Category Archive: Motivation
Get Moving With the CW Wellness Challenge
Greetings Citizens of Wausau!
I think we’re far too stagnant of a community. For such a city full of so many warm and vibrant personalities, it’s a shame that we wait until summer concerts to get outside and feel vital and connected to each other. It’s also a shame that so many of us are overweight and out of shape and seem unwilling to make basic changes in our lives to rid ourselves of the old, harmful patterns.
Where Does Wausau Go?
What an amazing year 2007 was. It’s brought about a a lot of change in our community, and in some ways, I myself will never be the same.
A few months ago, I was walking into my friend Forest Young’s drugstore to pick up a prescription. As I entered, I was quickly asked to leave and not touch anything. Why? Was I a loitering miscreant? No, not this time. It was because the ladies behind the counter had just been accosted by a gun-wielding burglar.
Time to Move for the Local April Elections
So I’ve picked up a competitor in the April Fool’s Day election for the Wausau City Council. It’s no big surprise because this will be my sixth race and in that time, I’ve faced four different competitors. As the longest-serving elected official in the City of Wausau, I’ve made some very good friends and I also have what has thus far been a smaller, but dedicated group of detractors. That’s normal.
I don’t take competition lightly, since I won the seat from a 12-year incumbent myself in 1998. It’s a one-time luxury to run as a challenger, …
Expanding on Community
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking the last few days about Community. For example, what does that mean - really, what is it specifically, what does it look like and why do I crave it? There has got to be reason this void forces me to drive on and create it wherever I can.
In 1996, my brother and I initiated what would eventually become RockWater. Teens were looking for something relevant to do in the city. It was straightforward — we saw the need for Internet, music and a place to hang out …
Dr. Michael Moore: Drug Trafficker or Modern American Hero?
Dr. Michael Moore: Drug Trafficker or Modern American Hero?
The right to nonviolently protest in peaceable assembly for redress of grievance is a cardinal guarantee so primary that the founding fathers placed this privilege in the American Constitution’s First Amendment. We ought recognize this with due homage to our Veterans this past week.
Out of respect for the holiday, I suggest you read the Letter from a Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr. Reverend King’s I Have A Dream speech given late August of 1963 is widely recognized as one of the great rhetorical performances of the Twentieth Century. The Letter …
My Growing Love and Hate of City Council Meetings
I am a City Council fan. I like going to the meetings, I like listening to the folks, and at the end of the day (is that my catch phrase?) I like everyone up there for the simple reason that they are leading. Yeah, some of them are not my favorites, but that is like trying to pick a favorite pizza topping. They are all good people, trying to lead the city they care about in the way they think works. Sure, the alliance or voting block is a bit upsetting, but so it goes. It is politics after all.
This post is not about them though. This post is about you, dear reader, dear commenter, dear complainer, dear curmudgeon. You who sit at home and complain that your taxes are too high, that the 400 block is a bad idea, that renaming Stewart Avenue or buying new pools is a waste of your tax dollars. You who complain that Mr. Dudley, both father and son got too much public funding to build the buildings that will end up being cornerstones of Wausau future. You who get on 550 AM morning show and accuse the Sustainable Wausau folks of being owned by the Concrete Lobby or Smart Growth weirdos from California. Heck, this post is even dedicated to Pat and Tom from that morning show.
Taking Online Offline
Last week we hosted a Launch Party for Citizen Wausau at Citizen Desk. We had a great time and the event got people talking - in fact, we were asked several times if this could be a monthly event - or at least one that happens more frequently. This got me thinking.
Why not create other opportunities to take this online community offline?
I imagine being able to host groups, clubs or individuals for organized (or unorganized) meet-ups. There was this non-profit meet-up I used to attend in San Francisco called …
Giving Back
You may be wondering, “who is this Kevin” and other such thoughts, so I guess I’ll tell you even if it does ruin the sort of mystery that life tends to thrive on. I’m a resident of Wausau (which I sometimes like to call waubitysaubity for no real reason). I have lived here for just about two years and absolutely love this town. I pastor a small church as well as doing a very tiny bit of contract computer programming. My contributions will primarily focus on issues of faith and social justice, but I might also talk about fishing or the weather or really anything else that I decide I just need to talk about.
One of the things that make life good, and enriches our soul is to do good things for other people. Just think about how much your heart goes “pitter-patter” with joy each time a loved one opens a gift from you. So in the interest of making life good I wanted to bring your attention to two fabulous opportunities to actually make a difference to the lives of actual living people here in Wausau. Your heart might even pitter a little patter.
Building a Better Wausau
This may be one of my most “pet” causes … looking for and finding ways to make Wausau a better place to live. (Why? Because I and my family live here!) You may live in Mosinee, so whenever I write “Wausau” here, you could just as easily substitute “Mosinee” and apply it to your life, maybe altering a few details.
So, what am I on about here? This thing in front of your eyes “citizenwausau.com” is one example of people doing something new to contribute to the quality of life, quality of thinking, quality of discourse in our community. …