Two ladder trucks were used to help free Buddy Schumacher from a grain bin at the Schumacher farm in the Town of Rush River last Friday. Schumacher was trapped for more than four hours before being freed. Pictured supplied by Doug HenryAfter more than a four hour ordeal on Friday a man was pulled safely from a grain bin where he had become trapped in corn up to his armpits.
Buddy Schumacher, of the Town of Rush River south of Baldwin, said he became entrapped in the corn about 2:00 p.m. Friday afternoon. He had been in the bin knocking corn off the side of the bin but then moved to the center of the bin when the corn started to flow and pulled him down into it.
United Fire and Rescue was called to the scene of the Schumacher farm at about 3:30 after initial efforts to free Schumacher failed, according to Bill Peavey of United Fire.
According to Peavey, the first crew to reach Schumacher put a harness on him to stabilize his position. Then a process was started to build a box around him using plywood boards by pushing them down into the corn. The plywood boards came from “the confined space rescue trailer” which is stored at the United Fire location at Baldwin and was pulled to the farm.
After the box was built, enough corn was dug out of it to free Schumacher when a harness could be run around his legs.
An additional difficulty was that the opening in the bin was at such an angle that Schumacher couldn’t be pulled out from there. That problem was solved by summoning a second ladder truck from the River Falls Fire Department to the scene. A crew from River Falls removed an auger on the center of the top of the bin and then they were right on top of Schumacher so they could pull him straight up.
Peavey said Schumacher was finally pulled out of the bin at 6:35. He was able to walk away from the bin and the River Falls crew re-assembled the auger at the top of the bin.
Peavey said the effort to free Schumacher was assisted by the Hudson rope rescue team from the Hudson Fire Department.
On Monday Schumacher said he’s a little stiff but otherwise fine. “I appreciate very much the effort of the people who were involved in getting me out,” he said.
New doctor begins practice February 15 at BAMC
A new physician is set to begin practice in Baldwin at Baldwin Area Medical Center next month.Dr. Melissa Hatcher, MD, will begin practice February 15 at BAMC. She is a board certified family practitioner with interests in rural health, women’s health and obstetrics. In fact, said Dr. Hatcher, it is mostly obstetrics that brings her here. “Wisconsin is a very ‘family-practice with obstetrics friendly’ place,” she said and the obstetrics opportunity is the main reason she chose to relocate in Baldwin.
Dr. Hatcher grew up in northwest Indiana and then attended Indiana University from which she received her bachelor’s degree in 1989. She completed her medical studies at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis in 1994 and her residence at Union Hospital in Terre Haute in 1997. She said she wanted to be a doctor since she was in the fifth grade. She also noted that she is the first member of her family to complete college.
Dr. Hatcher is the recipient of several awards. In 1987 she received the Academy of Family Physicians Outstanding Resident Award. In 1995 she received the Union Hospital Hospitality Award.
Since 1997 Dr. Hatcher was employed by the St. Vincent Physician Network.
Dr. Hatcher has been involved in educational efforts including: Preceptor for the Midwest Center for Rural Health Medical Students; Preceptor for Indiana State University Nurse Practitioner Program; Tar Wars Tobacco Education; American Lung Association “Open Airways” Asthma Lecture; “Women in Medicine” talk for Business/Professional Women; Volunteer Preceptor for Family Medicine Clerkship; and Preceptor for Union Hospital Family Practice Residency Program.
Dr. Hatcher and her family have already moved to Baldwin. Her husband is employed by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and works out of Los Angeles. Dr. Hatcher has four children, Amanda, 14, Mae, 12, Matthew, 10 and Zachary, two. The oldest three are already enrolled in B-W Schools.
When not working, Dr. Hatcher enjoys sewing, collecting Precious Moments, stamps, Indiana University basketball, cake decorating, candymaking and handbells. Previously she was a member of the Gobin United Methodist Church where she participated in the handbell choir, Outreach Committee and Genesis Circle. She is a member of the Order of Eastern Star and a Girl Scout leader.
Alexandria Anderson to be 2010
Juvenile Arthritis March Honoree
A local girl, Alex Anderson, daughter of Matt and Tobie Anderson, will be the 2010 Juvenile Arthritis March (JAM) Honoree. As the Honoree she will share her personal story and speak at this years JAM. JAM is a family-focused event to raise funds and create awareness that kids get arthritis too. There are 300,000 kids affected by this disease and Alex is one of them. Arthritis is the nation’s leading cause of disability. The JAM is on March 6 at the Mall of America, level 3, north side. Registration is at 7:00 a.m. with the walk beginning at 8:15 a.m. and ending at 9:45 a.m.
Alex was four years old when she was diagnosed with polyarticular juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, meaning multiple joints affected by arthritis. She is now 11 and has learned to manage and live with this disease quite well. “We are very proud of Alex and her positive attitude, even on days when she is in pain,” said her mom, Tobie.
For the past five years Alex and her family have had their own JAM team, Al’s Pals. They gather their family and friends throughout the year to raise money by holding bake sales and soup suppers. Last year they raised nearly $5,000 through their efforts. Each year they develop a theme for the walk, this year they are basketball players and their theme is “Shooting for a Cure”. “Our entire family is very passionate about JAM. I volunteer for the Arthritis Foundation and the I am the Chair of the JAM Committee,” said Tobie.
If you would like to help Alex reach her fundraising goal, donations can be made online at www.jam2010.kintera.org (select Alexandria Anderson) or mailed to JAM, 1913 110th Avenue, Baldwin, WI 54002. For more information on the JAM please contact Liz Truax, Events and Juvenile Programs Coordinator, Arthritis Foundation North Central Chapter, 651-229-5371. All money raised will be used to help find a cure for Juvenile Arthritis and to also fund Camp M.A.S.H. (Make Arthritis Stop Hurting).
From the Exchanges
Interesting Items from
Surrounding communities
AMERY FREE PRESS: The Polk County Sheriff’s Department investigated a report of a 16-year-old female spending several hours with Terry Bryant, 49, Balsam Lake, in his apartment. It was a school day and the female did not attend school, but rather consumed beer Bryant had bought for her. According to the report, the female then went to her apartment, located above Bryant’s, caused a disturbance by punching and kicking walls and breaking glass. Upon arrival, the deputy detected the strong odor of intoxicants and the female’s PBT registered .165. The female advised she drank High Gravity beer that Bryant had bought her. Bryant admitted buying the beer and that her parents usually didn’t mind that he and the female drank beer and played board games. Bryant admitted that he was convicted in the past of sexually assaulting his niece who was four years old at the time, but did not show up as a registered sex offender. Bryant was arrested and charged with contributing to the delinquency of a child and transported to the Polk County jail.
PIERCE COUNTY HERALD: The route from the river to its final resting place for a stockpile of sand goes through Diamond Bluff. Right through the heart of a residential neighborhood, in fact, and that’s what has many residents of the Southern Pierce County community concerned. Approximately 70 people attended a town board meeting Thursday, where plans for the sand’s relocation were debated. At issue was the potential for contaminated groundwater and hazards posed by temporary storage and any spillage during the hauling project, but especially the truck traffic to be involved. Board members said a verbal go-ahead has already been given; opponents want the decision to proceed rescinded before there’s a signed agreement. Attendees who filled the town hall to capacity were told L.S. Industrial Marine, a contractor for the Army Corps of Engineers, intends to use the local boat launch’s parking lot as a transfer site for between 250,000 and 350,000 cubic yards of material. The sandy material dredged out of the Mississippi’s navigation channel over the past decade has been kept until now on an island in the river. The contractor plans to bring it by barge to the launch’s lot, then load it onto trucks to be hauled to what’s presently known as the Mathy gravel pit, on the southwest corner of Hwy. 35 and CTH K.
BURNETT COUNTY SENTINEL (GRANTSBURG): Residents of Grantsburg and surrounding towns concerned for the future of the Grantsburg Swimming Pool formed a committee Monday evening to raise at least $25,000 by Memorial Day. Village board members Roger Panek, Mike Langevin, Dean Josephson and James O. Nelson, who serve on the parks committee called the meeting to ask for community input on how to raise money for the pool, ideas on how to draw more swimmers and ways to cut operating costs. In addition to normal operating expenses, the pool needs about $20,000 in drain modifications before it can open in 2010 in order to meet federal safety standards set in the federal Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act. The act requires all public pools and spas to have drain covers that prevent swimmers from becoming attached by suction to the pool’s drain. The village board has budgeted for the pool’s regular operating expenses in 2010, plus an additional $14,000 in drain modifications and a pool cover to retain water temperature and prevent chemical evaporation. In addition the board also budgeted for an additional $25,000 fund-raising contribution.
HUDSON STAR-OBSERVER: The Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valley Council announced in a letter recently that it will be liquidating several day and overnight facilities in the region, including the 550-acre Rolling Ridges camp at the intersection of McCutcheon Rd and Alexander Rd. in the Town of Hudson. According to Scout officials the property will be decommissioned with the intent to sell the property. A council letter said “a revitalized Girl Scout program today, the economic realities of operating properties that are not fully utilized and - most importantly - girls’ changing interests are leading River Valleys and Girl Scout councils nationwide to proactively change their property portfolios in order to most effectively serve girls…While outdoor programs remain a core of the Girl Scout leadership experience just a quarter of our members participate in outdoor programs at camp,” officials said. In fiscal year 2009, 8.7 percent of Girl Scouts attended resident camps and the overall utilization rate at River Valleys’ camp properties was 37 percent.
A local girl, Alex Anderson, daughter of Matt and Tobie Anderson, will be the 2010 Juvenile Arthritis March (JAM) Honoree. As the Honoree she will share her personal story and speak at this years JAM. JAM is a family-focused event to raise funds and create awareness that kids get arthritis too. There are 300,000 kids affected by this disease and Alex is one of them. Arthritis is the nation’s leading cause of disability. The JAM is on March 6 at the Mall of America, level 3, north side. Registration is at 7:00 a.m. with the walk beginning at 8:15 a.m. and ending at 9:45 a.m.Alex was four years old when she was diagnosed with polyarticular juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, meaning multiple joints affected by arthritis. She is now 11 and has learned to manage and live with this disease quite well. “We are very proud of Alex and her positive attitude, even on days when she is in pain,” said her mom, Tobie.
For the past five years Alex and her family have had their own JAM team, Al’s Pals. They gather their family and friends throughout the year to raise money by holding bake sales and soup suppers. Last year they raised nearly $5,000 through their efforts. Each year they develop a theme for the walk, this year they are basketball players and their theme is “Shooting for a Cure”. “Our entire family is very passionate about JAM. I volunteer for the Arthritis Foundation and the I am the Chair of the JAM Committee,” said Tobie.
If you would like to help Alex reach her fundraising goal, donations can be made online at www.jam2010.kintera.org (select Alexandria Anderson) or mailed to JAM, 1913 110th Avenue, Baldwin, WI 54002. For more information on the JAM please contact Liz Truax, Events and Juvenile Programs Coordinator, Arthritis Foundation North Central Chapter, 651-229-5371. All money raised will be used to help find a cure for Juvenile Arthritis and to also fund Camp M.A.S.H. (Make Arthritis Stop Hurting).
From the Exchanges
Interesting Items from
Surrounding communities
AMERY FREE PRESS: The Polk County Sheriff’s Department investigated a report of a 16-year-old female spending several hours with Terry Bryant, 49, Balsam Lake, in his apartment. It was a school day and the female did not attend school, but rather consumed beer Bryant had bought for her. According to the report, the female then went to her apartment, located above Bryant’s, caused a disturbance by punching and kicking walls and breaking glass. Upon arrival, the deputy detected the strong odor of intoxicants and the female’s PBT registered .165. The female advised she drank High Gravity beer that Bryant had bought her. Bryant admitted buying the beer and that her parents usually didn’t mind that he and the female drank beer and played board games. Bryant admitted that he was convicted in the past of sexually assaulting his niece who was four years old at the time, but did not show up as a registered sex offender. Bryant was arrested and charged with contributing to the delinquency of a child and transported to the Polk County jail.
PIERCE COUNTY HERALD: The route from the river to its final resting place for a stockpile of sand goes through Diamond Bluff. Right through the heart of a residential neighborhood, in fact, and that’s what has many residents of the Southern Pierce County community concerned. Approximately 70 people attended a town board meeting Thursday, where plans for the sand’s relocation were debated. At issue was the potential for contaminated groundwater and hazards posed by temporary storage and any spillage during the hauling project, but especially the truck traffic to be involved. Board members said a verbal go-ahead has already been given; opponents want the decision to proceed rescinded before there’s a signed agreement. Attendees who filled the town hall to capacity were told L.S. Industrial Marine, a contractor for the Army Corps of Engineers, intends to use the local boat launch’s parking lot as a transfer site for between 250,000 and 350,000 cubic yards of material. The sandy material dredged out of the Mississippi’s navigation channel over the past decade has been kept until now on an island in the river. The contractor plans to bring it by barge to the launch’s lot, then load it onto trucks to be hauled to what’s presently known as the Mathy gravel pit, on the southwest corner of Hwy. 35 and CTH K.
BURNETT COUNTY SENTINEL (GRANTSBURG): Residents of Grantsburg and surrounding towns concerned for the future of the Grantsburg Swimming Pool formed a committee Monday evening to raise at least $25,000 by Memorial Day. Village board members Roger Panek, Mike Langevin, Dean Josephson and James O. Nelson, who serve on the parks committee called the meeting to ask for community input on how to raise money for the pool, ideas on how to draw more swimmers and ways to cut operating costs. In addition to normal operating expenses, the pool needs about $20,000 in drain modifications before it can open in 2010 in order to meet federal safety standards set in the federal Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act. The act requires all public pools and spas to have drain covers that prevent swimmers from becoming attached by suction to the pool’s drain. The village board has budgeted for the pool’s regular operating expenses in 2010, plus an additional $14,000 in drain modifications and a pool cover to retain water temperature and prevent chemical evaporation. In addition the board also budgeted for an additional $25,000 fund-raising contribution.
HUDSON STAR-OBSERVER: The Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valley Council announced in a letter recently that it will be liquidating several day and overnight facilities in the region, including the 550-acre Rolling Ridges camp at the intersection of McCutcheon Rd and Alexander Rd. in the Town of Hudson. According to Scout officials the property will be decommissioned with the intent to sell the property. A council letter said “a revitalized Girl Scout program today, the economic realities of operating properties that are not fully utilized and - most importantly - girls’ changing interests are leading River Valleys and Girl Scout councils nationwide to proactively change their property portfolios in order to most effectively serve girls…While outdoor programs remain a core of the Girl Scout leadership experience just a quarter of our members participate in outdoor programs at camp,” officials said. In fiscal year 2009, 8.7 percent of Girl Scouts attended resident camps and the overall utilization rate at River Valleys’ camp properties was 37 percent.
