Letters to the Editor, March 30, 2022 Edition

To the Editor:

A good friend and I came down from the Twin Cities to Trempealeau last weekend to golf at Trempealeau Mountain.  

I lived in Trempealeau from 1964 to 1968.  Things have changed.  The growth is substantial. But one thing remains the same — small town hospitality!  We started our day with a great burger at the Trempealeau Hotel, chatted with the owner, and heard live music while looking out over the river. A great start to our mini vacation.  We had a late afternoon tee-time at the course and went there to hit the driving range before playing our first round of the season.  The course was in great condition especially for mid-March.

I highly recommend the course to anyone who plays golf especially anyone looking for a modified, mid-western links layout.  The fairways are wide but there is enough sand and water to keep things very interesting.  The minimalist approach to design lets the land create the challenges and that includes an excellent use prairie grass.  The greens impressed me the most – lots of subtle undulations to read.   It’s clear to me that the owners, Chad and Amy, love what they are doing and are good at it.  It’s great to see younger folks taking on a challenge and making customers feel welcome.  A five-star golf experience.  

Chad suggested we go to Centerville and have a later dinner at Beedle’s.  Great recommendation!  The atmosphere was traditional Wisconsin supper club.  The staff was excellent, and the food was outstanding.  I recommend the red potatoes as a side dish.  My golf partner, a trained chef, had chicken Oscar that was perfectly prepared.  I’ve been thinking about the home-made cheesecake since we left.  Brad Beedle, the owner,  came by to see how we liked the meal. 

Upon hearing we were from St. Paul, the conversation immediately turned to hockey!  I actually remembered him as a high school and college player.  He was very good.  When you go there ask for Brad and ask him about his penalty minute totals! 

I’m coming back with my wife the first chance we get.  

Steve Anderson

St. Paul, Minn.

To the Editor:

Going to jail shouldn’t be a death sentence.

My sister and I stood watching the garage door of a local jail slowly open. There, slumped and leaning, barely able to speak, stood my brother. “Good luck,” said the man with him as he watched us attempt to load him into the back of our car to get him to a hospital.

One week earlier, he had been arrested for failure to appear in court. Never could we have imagined that six days later our brother would be knocking on death’s door. The reason? Forced detox from alcohol without proper treatment while in custody. He has never recovered. He will spend the rest of his life in a secure memory care unit.

According to the National Sheriff’s Association, more than 10 million individuals pass through jails around the country annually, with at least half of those individuals having substance use disorders. While no organization officially tracks the number of deaths in prison from improper drug detox, the cases are high enough for the ACLU to pursue legislation to legally require correctional facilities to administer addiction treatment.

Beyond the poor medical treatment, we encountered frustrations with the rest of the justice system. We spent weeks being misled, misinformed, and in constant anxiety. From the jail to the court-appointed attorney, we struggled to get anyone on the phone, and when we managed, questions wouldn’t be outright answered.

Yes, my family member was an alcoholic. Yes, he struggled with mental health. No, he did not deserve to be treated as though his life did not matter. Everyone deserves to be treated with human decency, no matter what.

Every day my sister and I have to live with the knowledge that our brother’s quality of life has been forever altered by the poor decisions of our, albeit understaffed and underfunded, justice system. If someone you love has a mental health or drug addiction disorder and is behind bars, I urge you to advocate for them. Follow through. Demand communication and proper health care.

Patty Bagniewski, 

Holmen

 

To the Editor:

In this season of Lent, Christians remember how Jesus suffered and died for our sins. We do this in a variety of ways, including raising the Cross.

We in Whitehall are proud of our Cross, lit at night, high on a hill. We light a star in the same location at Christmas. 

Each year, we read of some city where an individual takes issue with the beautiful Christian traditions, mostly out of ignorance. 

As Bishop Fulton Sheen, Bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse said many years ago, “Why are those who are notoriously undisciplined and unmoral also most contemptuous of religion and morality? They are trying to solace their own unhappy lives by pulling the happy down to their own abysmal depths. Broadmindedness, when it means indifference to right and wrong, eventually ends in a hatred of what is right. If you do not worship God, you worship something, and nine times out of 10, it will be yourself.”

If you’re searching for total inclusiveness, you will never find it on this earth or even in Heaven. Not everyone chooses to go there.

Deanne Sczepanski,

Whitehall

 

To the Editor:

Thank you to Chris Hardie for the story about Decorah Peak in the Feb. 23 Trempealeau County Times.

Growing up in Blair, being in the boy scouts, I had several chances to hear the story of One-Eyed Chief Decorah at the Thursday night campfires at Camp Decorah. Several times, some of my friends and I along with Dr. Schneider from Blair made the hike and climbed to the top of the peak to have a picnic lunch and enjoy the spectacular view. 

Again, thank you to Chris Hardie for giving me a chance to remember and reminisce about something that took place so many years ago.

Dennis Dale,

Wauwatosa

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