Mayor’s Column September 6, 2025
Rohn Bishop, Mayor of Waupun
Hello Waupun!
First, let me start by congratulating the Waupun Warriors for defeating the Ripon Tigers last night, and keeping the Little Brown Jug where it belongs, here in Waupun! And while it was a very exciting and entertaining game on the field, it was an unusually busy game for Waupun first responders. During the third quarter, a young fan must have ran into the side of a bleacher, causing a head injury. Shortly after that, the referee had some kind of a medical issue on the field. The on-field trainer was busy with players who were banged up, so Chief DeMaa left the stands and ran onto the field with other fans trained to render aid. Within minutes several Waupun PD, Fire, and EMR’s were rendering aid and the referee left the field in the ambulance. Waupun PD and school district event staff did a nice job of keeping everything under control in the stands, the game resumed to an exciting Waupun win.
I should probably mention that as I write this, this is my recollection from sitting in the stands, and not an official report. I do hope the referee will be okay, I hope the young fan who got hurt will be okay; and thank you to Waupun Police, Fire/EMR’s and Lifestar ambulance.
As for a Mayoral update, this past week or so I’ve been fielding questions about Waupun Utility bills. People seemed confused reading the bills and have been asking me if there was a rate increase. My guess is all of our bills jumped because of the hot and humid weather we had in July and August, but I recommend that you call Waupun Utilities with your questions. I don’t have knowledge specific to your bill, and they can pull up your home’s history and compare. The ladies in the office are very knowledgeable and friendly, and it never hurts to call and ask.
The river level is low again, and because of that we’re hopeful that the dam valve gets fixed soon, as in like now! It’s been over a year we have had put up with this, and I hear your frustrations. We went a summer without our fountain, and like so much else in government, fixing this has been way harder than it should be.
Speaking of the river, the annual river clean up is just a couple weeks away, and this year we will also be having a little dedication ceremony for the new sculpture along the river at Harris Mill Park. As I explained last week, that sculpture is a tribute to our Rock River and to our obligation to maintain our water resources here. The clean up begins at 8AM and the sculpture dedication is at 10AM.
Lastly, this Monday will be the annual brat fry fundraiser for the Waupun Police K-9 program beginning at 10AM at the Heritage Ridge Travel Plaza. So come out, enjoy a delicious lunch, and help support K-9 Jet. The K-9 program is a great asset to Waupun, and I’m old enough to remember when Chief Winscher brought the K-9 program to Waupun with K-9 Quake. Quake came to our “CounterAct” drugs program at Jefferson School. Funny story, too. Chief Winscher purposely taped the “drugs” for Quake to find during the demonstration under my mom’s chair, meaning mom got knocked out of the chair, by the dog, in front of everyone! It took mom a few decades to forgive him for that one!
Thank you, Waupun and God Bless,
Mayor Rohn
