Viewpoints

To the Editor:

Hopefully you visited a small business on this year’s ninth annual Small Business Saturday November 24. If you did, your efforts and those of many others made a big impact.

This year’s total reported spending of those who said they shopped at independent retailers and restaurants reached a record high of $17.8 billion, according to the 2018 Small Business Consumer Insights Survey from American Express and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB.) That makes it clear that Small Business Saturday and your support of it makes a big difference in sales that help small businesses prosper and grow. Since 2010, the study reports estimated sales at $103 billion.

The following are tributes submitted in honor of Dick Schilling - former editor and editor emeritus of this and other publications under the Waukon newspaper realm over the past five decades - following his unexpected passing November 27. Those wishing to submit their own tributes for publication here may do so by sending an email to news@waukonstandard.com or mailing their submission to The Standard, P.O. Box 286, Waukon, IA 52172.

I was saddened to learn of Dick Schilling’s death. I always looked forward to reading his weekly column and had been a faithful reader for years. His comments were insightful and often brought a smile to my face.

To the Editor:

Medicaid makes it possible for thousands of low-income Iowans - low-income children and adults, people with disabilities and seniors - to access quality health care services without having to choose between being healthy and paying the rent.

We also know our state’s Medicaid program isn’t working as well as it should. But it has become so politicized that a productive conversation on how to fix the program is nearly impossible.

The election is over. It’s time to listen to Iowans, build on the good things Medicaid does and fix the things that aren’t working. Iowans are great problem solvers; we know how to find practical solutions.

In Allamakee County, 27 percent of kids get their health insurance through Medicaid or hawk-i. Statewide, more than 550,000 Iowans are covered by Medicaid.

The following are tributes submitted in honor of former editor and editor emeritus Dick Schilling following his November 27 passing. Those wishing to submit their own tributes may do so by email at news@waukonstandard.com or by mail to The Standard, P.O. Box 286, Waukon, IA 52172.

It was with a sense of loss when I read on the Martin Funeral Home website that Dick Schilling had passed away. I am old enough to remember when the Hulls had the Waukon newspaper and remember when Dick started working for the Waukon newspapers (back in the day when there were two issues - one the Republican and the other the Democrat).

Clear Vision and Words That Both Inform and Unite

Two longtime members of our community of Waukon and the faith community of St. Patrick Parish have died recently. Their professions, and what they did to serve our community, can relate to the Season of Advent and the coming Feast of Christmas.

Dick Schilling’s funeral was Monday, December 3. Dick served as editor of the Waukon Standard for 36 years! To serve for that length of time as editor in one community is remarkable. Dick had written his column “And Then I Wrote…” from 1965 until just two weeks ago. Dick was a man of his word and a man who knew the importance of words. When we think of the power of words to unite, challenge and encourage, we realize just how important our local paper (and our radio station) are for us.

To the Editor:

Phone calls, e-mails, like comments, and even hugs were more than I ever anticipated after my previous letters published in The Standard dated 11-14-18 and 11-28-18. Did I expose some things that were never meant to see the light of day? “The more you stir a stinking mess, the more it stinks” (not my words). How about we all start stirring?

For those who didn’t understand my reference to cost of a culvert versus the cost of a bridge, let me explain. The difference could well be a million or few, besides a road closure for four to six months, plus a change order if we forgot something. You may someday be shocked if you see a couple toll booths at the foot of fairground hill.

I have gotten no answers to questions I put forth. I can understand that they may not want to “own” the situation. When will the planner reveal his hand, streets rebuilt or maintained? We now know that maintained is assumed to be free and yet we are all paying for it.

in honor of Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that it is with a very heavy heart that these are my words filling this column space this week, rather than the rightful author who has done so for longer than I have even been alive.

For those not yet aware, and who are looking for the usual wit and wisdom of the man who committed a vast majority of his life to informing, enlightening, educating and even entertaining this Waukon community he also called home for nearly all his life, it is with deep regret that I must tell you that Richard “Dick” J. Schilling, long-time editor - and more recently, editor emeritus - of this newspaper, was found deceased in his home this past Tuesday, November 27 - ironically, the same day of the week he would faithfully bring to the newspaper office for publication the column that usually appears in this space.

The Christmas lights and décor are up outside and in - there are presents being purchased and put under the trees - there are concerts and parties - there are family gatherings and extra Church services. And we do all this because???? Well, tradition, of course! Hasn’t Christmas been celebrated since the very night Jesus was born? No, actually there is no mention of commemorating his birth whatsoever in our Biblical text. But isn’t that where all our “traditions” come from?! Alas, no again, most of our 21st Century celebrated Christian “traditions” are of human making.

To the Editor:

Well, in January the rule of law will start and after two years of the Republican party letting their president sell out this country to Putin and doing nothing about it, “time’s up”. No more running roughshod over the rule of law and the Constitution and making up laws to fit the crimes that he has committed as he goes along.

I hope Mr. Quandahl will do something about all the untruths or better yet pure out unforgiving lies that only he and a few others believe, such as the 2nd Amendment and your guns being taken away by the Democrats, and many other Republican fairy tales. Mr. Quandahl and the Republican party have been campaigning for years and years on that, they know not the law. I hope all those who locally support the Republican party pray for  the  rule  of  law  to  save  this  country  for  future  generations.

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that I have confessed here before my ignorance of the Bible, but one verse has always caused me to wonder about the reference, and that verse comes to mind every winter’s start.

“... and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land” is how it goes. It refers to spring, but I wonder what sort of voice a turtle has. I’ve caught a few, and all I ever heard was a hiss from a large snapper. Or since it deals with spring, does the verse really refer to the turtle dove?

What causes it to come to mind each winter is the sound I heard before rising and looking out the window Saturday morning, when the sound of the snow shovel was heard in our land.

By the time this gets into print, Thanksgiving Day will be over.

I hope the national political tone was muted over the holiday, but I sort of doubt if it was.