The 2024 NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship Tournament has played its way to a final champion, as the University of Connecticut (UConn) topped Purdue University in the Monday, April 8 National Championship game, 75-60, to repeat as the NCAA Men’s Basketball Champion. The sorting out of that 68-team national tournament to this season’s National Championship winner has also resulted in the emergence of the winning entry for The Standard’s Bracket Challenge contest.
The winner of this season’s Bracket Challenge is Verland Lenth of Waukon, as he overcame some average early rounds of picking and a tough third round with some strong final four choices. He was the lone entry this year to choose at least three of this year’s final four teams, selecting UConn, Purdue and Alabama (along with Houston) within his final four teams, and then having UConn defeat Purdue in the finals.
With a Monday, April 1 meet at Decorah and the Thursday, April 4 Postville Invitational this past week both being the latest weather victims in the Waukon boys track team’s first four outdoor meets of the season being canceled, the Indians made some late-week inquiries to finally be able to compete in their first outdoor meet of the season Friday, April 5 at the Dyersville Beckman Invitational. The track Tribe won a pair of events and finished second in four more in a meet where no team scores were kept but that included 10 other teams, many of which the Indians don’t often see during their regular season schedule.
The Indians were next scheduled to take part in the Decorah Invitational Monday, April 8 before competing in the New Hampton Invitational Thursday, April 11. Another week of double duty next week includes a return trip to Decorah Monday, April 15 and then hosting their own Indian Relays Friday, April 19.
Having its first two outdoor meets of the season canceled by weather and its latest meet postponed a day, the Waukon girls track team finally got to take to the track outside for the first time this season when they competed in the Decorah Invitational Friday, April 5. The Lady Indians recorded two each of event wins and runner-up finishes to help tally 77 team points and end up as the fourth-place team in the meet’s eight-team field.
After having its first two outdoor meets of the season canceled by weather and not having competed on the track since the Upper Iowa Conference Indoor Meet more than two weeks earlier, the Kee girls track team finally got its first taste of outdoor competition this season when the Lady Hawks competed at the Decorah Invitational Friday, April 5. The meet had originally been scheduled for Thursday, April 4 but the latest blast of early spring winter weather postponed the meet, with the Hawks tallying four top-three event finishes against a mixed field of local school sizes, tallying 42 team points to finish in sixth place among the eight-team field.
VMH rehabilitation services ... April is National Occupational Therapy Month. Mary Christoffer of Lansing has been utilizing the Veterans Memorial Hospital rehabilitation services of occupational therapy, physical therapy and home health nursing since January, following a fall and hip fracture. She will soon be discharged from these services since she has progressed well and met all of her goals. She is pictured here with Amy Evanson, Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant who travels to homes throughout the area, assisting with occupational therapy services. Submitted photo.
April is National Occupational Therapy Month. Occupational therapists work with patients to help them stay safe in their own home. They also help patients who have been hospitalized return to their homes by inspecting the home and encouraging modifications prior to the patient returning home.
Mary Christoffer of Lansing has been utilizing the Veterans Memorial Hospital rehabilitation services of occupational therapy, physical therapy and home health nursing since January, following a fall and hip fracture. She will soon be discharged from these services since she has progressed well and met all of her goals.
Monthly free blood pressure clinics resume in Allamakee County ... Veterans Memorial Hospital Community and Home Care Allamakee Public Health will resume the monthly free blood pressure checks at all Allamakee County libraries beginning this month. Nurses from Allamakee County Public Health will be on-site each month to take and record these complimentary blood pressure readings. See the above monthly schedule for more details. Submitted graphic.
Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) Community and Home Care Allamakee Public Health has resumed the free monthly free blood pressure check clinics all around Allamakee County beginning in April. Nurses from Allamakee County Public Health will be on-site to take a blood pressure reading. Blood pressure results will be recorded on a log card given to all visitors to bring back each month so their next results can be logged.
This is the monthly schedule for these free blood pressure clinics which are being held at all city libraries in Allamakee County on the following recurring days:
• Lansing: 1st Monday of the month 9:45-11:45 a.m.
• Postville: 1st Wednesday of the month 9-11 a.m.
• Harpers Ferry: 3rd Wednesday of the month 9-11 a.m.
• New Albin: 4th Monday of the month 2-4 p.m.
• Waterville: 1st Tuesday of the month 2-4 p.m.
• Waukon: 4th Monday of the month 10 a.m.-Noon
April is Donate Life Month and serves as a reminder to the public to register to be an organ and tissue donor. According to the Iowa Donor Network, organ and tissue donation is a gift that saves and heals hundreds of thousands of lives each year. For transplant recipients and patients on the transplant waiting list, the gift of donation offers a second chance at life; a chance to move forward and fulfill the legacy left behind by the gracious donor.
Over 106,000 men and women in the United States are waiting for a life-saving transplant. That includes over 600 Iowans. One donor can save the lives of up to eight people through organ donation and heal and enhance the lives of more than 300 through tissue and eye donation. Every nine minutes another name is added to the national transplant list and 17 people die each day waiting.
The Veterans Memorial Hospital Diabetes Support Group will hold its next meeting Thursday, April 18, at 10 a.m. The meeting will be held at Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH) in the Large Conference Room, located on the lower level of the hospital.
This diabetes class is open to everyone who has diabetes or who has a friend or loved one who has diabetes. For more information on the Diabetes Support Group, call Angie Mettille, RN, at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon at 563-568-3411.
by Brandy Strub, MS, RD/LD, Dietitian, Veterans Memorial Hospital
Fiber is a type of carbohydrate found in plant foods that the body can’t digest and comes in two varieties: soluble fiber and insoluble fiber. Most high fiber foods have both, so it is best to just focus on overall fiber intake.
Fiber not only keeps bowel movements regular, which helps prevent against diverticular disease, hemorrhoids, and possibly decreases a person’s risk of colorectal cancer, it also helps:
1. Control blood sugars by slowing down the absorption of sugar and preventing blood sugar spikes
2. Protect heart health by helping lower cholesterol
3. Aid in weight management by making you feel fuller longer
4. Enhance gut health by feeding the good bacteria in your gut which may lead to better mood, less inflammation, healthier skin, etc.
An open house will be held in honor of Jane Tepesch’s retirement Saturday, April 13 from 1-4 p.m. in the Community Room at Freedom Bank, 201 West Main Street, Waukon.
Jane had been employed in the Waukon community for nearly 70 years dating back to 1954. No gifts are requested.
