All good things must come to an end: The Standard no longer able to offer window pick-up

The old saying goes, "All good things must come to an end," and that old adage will be ringing true for the convenience of The Standard's drive-up window newspaper pick-up with the coming of the new year.
The change ultimately comes as a result of the flooding this past summer forcing some building changes to The Standard's original window pick-up location at the JaDecc'S Computer Center building next door. With the flooding displacing both The Standard and JaDecc'S offices for the past several months, Standard employees had still been trying to hand the newspaper out in front of The Standard office building Tuesday afternoons, but the arrival of cold winter weather will now force that convenience to come to an end as well.
"It's unfortunate that we can't continue to offer that same service to our loyal customers, but sometimes the tides of change bring unfortunate circumstances that we simply have to understand and adjust to," said Jeremy Troendle, Managing Editor of The Standard. "Before the winter weather arrived, we wanted to try and come up with other solutions to continue that added convenience for our office pick-up subscribers, but none of the ideas we've come up with have panned out."
Renovation of The Standard's office location at 15 First Street NW in Waukon is nearing completion, with anticipation of that office opening for business again by the end of this year or in the first weeks of the new year. The Standard appreciates everyone's patience and understanding as crews have worked to rebuild its former office location during this past six months.

MEANS WHAT IT SAYS
The Standard will still be offering its office pick-up subscription at a reduced rate that saves subscribers a few dollars off the mail-delivered subscription rate and allows them to pick up their newspaper at least a day earlier than if delivered by mail. Effective with the new year, however, that office pick-up will have to take place within The Standard office.
"We realize this is coming to an end at an undesirable time of the year, weather-wise, but I hope people can understand it's that same cold weather situation that doesn't really allow us to have someone stand outside to hand newspapers out to those who drive up in front of our building," Troendle reasoned. "We apologize for not being able to make it quite as convenient to pick up your newspaper as it has been the past several years, but we still welcome people to take advantage of that reduced office pick-up rate for their subscription and to come on in and visit with us when they pick up their newspaper."
For those concerned about navigating the three steps that go up into The Standard office, the renovations to that office following this summer's flooding do include a new service window just inside the exterior building door that can be used by customers not able to navigate the steps.
"We wanted to try and do at least a little something to make it convenient for our customers who aren't able to get up our front stops that are, unfortunately, part of the original design of the building," Troendle explained. "We actually looked into implementing a ramp system for even greater convenience, but the building lay-out simply wouldn't allow for it."

THE HISTORY
It was approximately 10 years ago when The Standard first decided to offer the office pick-up subscription. "It was during the winter months that the idea came to me after an unfortunate incident where one of our customers slipped on our front steps and broke his ankle," Troendle explained. "I approached Tom Johnson, who was our publisher and general manager at the time, about the idea of a drive-up subscription, so we approached the Sheltons about using the drive-up window at the back of their building, which was formerly Farmers & Merchants Savings Bank, next door to The Standard. And the rest is a short bit of history."
With the much-appreciated cooperation of JaDecc'S Computer Center located right next door, The Standard had been able to offer its office pick-up subscription with the added convenience of being able to drive up to the drive-through window of that JaDecc'S building late Tuesday afternoons and pick up their weekly subscription or buy a single copy of the newspaper from the comfort of their own vehicle. The renovation of both The Standard building and the JaDecc'S building forced by this past summer's flooding has eliminated that drive-through window and not allowed for anything similar to be available to maintain that in-vehicle convenience.
"It's an unfortunate turn of events, but something that we've had to come to grips with because of the flooding," Troendle said. "We certainly appreciate the generosity of the Shelton family for the use of the JaDecc'S drive-through window over these last several years. They have truly been a very good neighbor to us, and while we join them in the excitement of being able to move back into our renovated office space, we also look back at what this summer's flooding has changed about our former office settings with a somewhat heavy heart."
Troendle says that even though the drive-up convenience is being discontinued, those wishing to still pick up their newspaper at The Standard's office location once the doors are open at its newly-renovated location at 15 First Street NW are more than welcome to do so. Anyone who has any further questions or concerns about the office pick-up subscription is welcome to stop by or call The Standard office at 563-568-3431.
"We certainly appreciate the understanding and cooperation of those who will be impacted the most by this situation," Troendle said. "We look forward to being moved back into our 'home' location and serving our customers as best we can."