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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.

The Allamakee County Emergency Management Agency wants to take this opportunity to notify the public of the intent to conduct a countywide tornado drill and testing of the city emergency sirens throughout the county Wednesday, March 23 at 10 a.m. This will allow Allamakee County to participate in the State of Iowa Tornado Drill as part of Severe Weather Awareness Week, which is being observed March 21-25 this year. The purpose will be to activate the warning sirens in all six cities in the county when the National Weather Service issues a test Tornado Warning on NOAA Weather Radio at approximately 10 a.m.

The Iowa Department of Transportation and its local transportation partners are making available four historic bridges for reuse, accepting proposals from serious inquiries for adoption and relocation of those bridges. Among those four bridges is the Black Hawk Bridge at Lansing that spans the Mississippi River. The more than 90-year-old structure connecting the states of Iowa and Wisconsin is slated to be replaced by the end of the year 2025.

In addition to the Black Hawk Bridge, the DOT is also listing the Boone River Bridge in Wright County, the Hardin City Bridge in Hardin County, and the eastbound U.S. 30 Bridge in Linn County southeast of Cedar Rapids for reuse proposals. All four of the bridges are either listed or are eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places and are available for relocation/adoption.

by Joe Moses

Around the world, this Friday, March 18, 2022 is being recognized as Global Recycling Day, an initiative advanced by the Global Recycling Foundation, an organization supporting the promotion of recycling and its vital role on a worldwide scale in preserving the future of the planet. The Global Recycling Foundation is one of many organizations working collectively to reduce waste and preserve natural resources on an international level.

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.

Ukrainian native to host open house this Sunday at The Good Life Gallery and Frame Shop in Lansing to thank local community and share Ukrainian culture

by Julie Berg-Raymond

Right now, people all over the world are watching, mostly helplessly, while what Reuters News Service has referred to as “the largest military assault by one European state on another since World War Two” is taking place before their eyes - the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They’re trying to understand what is happening and why; they’re contacting loved ones across oceans and continents, seeking information about their whereabouts and safety; and they’re praying - for friends and family; for a nation and its people, independently sovereign for more than 30 years; for peace.

Kerndt Brothers Bank has made a $25,000 donation to the Building New Traditions Campaign at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds in Waukon. The Building New Traditions Campaign is dedicated toward constructing a new, larger all-species youth livestock show barn centrally located at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds, a project that also involves relocation, elimination and transformation of some of the other livestock buildings at the Fairgrounds. Pictured above at the donation presentation at the site of the new show barn construction at the Allamakee County Fairgrounds are, left to right, Erik Helgerson of Kerndt Brothers Bank, Tyler Plein and Bobbi Baxter of the Allamakee County Fair Board, and Bobbi Jo Berg and Cathy Buhl of Kerndt Brothers Bank.

Alert Iowa system used recently for water boil advisory and December derecho

Following the fire in Waukon Sunday, February 13 and the ensuing need for a boil advisory to be put into place for Waukon residents, in addition to the derecho in December and other weather events, Allamakee County Emergency Management Coordinator Corey Snitker wants to remind everyone of Allamakee County’s Emergency Alert system called Alert Iowa. The Alert Iowa system was used to help the City of Waukon spread the word on the boil order requirement, and the system was also used and will continue to be used for its severe weather notification capability.