Its Been a Week (I totally quit)
So, Citizen Wausau has been in existence for about a week now. A week and one day, a bunch of hours, some minutes, a few seconds, a couple of tacos, and occasional pitcher of coffee, ten or fifteen shots of espresso, some time in our quiet place…but yeah, a full week of Citizen Wausau. Community has been started, comments have been made, discussion had, phone calls of outrage have been received and ignored, and Guiness has been drunk. I assume this is how this sort of thing goes. Though, like any venture of truly brilliant minds (Cindy Crawford told me I am brilliant, she liked Marcus a little, and thought Andy was just handsome), one can never really chart the flow.
So let’s jump right in. Let’s do a little call to action right away…
The Airport Trees… In case anyone has NOT heard, there is a tremendous public outcry about the trees at the Wausau Airport. Yes, the Wausau airport. Not Mosinee. Wausau has an airport. I grew up in the neighborhood, so I knew all about it. Anyway, my understanding of this is…the FAA under the guidelines of Homeland Security has ordered the trees to be removed. I assume it will make it easier for Delta Force to storm the airport in Wausau in case of a terrorist attack here. It turns out that the Airport Committee which is Chaired by Deb Hadley is meeting tonight, at the Airport Conference room at 6 pm. These trees are number 3 on the Agenda. Maybe if you have an opinion that is the place to express it. Just encouraging civic involvement.
The Crime Wave… Apparently from the news coverage I can gather that right now there are some individuals - possibly part of an underworld crime syndicate - who are robbing places like drug stores, Charter Communications, Little Caesars, and others. I am unsure as to what to make of these sorts of crimes, but I know I am not wearing a hoodie to a pharmacy anytime soon. The Crime Wave of 2007 hit home when a member of the CW family, Abe Gabor, had his bike stolen from the Grand Theatre. Our heart goes out to Abe, and we hope his bike comes home safe sometime soon. So please, lock your doors a little bit more regularly, pay attention to the world around you, and don’t take candy from strangers (a suggestion we can never hear enough).
So, now to our beloved Citizen Wausau. What a great first week it has been. We have seen more contributors and contributions than I expected. I honestly thought it would be slower going in the beginning than this. We have seen posts from Jim Carlson, Tom Neal, Barry Liss, Abe Gabor, Kari Rassmussen… what a great start! So many varied positions on things. So much cool discussion. Just look at the reaction Jim’s post got - at least 10 million comments. Jim’s perspective on downtown is pretty intense, as he has lived directly downtown for about 300 years. Can you honestly remember downtown Wausau without Jim Carlson? Barry Liss…Barry Freakin’ Liss…Barry is the professor at UWMC (can we call it the Stench? We all do) who is the guy who shakes our world the most directly. Barry is not only a great teacher, but he is also a cool dude. I so look forward to Barry posting more and more.
I had not wanted to post about something like this, ever, but to avoid Crandon is foolish. As far as Crandon goes, I think that we can all agree on the basics, and aside from those basics there really is not that much to discuss, short of telling these folks that we feel their pain.
Its an amazing time. It really is. Even with a tragedy like that, we live in a golden time. The fall in Wisconsin. The Packers. The Badgers. ArtsBlock. III on Third. Evolutions in Design. We have a lot to be thankful for. I personally have a lot to be thankful for.
So thank you. A week in, and we feel proud, and we feel like people are getting it. We are making changes all over the board, and adding new features as often as we can (as often as the three of us can be in the same place). But more than the nuts and bolts, we want to say thank you. Thank you for sharing your life with us.
robertmentzer said:
I really feel this crime wave has been a lot of bad PR for hoodie-wearers. But I refuse to alter my carefully honed fashion sense just because of the media has an anti-hoodie prejudice! I am going to visit every drugstore in town wearing a hoodie just to show them that we are not all bad.
October 10th, 2007 at 11:40 am #
mapletownshrub said:
I don’t see a huge public outcry about the trees at the airport. One woman wrote a letter to the editor and aprox. 5 people are ranting about it on the herald site. Nothing else. No protest on the 400 block, no front page spread, no mention on the news. I guess I’m missing something, wheres the outrage?
October 10th, 2007 at 12:31 pm #
Andy Laub said:
robertmentzer, please watch Hot Fuzz. They had a hoodie problem in that movie too. It’s not just us!
And seriously… I went to UWMC. Who calls it “the Stench”?
October 10th, 2007 at 12:41 pm #
Dino Corvino said:
I thought everyone called it The Stench. My bad.
October 10th, 2007 at 12:52 pm #
Tom Neal said:
Hello maple …
In staid, reserved Wausau, 1 person ranting is an oddball, 2 is a married couple, 3 is a faction, 4 is a trend … but 5 people ranting rates as a bona fide “movement.” This tree thing has all the earmarks of becoming a defining (de-pine-ing?) moment in our local history. There’s a compelling element of political intrigue and insider machination going on here; presidents have been toppled for less than this. I’ll bet the doors at the airport conference will be locked tonight, or at least the homeland security cameras will be rolling to identify any troublemakers who try to crash the party.
October 10th, 2007 at 1:51 pm #
shawn said:
I called it the Stench…
October 10th, 2007 at 8:33 pm #
Jim Rosenberg said:
For those who don’t know, “The Stench” derives from a shortening of the OLD name of University of Wisconsin - Marathon County Extension.
October 10th, 2007 at 9:04 pm #
Marcus Nelson said:
I for one hope there is more of a kick back regarding those trees at the Airport. They’re a beautiful contribution to the area, and I just can’t seem to understand their justification considering the trees have stood tall for years without complication.
I grew up on Eau Claire Blvd, it’s a great neighborhood where we could ride our bikes wherever we wanted and fly our kites in the park without reservation. It’s a beautiful place that is only accented by it’s large trees. They’ve been no bother in the past - what changed that now makes them such a problem problem?
Terrorist tree tampering — Is that what Homeland Security is afraid of, for real? Could this be going just a little bit overboard? Seriously.
As for the Crime Spree, this too is sad. I thought the break-ins at Washington Square had hit a little too close to home, but now they’re stealing our bicycles? Man oh man, what is the world coming to when thieves have to take money from candy shops and attempt to steal ashtrays from our local pottery proprietors?
And Crandon - this should be it’s own article, really. Sad that this is what it takes to get our area on the map. :-(
October 11th, 2007 at 7:35 am #
shawn said:
You grew up on Eau Claire Blvd? I grew up on Broadway. Man, those were the days. That was one kick-ass neighborhood to grow up in. John Marshall was the ultimate meeting place…You could ride all over the place. From Sturgeon Eddy to the HEalth Care Center, to Airport Park. Riding to DQ in the summer. Going to Memorial pool in the summer, waiting for 11:00 to come around, putting all your stuff in the wire baskets before you could get into the water.
I miss childhood…
October 11th, 2007 at 7:41 am #
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October 18th, 2007 at 12:31 am #