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Written by Ozaukee Press Editoral Board
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Wednesday, 28 April 2010 14:57 |
The other Catholic church crisis—the priest shortage—is threatening to change a way of life in our rural communitiesCatholics in the villages and townships of northern Ozaukee County and southern Sheboygan County knew circumstances in their parishes were not improving. They knew that the two priests serving their three parishes, condensed from five parishes some years ago, would be retiring soon. They saw that the large parishes of the Port Washington and Saukville area were down to two priests to meet the needs of thousands of Catholics attending three churches, work once done by as many seven priests.
Still, the news that the parishes of St. Mary’s in Lake Church, Holy Rosary in Fredonia and Holy Cross and Our Lady of the Lakes in Dacada and Random Lake may have to merge into one and that three churches could be shuttered and sold as real estate must be profoundly troubling—not just in a religious sense, but as an erosion of the foundation of these rural communities.
These churches are more than beloved places of worship. They are cultural and social centers that have nurtured community life, physically and emotionally, for Catholics and other residents as well, for more than a century. One of the communities, Lake Church, is named after its Catholic church, St. Mary’s, built in 1884.
The unsettling choices facing these Catholic communities are manifestations of a worsening crisis in the American Catholic church. No, not that crisis. The sexual abuse crisis, ongoing as it is replenished by new accusations and revelations, continues to sap the energy and financial resources of the church. But the crisis that afflicts parishes here and elsewhere in America most directly is the one caused by the failure of one of the world’s most powerful religious organizations to provide enough professional ministers to serve its faithful followers.
The priest shortage will mean the end of three parishes and three churches in this area if a recommendation by consultants is approved. Three northern Ozaukee-southern Sheboygan County parishes would merge into one parish headquartered at Holy Cross in the Town of Belgium. St. Mary’s Church in Lake Church, St. Nicholas Church in Dacada and St. Mary’s Church in Random Lake would be closed. St. Rose of Lima Church in Fredonia would become part of the Catholic school and not be used for regular church services.
The plan seems to make organizational and financial sense, but no one should underestimate its impact on parishioners. Some would have to travel many miles to attend a church service. Most would have to come to terms with the demise of a way of life in which loyalty to a hometown parish, long preached by the church, was a rock-solid element of the spiritual life of generations of Catholics.
Nonetheless, if the plan is adopted, we are quite sure the congregations will make it work. This has been the experience across the country as the rank and file of the church, whose membership, in spite of the challenges facing the church, is robust and growing, take on more of the responsibilities once handled by priests and accept change with, if not cheerfulness, at least resilience.
Even as they make the best of the situation, though, there must surely be a yearning among Catholics that the drastic changes they are enduring will somehow trickle up to the church hierarchy and encourage change in that rarefied atmosphere that could relieve the priest shortage on the ground in American communities—the other church crisis. |
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Written by Ozaukee Press Editoral Board
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Wednesday, 21 April 2010 16:32 |
Jet skis enthusiasts have every right to use Lake Michigan, but some sensitivity to the noise they make would improve relations with other lake loversYou know it’s an early spring when complaining about jet skis starts in April.
Several people who live along the Lake Michigan shore asked the Belgium Town Board on April 5 to do something about a group of jet skis, or personal watercraft, that have been frequenting the lake on evenings near Sandy Beach Road.
The residents said a number of the boats are regularly launched from the beach at the foot of Sandy Beach Road at around 4:30 to 5 p.m. and then zoom back and forth close to shore until after dark.
As one town taxpayer told the board, “you get eight or nine running together and it’s noisy.” He added that the jet skis are often within 100 feet of shore.
It’s not hard to feel empathy for the shore dwellers. Their appreciation of the ambience of Lake Michigan includes hearing the natural sounds of the maritime environment. The lapping of waves and the cries of seagulls don’t stand a chance against the syncopated varooming of jet skis carving turns and jumping wakes.
The terrestrial equivalent of what the townspeople describe would be something like living next to a street on which motor scooters race back and forth for a several hours each evening.
Town Board members expressed sympathy for the residents’ plight, but acknowledged that they are limited in the help they can give. The board may have some leeway in regulating launching times, but the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has authority over the lake. What’s more, the DNR is famously protective of lake access and takes a dim view of efforts to limit it.
That is as it should be. Lake Michigan is everyone’s natural resource, and enthusiasts who prefer to do their boating with personal waterfront have as much right to use it as do fishermen, sailors, kayakers and owners of traditional powerboats.
Still, not all boats are created equal. Slow-trolling fishing boats, kayaks, canoes and sailboats make hardly a sound. Engine noise from conventional powerboats is rarely an issue because these vessels pass quickly by, usually traveling to a destination.
The same might be true of jet skis if they were moving from one point to another, but much of enjoyment of jet skis seems to involve gathering in groups and speeding around in a confined area. For people nearby trying to enjoy the lake in other ways, it is understandable that this can be annoying.
So what to do? Let the jet skiers can handle it. An easy remedy would be for them to move offshore and keep most of the noise that is the inevitable byproduct of their sport at sea. In good weather, in groups, with the wet suits personal watercraft operators routinely wear, and with the mandated safety equipment they have onboard, it should be safe to perform the various jet ski handling exercises far enough from shore that the sounds of their fun don’t disturb other lake lovers.
A conversation about this between the homeowners and the jet ski owners might prove fruitful. After all, they have something in common—both groups take much pleasure from Lake Michigan and have an interest in enjoying it in ways that do not detract from others’ enjoyment of this magnificent body of water. |
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Written by Ozaukee Press Editoral Board
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Wednesday, 14 April 2010 14:18 |
The citizens of Grafton sent a clear message—heritage, character and beauty are too valuable to be sold for a federal hand-outIt wasn’t subtle, it wasn’t nuanced and it wasn’t open to interpretation. The message the citizens of Grafton sent to village officials last week was loud, clear and unmistakable, an amplified proclamation that community heritage, character and beauty are too valuable to be sold at any price, even for a federal hand-out to avoid an expenditure of local tax money.
The message was sent by an overwhelming vote—a nearly three-to-one landslide—to approve a referendum that will save the Bridge Street dam.
“Save” is not too dramatic a word—the dam was for all intents and purposes doomed. The Grafton Board of Public Works had voted unanimously to demolish it. The conventional wisdom was that the Village Board would agree.
It was all about money: Federal stimulus money was available to remove the dam; if the dam stayed, it would have to be improved at local taxpayer expense within the next decade to comply with a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources order.
But the voters said: Don’t take the money and don’t take our dam.
The rescue of the dam adds a remarkable chapter to the history of Grafton. Rarely have so many citizens joined to make such an emphatic statement about community aesthetics.
They made a statement too about government spending at a time when it is politically popular to condemn the use of taxpayer money for anything but the most basic essentials. The voters said spending on the non-essentials that add to the enjoyment of life in a community is a responsible use of tax revenue.
The save-the-dam movement began with e-mails and phone calls to Grafton officials, letters to the editor and speaking out at public meetings. When that didn’t move Grafton officialdom, a petition drive to force a referendum was launched last fall, which garnered more than 2,000 signatures and ensured that a binding referendum would be on the April 2010 ballot.
Resistance persisted. As opposition to dam removal grew, a new cost estimate for repairs was released—a highly suspect number of $4 million, more than twice previous estimates. After the binding referendum became inevitable, the Village Board added an unusual second referendum to the ballot offering choices on how dam repairs could be paid for if the dam was saved. Some observers thought the second question was an attempt to influence the decision on the first by reminding voters of the cost consequences.
The voters weren’t having any of it. They voted 1,685 to 573 to save the dam because they saw what village officials didn’t—that the millpond, or impoundment, created nearly a century ago when the dam was built for a mill that figured prominently in village history is physically and emotionally part of Grafton’s heart, a lake within a village that offers pretty vistas, banks to stroll, bird watching, ice skating, fishing and boating, whose ambience has attracted development that has enlivened the downtown.
The lake within the village would have ceased to exist the minute the dam was removed.
The Village Board should take the vote as more than a mandate to save the dam. It is also a signal that the public expects the dam and the river to be developed to their full potential.
That means working out a sensible plan to make the needed dam improvements. With the deadline nine years away, there’s no rush, and the time should be spent determining the least costly way to meet the state’s requirements. Meanwhile, an environmental concern will be remedied by creating a fish passage through the dam, paid for with part of the stimulus grant the county received for river work
It also means making better use of the river impoundment, finding ways to make it more accessible to the public and more valuable as a recreational resource. Paddle boats and other watercraft for rent, enhanced fishing opportunities and dredging to expand boating opportunities may be possibilities.
Village officials can explore such initiatives with no doubt about one thing—the public considers the dam and the recreational resource it creates priceless. |
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