Wrenshall news: Concert shines light on mental health, suicide

The phrase Wrenshall resident James Sheetz keeps coming back to is "Now, what just happened?" His sister, Diana Sheetz Carlson, died by suicide in 2013.

"It's still there, like every once in a while you get a jolt," he said. One of the ways that Sheetz has dealt with his grief over the last six years is through music. "It just touches your soul in a way that just words can't. It's like the music starts and everything just shifts."

Sheetz is a trained musician and conductor and produces regular shows at the property he manages, The Historic Scott House. While he had imagined a concert in Diana's honor for a while, he has focused his vision for an event that would raise awareness of the importance of mental health services in the community.

"I wanted to create intentional social interactions based on something positive so that we could provide hope, strength and wisdom to those who are touched by mental illness," he said.

Sheetz has brought together singers, performers, and guest speakers as a way to bring suicide awareness out into the open. "A lot of people just want to sweep it under the rug, but I think it's important that we talk about it; it's the only way to heal."

"On a Clear Day" will debut Friday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. at the Presbyterian Church, 47 Fourth St., Cloquet. It will feature solos by Jen Burleigh-Bentz and Howard Rempel along with the Cloquet High School chorus and the Presbyterian and Zion church choirs. The concert is free, but there will be a freewill offering and proceeds will go toward mental health services in Carlton County.

This concert is especially timely given the start of the holiday season, when we're encouraged to think of joy, gratitude, family and cheer. But for many it can also bring on stress, anxiety and depression. It's a good reminder to keep an eye out for friends and neighbors who might be struggling, and try to adopt some coping mechanisms for yourself. The National Alliance on Mental Illness offers some advice on how to manage during this season as well as how to maintain mental health throughout the year at nami.org.

Carlton County has a robust set of services available including a crisis line as well as a crisis text line (see box above).

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Ask for help

• Crisis Text Line (24/7 text response): text MN to 741741

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (24/7 voice response): 1-800-273-8255

• Local Mobile Crisis (24/7 voice response and/or in person visit): 218-623-1800

• Fond du Lac Mobile Crisis (business hours voice response and/or in person visit): 218-878-3729