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Jan. 19, 2005

Cobie's story: Surviving a tsunami Survivors of the tsunami at Rai Ley gathered waiting for a rescue boat. (Photos by Cobie Davis and Kim Avila.)Survivors survey the damage to see what can be salvaged. Many boats were sunk, destroyed or lost. (Photos by Cobie Davis and Kim Avila.) Destruction and debris at Ao Nang. (Photos by Cobie Davis and Kim Avila.)Construction Specialties personnel were busy before the snow fell constructing the home of a new go-cart track, miniature golf course, driving range and arcade on the south edge of Prairie du Chien along La Pointe Street.

Editor's note: This story was shared with us by Darvin and Ellen Davis. Their son, Cobie, is teaching English in Seoul, South Korea. Cobie and his girlfriend, Kim Avila, of Cicero, Ill., were visiting Thailand on their Christmas break from school. This is Cobie's story of witnessing the tsunami that he e-mailed to friends and family. The story left off Monday with Cobie and Kim and a few other people climbing up a rock in the jungle adjoining the beach to find safety. This is the second of two parts.

We could hear the tsunami wave crashing on the beach and it was a terrible sound. I had a sinking feeling that at any moment, water was going to come rushing in from the beach and come crashing over the tree tops. We stayed on the top of the rock for a couple minutes in complete shock and fear. The noise of the wave subsided and we climbed down from the rock and started to walk back toward the beach to see what had happened. We came upon some standing water before we reached the beach and then all of a sudden people were screaming again and running past us shouting that there was another wave coming. Once again, the roar of the wave could be heard building and we ran back to the rock. This time, the sound was a lot louder. There was a family of five on the rock with us and their children were crying because they were so scared. After a couple minutes (it seemed a lot longer) the third and strongest wave could be heard approaching. The sound was unnerving. I was utterly terrified. I told Kim that we were fine and the cliffs were amplifying the sound but in reality, my skin was crawling, my ears were ringing and I was literally trembling. I had a really awful feeling about our situation. The noise subsided again and after maybe 15 minutes, we could see people walking around. We relaxed a little bit and made our way off the rock. We walked back toward the beach, ready to make another run for our lives, and got a first-hand look at how powerful the waves had been. Bungalows, the restaurant and the shops were pretty much washed out-there were wrecked longtail boats all over Šsome smashed against trees, others leaning up against trees and bungalows and there was water everywhere. We could see sailboats overturned in the ocean and people were just standing around in complete disbelief. We made our way to the other side of the peninsula and found nearly 500 or so other people who were beach commuters like us and others who had been staying in some of the washed out rentals. It was a couple hours before we started to get little bits of information from people with cell phones. We slowly understood that other beaches had been hit much harder, like Phuket and Phi Phi Island. We heard later that other waves were possibly coming so any kind of rescue was completely out of the question. We ended up sleeping on the hill with everyone else. The locals started to bring up bottled water from the small grocery store near the beach and everyone just sat around. There were plenty of people with some minor and serious injuries. Also, there were a few people that were missing. I am very thankful that we met two people from Singapore (Matt and Geri) and they let me use their cell phone to get a message to my brother Andy, that we were okay. It was still very early in the morning in the US so my family hadn't even heard about the earthquake/tsunami just yet. Another Singapore woman (Pat with her daughter, Alanna) let us use some sheets and pillows to sleep on. On Monday, two large ferry boats came and took us back to the mainland. By now, the news of the tsunami was unfolding and the death count was already exceeding 70,000. For the most part, Ao Nang was in decent shape and the surge that we experienced was not as bad as the waves in other parts of Thailand. We spent the next couple days trying to relax and did some things away from the beach, but we were compelled to do something to try and assist. We visited the hospital in Krabi to donate some blood and then spent half the day as volunteers. The scene was very reminiscent of 9/11- photos of the missing, people walking around with blank stares and lots of injured. We offered to take a family over to a different center that was taking DNA from direct relatives of the missing. This family had flown in from Singapore as soon as they heard their daughter was missing. The boyfriend had gone scuba diving in the morning and when he returned (after the tsunami), the bungalow they were staying at in Phi Phi Island was completely washed away. His girlfriend was gone. After giving DNA samples, the family left for the makeshift morgue at a nearby temple to go through the task of looking at cadavers for their daughter. Kim and I went back to our hotel soon afterwards. We were both crushed by the loss this family was suffering through. Since then, it has been tough to go back to the same emotional state we had before the catastrophe. It could have easily been our families in Thailand searching the dead bodies trying to find their son or daughter. I am not sure if there is a lesson in all of this. I know my view of the unstable world has been adjusted. Both Kim and I know how lucky we are to have our families, our friends and each other, and I think that makes it even harder to comprehend how others must be feeling right now that are missing people from their lives. More pictures from Cobie's trip cane be seen at his web site at http://homepage.mac.com/cdd5280/PhotoAlbum17.html

CARE reminds kids that they are "Too Good For Drugs" at Bluff View 
In the wake of the termination of the DARE program last spring due to lack of funding, a new after-school program is up and running for Bluff View fourth graders. "Too Good For Drugs" is a free, six-week, 12-lesson after-school program that focuses on building the skills students need to resist peer pressure and make healthy choices. The Crawford Abuse Resistance Effort (CARE) and Prairie du Chien Memorial Hospital are teaming up to sponsor the program, which is funded through a Drug Free Community Support Program Grant. "Too Good For Drugs" will be piloted beginning Jan. 31 until March 9, and then offered to other area schools in April and May. The program's website said that it has been implemented in 2,500 schools nationwide. Teaching the course will be CARE Prevention Specialist Mary Sprosty, who said that the program will in no way be a replacement for DARE, which was part of the school curriculum as opposed to the after-school format. "This is reality-based and skill-based," Sprosty said. "There is some drug education to it, but that's not the primary focus." As students participate in the program, they will identify their goals. Then, they will identify behaviors that will help them achieve those goals, such as studying, saving money and going to college, as well as learn about behaviors that will prevent them from reaching those goals, such as using drugs and alcohol. "It was chosen because it is science-based and we have to put all our money towards programs that have been proven," Sprosty said. A local survey administered in November, 2003, showed that first-time alcohol use was at its highest at 13 years of age, tobacco use at 12 years. The survey, given to several different area schools, was part of a state incentive grant received in May, 2004. It measured a variety of indicators, including healthy behaviors, risk taking behaviors, school attitudes and violence. According to the developer of the program, the Mendez Foundation, students who completed "Too Good For Drugs" were 33 percent less likely to smoke cigarettes and 38 percent less likely to use alcohol compared to students who did not complete the program. Students unable to get into the upcoming session can be placed on a waiting list for an April session or summer sessions. Assisting Sprosty will be three Prairie du Chien High School students who are members of CARE's Youth Leadership Council. The Youth Leadership Council meets two times a month, identifying concerns and doing community projects to address them. Some of their projects include the 9/11 memorial on St. Feriole Island, a summer lock-in for incoming freshmen, red ribbon weeks, and hosting various speakers. The grant to fund "Too Good For Drugs" is part of a five-year federal grant received by Prairie du Chien Memorial Hospital in 1999 and renewed in 2004.

For more information on the program, contact Sprosty at 326-0909.

Dreaming of warm weather? Prairie Fun Land to open this summer 
In a river town such as Prairie du Chien, recreational opportunities abound. And, in the summer of 2005, there will be even more options, all in one location on the south edge of the city. Construction began last fall along La Pointe Street for Prairie Fun Land, Inc., which will include a go-cart track, a large 18-hole miniature golf course, a driving range and an arcade center. Ken Hess and Arnie Mueller of Prairie du Chien, along with Duane Hubing of Cottage Grove, are the owners of Prairie Fun Land, which is scheduled to be completed by May 31. Conceived in 1993 by Hess, Prairie Fun Land will soon be a reality. Hess, Mueller and Hubing have been working on the project for much of the past two years. People of all ages will soon be able to zoom along in a test of their racing skills on the new 1,027-foot-long go-cart track in carts supplied by Creative Carts of Kissimmee, Fla. The new 18-hole miniature golf course, constructed by Harris Mini Golf of New Jersey, will provide a fun challenge to people's putting abilities. The arcade center will house a wide variety of games for all age groups and golfers can work out the kinks before hitting the links by swinging all of the clubs in their bag at the driving range.

Prairie Fun Land will be built upon five acres but Hess said that there are 28 acres total at the site, which will allow plenty of room for expansion in the years to come. "We'll keep expanding as the years go on," said Hess.

Construction Specialties, Ken's Electric and Absolute Plumbing and Heating will be working at the site.

Jan. 17, 2005
Tsunami floods Thai vacation with fear, heartache
Prairie du Chien native witness to destruction

Editor's note: This story was shared with us by Darvin and Ellen Davis. Their son Cobie is teaching English in Seoul, South Korea. Cobie and his girlfriend Kim Avila, of Cicero Ill., were visiting Thailand on their Christmas break from school. This is Cobie's story of witnessing the tsunami that he e-mailed to friends and family. This is the first of two parts.
Kim and I flew into Thailand on Christmas Day to spend a week on the beautiful beaches during our holiday break. Our hotel was located at Ao Nang Beach which is near Krabi. We got into our hotel in the afternoon on the 25th and just walked around the shops near the beach and ate some Thai food. Prior to choosing our hotel in Krabi, we had considered and inquired about staying at Phuket but decided that Krabi would be better because it seemed to be a little less developed. On the morning of the 26th, we ate breakfast at our resort and walked down to the beach to take a longtail boat to a beach. We decided to take a boat to Hat Rai Ley West, which is about a 10 minute boat ride away. At this time, (approximately 9:30 a.m.), the last shuttle boat to Phi Phi island had just left, therefore, Phi Phi was not really an option unless we decided to take a privately owned boat. Rai Ley (pronounced "Raily") Beach is on a peninsula but is only accessible by boat because steep limestone cliffs and mountains prohibit any kind of overland access. There are a couple luxury resorts at this beach area and a lot of budget bungalows. There were approximately 30 other beach-goers when we arrived at Rai Ley (approximately 9:50). The beach is easily the most beautiful beach I have ever been to . . . the water is emerald green and steep limestone cliffs tower over each end of the beach. It is almost as if the cliffs and mountains are purposely there to keep the beach as pristine as possible. The beach is approximately 250 yards wide and about 20 yards deep. Palm trees lean out from the edge of the jungle like in all the typical postcard photos you see. There is only one restaurant on this beach and a few shops (most watersports shops) lined up behind the restaurant. Longtail boats taxi people to/from the beach at a lazy pace. After picking a spot in the sand, Kim and I got in the water and just soaked in the environment. It was an absolutely gorgeous day at a breathtaking beach, it was like heaven for us. We returned to the sand and started to begin our vacation of relaxation. After about ten minutes, I was looking out at the sea. There are about a dozen picturesque islands off in the distance (the closest being about a 3/4 mile out). I suddenly noticed a huge spray of water exploding off of the closest and smallest island (roughly the size of a city block and maybe 50 ft. at its highest point) . . . the spray was so big, that I kind of thought is maybe come from an explosion (my mind was in vacation mode at this time). As I was beginning to process my thoughts about what may have caused this big splash, a man was running down the beach in front of us and yelling, "Get off the beach! Get off the beach!'' Kim and I didn't really react just yet, but then we heard some screams and noticed a few people to our right starting to get up and run . . at that time, I heard someone mention the work "tsunami.'' At this point, we looked out at the sea and noticed a large wave (maybe a half mile out) and it was just beginning to break as it was rushing into shallower water. I thought for a second and even asked Kim, "Where is our camera?'' But then it suddenly dawned on us as a chaotic panic started to build that this was going to be no photo-op. We realized that we were definitely in harm's way. Once I saw the wave and had the word "tsunami'' in my head, I had an image of this giant wall of water completely overtaking the beach and everyone on it (I had actually watched "The Day After Tomorrow'' in our hotel room the night before) Kim kind of jolted me out of my daze when I could tell she was really frightened and she asked me in an alarmed voice, "Cobie, what is it? What's happening?!'' I did my best to use a calm voice and tell her to put on her back pack and started moving off the beach. We swung on our backpacks and grabbed our hotel towels (even at this point, I wasn't about to lose any deposit on our hotel towels) and we started to jog away from the beach. As we were running, we could hear shrieks coming from behind us as people were starting to see the waves building up (at this time, the water was also being sucked away from the beach to fuel the incoming waves). Adding to the building fear, the roar of the waves was becoming louder and it made us move a lot faster. We heard people screaming to run for the mountains or get to high ground. The area behind the beach was approximately 200 yards deep and not the least bit elevated and then there was thick jungle and the base of a vertical limestone cliff/mountain. The jungle is not like anything in the states, it is serious, hard-core jungle . . . So once we reached its' edge, we just kind of stopped and tried to figure if we should run left or right, because there was no way to go through the dense growth. By now, people were totally frantic and running everywhere. We heard people yelling to climb the mountain, but that was ridiculous, even if we could get through the trees and vines, we would have to be Spiderman to climb the cliff. We saw a downed-tree between two rocks that kind of led into the jungle. I told Kim to follow me up the tree and then we climbed up the large rock on the right (the rock on the left was too steep). A few other people followed us as we got to the top of this jungle-covered rock. It was maybe 25 feet above the ground, but it was the best we could do and it was better than standing on the ground. To be continued.

Prison employees protest working conditions Members of the Wisconsin State Employees Union, employees of the Prairie du Chien and Boscobel prisons, conducted an informational picket last Wed. Jan. 12. 
Conditions inside our correctional facilities are unsafe for correctional workers, and hence, the public. That was the general message picketers stood in the damp and drizzle along Marquette Road last Wednesday to share with the citizens of the area. The picketers were employees from the Prairie du Chien Correctional Institution (PDCCI) and the Boscobel Secure Programs Facility. The informational picket was organized by the Wisconsin State Employees Union (American Federation for State, County and Municipal Employees) in towns and cities where correctional institutions are located across the state. The protest was timed to coincide with Gov. Jim Doyle's State of the State address, held later that evening. According to the employees, the state of the prisons is not good. They say that overcrowding, understaffing, poorly trained staff and regulations that put the welfare of prisoners ahead of the safety of prison staff is compromising the safety at the prisons. According to Dave Bowen, a sergeant at Prairie du Chien, PDCCI does not have a serious overcrowding problem, but he does say that staff shortages are an issue. He noted that people are frequently pulled from their assigned work stations to other areas where there is not enough staff. Health and safety is also an issue at PDCCI. Bowen says that because of medical privacy laws, he and other prison staff are not notified when an inmate has a potentially serious infection that can be spread by contact, like staphylococcus (or staph). Bowen says that two prison employees have been infected with staph by inmates. Gerry O'Rourke, a sergeant at Boscobel and president of Local 509, discussed problems with employee morale stemming from a recent court case in which a Boscobel prisoner was awarded $50,000 for inhumane treatment. The prisoner, convicted of attempted homicide, refused to follow prison rules that required that he keep his pants on in order to receive his meals. When he was not fed he lost 40 pounds and sued the prison. O'Rourke said the court ruling is demoralizing and creates unsafe conditions for prison employees. Now he says, when a prisoner refuses to wear pants, prison guards have to remove the man from his cell, put the food in and put him back, a much riskier activity.

"We're treated as second class citizens, the inmates have more rights," he added.

Keller resigns from Cornerstone Church 
For a six week period late last year, Pastor Brad Keller said he took some time to rest up and contemplate his future, as well as the future of his Cornerstone Church. When he returned from his sabbatical, which was spent in several different places, he came to the conclusion that it was time for him and Cornerstone to go in a new direction. In the Jan. 9 church service, three days after discussing the matter with the church elders and council, Keller announced to the congregation that he was resigning effective immediately. "The reason I resigned was that I felt my season has come to an end at pastoring Cornerstone and that the reins had to be passed on," Keller said. Keller said he most likely will not remain in Prairie du Chien for much longer, as he waits for a call to serve at a different church and community. Keller began at Cornerstone in 1988 when the church was located at Commerce Court Mall. Since then, the church built a sparkling new building in Bridgeport on U.S. Highway 18. "The biggest thing that stands out is the building of the new facility in 2000," Keller said when asked of his reflections on his time in Prairie du Chien. Cornerstone congregation member Wendy Vanderbilt said that she, and many other members, was taken aback by Keller's sudden announcement, which prompted many tears from attendees. "It was quite a moving service," she said. "I was surprised, probably a little bit shocked. He's done an excellent job. In the community, he's second-to-none." Matt Mink, a college student attending UW-Eau Claire, noted that he can thank Keller for bringing him back into the Christian church. "He was the pastor that basically brought me back to Christ," Mink said. "When I go home, one of the great things I look forward to is that church." Vanderbilt said that as a minister, he was very effective. "I believe he preaches from the heart and really tries to get everybody to be the best they can be," she said. "He really knows the word and he's very well-studied." As for the future of Cornerstone, the church will be putting out a call for a new pastor and appointing his successor, a process that "will take time." "It's a new season for the church," Vanderbilt said. Attempts to reach members of the Cornerstone church council were unsuccessful. Keller was also active in the community, serving on the Children's Advisory Board as well helping with the Salvation Army. "I believe that the success of any pastor is in the involvement in the community," Keller said.

Kathy Pettit, secretary of the Children's Advisory Board, said that he will be missed by the board.

"I thought he was a kind, soft-spoken man who truly wanted to help at-risk kids," Pettit said. "That's sad to lose such a caring person."