Transcript
Wedding Barns Ignored by the Legislature (Hour 2)
Mornings with Pat Kreitlow · Tue Dec 2, 2025
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Hey, good morning, 7 0 6.
Nice to have you back up north on this Tuesday morning, December 2nd.
Parker Olson producing things down in Madison.
Brian Lemke from Defend the Vote will be here in just a sec.
Later this hour, Hans Brighton Moser, Sheila Everhart.
And Gene Bonn, a wedding barn owner, talking about the wedding barn venues and how, you know, in their view and the view of others, they were kind of done dirty by the legislature in this fall session.
basically being ignored and having to abide by some very onerous new rules that apply to full-time bars and taverns.
And they argue shouldn't apply to places that are only open for, you know, a few weekend dates in the summertime.
So we'll talk to them about that and some other matters coming up.
If you missed the news this morning, former Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes has announced his candidacy.
He is formally in the race for governor.
Barnes put out a video early this morning making the announcement official saying that he's taking on the priorities of basically standing up to the Trump administration's, you know, chaos and economic damage and dealing with affordability and affordability.
The two are kind of hand in hand.
I mean, there's run-of-the-mill inflation, but then there's also the costs that are associated with, as some people put it, the corruption that we're seeing in the White House these days.
And so Brian Lemak from Defend the Vote is going to talk to us about that and the third congressional district race in just a moment.
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All right, let's get to Brian Lemak from Defend the Vote and talk a bit more about 2026 and talking to voters about the issues and the races.
Brian, hello, how are you?
Doing great, Pat.
How are you?
Good.
Thank you so much for joining us here.
Tell us a bit more about Defend the Vote first and then we'll get into the issues and the campaigns.
What's the group all about?
Absolutely.
Defend the Vote's a pro-democracy advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.
We work up and down the ballot to elect pro-democracy candidates for Congress and for other important seats from Secretary of State to Attorney General, Governor, all the way up.
We were founded about five years ago and invested in about 400 races since our inception.
And how do people learn more about the
group?
www.wedefendthevote.org.
You can also find us on Twitter and on Blue Sky under Defend the Vote, DTV.
We Defend the Vote.org.
Get that right.
All right.
Good.
Just wanted to make sure so we can show that to our social media viewers as well So we were talking yesterday about the issues of affordability
and Trump chaos and I mean we're not the first people to bring it up and you know and Mandela Barnes in his campaign announcement this morning he won't be the last one to bring it up but I know Defend the Vote is one of those groups that is trying to help people connect the dots that you know people think that these are like apples and oranges but there is a cost associated with the kinds of things the the Trump administration and Republicans and Congress are doing right.
Correct.
You're absolutely correct.
And our polling and our research, our experience working with candidates, the two things that we see and hear the most are high costs and corruption in Congress.
Those are the things that Americans all over the country are talking about.
And again, our research is telling us the same exact thing.
You have to speak about the high costs that we're all experiencing, but you can't do so in a vacuum.
You have to also talk about the corruption that's behind that.
Look, Pat, corruption comes in a lot of different forms.
The hiding and protecting billionaires from the Epstein files is corruption.
Hearing something in a hearing and then going and making a stock purchase or sale is corruption.
Investing in your son's crypto business is corruption.
But that's Republican issues.
Also, at the same time, putting gold bars in a sport coat is corruption, right?
So we focus at Defend the Vote.
on really just ending that corruption, focusing on those pro-democracy candidates so that the people throughout our country, so that their voices are heard, so that the democratic system is working for them.
Because right now, Pat, we have to admit the system is broken.
And no one is going to take Democrats seriously if we just talk about the corruption that Republicans are doing.
We have to recognize the whole system is broken.
And we have to focus on the solutions.
You can't just point and say how bad someone else is and expect to get elected.
You have to work on your policy initiatives, share your policy initiatives.
And when you come to Washington, be behind those policy initiatives.
And the issue that we face now is
the billionaires, the corporations, they are controlling so many in Congress, and that is not trickling down to everyday Americans.
And everyday Americans are facing the high costs, the impact on health care, the impact on gun violence, and all these other issues that are plaguing us
today.
We're talking to Brian Lemick from Defend the Vote.
You can learn more at wedefendthevote.org.
One more on issues, and then we'll get into the race here.
So when we talk about affordability and we talk about calling out the corruption that we see there,
does the group so far go so far as to have like a you know a list of policy priorities or bills you feel like they should be passed or is this more about attention to particular issues overall?
Well it's everything is tied back to legislation right because that's how the changes get made so the John R Lewis voting rights advancement act the freedom to vote act
the Help America Vote Act, which is, we nicknamed HAVA.
It's funding our elections.
The SAVE Act, which you might remember Republicans dubbed as a immigration bill, but really it was a voter suppression bill.
It's those fundamental issues right there.
If those are voted into law, we know that all Americans that have the ability to vote will be able to vote.
The voter suppression will be dramatically reduced and deducted.
And we'll see opportunity for more Americans, a lower income communities and black and brown communities, et cetera.
Some of those.
barriers put in place for them will be lifted and then their voices will be heard.
And if we can do that alongside ending this corruption that I've been talking about here, the billionaires of corporations, et cetera, we really have, we will all have a democracy that's working for us.
Yeah, we really have talked about, you know, from a rural standpoint, we've highlighted farmers who've gone through the double whammy of, you know, affordability when it comes first to the tariffs, the trade war, which, you know, nobody asked for.
And then of course, you know, what they're doing
doing two affordable care act premiums.
And so you have farmers being squeezed both ways.
But you have residents in cities who are going through the same thing.
They're having high prices for all of their goods and services.
And at the same time, watching their health care costs go up.
And the reason I outline all of that, Brian, is it
It doesn't seem to be a case where a president or congressional leaders can just kind of raise their hands and go, ah, what are you going to do?
A lot of this is the result of very deliberate choices that they've made over the past 10 months.
You're absolutely correct.
And thinking about Wisconsin 3 right now, Derrick Vair in order and voted for the, as President Trump likes to call it, big, beautiful bill.
That's had a direct impact on your rural hospitals in Wisconsin 3.
You got two that have already been closed.
You got a third on the chopping block.
And that's just like what's happening today.
yesterday, the day before and many days from now, there'll be many more things and many more people impacted.
The situation with the soybean farmers that you all are dealing with and just really the impact throughout the Midwest because of these attacks, effectively attacks on farmers, attacks on healthcare, attacks on veterans.
All of these things are coming down from the decisions of a few impacted by the influence of even smaller number of people.
Brian Lemick is here from Defend the Vote.
You can learn more at WeDefendTheVote.org.
You mentioned Wisconsin 3, the third congressional district race here.
Yesterday we talked to Eau Claire City Council President Emily Berge, one of two Democratic candidates.
Both candidates, she and Rebecca Cook, are gaining endorsements.
You have come into this race endorsing Becca Cook.
Tell us more.
Look, Becca knows the district.
Becca is the district.
Becca came damn close last cycle.
We've been working with her for a few years now.
Her ability to win has never been more clear to us.
The influence that she can have when she comes to Washington, her focus on our priorities, as well as so many others that will protect the constituents of Wisconsin 3, her viability to win.
her ability to fundraise, her ability to connect with the district.
And really important point there is not just progressives and Democrats, independents and Republicans, because you cannot win Wisconsin three.
Despite the climate right now, despite the poor polling numbers for Republicans, you cannot win Wisconsin three without capturing independent and Republican votes.
And as a moderate candidate, Rebecca just checks all those boxes for us.
It was an easy decision to make.
Well, when you see an incumbent like Derek van Orden here, I mean Again, I'm taking nothing away from Rebecca Cook.
I'm saying that by comparison with Derek van Orden You know voters on the Democratic side, you know have have a wealth of options because Derek van Orden has proven himself to be singularly so
not a fit for the district.
When we talk about the dots that you're connecting between, you know, tolerating corruption and affordability, we kind of feel like we have the poster child for that in the third congressional district.
Absolutely.
And you also have an insurrectionist.
Let's not forget about that, right?
There's only only one that can claim that they were there on that day.
And one of the most most
violent attacks on a democracy really ever.
And Derek Van Oren was in the crowd.
He chose to go there.
He got in his truck or maybe he took his Harley and went down there and participated in, again, one of the most violent attacks on a democracy.
And so, you know, and then he's in the Capitol and look, we see it every day.
I live in Washington.
He is an embarrassment to your district.
whether it be the drinking, whether it be the yelling at pages, whether it just be his general demeanor, his clinging on to Trump, his resolve to continue that relationship and to hold on to the values and to stick himself so closely with Trump.
Look, I've been out to your district a handful of times.
We've worked with many, many in Wisconsin.
That doesn't look like Wisconsin to me.
That doesn't feel like Wisconsin.
And it's just not representing anyone well from the district.
Brian Lemak from Defend the Vote got a minute left here.
So what can folks do if they want to learn more?
And what is it that you'd like them to do as well as, you know, getting in touch with you?
What are you hoping voters do between now and the August primary and then November general next year?
Just from an advocacy standpoint, get out there, knock doors.
You have this opportunity.
We have this amazing system here in America.
Our democracy is incredible.
Utilize every aspect of it.
Knock on doors.
Talk to your neighbors.
Do voting chains.
Get out there and vote yourself.
Those are real priorities for all of us because it is going to be close in Wisconsin 3.
It's good.
Every vote is going to matter.
Advocate to your independent friends or Republican friends and then visit us at WeDefendTheVote.org.
There's lots in there for you to do.
There's lots to learn in there as well.
There's other candidates to look at.
to and there's other policy initiatives to familiarize yourself with.
It's just not those four issue errors.
There's so much that can be done and encourage every single one of you to take that opportunity to do so.
There is a lot listed there at WeDefendTheVote.org.
Brian Lemick, thank you very, very much for spending some time with us.
Look forward to catching up throughout the campaign.
Pat, always a pleasure.
Thanks so much, guys.
Good luck.
All right, take care.
Still ahead, we'll talk to Hans Breitenmoser, Sheila Everhard, Gene Bonn and more.
That's just in our seven o'clock hour, and you can also text us the keyword Chance for part of our grown-up gift list, Text to Win Contest.
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We check in with Rob from Tigerton yet.
He says good morning from Tigerton.
It's cloudy and 15 degrees.
We got a half inch of new snow enough to make the road slippery.
Talked about injuring his knee.
Went to the doctor.
His knee is bruised and he's going to get an MRI in Shawno tomorrow and he wants to say happy birthday to Dr. Kristen Lierly, whose birthday is today.
I know I feel like we beat it to death yesterday, but she was on it.
yesterday, so we wanted to make sure that people knew and that she was appreciated very much.
Now, it's funny that Rob talks about going to get an MRI on his knee in Shawno tomorrow, because he already knows more about his MRI than the President of the United States.
This really should bother people more.
And again, I'm not sure why this particular president gets a free pass, because any other time, if somebody were being cagey about what might be wrong with them, I mean, it would be a full blown thing.
But for some reason, if Trump says, well, it was perfect.
It was perfect.
Like my phone call, you know, that got me impeached.
What?
What?
What's that got to do with anything?
So late yesterday, the White House released a brief memo.
because Trump said, I'll release the results of it.
Well, he released something, but it didn't give a lot of detail.
It described, quote, advanced imaging of his cardiovascular system and abdomen, but the report left out pretty much any technical information needed to understand what was actually done, does not
tell you what kind of planes through the body were looked at, what kind of contrast was used.
The only detail mentioned is that his vascular appearance was, quote, normal, which is very reminiscent of that other time.
Remember when he released a doctor's note and it said, oh, he is one of the most healthy people ever to be president.
He might live to be 200.
I mean, that person's medical license should have been ripped up right at that point.
And now we're getting it again, just this very general, oh yeah, everything was normal.
But he couldn't tell you what part of the body was being looked at.
And have you met anybody who didn't know why they were being put in this tube and being, you know, imaged in that way?
And so there's a lot more information that's needed to determine basically
What's going on with this old guy who's been apparently falling asleep in meetings and snapping at people?
I mean, look at how snappy and cranky he's gotten.
It's just everything about it feels like there's something that is being held back from the American people.
And I'm not sure that a guy who's impacting
income through tariffs, a guy who's ordering lethal missile strikes on fishing boats, should be able to get a pass on not letting us know if there's something with his health that might be affecting his decision-making abilities.
I mean, my god, if Joe Biden had to bend down a second time to tie his shoe, because the first time it didn't turn out right, you know, they'd do 13 minutes on it on a nightly newscast.
So let's get a little bit more information about that, please.
Our question of the day is all about your work schedule, how predictable or how unpredictable it has been at points here.
855-75 Civic, 855-752-4842.
We brought it up because there has been a major settlement between Starbucks and New York City, the largest worker settlement in that city's history.
Because of all the workers who were getting jerked around with unpredictable hours, they could not plan for childcare if they were working two jobs.
And chances are they were because your typical barista at Starbucks makes just under $15,000 a year and can't coordinate that second job.
It's really reminiscent to me of the minimum wage thing where people say, oh, well, minimum wage, we don't need to raise that.
That's for kids.
That's for 16-year-olds.
Said by people who are not aware of the millions of people that
That's the job that's available to them.
That's the job that they're working while trying to raise a family and pay rent.
And it hasn't been raised since I was in the legislature more than 15 years ago.
And is that really what we want to do to our workforce?
As a result, we've got all kinds of people who, you know, could have been in the workforce, but have retired early, for example, and are not coming back in or.
Moms primarily, but sometimes dads who are out of the workforce because there aren't good childcare options that are out there or because one spouse cannot get predictable hours out there.
These are the kinds of things that need to be addressed as well as immigration reform.
If we're ever going to fix our labor shortage, stop dumping on our workers and treat them like the valuable asset that they are.
But right now the people in power don't seem to be interested in doing that.
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Hans Bright and Moser, Sheila Everhart, Gene Bonn, all coming up next.
I'm Pat Crightlow.
You're Up North.
Welcome back.
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All right, we've got plenty of other issues to cover today with our friends, Hans Breitenmoser, a dairy farmer from up near Merrill, Sheila Everhart from the Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Association, Jean Bond from Green Lake County, who owns a wedding barn type venue.
We're going to talk about what happened in the legislature with that, or more importantly, what didn't happen with it in just a bit.
Hans, as always, let's start with you.
Did you have a good Thanksgiving weekend?
bet.
Wonderful.
And we've got
Several other things that are happening the legislature had their session, but there are things that are yet to come here Not the least of which is the Wisconsin Farmers Union annual convention.
That's a December 13th and 14th in the Dells What are going to be the hot topics there?
It's our opportunity as farmers and members of Wisconsin Farmers Union to get together and decide through honest debate what we stand for and what our legislative priorities are.
I mean, well, I'm sure we'll be talking about immigration and antitrust legislation, local control, milk prices, local food systems, and even data centers and how they're impacting rural areas.
So there's gonna be plenty to discuss.
And we'll also have an election.
And incidentally, our friend Sheila is running for the board there as well.
Oh, well, what a good pivot that is, Sheila.
So you're running for the board and you're going to tell us about how the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation has its annual meeting in the Dells a week prior on December 7th and 8th.
Are you still with us, Sheila?
Oh, looks like she dropped out there.
We'll see if she pops back up here in just a second here.
So let's just go ahead and turn our attention to what happened and what didn't happen in the legislature this time around.
And Hans, while we wait for Sheila to come back in, you just set it up real quick.
You know, plenty of farms out there have set up these, you know, wedding type venues or special event venues.
And they really got caught up in the so-called liquor license reforming that was done in the last legislative session.
I'm merely a dairy farmer.
Cows are easy.
People are hard.
I'm able to gene to entertain us and make sure that by God we can have a drink when we're at a venue like an event barn and so forth.
But yeah, it does seem like these types of venues are kind of getting stomped on and being unfairly targeted.
And it's kind of bizarre to me because Wisconsin does have a long history of, you know,
of entertaining ourselves out in the countryside.
And so I'm interested to see what Gene's got to
say.
Yeah, Gene is with the Farm View Event Barn in Berlin.
And Gene, what is it that you were hoping to see from the legislature in this fall session?
Well,
we
were hoping to see that they recognize the restrictive nature of that X 73 and that it was going to benefit the farmers in our rural economy.
If they would at least just let those rural venues, their seasonal ones operate in a way that's profitable for them.
That's basically why they're in operation is to help profitability on the farm.
And we are struggling to find legislators.
that
are
willing to step up and say, we recognize it's important to keep these barns in beautiful shape across Wisconsin
and
allow people to come on the farm and learn about the farm and let these farmers use what they have to their best ability and diversify their income.
Yeah, I mean, this Act 73 you talked about deals with essentially the three tier system of, you know, either brewing or distilling alcohol, then there's the distribution system, then there's the retail system.
And while some of it was rather archaic law that needed updating, for, you know, reasons we can only speculate on, the wedding barn venues were really put on the outs by this, I don't know if they felt threatened by the tavernly or what, but Sheila, you passed along to me.
all of the paperwork that's got to get done now for wedding barns that just want to do this a few days a year.
Talk about how restrictive that paperwork has become.
Well, I think Jean can address that much closer as she's really researched all of those documents.
You know, it's surprising Pat, these farms are going to be losing 75% of their income because of the law that will go into effect January 1st of 2026, reducing the opportunity to rent their space for one time a month or six per year.
And the paperwork includes about a four page application for having consumption
on the private property at a private event and the cost of the permit is $300.
So
not only
are you forcing people to reduce the number of events they can have, you're restricting.
what can be served at those events including no spirits and I know we're a state that promotes the old-fashioned as one of the beverages of choice yet these private party invitation only wedding barns on private land cannot serve an old-fashioned because the way the law was written that's really something just
crazy.
Gene,
how does it make sense?
How many events were being held at a lot of these typical venues compared to what the new law says in terms of restrictions?
Well, I think many of us, again, were seasonal and ideally it was one a week throughout the six months of May through October.
So 24, I know some places were able to have enough help to be able to have two a weekend.
So it varied a lot throughout
And that was the beauty of it.
You could do as many as you felt you could accommodate on your property, especially with us.
I just want to back up a little and explain the lawsuit that was decided on November 19th was quite a learning experience for me being part of that.
So it was heard on a rational basis, which this is the judge's words.
That means it could be based on speculation that is unsupported by any evidence or data.
And he could just decide that if there was any chance or conceivable thought that some of these arguments could be true.
There was no basis for them, but if they could be true, he had to rule in favor of those defendants.
So some of the arguments they had were that we were in rural areas and far from help.
I am four and a half miles from my local sheriff's office.
Some of their basis was that because there was free alcohol offered.
that conceivably not letting us have more than six would move these events to places with liquor license and thereby reducing the amount of free alcohol and reducing the number of drunk driving incidents in Wisconsin.
Now anybody with sense knows even if a couple has to go to a place in town
for their
wedding, they're still going to end up having free alcohol for their guests.
So a lot of it
was interesting to hear the rationale.
And bottom line, this decision did not say that we cannot change this law for the better.
It
agreed
that reduced numbers of events could indeed reduce the number of drinks, a number of free drinks being given out in Wisconsin.
So people will still hear that we are trying to get legislators to change those numbers.
I just want to make sure they understand that this lawsuit in no way is preventing that effort from continuing.
And Hans, what does that tell us about the political environment at the Capitol when there's all kinds of majority Republican legislators who represent rural districts and yet they're having a tough time supporting some of these small farm-based businesses in their districts?
What can we glean from that?
Well, I would suggest we can glean that it's time for a change and we need some different legislators.
And that brings me to a thought.
We're right around the corner from a spring election.
And spring elections are county board elections.
And so having been on the county board for 10 years, a number of years ago,
This is a good time for people to really think about getting into local government because this is a place where the county's association can push back and local governments can push back and say, look, this is not what we signed up for.
This is not what's helping our community.
But the only way that that happens is if, number one, you get out and vote, number two, you think about local government and how it impacts and what your role might be.
And I'm encouraging everybody to run for county board and think about that quickly.
because papers need to be turned in here in probably what, 30 days or so?
Yeah.
For that
paper.
Yes, the window is now open to, and we are absolutely non-stop advocates for running for local office and starting to make a difference that way.
Jean, it definitely sounds like the...
This is still an uphill road, but the session is not done yet.
They'll meet again in January, February, maybe into March.
So what is it that you would like folks listening to say to their state legislator about this?
I would like them to tell their legislators, these businesses, these farms deserve to operate like all the ones that are exempted by this bill.
that they should consider signing on to.
We do have a proposed piece of legislation that will allow us to operate profitably.
And they should consider signing on to that because it doesn't just help the farmers, it helps the other small businesses in the area.
And it's something people love.
People love coming out to these venues.
They love their pictures with the crops in the background and the property, beautiful properties.
And there's plenty of weddings to go around.
There's no reason to restrict one over another.
And then to claim that we're dangerous in some way is just.
it seems like yeah it seems like you know doing something 20 days out of the year compared to a lot of places that are open 365 you know the the math ain't mathin on that as far as yet if
I sell the alcohol the danger disappears because this new law also mandates everyone most of us already did but everyone have a licensed bartender serving any alcohol so
just the fact, the very fact that I sell it somehow, then I'm fine.
I can have as many as I want.
So we're still working on this and I hope people can get behind it.
It's over-regulation and it's not necessary.
Gene Bond from Farm View Event Barn in Berlin.
Thank you very much for the insight on that.
Sheila Everhart from the Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Association.
I got less than 30 seconds here, but we heard about the Farmers Union Convention coming up.
What can you tell us quickly about the Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting in the Dells, December 7th and 8th?
Yes, if you're a farmer, get involved with grassroots organizations, whether it's Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation or Wisconsin Farmers Union.
Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation is represented in 66 of our 72 counties.
They will have about 300 delegates voting on
policy on December 8th, farmland preservation, solar, alternative energy, healthcare, and our roads.
So get involved.
And of course, agricultural tourism, how to support the family farm with agricultural tourism.
So get involved with grassroots efforts.
Please contact your elected officials.
Have them sign on to a trailer bill that will give a lifeline to
the agricultural event
venues
solely by increasing your events to 36.
So get out there and get involved.
Thank you.
Thank
you very much, Sheila and Hans and Jean.
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All right, let's see what's being covered at the Civic Media Chippewa Valley Newsroom.
James Kelly in Chippewa Falls to tell us about some of the stories following there.
And I know you were you were batching it for Thanksgiving weekend.
How'd that
go?
Oh yeah, it was nice and chill.
We do some work anyway.
We were here,
we were around.
Work was there to be done.
Might as
well.
Yeah, I did the same thing as well.
I mean, I just flooded my editor with stuff from over the weekend.
What are you going to do?
You're going to watch.
You get to
text back, like, take a break, man.
It's
vacation.
Yeah.
Well, I mean, it still did.
But we were able to be.
We increased our productivity a little bit during that period.
So that's all right.
Let's look at some of the stories that you've been watching.
We'll start right in Chippewa Falls where every so often you've got to do something with the schools.
We've talked about consolidation and there's mergers and there's closings.
But there's also something as routine as just adjusting the boundaries for the districts.
And that's what's happening right now in Chippewa.
for false.
Yeah, the Chippewa Falls School Board has approved a plan to alter the elementary school boundaries.
There's not a significant change coming.
They do have that operational referendum funding that they previously passed and they are looking at maybe doing another operational referendum in the next couple of years.
So it's not like one of the elementary schools is in danger of closing, but you know, some of them have class sizes that are around 28 students and some of them have class sizes that are around 18 students.
So just kind of rebalancing that out.
It puts the eventual new superintendent in a better position.
It'll save some money, maximize the resources you have.
So overall, pretty good plan.
It was a similar plan to one that actually failed earlier this year with a 2-4 vote.
This one passed 5-1.
Okay, so we'll be following that and again, it's no it's it's not easy for a kid to have to end up shifting to a new school and I know I had to do it at the time but you know Sometimes it also creates some new opportunities for you know friends and teachers and things like that Also in the Chippewa Valley We often hear about an annual campaign at this time of year to guard against house fires and that continues again this year
Yeah, the Keep the Wreath Green campaign that is underway.
It's the 29th year that they're doing this.
It's Eau Claire in Altoona and Township Fire Departments.
They...
put up wreaths on their fire stations and every time there's a structure fire they replace one of the green lights on it with a red light so everyone can kind of keep track of how many structure fires have happened and it's mostly an educational campaign trying to keep people aware of some of the winter specific fire dangers things like operating wood stoves or one of the things that I'd heard was that people like to use tents in the winter and cook in their tents when it's
when
it's cold outside and that can be dangerous if it's not you know
properly ventilated for carbon monoxide, or if there's open flames in a tent that isn't fire resistant, that could cause some big problems.
So the goal is just be safe for the holiday season.
I, for example, before the very first Keep the Wreath Green campaign, liked to decorate my Christmas tree with lighted candles.
It was that campaign that taught me that open flame, and a Christmas tree does not work.
I'll tell you what, Pat, I think Common Sense might have caught that one.
Don't put fire on a tree.
It was purely, if it hadn't been for the Keep the Wreath Green campaign, I might have missed that one entirely.
They saved my house.
Let's see, also in Chippewa Falls, there's a group that helps make sure that people are properly fed and not melded.
and they're
taking on more work.
Yeah, this is Agnes' Table and Community Center.
It's actually today.
They're starting a new meal service at St.
Charles Borromeo Catholic Church up in Chippewa Falls, so it's a little bit of a bigger space, a new environment, easier for people to get to maybe, so it'll be...
a pretty good boost for the community.
Speaking about homeless services in Chippewa Falls last week, I did not realize that there was no homeless shelter in the entire county.
So services like this become all the more important when you just need somewhere for people to go and get a hot meal a couple of times a week.
So this is a good partnership and it seems like everyone's excited to really get going today.
And let's state for the record here that there was a lot of talk during the government shutdown about snap benefits and
and helping out in food pantries and other programs because the need increased, the need does not go away.
I volunteered a handful of times for Ruby's Pantry at our church up in Cameron, and that's a year-round need where families find themselves struggling because of a job loss, an injury, a change in life circumstance, and so a group like Agnes' Table is always going to appreciate that kind of help.
see the expansion is just a good reminder the need is there just because you don't hear about it in the news every day doesn't change the circumstance that way.
Yeah
and
I would say with the food pantry specifically too when I was doing all those snap stories over the last few weeks almost every single food pantry I talked to said that they were already seeing an increase in demand for services before everything happened with snap and the federal government shut down so the need for this is great in the region.
Yeah.
On YouTube, a comment coming in from Joe here that says, I've been on the community committee side of a school boundary adjustment process.
It's not for the faint of heart for volunteers or staff.
Yeah, don't let me diminish the importance of it when I say, well, you know, kids, kids, you know, they have to adjust.
It does not make it easier by any stretch or to be the parent put in that position.
So yeah, definitely want to make sure I give those folks their due for the work they're putting in.
And of course, finally, we had the snowfall here and all over the state.
And there is an important resource that folks in Eau Claire can get to help out.
Yeah, City of Eau Claire residents can get free sand available 24 hours a day at the Central Maintenance Facility on Forest Street.
You could put it out on the sidewalk, driveway, just kind of prevent some slips and falls.
Those winter related injuries are the ones you want to avoid.
I always feel dumb when I'm just walking through the streets and I hit a patch of ice and fall on my butt.
That makes me feel really dumb, really throws my whole day off.
So if you want to get some sand, maybe make it a little safer, you could do that at the Central Maintenance Facility.
The one caveat is you have
to bring your own shovel and your own container.
It has to be a five gallon pail per resident limit.
But there's no charge for the sand.
So you can go shovel out some sand for yourself.
Free sand.
There you go.
You can follow us some more from James Kelly at 93 five the tap in Chippewa Falls WCFW HD two or on the civic media app.
And you can read more at the station's website, the tap dot FM.
James Kelly, thank you very much.
Hope you have a great day.
Thanks, guys.
Have a good one.
All right, you as well.
Coming up, we've got Cam and Dan, Cam Stevenson from Courier Newsroom, and then we'll have Dan Schaefer along from the Reconpopulation area talking about Mandela Barnes getting into the race for governor today.
I'm Pat Krightlow.
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