President's Message

Season’s change bringing warmth to the outdoor fun!

Winter has passed, the snowmobiles have been tucked away, and the time has come to break out the baseball gloves, bikes, and the Harley.  As much as I enjoyed and will miss the winter, there are plenty of reasons to embrace the spring and activities outside as the temperatures gradually warm up.  There is plenty of wood to be cut and split to prepare for the next heating season.  Practicing and playing baseball with my son gets more and more challenging every year as he has surpassed my long toss range.  And even with full catcher protection, I must admit, that I’m a little more hesitant every year to provide a target to a hand tingling fastball and some changeups that leave me bewildered on how a baseball can move that much. 

Speaking of baseball, how about the Brewers?  Is this their year?  On the flip side, what about the Twins who really are my favorite!  Regardless, baseball is my favorite sport and true sign winter is gone!  Last of all, hopefully my garden tilling and planting has commenced and maybe this is the year I can keep the weeds from getting out of control!

Two WWOA co-sponsored events, Government Affairs Seminar and Spring Biosolids Symposium, have passed and those responsible committees have once again provided superb speakers with enlightening sessions.  The Technical program for this year’s annual conference has been laid out and exhibitor registrations have been coming in and filling in the allotted space provided at the La Crosse Center.  Many of the remaining details of conference events will be decided in April at the Board of Directors meeting.  Keep in mind that a round of spring/summer regional meetings are in place on the training calendar and if you would like more information on any of these, you can click on the links in the training events calendar portion of the website to open up associated details and registration forms.

Have I mentioned that this is the 50th Anniversary of this great organization?!  A special standalone edition of the Clarifier is being assembled to honor and recognize the building of the organization and associated events through the years.  Publication and distribution is planned to be ready for the annual conference October 18th-21st.  This is just one more of the many highlights planned for the special conference so save the dates!

At this time I would like to just send a shout out of appreciation to all the utility operators.  Countless hours are dedicated to keeping the communities collection and treatment systems operating efficiently and effectively.  Being a Wastewater Operator takes a special set of skills. I believe that the public does not give nearly enough credit to those performing the daily activities associated with taking waste and processing it to protect the earth’s most precious natural resource, water.  Hats off to all of you who dedicate their days working in Wastewater facilities across Wisconsin!

Wishing the best to all as the spring biosolids application season passes!

2016 WWOA President,

Lyle Lutz