in late February. Lilya, who is six months pregnant, and the Ewings were among those evacuating Ukraine as Russia began to invade the country. Submitted photo.
Crowded, but safe in Poland ... Family members of Waterville area native Scott Ewing and his wife, Natasha, gather around a table in a one-room apartment in Poland after evacuating from Ukraine in late February. The Ewings and their pregnant niece, Lilya, were the first members of the family to evacuate as the Russian invasion of Ukraine began and were later joined by other family members from Ukraine, with a total of 10 family members gathering in the small apartment at one time before continuing to find their own accommodations in anticipation of a long stay as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues. Submitted photo.
(Editor’s Note: The following information was shared from a diary of events written by Waterville area native Scott Ewing, a 1980 graduate of Waukon High School and the son of Jerry and Anna Marie Ewing of rural Waterville. The sharing of the diary excerpts was made possible by Kevin Welsh of Waukon, who is a former neighbor, long-time friend and is in consistent contact with Ewing during the current historic experience of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the evacuation of Ewing and his family to Poland.)
My name is Scott Ewing. My wife, Natasha, and I have been living and working in Ukraine for the past year. We recently were forced to evacuate.
Below I have written a diary outlining some of the details of our lives over the past couple of weeks in Ukraine. I am giving you this information in hopes that our experiences will bring the war going on in Ukraine closer to home for U.S. citizens and make it more personal to everyone.
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach helped Clover Kids celebrate Valentine’s Day with shaving cream heart painting, cookies in a jar and gummy heart building. During their February session, Clover Kids cut out a heart shape, swirled food coloring into shaving cream, pressed their heart into the colored shaving cream (pictured in far right photo above) and then scraped off the excess. They were left with a unique heart to make into a valentine to share. After discussing how everyone likes to receive gifts, the group talked about how good it feels to give gifts to someone else, too. Each youth made a cookie in a jar to share with someone at home (pictured in photo at far left above), and they could also give their time and help make the cookies with their recipient. They also used their Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) skills when given gummy hearts and toothpicks, creating such things as houses and towers (pictured in the middle photo above).
February 27 and 28, four members of the Waukon High School Band participated in the annual Dorian Band Festival at Luther College in Decorah. Students from across the midwest were divided into either 2 massed band or one smaller wind ensemble. The bands rehearsed over the course of the two day festival and performed and late afternoon concert on Feb. 28 at 5:00 p.m. Bailey Sherman and Cody Huinker participated in the Noble band under the direction of Shelley Hanson of Macalester College. James VanderVelden and Logan Lubahn participated in the Sperati Band under the direction of Shawn Vondran from Northwestern University. The students are under the direction of Jo Ann Knipfer Sherman, Waukon High School Band director. Submitted photo.
The Allamakee Community School District (ACSD) Board of Directors met twice in the month of February. At a February 3 special meeting, the board approved the following personnel items: Erin Plein as student council advisor and Joanne Ericson as a mentor.
The board also accepted the following resignations, all due to retirement: Mary Milewsky, Jon Snitker, Louise Wild and Tim Bulman. Approval was also given to a bid from School Bus Sales in the amount of $116,520 for a propane powered bus.
The public is invited to attend a Wednesday, March 16 presentation by Trevor Ragan, founder of The Learner Lab, a resource for understanding the science of better learning. Ragan will be speaking to staff members of the Allamakee Community School District during that scheduled professional development day of no classes, and will then conduct a presentation for the general public from 5-6 p.m. that evening at the Waukon High School Auditorium.
Ragan’s presentations are described as “an opportunity for students, parents and community members to hear a message about striving for excellence in all they do.” He explains that “learning is the most important skill. Great learners are agile, resilient, and adaptable. Great learners can acquire new skill when demands arise. In times of change, learners will thrive.”
Top District 9 entries in annual Voice of Democracy essay contest... The sibling pair of, left to right, Rhianna Jones and Brendan Jones of Lansing were selected as the top two award winners at the District 9 level of the Voice of Democracy essay contest sponsored annually by Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). Rhianna Jones was named the District second-place winner and Brendan Jones was awarded first place in that District competition. Submitted photo.
Brendan Jones honored for top District 9 Voice of Democracy essay contest entry ... Kee High School freshman Brendan Jones was selected as the first-place winner at the District 9 level of competition in the Voice of Democracy essay contest sponsored by Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). Pictured above at his honoring from the District 9 competition are, left to right: VFW State of Iowa Senior Vice Commander Ron Leber; Eric and Liz Jones, parents of Brendan Jones; essay writer Brendan Jones; VFW 9th District Commander Jeffrey Hughes; and Past VFW 9th District Commander Virgil Thorstensen. Submitted photo.
Lansing VFW Post #5981 has announced this year’s Voice of Democracy winners at the District level of the essay writing contest. The sister-brother tandem of Rhianna and Brendan Jones, children of Eric and Liz Jones of Lansing, are this year’s top award winners in that District contest.
Brendan Jones, a freshman at Kee High School in Lansing, was named the District 9 first-place winner of the contest and the recipient of a $100 award. He also received a $100 award from Post #5981 in the Voice of Democracy Scholarship program. As the top District essay, his entry advanced to the State level of competition, where it was not selected among the State placewinning essays.
Rhianna Jones, a junior at Kee High School in Lansing, was named the District 9 second-place winner and the recipient of a $75 award. She also received a $50 award from Post #5981 for her Voice of Democracy essay. VFW Post #5981 sponsored both essay writers.
