Excellent award
To the editor:
     I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Oldenburg Group Inc. on receiving the 2010 Award of Excellence on Jan. 28, 2011. The Oldenburg Group Inc. was chosen by Operation Action U.P. to receive this award, which honors companies that have made outstanding contributions to the economic well-being of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

It’s always nice to have an elected official make a “local” stop, and the stop last week by President Obama to Marquette was a nice plug for the Upper Peninsula and for the technology innovations happening at Northern Michigan University.
 A number of us are alums of that institution and it was quite a treat to see the president at NMU, and it’s nice to know that higher education in our neck of the woods is not only staying current with the latest advances in technology but, as indicated with the president’s visit, is slightly ahead of the rest of the country.

Seniors not represented
To the editor:
 Attention: District 1 Stambaugh Township, Iron River Township and Gaastra. Your commissioner is not representing the people and particularly the senior citizens in your district.
 The senior programs were set up by the federal government. UPCAP administers them and they contract with DICSA to oversee the nutrition program for the senior citizen centers.
 Our county votes on a millage allocated for the senior citizens. This money has now been distributed by the amount of taxes where there is a center. Fine, but then they took the money where there wasn’t a center and that money from your district was not given to the Iron River center, but divided among all four centers.
 The money should be given to the centers on how many meals served at the centers and meals on wheels delivered, since it is a nutrition program. This is how it turned out cost per meal served by each center.

It starts when I get an irritating feeling I’ve been hearing a word or phrase too many times, and in too many (and sometimes inappropriate) ways. I check the calendar, and sure enough, it’s time for the release of the annual Lake Superior State University Banished Words List. The 2011 list, is, as always, a wonderful compendium of “mis-use, over-use and general uselessness.”

 The sirens can roar at any time, and the trucks go out in any weather.
 We have known that about our volunteer firefighters for a long time. That’s part of the job. That’s what they do.
 But it took the coldest part of January to point out what that means.
 The sirens roared often recently when the temperature plunged below zero and stayed in the frigid zone around the clock for several days. Within minutes of each siren call, the trucks were rolling, and firefighters were scrambling to answer immediately.
 It didn’t matter if was in the middle of the night, and they were warm and snug in bed, maybe dreaming of the trout opener this spring. Didn’t matter if the Green Bay Packers were facing a critical situation late in a playoff game. Didn’t matter if their favorite supper was on the table.

Support the Windsor Center
To the editor:
 The half mill proposal being asked for by the Windsor Recreation Authority is to continue summer and winter recreation programs previously provided by the West Iron County Public Schools, along with additional winter recreation for youth and adults, and continued operation of the Windsor Auditorium.
 The Windsor Auditorium activities include the West End Players, Rum Rebellion Revue, Open Mic Night, Holiday in Lights activities, plus trade and arts and craft shows. The summer youth recreation programs will continue as in the past. Winter recreation will be offered at the Windsor Center such as youth and men’s basketball programs indoor bocce, women’s exercise programs, winter soccer programs for youth and adults including senior citizens. If anyone or group wish to have programs added, contact Dawn Pisoni who is the day-to-day facilitator of the Windsor Recreation Center.

Stop pushing the millage
To the editor:
 This is in response to the story in Jan. 12, 2011, edition, Stambaugh Township OKs the Windsor Rec Center Millage.
 I don’t know what school Supervisor Eugene Pellizzaro graduated from, but changing the language or running the millage again doesn’t matter because the voters have already made their decision (twice), they do not want the millage.

The recent events in Tucson, Ariz., yell loud and clear that something has to be done.
 More gun control? Actually, there are probably more laws than should be required to guarantee the safe use and discharge of any firearm.
A little more enforcement of those laws and a little more responsibility regarding that Constitutional right might be nice and necessary, but the real emphasis needs to be placed where it belongs – unveiling the shroud that has for far too long covered the quandary we call mental illness.
Here we are in the 21st century, believe it or not, and we still treat mental illness like a demonic possession.
We just plain don’t want talk about it. Maybe, if we don’t, it will just go away. But, as we continue to see on the national news, it doesn’t ever go away and a lot of innocent people pay the price.
Nobody with mental illness has ever asked for that diagnosis. It isn’t something you catch, like a virus.
Maybe that’s the scary part about mental illness. We don’t really understand it. We can’t put a finger on who has it, and how, and we certainly don’t plan on making it conversation fodder at the dinner table.

 Since 2003, the Chamber of Commerce has been a member of the Iron County Alliance.
But even though it performs a very important function in Iron                        County, aside from those directly involved in the operation of the Alliance, little is known about what it does.
In 2003, there was a concern that there may be projects that the individual organizations could not take on, but could be done using a cooperative effort of a more-encompassing entity.
The belief was that such an entity could take on a project and avoid duplication of effort. The three-member organizations agreed to contribute funds to create the Alliance. Each member organization would have three representatives on the nine-member Alliance Board.
The Alliance currently has two major projects.

If you were fortunate enough to attend the West End Players’ production of Beauty and the Beast over the weekend, be sure to tell your friends and relatives what they missed—then tell them there’s another chance to watch these young people perform their “magic” once more Jan. 21-23.
 Once again, the West End Players have put their hearts and souls into their performances, from the smallest “villager” to the lead actors.
 Co-directors Louella Holroyd and Laura Kagy brought together a quite extensive cast, rehearsing for six months, and the performance reflected tons of energy and hard work. “The kids had an amazing opening weekend,” commented assistant director Ann Marie Meldrum.