A belated Happy Valentines Day! Valentine’s Day popularity dates back to the 18th century and by the turn of the 19th century the holiday was on its way to becoming one of America’s biggest holidays. Valentine’s Day was made popular by Cupid becoming linked to the holiday in the 19th century, after it became possible to send a postcard for one cent, and technology made it easy to print postcards. Hallmark began manufacturing Valentine’s Day cards in 1916 and it was cheap and easy to send them to those you cared about. Valentine’s Day and Christmas remain the two biggest holidays for Hallmark. Valentine’s Day results in around 145 million cards being sent. The penny postcard however is no longer available. *** Here is something that makes you feel real good about standing at a gas pump in Stanley and paying $3.34.9 for each gallon you put in your vehicle! Recently, Exxon-Mobil, the largest United States oil producer, announced profits of $55.7 billion for 2022, a record for the U. S. oil industry. And on February 2, Shell announced their profits were $39.9 billion for 2022 – double what they made in 2021. And most recently, BP announced their 2022 profit at $27.7 billion compared to $12.8 billion in 2021. One can only hope that if you have a diversified portfolio in a retirement account, that a little of that windfall is coming your way by such a backdoor method. *** After attending a number of home basketball games this year, I have a few observations. In my judgment, there is a need for a course on proper etiquette for the student body. There was very poor school spirit exhibited. If it wasn’t for the pep band and a few adults who tried to instill a little life in the student body, there would have been none. And it shocks me how few students stand for the playing/singing of the School Song. Thank God they do follow proper etiquette when the National Anthem is played. If their phones could cheer the roof would be blown off the gym as they are on them most of the time they are at the game. So much for being old and from a different era – apparently! And at the Cadott game, their student body present was no different – you didn’t even know they were there. *** I was very pleased with the You Tube presentation of the Mc-Donell vs Stanley-Boyd boys basketball game on Thursday, February 9. It was the first game I tried to watch that the score clock could be seen and thus one could see the score. I watched the Regis vs Stanley-Boyd girls game for only a few minutes and turned it off as one couldn’t see the scoreboard. I don’t know what it takes but Stanley-Boyd should find out from Mondovi and Thorp how to have the score clock info on the screen. Those two schools have had the best You tube presentations I have seen. Mondovi in football and Thorp in basketball. *** It is noteworthy that Sarah Diedrick – Kasdorf, Wisconsin Counties Association, Director of Outreach, recently visited the Taylor and Clark County Boards and provided them with an in-service on the Role of the County Board. I know two things about these two county boards. Neither has a county administrator and in the case of Taylor County, one is lead to believe from newspaper reports that the county board members, and/or committees, were trying to run county departments and in Taylor County there were multiple issues with their Veterans Service Office/Officer. The major points made in the in-service were: Supervisors serve primarily a legislative function. The legislative function is largely limited to policy and law making, budgetary approval and cooperative decision making. No operational control resides with supervisors. The supervisors’ authority is collective. Committee chairs set agendas, preside at meetings and make reports and recommendations on the committee’s behalf. The presenter made the supervisors aware that they don’t supervise anything. Their role is to adopt policy and hold staff accountable for implementing policy through county administration. Boards should be “visionary” and long-term thinkers of what they want the county to look like in the future. A department head supervises the administration of the department and the county board performs advisory or policy-making functions authorized by state statute. She also noted that more counties are moving towards a county administration. The presenter shared the following from Chippewa County to make her points: “The role of the county board is to set the strategic mission and priorities for the county, establish the general policies by which the county is guided in its management of county affairs, consider and act upon resolutions and ordinances, provide financial oversight and build community relationships in support of the mission and priorities. The county board appoints the county administrator and monitors the county administrator’s management of the daily operations and implementation of policy.” I wonder how many county board members have had to re-evaluate their role as a member of the county board? Sounds like it was a good in-service for new and long time board members. *** I trust if you have been on West 8th Avenue recently you have noticed the sizable addition that Film Tech is adding to the west side of their manufacturing plant. Perhaps you have also noted the large metal silo laying on the south east side of the plant. It will be joining the other silos that hold plastic pellets used in the manufacturing of plastic sheeting. I am told that the addition will allow the adding of another manufacturing machine that makes plastic film. The manufactured plastic film, clear and colored, is purchased by food, industrial and medical manufacturers. The business was first established in Stanley in 1980 and was assisted by the city of Stanley providing a business loan to the two gentlemen who built the manufacturing equipment. *** Smile time. Whenever her three-year old grandson comes to visit, he wants grandma to play Army. He’s the general barking out the orders and grandma is the lowly private. “Soldier do this! Solider do that!” One day while they were playing he needed to go to the bathroom. A few minutes later, the door opened and there he stood his pants around his ankles, shouting, “Solider I can’t get my pants up!” +++ A guy in the grocery store was checking out three items ahead of me – a case of beer, a cartoon of cigarettes and a gallon of milk. The total came to $75. He stood there for a moment in disbelief before asking the cashier, “How much was the milk?” +++ You may be tough, but you’re not “just sit through a 4th grade recorder concert” that’s tough! +++ A new recruit was in the chow line staring at a measly potato on his plate. “Is that all I get? The solider asked the cook. Taking pity, the cook asked would you like two?” “Yes, please.” “Sure thing.” He reached over, with his spatula and cut the new guys potato in half. “There, now you have two.” +++ Intelligence is nothing if it’s not accompanied with kindness.

BY DAVID JANKOSKI