It’s the week of the county fair. On Monday I presented the plaque to the Grand Champion Pen of Lambs winter, Seth Schumacher. My company, Graywood Designs, has been sponsoring this trophy since the late 1990’s when our kids showed sheep.
Today I head over for the Junior Livestock Auction. So this week I’ve been thinking about the kids in Uvalde, Texas and the kids in Huron County, Michigan. I have a full day ahead of me so I’ll close with my letter to Senator Dan Lauwers who just won the Republican primary for the state senate seat in this district and has not been responsive to gun safety legislation.
Dear Senator Lauwers,
Today I write to honor Layla Salazar who was murdered in the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas on May 24 this year. Layla had won six races at the school’s field day. A ten-year-old, like so many of these kids, she liked TikTok and singing.
I’m headed over to the Huron Community Fair today for the Junior Livestock Auction where I get to be with hundreds of Huron County kids and their families. Most of them are connected to farms and rural life.
We in Rural America are in total denial about gun safety. We think that because our kids grow up around hunting and firearms nothing bad can happen. But our kids live in this culture of violence. They know the threats at school. They are prone to suicidal thoughts. They are not different from urban kids who are so often the victims of shootings.
Rural denial gets us nowhere. It doesn’t address violence. It doesn’t acknowledge that the world is changing.
When the Michigan Senate goes back into session in September, please be an advocate for safe storage of firearms. Let’s get firearms that proliferate Michigan homes and Michigan farms locked up.
Sincerely,
Wanda Eichler
And finally, here’s Layla Salazar’s photo. Her funeral was the last one in Uvalde.