Presidents Column

Some preschoolers jumped up and down with joy, others covered their ears and a few just huddled tight against their parent's knees as the jet engines roared and the whirling blades of the Med Flight helicopter thwupped through the air and then settled down next to Sherman Ave. in Tenney Park. The rotor blast blew right by the firefighters holding the flares marking the corners of the landing area and sent a big rolling plume right out into Lake Mendota. Most of the elementary school kids from Marquette and Lapham just grinned the whole time. Lots of us wished for a ride. It was pretty great to have a four million dollar machine show up in the neighborhood to support community efforts to make roads safer for people. Having the UW helicopter fly in without having anyone ride out the hard way was especially wonderful.

Even better, the helicopter came because of what people in the neighborhood and beyond were doing to make our communities better places to live in. In the wee hours of the morning, more than a hundred signs reminding drivers to Slow Down in the Pedestrian Zone were placed along streets by numerous volunteers including Gigi Holland and Gene Becker. The Kids Parade to the Park started early in the morning at Cathi Bresnehan's house with the squeal of helium balloons being blown up and tied off by Alan, Richard and Bridgett. Many parents, kids, wagons and strollers joined the parade along the way teaching children to be safe and drivers to be careful. Ms. Galarneault's and Ms. Gross' class from Marquette had worked for days on perfecting their scientific methods for measuring distance and timing to calculate the speed of cars. They then put on impressive display of technique in tracking speeding cars and clapping for responsible drivers along Sherman Ave. Students also did a fine job of explaining the purposes of their math/science/civic project to reporters from WISC TV-3, the Cap Times and WTDY. Kelley Cory clearly articulated both problem and solutions when her interview showed up on the news at noon, five o'clock, six o'clock and ten. Residents young and old walked their talk for quieter, more walkable residential neighborhoods. More residents set up the Speed Board that has a radar detector and display to show drivers their speeds.

The Madison Fire Dept. brought a big fire truck and an ambulance. Police officers came from the City of Madison and Dane County. We had a great showing from the police Traffic Enforcement and Safety Team led by Steve Carderella and our own Central District Police Captain George Silverwood.

Thanks to everybody who helped make our day of the Pedestrian Zone/Drive 25/ Walk Your Child to School Week such a great success; including Mark Hanson and the rest of the UW Med Flight Helicopter Trauma Team and Cheryl Wittke of the Greater Madison Safe Communities Coalition. Working together to prevent tragedies before they occur; before some of these same people have to show up for entirely different reasons was just one of many demonstrations of the outstanding qualities of people in our neighborhood, the City of Madison and beyond. After all, our efforts on October 8 were just one of five days of demonstrations spanning from Crestwood to Emerson, Sun Prairie to Stoughton, Verona to Belleville and Vilas to Tenney-Lapham. Let's keep making the neighborhood better and better in every way we know how.