Letters To The Editor

On Jan. 22, 1973 the Roe vs. Wade decision was handed down.  Since then, millions of babies have been aborted.  If you are like me, your heart is in saving the unborn.  One way that I have chosen to be involved in the pro-life movement is by being on the Crisis Pregnancy Center board known as TLC.  At Tri-County Lifecare Center (TLC) we believe that every life is valuable and sacred in God's eyes; therefore, we're committed to reaching out to those facing unexpected (crisis) pregnancies.

In 2011, The Open Cupboard saw an increase in the number of families needing services. This increase was greater than the previous year.

On Nov. 8 2011, my life changed forever while shopping at the St. Croix Falls WalMart.  Due to a small hidden dip on the edge of the sidewalk, I fell face first to the ground.  My glasses were destroyed, I received facial cuts and suffered a dislocated shoulder and broken arm. I received surgery with an implant to repair the damage.  WalMart denies responsibility, claiming the accident was my fault.  I am now stuck with emotional, physical and financial problems.

Ever hear the saying, "Words cannot express"? Well, I'm going to try anyway. As Christmas drew near this winter, I was beginning to become very stressed. Situations beyond our control left us with little to no money for Christmas this year. It didn't stop my two children, 5-year-old Matthew and 3-year-old Kaylie, from being excited. As they told my husband and I all the things they wanted for Christmas, my heart literally hurt.  

We can argue about the methods but there's no arguing about Wisconsin's current results. Here's some positive changes that occurred over the past 12 months:

This is in reference to J. Calhoun's letter to the editor. You may have done some research, but you really should look farther than the Heritage Foundation for your information. They only tell you part of the story. I learned about the Great Depression in history class. Yes, the tax rate was low, but the reason for the growth was not job growth or manufacturing. People were encouraged to buy stock and they did in big numbers, whether or not they had the money to do so. People borrowed money to play the stock market and had ticker tape machines so they could follow it in their homes. This made the stock market rise dramatically. The time period in the 1920s is called the roaring 20s for this reason; everything in excess. However, you ignore the long term consequences of investing and living on borrowed money. You failed to mention that this lead to the biggest depression in U.S. history, Black Thursday, Oct. 29, 1929.

On Nov. 22 we were treated to a colonial dinner at the Osceola Elementary School. The school was filled with grandparents and students as they both enjoyed the turkey dinner with all the trimmings and topped it off with a great program that featured a glimpse of yesteryear and how the school experience has changed over the years.

The right to vote is a fundamental in America. I went to get my driver's license or voter ID Nov. 23 and was not able to obtain either.

A recent letter to the editor encouraged us to save Wisconsin. Wisconsin and much of our country are under attack by big labor unions. These unions are corrupting our political system with bribery by contributing millions upon millions of dollars to politicians each year. Labor unions such as the NEA, AFL-CIO, SEIU, UAW, AFSCME and others have the ability to spend unlimited funds to promote their union propaganda and change the outcome of elections in their favor. They take in tons of money from mandated memberships with mandated dues from the very people they are supposed to be representing. Their paying members have little or no vote on how their dues are spent.

I’d like to thank Glyn Thorman for his “goodbye” letter last week, regarding the passing of The RiverBank. 

The news is full of people demanding that those who have should be forced to give to those that have less. Many of these people are young students that don’t seem to have anything else to do but protest. The list of people that think that somehow the government confiscates from those achievers will help the less fortunate.

I had the pleasure many years ago to get re-acquainted with an old family friend. Old enough in fact, to go back well before WWII. I had heard many stories of the friend and their family and how they had impacted our small family and had been there on numerous occasions to support this or that. In effect, the friend had become a member of our family and my relations with them grew over the years even beyond what my parents and grandparents had experienced. Growth over the years provided us even more appreciation for the relationship. They too saw expansion in their world as the closeness we felt became evident to many others. And the friend not only supported other families but also the entire community including those who were more casual in the relation. Schools, businesses, churches and charities all knew the family and benefited from their generosity.

Flu clinics, health fairs, community events; these are some of the activities that turn a local hospital into a “community” hospital. Our doctors and nurses are community members, our service is top notch, and our care is endearing. This may change with proposals currently being discussed in Washington, DC.

I recently attended a business journalism seminar sponsored by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism and the Minneapolis Star Tribune. It was a very compelling seminar and I learned a great deal about the workings of public, private and non-profit businesses and organizations.

Dear Randi, I was just reading The Sun again this morning and saw that there was a welcoming for you last Thursday. I’m sorry I missed it. I have been a resident of Osceola for almost 60 years. I’ve been a loyal subscriber to The Sun and The Country Messenger all my life because of my involvement in the St. Croix River communities they serve. 

A few years after The Open Cupboard was established in 1991, we began to receive funding from The Osceola Community Fund Drive.  The donations received each year ($3,000-$5,000) helped to sustain the different services the food shelf offers. With purchasing most of our food from Second Harvest Food Bank, there was the ability to more than double the donation. The community drive was a convenient way for community members who normally do not send donations to the food shelf to give their yearly contribution.