A View of the Valley

by Linda Schwanke Spring is the season of change not just for Mother Nature but for our municipal governments. Following the election earlier this month, new trustees, supervisors, town chairs, clerks and treasurers, and one new member of the River Valley School Board, are taking office to represent us in local government. It’s really great to see new faces on area boards. It’s also great that there are so many people willing to do the hard work that needs to be done. There is still one seat on a local board that hasn’t been filed. Dan McGuire resigned his seat as Area 4 representative on the River Valley School Board. As of Friday morning, no one from Lone Rock had applied for the position. I encourage anyone who lives in Lone Rock to apply. The work the school board does is critical to our children’s well-being. Send a letter of interest to: River Valley School Board, c/o Loren Glasbrenner, 660 W. Daley Street, Spring Green, WI 53588. You must be 18 years of age or older and have lived in their area for at least 10 days. According to state statutes, no one convicted of a felony who hasn’t been pardoned of the conviction can hold office. Like anything, serving on a board can be as hard or as easy as you want it to be. I’ve known people in the past who attended meetings only occasionally without ever bothering to read any of the material provided on the agenda topics. They voted without much thought and called it a day. Not many have done that but it’s not unheard of. Being in the public eye with every word recorded for posterity isn’t easy. Keeping a balance and always being mindful of constituents opinions over my personal opinion of any decisions to be made for the village is probably the most challenging part of the work,  one village trustee told me.  Fortunately for us, we have elected men and women who are willing to do just that. I want to thank all of them for taking time out of their busy, often hectic lives to serve the people of the Valley. I am looking forward to getting to know them better as they begin their public service journey. I am fortunate to be in the unique position of being not only a citizen of the Valley but as a mom who sent her kids to school here as well as being the editor of the Home News and a member of boards and committees and all those things that make our part of the world go around. I’ve been able to get to know our local officials in ways not possible otherwise.  I want to thank the people who have served so tirelessly on our behalf who left office either voluntarily or because they lost a reelection bid (which didn’t happen in many cases). Thank you from the bottom of my heart, every single one of you.  I have overseen the work of my reporters covering all the “beats” the Home News covers. I know the trustees and village presidents and chairmen and supervisors and I have covered the Spring Green Village Board myself for years and years.  Being a journalist in a small town and covering the work of the village board is like having a secret window into the ups and downs of local government. More often than not I’ve been the only person, other than the board members and village employees, at meetings in Spring Green. It’s kind of intimate and personal because you see each other every other week at meetings and at Hometown, restaurants, shops, events, picnics, funerals and weddings – all the places we go, all the things we do, through rain and snow and floods and dark of night.  Every group of board members has had their strengths and weaknesses but I’ve never had a board like the one we said good-bye to last week. Joel Marcus, LuEtta Miller, Norm Miller and village president Eugene Hausner all made the often very difficult decision not to run for reelection. Robin Reid is stepping into the village president spot, Jane Hauser and Michael Broh will continue as trustees. This group, this most unlikely combination of people, have done a fantastic, fabulous, underappreciated and amazing job. They have each brought something unique and different to the table. Their passions, hobbies, experience, knowledge and professional backgrounds meshed in the most marvelous way. They are all, every single one of them, dedicated to our well-being. They take time to understand and study the issues, walk the village to look at what’s going on, speak to anyone and everyone to find out what they’re thinking, actively pursue making this village the best place to live, work and play. They haven’t always agreed but have been thoughtful and thorough in presenting their viewpoints, often kind, tough when needed, sometimes humorous. I have appreciated that humor more than once when tense discussions got rocky. I don’t know how to say thank you to this board. I had tears in my eyes as the open meeting ended last week and have to admit I was grateful for Zoom because in person I might have been a wreck. I have learned so much from each and every member of the board. It has been a privilege and honor to know Joel, LuEtta and Norm as trustees and Gene as our village president. This isn’t the end. I know I’ll see them here and there and soon we can look forward to safely gathering for lunches, dinners, even drinks on patios.  Stay in touch. My number is 574-3159. Email me at homenewseditor@newspubinc.com or write to me at the Home News, P.O. Box 39, Spring Green WI 53588. The news deadline is 12 noon on Mondays. Visit our website at homenewsrv.com Call the NewsPub central office at (608) 767-3655 for subscriptions and all other information Monday through Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon, although afternoon hours can vary. Closed Fridays.