Community

Lodi Valley Masonic Lodge #99 on Tuesday, Feb 14 donated a portable Fire Suppression Tool (FST) to the Black Earth Joint Fire District Fire Department. The device is designed to suppress a fire that is still contained within a structure. It can be deployed by first responders and is designed to control a fire in the all-important early stage. The $950 unit was provided to the Lodi Lodge, which merged several years ago with the Crescent Valley Lodge of Black Earth and Mazomanie, by the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Wisconsin. The Grand Lodge has been providing units to emergency services all over the state this past year. In December the local Lodge donated a unit to the Mazomanie Fire Department and has plans to donate units in the Lodi area as well. The FST is non-pressurized and is deployed manually by pulling two pins and then throwing the device into a burning building. Pulling the pins triggers an internal ignition system, and about eight seconds later, an environmentally-friendly powdered aerosol is generated that fills the fire scene for about 35 seconds, interrupting the bond between the heat and the oxygen in the room and thus suppressing the flames. The website for Fire Suppression Solutions, the company that distributes the tool, indicates a FST will reduce the room temperature by up to 1000 degrees within 35 seconds, preventing flashovers and backdrafts without oxygen depletion. Pictured, the Black Earth Fire Department recently accepted the donation of a Fire Suppression Tool from the Lodi Valley Masonic Lodge #99. Left to right in the front row are Mason Dale Reeve, Lieutenants Cary Severson and Jason Richter, Lodi Valley Master Roger Haarklau, who is presenting the donated tool to Deputy Chief Mitch Hodson, and Captain Bryan Moyer and Lieutenant Andrew Morrow. In the second row, from left, are Masons Greg Flanagan, Scott Anderson and Michael Thumm, Assistant Chief Luke Schoenemann and Captain Matt Kahl. Photo by John Donaldson

Pictured from left: Jared Mack, middle school/high school Agriculture teacher and FFA advisor; Logan Gallagher, FFA Leadership Vice President; Luz Rodriquez, FFA Secretary; Optimist member and FFA supporter Dick McFarlane; Ben Wilhelm, FFA Sentinel; Ava Goll, FFA President; and Lexi Atkinson, FFA Treasurer after speaking to the SP Optimist Club on February 15 at 6:8 Inc.’s dining room. Officers not able to attend were Ag Development Vice President Phillip Brickl, Community Vice President Wyatt Coy, Reporter Olivia Thompson, and Troy Talford high school Agriculture teacher and FFA advisor.

The Black Earth Library has a new intern. Library Director Bailey Anderson told the Star News all about him: “Our intern’s name is Murilo Alves Zacareli, and he is an intern through the Ripple Project with the Dane County Library Service, but is being hosted with us for half the semester. He is originally from Brazil and has a Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Sao Paolo. His graduate school research is primarily on resource management and conflict over resources like water. He has worked with indigenous populations in the Amazon and did research in Bloomington, Indiana previously as well. He maintains an interest in environmental politics, even while earning his Masters of Library and Information Science at UW-Madison (the same department where I earned my degree!). He also has a special interest in local history, which ties right in to our existing partnership with the Black Earth Historical Society. While we are hosting Murilo, he will be helping us a few projects, as well as working at our circulation desk with patrons. He has an interest in library leadership and is excited to shadow me for some of my director-specific tasks like attending board meetings, compiling statistics, and reading statutes that relate to public libraries. In addition to that, he’ll be planning a program for adult in mid-March, and be helping Kirsten and I with outreach by assisting us with a pop-up library during the Wisconsin Heights spring break. He will also be working with us to further develop our Spanish language collection, which was added to the library last year through a grant from Beyond the Page. We are so fortunate to have him joining us, and we know he’ll be a valuable member of our team while he is here. After he completes his seven weeks with us, he’ll be interning at the Deerfield Public Library for the remainder of the semester.”