Rice Lake, Wis. — Every time the phone rings at Brecka's Floral Photo and Garden, Rita Sevals flinches.
She knows it will be another order for a funeral bouquet, another plea for something pretty from a friend or family member whose loved one died when a trespasser, Chai Soua Vang, emptied his semiautomatic rifle into a group of friends out for a deer hunt.
The calls have been constant since Monday, after news spread of the shooting that killed six and injured two. The victims all were from this rural region.
In the wake of the violence, many hunters in the area have put away their guns and cut short their traditional Thanksgiving holiday hunting trips.
"Those who are going out are very, very cautious of strangers," said Bill Turner, a board member of the Rice Lake Rod and Gun Club. "The rest are staying home, taking care of their families and dreading this weekend."
Never have local businesses been asked to handle so many funerals at the same time.
In nearby Haugen, the barbershop and grocery store shut early Wednesday to give employees time to bake cakes and pay condolences to widows.
The town's two funeral homes have been working past dark ever since the shootings, meeting with religious leaders to figure out when to schedule all the funerals.
People file out of a prayer vigil at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Haugen, Wis., for the six area deer hunters who were killed and two injured in a shooting spree following a confrontation Sunday with another hunter. Funerals for the six dead will begin Friday.
"We're also dealing with huge numbers of people attending these services. Some we expect to see more than 1,000 people show up," said Boyd Gilbertson, of Appleyard's Home for Funerals in Rice Lake.
Killed Sunday in the shooting rampage were Robert Crotteau, 42; his son Joey, 20; Al Laski, 43; Mark Roidt, 28; and Jessica Willers, 27. Denny Drew, 55, died Monday,
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