Mayor’s Column May 22, 2026
Rohn Bishop, Mayor of Waupun
Hello Waupun!
This upcoming Tuesday will be my monthly update/listening session at the Waupun Community Center. This month I’ll have two special guests with me. County Board supervisor Jon Venhuizen and State Representative Mark Born. It kicks off at 1PM and I hope to see you there.
Also, on Tuesday at noon, I’ll be speaking to the Waupun Rotary Club at Go Dutch.
Finally, this weekend is Memorial Day weekend. For many people it’s a fun three-day weekend of travel and fun, but it’s important we remember the real reason for the holiday, to remember those who died for our nation. Much like Christ died for our sins, these brave soldiers died so we could live free.
In the autumn of 1864, Massachusetts Governor John A. Andrew wrote to President Abraham Lincoln asking him to express condolences to Mrs. Lydia Bixby, a widow believed to have lost five sons during the Civil War. Lincoln’s letter is reprinted below.
Executive Mansion,
Washington, Nov. 21, 1864.
Dear Madam,–
I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.
I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.
I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement; and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.
Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,
A. Lincoln
This weekend we’re reminded to be thankful for the price paid for our freedoms. Have a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend.
Mayor Rohn
