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by Julie Berg-Raymond

At the second session of “Let’s Talk Bridges,” held at Meehan Memorial Lansing Public Library Thursday, December 14, Anden Lovig - a construction engineer on the bridge replacement project at Lansing, and a member of the monthly “bridge talks” team - ran the show by himself; his colleagues (Paul Lindsey, senior field inspector; Clayton Burke, project manager, Iowa Department of Transportation [DOT]; and Travis Konda, project manager, HNTB Corporation) were away at meetings.

The Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (CPKC) Holiday Train was greeted by large, enthusiastic and generous crowds at both stops it made in Lansing and New Albin Friday evening, December 8, as depicted in the surrounding photos. Those attending were treated to musical entertainment by performers Tenille Townes and BRELAND, along with other holiday activities put on by community members, businesses and organizations.

Lansing Women in Business presented “Light Up Lansing” Saturday, December 9 in the Main Street Plaza. The event included a visit with Santa Claus, a sing-along with Kee High School carolers, cookies and hot chocolate, food collection for Lansing Iowa Food Trust (LIFT), and lighting of the Plaza Christmas Tree. The 25-foot tree (pictured at far left in the photo above) was donated by the Terisa Winters Steiber family and Harold Marks IV, in memory of Alan Steiber and Harold Marks III. Photo by Julie Berg-Raymond. View and find out how to purchase this photo and more from the “Light Up Lansing” event by clicking on the Photo Galleries link on The Standard’s website at www.waukonstandard.com.
 

The annual Holiday Parade held in Waukon Saturday evening, December 9 brightened up the beginning of the holiday season in more ways than one as nearly 40 entries made their way through the city streets via a bit of a different route than in years past. Despite temperatures falling below the freezing mark and a chilly breeze blowing, a large crowd still lined the parade route, as evident in the photo of Main Street above. View and find out how to purchase this photo and many more from the Holiday Parade by clicking on the Photo Galleries link on this webpage. A video of the complete parade can also be found on The Standard’s Facebook page at The Standard Newspaper, Waukon.
 

The Allamakee Ecumenical Choir will present its 47th Annual Candlelight Christmas Festival of Lessons and Carols Service this Sunday, December 10, beginning at 7 p.m. The service will be held at St. John’s Lutheran Church, located at 8 Fifth Street SW in Waukon.

Local clergy will be reading the Christmas Story and carols will be sung by the congregation with organ accompaniment. Choral numbers will also be presented by the Men’s Choir (also known as the Heartland Barbershop and Gospel Singers), Women’s Choir and the mass Ecumenical Choir. Music will also be provided by the St. John’s Handbell Choirs, Waukon High School Saxophone Quartet, along with a piano and organ duet by Kristie Roeder (piano) and James Bieber (organ).

Two new speed feedback signs have now been installed at State Highway entrance routes into the town of Waukon. City of Waukon officials want to assure motorists that these are not speed cameras that result in mailed citations nor are they data collection units, but instead are reminders to slow down and obey speed limits posted above each sign. The signs will display the speed a vehicle is traveling (such as the “40” pictured in the left photo), and will also display a “SLOW DOWN” reminder message if that vehicle speed exceeds the posted speed limit (as in the right photo). Standard photos by Joe Moses.

The Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (CPKC) Holiday Train is scheduled to make its return to the Lansing and New Albin areas again this year as part of its 2023 trek to help raise money, food and awareness for local food banks in communities along the CPKC network. The festive railway celebration is scheduled to make its way through northeast Iowa this Friday, December 8 with local stops in Marquette (from 1:45-2:30 p.m.), Lansing (from 3:50-4:30 p.m.) and New Albin (from 5:15-6 p.m.). The two Allamakee County visits in Lansing and New Albin will find the Holiday Train coming to a stop near the ballfield in Lansing along South Front Street between North 2nd and Dodge Streets. The New Albin stop will take place near the parking lot adjacent to the railroad tracks on Railroad Avenue between Ross Avenue and Oak Street. Those attending the event are asked to bring a cash or non-perishable food donation if they are able.

The largest remaining structure at the decommissioned Alliant Energy generating station at Lansing was brought to the ground by a final implosion process that took place just before 8 a.m. Friday, December 1, as depicted in the photo at left. Additional photos and information regarding the implosion event can be found in the Wednesday, December 6, 2023 edition of The Standard.

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“Look closely at nature. Every species is a masterpiece, exquisitely adapted to the particular environment in which it has survived.”

- Edward O. Wilson,
biologist and multiple
Pulitzer Prize winner

by Julie Berg-Raymond

The next few years are going to see a lot of activity on the Mississippi River at Lansing - while, in a state-of-the-art, multi-agency project involving some of the top specialists in several fields, a new bridge is built across the river there for the first time in almost 100 years.

The past few months have already seen some activity near the shore at Lansing. From August 15 until November 18, teams of scientific divers and aquatic biologists worked on both the Wisconsin and Iowa sides of the river to collect, identify and relocate approximately 29,500 mussels - nearly 400 of which were the endangered Higgins Eye Pearly Mussel (Lampsilis higginsii).

The Waukon High School Choir, under the direction of Sarah Bieber, will be sharing its music with the area church community during its 28th Annual Christmas Church Tour this Sunday morning, December 3, according to the following schedule:

St. John's Lutheran 8:30-8:45 a.m.
Old West Paint Creek Lutheran 9:00-9:15 a.m.
Zion United Church of Christ 9:30-9:45 a.m.
First Presbyterian 10:00-10:15 a.m.
First Baptist 10:30-10:45 a.m.
St. Patrick Catholic 11:00-11:15 a.m.
St. Paul’s United Methodist 11:30-11:45 a.m.

The choir sings at seven churches each year. Those churches are selected based on a number of factors, including church proximity to the high school, accessibility for school buses, the physical size of the church, the membership size of the congregation, and whether the worship service is broadcast.