This week seems to be the week for raising awareness. Last Wednesday a community open house was held at Schoenbrunn Village to raise awareness of how important this site is to understanding the early history of our area and the role it played in the development of what we know today as Tuscarawas County. It was also, as Wendy Zucal noted, a way to get people active in helping to keep the site a living reminder of what it was like to live here in the 1770's. The Ohio Historical Society still owns the site, but has turned management over to the Dennison Railroad Depot Museum. In the 17 days of their taking over, Wendy and her cadre of volunteers did more to spruce up the Village for the open house than had been done in years. There is much work to be done…but with the enthusiasm shown on Wednesday, the interest in preserving the site, and the planned efforts to make it come alive again, the great story of the people who settled there can be told to young and old alike.

This weekend holds another effort to raise awareness of the need for Big Brothers and Big Sisters. The Tuscarawas County Commissioners declared Saturday, August 2nd as Big Brothers Big Sisters Day. Jamie Orr, executive director of the program, says they have over 100 children currently on the waiting list hoping to get an adult mentor to give some of their time to serve as a Big. These kids need us to care and truly show them that we are a community that cares. If you want to find out more about what Big Brothers and Big Sisters is all about and what you might be able to do help, give them a call at 330 308-5319.

And now I want to take a moment to raise awareness for civility. The month of August is "National Win with Civility Month," which basically means we need to be more civil to each other. Why can't we be more respectful to others? Why can't we speak more kindly? And does it really hurt us to say "thank you?" There is plenty of scientific evidence that shows bad attitudes affect our health and happiness. It still amazes me how many people are just downright nasty. People used to say that politics is nasty and didn't reflect society's view, but now it seems society has caught up with politics. My mother always used to tell me if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything. And then there is the Golden Rule of do unto others as you would have others do unto you. What happened to that rule?

This lack of respect of others and of property was evident again this week when we heard of the vandalism that was done to the new children’s park being constructed at Dover City Park. And then there was the slashing of tires and spray painting incidents.

Obviously no one taught civility to these hoodlums. I think part of their sentencing should be that the parents and the kids need to take civility classes to learn to respect others. They say the French are rude and unfriendly, but I think we should look around our own country and identify our own rude and unfriendly attitudes before we criticize others. When we are civil to each other we confirm our worth and acknowledge the worth of others. We need to encourage all levels of society to do the right thing. We will gain recognition for our civility, and we just might secure the respect of our fellow human beings.

Those are my views, if you want to see these comments and more, check out the WJER website at wjer.com, and click on R News and Views.