I recently visited by daughter and family in Wasau, located in north central Wisconsin and similar in size to Gainesville. Upon arriving at my daughter’s home, I noticed a blue light bulb in the front porch fixture. After dinner, I saw blue lights on virtually every house on the street. At first, I thought they were bug lights. They were not.

In April, an individual shot and killed four people in Wasau. The first police officer on the scene was shot and killed with a rifle by the shooter. The incident did not get a lot of national coverage.

As a subsequent memorial service at the local high school, the crowd overflowed the building. Hundreds of police cars from all over the country, including Canada, took part in the memorial procession.

In honor of the slain police officer and all of the law officers in Wasau and Marathon County, thousands of blue lights shone 24 hours a day. I installed mine last week.

This seems like a simple way to honor our Gainesville and Hall County law enforcement officers and let the know we thank them for risking their lives to protect us. Let’s not wait until something happens here to let them know they have our total support.

Roger Futrell
Gainesville