Over at MnCR, Joe Bodell has posted about a letter to the editor in the Winona Daily News by the clerk of Glasgow Township and his wife. Bodell emphasizes the information about Pfeilsticker's donation of bone marrow to an unknown recipient:
An effective message from start to finish: My kids grew up with this person, I know this person, and this person "walks the walk of strong moral, community and rural values." Short, sweet, direct, and nothing really needs to be said about the campaign itself, which might devolve into the standard "he-said-she-said" of modern politics.
Of course, this is to say nothing of the adventure that is donating bone marrow. No longer is marrow collected directly from bones, but the medication that draws marrow stem cells out into the bloodstream tends to have some unpleasant short-term side effects, and apheresis sessions are both numerous and long, according to the Mayo Clinic.
So does this little tidbit, in and of itself, make Linda Pfeilsticker a great candidate for the State House? Not in a vacuum, clearly. But it sure as heck increases my respect for someone I have not yet had the privilege to meet.
He left out the biographical information, so we'll post that part of the letter, from a local leader who met Pfeilsticker 23 years ago when she was 11 or 12 years old.
Twenty-three years ago, when our family moved from the Twin Cities to a farm in Glasgow Township, Wabasha County, one of our major concerns was how our move would affect our two children. How would they do in school? What activities would they be involved, what friends would they meet?
One of our first moves was to enroll our children in the Glasgow-Go-Getters 4-H Club. It was here that our daughter met two sisters from a neighboring farm who became her lifelong friends, Linda and Karen Pfeilsticker. Under the excellent leadership of Wabasha County 4-H Extension Educator Pat Jirik, they participated in the whole 4-H program — projects, activities at the county fair, Share-the-Fun, travel exchange trips and the Citizenship Washington, D.C., Focus Program. . . .
. . . Linda Pfeilsticker was a consistent leader while growing up. Always at the top of her class academically, she excelled in numerous school activities. After graduating from the College of St. Catherine and Saint Mary’s University, she chose to return to Wabasha County, where she has continued her involvement in church and community.
In Glasgow Township, she has participated in numerous meetings and precinct caucuses. At St. Felix, she is a lector and teaches in the high school faith formation program.
St. Felix looks like a warm and welcoming congregation; both the Pfeilsticker and Drazkowski families are members. We are especially impressed by the parish's social justice mission on behalf of immigrants and its support for a member who was stationed in Iraq.
Pfeilsticker looks like a person who, along with her family, is woven deeply into the fabric of her community.
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