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The Waukon Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet was held Friday evening, February 27 at the Waukon Banquet Center, with a series of recognition awards distributed during the event. Being honored as Person of the Year were the four Sweeney brothers pictured, left to right: Jake, Jerry, Joe and Jan. In addition to running a successful business, Village Farm & Home, that draws many to town and treats them with personalized customer service in a welcoming atmosphere, the Sweeneys were also honored for their community involvement, including the continuation of the annual Threshing Days events through the 25th anniversary of that celebration and the continued organizing of the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade held in Waukon each year.

Named Business of the Year at the Waukon Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet Friday, February 27 was Elliott Jewelers. Pictured above, left to right, are Shirley, Lauren, Shelly, John, Richard and Maranda Elliott, Chelsea Welsh, Bev Haas, Pat Hart, Barb Lacewell and Molly Johnson. Not pictured: Katy Heldt and Adrianna Rocksvold.Standard photo by Bob Beach.

Waukon Chamber of Commerce member businesses and organizations observing years in business anniversaries ending in five-year increments this year were honored at the Waukon Chamber of Commerce Annual Banquet Friday, February 27. Pictured above are representatives of those businesses accepting awards, including: Left to right - Patty Nordheim, Kris Rausch and Irv Fosaaen of Waukon Power Sports (40 years), Linda Bernhard of Cook Insurance Agency (55 years) and GF Mutual Insurance (145 years), Gregg Jones of Gregg Jones Muscular Therapy Center (10 years) and Gil Hunstad of G&S Machine (30 years). Not pictured is Sweeney Real Estate (55 years).Standard photo by Bob Beach.

Zion United Church of Christ in Waukon was the site of the Foods Resource Bank regional meeting hosted Saturday, February 21 by the Corner of Hope local growing project. Those in attendance heard first-hand accounts of how local growing projects such as those they conduct here in northeast Iowa have helped residents of Honduras develop sustainable farming practices. Traveling from Honduras to share their experiences with the crowd in attendance were Delmis Licona-Godoy, who coordinates the Foods Resource Bank/Church World Service Nueva Frontera program in Santa Barbara, Honduras, and Melecio Cantoral, a small farmer in Honduras who shared how he has learned and benefited greatly from that Nueva Frontera program. Standard photo by Bob Beach.

As part of his annual 99-county tour this year, U.S. Senator Charles Grassley was the guest speaker at the meeting of the Waukon Lions Club held at the Main Feature Theatre and Pizza Pub in Waukon Wednesday, February 18. Following brief opening remarks, Grassley answered questions from Lions Club members and members of the public in attendance on tax reform, the Keystone XL pipeline and President Barack Obama's handling of ISIS in the Middle East. Grassley also agreed to an exclusive interview with The Standard, answering questions about a minimum wage increase, the future of Obamacare and the 2016 Presidential election. Photo by Bob Beach.

The map above indicates the areas in Allamakee County around the Harpers Ferry area that are receiving increased attention following the positive testing of three more wild deer harvested during the 2014 shotgun deer hunting season in that particular area. The area outlined in red shows the 31 sections in Fairview and Taylor Townships that the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is referring to as the Intensive Surveillance Zone. It is in this area they hope hunters issued special permits by the DNR will kill 200 additional deer during the next three weeks for further CWD testing. The light blue triangle on the map shows where the deer which first tested positive was harvested in 2013, and the other three dark blue triangles indicate where the three animals were harvested that tested positive from the 2014 season. Submitted image.

The Mississippi River will be providing some of the resources for the inaugural WinterFest celebration planned for this Saturday, February 21 in the Lansing area, including some ice fishing and ice that will be harvested for the planned ice carving demonstration. The arrival this past weekend and continued forecast of single-digit high temperatures and sub-zero low temperatures should further help those ice conditions, with temperatures warming up just a bit in time for Saturday's activities. Standard photo by Bob Beach.