Two local men perished in a small plane crash outside of Rossville, Indiana on Feb. 22.

Our hearts and thoughts go out to the families and friends of John Pagel, 58, Kewaunee, and his son-in-law, Steve Witcpalek, 39, also of Kewaunee. It’s got to be an incredibly tough time for them. I can’t imagine the shock and grief both families are feeling now. Just know that we are thinking of all of you and if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.

Visitation is Friday for both men, with the funerals at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Kewaunee on Saturday.

In small communities, like we have here, you know just about everyone, especially those born and raised here, like John and Steve were. I’m sure that’s probably the reason for the visitation being at the high school. They’re anticipating crowds of folks to pay their respects.

I remember when I first began reporting for the Kewaunee Enterprise back when the late Mabel Temby owned it. That was in the early 1990s. We did a monthly feature then, called Farm of the Month, and one of my early assignments was Pagel’s Ponderosa Dairy. I don’t remember exactly what year that was, but it was one of the first farms I visited.  I was, am, and have always been a city kid.

I think I visited the farm of a classmate maybe once in my life. I knew nothing about how the farmers lived and worked their butts off. That was the first and only time I ever attempted to milk a cow. Needless to say, I didn’t do very well. Cows can be very intimidating to a city kid, especially to one who is vertically challenged.

Speaking of large animals, when did the teddy bear grow up? I was up at Shopko in Kewaunee the other day and it had a bin of the bears near the front entrance. Those stuffed critters were about my size.

I remember having one as a kid, and it was maybe two feet tall and I carried it everywhere. Those bears I saw at Shopko could probably carry me around, if they could walk. They were huge.

I would think it would be difficult for a child to relate to something so large. But then, what do I know about kids, since I don’t have any, and did very little babysitting in my younger years.

On one of those rare occasions, I did try to change a diaper. I put the child back in the playpen. it stood up and the diaper fell off. That was back in the days of those big safety pins and I didn’t want to stick the child.

That’s all for this week, folks.

Barb Ludlow is a former Kewaunee County reporter. Email her at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Ludlow: Community is thinking of Pagel, Witcpalek families