WAUPUN — Mayor of Waupun Rohn Bishop created a Fundraising Committee last month to collect donations towards local improvements that aren’t in the City budget. These include repairing the roads at Forest Mound Cemetery and improving amenities at local parks and public spaces.
Despite being the mind behind the committee Mayor Bishop was removed as a member from the board, citing controversy which might negatively affect fundraising efforts. This came the day after an article was published from the Green Bay Press Gazette describing controversy over the End of the Trail emblem rebranding.
On Wednesday evening Mayor Bishop posted the Green Bay Gazette article confirming that he had been removed from the committee, hinting at an appearance on the Waupun radio station Thursday morning to discuss the rebranding efforts and the Gazette article.
“I get kind of a kick out of the fact we get one citizen—one person—write an email to the City Hall and to a reporter at the USA Today and it becomes a statewide news story that the locals are upset with me. The reality is it was one person,” Mayor Bishop said in the radio interview, noting that very few actually take issue with the statue. “Most people are proud of it, and are thankful to Clarence Shaler for purchasing it and having it here as a gift to our city.”
“The reality is if we don’t promote it, people won’t know it’s here. Every day you can walk by Shaler Park on the Rock River and can see people there taking pictures of it.” Being one of the most recognizable symbols of Native American heritage in the United States, Waupun should be proud of the End of the Trail statue and its place in Shaler Park, Mayor Bishop argued.
“If it’s too controversial to have on the flag or on the logo, it’s only a matter of time before it won’t be standing in our park. And we live in a cancel culture where we’re taking down statues and erasing history and I don’t like that,” the mayor said.
While Mayor Bishop was disappointed with his removal from the committee, he is still committed to fundraising with the committee to solve problems and improve city conditions.
