By Donovan Brooke

Though I don’t know all the details, I was disappointed in a decision by five people in Waupaca to overturn the decisions of Iola and Scandinavia (as well as their own first decision) to deny a sand mine effort by the Iola Car Show (ICS) and Faulks Brothers (FB).

I don’t like bullies, and this felt very much like bullying to me starting with an initial letter to the community written on their lawyer’s stationery. Dissenters of the mine were silenced in our community. I saw this firsthand and I, myself, was the target of bully-type words from a car show employee. I have thick skin, so this did not affect me other than to provide proof of the Car Show’s disdain for the opinions of the community.

Other than it will be annoying for the next 11 years to see Faulks Brothers trucks, and maybe having to wash my business windows more often, I don’t have any personal skin in the game. However, I feel for our community, and the residents near the proposed mine, that we are overruled by governing entities that have no personal ties to us and our area (that I’m aware of).

As I mentioned, I don’t know all the details, but having listened to some of the talks, and read some of the stories, this whole thing smells of “big brother network” and bullying. It seemed to me there were members on the board of adjustment that had ties to ICS or FB. It sure felt that way, and it felt wrong.

Larger is the purpose of the car show. What is the real reason they are straying from the focus of supporting automotive history, and instead, getting into the mine business? Is this what Chet Krause would have wanted?

If I was heading up the ICS, it just seems like so much more could be done to further the ICS, focusing on its purpose.

Hopefully, the powers that be will appeal again, and, somehow, this latest decision will be overturned. It seems a long shot now with all the lawyers, money, and connections of the ICS / FB team.