Common Ground

With the record snowfall this winter, the spring thaw made a huge pond of water on the south side of the Minooka dog park. At first it was clean water and it drew lots of people watching their dogs splash around.  The water was around two feet deep or more and covered better than an acre.  As the sod wore down and the water and shore became muddy, people began to avoid it and a steady decline in attendance of the large dog area was noticed.

While I could not interview those that were not there, those that continued to come did mention their disgust with it.  The fact that the small dog area was continuing to be used in good numbers showed that the large dog area had a problem. Another problem is that the large dog area is very hilly, with the flattest area at the entrance. Consequently it rapidly became muddy.  The county fenced off much of the area and laid down bark trails to either ends of the area. However, the flat area has long dried up. There is no sign of it having been reseeded so I don't understand why it isn't reopened.  I believe that many people prefer the flatter and level area to hiking up and down the hills.  Several users are disabled or have trouble walking distances. This is not good for them.

I will often drive directly to Brookfield's Mitchell Park dog park after our visit to Minooka and I find that it continues to be well used.  I see people that I've seen at Minooka and being that the marsh has dried up enough to not be much of an issue for attracting dogs, it reinforces my observation that Minooka needs to do something with what is called the Seasonal Pond, but has turned out to be a muddy nuisance. I suggested fencing it off, at least temporarily so dog owners don't have to fear a muddy mess to shampoo later on. I'd like to see some landscaping and drainage to contain the water to a smaller area. However, because it is stagnant and will dry up, I think a sewer should be installed and pumped out as needed to keep the area usable and attractive.

All is not bad though. There is some beauty to be found. That's for the next blog perhaps.  See you at the dog parks!

I've read heaps of news items and editorials about how drunken driving laws should be toughened.  Excuse me, but while that is needed, we need to also consider a proactive measure that closes the gate before the cows get out of the pasture, so to speak.

We have created the precedent for it, so nobody should be shocked when it is proposed. We have begun changing things in our culture. It is now time to make a bold step forward in continuing these changes.

Movies reflect culture. It is arguable that they may create it. Movies from earlier years glamorized smoking and drinking.  Offices had dry bars and an offer of a drink to a visitor was a polite and friendly gesture. Homes also promoted drinking.  Many new "executive" homes feature a full blown wet bar right in the living room.  Great for entertaining guests before they head home playing "Russian Roulette" with our lives. Once while having fixed a heating problem in a big house on the north shore area of Milwaukee county, the owner asked me "what do you drink?", assuming that I drank hard liquor. He generously wanted to give me a bottle from his vast selection of distilled beverages. When Pat and I got married, one of the things that showed we were now adults was assembling an assortment of liquor and the items for mixing various drinks.

When I grew up in Milwaukee, it seemed there was a tavern on every corner.  Perhaps a good thing. They were walking distance from home.  As I played with my friends on 44th street, a neighbor would walk by nearly every night babbling some kind of wisdom to us.  He walked the half a mile back and forth to the taverns around Hampton and Hopkins and never was a threat to anyone but himself.

We have banned smoking in many places. We've come close to banning it in all business and even in outdoor places. Usually the reason is the dangers of second hand smoke and other less lethal reasons. 

It is time to modify our culture of drinking alcohol. I'm no tea totaler.  I've home-brewed beer in the past and enjoy a beer or glass of wine with a meal. I think we all know the legal limits of evidence of intoxication is .08. But how many drinks is that?

A little bit of Google searching on the Internet show various devices for determining blood alcohol level. Disposable breath analyzers are available for around $3.00 per test.  Less than the price of a drink in most cases.

Issuance of a liquor license should be contingent on always having an adequate supply of these for use by customers.  Any store selling liquor should be required to market these too.  The time has come to stop guessing and not tolerate both the drunks and those that facilitate it. This would be one way of beginning the culture change.

The Oconomowoc High School marketing student's organization, "Grilling To Give" will be hosting a lunch grill out Friday from 10:45AM to 1:30PM to benefit the Jennifer Bukosky Memorial Fund which was established to educate teens about driving while impaired.

Jennifer and her daughters, Courtney and Sophia, were killed after being struck by a driver about to serve jail time for his third drunk driving conviction. They are survived by her husband Michael Bukosky his son Joshua and son Zachary Bella.

I graduated from Messmer High School in Milwaukee and even at a parochial school, the opportunities and peer pressure to drink and drive were there. It is the hopes that the resulting work from the fund will prevent tragic losses of life. 

Stop by and enjoy something from the grill!

Forgive my obsession. I love Waukesha County. But the past two weeks have had death and road rage, both centered around alcohol, as things that make me question if this is so great a place to live?

I pray that the ball keeps rolling to bring Wisconsin from the weakest drunk driving laws in the country to something that makes it safe for people to drive their kids to and from school and back and forth to work and shopping.  Enough has been way too much.

I share the hope of my daughter-in-laws father, Mike Farney, that given that the politicians and adults can't make the roads safe for people, maybe the kids with a lifetime ahead of them will pester and protest until our government does the right things to make us safe.

Zach Bella and his stepfather and stepbrother will be with us today for a cookout, trying to keep the family as intact as we can and make life go on. But it will never, ever be the same without Jenn, Courtney and Sophie.

Never forget!

The Bukosky and Bella families have had expressions of sympathy given via the forms of media and in person. As the head of the Bukosky family, I give my appreciation to all of you.

I'm sure all of you know the details of the tragedy. It still has not registered with me fully. There is still some disbelief present in my mind. I'm amazed by all of the coverage by the press, television and radio given this.  Even in blog-land I have found much discussion of it and picked up new bits of information and perspectives. I compliment the reporters for being sensitive yet thorough.

The mourning in the family continues, having gathered up the picture boards and flowers today. The many envelopes and cards have yet to be read. This will be done by my son in a condo empty of wife and daughters and with son and step-son at other parent's homes. The nursery recently assembled and many gifts from the baby shower less than two weeks ago are a heart wrenching reminder of what was to be but was taken from him, and us.

Major changes in life-style now have to be thought of, while the bills continue to come due.  It is a tragedy repeated many times a week to people who may not have their loss so well covered or may be from natural causes rather than something senseless. It is these times after the mourning that survivors need support, understanding and guidance.

I was told that Thursday, the day set aside for the high school and middle school to visit, there were over 3,000 visitors. I witnessed hundreds of them pay their respects. I believe that these students will be better for their mourning as they better understand that nobody is indestructible. Drug and alcohol abuse kills and destroys. Perhaps a rendezvous with fate for one of more of these young people may have been changed for the better. The Jennifer Bukosky Fund and MADD will see that the word continues to get out.

Bukosky Fund/Oconomowoc Public Education Foundation
P.O. Box 444
Oconomowoc, WI 53066

Mothers Against Drunk Driving
P.O. Box 51159
Milwaukee, WI 53203

Having donated toward the creation of the Minooka Dog Park, both the cities of Waukesha and New Berlin must insist that the county sees if there is any connection between the bacteria killing dogs at HAWS and the seasonal pond at the dog park that consists of melted snow and run off from the higher ground and has a trash receptacle immersed in the water.

Concerns from users of the area have been expressed to me and I in turn have asked the county to fence off the huge puddle to prevent dogs from splashing around in it and drinking the water. For the record, I have also asked Brookfield to put up snow fencing to block the seasonally flooded swamp area of their dog park. Kanook had been ill from what I believe was drinking the contaminated water there.

Were these cleaner water areas, it'd be great for the dogs.  Most love to splash around and retrieve sticks and such. Many are bred to do so. But puddles end up being muddy and bacteria ridden doing the dogs ill.