From our readers

Letter to Editor:

This letter is in response to Supervisor Darrell Enix’s letter to the editor dated July 11, 2012, in which he indicates his support for the emergency services. We would like to clarify background information relating to the decision to purchase the tender (tanker) truck for the Fire Dept.

The tender truck was purchased with the help of a 95/5 grant from FEMA. The initial decision to apply for a grant was approved by the previous board on February 16, 2009. The initial grant application was denied. A second grant application was submitted on May 28, 2010, with the $189,000 grant being awarded on January 14, 2011. Based on the terms of the grant, FEMA would pay $179,550 and Brazeau would pay $9,450. Upon finalization of the bid, the cost was $192,515. FEMA paid $179,550 and Brazeau was to pay $12,965.

The Brazeau share was paid as follows: $4,449.50 was taken from the FIRE DEPT. BUDGET and $8,515.50 was taken from the FIRE DEPT. FUND RAISER/PICNIC ACCOUNT. The funds in the Picnic Account come from the generosity of the residents and friends of the Fire Dept. Key decisions leading up to the acquisition of the tender truck were made PRIOR TO the current board, which was elected in April 2011.

One other point omitted from Supervisor Enix’ letter is the December 20, 2011 vote in which he and Supervisor Hanna reduced the amount of the LOSA (Length of Service Award) payment. For those who are unfamiliar, LOSA is a program that is co-shared by the State of Wisconsin and volunteer emergency service organizations. It is designed to help municipalities keep their volunteers interested and active over time. Each volunteer member must earn the required amount of points to be eligible for the program and must participate in the program for 20 years to be fully vested.

At the inception of the program, the State’s maximum contribution matched the Brazeau contribution of $250 per qualified member. The State annually increased its maximum contribution until reaching $316.38 per qualified member this past year. On December 20, 2011, Supervisors Enix and Hanna voted to reduce the Brazeau contribution back to $250, thus reducing the State’s contribution down to $250. While this difference may not sound like much money, when you combine the state and local contributions and multiply it by 20 years, the difference does add up for our dedicated volunteers. Perhaps if Supervisors Enix and Hanna would have volunteered for our town, they would understand the importance of this program.

Please vote for Gerald Kempka and Rodney Gretzon on Aug. 14, 2012.

Supervisors Enix and Hanna MUST be recalled.

We sign this letter as ACTIVE 33-year Charter Members of the Brazeau Volunteer Fire Department.

Hubert Wiedemeier,

Gerald Kempka,

Robert Wardecke

To The Editor:

OUR MISUNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT SUICIDE

By: Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI

Every year I write an article on suicide because so many people have to live with the pain of losing a loved one in this way. I rarely go for even a week without receiving a letter, an email, or a phone call from someone who has just lost a family member to suicide. In virtually every case, there is a corresponding sorrow that there really isn't a lot of material out there, religious or secular, to help console those left bereaved. A friend of mine, who through some very dark years has had to work through the pain of losing her husband to suicide, plans one day to write a book to try to offer consolation to those left behind. There is a desperate need for just such a book.

When someone close to us dies by suicide we live with a pain that includes confusion ("Why?"), guilt ("What might we still have done?"), misunderstanding ("This is the ultimate form of despair") and, if we are believers, deep religious anxiety as well ("How does God treat such a person? What's to be his or her eternal destiny?")

What needs to be said about suicide? At the risk of repeating what I have been writing year after year:

First, that it's a disease, something that in most cases takes a person out of life against his or her will, the emotional equivalent of cancer, a stroke, or a heart attack. Second, that we, the loved ones who remain, should not spend undue time and energy second-guessing as to how we might have failed that person, what we should have noticed, and what we might still have done to prevent the suicide. Suicide is an illness and, as with a purely physical disease, we can love someone and still not be able to save him or her from death. God too loved this person and, like us, could not interfere with his or her freedom. Finally, we shouldn't worry too much about how God meets our loved one on the other side. God's love, unlike ours, goes through locked doors, descends into hell, and breathes out peace where we can't. Most people who die by suicide will awake on the other side to find Christ standing inside their locked doors, inside the heart of their chaos, breathing out peace and gently saying: "Peace be with you!"

But I also receive a lot of very critical letters every year suggesting that I am making light of suicide by seeming to lessen its ultimate taboo and thus making it easier for people to do the act: Wasn't it G.K.

Chesterton himself who said that, by killing yourself, you insult every flower on earth? What's about this?

Chesterton is correct, when suicide is indeed a despairing act within which one kills oneself. But in most suicides, I suspect, this is not the case because there is huge distinction between falling victim to suicide and killing oneself.

In suicide, a person, through illness of whatever sort, is taken out of life against his or her will. Many of us have known loved ones who died by suicide and we know that in almost every case that person was someone who was the antithesis of the egoist, the narcissist, the over-proud, hardened, unbending person who refuses, through pride, to take his or her place in the humble and broken scheme of things. Usually it's the opposite. The person who dies by suicide has cancerous problems precisely because he or she is too sensitive, too wounded, too raw, and too bruised to possess the necessary toughness needed to absorb life's many blows. I remember comment I once heard at a funeral. We had just buried a young man who, suffering from clinical depression, had committed suicide. The priest had preached badly, hinting that this suicide was somehow the man's own fault and that suicide was always the ultimate act of despair. At the reception afterwards a neighbor of the man who had died came up and expressed his displeasure at the priest's remarks: "There a lot of people in the world who should kill themselves, but they never will! But this man is the last person who should have killed himself; he was the most sensitive person I've ever met!" Too true.

Killing yourself is something different. It's how some of the Hitlers pass out of this life. Hitler, in fact, did kill himself. In such a case, the person is not too sensitive, too self effacing, and too bruised to touch others and be touched. The opposite. The person is too proud to accept his or her place in a world that, at the end of the day, demands humility of everyone.

There is an infinite distance between an act done out of weakness and one done out of strength. Likewise there is an absolute distinction between being too bruised to continue to touch life and being too proud to continue to take one's place within it. Only the latter makes a moral statement, insults the flowers, and challenges the mercy of God.

Submitted by

Tina Tappy,

2012 Walk Co-Chair

Dickinson Co. Out of

the Darkness Walk

Editor:

Once again, the perilous efforts of a small group of interested persons gathered in August 2011, to plan and organize the 2nd Annual Marinette Logging and Heritage Festival. We gathered with excitement and optimism and promised to be inspired by the hope of putting together another festival that would showcase our City and make this a successful event for the residents of our community.

A change in date was imminent with Marinette always having a celebration on the 4th of July. July 4th is always a “floating” holiday and difficult to get volunteers, parade entries, crafter/ vendor participants, bands, entertainment and other activities to make this a fun-filled family orientated festival. Costs involved are extremely high to fund an event on a holiday. In the past, Marinette & Menominee were fortunate to have very active Jaycee chapters who provided a July 4th celebration for the community. This no longer exists. The committee choose ”Marinette this is YOUR festival” as a theme and vowed to proceed forward with plans. Each member of the committee put tireless time and effort into the different areas of the planning. In spite of negative comments from many, we were able to move forward.

Thank you to all who assisted in the planning and staging of another festival. Once again, your belief in what we wanted to accomplish was incredible. Each of you provided a unique part of our committee. Your dedication made the festival happen once again.

We thank all the sponsors, the numerous businesses, community organizations and concerned citizens who assisted, and the city police department and EMS staff kept everything running smoothly. Volunteer musicians entertained on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. It takes a huge amount of people to make this happen!

Once again, I am very proud of Marinette, our rich history and the wonderful people who live and work here.

Judy Alwin,

Marinette Logging,

Heritage Fest Chair

Dear Editor:

The Crivitz Food Pantry, which has grown by leaps and bounds over the years, currently serve approximately 200 families monthly. We are fortunate to have donors who contribute the funds we need every year. One of our most successful fundraisers is the raffle ticket sale coordinated by the Crivitz Business Association.

It’s that time of year again - the annual raffle ticket sale has begun. Many businesses in and around Crivitz have these raffle tickets for sale. In addition to a chance to win fantastic prizes, you are giving money directly to the pantry. Tickets will be sold at the Brat Fry in front of Witt’s Piggly Wiggly Aug. 11 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Stop by and support the Crivitz Area Businesses and the Crivitz Area Food Pantry.

Thanks in advance for your generosity.

Cara Behrendt,

Crivitz Area Food Pantry

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