apl 29 may 1 2002

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May 1, 2002

Carp Kite Day set for Sunday
Lucky will be put to rest
Remember the carp called Lucky that helped the people of Prairie du Chien ring in the 2002 New Year? Lucky has been resting and waiting to be put to the real test. On Sunday, May 5, Lucky will be brought out for Carp Kite Day in Prairie du Chien.
To the Japanese, the carp is a symbol of strength, courage and determination. These traits that are found in the fish are the same traits parents wish that their children will have. On May 5 children fly kites that they have made in the shape of the carp. They are painted or colored in various patterns that are favorites of the child. The kites are attached to a stick, paraded around the neighborhood and then displayed in the child's front yard.
The Carpettes have put together about 200 carp kite kits they were distributed to the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade children at the Catholic and public schools. Instructions are included with the kits.
At 1 p.m. Sunday, the children can bring them to the entrance of St. Feriole Island where they will receive a kite stick for the parade of Carp Kites that will proceed from there to the riverfront and back again. Kite patterns will be made available for children who are not in those grades at Hamann's Variety Store at no charge.
To celebrate Carp Kite Day, the Dropping of the Carp Committee will be planting a tree in memory of Lucky 2001 and burying Lucky with the tree.
Lucky will be on display prior to his burial for those people who did not stay up to watch the Dropping of the Carp on New Year's Eve.
A group of Bluff View Intermediate School fourth-graders pose with a pair of carp kites they received recently. The school received 160 carp kite kits, which the third, fourth and fifth graders will assemble and then fly on Sunday.

A closer look at the Opportunity Center
The Crawford County Arc will host a dedication of a recently completed Day Services Area of the Opportunity Center, 730 North State St., Prairie du Chien on Saturday, May 4 from 1 - 3 p.m.
This home-like environment area will provide about 16 Opportunity Center clients to learn life skills and day to day activities.
The community is invited to attend the dedication and tour of the new Day Services area.
More than 60 individuals with disabilities from Crawford County work at the Opportunity Center. The day services area will provide a place for those who are unable to work and those who are retired from working. Most of the clients in the day services area do work part of the day.
Colvin says the programming in the day services area is individualized. Finding out the clients interest was the first step in creating the activities.
"We make the activities a little different each day," says Colvin. Ideas they have done or will be doing this summer include kite flying, gardening, puzzles, crafts and attending many community events.
Clients at the Opportunity Center not in the day services area put in a day's work, Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
No matter what their abilities or disabilities, the Opportunity Center has something for everyone, according to Darryl Koth, production services director.
Jobs are individually adapted to a person's skills and employees are able to make their own choices about working, according to their abilities. Center staff even creates design aids to help the clients do their jobs, such as template to count out the number of pieces needed for a package, said Koth.
Most of the work clients do is for 3M, such as packaging of sponges. Clients are paid by the piece. Other businesses which contract through the center include Prairie Industries and Excel Brushes.
The clients often do hand packing which can not be or are too small to be mechanized.
Many clients at the Opportunity Center have worked there more than 15 years.
The Opportunity Center serves persons over the age of 16 without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age or handicap.
They have a staff of about 28 employees who work with clients, including production supervisors, personal A closer look at the Opportunity Center care aides and case managers.
The center provide transportation for clients to and from work. Their vehicles put on up to 100,000 miles a year shuttling clients from home to work.
They also do skills training (for example food training or janitorial training) and supported employment (clients work in the community with support services from the Opportunity Center).
The Opportunity Center also provides clients with academic, leisure time and personal care activities according to their individual needs. They say this helps clients to develop to their fullest vocational, social and personal potential.
There is a production crew at the center which includes non-disabled persons. According to Koth, one of the goals of the center is to integrate the persons with and without disabilities. "We don't just want to be a shelter workshop. Instead we want to be part of the community" said Koth.
The Opportunity Center is funded through the work they do for companies such as 3M, and from county funds.
The Opportunity Center is governed by a direct services committee whose membership represents both the Crawford County Arc and the committee at large.
The Opportunity Center is an adult rehabilitation facility sponsored by Crawford County Arc, Inc. a private, non-private corporation.
The Opportunity Center is an organization creating opportunities for persons with disabilities to develop their full potential in society.
The Opportunity Center supports advocacy, independence and self determination resulting in full inclusion of people with disabilities in all facets of the community.
It is the purpose of the Opportunity Center to provide vocational and social programs to persons with certain functional limitations such as short attention span, lack of job experience, inadequate independent living skills, or physical disabilities in order to enhance and promote the individual's potential and to help each individual become an integrated and active member of the whole community.
The Center had its beginning in the early 1960s and a sheltered workshop program in 1975. The Opportunity Center now provides programs for adults with special needs that include day care services for persons who have multiple disabilities; work related services; supported employment; vocational evaluation; and work adjustment services. In addition, through cooperation with other health and social services agencies in the area; a full range of psychiatric, medical and social services is made available to consumers who may need such services.

April 24, 2002

Arc to celebrate latest accomplishment this Saturday
Crawford County Arc Inc. began as the Association for Retarded Citizens in early 1960s, and next weekend they will be celebrating another accomplishment.
The Crawford County Arc will host a dedication of a recently completed Day Services Area on Saturday, May 4 from 1 - 3 p.m. This area is a new wing of the Opportunity Center, 730 North State St., Prairie du Chien.
Arc serves those with developmental disabilities and their famlies regardless of age, degree, or type of handicap and regardless of education, or whether they reside at home or in institutions.
The purposes of Arc are:
.To promote the general welfare of individuals with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities and handicapped persons wherever they may be.
.To foster the development of programs in their behalf.
.To encourage research related to mental retardation, developmental disabilities and handicaps.
.To advise and aid parents in the solution of their problems and to coordinate their efforts and activities.
.To develop a better understanding by the public of the problems of mental retardation and developmental disabilities.
.To cooperate with all public, private, and religious agencies and professional groups in furtherance of these ends.
.To solicit and receive funds for the accomplishment of the above purposes.
Arc is a non-profit, non-political, non-sectarian organization. Membership is open to all persons sympathetic to the purposes of the organization. There are currently about 35 single and family memberships.
This Saturday, a short program and dedication will commence at 1 p.m. Jim Hoegemeier, Arc Wisconsin Disability Association Director will share information about Wisconsin Arc and about the state conference to be held in Prairie du Chien in 2003. George Sutton, Crawford County Arc President, and Darryl Koth, Production Services Director, will also speak
about the Opportunity Center and the Arc Day Services concept.
Crawford County is one of only two counties in the state of Wisconsin not to have anyone with developmental disabilities in an institution State Center. Due to the foresight of Crawford County Judge Michael Kirchman and others, all persons formerly in the state centers were court ordered out of the institution and now reside in their own homes or Lori Knapp, Inc. homes in Crawford County.
Because of the special needs of persons formerly in the state facilities, the Arc Board committed to develop programs for those unable to fit into the mainstream of regular programming at the Opportunity Center. The concept of an area especially for those with higher needs was developed. This area will provide an opportunity to learn life skills, such as cooking, personal hygiene, etc. It will also be a point where the clients will begin in the morning, and go to the programming activities according to their desires. This programming might include anything from production work to community integration.
The community is invited to attend the dedication and tour of the new Day Services area. Staff will be available to explain how the concept will work. Punch and cake will also be served.
For more information about Crawford County Arc contact George Sutton at 326-8092.

Lloyd Caya - a mane man for 55 years
Five-year-old Ryan Schickert, the grandson of Lloyd Caya, may be the last person to sit in the barber chair at Lloyd's Barbershop.
The next in our continuing series on longtime downtown Prairie du Chien businesses is a bit of a bittersweet tale.
Lloyd the barber has been through thick and thin over the years, having known many a Prairie du Chien head, but he has cut his last follicle, having recently put away his trusty clippers after 55 years of trimming hair and spinning yarns.
"The hair would easily fill up this room, I'm sure," said Lloyd Caya while reflecting upon his career while seated in Lloyd's Barbershop at 114 E. Blackhawk Ave. "I sure enjoyed it, and all my customers through the years. I miss them already."
Lloyd, 83, has retired and will sell the building, which has served as a good old-fashioned barbershop for 27 years. Run on a first come, first serve basis, Lloyd's has served as a friendly gathering spot where customers could get their hair Lloyd Caya - a mane man for 55 years trimmed while catching up on the latest hearsay, local news and views.
Annette's Corner, run by Lloyd's daughter Annette Schickert for the past nine years, will remain open until the building is sold.
Not one to split hairs, Lloyd has been a stalwart of Prairie du Chien's barbering business since December of 1946, when he began trimming and shaving as an apprentice in Art Frydenlund's shop, which was located in the building next to where People's State Bank is now.
Lloyd worked for Frydenlund for 10 years and when Art retired, Lloyd took over the business and moved it to where Altof's Television Center's is now. Lloyd remained at that location for 10-12 years before moving into the building next to Harvey's Steak House on North Wachuta Street.
Lloyd mowed down the gnarliest and zipped through the sparsest at the Wachuta Street location for five years before moving to the building where the new city hall will be.
In 1975, he then purchased the present building at 114 E. Blackhawk Ave. from General Telephone and has been buzzing along ever since.
After serving in the United States Navy for two years, Lloyd went to barber school on the GI Bill and began his career in 1946.
A haircut cost 65 cents in 1946 and a shave cost 35 cents, compared to $8 for the average barbershop haircut today. But lest people might grumble about high prices today, Lloyd pointed out that a large employer in Prairie du Chien, a meat packing house in the Fourth Ward, paid an hourly wage of 35 cents in 1946, making the price of a haircut almost two hours worth of wages.
Lloyd has tidied up many a head since that time and has seen a couple of heads of state as well. John F. Kennedy visited Lloyd's while in the midst of his 1960 presidential campaign. United States Senator from Wisconsin William Proxmire also dropped in for a visit once in the 1970s.
Lloyd has seen a lot of changes during his 55 years of barbering. He was secretary of the Barber's Union in the 1950s, during which Prairie du Chien boasted 12 active barbershops. With Lloyd's retirement, there are but two barbershops left in the city.
The late 1940s and throughout the 50s was the heyday for barbershops, Lloyd said, noting that men wore their hair short and neatly trimmed during that time.
A down time for barbers came in the 1960s when men began to let their hair grow and their beards flow. Younger men also began to frequent beauty shops rather than traditional barbershops, said Lloyd.
With shorter hair coming back into fashion, the popularity of barbershops shot up a bit during the late 70s, 80s and 90s, Lloyd said.
During his career as a barber, one of Lloyd's hobbies was golf. He closed every Thursday afternoon in order to chase the white ball and the numerous trophies adorning the wall of his shop bear witness to the fruits of his labor.
He no longer golfs, but in retirement Lloyd said, "I'm really lookin' forward to visits from my kids and grandchildren."
Lloyd and his wife Marguerite raised eight children during Lloyd's long and satisfying barbering career.

Experiencing Wisconsin nature for the first time
One of the activities these Chicago High School students participated in was nature writing, documenting what their senses were taking in while in the Great Outdoors at Badger Camp. Other activities including hiking, meditation and a talent show.
Imagine you have never been in a city before and someone takes you to Chicago for a few days. You get to learn about what the city has to offer you. You experience sights, smells and sounds for the first time. It is a whole new experience for you.
Recently, a group of students from all over Chicago traveled to Wisconsin Badger Camp south of Prairie du Chien, and many experienced a rural setting and the woods for the first time. They smelled the country air, they saw more trees than they could count, and they heard silence and birds singing. For some of the students, this was a whole new experience.
The students are part of the High School Service Learning Academy. The Academy's goal is to build character and focus in the lives of young adults through service learning. The Academy is part of City Year, a division of AmeriCorp, and is operated by young adults, ages 17-24 from diverse backgrounds, who commit to six or 12 months of fulltime community service, leadership development and civic engagement.
They choose to come to Badger Camp because one of the corps members works there in the summer and was familiar with what the camp had to offer.
Some of the high school students had been camping before, but many had not.
When asking the students their first impressions upon arrival most said they were just relieved to be there because they got lost near the end of their six hour ride in a school bus.
Kenneth and Althea, both from the north side of Chicago, were both impressed with the beauty of our area. "It feels so good to be in the woods," said Kenneth, who had been in the woods in Tennessee before but had never been in Wisconsin before.
"I really like the hiking," he said. "Becoming one with nature. Coming to Badger Camp was a great experience for me."
Althea said she didn't want to come to camp at first but she was really glad she did. "It's much quieter here," she said. Althea added that walking up the "mountains" was nice but she turned back after the mud became so caked on her shoes that they became heavy.
Antoinette and Steven are both from the southeast side. Antoinette said she had never been in the woods before, and had envisioned something more like the camping she had seen on TV. Steven had been camping many times before and says he is very comfortable in a woods setting. Antoinette said that she is more comfortable in the city. "If you needed help out here where could you go?" she said.
"I love the sounds of nature," said Steven. "It's very calm and quiet. In Experiencing Wisconsin nature for the first timeChicago High School Students spend a night at Wisconsin Badger Camp these open spaces you can open yourself up."
Akoshua and Kenneth, both from west Chicago, both had been in the "forest" before, but they were both impressed with the quiet beauty of the area. They said they live in a typical neighborhood which is nice, but there is always noise from traffic, music and people.
"The quietness is great," said Akoshua. "You can actually hear the birds." Although Akoshua said she might want to live in the country some day, she did admit the midnight hike in the woods was a bit "spooky."
"Being here with City Year helped me to boost my self esteem and I learned new things," said Steven.
Since City Year is a nonprofit group they called local businesses to help defray the food costs. Jason Cathman, general manager of Culver's of Prairie du Chien, responded. They provided 100 sandwiches, salads, pop and the utensils needed to eat.
"It sounded like a good group to get involved with," Cathman said. "We wanted to help out as much as they wanted to come here."
Cathman visited the camp for a while and saw the activities first hand. He says the youth were very appreciative. "Many of the kids stopped to say thank you to me, even though we really didn't do that much."