KINGSFORD - How would you feel if your loved one was away for almost a year?
How would you feel if they were in harm's way in Afghanistan?
Now think of how you would feel to have them home safe, once again.
That was the scene in the Upper Peninsula Thursday.
"You cry because you're just so overwhelmed with emotion," says Marissa Hebert, the wife of PFC Peter Hebert.
Their tour of duty in Afghanistan sent them away for almost a year.
But the nearly 90 Guardsmen in the 1432nd Engineering Company came home to something overwhelming Thursday afternoon in Kingsford.
"The level of pride this city shows its service members is overwhelming," says PFC Hebert.
SPC Bobby Richards grew up in Wisconsin's Northwoods.
His mother, Missy, lives in Mercer.
It's the second son she's had come back from service in Afghanistan.
"Glad to have him home. And safe," Missy says.
"It's emotional. It's worth it. It's fun. Glad to see everybody came out," says SPC Richards. From those that kissed...to those that cried...to the ones that just needed a hug...putting words to this homecoming was a tough task.
"You're excited, you just thank God that he's home and in one piece," says Marissa Hebert.
Technology committee wants to improve Northwoods broadband connectivity
Submitted: 03/12/2014
ONEIDA COUNTY - The Oneida County board wants to attract more people to the area. That's why the Oneida County Technology committee is trying to improve Internet connectivity.
The committee is trying to get funding from federal and state sources. As of now the board has put aside $24,000 for broadband development. But they hope to get more.
“We recognize that Oneida County had deficiencies in speed and connectivity and number of people who were able to access broadband in the speeds and capacities that were necessary to do their work,” says Bob Martini, County Board Supervisor. “So we put together a technology a committee that would investigate ways that we could improve this service in Oneida County.”
The committee hopes to fix spots that don't get good broadband service in Oneida County. They think improving the internet could help the Northwoods economy.
“The idea is to give the citizens of Oneida County access, but also to make us the best rural county in Wisconsin in terms of broadband access so that we can attract retirees, businesses, and improve the people's lives that are already living here,” says Bob Martini, County Board Supervisor.
WAUSAU - Students at Northcentral Technical College in Wausau got to see Tibetan monks create a work of art steeped in Buddhist history.
The Mandala Sand Art is an ancient Tantric Buddhist tradition dating back thousands of years.
The Tibetan Monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery are on an international tour called Mystical Arts of Tibet where they create mandalas in front of an audience.
"The colored patterns we are using, we are following the scriptures, the Buddhist scriptures. It's a very old tradition, more than 2,500 years ago," says Geshe Loden, head of the Mystical Arts of Tibet.
The monks' last visit to Northcentral Technical College in 2011 was so popular, they were invited back.
"At NTC we feel like it's important to offer our students a variety of different programming, and one of the things we feel our responsibility to do is expose our students to other cultures, other religions, other ideas," says Director of Student Development Shawn Sullivan.
The monks work hours at a time placing sand delicately in the lines of the intricate pattern.
The mandala will take them four days to complete, but the beautiful creation won't last long.
"After finishing this, making the mandala, we consecrate this completed mandala, and we dismantle it to symbolize the impermanence of all the conditioned things, all the phenomena," says Loden.
The monks' tour raises money for more than 3,000 monasteries in India. They also do it to raise awareness about the plight of Tibetans.
"Lord Buddha had started this, and that tradition keeps going on."
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