MENOMONIE — A new collaboration is underway in Dunn County that will address drug issues which might lead to illegal activity.
The program was unveiled Thursday by law enforcement, human services and nonprofit officials during a press conference at Menomonie City Hall.
The initiative is called Project Hope’s Quick Response Team and Angels of the Red Cedar.
Project Hope is an evidence-based program used to reduce methamphetamine and opioid addictions and their ancillary crimes. Project Hope consists of four strategic pillars that address drug addiction and crime. The pillars are Prevention, Treatment, Enforcement and Harm Reduction.
“This is all about creating pathways to treatment,” said Eric Atkinson, Menomonie police chief. “The goal is to improve the quality of life for those who have a substance abuse disorder and help them get back into society again.”
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The program will involve law enforcement officers and human services representatives who can work to identify individuals who suffer from substance use disorders and are at risk of committing crimes. Those involved in the project will then work with the at-risk individuals to get them treatment.
The initiative also includes providing safe places for individuals to turn in drugs or paraphernalia without fear of arrest and to aid people wishing to start down the road to recovery.
“Dunn County is a strong supporter of this effort, which will have the twin effects of improving the quality of life for individuals who are abusing drugs and reducing the jail population, saving the county precious tax dollars,” said Kris Korpela, Dunn County manager.
A total of $424 million is the nationally estimated annual economic cost of methamphetamine use, including the cost of health care and lost productivity, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
Between 2014 and 2018, Dunn County had nearly one and a half times more methamphetamine submissions to the state crime lab than Milwaukee County, based on statistics from the Wisconsin Crime Lab.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, in 2016, Dunn County had the third highest percentage (31.8%) of prisoners admitted to state prison that abuse methamphetamine.
In 2017 and 2018, 33% of inmates assessed in Dunn County indicated they used methamphetamine, and the average rating for use was chronicled as severe.
And from 2015 to July of 2019, MPD investigated 173 incidents resulting in arrests for methamphetamine, delivery of methamphetamine and/or possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
“I support Project Hope because I grew up in Menomonie and I have watched too many people become addicted to methamphetamine,” said Menomonie Mayor Randy Knaack. “It has destroyed the lives of people we all know and love. Addiction affects all of us, so let’s all make a difference and support Project Hope. The future is ours.”
Here’s how the program works:
A quick response team that consists of a behavioral health officer (either a city police officer or county deputy sheriff), a paramedic from the Menomonie Fire Department, and a social worker from Dunn County Human Services identify individuals who have either suffered non-fatal overdoses or are addicted to methamphetamine or opioids or both.
The team attempts to get the individual treatment for their substance use disorder. If the individual accepts treatment, the team conducts a “warm handoff” by delivering the individual to a treatment provider. The team also can assist in getting the individual financial assistance for treatment.
The individual also will have access to wraparound support services, including transportation, food, shelter or other needs that could be barriers for people recovering from substance use disorders.
A second aspect of the effort is the Angels of Red Cedar initiative, which provides safe locations in Dunn County for individuals with drug problems to turn in drugs or paraphernalia without fear of arrest and seek treatment.
Those who use the safe locations and ask for help will be assisted by members of the quick response team. The safe locations are the Menomonie Fire Department and Menomonie Police Department.
A form of Project Hope has been available for juveniles in Dunn County for about two years, Atkinson said, and has seen a reduction of 75% in children being referred to the juvenile justice system for criminal activity.
The program’s top ongoing need is mentors for children. Project Hope has partnered with Mentor Chippewa to connect mentees with adults who want to make a difference in their community and children’s lives.
Interested community members are also encouraged to visit the website www.mentorchippewa.org for more information about the program, including time commitments and responsibilities, mentor applications, and more.
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Icons of Dunn County
Dunn County Icons: Dunn County Fair: Animals, vegetables, rides, games – and fun
For five days every summer, the Dunn County Fair in Menomonie is the place to be. Visitors come for the thrill of the midway’s rides and games, to watch young people show their animals and other exhibits, to enjoy a wide variety of offerings on the free stage and in the grandstand. Area businesses, clubs and political organizations host booths in the commercial building. And then there’s the classic fair food: cotton candy, corn dogs, funnel cakes, snow cones and the like.
The first Dunn County Fair was held in 1872, seven years after the end of the American Civil War. The newly-formed Dunn County Agricultural Society had high hopes of making it an annual event, but transportation difficulties dictated otherwise. It would be another 13 years before the Dunn County was resurrected when the society was reorganized on June 13, 1885.
The county board appropriated $3,500 to purchase 50 acres as the site of the fairgrounds, and the annual Dunn County Fair was launched in 1886. The event was cancelled for three years during World War I, but returned in 1919.
A grandstand erected in the mid-1920s – and destroyed by fire in 1960 -- set the stage not only for the Ludington Guard Band, but for thousands of traveling performers and vaudeville acts – jugglers, acrobats, singers, dancers, roller skaters, and stuntmen like Seldon the Stratosphere Man swaying atop his 120-foot pole. Aviation history was made when a monoplane took off and landed in the infield of the track for the first time in Wisconsin.
The proud tradition of the Dunn County Fair continues to this day. Always held on the last full week in July, mark your calendars for July 22-26, 2015.
Local historian John Russell – another hometown icon – contributed to this story.
Dunn County Icons: Caddie Woodlawn, Dunn County’s most famous tomboy
She was born Caroline Augusta Woodhouse. But readers of the charming, Newbery Medal award-winning book by her granddaughter, Carol Ryrie Brink, know her better as Caddie Woodlawn. The historical novel of the same name – and its sequel, “Magical Melons” – chronicles 11-year-old Caddie’s childhood days after her father, John V. Woodhouse, moved the family from Boston to a farm in the Dunnville in 1857.
In her 1935 novel, Brink observes, “Although they might never be rich or famous in America, they would have the satisfaction of knowing that what they had they made for themselves.”
The family lived in Dunnville until 1866, when John, his wife, Harriet, and their five children moved to Missouri and then to Moscow, Idaho. Brink was inspired by her grandmother’s stories about her tomboy ways, her school days and her friendship with the Indians who lived on the prairie in Dunn County.
Read by thousands of school children worldwide, Caddie Woodlawn is probably one of Dunn County’s most famous citizens -- and the family’s homestead one of its most visited sites.
In 1969, members of the Dunn County Historical Society purchased the Woodhouse home -- which had stood vacant and was deteriorating for many years – and had it declared a National Historic Site. Members of the local Lions Club, along with Green Thumb workers, fixed up the house and moved it 300 yards from its original site to its present location on Highway 25 eight miles south of Menomonie the following year.
Visitors are now able to walk through the house and see what life was like back in the 1860s. Picnic tables, grills and restrooms were constructed around the grounds of what’s now known as Caddie Woodlawn Historical Park.
Still popular, Caddie’s story lives on in a 1988 television movie, a play and even a musical. In 2010, the book was named to the Top 100 Children’s Novels by the School Library Journal.
Dunn County icons - John Russell: The anomaly from Menomonie
He is a photographer, author, artist, playwright, illustrator, columnist amateur thespian and tour guide. A widower after 50 years of marriage, he is also the father of four and grandfather of five. At the heart of everything he is and does, John Russell, 89, is first and foremost a historian.
Born and raised in Menomonie, hardly a day goes by that Russell doesn’t get at least one phone call or email from somebody with a local history question. Guess that’s what happens when a fella gets the reputation for being the area’s go-to guy for answers about what went on back in the olden days.
Nabbed by the draft board during World War II, Russell joined the Navy. Trained as a photographer, he served in the Pacific theater. A few years before, however, he attended Badger Boys State in Ripon where he met Flora “Lou” Amthor. Seven years and hundreds of letters later, the couple married.
After graduating from UW-Madison, the couple moved back to Menomonie and took over the photography studio started by his father, Cecil Russell, former Menomonie correspondent for the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram.
In addition to being charter members of the Menomonie Theater Guild, the Russells were among other concerned citizens who helped rescue the Mabel Tainter Memorial. In fact, its landmark theater served as both the inspiration and setting for Russell’s play, “Black Friday” which tells the story of Lincoln’s assassination from the perspective of John Wilkes Booth.
In 1981, the Russells founded Oak Point Press and introduced Wisconsin Lore and Legends, a syndicated feature that appeared in 26 newspapers across the state. Extensive research, attention to detail and John’s charming illustrations defined the series appeal.
Using old photographs, a prodigious memory and considerable skills as a storyteller, Russell has chronicled the history of Menomonie and Dunn County for News’ readers since the 1960s in his popular Scenes of Yesteryear column. And he shows no sign of stopping any time soon!
Sponsor: Dunn County Economic Development Corporation
Icons of Dunn County - ‘Castle’ still stands tall over Elk Mound
Sitting as it does on what is reportedly the second highest point in Wisconsin, the view from the “castle” that overlooks the village of Elk Mound is truly an awe-inspiring sight.
The 1,220-foot mound from which the imposing tower rises is believed to have been the place where the war council of the Chippewa and Black Hawk Indians once met. There are also rumors that a herd of elk once roamed the hill, giving the village its name.
In 1933, Louis and Marie Nelson deeded the hill to the village and Dunn County to create what is known as Elk Mound Park. To give men work during the Depression, the road to its summit was built – mostly by hand using picks, shovels and wheelbarrows -- under the aegis of the Works Progress Administration. WPA workers also built fireplaces on the hill as well as picnic tables and, of course, outhouses.
The “castle” was constructed during the summer of 1938. Topped by an observation deck, the three-story tower included a kitchen with cookstoves and dining room. Both featured sliding glass windows with screens. Although those amenities were destroyed over the years by vandals, the sturdy structure remains a treasured landmark.
Closed in 1953, Elk Mound’s Boy Scout Troop 71 spent two years cleaning up the park which was reopened in 1959. Liability concerns caused the area to be closed to the public once again in 1987. Thanks to diligent work students in May 1994 by the village board and high school, safety features like guard railings were installed, ensuring that Elk Mound’s “castle” and surrounding park remain accessible to all.
Source: History of Elk Mound, WI by Marvin and Charlotte Cartwright.
Icons of Dunn County - Colfax Municipal Building: Serving the village since 1916
Since it was completed in 1916, the Colfax Municipal Building has been an imposing and vital presence in the northeastern Dunn County village. Designed by Eau Claire architect Carl Volkman, the building was constructed using sandstone from the Colfax Stone Company.
Instrumental in its planning were five members of the Ladies’ Reading Club who secured a $13,000 loan from the State Trust Fund. As soon as the municipal building was completed, they moved the books from the club’s traveling library into the newly established public library on the first floor.
The Colfax Municipal Building also housed a fire station, offices for the village clerk and constable, a jail cell, court chambers, conference room, banquet hall and a second-story auditorium where high school plays, lyceums, World War I rallies, church services, variety shows, concerts, and other events were held.
The building stood as a sturdy emergency shelter following the 1958 tornado that wreaked havoc throughout the village and surrounding countryside. It was also the meeting place for many groups from scouts to seniors.
In 2002, however, the structure was declared one of Wisconsin’s most endangered historic properties. In 2003, it was listed on the state’s Register of Historic Places and on the national register the following year. Only the main floor of the local landmark -- where the office of the town clerk, the Colfax Police Department and public library are located -- was still in use.
Enter the Colfax Municipal Building Restoration Group. Established in 1998, its mission has been to restore the auditorium and basement meeting rooms. Along the way, they’ve also restored wooden floors, built new stairs, replaced fixtures and windows, and brought the lighting up to code. The group’s efforts were aided in 2011 when the village received an energy efficiency grant to insulate and update the aging structure’s electrical and heating systems.
Nearly a century later, the Colfax Municipal Building still serves as the hub around which the community turns.
Icons of Dunn County - UW-Stout: Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University
Standing guard over downtown Menomonie is the clock tower topped with the distinctive quill that has served as the symbol of the University of Wisconsin-Stout for nearly 100 years. Its bells ring out every quarter hour, reminding all within hearing that the heart of the campus that occupies the center of the city still beats with pride.
The university has a long history of distinguishing itself from other institutions throughout the state. It’s the only one in the UW System named for an individual rather than a city. In fact, UW-Stout is truly a monument to its founder, James Huff Stout, who joined his father’s lumber empire, the Knapp, Stout & Co., Company, at the age of 19. A civic leader who also served as a state legislator, Stout dedicated his life to making his world a better place, especially in the educational arena.
In 1891, he introduced manual and domestic science training when he established the Stout Manual Training Schools under the auspices of the Menomonie Public Schools. From 1908 to 1955, the institution was known as The Stout Institute, with ownership transferring to the State of Wisconsin following Senator Stout’s death in 1911. Over the years, it was known as Stout State College (1955-1964), Stout State University (1964-1971), and finally University of Wisconsin-Stout when it became part of the UW System – designated as only one of two special mission universities in the system.
It isn’t only its name and mission that make UW-Stout truly unique. In 2001, the university was the first ever to receive the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in the education category after being judged as outstanding in leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, information and analysis, human resource focus, process management and business results.
On March 9, 2007, James Huff Stout’s namesake achieved yet another “feather” in its cap when the UW System Board of Regents unanimously approved UW-Stout’s designation as “Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University.” Today Stout has more than 9,300 students in 45 undergraduate majors and 23 graduate majors -- now including one doctoral degree. To learn more, visit www.uwstout.edu.
Sponsor: Dunn County Economic Development Corporation
Icons of Dunn County - Mabel Tainter Center for the Arts
Of all the buildings in downtown Menomonie, the Mabel Tainter Center for the Arts is undoubtedly the city’s most distinctive. In 1889, Captain and Mrs. Andrew Tainter spared no expense when they commissioned its construction as a memorial to their daughter Mabel, a lover of music and the arts, following her death at the age of 19. Its lavish 269-seat “crown jewel” Victorian theater continues to serve as an internationally renowned performing arts and cultural center. In fact, in a 2014 CNN article, the Mabel Tainter Memorial Theater was recognized as one of the world’s 15 most spectacular theaters.
“The Mabel”, as it’s referred to by locals, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is considered a prime example of the Richardsonian Romanesque style. The interior of the building contains hand-stenciled walls and ceilings, marble staircase and floors, leaded stained glass windows, walnut and oak woodwork, brass fixtures, and four fireplaces. The theater still contains the original water-powered Steere & Turner tracker pipe organ. In 2007, the community landmark underwent extensive renovation that included a 28,130 square foot addition to provide much-needed accessibility and safety improvements.
Once home to the Menomonie Public Library and the Unitarian Society of Menomonie, The Mabel continues to fulfill the Tainters intention that it serve as a gift to the community. In addition to its own programming, MTCA partners with many local organizations The Menomonie Singers, Menomonie Public Library, Menomonie Woman’s Club, area schools, the Ludington Guard Band, and the Menomonie Theater Guild. The facility is also available to rent for a variety of special events and services. Visit www.mabeltainter.org to learn more about one of Menomonie’s greatest treasures.
Icons of Dunn County: Boyceville: Celebrating the cucumber
Boyceville: Celebrating the cucumber for more than 50 years
On the third weekend in August, the folks in and around Boyceville gather to honor what was once the community’s serious commitment to the cucumber in a celebration originally known as “Picklefest”.
In the early 1960s, the Gedney Company operated a pickle station on the village’s Main Street. Local growers would bring their cucumbers to be collected, sorted, brined and shipped. Growing and harvesting the cukes was usually a family affair, earning young and old alike extra cash they called their “pickle money”.
To celebrate, local merchants and business people staged a weekend filled with good, old-fashioned fun centered around – what else? – pickles. Although the Gedney operation is long gone, the tradition has continued, transformed into what is now known as the Boyceville Cucumber Festival, organized by the Community Action Club.
“Everyone pulls together to make this festival a success year after year,” observes Jamie “Tillie” Tilleson, club president. “It makes memories for years to come, whether you are 12 or 60 years old.”
In addition to activities of all kinds along with carnival games, contests, food stands and music all three days, the festival begins and ends with a parade down Main Street. At 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 17, there’s the Boyceville Ain’t No One Horse Town horse parade. And on Sunday at 1 p.m., this year’s grand marshals Len and Mary Lagerstrom will lead off the grand parade.
There’s a hearty nod to the festival’s theme with a pickle creations and a homemade pickle contest as well as the 14th annual “OK” Cucumber 10K/5K run and 1 mile run/walk on Saturday morning. Fireworks will light up the sky over Pafko Park on Saturday night.
Call Tilleson at 715-607-0498 or 715-643-2739, or visit www.boycevillewi.com/Events for all the details about this year’s Boyceville Cucumber Festival.