BrandonInfo.com

Are you eligible to join the American Legion Auxiliary? There will be an informational meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the VFW, 321 Main St.

A couple of Brandon women are spearheading the effort to start the group.

Over the years as I’ve covered veterans’ events for various newspapers, I’ve noticed how strong veterans’ commitment is to freedom and to their country. They don’t take freedom for granted, because they’ve personally fought to preserve it.

If you are eligible, would you consider joining? What kinds of activities would you like to see the Legion Auxiliary do? If you have been active in another group in the past, what activities did you enjoy doing?

Do you think the Brandon auxiliary will get the members they need, which is 10, to sign their charter by their target date of May 5?

If you have ever been to a Lorie Line concert, I’d like to talk to you.

Please call me at 331-2376 or e-mail me at apthiele@argusleader.com by Friday (March 28) noon.

Thanks.

Just when I put my winter coat away, the weathermen forecast more snow.

When will it ever end?

Despite the unpredictable spring weather we’ve been having, I’ve seen people outdoors in shorts, and even in flip flops and bare toes.

Where do you go for weather updates before you get dressed in the morning? Or do you just dress to suit your whim and hope it’s appropriate once you get outside?

Candidates for two city council seats will answer questions from the public during a forum Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the city council chambers, 308 Main Ave. The event is sponsored by the Brandon Valley Area Chamber of Commerce and the Brandon Valley Challenger.

Ward I candidates John Saarloos and Blaine Jones, and Ward III candidates Steve Rubin and Roger Brooks will answer questions. Saarloos and Rubin are incumbents.

The public is welcome to ask questions. What questions would you like the candidates to answer? Do you plan to go to the forum?

Those who can’t make it can watch it broadcast on the local cable channel 18 at 8 p.m. on Monday or Tuesday.

Will you participate in Hometown Days this August? Volunteers are working on three main activities: a karaoke contest, family games in McHardy Park, and a tractor pull. The Brandon Valley Area Chamber of Commerce is administering the event, and they need help.

The prize for the karaoke is $1,000, so that should draw some contestants.

The tractor pull is being organized by the Brandon Valley Vintage Power Association.

The park games are still being discussed.

Would you volunteer to help plan or work at the event? The next Hometown Days committee meeting is at 7 p.m. April 3 at the chamber office.

There is no school today or Monday because of spring break.

When I was a kid, it was called Easter break.

When did the name get changed? What do you think of the change? If the break has nothing to do with the holiday, then how come it falls on Easter weekend? If someone isn’t a Christian, why are they celebrating by having days off school?

In another thread, bloggers have suggested that any group or organization that wants the public to know something should drop the information in the public’s lap. People are too busy, or maybe too lazy, to go out and get the information on their own, they say.

How much responsibility should groups and organizations take for letting the public know about stuff? Should the fire department, for example, mail out 3,000 copies of their budget to Brandon residents so everyone can know their plans? Or is it enough to have the information available at the fire hall or City Hall to anyone who wants to stop by and look at it?

I’ve been covering community events for nearly 20 years, and many, many times I’ve seen people come to city council meetings, or school board meetings, angry at a decision that’s been made. What is the governing body trying to sneak through, they say. Why weren’t they informed, they say. And I can point to public notices published in the newspaper, and stories that have been published in the newspaper, where the issue has been discussed. And these days, I can point to Web sites where the information is available.

You can put a pail of water under a horse’s nose, but you can’t make him drink.

Should the public make any effort at all to be informed, or does the entire responsibilty lay on the shoulders of the group or organization?

If the fire department, for example, had an up-to-date Web site, would you look there to find answers? Do you look at the school Web site or the city Web site? Do you watch school board meetings on the local cable channel? Now that city council meetings are broadcast, will you watch them?

On Monday night, the city council agreed to give the Brandon Volunteer Fire Department $35,000 more than the $53,000 the city had originally budgeted for the department this year. So that’s a total of $88,000.

Do you think that is a good idea, or do you think the city should have put off the additional funds until the next budget cycle?

The fire department says it needs the money to build up a truck fund so fire trucks can be replaced before they get too old.

Fire chief Greg Lacey told the city the fire department will ask for increasing amounts from the city each year.

Do you think renegotiating its contract with the city is a better way for the fire department to raise money than to seek a fire tax district? Why or why not?

Brandon’s public safety committee is looking for volunteers for a new Community Emergency Response Team. The team will consist of average residents who will receive some emergency training. Then, if there is a flood, or a lost child, or some other emergency, these trained citizens can help the professional response groups.

Sioux Falls, Brookings and Parker already have CERT groups, and Brandon recently got a $2,300 grant to start one. The safety committee will be signing up volunteers at the Brandon Valley Community Health Fair at the high school on March 25.

Have you ever been on a CERT team? If so, where? How was your experience on it?

Are you interested in becoming a CERT volunteer? Why or why not?

Do you think this is a good thing for Brandon? It seems like whenever there’s an emergency, it’s good to have people around to help. However, if too many people show up to help for, say, a house fire, they can get in the way. What other benefits, or drawbacks, can you think of for Brandon having a CERT team?

Jennifer Ode passed away on Wednesday. Last weekend, her Brandon Valley High School students and a host of others fed more than 1,000 people at a pancake breakfast to help Jennifer’s family pay for her cancer treatment. A silent auction, dinner and dance benefit will be held for the family April 11 at the Brandon Fire Station.

Funeral service will begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Brandon Lutheran Church. Visitation will begin at 3 p.m. Friday at Brandon Lutheran Church with the family present to greet friends from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

I never got to know Jennifer well, but I remember her as a friendly, smiling person. We often said hello to one another at church. I had to apologize to her once, though. Many years ago, I printed a picture of her in the Brandon Valley Challenger. If memory serves, it was a picture of a 4-H event. My mistake was calling her the wrong name in the caption. I had the family name right - Ode - but I accidentally used her sister-in-law’s first name - Jane.

Jennifer was nice about the error, though, and laughed it off.

What memories of Jennifer can you share?

If you have ever gotten food from a food bank or food pantry in any city, and if you are willing to talk about it for a story for the Brandon Valley Challenger, will you please contact me at apthiele@argusleader.com or 331-2376?

Thank you.

Alica P. Thiele

Parents of Brandon Valley Middle School students give their school high marks for education, staff and facility. Parents were surveyed during conferences recently and of the 331 surveys returned, 74 percent gave the middle school an A, 25 percent gave a B and only 1 percent gave a C.

Do you think this holds true with the other schools in the Brandon Valley School District? For those of you who attended Brandon Valley schools and now see your children attending there, do you think the kids now get a better education than you did, or not as good, or about the same?

What, if anything, can the schools do to improve?

For the moment, anyway, the Brandon Volunteer Fire Department has stopped getting signatures on a petition to bring a possible fire tax district to a vote of the people. Instead, BVFD fire chief Greg Lacey said the department is going to try to renegotiate their contract with the city.

Either way, the department needs more money, fire department members say. Right now, the department’s budget takes care of their day-to-day needs but doesn’t let them set aside enough money each year to let them replace trucks in a timely manner.

Lacey said Dennis Olson, city administrator, has been helping him look into the possibility of leasing trucks, which apparently would cost much less than buying.

The department is going to show a proposal to the city council on Thursday during the council’s briefing meeting. The department will formally make a request for more money, and other collaborations, at the council’s regular meeting on Monday.

What do you think about this new twist in the fire department’s plans? Should they have continued getting signatuers, or is it good that they’re working with the city? What do you think about leasing fire trucks instead of buying them? Is that a good solution, bad, or is it pretty much a wash?

A story today on www.brandoninfo.com goes into a little more detail about the topic.

Recently, two Brandon natives returned to this fine city to start new careers here. Kim Cerwick, a 1998 Brandon Valley High School alumna, is the new Brandon Valley Area Chamber of Commerce executive director. And Corey DeVille, a 1993 BVHS alumnus, is the new owner of the D&D Bar on Main Avenue. Both Cerwick and DeVille have said they made a point of moving back to Brandon because of their love for the city.

Brandon was once called a bedroom community. Not any more. There are families here who can trace their Brandon roots back to homesteader days, and now those Brandon natives are in their fifth generations as residents.

Even people who moved here toward the beginning of Brandon’s population boom have now been here 20 years or more. And their children are establishing their own homes in the town in which they grew up.

Brandon is “home.”

Do you have a story of growing up in Brandon, moving away and then moving back? Or did you grow up here and just kept on living here? What were your reasons?

When I was in high school, kids who turned 18 celebrated the rite of passage by buying 3.2 beer (the legal age at that time). I’ve never been a fan of hops, so 3.2 wasn’t my bag. Instead, when I turned 18, I celebrated by doing two things I finally could do at that age: get a credit card, and register to vote. And because my husband, whom I was dating at the time, was already registered in one party, I registered with the other party. That way we can vote in both primaries.

Are you registered to vote? If not, why not?

In order to vote in the city election April 8, you must be registered to vote on or before March 24. If you are not already registered, you can do so at any of the following locations:

*County auditor’s office
*City finance office
*Driver’s license station
*Public assistance agencies providing food stamps, TANF or WIC
*Department of Human Services offices which provide assistance to the disabled
*Military recruitment offices
*Mail-in registration with cards from the county auditor’s office or from the secretary of state’s Web site: www.sdsos.gov

I once met someone who voted for president twice. Because he hadn’t notified his precinct that he’d moved, he went ahead and voted in his old and in his new precinct on election day.

I know a woman who was a staunch Republican for years. One day, though, she was surprised to realize that her personal views now matched Democrat platforms more closely than Republican ones. So she changed her registration.

Do you have any voter registration anecdotes?

On April 8, voters will choose between Ward I residents Blaine Jones and John Saarloos and Ward III residents Steve Rubin and Roger Brooks for four-year terms on the Brandon city council.

If you’re not already registered to vote, you have until March 24 to do so.

Will Roger Brooks’ time in the state legislature help him get votes for a council seat? Should voters give John Saarloos a chance for a full term? Will Blaine Jones benefit from having lived in Brandon nearly his whole life? Does Steve Rubin have a built-in advantage because he’s the incumbent?

What are the pros and cons for each candidate?