WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31, 2016
Serving Polk County’s St. Croix Valley since 1897
VOL. 119 NO. 05 www.osceolasun.com $1.00
OSCEOLA COMMUNITY FAIR/WHEELS & WINGS GUIDE INSIDE
Attorney General meets with local forces, officials Drugs, mental health top list of law enforcement concerns BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
SUBMITTED
RadTour riders sample locally grown food prepared by area chefs during the 2015 Iowa City ride.
Bikes, barns and brew Cycling event features local food and beer
Drug abuse and mental health dominated a roundtable conversation last week between state representatives and local law enforcement. The discussion was part of Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel’s county-by-county tour of the state, through which he hopes to find ways to better support police. Senator Sheila Harsdorf, Assembly Rep. Adam Jarchow and local elected officials also attended the session. Drug challenges have become a growing concern across the state, according to Schimel. “There’s always been a drug we’re worried about,” he said, “but with methamphetamine making a big comeback and
SUZANNE LINDGREN | THE SUN
Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel, Senator Sheila Harsdorf and Assembly Rep. Adam Jarchow talked with local law enforcement about their top concerns last week.
with the challenges we have with opiates, we have more cause to be freaked out now.” Deaths from drug overdoses quadrupled in Wisconsin from 1999 to 2013, according to a report from the state’s Department of Health Services, rising from 4 per
100,000 to 16 per 100,000. The rate surpassed vehicle crash deaths in 2008 and approached the rate for fall-related deaths in 2013. “I’m expecting that when we get the 2014 numbers we’ll have a new SEE SCHIMEL, PAGE 2
BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
RadTour, a pedal-powered exploration of local farms, food and ferments that got its start in Iowa, will host its first St. Croix Valley tour this September. The 40-mile expedition will bring cyclists from Somerset to Osceola, where the group will stop at Watershed Café for a spread by chef and co-owner Rita Rasmussen featuring food grown at Common Harvest Farm. On the return trip riders will stop at Philadelphia Community Farm for a bite prepared by Amery Farm Table sous chef Katrina Groshens, and cycle down the road for samples of Community Homestead’s fare, pizza at Foxtail Farm and a tour of Common Harvest Farm. Then it’s back to Somerset for a cold one at Oliphant Brewing. The ride is designed to attract cyclists of all stripes, from serious riders to those who seek a more leisurely pace. The focus on food and community is part of what attracted Kris Estergaard, now RadTour’s co-director and the woman responsible for bringing the tour to the St. Croix Valley, to the ride back in 2011. “I don’t normally like to participate in organized rides,” said Estergaard, “but this one sounded fun.” That year, ride organizer Audrey Wiedemeier partnered with a farmer near Iowa City for the first tour, which she called a Culinary Ride. “It felt like a little party or gathering at each stop,” Estergaard said, “with people lying around on blankets out in the field and bikes parked against haystacks.” Estergaard liked the ride enough to join again the following year. And in 2013, when Wiedemeier took the year off to travel, Estergaard and others took over planning responsibilities. The next year, with Wiedemeier back, they teamed SEE RADTOUR, PAGE 9
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SUZANNE LINDGREN | THE SUN
Lindsay Hildreth, Steve Burgess and Laurie Burgess with two of the horses at Yellow Rose Farm. The three person team is trained to help clients using equine-assisted therapy and personal growth programs.
The horse as healer Locals look to horses for insights on inner life BY SUZANNE LINDGREN EDITOR@OSCEOLASUN.COM
Tucked away off a gravel road just south of the Polk County border, a team of seven horses is doing a new kind of work. Rather than carrying riders or hauling equipment, these animals are helping people break through psychological and emotional
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barriers in a relatively new practice known as equine-assisted therapy. It’s an experiential type of therapy in which the horse is an active participant, explains therapist Lindsay Hildreth. “It’s not talk therapy with horses present,” she says. “The horse is a co-therapist.” Though Hildreth has an office-based practice, she is also certified through the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning
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Association (EAGALA) to work with clients in the pasture. She does so with the help of two EAGALA-certified equine specialists, Laurie and Steve Burgess, and their horses at the Yellow Rose Farm in Somerset. The crew at Yellow Rose Farm works with groups and individuals for anything from team building to trauma counseling. They have programs designed to SEE HEALER, PAGE 10
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