It's good to be a duckling in Grand Chute

Fires and emergencies aren't the only calls the Grand Chute fire department responds to. The other day, resident Blaine Wendtland noticed sounds coming from his storm sewer. Taking a look, he noticed ducklings were trapped, and the mother duck frantically looking for them.

Blaine called the fire department to the rescue. They opened up the storm sewer ...

Went down with a ladder and lifted out the ducklings ...

Where they were happily reunited with their mother to search for new adventures.

Town website in the news

There was a nice write-up about the revised town website in the Post-Crescent yesterday. Is there any other information you'd like to see on the website?

All-American baseball weekend

If you're sticking around town Memorial Day Weekend, and want something fun to do with the family that's pretty cheap, check out the NCAA Division III Baseball Championships at the Fox Cities Stadium. The tournament begins with a 10am game on Saturday, May 26 and runs through Tuesday, May 29. A four day adult pass is $30 with Student and Senior citizens $18. Daily passes are $10 and $6 respectively.

Sunny skies are forecast through the weekend, making for some great baseball viewing weather. You don't need to travel to Milwaukee to see competitive baseball!

Lions in the Valley

That small lady standing next to me is my mother. I know, hard to believe such a big guy could come from such a petite lady! My mother has always been my biggest fan, so, on Mother’s Day I surprised her and took her to see the Lion King at the Performing Arts Center. It was visually amazing, and one of the best Broadway shows I’ve ever seen. Even though the show is based in Appleton, Grand Chute businesses are sure to prosper from this being the premier performance of the Lion King in Wisconsin. Just off quick calculations, 54 performances with seating for 2,100 people, means around 113,400 people will see the show. Many of these people go out to dinner, or even stay overnight in our area.

I got to talking with a couple from Minnesota who said they were visiting our area for an extended weekend because of the Lion King. They were staying at a hotel in Grand Chute and definitely shopping at the mall. Curious now to the tourism dollars such an event can bring, I asked Lynn Peters of the Fox Cities Visitor and Convention Bureau if there are any revenue projections for the six week run. Ms. Peters indicated a study is in the works and will be available in July, after hotels submit their occupancy data. I’ll be posting the results here. In the meantime, I highly recommend seeing the Lion King if you get a chance. Take your mother. She’ll love you for it. Even though I have five brothers and one sister, I think I shot to the top my mom’s favorite list….at least for this week!

May 1 Town Board meeting minutes

Minutes from the May 1, 2007 Town Board meeting are available.

Recognizing National Police Week

This week is National Police Week. This event is celebrated on both local and national levels. Nationally, Congress has passed legislation that allows flags to be flown at half staff every May 15, honoring law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. There is also a Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington D.C. Locally, the Grand Chute Police Department holds an open house for members of the community. Yesterday’s open house included officer-guided department tours (special thanks to SSgt. Scott Hoelzel for the personal tour), an appearance from McGruff the crime dog, and access to inspect emergency vehicles. The event was hosted by the Grand Chute Citizen’s Police Academy Alumni. If you haven not yet had a chance to tour the Police Department, I highly encourage you to put this on a "to do" list. It is a state-of-the-art facility and interesting to see.


All Grand Chute Police officers are dedicated to their jobs and are very good at what they do. Every officer I have met at the department is professional, friendly and committed to protecting the citizens of Grand Chute. Recognizing their dedication, one officer is selected for an Officer of the Year Award. This year’s award was presented to Officer Michelle Vandeyacht. Officer Vandeyacht was instrumental in the investigation of a fatal stabbing incident last November. Her bilingual fluency in Spanish and commitment to the case allowed the department to get an accurate picture of what happened and arrest a suspect, who is currently awaiting trial. I extend my sincere congratulations and thanks to Officer Vandeyacht on a job well done.

The Five Star Brat Fry

The Grand Chute Fire department held their annual brat fry Saturday at the Northsider Citgo gas station. Now, my wife can sniff out a Brat Fry days in advance and will mark it on the calendar. Instead of restaurant reviews she does her own Brat Fry version. Who knew all the critiquing that can be done. We arrived early, and snagged a couple brats. Automatic high points for serving Johnsonville. Bakery buns. Check. Saurkraut. Check. Raw OR fried onions. Bonus points! The tipping scale for a five star rating was the firefighter in actual gear serving up the food.

Living near the Northsider, my wife decided make another brat run later in the day. I asked why the gloomy face when she came home. Apparently the brat fry was an bona fide success. She said all they had left was a cheeseburger.


If your group is considering a brat fry as a fundraising opportunity, you may want to consider giving Steve at the Northsider a call. He provides the grill, canopy and space to help make the event a success.

Locating registered sex offenders in your neighborhood

I recently spoke with a resident who was concerned about registered sex offenders living in the area. She has small children and wants to be aware if there are any in her neighborhood, but wasn't sure how to find out. I gathered information for her and realized this might be usuful to others as well.

The Wisconsin Department of Corrections Sex Offender Registry displays the current reported residence addresses of registered sex offenders who are in the community. You are able to search by name or zip code with this website.

Family Watchdog is a nationwide site that lists sex offenders by state. Entering a zip code will bring up an interactive map where people can click on locations and a photo of the offender will appear along with their convictions and criminal history.

MapSexOffenders.com does what it says and teams up with Google maps to show streets where sex offenders live along with pinpoints with detailed information.

What's up with those minutes?

Grand Chute residents who rely on the town website for information have noticed minutes were a little slow in posting the last month. Minutes for the March 26 and April 17 meetings are now available. I inquired about the procedure of posting minutes and learned the following:

Minutes cannot be posted on the Grand Chute website until they are approved. Approval of town board minutes is done at the following meeting. Town board meetings are usually every other week (first and third Tuesdays), but in some cases (where there are five Tuesdays in a month)the postings will be delayed an extra week. So April 17 minutes were approved at the May 1 meeting and posted on May 2.

Unfortunately, March 26 minutes were delayed due to problems with transcription equipment and were not able to be approved until the May 1 meeting. Hence, the later posting. The April 4 Annual Meeting minutes have not been approved yet. Understandably, their transcription is a lengthy process. I will relay on my blog when these minutes are posted.

I have been appointed to the town's communication committee. One of the items I will address is a way this information can be relayed to residents in the future. I'd also be interested in knowing what other types of information you'd like to receive from the town.

Learning about our Tree City USA distinction

At the Arbor Day Celebration on April 27, Grand Chute was declared a Tree City USA for the third time. In order for Grand Chute to qualify for Tree City USA designation, we must meet four criteria set forth by the program. The town must have:

Tree Board or Department
Tree Care Ordinance
Community Forestry Program With an Annual Budget of at Least $2 Per Capita
An Arbor Day Observance and Proclamation

These are some very real benefits to this distinction, as found on the Tree City USA website:

Provides initial direction
The standards help get our town started toward annual, systematic management of its tree resources.

Education
Education begins with discussion of the standards. It continues with leads to contacts with the state forester's staff. In turn, this can set in motion aid from a variety of professionals in the form of technical advice, literature, films, and other assistance.

Public Image
Being a Tree City USA helps present the kind of image that most citizens want to have for the place they live or conduct business. The Tree City USA signs at community entrances tell visitors that here is a community that cares about its environment. It is also an indication to prospective businesses that the quality of life may be better here. It has even been known to be a factor in where meetings or conferences have been held.

Citizen Pride
Gaining and retaining Tree City USA recognition is an award to the tree workers, managers, volunteers, tree board members and others who work on behalf of better care of a community's trees. Non-involved citizens, too, often share a sense of pride that theirs is a Tree City USA. This may translate to better care of trees on private property or a willingness to volunteer in the future.

Financial Assistance
Preference is sometimes given to Tree City USA communities over other communities when allocations of grant money are made for trees or forestry programs.

Publicity
Presentation of the Tree City USA award and the celebration of Arbor Day offer excellent publicity opportunities.

Arbor Day Celebration

Last Friday, students, town administrators, firefighters and other citizens met at Arrowhead Park for Grand Chute's Arbor Day Celebration. Braving the cold weather, and drizzly skies, students from Badger and Houdini Elementary schools helped plant trees at the park, and learned the value of greenspace. I was able to draw the names of six lucky students who went home with certificates good for one free tree. 150 trees were donated by:

VFW Post 8642
in memory of Albert "Joe" Ziglinski

Jeremy & Elena Hansen
in memory of Nolan Hansen

McMahon Associates


There are still plenty of trees available to Grand Chute residents. From the picture above, you can see these are very nice trees. If you would like a certificate, please call the town hall for more information.