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Hello Hillsboro: We are all part of a caring club
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One of the major benefits that set “small town America” on a much higher level than the big cities is the abnormal size of the average resident’s heart. And, once it’s exposed to its surroundings, it just keeps growing larger.

If you’re looking for a beneficial way to spend an afternoon, you won’t have to look far in the Hillsboro area. There is always a neighbor in need of help, and always a number of folks more than willing to supply it.

If you check back issues of the Sentry-Enterprise, you’ll see what I mean, and you sure won’t have to look very far back, although you would probably be surprised at how similar the town’s citizens were in 1885 when the first Sentry was published.

This Saturday is a good case in point.

A benefit fundraiser for Mike Sosinsky is being held this Saturday, May 31, at the Firemen’s Community Center from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., giving just about everyone in town a chance to spend some fun time for a very good cause.

It will be five months since Mike fell off a ladder and hit his head on a cement floor after a drop of nearly eight feet.

Fortunately, he was working on a tape measurement with one of his sons, Alex, when he fell.

When Alex got to him, he was unconscious and bleeding. He came around shortly and was taken to the emergency room at Gundersen-St. Joseph’s  Hospital.

The visit was quite short, however, as a Med-Link helicopter arrived shortly and took him to Gundersen Lutheran Hospital in La Crosse where surgeons were waiting in an operating room.

The eight-hour surgery involved bleeding on the brain, broken ribs, and a separated shoulder which led to 55 days in the hospital due to complications and a few setbacks, including a staph infection.

Happily, he is now on the mend and trying hard to be a “good patient” for his family while recovering at home.

The cost of those medical bills is staggering, but, no doubt, to Mike, Vickie, and their family worth every cent of it. And that’s where their multitude of friends and neighbors enter the picture.

The all-day benefit on Saturday will feature a live auction, raffle, and bake sale.

And, you should definitely come hungry because a delicious lunch will be available, featuring homemade barbecue on a bun, chips, dessert, and a beverage.

And, for those who love to dance even on a full stomach, DJ Music will be filling the air with the best in melodies.

One thing needs to be said. If it was someone else who fell off that ladder, you can be sure that Mike and his family would be supporting this benefit. He has always been one who chips in when needed. And that thought goes all the way back to my Cub Scout Leader days in the early 90s, when he and Vickie were a big help with the program that their boys enjoyed so much.

Most journalists retain things from the past that have impressed them. Jane and I will always remember the very first major impression we had of Hillsboro shortly after moving here in 1989.

The town’s Fire Chief, Pete Benish, had become critically ill, and dozens of  local citizens gathered in the Community Center for a prayer meeting. It sounded like something you would see in a movie.

That was the first time we attended an unusual meeting like that, and eventually it certainly proved worthwhile.

We also learned that in Hillsboro it wasn’t as unusual as we thought.