Top Stories

Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon offers a COVID-19 Phone Line for triage every Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Anyone with questions about COVID-19 is encouraged to call the hospital at 563-568-3411 during those hours and request the COVID line to speak one-on-one to a nurse about symptoms and testing options. The nurse then triages the caller based on the wide variety of information that is collected during the visit.

Members of the Kee High School Homecoming Court for this week’s 2020 celebration of the event include the King and Queen candidates from the Senior class pictured above, as well as the underclassman attendants pictured below. Pictured above are, left to right: Front row - Senior Class Homecoming Queen candidates Jada Mitchell, Macy Manning, Emily Darling and Jazmyne Pace; Back row - Senior Class Homecoming King candidates Will Mooney, Chris Wagner, Clayton Little and Hunter McKee. Pictured at left, front to back and left to right, are: Freshman Attendants Kaylee Hawes and Andrew Kolsrud, Sophomore Attendants Brooklyn Bakewell and Jacob Rolfs, and Junior Attendants Laurel Scott and Thomas Rethwisch. Details of this week's Homecoming events at Kee High School, along with celebratory pages, can be found on Pages 14A and 15A inside the September 30, 2020 print edition and e-edition of the Standard. Photos courtesy of the Kee High School Yearbook.

Due to COVID-19 there has been more “push” by organizations to get voters to vote Absentee by mail.

The Allamakee County Auditors office mailed the first Absentee Ballot Request form in late July. Other organizations, such as The Center for Voter Information, the Republican and/or Democratic Party of Iowa, and the Iowa Secretary of State have all mailed the same form to voters.  Voters who have already returned one Absentee Request Form do not need to return another form. Duplicate forms are simply attached to the first request received and only one ballot is mailed.

Students from Waukon High School will join thousands of other youth and any others who may be interested on athletic fields across the nation Wednesday, October 7 to share their Christian faith with fellow students and the general public for this year’s Fields of Faith event. The local event is now in its ninth year and will start at 7 p.m. at the Waukon High School football field next Wednesday evening. Attendees are encouraged to bring a lawn chair or blanket to sit on.

Featured speaker for this year’s Fields of Faith event in Waukon will be Carl Fruechte, head football coach for Caledonia High School in Caledonia, MN who not only coaches the program with the longest active win streak in the nation at 67 games that include five consecutive State Championships but who also has a passion to share his message of faith with anyone who will listen.

Founder Katie O’Regan of Waukon already looking ahead to 2021

Rosalie Essex: How much do you need?
Mickey Moran: Well, let me see. First of all, we’re going to use a barn that some actors used last summer and turned it into an outdoor theater. I figured if we all pitched in together - that is, for the scenery and the costumes and everything - it would run us about $287.
Rosalie Essex: Have you got it yet?
Mickey Moran: No.
Rosalie Essex: Well, you have now.
(From the 1939 film “Babes in Arms,” starring Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney and directed by Busby Berkeley.)

by Julie Berg-Raymond

The classic Hollywood trope - parodied through the years by the phrase, Hey, kids; let’s put on a show! - of pulling together some talented people and, on a shoestring budget, producing a show in benefit of a cause, has its roots in the 1939 film starring Andy Rooney and Judy Garland, “Babes in Arms.”

The Allamakee County Freedom Rock was unveiled in a ceremony at the Waukon City Park Friday, September 11 as a tribute to the many Veterans of the local community both past and present. Fundraising is currently underway to cover the cost of the Freedom Rock and future costs for landscaping and further development of the Freedom Rock location.

Waukon State Bank recently contributed $5,000 to the Allamakee County Freedom Rock project. Pictured above, left to right, are Ardie Kuhse, who completed the application process for the Allamakee County Freedom Rock, receiving the donation from Waukon State Bank President Gail Prestemon and Vice President Justin Sweeney.

Waukon High School seniors Olivia Byrnes (left) and Ethan O’Neill (right) were crowned Waukon High School's 2020 Homecoming Queen and King at the "Burning of the 'W'" pep rally held outside Thursday, September 17 at the Waukon High School football/track stadium. Additional photos of Waukon High School's Homecoming events are featured on Page 16 inside this week's issue, as well as coverage of the Waukon football team's Homecoming victory over Oelwein featured on Page 11 this week. Even more photos from this year’s Homecoming festivities can also be found at the Photo Galleries link on The Standard’s website, www.waukonstandard.com.
 

Saturday, September 19 at approximately 4:29 p.m. the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department in Wisconsin was notified of a motorcycle accident with injuries on State Hwy. 35 at its intersection with Old Hwy. 35 (South Mill Park Drive) in Freeman Township, about a quarter-mile south of De Soto, WI.

According to a report issued by the Crawford County Sheriff’s Department, Richard A. Baumgartner, age 62, of Waukon was traveling southbound on Old Hwy. 35 operating a 2011 Harley Davidson Trike motorcycle and was approaching the intersection with State Hwy. 35. The Baumgartner cycle failed to get stopped at the stop sign, struck the curb/left shoulder of the highway, rolled twice and ejected Baumgartner from the cycle onto the southbound lane of State Hwy. 35. The motorcycle came to rest on the westside shoulder of State Hwy. 35.

Students at Waukon High School have selected their Homecoming Court representatives for 2020, with the coronation of this year's Homecoming Queen and King set to take place at the "Burning of the 'W'" pep rally scheduled for this Thursday evening, September 17, beginning at 7 p.m. This year’s event will be held outside at the Waukon High School track/football stadium, with masks and social distancing encouraged. Following the outdoor pep rally, all attending are asked to remain in the stadium stands while the newly crowned King and Queen light the “W” at its traditional location just south of the football field. In the event of inclement weather, the “Burning of the ‘W’” pep rally will not be held.

A project that got its start five years ago was brought to full reality as the Allamakee County Freedom Rock was unveiled in a public ceremony held at its new home in Waukon City Park on a seemingly fitting day, Friday, September 11 - Patriot Day as it has been designated since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001. The recently completed creation of Iowa artist Ray “Bubba” Sorensen of Greenfield is his 92nd Freedom Rock masterpiece intended to honor and thank America’s Veterans and to promote Iowa tourism, becoming yet another part of Sorensen’s vision of a 99-piece puzzle that serves as one statewide Iowa Veterans Memorial, an idea that really gained momentum for Sorensen after that fateful September day in American history nearly 20 years ago.