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Community Voices To adapt quickly, stay focused and be grateful
We learn how to adapt in hard times by watching what others have gone through.
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Think back to the stories you’ve heard from your family.
When my parents bought their dairy farm in Brooklyn in the 1970s, they had just moved from Chicago to live their dream and had a steep learning curve ahead of them. One day they saw a cow in distress; having no idea what the problem was, they ran to a neigh bor for help.
It took my parents years to live down the fact that the cow was simply having a calf.
During the ice storm of ’76, we had no electricity, heat or water for eight days, and roads were closed. Out in the barn the whole day, my parents had to dump milk because no one could get out to pick it up. A cousin watched us four kids, all under 5, keeping us warm with our gas oven.
We got through it, and how we move and adapt through COVID-19 will cre ate the stories we get to share when this is all over.
We’re facing unprecedented challenges as a community, nation and world. We are in new territory with the scope, timeline and other unknows this has brought.
The first thing we must do is focus. Avoid distractions and guard Konopacki
your mindset.
Stress can pull you into fuzzy thinking and worry cycles. Set aside your news feed and visit it only as needed to stay up to date with important information; watch for when you are stuck on repeat.
Think about where you want to be when this has passed. Figure out what areas of life is this forcing you to examine and decide how you can take action on the things you can control and let go of the stress of those you can’t.
I made the decision to close my chiropractic office except for working with acute patients while coronavirus cases slow down in our community. I really struggled to make this decision. But when I let it be, this time is a gift for me to pause, take a deep breath, and get laser focused time to work on an office re-brand project and future efforts that have been waiting for more of my attention.
I’m trying to be aware enough to not follow the stress prompts I feel that tell me to rush around and do more. I’m being thoughtful about how I direct my energy and time.
It’s been a chance for me to be grateful; it was a shock to realize how fortunate I’ve been in my life.
For the first time, I experienced going to a store and not having everything I wanted. It is humbling to reflect on how this is a way of life for many in the world.
I’m so proud of our community: healthcare workers on the front lines, the people working around the clock to make sure we have groceries stocked, our emergency responders and local companies like Promega, which is working on COVID-19 test kits. I’m inspired by stories of generosity, neighbors helping neighbors, lifting spirits and coming together.
I saw a quote recently that fits with our worldwide COVID-19 concerns: “We don’t always have the privilege of agreeing with what life puts in front of us.”
That is true, but we do have a choice about how we respond. I am grateful to be a part of this com munity, and I wish everyone health and resourcefulness as we get through this together and create the stories of how we adapted together.
Dr. Laura Konopacki is the owner of Body Wave chiropractic in Fitch burg, and she has training in pediatrics and functional neurology.
Friday, April 10 • Vol. 7, No. 2 Periodical Postage Paid, Verona, WI and additional offices. Published monthly on Friday by the
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I’ll never forget the day this pandemic became real for me.
It was just another Friday in the office, and the closures started rolling in. First, it was just community events that were postponed or canceled. Next, Gov. Tony Evers issued an order closing all Wisconsin public and private schools.
That was the last time I visit ed my office – March 13.
I had read an article a few weeks earlier that concluded it wasn’t a matter of if, but when COVID-19 was going to hit the United States. Expert epidemi ologists and scientists told us to prepare for significant disrup tions to our livelihoods.
So as the world began chang ing suddenly, I sat in my desk, head in my hands, wondering if this is how it all ends. Then, my fight or flight response took over, and my fingers started typing story after breaking news story about how this was affecting our communities.
That’s how it’s been the past few weeks. My body is gov erned by a journalist, who is in turn, governed by an over whelming sense of duty. The human in me is nowhere to be found right now, other than likely cowering in a corner, para lyzed and sickened by fear.
How viscer al it is to be a journalist and an editor with an anxiety disorder during an unprecedented global event of this scope. I’m shaking even as I write this.
The following week came the business and local govern ment closures. In real time, my favorite coffee shops went dark – those were the places where I had found the most inspiration. The local businesses I’d already written about suddenly had uncertain financial futures.
Worse, there’s nothing to occupy these business owners and employees as they sit at home, forced to wallow in the uncertainty and find creative ways to weather this storm.
Their livelihoods – and mine – were indeed disrupted. They were ripped from us. And now we grieve them until we once again find some semblance of “normal.”
Will there be the V-shaped rebound most economists are hoping for after this is over, or did some establishments lock their doors for the last time? My heart breaks and stomach churns for the business owners who face this, as they are the blood that pumps through small Wisconsin towns, cities and villages.
I can’t even begin to describe the depth of my sorrow for our health care workers, grocery store clerks, janitorial staff and other people deemed essential during this crisis. They, and the communities we serve, are what drives the stories me and my staff write.
Our newspapers are buried in COVID-19 coverage for now, but what about a month or two down the road? It’s hard not to go down that rabbit hole.
My work is a welcome dis traction from the temptation of reading articles from national news outlets – how COVID-19 ravages one’s body, how some experts say it might take 18 months to find a vaccine and the dire impacts this has had on an already fragile economy.
At least my work in local journalism involves finding the stories where people help one another. Those glimmers of hope seem to be few and far between, even as I desperately search for them on my own time – in contacting the people I love and appreciating that the sun is out.
That’s another rabbit hole I can’t let myself enter. I had just started to heal from the trauma of losing two loved ones last year, and I now have to face the possibility of losing more.
My father, who has been my rock and who keeps me ground ed during hard times, has bronchial asthma. This makes him, by definition, someone who is at a high risk of contracting a severe COVID-19 infection.
But as long as I am able to hear his laughter– or his voice at all – on the other side of the phone, I will be able to weather this storm.
I don’t really have a choice.
Emilie Heidemann is the Uni fied Newspaper Group community and business editor. She is also the Oregon Observer gov ernment reporter. Heidemann Being a journalist during pandemic challenging
You might have noticed a spike in the number of houses in Fitchburg that have solar panels on their roofs in recent years.
Maybe you have been considering install ing some on your home, too. After all, solar not only helps fight climate change; it lowers your monthly energy bills.
My family had solar panels installed on our house in late 2017, and so far, my experience with solar has generally exceeded my expec tations.
It has been maintenance free. In fact, I have not spent a dime yet on maintenance.
Solar appear to be both a great investment and the responsible thing to do.
Our 6.3 kilowatt power system has pro duced approximately $1,120 and $1,070 in savings in 2018 and 2019, respectively. This translates to a payback of approximately 9.4 years. And solar panels are durable, generally lasting 30-35 years.
That’s much longer than a typical roof lasts, which was a concern I initially had. But our insurance company indicated that if there were hail damage, the removal and replace ment of the solar panels would be covered as part of the shingle replacement.
I also discussed it with an area roofer, who said the shingles beneath the panels would not likely need replacement due to their pro tection from the panels against hail damage. Thus, the panels could more likely to be kept in place, and shingle replacement work would take place around the perimeter of the solar panels.
I also wondered about snow accumulation blocking the panels (snow shading), as solar production can be limited by that and cloudy days. But over each of the past three winters, I was pleasantly surprised by how few days snow shading actually blocked energy pro duction on our home.
It is easy to track functionality, solar production and energy usage through the SolarEdge app. I found that our total days with blocked solar production due to snow shading was limited to 10 days during the 2017-18 winter, 19 days during the 2018-19 winter, and 20 days during the 2019-20 win ter.
This is because snow cover on the ground does not correlate closely with snow shading on your roof, especially if you have full expo sure on a south-facing, pitched roof. Snow typically slides off our solar panels with the first or second sunny day above 25 degrees.
Some people ask about solar when trying to sell our home. I view our solar investment as something that will one day help us sell our home, even if we don’t end up staying in the house through the payback period.
On average, a buyer would be paying approximately $90 less per month on their utility bill with our system than if the house didn’t have solar.
Most importantly, I feel proud that we invested in renewable energy to do our small part to reduce our family’s carbon footprint. Our system has reduced our carbon footprint by the equivalent of planting over 680 trees.
This also is a handy feature of our app, which has showed that our solar array has eliminated discharging over 12,350 kilograms of CO2 into the air we breathe, which would have been the case using MG&E’s primarily coal-generated electricity.
If the shingles on your house are due to be replaced soon, it’s better to wait until after they’ve been replaced to install solar panels. Otherwise, I hope you will consider exploring the solar option in the next couple years.
Chris Jimieson is a member of Fitchburg’s
Resource Conservation Commission and a geological engineer at SCS Engineers in Madison. He lives in Swan Creek with his wife and their 11-year-old son. My experiment in solar energy satisfying
Two Johns make it right Madison area Home Depot managers provide supplies for Fitchburg Senior Center volunteers COVID-19 response
NEAL PATTEN Unified Newspaper Group
Johnny Chowaniec and Jonathan Rudolph have more in common than just their first name – they also share the same job and spirit of giving.
Rudolph, the store manager of the west side Home Depot in Madison, and Chowaniec, the store manager of the east side Madison Home Depot, made a surprise donation to the Fitchburg Senior Center last month.
Each brought a bucket of supplies, including masks, gloves, rags and disinfectants, to help safeguard the health of volunteers at the center.
The pair had a relationship with the center dating back several years to when volunteer program manager and nutrition site manager Mandi Miller reached out to them to donate a refrigerator and freezer from their stores.
However, the donation last month was not something Miller requested or expected.
“They just showed up one day. These managers are amazing community minded guys and we are so fortunate they thought of us,” Miller said.
The donated supplies are now being used by Meals on Wheels volunteers, who are continuing the home meal delivery program, despite the senior center building being closed due to COVID-19.
Miller said the main volunteer base for the program is older adults, who are among the most vulnerable for contracting the nov el coronavirus illness.
Photo submitted Johhny Chowaniec, the store manager of the east side Madison Home Depot (left) and Jonathan Rudolph, the store manager of the west side Madison Home Depot (right).
Miller admitted that while it is “not a great idea for the volunteers to be outside,” the center is doing what it can to help them stay safe, which is why the donation from the Home Depot managers has been so helpful.
Starting last week, the center cut the num ber of distribution days by half to minimize contact with recipients of the food relief, but is delivering twice as many meals on the days it still delivers.
Miller has begun to find younger volun teers and is making her older volunteers stay home.
“We have so many seniors who are food insecure, we already feel awful we can’t do more as a staff, so it would be weird if we weren’t still doing Meals on Wheels,” she said.
The masks and gloves have also been put to use protecting the volunteers sent out to get groceries for shut-in seniors.
For their part, Rudolph and Chowaniec are humble about their donation.
“I’m leery about talking about donations because when you’re doing the right thing, you don’t want to make a big deal about it, it’s just the right thing to do,” Rudolph said.
“I’m never looking for recognition. I just want to take care of the community,” Chow aniec agreed.
Neal Patten, community reporter, can be contacted at neal.patten@wcinet.com “These managers are amazing community minded guys and we are so fortunate they thought of us.”
Mandi Miller, volunteer program manager and nutrition site manager at Fitchburg Senior Center
City launches ‘critical assessment’ form for seniors in need
Form asks what services seniors need to be safe amid COVID-19
KIMBERLY WETHAL Unified Newspaper Group
If Fitchburg seniors need assistance to stay home and reduce their risk of contracting COVID-19, the senior center wants to know about it.
The Fitchburg Senior Center launched a Critical Needs Assessment form this week, where senior citizens or their care givers can tell staff what services they might need from home, in light of Gov. Tony Evers’ March 24 Safer at Home order.
Those services might include help with feelings of depression or isolation, home-delivered meals, medication pickup, grocery delivery or assistance with personal care.
The senior center is closed to the pub lic to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, an illness that’s especially dangerous to older citizens. The form is intended to help the center continue to serve seniors.
There are multiple ways to fill out the form, which either senior citizens or caretakers can fill out, or let senior cen ter staff know what needs are required – online, by phone, fax or mail.
The form is on the senior center’s page of the city’s website, fitchburgwi.gov, or it that can be printed and either emailed or faxed, at 270-4296, to the senior cen ter. The senior center can be reached by email at fitchburgseniorcenter@fitch burgwi.gov. Email reporter Kimberly Wethal at kim berly.wethal@wcinet.com and follow her on Twitter @kimberly_wethal.
City of Fitchburg Notebook: Council approves basic emergency plan
KIMBERLY WETHAL Unified Newspaper Group
City of Fitchburg fire department chief Joe Pulvermacher has been working for months on a basic emergency response plan that outlined the hierarchy of authority for the city and the role of emergency operations.
But the plan became a priority for the Common Council to pass at its Tuesday, March 24, meeting as the number of cases of COVID-19 in Dane County, and across the state and the nation, continued to rise.
The Council approved the basic emergency response plan unanimously, with little discussion.
Pulvermacher called the plan a “road map” that allows for emergencies to be approached in a consis tent way in the future.
“It outlines what we do in an emergency, and how we respond,” Pulvermacher said as he spoke to the Common Council via video conference. “It provides a little bit of scope as to how we coordinate not only our local resources, but then how we work in an escalating situation, moving up the chain with the county, the state and the federal government.”
Email reporter Kimber ly Wethal at kimberly. wethal@wcinet.com and follow her on Twitter @ kimberly_wethal.
UW Health consolidates clinics
EMILIE HEIDEMANN Unified Newspaper Group
UW Health is consolidating its primary care clinics to keep staff safe during the COVID-19 health crisis.
This means Fitchburg’s UW Health clinic for family medicine at the Odana loca tion, 5543 E. Cheryl Pkwy. has temporarily closed, effec tive Monday, March 23.
The move is intended to accommodate patients who have urgent medical needs that require in-person care, while at the same time sup porting social distancing goals, the release states.
Patients can contact their usual clinic location with questions, to request prescrip tion refills or to schedule a visit via phone or video.
The following primary care locations will remain open for in-person and essential visits: • 20 S. Park • Beaver Dam • DeForest Clinic • East Clinic • Odana Clinic • Portage Clinic • Verona Clinic • West Clinic • Wingra Clinic • Yahara Clinic
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Photo courtesy of Fitchburg Historical Society Anna Fox and her father, Philip R. Fox.
COVID-19 isn’t Fitchburg’s first pandemic
RICH EGGLESTON Special to the Star
COVID-19 isn’t the first pandemic that people have felt in Fitchburg, and it almost certainly won’t be the last.
Before science even learned how to tackle disease – before there was even a state of Wisconsin – deadly illnesses regularly visited the land.
Smallpox took a toll here in the 1770s, according to research by the Wisconsin Historical Society.
Physician Edward Jen ner’s vaccine would not come along until 1796. In the early 20th century, smallpox was still around.
In 1915, a smallpox outbreak in Madison filled the city’s hospitals and swamped the doctors and nurses at St. Mary’s Hos pital.
In 1918, the flu pandemic spread across the country from Fort Riley, Kansas, competing for headlines with World War I.
Public gatherings were prohibited, non-essential businesses were advised to close and p a r i s h i o n e r s w e r e admonished to stay away from their churches.
T h e f l u t h a t y e a r claimed nearly 8,500 lives in Wisconsin, but none at Edgewood High School, then known as the Sacred Heart Acade my.
I t w a s t h e r e t h a t Fitchburg physician Dr. Philip R. Fox cared for stricken students and nuns.
The students and staff were quarantined for a month, but all recovered.
The people at Edgewood never forgot the contribu tion of Fox. At his daughter, Anna Fox’s 103rd birthday celebration, a delegation from Edgewood paid its respects.
In 2018, the Fitchburg Historical Society marked a century since that influ enza outbreak with a look at the influenza virus by Professor Mary Hayney of the University of Wis consin-Madison Pharmacy School.
Hayney said there had been other outbreaks in the intervening years, with the greatest potential for catastrophe in 2009.
Perhaps historians will someday study the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, and how it affected our behavior. Submitted by Rich Eggleston, former journal ist who retired in 2012 and president of the Fitchburg
Historical Society from 2003-2007.
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