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Notes from the Boonies

By Paul Wisovaty

This column really is a note from the boonies.

Several years ago, at the height of the Afghan-Iraq wars, a lady walked into my office with a question. Why, she asked, didn't our hometown display attractive signs along Main Street honoring local active duty veterans, as was a common practice in nearby communities? I answered that I had no idea, and suggested that she go down to City Hall and ask them.

"Why don't you do it?" she asked. By "it," I should note, she didn't mean that I should drive downtown and ask the mayor. She meant, Why don't I just take on the whole project myself?

I tried to come up with a few good reasons why not, but she wasn't buying any of them. So the next thing I know, I'm standing up at a City Council meeting asking their permission to embark upon this project. Since a few of the Council Members had actually travelled outside of Tuscola during the past couple of years, they were aware that other communities had been doing this. They happily granted me permission to do it (once it became apparent that I would be doing most of the work), and as I walked out of City Hall that night, I still remember thinking, "What have I gotten myself into?"

Actually, it couldn't have been easier. I started making the rounds of the local service clubs — American Legion, VFW, Lions, Kiwanis, Moose, Rotary — and they almost literally threw money at me. The local paper ran a front page story about the project, featuring a smiling photo of me proudly wearing my Polish Legion of American Veterans ball cap — I couldn't make that up — and the money came pouring in. I made it clear that I did not want any veterans' families to contribute; they were already sacrificing enough. Before I knew it, the city's street department had put up about forty very attractive signs all along the major streets. Everywhere I went, local citizens patted me on the back, shook my hand, and thanked me for my service. After two or three beers, I even thought about running for mayor. Everything was going so well.

And the years went by. Applications for signs dropped quite a bit, something which I attributed to the probability that everyone who was interested had already turned in an application. To be honest, I didn't think about it a whole lot, other things taking up most of my time. Then one spring we received some severe storms and, when I woke up one morning in June, I noticed that well over half of the signs had either blown down or been badly damaged. No problem, I thought. Mom and Dad would call me about getting a replacement and I would attend to it. But that didn't happen. Ever. So I went down to City Hall and talked to the City Administrator, a very cooperative and hard working veteran himself.

"I'm guessing that people are just coming down to City Hall requesting sign replacements, right?" I asked. Nope. Hadn't happened there either. He then told me that, while he was surprised as I at the non-reaction by both the community and veterans' families, the City would be undertaking the project, and would get the word out. Fair enough. My grandkids were keeping me busy enough, and I was happy to let the City take over.

Another year passed quickly (happens when you're near 70), and I had not seen any progress. So I returned to talk to the Administrator and asked, rather sheepishly, "What's happening? Have you tried to get the word out about this?" His answer was a clear Yes. The City had been posting notices on something called Facebook(?), and the City Treasurer assured me of the improbability that anyone in Tuscola with a computer would not have seen them. They also ran a couple of announcements in the local paper, and had brought the subject up once at a City Council meeting, which of course was covered by the paper. Still nothing. (I take that back; one gentleman called me about six months ago and I referred him to the City. I am talking about an entire time span of about four years.) I should also note that I recently drove through another small town not far from here, which had posted 25-30 signs on a huge wall several years ago, and there were fewer than a dozen remaining. So this is not entirely a Tuscola phenomenon.

I realize that the Mideast wars are over, at least as of this writing. But hey, nobody's joining the service anymore? What happened? I guess that my only conclusion may be that "it was a good idea at the time." The local football team is looking pretty good this year, and the only other thing locals seem to be talking about these days is The Donald. He would do very well in Douglas County.

I'd like to end on a positive note. In the past few years I've spoken with several Iraq-Afghan vets, and asked them what people had to say to them upon their return. The most commonly expressed greeting was "Welcome home."

That's a welcome change, don't you think?

Paul Wisovaty is a member of VVAW. He lives in Tuscola, Illinois. He was in Vietnam with the US Army 9th Division in 1968.