VMH Family Wellness Fair to take place May 9 … The Veterans Memorial Hospital Family Wellness Fair will be held Wednesday, May 9 from 3:30-6:30 p.m. at the hospital in Waukon. Free health tests, family activities, entertainment and refreshments will all be included in the evening, plus many door prizes will be given away. Veterans Memorial Hospital will also be awarding prizes at the Wellness Fair to all those in Allamakee and northern Clayton counties who participated in the Live Healthy Iowa 10 week wellness challenge in 2018. Pictured above is a scene from last year’s wellness fair. Submitted photo.
The 21st annual Family Wellness Fair is scheduled to be held Wednesday, May 9 from 3:30-6:30 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. Health testing, exhibits and activities will all be providing a complete evening of entertainment and education for families of all ages. Everyone in the area communities is welcome to attend this free event which is offered in conjunction with the end of the annual Live Healthy Iowa Community Wellness Challenge.
With the end of this current school year in the Allamakee Community School District also marking the end of an era with the Waterville School as part of this area’s formal education system, The Standard will be dedicating pages in an upcoming issue to historical reflections on the Waterville School. Whether alumni of Waterville High School or the more recent Waterville Elementary School, a former staff member or just an interested history buff, members of the general public are asked to contribute photos, reflections or simply their favorite or most vivid memory of their experience with the Waterville School to be published in an anticipated May 23 edition of The Standard.
The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) will hold another public information meeting Tuesday, May 15 to discuss the proposed Iowa 9 (Black Hawk) bridge project in Lansing over the Mississippi River. The May 15 meeting is scheduled to take place from 5-7 p.m. at Kee High School, located at 569 Center Street in Lansing, and will be the first public meeting held in regard to the proposed project since an initial public open house forum that took place August 8 of last year and allowed citizens to learn more and comment on locations and designs of a proposed new bridge, along with study-based reasoning behind the proposed project.
All interested persons are invited to attend this meeting between 5 and 7 p.m. The meeting will be conducted utilizing an open forum format. Iowa DOT staff and consultants will be present to informally discuss the project.
American Idol contestant Maddie Poppe ... Photo courtesy of Trent Poppe.
Proud grandparents ... Ellen and Daryl Larson are the grandparents of American Idol top-seven finalist Maddie Poppe, a native of Clarksville. Daryl Larson is a native of the Waukon area and still has some sisters and brothers who live in the area. Photo courtesy of Trent Poppe.
by Lissa Blake
An American Idol contestant with ties to Waukon and Waterville has made it into the television show’s top seven finalists line-up as of Sunday evening, April 29.
Twenty-year-old Iowa native Maddie Poppe is the granddaughter of Waukon native Daryl Larson and his wife, Ellen, who now live in Waverly. Other local relatives include Anna Marie Ewing of Waterville, Darlene “Dar” Klein of Waukon and Harry Larson of McGregor. Her mother, Tanya Larson Poppe, went to elementary school in Waterville as a young child.
Poppe is a singer/songwriter from Clarksville who plays guitar, ukulele and keyboard. She has been playing locally for about three years and in June 2016 she released an album of original songs, entitled “Songs from the Basement,” which she wrote, recorded and produced.
The Allamakee County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Monday, April 30 to address a full agenda of items including a temporary access during the Green Valley Bridge project, designation of office space for a Magistrate/Judge chambers and the consideration of hiring a part-time employee for the Secondary Roads Department.
Allamakee County Auditor Denise Beyer indicated that there was a change to the agenda with the removal of the County Farm cropland rental agenda item. Beyer explained that the check for the County Farm rental has arrived and that there was no need to discuss the matter.
The City of Waukon is moving forward with preparations for the construction of a new wastewater treatment facility following an administrative order from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). To remain in compliance with changing EPA regulations, the City is working with Fehr-Graham Engineering in developing plans for the new wastewater treatment facility. During this ongoing planning process, City Manager Dean Hilgerson and City Clerk Allen Lyon have provided updates to The Standard regarding funding and construction-related aspects of the project, with recent decisions by the Waukon City Council being made regarding a sewer rate increase beginning in July that residents can expect to see starting with their third quarter billing later this year.
Oh, buoy! ... The Bob Henkel boat retrieved a 300-pound green navigation buoy that had been crushed and twisted by a tow-boat. The buoy is part of 500 pounds of metal that was recovered during the Friends of Pool 9 River Clean-Up Day Saturday, April 21 and will be recycled. Submitted photo.
Never too early to learn ... Young Wyatt Henkel helps unload debris from his dad’s boat, along with (left to right) Lance Welsh, Bob Henkel, Jr. and Ben Verdon. More than 130 volunteers took part in the Friends of Pool 9 River Clean-Up Day Saturday, April 21. Submitted photo.
submitted by Friends of Pool 9
On a slightly questionable weather day with cool temperatures, moderate stream flow and rising water levels, a group of volunteers gathered at all ends of Pool 9 to help clean the Mississippi River corridor, for the 13th year.
While many would find something else to do on a day like this, these folks put on their life jackets, boated out and waded into the Mississippi. They walked the Highway 82 dike, scoured area beaches, cleaned and sifted fire rings, walked the boat landings and the perimeter of Pool 9, and boated into the backwater depths to retrieve as much of the unwanted man-made debris as possible. Such is the desire and persistence of this bunch of volunteers from northeast Iowa, western Wisconsin and other places unknown.
A free event focused on mental well-being and building resilient communities is scheduled to be held Saturday, May 5 at 10 a.m. at the New Albin Community Center. Featured speakers will include Tabita Green, author of “Her lost year.” She will have copies of her book available at the event for signing and purchase. Lansing/New Albin Police Chief Conrad Rosendahl will then follow with an additional presentation.
Iowa Public Television replaced the broadcast antenna serving the Lansing viewing area last week. The replacement process caused a temporary service outage while the existing antenna was removed and new equipment was installed.
The change also resulted in a channel change for viewers watching the over-the-air translator signal, from the current channel 39 to the new channel 31. Crews tried to limit the necessary outage as much as possible.
Upon completion of the replacement, viewers watching IPTV’s over-the-air signal were required to rescan their televisions to receive the new channel. Viewers watching IPTV via a cable or satellite provider did not need to make any adjustments. For more information about Iowa Public Television, contact Susan Ramsey at 515-725-9703 or Susan.Ramsey@iptv.org.
Students in the Allamakee Community School District’s (ACSD) Allamakee Accelerated Learning Program (AALP) recently took part in a Wind Energy Challenge hosted by Keystone Area Education Agency (AEA) in Elkader Tuesday, April 17. The event gives students a chance to apply their knowledge of wind energy and engineering skills to design a wind turbine. Student teams designed and built a working wind turbine and developed a display to further explain their project, with the projects being tested for energy output.
