May 2, 2007

Among the items dealt with by the Prairie du Chien Common Council last night were a decision to close the Prairie Street Fire Station and approval of requests for the Carriage Classic, Colgate Country Showdown, a water cross event and a new wine and beer license.

Following a recommendation from the Property Committee, Council approved a motion to make a finding of no public need and solicit proposals for selling the North Prairie Street Fire Station.

The station was originally built to provide speedy emergency access to the area west of the railroad tracks should a train be blocking the tracks. However, now that an overpass exists north of town and another one will be built when the Highway 18 bypass is constructed, the station is no longer needed.

There is, however, not enough room to house all the equipment at the main fire station on Blackhawk, and part of the Property Committee's recommendation was that the Prairie station not be closed until adaptations could be made at the other station. City administrator Gordon Gallagher said the thought was that whoever buys the station would not take possession until there was a place to house the equipment.

Pam Ritchie, representing Prairie Downtown Revitalization Inc. (PDRI), asked for extended hours for the Colgate Country Showdown scheduled for June 29. She said the event ended at 9 or 9:30 p.m. last year, but because of its popularity, PDRI, which sponsors the event, would like to extend the hours to 11 p.m. with a backup band and street dance.

Council approved the request with suggestions for expanding the area of the event . City manager Gallagher suggested adding a few blocks so people aren't cramped into one area. Councilmembr Jaaren Riebe suggested the police chief should be consulted to see how much extra help would be needed with an expanded area, and Council member Frank Pintz said the organization should consider extending the area all the way to the railroad tracks for the next year. Said Ritchie: "I'd love to see it become a huge event for Prairie du Chien. I think it has the potential."

Ritchie also explained the request from Great Lakes Water Cross for jet ski races August 18 and 19. This would be a new event for the city, but Ritchie said communities where the event has been held have been pleased. She said as far as she knew, the city would be asked to have an ambulance service on site during the event. It would take place on the north end of Lawler Park from the boat ramp to the beach.

Council approved that request and the request by the Villa Louis Carriage Classic for street closures and use of city land and during the Sept. 7-9 Carriage Classic.

A beer and wine license for Simply Coffeehouse and Eatery was approved with the stipulation that the doorways between the eatery and the adjoining shop be closed off.

In other business, council approved writing off $6,400 in bad debts from the water department for the years previous to 2004 and continuing to pursue collection of more recent debts. These debts are unpaid customer bills which the city has not been able to collect, and most have been returned as undeliverable.

Gordon Gallagher reported on the results of the survey conducted at the April election. He said there appeared to be interest in consolidating polling places. Councilmember Pintz said since there was such a small voter turnout he would like to see a more extensive survey done before any decisions are made.

Water Superintendent Larry Gates presented the Consumer Confidence Report for the city's water and the DNR Annual Inspection Report. Gates said one weak point in the DNR evaluation was checking cross connections in residences. He said most people were not home during regular water department hours, and the department was considering doing some inspections on Saturday morning. Council thanked Gates for the information and congratulated him and the department on the good work.

If you're just trying to make casual conversation, don't ask Annie Beinborn how her mission trips went, because she'll tell you, and at great length. What's more, before she's through, if she hasn't convinced you to sign up and go yourself, she'll have you wondering how you can make a financial or material contribution to the cause.

Beinborn, of Prairie du Chien, went on two missions to Peru this year, one in January, a surgical mission, and one in February, to distribute eyeglasses. She had actually planned only on the February mission, but volunteered for the other at the last minute when one of the team members broke an arm and had to cancel. That trip, however, will be discussed in a later article.

Beinborn knew of the mission because she and her husband, Dick, have been contributing to the organization which hosts it, Casa Hogar, in Lurin, a suburb of Lima, Peru. Casa Hogar is an orphanage founded and run by priests from the La Crosse Diocese, and Beinborn and her family have been sponsoring orphans from Casa Hogar for several years.

Under the direction of Dr. Steven LaLiberte of Franciscan Skemp in La Crosse, a team of optometrists, opticians and volunteers has been going to Lurin every other year to conduct eye tests and fit people with recycled glasses collected by the Lions Clubs of Wisconsin.

Beinborn's older sister, Mary Dudley, an anesthetist at Gundersen Lutheran in La Crosse and Beinborn's "inspiration," had been part of the surgical trips, and Beinborn decided to join. Son Benny, a senior at Prairie du Chien High School, also expressed interest, so the two of them signed up.

"It's totally a team effort," she said of the group of 21 people. "We met at the airport as strangers, but functioned as a unit once we got to work." The three optometrists in the group conducted eye checks and wrote prescriptions; volunteers searched through 8,000 packages of eyeglasses, already labeled according to prescription strength, to locate the closest match; and three opticians fit and adjusted the "new" glasses. In all, they saw 2,850 patients and dispensed 2,200 pairs of eyeglasses.

The poverty, Beinborn said, is incredible: "Lima has nine million people, and most of them live in poverty." She showed pictures of shanties, constructed of cardboard, wood and metal scraps, lining the hills around the city.

One woman who came simply needed sunglasses to protect her eyes as she worked outdoors, but couldn't afford them because she was supporting several families of children who had been orphaned by terrorists.

Another woman started crying once she was able to see again, and yet another woman, who hadn't been able to knit for years because she couldn't see, pulled out her needles and began knitting.

Since some of the people who come are illiterate, they can't identify the letters on traditional eye charts, so color and shape charts were also used for eye tests.

Eighteen-year old Benny, who took off a week of school to go, was elated to find that his three years of high school Spanish enabled him to speak directly to the people without the aid of an interpreter„the acid test for the quality of a language program.

Like his father, older brother, uncles and aunt, Benny also wants to pursue a medical career. His father, Dick, is an anesthetist at four area hospitals. His brother Charlie is an RN in a coronary care unit at Mayo in Rochester. As a start, Benny plans to major in nursing/biology this fall at Winona State University.

Beinborn feels that both she and her son have been transformed by the trip. "It's so incredible to do this," she said, "you leave part of your heart there. It's such hard work yet so much fun and so rewarding."

Said Benny: "It was a life-changing experience because of how you're helping all these individuals who haven't been able to see for years; you're drastically changing their lives." He plans to return to Peru this summer to learn more about the country and its culture.

Volunteers have to pay their own airfare. They stay and eat at the orphanage, and it is customary to leave a donation to cover the orphanage's expenses because of the team's presence. Because it takes two years to collect the roughly $10,000 required to finance the mission, the next trip will be in 2009. Now that she has been personally involved, Beinborn says she plans to return "for many years to come."

On the surgical mission in January, also to Peru, Beinborn found that people were fascinated with the pictures she took, and loved to look at their images in the small display screen of her digital camera. Before she returned on the eyeglass mission in February, she purchased a small printer and electrical adapter so that she could make copies for people. One woman who had her picture taken by Benny returned the next morning to pick it up and asked Benny to autograph it.

She has also decided to do whatever she can to help support the orphanage and the medical missions. "For $1,000 a year," she said, "an individual, a family or a group can sponsor a child at the orphanage." They will receive pictures and correspondence from the child in return. The first child the Beinborns sponsored turned 18 and left the orphanage, so they are now sponsoring his younger brother.

Material things could also be used„both for the orphanage and the medical mission. T-shirts, she said, are very popular, and she noticed that a child, if offered a choice between a T-shirt and a toy, invariably took the T-shirt. Before leaving for the trip, she had obtained T-shirts from Sports World for a low price, and distributed them at the orphanage, and the children posed for a picture in their new shirts.

She circulated a notice at Prairie Catholic school where she works as a volunteer, and has collected about 25 blankets and over 1,000 Beanie Babies, dolls and small stuffed animals for the next trip. "Whatever is donated," she said, "has to be shipped," so small and lightweight are key words. Toothbrushes, coloring books, markers and crayons would also be welcome.

Beinborn has volunteered to collect material donations, answer questions and speak to various groups to spread the word. "I want everyone to realize how important those used eyeglasses are, and encourage people to drop them off in the Lions collection boxes." She can be reached at 326-4549.

If people are interested in making a financial donation, or in participating in a future mission trip, she suggests contacting the Diocese of La Crosse Mission Office, P.O. Box 40044, La Crosse, WI 54602.

"It's like discovering a new country," said Kim Titley, about her discovery of an endangered plant that was not thought to grow anywhere in this area until she came across it during a walk.

The plant she discovered was trillium nivale, more commonly known as snow trillium, whose status is listed as "threatened' by the Wisconsin DNR, and previously thought to be found only in the counties of Brown, Calumet, Manitowac, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Pierce, St. Croix, Sheboygan and Waukesha.

In the interests of protecting the endangered flower, Titley declined to tell exactly where she found it, but said it is a woodland flower that blooms earlier than its relatives, the large flowering trillium and nodding trillium, in mid-March and early April, often blooming right through the snow.

Titley said she discovered the plant some time ago and had spent some time trying to identify it herself. She finally located a picture of it on the DNR endangered species list, and when she learned the land was scheduled to be developed, she contacted the DNR. They confirmed her identification and took steps to protect the area. "They're excited," she said, "because the area has not been inventoried, and they feel they may find other endangered species there."

Titley's purpose in telling about her discovery, however, is not to blow her own horn, but to encourage other people to look for similar discoveries. "We can't protect what we have unless we know it's there," she said.

Titley, who worked for the Wisconsin Welcome Center in Prairie du Chien for 19 years, lives in Millville and has a photography business, Hawk Creek Photography. Currently, she has photos and greeting cards in several area stores, and is working with Villa Louis developing a line of cards. She also does photo restoration and special projects.

There may not be an opening ceremony, but the summer tourist season begins this weekend with a variety of activities and the seasonal opening of many attractions.

On Friday, May 4, downtown merchants are having a Moonlight Madness sale to kick off their plans to remain open Friday evenings. Many stores will stay open until 9 p.m. Also on May 4, the Mississippi Explorer offers an evening of Music on the River.

Saturday, May 5 is the first Prairie du Chien Half Marathon. La Riviere Park is also hosting an Open House that day, including a bird walk and many other activities.

Drive by the Shihata Orchards over the weekend to see the spring apple blossoms in bloom.

Attractions open for the season include Villa Louis Historic Site, Fort Crawford Museum, Spook Cave, Cassville Car Ferry, Pete's Hamburger Stand, Prairie Fun Land, Prairie du Chien Country Club, Barnyard 9 and Willy & Nellies Place.

Sites open throughout the year but also geared up for the tourism season are Wyalusing State Park, Effigy Mounds National Monument, Eagles Landing Winery, The Natural Gait, Pikes Peak State Park and the Mississippi River Sculpture Park.